Blink!

When Leon opened his eyes, he saw a familiar scenery.

It was the same scenery that Talia described to him some time ago, and the same scenery that he saw during his first Ascended Trial.

Leon squinted his eyes. 'It already started?'

Everywhere around him was filled with extremely bright light in the 7 colors of the rainbow. They illuminated his surroundings, blinding his sight even as his body moved haphazardly like it was being battered in a storm.

Unlike the last time though, Leon had a bit more control over his body and he didn't feel as disoriented.

Noting this, he tried to focus and observe his surroundings.

Due to the bright light, he couldn't see much but as he observed the bright storm battering his body, he couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

'Why does this feel so familiar?'

And then his eyes widened as he realized. 'It's just like the sky above Neo-Tokara!'

From the first day that Leon woke up in Neo-Tokara, he realized that the sky of this world was always filled with flux storms and neon storms. They covered the entire sky, forming cloudy and stormy skies that blocked the sun, putting the world in a state of perpetual evening.

Leon's brain whirred. 'If somehow, I managed to ascend high enough till I reach the sphere where the neon storms are, I think this is how inside will look like!'

He was stunned. 'Is my consciousness above Neo-Tokara?'

He didn't get the chance to contemplate this idea because the next moment, he felt his consciousness suddenly being stretched like a rubber band.

Unlike the last time though, experienced, Leon didn't feel as horrified as he stayed in control of his emotions, enduring the experience. And just like he expected, this experience only lasted a few seconds.

Suddenly, it stopped as the world became blank.

Then, Leon felt it as his consciousness disappeared from this world like an eraser just erased him and everything in this void from existence.

…

Blink!

Leon opened his eyes again.

This time just like the last time, he no longer saw any 7 colors of the rainbow that obscured his vision neither did he find himself back in the familiar confines of his modified shelter.

He didn't find himself inside the familiar Big Gig Construction Company either.

Instead, Leon found himself inside a moving truck- a large pickup truck.

At first, he felt groggy and disoriented like he was just waking up from a quick nap but then his eyes quickly narrowed sharply as he regained full consciousness.

Looking around, Leon realized that he was in the back of a large pickup truck that was driving through a tiny tiled road that could only size two cars. There was a barren and endless wilderness on both sides of the road.

Far in the distance, Leon noticed a distant city or was it a town that had multiple tall watchtowers around it.

This city or town didn't have a wall though, it was exposed to the wild.

Leon's eyes narrowed. 'Where am I?'

Despite his confusion, he knew that he couldn't afford to make any abnormal movements to avoid attracting attention. This was because he was not the only person sitting behind the large pickup truck, and he didn't want to be the odd man out.

There were countless people at the back of the pickup truck like him, rough and grizzled-looking men armed with different weapons who looked like mercenaries.

Leon counted 11 people beside him, making them 12 in total with him.

Even without fighting them yet, Leon realized that most if not all of them were powerful Ascended, most likely E Rank Ascended.

This was not just a hunch, for some reason, Leon discovered unfamiliar memories in his head detailing a time with these grizzled-looking armed men.

This was how he knew that this group was a mercenary squad.

'A mercenary squad?' Leon felt even more confused. 'Where am I? Where are we going to?'

Despite his confusion, he stayed calm as he decided to focus on himself.

This was when he noticed that something was strapped to his back. 'Huh? A backpack? Wait, my backpack???' Leon was surprised.

This was also when he noticed what looked like a black toy figurine standing just beside his feet on the pickup truck.

He looked at the metallic black toy figurine and then his eyes widened as he felt a sense of déjà vu. 'The Doom Rover v0.1?'

'Miniaturization?!' Now, he was shocked.

'Did I come into this Trial with all my weapons and constructs?' Leon's eyes widened. 'How is that possible?'

But then he remembered that this was the Trial where his ChronSystem seemed to have some authority.

This was the first clue that he got about what his second Trial was, this told him that this was likely going to be a combat-oriented Trial.

He heaved a sigh of relief.

To him, the Trial bringing all his constructs here with him was a massive advantage. At his full power, Leon believed that he could tackle whatever conflict or challenge that the Trial threw at him.

'How hard can it be?'

The moment he had that thought, he froze as he felt a chill run down his spine. 'F*ck! Did I just jinx it?'

Following an instinct, he touched his pocket and realized that he also entered this Trial with his smartphone.

Leon picked the smartphone with a surprised look on his face, then he probed. "Davis?"

DING!

"Yes master, your humble servant is at your service".

Leon felt even more surprised. 'Even Davis was allowed here? Just what kind of Trial is this?'

The sound made by the A.I attracted the attention of the other people at the back of this pickup truck, but they quickly looked away and minded their business.

Looking at the screen of the smartphone, Leon caught a glimpse of his reflection and he was taken aback.

What reflected back to him from the screen of the smartphone was a young man with neatly trimmed black hair and onyx black eyes.

His eyes narrowed. 'My identity didn't change again?'

'Is this something unique to me? Is this because of the ChronoSystem?'

Leon tried to calm himself down as he tried to acknowledge the situation. 'A Trial where I have access to all my constructs, even my A.I and my real body,' he felt a sense of foreboding. 'Just where is this Trial driving at?'

Lost in his thoughts, the pickup truck drove closer to the distant city and that was when one of the older looking men in this truck finally spoke up.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Like I already told you before, this is a high-paying mission that was issued by the new freedom-fighting faction".

"All we need to do is protect this city for a single day and every single one of us will go home with 10,000 Neo Credits each".

One of the mercenaries frowned. "10,000 Neo Credits for each of us is a lot of money," he looked at the older mercenary who spoke first. "Boss, are you sure about this? Do you know what type of enemy we'll be facing?"

The older middle-aged mercenary that was called boss grinned as he looked at his comrade. "What is it, Orion? Are you scared?"

The mercenary's frown deepened. "No boss, it's just…"

"Don't worry," the captain of this mercenary squad waved his hand dismissively. "Every single one of us is a powerhouse, an E Rank Ascended".

His eyes gleamed with pride. "We're the best in the business".

"No matter what comes, we'll fight to protect this city and survive, and at the end of today we'll all go with 10,000 Neo Credits each, agreed?"

"Aye boss!" The other mercenaries responded and laughed.

'Mercenaries? I'm a mercenary?' This coincided with the strange memories in his head.

Having listened quietly since, Leon finally looked at the captain of the mercenary squad and inquired. "Boss, what is the name of that city again?"

The middle-aged mercenary looked at him in an amused manner, then he answered. "They call it Iron Reef".

'Iron Reef?' Leon squinted his eyes as his brain whirred, that name was familiar!

And then he remembered where he heard it from. 'It's the headquarters of the Freegrid Collective!'

Leon hissed.

Just like he suspected, his second Trial was related to the events connecting the Freegrid Collective, the Omnicore Federation, and his first Trial.

Remembering something, Leon picked his smartphone again and looked at the time and date.

Instantly, his eyes constricted.

[09:31am]

[October 31st, Year 583 A.G]

...

[Special Appreciation D4rkV1II13n and Shadesworn for the Golden Tickets. Honestly both of you are the MVP this month, I truly appreciate the support.]

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