Kapitel 36: Preparations.

"Clang!"

The sound of weapons clashing resounded continuously, two people in black uniforms could be seen moving and shuffling around the field as they fought with their weapons.

Wielding a metallic blade with a firm and dark handle was Aiden, his shoulder-length black hair waving as he moved.

In front of him was a man who seemed to be the incarnation of a giant, his big and intimidating frame moved with force as he pierced at Aiden.

"Whoosh!" His spear hit nothing but air as Aiden quickly dodged moving to the side in the nick of time, "are you trying to kill me?" He asked as he attacked.

"Swoosh!"

Aiden delivered a clean slash from above, his every move laced with the intent to kill.

"Clang!" Another metallic clang filled the air as Kevin raised his left arm to block, the rebound sent Aiden staggering backward.

Strapped around his arm was a medium-sized shield, it served the same purpose as a regular shield but it was smaller and lighter.

Although it was light that was only true for most Contractors, it would be quite difficult for a normal human to carry it around as easily as Kevin did.

That small arm shield weighed as much as a hundred pounds and though normal humans could lift that much weight they couldn't swing it around as easily as Kevin did.

It was as If he didn't feel it at all, this was acceptable if you considered the fact that Kevin had the highest level of strength amongst all the Candidates, a staggering 61 points.

"You're like some kind of tank," Aiden muttered as he looked toward Kevin.

"Haha," Kevin laughed heartily as he said.

"You're no joke either Aiden, it's like you get stronger every time we fight."

Hearing this Aiden smiled, "We've been here for a while now, it'll be a shame if I don't improve."

Having said that Aiden relaxed his tense demeanor and lowered his weapon, "It's getting late, we should call it a day," he suggested.

"Hmm, you're right," Kevin chuckled, "but remember to get some rest, don't kill yourself over nothing," he added.

"I will," Aiden remarked as he walked to the edge of the fields where a black case could be seen.

Opening it Aiden placed his blade in it, right next to the metal bat and gauntlets, and by the side of the case, you could also see a dagger.

After packing up Aiden headed to the dorm building, he had been in this facility for twenty-eight days straight.

The second test would begin two days from now meaning he had two days left to prepare, in these twenty-eight days he hadn't slacked off one bit.

Apart from working out madly in the unhealthyest way possible he also took some time out of the day to familiarize himself with all his weapons, well all except the bat that is.

He also hadn't had a wink of shut-eye but thanks to his excess Soul energy he wasn't tired, Aiden had also made friends with some of the candidates, except Felix who seemed to hate him for some reason.

Kevin was one of his friends as the both of them would often spend time with each other.

Kevin was much stronger than Aiden who was in a weakened state but when sparring he held back most of the time, allowing Aiden to improve gradually as well.

During his first sparring session with Kevin Aiden had broken his arm as the force of Kevin's attack was difficult to bear, unlike other wounds his broken arm healed quickly shocking Aiden a bit.

Since then Aiden encouraged Kevin to use more strength in their fights as the more his soul energy healed his wounds the more it would reduce.

Before long Aiden arrived at his dorm and opened the door, the room was empty; but Aiden didn't worry he figured that Ethan was out training with someone.

Immediately he came back he laid down on his bed and let out a sigh, although he had received some gains in this period Aiden was facing a big problem.

He couldn't summon the Book of Souls, and he couldn't talk to Landon anymore, this happened a few days ago.

--------

(A few days ago)

Aiden remembered the feeling of exhaustion washing through him as he performed push-up after push-up, his breath was rigid as he stopped and stood up to take a break.

At that moment Landon's weak voice sounded out in his mind, "Aiden it seems I've figured out what is wrong with me."

"Ohh what happened?" Aiden asked with concern.

Landon's condition had been bugging him indefinitely, he had even tried to sleep since his lack of sleep seemed to affect Landon that much, but Landon was strongly against it.

"I'm evolving," he said firmly, surprising Aiden.

Feeling confused Aiden asked, "You're Evolving, I didn't know you could do that, what the hell are you evolving to? A bible?"

