I collapsed onto the cot.

It was a very exhausting week.

Constant exercise, constant laps, constant lifts, constant everything. Even the dummies we had to hit were nearly broken. Endurance, did they want to break us?

I barely closed my eyes, until...

"Alright everyone! Back up, now!" Yelled The Hunter, entering our barrack's doors.

I slowly rose, my eyes could barely stay open.

"Y--yes sir?" I attempted to reply, as the others stood up rather quickly compared to me.

"It's time for the true test, the moment you've all been waiting for. The moment of being on the battlefield." The Hunter said, smirking.

"B-Being on the battlefield..?" I spoke. He truly did want to break us.

"There, the darkened grounds of the ALTER world. We slowly push through, we move on. Pushing them back non-stop is how we'll get to our main threat.." The Hunter said, but I saw a look in his eye. Something didn't seem right. Something told me that he didn't feel confident, like he was lying to himself.

"We can't just go there now-! Look at all of us!" I stood up, but The Hunter was all too intimidating for me.

"That's the thing... Z-1. You need to learn to get right back up. Get up when you're taken down. Show them that you can last." He put his hand up to his chest, banging on it to make a metal clanking noise.

Orion rose up. "As much as I've been here, Hunter, we are not like you. And by shoving all these things at us as we're forced to know what to do.. Probably won't help."

I ended up looking at him confused, I haven't seen him act up like that since my first day in the A.E.R.O.

"Oh boy. Orion, Orion." The Hunter said, not calling him by his tag. That's how we knew something was a bit serious. "You live and you learn, that's the way this place works. Do you understand?"

"Whatever." Orion scoffed, usual behavior for him. But in this instance, The Hunter didn't care for what he responded with, and he looked at us.

"You know what? Fine, slow approaches are always nice, but not practical... Especially for something like this. I'll 'show' you what you'll be dealing with, and where you're dealing with it." The Hunter said. "Now best if you'd come with me before I change my mind.

As surprised as I was, I decided to follow. He brung out past the field to a wide building that was metallic and gray, made out of a material that seemed mysterious and thick. Probably very blast resistant.

"In here, all of what you've chosen to face will be here." He walked in through the doors, but had to present multiple keycards to some guards.

"A whole building for this??" Freya questioned, looking around just like we all were.

"This is a research facility... Specially designed to keep these... 'Things' intact so they don't die from the harsh sunlight." The Hunter stated, he acted more diligently and polite here for some reason.

"Being Mr nice guy, huh?" Orion scoffed.

"For a reason... These Shadow demons, or ALTER demons feed off of nearby negativity. So it'd best not to act negatively." He said, entering through some large metal doors.

We followed him through, and on the inside were large, fortified glass cages.

"Look inside... These things are your enemy. These slimy, wretched things of darkness. Show no mercy." He said.

As he described, there were multiple of these demons that were slithering on the ground inside the cages. Some had horns, most had tentacles, and mainly... They all looked aggressive as hell.

"What the FUCK are those!?" Freya had his eyes wide, looking at the cage with fear.

"Shall I explain again? They are your enemy, there are MILLIONS of these things in that world that we must push back.. And soon, I wish you all the best of luck against them."