Using the forest as protection from the Red Sun, the relatively bloodied group was making progress towards the Bright Castle.
Rykel and Lady Eryn were the only ones remaining in a normal condition, with only small nicks on Rykel's chainmail as proof that he was somewhat involved in battle.
Solstice now had access to his new special sensory ability, which was quite nice! Solstice no longer felt like a useless generic human, he felt as if he was finally something more, but it would take some time getting used to. Apparently, according to Rykel, this was also supposed to allow him to warn the others when the Red Sun's annihilating eye would awaken, however Solstice was not confident on relying on his newfound ability just yet, which is why they decided to continue travelling throughout the forest.
While it wasn't optimal for them to travel in such a dangerous forest, to depend on Solstice, who felt like he became a toddler learning how to walk once more, wasn't optimal either. If any more forest dwellers came, they would have to suck it up and deal with it.
Lady Eryn, was still in her semi-unconscious state, so it was decided that Rykel would carry her on his shoulders until they made it to the Bright Castle. Anyone who saw Rykel as the young knight, a mere boy who was better fit to be a squire, would be very surprised to see him carrying another human while bearing the weight of wearing his armor for so long.
Of course, Solstice knew Rykel was no mere young human boy, or even if Rykel was truly human at all, but the other human comrades hadn't a clue of Rykel's true nature. Solstice thought that, maybe their superhuman ally, the flail knight, had a slight suspicion, Solstice caught him glancing at Rykel from time to time as they continued to travel and if Solstice noticed this, Rykel surely noticed that behavior as well. Whether Rykel was a untrustful ally or not was not fully determined yet either, there was a chance by the end of this, he would become the final obstacle to finish Solstice's Chain Trial, but for now, Rykel has not given Solstice an outright reason to earn his full distrust.
This break for Solstice gave him some much needed time to start thinking about his new abilities.
His new senses, the ability to feel the contours of everything around him in a ten meter radius, with the medium of it being the natural atmosphere and the 'World' itself, whatever that really means, gave him hope. The sensory information was provided to him in fast moving waves, which he not only naturally produced outwardly which in turn rebounded back to him carrying info, but also came his way as well from the general atmosphere.
With this, he was able to feel the general shape of everything, and when they moved or changed position, and the accuracy of this was only enhanced if there was a level of wind flow, because then he would be able to feel the friction drag more prominently. Wind flow was not a requirement for this new sense, but it definitely helped greatly.
Because he was able to feel how it moved around himself and anything else within that radius, it allowed him to know if something was occupying a certain space too.
Theoretically, he didn't really need his eyes and the sense of sight they provided to get around anymore! Which was a fantastic boon, considering he didn't know if he would ever wind up in a situation where his sense of sight would be detrimental or unavailable for him, he could simply substitute it.
Being able to sense and feel everything through that medium, allowed him to react to any changes within his immediate area, granted, only if they happened to be within his ten meter radius, but that would greatly increase his speed of reaction too.
While many people would rely on a supernatural sense reactively, Solstice was thinking of ways to apply it proactively.
Where he was currently at with it, he was overwhelmed with so much sensory information that he was only able to absorb general info, allowing him to feel the contours of everything. Solstice was thinking that if he was able to hone this to start feeling precise things, he could actively apply it during combat.
Such an example would be to focus so intently on how things moved in relation to the atmosphere, to the point where Solstice would be able to feel certain muscle groups tensing or relaxing from his opponent, thereby providing him with precise information to accurately guess what type of attack would be thrown and where. To be able to feel something so subtle would require much mental concentration but this would be proactive in a defensive way, Solstice also thought about how he could turn it offensively as well.
Using the same application for defensive measures, he could very well use this precise information to measure the balance of his opponent and measure which side is appropriately guarded and which is not. This would then allow Solstice to discern and enter any pockets that his opponent may have thought were not present and exploit them, of course, Solstice would need the adequate footwork and timing to enter these pockets.
Trying to feel such minute changes in the atmosphere sounded nigh impossible to Solstice, at least for now, but with time and practice, he felt like he would eventually be able to do it. At least for the time being until he trained it to be so exact, it's still a great additive to his reactive capabilities.
This was only one part of his combat competence, he still needed to get in shape and learn actual fighting technique, but unexpectedly to him, the future was looking quite bright for once.
Eventually, that ten meter radius, Solstice would turn it into his own personal kill zone, where everything in that area was under his control.
That was without the prospect of expanding that radius even further as well!
Even with these great ideas for application, flaws were still ever so present. What if he was facing an opponent that could move and pose a danger without any muscle tissue to precisely estimate movements from, like something akin to a wraith or what if he was fighting in an environment where there was no atmosphere?
'Wait, the only environments I can think of with no traditional atmosphere would be underwater or space, surely I won't be put in those situations will I?'
A flaw that was present in every sensory ability, one that Solstice was already experiencing the effects of, was sensory information overload. If there was too much provided data for Solstice to process mentally, his mind would numb and it would become hard for him to control himself. This flaw was also amplified by the simple fact that this new sense, in a way, also affected his sense of touch and hearing.