Landon didn't seem to be expecting Aiden's reply, "You... Ahh never mind I can't with you, you won't be able to hear from me or use the Book of Souls for some time, in this time I want you to be careful, don't slack off, if you continue at your current pace you can break free from this weakened state."

Saying this he paused slightly and continued, "When you recover your strength should be equivalent to a second-level lesser demon, or a threat level 19 Contractor, that should be enough for you to pass the test. Remember Aiden don't try to consume the demonic soul until I come back it could be dangerous."

------

(Present)

Aiden felt stronger but not by much, "if I use my weakened Soul armor I can barely reach the level of strength I used at the tournament." Aiden thought.

The other Candidates on the other hand had gotten a little stronger, their strength did not increase directly but with the help of the Vice Captain, they had learned how to use their abilities more freely.

Aiden on the other hand had learned quite a few things, the first was the fact that Contractors couldn't raise their strength easily.

Certain factors came into play when a Contractor wished to increase his or her strength and even a single threat level increase would take countless materials and ample preparation.

Smaller Contractor families couldn't afford an increase that surpassed the threat level of fifteen.

For people like Aiden, Kevin, and David who fought with nothing but physical strength, they were advised to increase their battle experience, since they had no special abilities except unnatural strength and brute force they could only become more battle-literate.

"Enough worrying," Aiden muttered to himself as he stood up from the bed.

He got on the floor again, discarding his shirt, and continued his mindless pushups.

In this dimly lit dorm room, Aiden's muscular frame glistened with sweat as he gritted his teeth and powered through another set of push-ups.

As he worked out his light grunts echoed through the room, and with each push his biceps flexed, a testament to his healthy figure.

Just as he settled into a rhythm, the door creaked open, revealing Ethan, who had an assortment of reddish burns on his face, he looked to be in a bit of pain as he frowned heavily.

Aiden paused mid-push, arching an eyebrow at his friend's appearance. "Dude, what happened to you now?" Aiden asked, but he already knew the answer to that.

With a prolonged sigh, Ethan replied, "Ahh I'm so unlucky, you know how Mai's got those killer moves, right? The one where she lights the whole field up, well, I thought I'd try my luck," Ethan explained, his voice laced with lingering embarrassment.

Aiden's expression remained unchanged, his nonchalant demeanor in stark contrast to Ethan's animated storytelling.

"Let me guess, she didn't take too kindly to that idea?" Aiden quipped, a hint of amusement coloring his voice.

Ethan nodded, wincing as he touched one of the burn marks gingerly. "Yeah, you could say that. She turned into this whirlwind of fury, and I was just... well, a helpless leaf in a storm." He winced again, the memory of Mai's swift retribution still fresh in his mind.

Aiden chuckled softly, resuming his push-ups as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"You should know better than to mess with Mai Ethan. She's got the moves and the temperament to match. Consider it a lesson learned." Aiden said as he continued his exercise.

The rhythmic thuds of his exertion filled the room.

Mai was a case. Overall, she was a calm person and would ignore everyone most of the time. In fact, she only trained by herself and had never sparred with anyone. The way she acted sometimes would make one wonder if she was truly an ordinary person who got some luck with a demon and managed to gain a Contract. She seemed more like a member of a prominent family, but that was only one part of the story.

Sometimes, Mai was the opposite of calm, especially when Ethan was involved. Ethan had asked her to spar a few times but was rejected, and when he started to become a bother, she would either yell at him or beat him up.

Ethan shook his head ruefully, he let out another sigh as he leaned on the chair.

Meanwhile, Aiden effortlessly continued his workout.

As he did this he glanced over at Ethan with a knowing look. "You know, I think you might want to stick to less perilous activities, like maybe competitive knitting or something," he suggested a playful glint in his eye.

Ethan rolled his eyes, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Very funny, Aiden," he said before darting in.

"Anyway did you hear that creepy sound last night?"

"Yeah," Aiden said, as he continued his pushups, "I wonder what demon crawled over the walls."

The facility walls were quite low, and aside from the strange symbols on it the wall looked quite average, infact it was quite easy for some demons to just climb over it.

