Darkflare

The drones began to sound an alarm as the soldiers faced the group. The drones began to float higher and spread apart as the soldiers raised their weapons. The drones proceeded to get closer and begin to open fire. Two of the soldiers stayed in the back as they began to charge energy into their weapons as the remaining three followed behind the spheres. One of them proceeded to take out a flashbang and throw it behind the rock. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x10 Snow soldiers x5 Invasion Portal: Off (0/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

The groups would begin to be lead into their respective arenas. Raph signaled some nearby mages who all proceeded to cooperate with each other to bring the groups into the center via teleportation magic. "Counting down..." The group arrives in the center, what appears to be plains. They could see every other area and how they sort of merged with each other in their respective edges. "3...2...1...Training drill started. Let's start off cool and easy. Your first wave is in the arctic area." Off in the arctic area, the enemies would begin making themselves visible. A group of snow coat wearing soldiers surrounded by floating sphere drones would begin to patrol the area. Until the group entered the area or shot them from afar they would continue to wander around the area. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x10 Snow soldiers x5 Invasion Portal: Off (0/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

By the time Sasuke turned toward Gordeau he had already left back to his duties. The only ones nearby were a Mech Hisui sweeping the floor nearby and Anna. "We don't really have public computers here, but you're free to use your smartphone instead."

"That's not a good mentality to have before we even started. I may have an idea of what you're capable of, but so do you. You know your weaknesses better, use that to your advantage. I'm sure you can find a way to surprise me." "So taking the lead, eh Hero? Pay attention to your opponents as well. Looks can be deceiving, but I don't think they're hiding what their specialties are. I'll be keeping that in mind of course." "Gather around everyone. It's time for you all to see where exactly you're fighting. The arenas you'll be in are much larger than what you usually see around here. These are actually a little special in that certain areas will have a different theme assigned. See, the Hangout may have all this fancy technology in it, but it's not afraid to throw in a little magical assistance to enhance your experience, so these areas will almost feel like the real thing." "First we have a desert area. Yea, it's a little warm, but don't worry, it isn't as hot as the real thing. You're going to see a few large rocks and buried pillars around for you to take cover behind or even climb them up for a better view. The whole area is sandy of course, be aware that soft sand isn't exactly the easiest to run around in." "The second area assigned is an artic area. Heh, well isn't that interesting. It's pretty cold here, but manageable unlike the actual artic. The edges of this are are all covered in snow but deeper inside, it's all ice. Watch your step, you don't want to slip and become an easy target. Oh yea, there isn't much to take cover behind here, it's pretty open. Perfect for those that like to keep their distance." "Next up, we got a factory area. The good news is that the ground is easy to travel in and you don't have to worry about falling. The bad news is that there's a few conveyor belts and gears around that will move you around if you don't pay attention. Those belts will sometimes have boxes in them. They don't have anything inside, but maybe you can use them to your benefit. Just remember that they're destructible with a good strong attack." "Finally, a nice plains area right in the center. You'll start the match here and end it here. There's nothing fancy except for the nice view. Once all waves are cleared, the boss will appear in this area. Oh...I just realized it would be a bit too easy if it was just the boss. I guess I'll have it throw out a few minions to help it. Your priority target will be the big guy, but clearing out the smaller guys from time to time will make things easier for you." "All right, you got that? I'll let you know which area your current wave is in, so you don't wander around looking for the enemies. That said, any invaders will appear from the areas where the waves aren't, but still fairly close to where your team should be. Invaders can influence the portal to decide where exactly they'll initially show up but never right next to the enemy team. When you come back from causing havoc to the enemy team, you will appear in the center plains area whether you were defeated or not. Oh, and in case you were wondering, both arenas are the exact same. We're not playing favorites here." "Well that about covers everything. Miss, your group agreed to let you be in Leon's team, right?" "Yeah, there were no objections." "Very well, you and Leon's group are assigned the arena just further ahead. The rest of you get this one you see right here. We'll start in just a few minutes. Make sure you're prepared, check your equipment, check that your abilities are working, check that you're wearing your lucky socks. It's too late to back down now and once we start, there will be no excuses."

"Going to have to agree with Lucent. Have fun, but take this seriously. We might learn a few things from this." The man known as Leon proceeded to walk in with his own group. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Allow me to personally thank you for this opportunity." "So these are the new recruits soon to be joining the knights?" "Well, I can't guarantee that. Some have gone to see the world as adventurers, but I'm hoping that we have done our job to prepare them for everything along their path." "Hm, this is a problem. There's only 5 of you and 7 of them. I guess I could see if I can get a few more to fill in." "That won't be necessary. I'll join with them, then it'll be an even 6 for both sides." "Not that I mind, but did you talk to your friends about this first?" "I'm doing this for them as well as myself. We actually haven't been together very long, but I've seen what they can all do. I would like to take this opportunity to be able to apply all sorts of theories I've had in mind....and....I would like to see how they can handle against someone that has an idea of their capabilities. I'm sorry, but please allow me this." "Well if you all agree with it, I'll allow it. If you need some time, that's fine, I need to go over the drill rules with Leon's group first anyway."