While Solstice's ability wasn't purely dependent on wind flow, it certainly was an important aspect of it, with that came the amplification of sounds that were carried by the wind, which made his sense of hearing more sensitive. Solstice could also feel anything within his radius through the atmosphere, almost as if he were touching them with his entire body, making his skin crawl at the uncomfortable sensation. Temperature was included in this as well, he is now more prone to hot or cold temperatures compared to a regular person.
All of these could be exploited by a cunning enemy. Solstice could combat this somewhat by simply increasing his tolerance to these issues, but he would never be immune, too extreme of any of these things would still hinder him.
"What are you thinking about so intensely, Drifter?"
It was Rykel, Solstice remembered that he was invited into a conversation with him, but he wound up lost in thought.
"The future"
"Something troubling you Drifter?"
"Yes and no. It's about my new perceptions. I welcome them because they are quite the boon but the overwhelming sensory information is giving me a stubborn headache."
"Ah…unfortunately I have no shady medicines to give you to solve that."
"You have shady medicines?"
"I was saying that in jest you buffoon."
Rykel chuckled. As Rykel's laughter fell away, an inky jet black liquid leaked from his nose, like a nose bleed.
"Rykel, your nose"
Rykel's expression quickly changed as he wiped the substance away in a hurry with a cloth. The sudden reaction surprised Solstice, he could tell that Rykel's mood turned sour and he had a good guess why.
Solstice didn't know what that inky black blood could mean, but maybe the superhuman flail knight knew what it was, and the superhuman had always kept glancing at Rykel since their departure. For whatever reason the flail knight was slightly suspicious of him, Rykel did not like that he had slipped up, there was a chance the flail knight had seen the black blood.
Solstice looked away from Rykel towards the flail knight who was in front of them along with the other knight soldiers. The flail knight's face was forward, as he kept the position of being the forefront of the group, still walking as he normally did, not showing signs that he had seen Rykel's leaky face.
Solstice was already somewhat suspicious of Rykel's true nature, all of his interactions with him gave him an image of an eccentric guy. That did not mean that Solstice could trust Rykel.
The goat-like eyes he had shown Solstice, his knowledge of many things, awakening Solstice's Drifter ability, his superior physicality, referring to himself with the title of Lord and his overall care-free demeanor in a shitty situation were far from considered normal.
Then again, not much could be considered normal when it came to all things having to do with the Wyrd.
Which is why Solstice gave Rykel the benefit of the doubt, but if he needed to hide some things from the other humans who were supposed to be allies, especially since Solstice was deprived of basic Wyrd knowledge, it could be that Rykel was far from a slightly creepy, eccentric ally.
It could be the opposite, Rykel could be a super creepy, eccentric enemy!
Walking side by side with Rykel, Solstice could feel the sour mood permeate the air, he was not very talkative anymore, which was uncomfortably different to the chatty side that he was used to.
Solstice turned his attention back to his newfound power, his extrasensory ability, which was currently giving him a mean headache. The throbbing pain was worse earlier, especially when it was first tapped into, luckily for Solstice it subsided a little bit. Just because it was painful, and only increased in pain when concentrated on, did not mean Solstice shouldn't train.
His journey to honing it down to feel minute details started now.
This process, pretty much consumed all of Solstice's train of thought, the only other thing he could somewhat consciously control was continuing to simply walk forward, the rest of his mind was occupied in attempting to grasp details presented to him by his new perceptions. Focusing on the information provided by his newly awakened senses really accentuated his headache, it would take him time for his mind to be assimilated with the constant flow.
A few minutes went by with no trouble, it was then that Solstice knew his trial was at its very end, because they exited the cursed forest.
There were beautifully pristine white marble walls in front of them, which were a part of the Bright Castle. The main gate was roughly half a kilometer east, they didn't really need to worry about the Red Sun, they did not have to travel much further at all.
'Just a little bit more'
The surviving group was ragged, bloody and tired, no one wanted to speak and to save their breaths for a nice comfy bed behind the safe walls. Or at least, the knights, Lady Eryn and Rykel were, Solstice was to be sent back to his real body, in the real world.
One hundred meters, one hundred meters was how far away the entrance gate to the Bright Castle was to them, their journey bound to be over. Other knight soldiers armed with crossbows manned the walls, looking upon the tired escorts. The flail knight caught the attention of a small group overhead the gate, and threw a hand single to them. The group of knight soldiers immediately went into action, opening the gate for them to enter, but instead, many knights were positioned in front with fighting spirit.
"I guess I can stop acting now"
A body flew in the air towards the knight soldiers, which they hurriedly caught, it was Lady Eryn.
'That was Rykel's voice'
Solstice dashed to the side, or at least he thought he did, but his legs didn't move, instead he found a hole in his stomach. Solstice's longsword dropped to the ground as he could no longer find the strength to carry it and he looked at Rykel, who was no longer a mere squire boy playing knight.
Rykel was not an ally, or human.