CLANG!

For the first time in weeks, the door of the shelter was opened.

The moment the heavy metal door opened, there was a large humming sound as the Basic ADE Converter v0.2 revved before coming to life as instantly, the LED lights inside the shelter lit up as if welcoming their master home.

The sight of the familiar LED lights that he installed himself immediately made Leon smile as his body relaxed completely.

He was back to base.

In this world, every other place felt like outside, even Community G. The only place where he truly felt a sense of attachment to was this shelter where he woke up with fragmented memories.

Leon felt like an adventurer returning home after months of a wild adventure as the warmth of home made his whole body relax.

Bzzz!

His grayish white ADE flared gently as it engulfed the Karaki CT-3X superbike even as Leon used Miniaturization to shrink the size of the bike enough for it to pass through the entrance inside the shelter.

After climbing the staircase down, Leon inhaled and he breathe in fresh air.

Despite being away for weeks, the air underground was not stale at all with mold, this was validation for his efforts to renovate the underground shelter earlier.

Leon pushed the bike to the forge area of the shelter before casually keeping it there alongside his other constructs that he left behind weeks ago, then he finally walked towards the living area of the shelter.

That was when a virtual projection came to life before him.

DING!

"Welcome back home master".

Davis appeared this time in the form of a cute furry cat.

Leon grinned at the virtual projection. "Well, thank you Davis, it feels great to be home".

The sight of the empty bedframe briefly soured Leon's mood though, this was because he was yet to buy a comfortable bed to complete it.

He didn't forget, the reason why he came back without a bed was because he confirmed that he could not use Miniaturization on beds.

Leon expected this, but still the disappointment hit him hard.

'I'll have to settle for an alternative means of getting a bed here'.

The lack of a comfy bed was not enough to completely ruin his mood though. After such an exciting adventure that was filled with crazy encounters, Leon was happy to be back ready to take on another Trial.

It's been almost two months already since he woke up in this world, but Leon didn't forget his main goal of recovering his fragmented memories.

By now, he was already 95% sure that this was Earth, the only question was why and how did Earth become like this?

What happened to the world of his era?

What happened to his memories?

How did ADE enter the world?

Why was he the only human who survived?

All these and more were questions that Leon needed answers to, and to get answers he needed to get stronger to unlock the corresponding system function to regain access to his memories.

This was why unlike others, Leon simply couldn't afford to stop and enjoy life. He couldn't enjoy life when a significant part of his life was vague and blurry.

He needed answers to his confused mind.

Despite his obsession with regaining his memories though, Leon was not reckless about it. From the beginning since awakening in this world, he approached everything in a cautious and methodical manner.

The only reason why he was confident to attempt the second Trial barely a month after he became an Ascended was because he already broke the code in the form of Ascended Counter; his Ascended Counter was full.

But more importantly, due to his trait- Temporal Anomaly, he was immune to ADE corruption which meant even if he failed an Ascended Trial, there was a high chance that he won't be corrupted by ADE and turn into a Neon Beast.

Unlike every other Ascended in this world, this was an advantage that only Leon had, the privilege to challenge Trials without fear.

This did not mean he wanted to fail the Trial though.

His intentions were quite the opposite. Failure meant wasting time stuck at E Rank, and Leon had no intentions of wasting time in his quest to recover his memories and get the answer to the many questions in his head.

His Ascended Counter was already full and in terms of history knowledge, he already learned as much as he could in preparation for whatever Trial he was going to face.

In terms of his combat power, he was an entirely different monster compared to when he was still just an F Rank Mechanist; Leon was confident.

He was also confident in his Construction ability.

Compared to when he worked for the Big Gig Construction Company, his abilities were far more potent now so if it was another construction Trial, he was confident in blitzing through it after his experience from the first Trial.

Despite his confidence, Leon had no intention of starting the Trial immediately after returning from such a long journey.

This was why he arranged his backpack on the ground as a makeshift pillow before laying down.

Within a few minutes, he drifted to sleep.

…

The next morning, Leon woke up energized.

He stood up and arranged the shelter in a methodical manner, taking his time to keep all his constructs safely to avoid any hazardous accidents while he was out before taking his time to seal the shelter completely from the outside world.

Only after this did Leon sit down cross-legged in the living area of his shelter.

Despite all his preparations and confidence, when the time came Leon still found himself anxious and fidgety.

He meditated, thinking back to Talia's Trial and his first Trial, then he reassured himself with how safe he was here in his shelter.

By the time he did all this, he calmed down, his mind turning serene.

And then he did it.

DING!

~----~

[Trial Catalyst is synchronized!]

[Commencing D Rank Ascended Trial… please wait…]

~----~

That was the last thing Leon saw and heard in this reality.

BOOM!

A familiar explosion seemed to detonate inside his head as extremely bright white light blinded his vision, making him squint and tightly close his eyes.

Then a subtle distortion field appeared, bending dust and light in the atmosphere till a rift was torn open right there inside the shelter.

The rift was brown and swirling with what seemed like illusory dust and sand.

Finally, Leon's body slumped as his consciousness was pulled inside the rift.

DING!

~----~

[Subject Consciousness Displaced – Trial Instance Active]

~----~

Silence fell inside the once derelict SpaceX facility.

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