Chapter Thirty-Four

Arden stood frozen at the edge of the clearing filled with so many fairies flying about it almost sounded like a beehive.

As one, all fairies turned toward them and darted over. With dizzying speeds, they spun around them so fast Arden didn’t even bother trying to follow their movements.

Instead, he focused his attention on a group of fairies approaching from the front at more modest speeds. Modest as in barely trackable by his sight. They stopped in front of them and began to speak just as fast as they flew. Each fairy finished the other’s thoughts as if they were a hive mind, which, for all Arden knew, they were. He just remained where he was, hoping they found him worthy this time.

“Visitors?”

“Fae?”

“Maybe.”

“Partially.”

“Impure.”

“Both?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Maybe.”

“Potential?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe.”

“Yes.”

“Enough?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe.”

“Yes.”

“Worthy?”

“Unsure.”

“Maybe.”

“Unsure.”

“Test?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, everything went black as he entered a trial like the others. The odd part was he felt the snake atop his head and the newly acquired staff remain in his hand. His bow and arrows vanished, however.

He scanned his surroundings, finding it to be the same clearing he previously stood in minus the crystal and fairies. A glance down at his bracelets caused a frown. Unlike the previous trials, they didn’t flash as if they didn’t register the progress. In fact, they appeared dim, not quite to cool down levels, but maybe in a low-powered mode.

Either the bracelets couldn’t update his quest or there wasn’t anything to update. The fairies didn’t find them worthy, but didn’t reject them either. That meant this was some sort of test. The question was what it tested.

Arden spread his senses out, instantly noticing a familiar melody. The snake atop his head shifted to the right just as he did the same.

All melodies in the other directions gave off a darker tone. From experience, he knew that meant hostility. Did the melodies mean he didn’t lose the cards? Or did the trial grant him the ability? A question he wouldn’t find an answer to if he remained where he was.

One answer came sooner than he wanted when he focused on his staff. If it was wood, maybe he could turn it into a spear. When he tried to activate his nature manipulation card, nothing happened. That was when he took in the ambient mana.

Despite being in the middle of a forest, there was no nature mana. Instead, only life attunement mana. Apparently, life mana didn’t count as nature mana. That meant he couldn’t use any of his cards. A realization that sent a spike of fear through him, but there was nothing he could do about it. The tree spirit said Ortus couldn’t use life mana, so he supposed it made sense.

Odd how the staff remained with him. A sudden realization hit him, prompting him to peek at the staff again with his mana sense. Instead of looking deep, he attempted to connect to it for a moment.

Like the connection already existed, it happened without effort. Nature mana flooded his body, filling his veins to their limit in a blink. In a panic, he cut the connection, finding it just as easy as establishing the connection.

Now filled with nature mana, his bracelets lit up, but didn’t flash. Still, the knowledge he had access to his cards gave him some peace of mind.

Even with access to his cards, he discarded the thought of turning the staff into a spear out of fear it would damage what he now knew was a mana battery. Whether it had other functions, he didn’t know.

As he approached the edge of the clearing following the melody, he felt the snake atop his head shift in tune with the melody as if it was dancing. That proved the snake could hear the melody, too. What that meant, he didn’t know. It explained why the fairies sent her into the trial too, though it was odd how they went in together.

He supposed it was better to have company in unknown territory.

The moment he stepped into the forest, his surroundings shifted. Instead of a forest, he now stood in a dark cave.

After taking in his new environment, he latched onto the melody once more and followed it to the left as it was the only sense that worked as the silent pitch-black cave nullified his more mundane senses.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Suddenly the melody shifted, forcing him to pivot to the right as straight ahead gave off a dark tone.

One more step and his surroundings morphed again. An unrelenting pressure hit him, nearly pushing him to his knees. When he gasped for breath, water poured in. With all his strength, he forced the water from his lungs and latched onto the lighter melody.

Not wanting to drown, he forced his body to move as fast as it could. The pressure even smothered the snake still atop his head. Her previously energetic dancing was no more than a slight twitch in tune with the melody.

He paid her no more attention as he put all his focus on following the melody as if it was his lifeline.

Just as light-headedness set in, the scene morphed yet again, but he almost wished it hadn’t. A pained hiss reached his ears as he stiffened. It was like he stepped into a volcano. Without looking, he locked onto the lightest melody, which wasn’t much lighter than the dark spots. Everywhere was dangerous.

As he stumbled forward, he took in his surroundings. The thought of a volcano wasn’t far from the fact. All around him, fire burned. The only path available to him was straightforward. Even without following the melody, he would know where to go. At least, until his eyes dried out too much to see properly.

Fortunately, within seconds he reached whatever goal the stage had as his surroundings changed. Despite standing in the super-heated air far hotter than the worst day in the desert, a shiver ran through him. For as far as the eye could see, there was snow. He wasn’t sure how any life could survive in the barren cold, the same as the fire.

At first, he thought there might not be life, as it took him several seconds to find a faint melody. It was so faint he had to push his senses to the max just to keep track of it. It flickered as if it was on its last legs, but it was there.

Worried it may die on him, he rushed forward, the robe not doing anything to protect him from the cold.

When he stumbled, the snake atop his head fell off his head, frozen stiff. On instinct, he caught the snake with his free left hand and cradled her. Despite their issues, he didn’t want to leave her to die, even if he wasn’t sure they could die in the trial. The snake probably couldn’t protect itself from the cold, not helped by its cold-blooded nature.

