You aggressively tapped the screen in front of you before watching the digital card being placed in the centre of the fake board. Smirking victoriously, you eyed the singular card left in your deck and sat back to marvel on the silence in the training room. It was late at night at the headquarters. Most of the operatives were finished for the day and had headed home to spend time with their families or out with friends. 

The three of you had made your way up to the training rooms with ease. There was nobody for you to accidentally bump into or anybody for the matter.

 The only sound which could be heard was the occasional group of operatives returning back to their dorms on one of the upper levels. It was defiantly a drastic change from the afternoon. The building now heavily resembled what it was like a few weeks ago. When the seven virtues were out and older operatives inactive. 

The entire building was equipped with automatic lights, meaning they only turned on when something moved. So when the three of you walked down the corridor, the empty feeling along with the flickering of the automatic lights was enough to make Ten latches onto Taeyong's arm. An operative being from the Thai branch, he still had not used to the little quirks of the building.

However, with you, it was a different story. The director thought that nine o'clock in the evening was the most fitting time for him to fit in a training session. You had spent many late nights at the training deck either alone of being trained by the director. He was a busy man, after all, so he was only able to find time to train you at this ungodly hour of the evening. But you weren't really all for the idea this time considering the fact that you and Ten had a patrol late at night tomorrow.

"Heck yes!" Jumping up from your metal stool, you pumped your right fist in the air with victory before sticking your tongue out in his direction. The latter only rolled his eyes as a response, clearly salty over the digital uno game you had won against him.

"Can you please keep it down (y/n)?" Taeyong said bluntly.

"Taeyong, I didn't ask you to accompany me for training only for you to work on your pieces of scrap metal." You exited out of the small screen in front of you and eyed the male sitting a few metres away. From there you could see the large piles of papers, scrap pieces of metal, nuts and bolts, beakers, various coloured liquids and may other items laid out on the workstation. It was so cluttered that some sheets had fallen off altogether. You even had trouble seeing Ten over the clutter.

"Scrap metal?" Taeyong looked up momentarily from his work and scoffed before turning around on his spinning stool to face you. "How many times do I have to tell you it~"

"Make our lives safer and more productive yadda yadda yadda." You mocked his past lectures by holding your hands up like puppets. You watched as his eyes narrowed, sending you his signature glare. "Don't look at me like that." Standing up and grabbing a sphere like-object off the desk, you threw it up into the air. You watched as it fell down and timed your foot perfectly so that the ball bounced off it.

"I'm not the one who plays football with a metal sphere. And you had the audacity to call my work a piece of scrap metal." The red-haired male murmured, slightly offended.

"What's wrong with that?" You stopped what you were doing and turned around to face him, the sphere now hovering beside you. "How else am I supposed to keep my stamina up?"

"I don't know." Taeyong grabbed a real football off the floor. "Maybe with a real football?" He then proceeded to thrust it in your direction. You stopped it in its tracks before it could hit you but holding out your hand in his direction. 

"Nah, I think this is more fun." You moved your hand forward slightly, pushing the floating ball back in Taeyong's direction. "What's more fun than juggling a killing machine in between your feet?"

"Why do I even try anymore?" You hear your friend chuckle under his breath. "I'm wasting my energy."

You continued to juggle the sphere in between your feet, only to stop when the sound of rustling papers interrupts.

"Where are you going?" Taeyong ignored you and hastily shoved papers into his folders.

"You're too loud."

"Are you ready for training?" A new voice inquired, scaring the crap out of you and bringing you to the point of attacking with the metal sphere. "(Y/N) WATCH WHERE YOU ARE THROWING THAT THING!" Once recognising the who the voice belonged to your eyes widened in fear, darting your eyes quickly to the figure you cringed as the ball lightly skimmed the director's brown locks before it halted its movement behind him. His body was as still as a statue and his facial expression fixed into what you perceived as a disappointed look. His lips were pressed into a thin line with his eyes closed.

Audible gasps could be heard escaping the two males lips who were standing around the bench and you only gulped in response. "I'm soo sorry director Kim." You quickly spoke before be had a chance to get a word in.

You watched attentively as the director's eyes slowly opened before his pressed lips turn into a smile. "At least I've known you've been keeping up your stamina."

A wave of relief immediately washed over you when you see him smile. To be honest, you didn't know why you were so scared at that moment. Director Kim was an old family friend - or who your father called Soohyun - and had been an operative around the time your mother and father got hired at V.I.R.T.U.E. Having worked together in the past, their relationship blossomed into something more than fellow workmates. Director Kim had known you since birth and was one of the main reasons you thought about entering the championships in the first place. He was as much as a father to you as your own father was. He took care of you when your mother wasn't there to do so or when your father was too busy to.

Being the master of all different sorts of weaponry, it would only be suited for him to adopt the role as your trainer.

Once your tensed body had finally relaxed, you allowed your eyes to wander past the director to realise he had not come alone. Knocking the breath out of your lungs again, you chuckled nervously at the director's statement when the eyes of the male figure from behind the director fell on yours. His built seemed somewhat familiar but with the poor lighting in the training deck - not to mention the director's shadow - you were finding it difficult to decipher their face.