"The portal will be open at around 50 enemies defeated. It'll remain open until one of you enter. Once you arrive there, the only enemies there will be the enemy team, their enemies will completely ignore you. It goes without saying but don't kill their enemies, you're only helping them. You get about 20 seconds of being in their territory before you're forcibly pulled out. As for overall, you can take as long as you like, but remember that this is a race so don't linger around too long. Of course, in the unlikely event I feel both teams are taking too long, I'll just end it right there." "Well, since we're on the subject, I should mention that when you clear all waves you're not quite done. You'll have to defeat one nasty baddie first before you're done. Kill it and you win." "I've been mentioning about being defeated so let me explain how it works. I'm sure you can all last quite a while but things are different here. Take a good solid hit and the system will apply a stun effect on you. The effect is temporary at about 10 seconds, but that's 10 seconds you're down a man and that can be critical. That said, there is a way to circumvent it, if you got someone on your team that can heal. Get your healer to do their job and the stun effect will clear on the spot. So there's an idea when you decide to invade their territory. Seek out their healer cause they'll undo your work if you let them be. By the way, invaders will have a shield that will let them take more damage while they're invading. They're about twice as durable." "One last thing, when a team has reached the final enemy, the other team's portal will no longer require them to defeat a certain amount of enemies. Instead, it will open by itself after a certain time. Invading is critical here, if you get defeated while an invader is in play, the enemy boss will be healed up a bit."

"I think it'll be fine as long as there's a cooperative aspect." "Very well. Leon, get the rest of your group, you know where to find us." "Understood, see you soon." "The rest of you follow me. I'll explain everything on the way." Raph signaled the group to follow him as headed toward a particular arena. "One of your cooperative training drills is to have a group clear out several waves of enemies as fast as possible. This is going to be a variation of that. You'll be competing with another team in clearing out your waves first." "That seems surprisingly simple." "Agreed. That's why there's a twist to it. It's one of the reasons we haven't been able to test it more. Once you defeat a certain amount of enemies, a portal will open up. See, your team and the enemy team will have their own arenas. This portal is a gateway to their arena where you can go ahead and ruin their day. Only one of you can be there at a time and you have a limited time to have some fun before being forced back. Of course, your fun can end earlier if the other team defeats you." "I wouldn't try to be sneaky, the teams will be notified when they have an invader and said invader will be easy to spot since they're going to have a distinct glow to them. Of course, they'll have a few extra advantages of their own to help them out. My advice? If you're going to attack, you better be prepared to divide them quickly. The numbers still aren't in your favor after all."

"Cooperative it is. All right, come with-" Another man approached the group. "Hey Raph, we're not too late, are we?" "Oh Leon. Actually, you guys are early. Your group isn't scheduled for a while." "The thought of taking a training session here must have excited me more than I had thought. It's all right, it will give us some time to prepare." "I'll have you after these guys. ...Actually..." "My apologies for dumping this on you. I just remembered an experimental training drill that was being worked on. It's a hybrid of cooperation and competition. You could say it's like a race on who can clear waves first. I won't force you to do this if you're insistent on just a pure cooperative experience."

Haven't done a "controversial" video in a while.

"Well, it's easy to see why you're interested in group training. I'll need a decision quick though, I have a group of rookies later."

Lilith joins the others toward the elevator. The group proceeds to descend toward the underground level. Once they arrive, they find the layout similar to the floors above ground. The arenas themselves however were different with various training machines taking up their space. It seemed that the underground arenas were more specialized than the general arenas seen above. "It looks like each of these machines are designed to focus on a particular trait." "You would be right, Miss. We got training machines to improve your footwork, your strength, your accuracy... If there's something you want to work on, we likely have something for it." "We were wondering if you had something for group training." "Group training? Not many folks ask for that, but it's a welcome surprise. Are you looking for something cooperative or perhaps something more competitive?"

"We can move there now. Allow me to warn you in advance that due to the nature of the room we're going to be locked inside. It will at least buy us time to figure out a more proper solution."

"You're looking for group training exercises. Perhaps one of our trainers in the underground levels will be able to assist you." "This is a very bad place to try anything funny. This place attracts all kinds of fighters including some particularly strong ones and that's without taking into account my own security force." "I have a place where we can test this signal theory of yours. It's deep underground where my offices are."

