"Alright, listen up!" the lead soldier yelled. "From here on out, the test has begun! You will all find your way down this cliff and into that forest." He pointed at the black expanse below.
"Just like you've been briefed, the test is going to last from now through tomorrow. You only have..." He brought out a small pocket watch to check the time. "—Approximately thirty-four hours to get in as many kills as you possibly can. By 6 p.m. sharp tomorrow, the test will come to an end, and any kills after that will not be recorded."
"Good luck." He nodded at them, then immediately turned and jumped down the cliff, drawing gasps of exclamation from the recruits. It seemed to be a signal, as the other soldiers followed suit in quick order, disappearing from view one by one.
Some of the recruits ran over to the edge of the cliff in excitement, trying to catch a glimpse of the soldiers that disappeared below, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"So, it begins." Cedric swung his warhammer over his shoulder, ready to get moving, but he was beaten to it by Jet at the forefront. He was the first to step away from the others, along with Kathelyn. They had both gotten more and more distant as the days progressed. Aside from the casual hello here and there, they had kept to themselves.
"Well, at least now we'll get to see what they've been up to so far," Zephyr mused, stepping into stride with Cedric.
Now, everyone was moving. There was a path down the side of the cliff that led to the forest below, so everyone headed in that direction.
Despite the emphasis on "every man for himself" that had been hammered repeatedly, most of the recruits had started to team up amongst themselves, already laying out ground rules for how they would split the kills.
There were still lone wolves though— like Zephyr and Cedric— but a lot of the recruits decided to team up, including Anna and Helga.
As they all descended, they noticed the temperature starting to drop. They'd learned about the preferred habitat of Skarnids and knew they liked cold environments, so the drop in temperature didn't surprise them too much.
What actually took them by surprise was the cause of the reduced visibility as they descended. It seemed to be the trees here. They were totally different from those found in the outer areas of the rift. Firstly, these had fully flourishing leaves and branches that were pitch black in color and absorbed nearly all light that came into contact with their surface. They were the main cause of the darker environment here. One could barely see more than ten steps ahead in every direction. It felt like walking into a curtain of shadows.
The cold and the terrible visibility immediately put everyone on high alert. Subconsciously, they had all stopped talking, taking cautious and deliberate steps, even watching the sound of their breaths.
Cedric tapped Zephyr on his shoulder and gave him the peace sign as he picked a random direction and started down that way, disappearing from view within a few steps.
Zephyr followed suit, picking another direction and going down his own path. The same was happening all around. The lone wolves were dispersing from the general group, heading in separate directions. The others who had formed alliances moved closer together too. Their group leaders were dishing out orders and reminding them of the rules they set. Among these group leaders was also Zeke. For some reason, he also decided to form a group to tackle this test, though his was a small group of what seemed to be capable people— they were all at least eight-node awakened. He watched as Zephyr and Cedric disappeared into the forest with an unreadable look in his eyes before he barked out the order for his group to move
.
.
.
Whoosh!
The sound of air being cut by something was heard.
Zephyr dashed between the trees with blistering speed, all care gone to shit. Right now he was fully focused on escaping.
It had been more than two hours since he'd started the test just like everyone else, but for some reason, he couldn't find a single Skarnid or even any other beast within his vicinity.
He had recorded zero kills since then, and all he could think about was his cursed luck for picking a terrible direction. Added to the fact that there were others out there who would've gotten kills already, he was getting restless. Eventually, he stopped being cautious and started wading through the forest noisily, hoping to even draw the attention of any roaming beast.
He got what he was looking for.
Some short while ago, he finally clashed with a wild Skarnid that blasted a fully charged chitinous spear spell at him out of nowhere, almost catching him by surprise. This time though, he reacted more calmly, dodging the spear with minimal movements and launching straight at the humanoid insect with his battleaxe. But in his focus, he lost control of the Mana Barrier spell that was keeping him safe from the effects of the flakes, and a cold chill immediately seeped into his now exposed body, causing him to falter in his charge.
"There's something else in the air here!" Zephyr sucked in a deep breath in fear. The chill sent a deep fear down into his very being. Whatever was here was like the nemesis of everything Zephyr was— Life. Vitality. Mana. He could feel a repulsion in his core where the spell was heading towards, and he immediately started up the Mana Barrier spell frantically.
The Skarnid, which was just at the brunt of being split into two halves after Zephyr's quick reaction, also noticed his staggering steps and sudden franticness. So instead of fleeing like its kind usually would— either for backup or to escape— it opted to charge forward, making Zephyr falter yet again.
A mad look of derision crossed Zephyr's face at the interruption— the effects of the flakes in the air, and this new foreign substance already starting to influence him slowly.
With a bestial roar, he raised his battleaxe and swung without holding anything back.
The skarnid skidded to a stop, but it was too late. Even the hardening spell peculiar to its species couldn't stop Zephyr's axe as it cleaved the ant nearly clean through.
This was where Zephyr's bad day started.
Because it wasn't killed in one strike, it began a screeching cry that echoed through the dark woods as it thrashed about on the ground.
Zephyr didn't want to let up, but whatever semblance of reasoning still remained in him forced him to turn his attention to the pressing matter at hand— casting the Mana Barrier spell.
Zephyr began the chant and visualization, and like never before, he could swear that he could feel his mana node working through each step more clearly than he ever had— it felt... systematic.
A sense of relief slowly started to permeate his body as the spell activated, pushing back against the invading chill and also clearing his mind till everything was out of his body and the bubble-like layer of the Mana Barrier spell formed around him before clinging to his skin like a body-tight suit.
"Haaaa!!" Zephyr gasped, falling to his knees, taking in mouthfuls of air.
The Skarnid's death cries were still echoing through the forest, bringing Zephyr straight back to a state of wariness. He had no time to catch his breath.
Immediately, he lifted his battleaxe off the ground and slashed down repeatedly till the beast's cries died out.
Panting, he scanned around as far as his eyes could see in the dim surroundings, his ears perked up in full attention, listening for the slightest sound. It had seemed long, but everything happened within a few seconds, and Zephyr knew that since this was a wild Skarnid, there was bound to be others of its kind within the vicinity. The question was, how far?
Rustle—
Zephyr's muscles tightened, tilting his body instinctively. He heard the displacement of the air before the rustling in the bushes, and his body had immediately reacted.
Another.
Zephyr jumped forward, rolling toward the nearest tree as he heard even a third bounding straight after the second. He immediately scrambled behind the tree and shielded himself, barely evading the two spear spells that embedded themselves into the tree with enough force to almost pierce him on the other side.
Whoosh.
"Another again??!!" Zephyr jumped from his position, into a forward roll, then used his momentum to get up on his feet, immediately zigzagging his way forward as he picked up speed.
"I'm in deep shit!" He cursed through clenched teeth.