"Oh!" Moving aside so you could set a better look at the mysterious figure, the director snaps his fingers. "(Y/n), I believe two of you have met before?"

Eyebrow cocking up once realization hit you. You nodded your head slowly in reply, unsure of were this conversation was headed.

The mysterious figures name is Jeon Jungkook. The only other person in the whole of Korea to win the title of champion.

You looked closely at the champion, known for his sharp shooting with his oh so famous duo handguns. You had only met him a couple of times during interviews and events. And although you won the championships two years after he did you only knew basic knowledge about him. You knew was that he was apart of the Korean branch and that he won at an extremely young age, at the age of fifteen to be exact. You remember your father coming back with the news. His win was advertised all over the place as he was the first successor of Korea. When you won it was the same - the both of you being the same age of twenty now - you were seventeen when you won the title of Champion sniper. It was everywhere when you got home. The pride you felt then had subsided over the years and your respect for the championships itself diminishing with it in the process. It was once considered the most honourable competition to win but now all it was was a publicity stunt. From conferences, public appearances too talks. They turned the championships into a way for financial gain. That's why - to you - it wasn't as honourable to win anymore.

However, on the plus side, after winning the Championships, you were immediately accepted into V.I.R.T.U.E which was your goal, to begin with. But to be honest, if you were to turn back the time you would have waited a few more years. Being at the age of seventeen, it was way too much for an angsty teenager to handle. You couldn't imagine being exposed to all you've seen now at the age of fifteen.

"Jungkook will be joining us this evening for training. I want to focus on developing your close combat skills." Knocking you back to your sense, you watch the director moving towards the board of weapons to examine the choices carefully. 

You wanted to let out an annoyed sigh when you heard the words 'close combat' roll off his tongue. It was only natural for you to grow a passion for it. Not everyone could be skilled in both close and long but in your sad case, you were terrible at it. Okay, terrible may be exaggerating it by just a bit. Your skills are up to par with your position it could be better if you were to enjoy it. You had expressed countless of times ats a newbie at the agency that you distasted close combat training but then it could lead the director into a tangent about how unprotected you would be if you were forced to engage in close combat. Which you thought was all baloney considering the fact that you had your rifle with you. But a few years passed and you actually grew a liking to boxing as well as the small pair of knives director Kim had assigned to you. So it was only natural for your shoulders to slump when director Kim didn't give a second glace to the small knives and instead opting for two long metal poles. 

Turning your sigh into a smile, you turned nervously to face Jungkook with the hopes of distracting your mind.

You knew from past experiences Jungkook wasn't much of a social butterfly and to be quite honest neither were you. The only reason you felt so comfortable with Zel, Ten and Taeyong was because of how openly extroverted and friendly they were. Complimenting your introverted personality.

So you could imagine, putting an introvert with an introvert was not the best of matches. You had tried to make conversation with the latter in the past but they always ended in awkward silence.

You watch his foot shuffle rather awkwardly against the floor before he cleared his throat and spoke, "you don't like close combat?"

"No? Could you tell?" Smiling at his attempt to lighten up the awkward silence, you pouted slightly.

"Yeah." He chuckled, his laugh taking you by surprise. But none the less, you joined in with his laughter. You were thankful though, it was amazing how much a conversation could lift a dull atmosphere so quickly.

"(Y/n) is more of rifle gal." Slinging his arm around your shoulder, Ten shot the male a large grin.

 Laughter soon subsided and Jungkook looked up at Ten with his large brown doe eyes before nodding his head firmly. "I know, she's not a champion for no reason." Smirking in agreement, Ten looked at you like a proud mother and ruffled your hair playfully.

"I'm taking it that you're not much of a fan of long-range either then?" You ask after taming the nest of hair Ten so kindly messed up.

He hummed in repose before the director made his way to stand between the two of you. "Here." He said before shoving a long pole into yours and Jungkook's hands.

Grasping the cold body of the weapons in confusion, you immediately looked up at the director in search of answers. "Director, I think you made a~"

"No." He immediately cut you off. "No mistake." Cocking his right eyebrow up, he shot you a knowing look. It was like he knew exactly what was going on in your mind and was confirming them for you. "How does a good old sparing match sound?"

You gulped before fiddling with the foreign weapon between your fingers.

 An agents weapon is pretty much considered apart of their body or even extra limb. The agent would have put their blood, sweat and tears into learning the in's, out's and how's of their chosen weapons. So when you remove an agents weapon you remove apart of them.

Gaze falling back onto the object, your grasp on the body tightened, the feeling somewhat foreign and new at the same time. There wasn't much to the body, it was the as plain as a weapon could get. In fact, it felt sorta like you were holding the handle to your rifle. Although there was a definite difference between the weight and side of the body. It was notably lighter and easier to maneuver then your rifle.

"Come on you two, hop to it." Positioning himself in front of the control panel, the director gestured towards the training deck.

Both of your footsteps were slow and hesitant as when you took your stands opposite each other in the training deck. Both of you hadn't looked away from your new weapons ever since you had received them.

'Participant one identified & two identified.'

"Ready?"

