“I hope everyone had a delightful rest in these last seven days,” Raffiel continued, “But it is that time once again to begin the next stage of your Ascension.”

My new comrades and I stopped what we were doing to focus on the information. The anticipation of a new challenge was starting to affect me as well, and I was feeling more anxious than I thought.

“The next round will be conducted in groups, or parties as they will be known, of 5,” the angel smiled, “In just a moment, the Lord’s system will give you all a prompt allowing you to invite 4 other individuals into a party. Once that is formed, you can elect a leader to represent your group.”

“Notification,” Noe’s voice chimed in, “Trash Matrix’s Party System has been initiated. Host Watt has a party invite from Aspirant Kim Jae-Hyun. Does Host accept?”

Yes.

“Acknowledged.” Noe answered, “Party Chat system online, please input a username to communicate with the Host’s New Party.”

Just Walter’s fine. And how do I use this new chat?

“Acknowledged, and to use the new function, simply ask Unit Noe and I will relay your message via the Trash Matrix.”

Thanks.

A series of text messages started to appear in front of my eyes a few seconds later.

Lady Awesome: Hey, is this chat thing working? Helloooo? Anyone home?

Jae-Hyun: Stop messing around Noel.

Lady Awesome: Nu-uh, how’d you know I’m the staggeringly beautiful and cool Noel and not Vadeem crossdressing?

Vadeem the Dream: Because I don’t cross-dress!

Now that’s an image I didn’t want to imagine. A 7-foot tall, 400+ pound muscled man in a frilly dress… I almost chuckled.

Lady Awesome: And how do I know that you’re not my little bro pretending to be Vadeem?

Vadeem the Dream: I swear to god Noel!

Yoona: Guys, please stop, I want to listen to Raffiel!

Walter’s Fine: Yes, can we try out this new system later?

Lady Awesome: Fineee. You peeps are no fun!

Wait a second, why is my username… you know what, I don’t even care now. Noe can just do its thing.

“... randomly if you are not in a party,” Raffiel said. Damn it, Noel’s useless dialogue made me miss some of the information, “Do not worry if you gained classes that are not battle oriented, for the next Trial’s difficulty and challenges will be generated based on the composition of your party. It is there to test your newfound abilities, and the Lord would not be so cruel as to make a trail that is impossible to complete!”

Wait, if the next Trial is based on the party, and I was partied with these people, then wouldn’t the difficulty be insane? But then again, the Regressor should have already known this, and hopefully, there’s a reason for his madness. Maybe the rewards should match the difficulty.

Ah, who am I kidding, I’m probably screwed being paired with these freaks.

“Now, the most important aspect of this Trial is not merely survival, but you must also overcome a unique set of tasks to progress,” Raffiel continued and looked at us hard in the eyes, “This will be the final Trial before the Main Stage of the Ascension process begins, so please make sure that you explore your team’s environment thoroughly to eke out as many advantages as you can. The better your team does now, the better you will do in the future.

“Now then, enough talk on my part. Take the last few minutes to finalize your teams, and we shall depart in 10 minutes. Good luck Aspirants!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Lady Awesome: Oh oh, let’s vote for a team name now!

“Noel, we’re all here in person,” the Regressor said with a sigh, “You can just talk.”

Lady Awesome: But this is so much cooler!

Jae-Hyun gave her one of those chilly stares of disapproval.

“Fine,” she muttered with a pout, “but in all seriousness, we should have a name for ourselves. I still think Team Noel and the-”

"No!" We all said at once.

"You guys are no fun!"

“How about team Abyss?” I said before Noel could open her mouth again, the name taking inspiration from the Regressor’s title.

“Oo, I like it!” Noel said with a smile, “Dark and interesting! Not as cool as mine, but you're not half bad at naming things, little bro.”

“Isn’t it a bit too gloomy though?” Yoona added, “Maybe something happier?”

“No…” her brother muttered, “I like it. It’s fitting for our situation.”

“I’m fine either way,” Vadeem added, “If the leader says Walter’s idea is good, then let’s go with that.”

Yoona shrugged, “Well, that’s fine if everyone else is happy about it.”

“Then we’ll be Team Abyss from now on!” I smiled, “And Jae-Hyun is naturally the leader, agreed?”

Everyone nodded. I think everyone here was more the follower type, as having to manage a party, and guild later on would suck the fun out of pretty much everything. Let’s let the guy who didn’t seem to understand the concept of fun in the first place have that job. That’s the one thing I didn’t envy about the Regressor.