"Well, I can't give you an exact answer, but based on what you told me, I have a good guess. Somebody else is running the show." "Perhaps someone found a way to replicate your cyber initiative." "I've taken the liberty of scanning the cyborg in question." "The only organic tissue I was able to detect consisted of his brain and spinal cord." "I'm both impressed and disgusted. Wait and you said you were one at some point? How di- No, never mind. Let's focus on the present first." "For starters, it's not like I exactly know how exactly these cyborgs work. If I try to mess around with him, I could risk losing him completely. I could set aside some place to monitor him. I trust you have a plan as well," "I would imagine they both have their benefits. If this place has AI, they're probably designed with handling certain situations in mind. On the other hand, Lucent being able to train to control his beasts as well as having to deal with something that could be more unpredictable would be helpful as well. And I don't think there will be many places one could do this type of training anyway."

Anna took the payment as she made quick calculations in her head before returning some of the gil back as change. "All right, I'll just have you registered and..." Anna proceeded to finish registering Raina and Sasuke before handing over their member passes. "Here are your member passes." Anna then explained their functions again. Not soon after one of the mecha maids arrived with Darkflare in tow. "I thought I would finally have a bit of a break. Well, if they ask for me it's usually important."

"Um...you do realize you have to pay as well, right?"

"He's normally busy with his duties, but I'll see what I can do." The mecha maid bowed before leaving to look for Darkflare "Sir, could you be a bit more careful with that? You're going to scratch the floor." ("That thing looks like the cyborg from the ship. This old man has to be quite an experienced fighter to have been able to take him down.")

Lilith finishes her registration and approaches the group. "I have to say, I'm a bit surprised you want to to do a group exercise first. I thought you would take individual training or in the case of Anwalt and Umbra, spar with each other first."

"This facility is the combination of the money I've accumulated through bounties, tournament winnings and investments from some of my richer members. I had to pull several strings to get to this point. I was originally planning to do this in Kalos, but I found a better opportunity here in Candor." "Lilith went ahead to register. We can continue talking in my office, but I'm going to need some time to process that analysis of her." "I'll be just a moment" Anna proceeded to do the registration process for everyone while making sure everything was in order before handing the card back to Anwalt. She then proceeded to hand the member passes to everyone. "These are your member passes. You'll need them in order to use our facility. They also keep track of your results from your training sessions as well as any matches you partake in the arenas. You can look them up by scanning your pass in one of our info stations or using our app." "As you can see, they're quite important here. Any replacements are going to cost you extra, so make sure you don't lose them, ok? If there are no further questions, then allow me to welcome you to the hangout." Lilith managed to arrive to the desk in time to hear the explanation of the passes. "This place does seem to have everything... I should hurry up and register so I can join you guys." Lilith proceeded to begin her registration process.

"A lot has changed since then. I still have my group but they come and go as they please. Everyone's got their own thing after all. I usually just call them when something comes up. Gordeau here is an exception since he helps out with the cafeteria as well. Well, Robo-Ky too because someone needs to keep an eye on him. And then there's Ren who comes every once in a while to check on her "investment". "Neither I'm afraid. I'm on cafeteria duty today. Unless of course some smartass wants to cause trouble around here in which case I'll gladly introduce them to my scythe. Of course, I'm sure a lovely lady like yourself will behave while they're here. Now if you'll excuse me..." "Oh Miss, you're already done with the tour as well? I need you to fill out these forms to have you registered." "I'm actually from a proud lineage of merchants. You could say running a business is in my blood. Knowing the exchange rate of every currency is one of the many skills we learn since we're kids. Just fill out these forms in the mean time and I'll handle the exchange. Don't worry, I always make sure to keep myself up to date with the current rate."

"The one in the suit is part of my mercenary team. I don't know who the other one is." "It's always nice to see fresh faces around here. Enjoy your stay." Anna proceeds to hand out the registration forms to Raina "Just carefully review and fill these. Once you're done just hand them to me with the payment and I'll have you registered."

"Good luck with what you're looking for. I gotta get back to work or they're going to start chewing me out for slacking off." "Oh, it's a good thing you're aware, Gordeau." "Ah, lighten up. It's a slow day in the cafeteria anyway. I might swing my scythe around a bit just to kill this boredom." "I'm not the one that's going to get in trouble for not doing their job." Anna then noticed Raina "Oh, are you done looking around? If you decided to register please step over to the front desk and I'll have you registered." "New fighters? You were with that group that came earlier, right? Name's Gordeau, I usually help around our cafeteria, but I'm also one of the mercenaries around here. I know my way around a bar as well, but Boss isn't planning to get the alcohol license anytime soon."

Darkflare extended his arm to return the handshake, before the two adjusted their arms to turn it into an arm wrestling match. It would be what seemed like a long moment before the mecha maid stepped in between the two of them and separated them. "Flare-sama, Light-san, please behave appropriately." ("They seemed to be equally matched, but it seemed like Darkflare was about to lose ground.") "Light, I know you're curious about this whole thing. We can talk in private later." "Ah, there was something else. Actually, you wouldn't happen to have a job available, would you?" "...I don't. But I'll let you know if something comes up." "I see...thanks anyway. I should go register in the mean time."