Tightening your grip reluctantly on the body, you watched Jungkook do the same. Tightening his grip on unfamiliar, he lifted it so it rested protectively infront of his face.

'Simulation beginning in: 3'

'2'

'1'

Leaping forward, you spin the pole in your left hand around before swinging it around with the intention of knocking Jungkook over in the head. He quickly counted your attack by blocking the pole with his causing the metal poles to clash violently against each other. The force form both of you causing the weapons to create an ear-piercing sound.

Pulling the pole back, Jungkook made use of the slippy metal the weapon was made out of and slipped his pole out of the clash. Swapping the pole quickly behind his back, Jungkook grabbed onto the pole with his left hand and swung it forward. 

You had you act quickly and duck to the floor before copying his movement but instead of the head, you aimed for his legs. He read your move easily and simply jumped back to avoid the possibility of being tripped over.

Holding the staff squarely behind you, you jumped back to create some distance between the two of you. You feel a small bead of sweat trickle its way down your forehead as your chest rose and fell at a rapid pace. Your eyes never left Jungkook's figure as he stood a few metes away from you.

It wasn't long until he leapt into action and swung his weapon towards you. You quickly brought up your pole and with two hands laid it vertically in front of you, blocking his attack.

Twisting the long body of the weapon, you managed to somehow hook it around so it hit Jungkook in the stomach. Beginners luck. 

'participant one injured, one point deduction.'

He gasped at the sudden painful impact and thrust his weapon forward, hitting your leg and causing you to trip and fall onto the floor.

"Stop playing around you two and focus." Both of you hear director Kim say from outside the barrier. Taking it as a wakeup call, you scrabble onto your feet. 

You didn't have much time to recover as Jungkook came in full force, Swinging his pole left, right, up, down and in all sorts of directions. To counter his attack, you had to follow the path of his weapon to a T, making it in time to block his attack before quickly moving to block the one coming immediately after it from a different direction. 

You had been so caught up with blocking his attacks you hadn't noticed your footstep outside of the barrier of the training deck. 

'participant two out of zone, five point deduction.'

Looking down to your back foot which was now sitting outside of the barrier, you gritted your teeth together in frustration. 

Jungkook only took your moment of distraction to his advantage and hit your side.

'participant two injured, one point deduction.'

You winced at the sudden jolt of pain in your right stomach and you quickly looked up to catch the pole in your hand, preventing him from hitting or moving his weapon at all.

In an attempt to get back his weapon, Jungkook pulled on it harshly but you responded by tightening your grip on it before tugging it forward. Your movement taking the male by surprise, you immediately brought your leg up and kneed him in the stomach. 

He let out a violent cough and you took this time to slide out smoothly from being corner and flipped the situation around. Now he was the one being cornered.

'participant one injured, three point deduction.'

Mentally patting yourself on the back for your smart thinking, your proud grin was soon washed off your face when Jungkook pulled a complete one-eighty.

Eyes glowing in concentration, Jungkook sprinted forward and launched himself into the air. His move catching you off guard as he flies swiftly through the air before landing on the other side of the training deck. Successfully getting himself out of being cornered. You mouth momentarily falling open in the process. 

The fight you were both in made you briefly forget the fact that he was a champion winning at the age of 15. His skill set was defiantly on a whole different level compared to nearly everyone you have ever versed. You had to pick yourself out from awe and lunged forward in his direction.

Jungkook allowed his tongue to poke out slightly from his lips before moistening them. he then flipped the pole around and charged forward. His speed startled you and as a result of this, you panicked and raised both the pole to it blocked his attack again. The force of his attack caused your shoes to slide across the floor, creating an awful screeching sound in the process.

You tried to use all your strength to push Jungkook back but no avail. The pressure of the two weapons eventually lead you to withdraw but when you pulled away Jungkook caught your wrist and twisted it into a painful position, the pain resulted in you discarding your weapon to the floor. 

You tried to get out of his hold by twisting your wrist, a technique you had learnt from director Kim...but you should have known it wouldn't work. If the director had taught you the technique you were positive he had also taught it to Jungkook.

Eyes falling to your other hand, you pulled it up and tried to hit Jungkook. Workaround the odd position you were in, you managed to hit him in the shoulder.

'participant one has sustained another injury, two-point deduction.'

Scoffing at the robotic voice, Jungkook had finally had enough of the simulation and lifted the pole up to your neck ending the simulation in one second.

'participant two surrenders.'

Releasing you from his grip, Jungkook held out his hand for you to shake. You took it and shook it firmly before falling to the floor in exhaustion. 

Your pole clanked onto the floor beside you before rolling away, you didn't even provide it with a second glance as you tried to tame your sporadic breaths.

"Good game," Jungkook spoke before crouching down next to you. 

"Thanks, you too." You heaved after drawing in a deep and shaky breath. "I'll make sure to get an older training room next time, the ones without a weaponry wall."

He chuckled before nodding his head in agreement. 

.

Okay if any of you know the title reference ;)

I have now officially kick-started Ascendant! It's beginning folks, I hope you are all as hyped as I am. New updates will be every Monday (for me). This one just early because I was too excited lol. See you all soon.