Chapter 35: Started at The Bottom...

So Axel's training began in earnest.

He stood at the start of what appeared to be an intricate obstacle course. There were sections where you had to slide under things, dodge incoming objects, and traverse some crazy terrain. Some areas were open while others were completely closed off so that you couldn't see what awaited you until you entered. Above all of it sat a target with a giant 'X' on it about 1.5 stories up in the air.

Admin had mad crazy digital building skills.

Speaking of which, she was standing right next to him as he took it all in. "So, pretty straightforward here. Get through the obstacle course and then jab your sword through the target to complete. You have three minutes."

"Easyyyy." Axel replied, cracking his neck and stretching his legs. "If this is your idea of training, we're gonna be in trouble."

"....You can start." Admin said with a bit of annoyance.

Axel gave her a two finger salute and took off into the obstacle.

As he disappeared around the first corner, she spoke in a hushed tone, "....oh wait, I forgot to mention that I threw some enemies in there. Oops."

Axel ran at a quick pace into the obstacle course with no fear of what to come. "Sorry Addy, I do shit like this for fun!" Ahead of him was a long narrow pit and a wall on both sides that ran the length of the pit.

He scoffed and leapt off the ground and ran along the wall expertly. Just as he was losing traction, he hopped off one wall and over to the next to bounce between the walls. Axel was actually quite skilled at parkour which is why he laced it into his combat style. What he didn't see however, was the many pairs of eyes looking up at him from within the darkness of the pit.

"Demon spawn!!!" A chorus of voices sounded as a dozen angels flew up and struck at him while as he was changing between walls.

"Oh, thanks for the heads up, Addy!" Axel complained. He drew his blade and held it up above his head. "But again, this is easy." He swung down at the incoming angels with brute force as he poured his energy into the blade and increased the size to encompass them all in this one swing.

But it only doubled in size. Which was nothing close to what he was expecting. "Well shi-"

The angels skewered through him with their vengeful blades. "Ugh!"

"AHH!" Axel screamed as he opened his eyes and sat up suddenly. He felt all over his body where there were suppose to be holes, but found nothing. He looked around him, "Wait...I'm back at the start?!"

Admin was looking down at him as they were indeed back at the start of the course.

"I'm...I'm...so confused." Axel said as he stood up. "I know for sure I was just stabbed like several times by a gaggle of angels. Or is it a flock of angels?."

"Oh, that. Yeah if you die within the course or if you run out of time, you'll just come back to the start. They're just data after all - I just made it so you could still FEEL the pain. But it's just a feeling."

"You're twisted." Axel said as he looked back towards the entrance to the course

Admin looked up at the target that stood high up at the end of the obstacle course. "Do you see it though?" She asked him. Axel looked from her to the course. He could see the way it twisted in all directions and how it slowly made him have to traverse higher the closer he got to the target at the end. Then there's the random enemies that appear throughout.

"It's the flow of a God battle." He answered.

"Exactly. Fighting Gods is now a mandatory task for you, so you need to be prepared without the aid of the many abilities you possessed before."

Axel was getting excited. "Works for me. So basically I can go all out here!" He took off back into the course. He did the same maneuvers over the pit and was on the lookout for the horde of angels.

Sure enough, he saw the eyes this time glaring up at him from above. "Come on out and play, fellas." He said, gripping the handle of his sword.

The angels rushed up at him and Axel waited until the last second to react so that he could hop off the wall one last time - he used the momentum from the jump to forcefully barrel through the incoming blades by twisted around with his outstretched blade. He then super marioed one of the angels and used his head as a platform to reach the other side of the pit.

The angels looked over at him and saw that he had successfully crossed the pit. They then evaporated into green energy before his eyes.

"Oh, I don't have to fight them?" He asked, confused.

< It's not bad to pass through the minor forces to get to the bigger enemy ahead. A headless army is much easier to take down >

"I'm starting to really like you, Addy!"

"The feeling is not mutual."

Axel ran further into the course which had transitioned into a closed off corridor that ended with a tunnel leading straight up. There were small footholds scattered throughout. But the nearest one was way out of reach.

Really wish I still had putrid wings....he thought. This is still no challenge for me though.

He closed his eyes and focused his energy. He could feel the divine energy flowing throughout his body as he concentrated on his feet - he was then able to materialize it around them. Similarly as one can manifest divine energy to perform Arts, you can also cloak portions of your body for interesting effects.

He looked straight up the hole of the tunnel above him, bent deep into his jump, and launched himself upwards.

He rocketed off the ground, expelling a gust of wind as he did so. He shot straight up through the tunnel and clean out the other side. It was a circular style room that was closed off, like a small arena, with a single entrance on the side opposite he was on. Which of course was being guarded by an archangel with a fucking trident.

However, Axel was not used to scaling this way anymore since he had abilities like putrid wing that allowed him to go airborne. He hadn't thought about the height of the room he was bursting into and had no way of maneuvering with that kind of momentum. crashed into the ceiling and had the wind knocked out of him.

"Gah!"

The archangel zoomed from the ground and shoved his trident in his neck.

"Son of a-!" Axel opened his eyes and found himself back at the entrance once again. Admin was still in the same spot as she was before, looking down at him.

"Ughhhh." Axel groaned while he got back to his feet. "Really? An archangel guarding a door? Is this a videogame or something?"

"I thought it was appropriate." Admin said, almost pleased with herself. "But you're the one that carelessly burst into the room at full speed. You didn't surpass the maximum energy allowed for that, but you could've used less to go at a slower speed and have more flexibility. Not so easy when you don't have all your power ups, huh?"

"Well I got it this time." Axel went to rush back in when Jayden rushed around the corner. He had a crazed look of desperation on his face as he stood before them.

"We have a problem guys. It's Iris."