Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 403: Joining Group Training

A light blue shirt with leather belts, arm cuffs and a skirt. Black pants and boots with a large fur coat.

"What in the f*ck?" Selen asked as she blinked her eyes.

The first thing she saw after waking up in the morning was Alice's new modifications to her outfit.

"What do you think? Cute isn't it?" Alice smiled happily and struck a pose.

Compared to the uniform yesterday, her outfit today could be considered… revealing and downright stupid for the weather in the north.

After her modifications, Alice now wore a blue one piece dress, a belt, a pair of long boots and a hooded jacket with fur lined around the hood.

Her pants were torn apart and turned into a pair of gloves connected to the arm cuffs while the rest into decorations around the outfit.

If it wasn't for her jacket, her arms and legs would be completely exposed.

Naturally, a layer of bandages to cover her wounds was beneath the outfit.

Yet despite all of these changes and even taking away the pants to make something else, she still maintained the key parts of the outfit that make it recognisable as part of the uniform.

Letting out a sigh, Selen didn't have nearly enough f*cks to give first thing in the morning and simply ignored it.

Putting on her own uniform, the two went down for breakfast as Alice's attire caused a few of the new recruits to look at her with a mix of confusion and nervousness.

Feeling a little devious, Alice would grin and blow them a kiss while laughing at their reactions.

Selen pretended none of this was happening and ate her breakfast. Once again, she didn't have nearly enough f*cks to give.

Once they finished their breakfast, they made their way to the training centre. Alice had a skip to her step feeling rather happy with her outfit.

"Let's see… If the schedule is right, we should be going to area G for our group." Alice muttered, looking at the schedule.

Looking around the training grounds, she spotted Bo waiting by area G. Upon spotting Alice, he gave her a big wave.

"Over here!" He called out with a laugh.

Jogging over, Alice could see that there were three others who were waiting for them.

"How are your injuries? Feeling better?" Alice asked curiously.

"It's all healed up don't worry. Will you be alright with that uniform though?"

"Fufu~ I adjusted it myself. Cute isn't it?" Alice smiled while Bo scratched his cheek.

"You see… these uniforms are sprayed with beast repellent. There is less being sprayed on the uniforms for the front liners since they need to get the beast's attention. But if you modify yours like this… I'm pretty sure you're now classified as the tank." Bo explained awkwardly as Alice froze up.

*Pft…

Snapping her head to the right, Alice glanced at Selen who revealed a stoic expression.

"Then do I just spray more or…" Alice coughed awkwardly.

"It should be fine if we spray more than usual into your jacket."

In the end, Alice sat by a bench while Bo sprayed her jacket with beast repellent.

While spraying the jacket, Bo explained what they were doing today.

"The situation in the frontline is a little rocky right now so we're getting as many groups ready as soon as possible for deployment. For today, we'll be doing some squad training to see how compatible we are with fighting alongside each other.

"If everything goes well, we could be deployed in two days are the earliest."

"Jeez isn't that a bit fast? We've just met one another for a day. Is a haphazard group like this really suitable?" Alice blinked her eyes in surprise.

"That's just how serious the situation is. But I'm sure you can handle it just fine. You managed to keep up with me with our first cooperation after all." Bo reassured with a laugh.

Once he was done spraying the beast repellent, he clapped his hands and had everyone group up.

Surprised by how fast Selen assembled, Bo cleared his throat.

"Today we'll be going on a patrol around Agar's Canyon. The goal is to find a beast rivalling an Advanced Master rank Warrior. The Mortis Necrothrax. Once you find it, you're expected to hunt it down with efficiency. Improvise with what you have, adapt to one another to find your strengths and overcome your weaknesses.

"I will not be lending a hand for this battle so it'll be up to you to defeat it. Is clear?!" Bo shouted.

"""HU RAH!!!"""

"?!?!?" Flinching from the sudden shout from the other three, Alice blinked her eyes as it seemed to be a war cry of sorts. An affirmation that they understood the order.

"Good. Take this time to introduce yourselves to one another. I'll get us a carriage to take us to Agar's Canyon." Bo nodded with a smile and left for the stables, leaving the five alone.