We all unanimously elected Jae-Hyun as the team leader. Yoona offered some last words of advice and encouragement as we all watched the countdown to the start of the new Trial quickly go to 0. A now familiar feeling washed over me and I was transported somewhere new once again.

The first thing I did was to check my surroundings as always. It didn’t take me long this time, because I couldn’t see much of anything. I was practically blind by the time my eyes adjusted to the miniscule amount of light and I saw that I was standing in a damp forest in the middle of the night.

But the dark was strange; normally there would be some amount of light even on a moonless night, and being in the modern world, you’d be hard pressed to find any place free of light pollution. Yet there seemed to be an almost supernatural darkness seeping into all the plants and foliage around me.

I quickly took my little lantern out of my bag and lit the flames. A soft, comfortable orange glow wrapped around Vadeem and I, and the prior suffocating feeling disappeared. Seems like the Promethean fire was doing its thing.

Wait a second… I glanced around and saw that Vadeem was the only person here. He was fiddling with a little portable flashlight, trying to secure it on his bulging shirt, but where’s the rest of the party? I walked around a bit, trying to peer into the wall of darkness, but I saw nothing else, and the only sounds were of my own footsteps and the grunts of frustration coming from Vadeem.

Jae-Hyun: Yoona, where are you?

It appears that we’re not the only ones who got separated from the get-go. I mean, what else do I expect but trouble when I’m partied with an Anomaly?

Yoona: I’m safe, Noel’s with me. Are you with Walter and Vadeem?

Lady Awesome: Sup!

Walter’s Fine: I’m with Vadeem, we’re in some kind of forest. I think Jae-Hyun’s on his own though.

Jae-Hyun: Find somewhere safe and use one of those flares I gave you.

Vadeem the Dream: Got it.

Vadeem had managed to pin his little flashlight now and took out one of the flares. He fished out a new lighter from his pocket and lit the fuse. The fire ignited, but instead of a bright fizz of light, the thing just burned itself out.

Walter’s Fine: Um, we lit one, but it didn’t do anything. Is that supposed to happen, Jae-Hyun?

Yoona: Same on our end, the fuse burned out but nothing else.

Jae-Hyun: No, mine isn’t working properly as well. Something’s messing with the flares. Is it unnaturally dark where you are as well?

Lady Awesome: It’s like we’re looking through molasses where we are!

Walter’s Fine: We can barely see a thing, even the lantern and flashlight’s giving us minimal sight.

Jae-Hyun: Something’s not right with this Trial. Anyone got a notification on the clear objectives?

Vadeem the Dream: None here.

Lady Awesome: Same with us, absolutely nada.

Walter’s Fine: Know anything about the situation with that skill of yours?

Jae-Hyun: No. I have some guesses but stay on guard for now.

Walter’s Fine: Will do.

Jae-Hyun: Yoona, you still have that pendant I gave you?

Yoona: Yeah.

Jae-Hyun: Infuse some mana into it like I taught you.

Yoona: I did.

Jae-Hyun: Good, that’s still working. I have your location, stay somewhere safe with Noel, I’m coming over now.

Yoona: What about Walter and Vadeem?

Vadeem the Dream: We’re fine, young lady. Walter and I will find a hole to bunker down, and you can find us after.

Lady Awesome: Good luck finding a hole large enough to fit you, Vadeem!

Jae-Hyun: Try to find a landmark or a place of interest if you can, I’ll try to survey our location and see if I can’t locate the two of you after I get the girls. Until then, only use the system chat for emergencies, we can’t afford to be distracted by texts in the Trials.

Walter’s Fine: Understood.

Lady Awesome: Aye-aye boss!

The ever-consuming darkness was really starting to get on my nerves. What made it worse was that we were in a situation that even the Regressor's knowledge failed to account for. I hugged my little lantern closer and hoped things would turn out for the better.

“Well,” I said as I dismissed the chat messages, “I guess it’s just you and me this time, Vadeem.”

The big man smiled, the dim glow of our light sources made him look ominous, “Reminds me of all those strolls I used to take in the past.”

I gave him a confused look, “You used to take strolls in the woods at night?”

“Where else would you go to bury things away from sensitive eyes?” he chuckled.

“Like law enforcement?”

He laughed again, ignoring the question, “Come on, Walter, no need to be so nervous, let’s see what this Trial’s got in store for us! These damn monsters won’t know what hit em!”

And I hoped that he was right, but somehow I had a feeling that these woods hid more dangers than just beasts and monsters.