******

Meanwhile somewhere else in the abysmal enclave, a burly youth could be seen relaxing on his bed.

His burly figure made him seem intimidating but the gentle look in his black eyes told one otherwise.

This person was Bruce and something had changed about him, you could see that his hair wasn't just partially red in some places anymore, instead, his hair was almost fully scarlet red, with an odd streak of black here and there.

The room he was in was empty, and strangely, it was identical to Felix's room with a single bed and a reading table parred with lots of space.

"So it begins in two days huh," Bruce thought to himself as he suddenly stood up.

To the side, a huge scabbard containing a large greatsword could be seen.

Picking it up, Bruce hung the weapon on his shoulders and carried it like a backpack.

Opening the door he walked outside gazing around the field that looked disturbingly similar to the facility where Aiden currently resided.

It was getting late, but today he was going to train with all he had.

*****

At the same time, a woman in a black suit walked cautiously into the dimly lit office, the only sound echoing in the room was the faint clicking of her heels against the hardwood floor.

She wore a blank white mask, an eerie contrast to her sharp business attire.

As she entered further, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, revealing an opulent, shadowy room with a large, ornate desk at its center.

At the far end of the room, seated behind the imposing desk, was a woman whose presence seemed to swallow the light.

Her figure was shrouded in darkness, except for the glint of her mesmerizing purple eyes, which pierced through the shadows with an otherworldly intensity.

Her long, flowing dark hair framed her delicate yet commanding features, and a subtle smirk played upon her lips, revealing a hint of amusement at the newcomer's unease.

If Aiden was here he would recognize these two people, they were Three Face and Lotus.

Regaining her bearings Three Face quickly said.

"The newcomers are about to pass through the second test, we made no effort to create a route for them nor did we kill off any of the stronger demons in the abysmal enclave."

"I know," Lotus replied gently, and the room was suddenly enveloped in a strange silence.

"Mi-" Three faces seemed like she wanted to say something, as she seemed worried but it was hard to tell since her mask covered everything on her face her eyes included.

Hearing Three Face's voice Lotus who hadn't taken her eyes off her once smiled a bit, she laid back playing with her fingers as she said, "Just say it."

Taking a short breath Three Face said, "This doesn't follow procedure, normally we hold a tournament that allows ten people to get promoted creating ten available slots, then we let twenty people fight over those ten slots in the abysmal enclave, but this year we have twenty slots with fifty candidates, we basically used up five important bases in the abysmal enclave, and not just that, without an assigned route and little knowledge about survival those candidates are goanna die, we-"

"That's the point," Lotus suddenly interrupted, stunning Three Face, "what do you mean?"

Three Face asked and her question was met with a larger smile from Lotus.

"You know Three Face, out of all my subordinates I consider you the most humane, so I'll let you in on a little secret."

Lotus said as her purple eyes narrowed, "The reason I'm doing this is because we need more manpower, our top Contractors are dying and it's because of the greater forces that are popping into the picture." Lotus began frowning as she said.

"The holy gate is around the corner and I just got word that they are trying to steal the page again, the other races are showing signs of movement as well, and the terrorist organizations are just waiting for a slip-up." She added before darting in.

"Rifts are constantly increasing, right now your Captain the seventh disciple is busy fighting off bigger threats, and there have been no words from him since his last trip to hell, so we are left unprotected from the biggest disaster after demons, the fifth disciple just discovered a new race, and they seem to be experts at dealing with humans."

Hearing all this Three Face remained quiet obviously shocked, her reaction made Lotus frown even more, "You may go, prepare because in a week we're venturing outside the barrier, it's about time we hunted a few demons."

"Yes Miss Lotus," Three Face replied as she walked out.

As the door closed behind her Lotus remained quiet, "tap, tap, tap," she laid back as she tapped her fingers against the table.

Her eyes seemed hollow and she seemed to be thinking about something.

A figure clad in pure white futuristic armor flashed in the depths of her mind and a chilling rage appeared in her eyes.

"Bang!"

She slammed her hand on the table as she spoke through gritted teeth, "Holy one, you and your dreaded holy gate will pay, I will never suffer such a defeat again."