Silence filled the area as Alice scratched her cheek from the awkwardness. Seeing as how everyone was silent, she decided to take the first step.

"Alice Agnelia. I primarily focus on abilities but because my body is wounded, I'm focusing on acting as a support. I'll be blocking attacks and helping you navigate the battlefield. Looking forward to working with all of you. In terms of ranking… I'm a Master rank Warrior with four spirits.

Though I can't access them right now ahaha." Alice smiled and tried to be casual but none of the warriors smiled.

"Selen. Ability focused. I take a damage role with some utility. Advanced Master rank with five Spirits." Selen followed up with a short and direct introduction.

"Bjorn. Bow focused. Damage role with some utility. Advanced Master rank with five Spirits." Bjorn followed up with a similar reply to Selen. He's a tall slim warrior with dark skin. Dark hair that was pulled back into braids with the right side being shaven.

A tattoo could be seen stretching from his arm up to the side of his head.

He wore the standard uniform without any modifications unlike Alice and carried a bow on his back.

However, there wasn't a quiver in sight thus Alice concluded that his abilities were responsible for his arrows.

"Einar. Frontline. Advanced Master rank with five Spirits."

Einer stood taller than any of them and spouted a short haircut swept back and shaved around the side and back. A beard and blue tattoos across his body and arms.

Much like Egil, he barely wore any armour as he seemed to be rather confident in his physical body. Wearing only a fur cloak, leather arm guards, leather belt, a pair of pants and boots.

And finally, the only one left was a tall woman who was roughly the same height as Selen.

A rather bulky physique with thick leather padding, a large metal shield on her back and a mace on her waist.

She had long blonde hair tied into a single braid.

"Brynja. Support. Advanced Master rank with five Spirits." She introduced herself while giving Alice a dirty glare.

Blinking her eyes in confusion, Alice wondered why Brynja seemed to dislike her quite a bit. This was their first meeting after all.

But with Brynja's introduction, Alice got a rough understanding of the composition for this party.

Einar acts as a frontliner with Selen to help him. Bo, being the speedy type, would pick off high priority targets. Bjorn supported from range and Alice covered the whole party with her shield.

She wasn't sure what power Brynja has but she seems to be taking a similar role.

'Overall it's a balanced composition. I don't know their stat lines so it's hard to guess what kind of fighter they will be in the midst of battle. The more information she gathers, the more effective she'll be when they fight the beast.

If she could synchronize herself with the party like she did with Bo then their power will increase by roughly 20%.

Spying on the group introducing themselves to one another, Bo let out a sigh as he felt worried about this composition.

In order to balance out their stat lines, they were paired to compensate for each other's weaknesses.

Einar has high Strength, Bjorn has high Endurance, Alice has abnormally high Spiritual stat, Brynja has high Physicality and he has high Speed. Selen acts as an anchor for this group.

However.

This only succeeds if they can work with one another properly. Einar, Bjorn and Brynja look like they have no intentions of playing nice with Alice or Selen since the three of them have been grouping together for a while now.

Massaging his temples, Bo let out another fatigued sigh. He wasn't sure if Torgeir was venting frustrations on him but this composition certainly felt like it.

Regardless, he was given a job and he was going to do it.

At least the Mortis Necrothrax was a compatible beast for this kind of composition. High defence but a weak attack.

It'll give them plenty of time to get used to one another.

Jumping down, he pulled the carriage towards the group.

"Seems like introductions are done. I hope you understand your roles and where you should stand in battle. Protect both Alice and Brynja since they are your supports. Without them, the fight will become much harder. Bjorn, you'll drive the carriage since you know the way." Bo ordered as Bjorn nodded his head and jumped into the driver's seat while the rest climbed onto the back.

Departing from the city, Bo looked at the group once more.

Alice looked at her surroundings with a childish glimmer in her eyes. Selen simply sat in silence without showing any emotion. Brynja who snuck glares at Alice and Einar who focused on his greatsword.

Once again, Bo began to doubt whether or not this party would succeed as they proceeded towards Agar's Canyon.