As he stumbled forward, legs growing stiff, an idea sparked. The mana he took from the staff seemed to circulate through his body, providing extra protection. Oddly, his mana core didn’t react. Outside of the trial, it would pulse, providing mana to his body even if he couldn’t consciously control it, but now it was silent.

With that knowledge, he pushed mana into the snake, causing the snake to twitch. A little more and her eyes regained focus. She weakly looked up at him, a brief flash of thanks appearing before she went limp, probably trying to maximize the mana.

While terrified what awaited them next, he pushed forward, reaching a lone wilted sprout in the endless frozen white expanse. Unfortunately, unlike the previous stages, they didn’t move onto the next environment.

Upon looking down at the wilted sprout, he had an idea. He opened his Ortus menu and put his Accelerated Growth card in his active hand, then activated it. The wilted sprout perked up near instantly with the mana infusion. As the sprout recovered, so did the melody, growing louder by the second until it climaxed as a beautiful red flower bloomed on the five-centimeter-tall plant.

That was when their surroundings finally shifted.

They found themselves back in a familiar forest clearing, but yet again, no fairies or crystal were within sight. Another missing item was the staff.

An empty hollowed out feeling assaulted him in the next moment. Upon checking inside, all the mana he took from the staff also vanished. That was a problem. Though if the trial took it away, that meant he didn’t need it to complete the stage. Still, the extra insurance of his cards helped with his nerves.

No longer frozen, the snake slithered up his arm back to her nest atop his head.

Like the previous stages, he looked for a light melody only to freeze in horror. All melodies gave off a dark, malicious tone. To make it worse, the amount was almost deafening. Far eclipsing any other encounter.

A flashback to his wood trial gave him a spark of hope. Deciding to take a proactive approach, he focused on his right, trying to take over the dark melody.

At first it proved successful as the edges of the clearing lightened, but the surrounding dark rushed in and quashed it. Not to be discouraged, he kept pushing each time forced back, but every attempt made it just a bit further.

Then, out of nowhere, like a turbo kicked in, he reached almost double. The source turned out to be a dancing snake atop his head. Encouraged, he redoubled his efforts, trying his best to ignore the distracting snake dancing her heart out atop his head. He almost wanted to tell her to go to the ground, but he didn’t want to ruin their momentum.

Unfortunately, their momentum stalled soon after, anyway. At least, until another lesson he learned from the wood trial came into effect.

It was like the tree spirit prepared him for this trial. Instead of trying to push with just the two of them, he commandeered the melodies he already had under control and pushed them forward.

The snake caught on immediately and sent her gathered forces as well.

Their army blazed forward, but another problem presented itself. The dark melodies on the opposite side of the clearing made their first move. Roots shot toward them, forcing him to split his attention to force them back.

The snake proved extra valuable and took the reins. She took full control of their combined army as Arden focused on defending against attacks.

As if most of the enemy’s focus was on the marching army, it was much easier to gain a foothold on the left side of the treeline. With each dark melody conquered, his momentum built, soon nearing the size of the army the snake commanded.

The further he pushed, the weaker his push became, however. Even with the army backing him, there were limits to how far he could reach. Yet again, just like the wood trial. Still, since the trial didn’t move on, there was still more he needed to do, so he kept pushing.

That was when a panicked voice in his head snapped his focus back.

“Back up needed in clearing!”

Arden slowed his army’s march, then retreated. When he focused back on the clearing, a gasp escaped him. Violent melodies encroaching from the front were far darker than any previous melody.

It seemed like the enemy gave up on defending the left and right flanks and instead decided to counterattack. The problem was if they pulled back their forces, it would gain ground on them on the left and right.

To make it worse, he felt a building force behind them as well. Why didn’t they think to reinforce the clearing before going on the attack? They over extended.

Suddenly, the snake slithered off him and landed on the ground. The snake did a weird dance like circle, probably trying to keep control while conveying her idea. He wasn’t sure why she didn’t just tell him in his mind, but he got what she wanted.

Arden nodded his head and returned his focus to his army, hoping the risk was worth it. Instead of trying to defend against the building forces, he sent his army in a circular motion to the front side of the clearing, hoping the snake did her end. A stab of pain hit him, but he steeled his focus.

His army crashed into the back of the attacking force like a tidal wave, crushing the opposition instantly. The enemy appeared completely unprepared as all enemy forces converted to his side while his army passed through.

Faster than he expected, his army reached the back end of the snake’s army, completing his side of the counterattack. Upon returning to his body, a gasp of pain escaped him as he dropped to his knees, or at least he would have if it weren’t for the roots speared through his body.

The snake wasn’t in much better shape. Since she wasn’t atop his head, roots wrapped around her small body, crushing her to the ground.

However, despite their injuries, their gambit proved victorious. No dark melodies loomed over them. Even the roots that attacked them retreated, though he almost wished they hadn’t as they were the only thing stopping him from bleeding out.

Still, despite all their efforts, their surroundings didn’t change.

As if in sync, both of them sent their now massive armies marching outward, crushing any opposition remaining within their range.

That proved to be the key, as the next thing they knew, they took in the same clearing. This time populated by fairies and lacking injuries.