Jack didn’t know how long he had been unconscious for- it could have been anywhere from a few minutes to over a day. A splitting headache was the first thing that welcomed him as he opened his groggy eyes. Then came the pain, the muscle ache and a powerful hunger gnawing at Jack’s stomach, causing him to groan tiredly.

“Get up,” Jack’s consciousness chided him, for he was lying on the floor unguarded and weaponless, an easy target for even the weakest of monsters. He tried to put strength in his arms, and a sharp burst of pain tore at his right arm, but it surprisingly held. Jack was pretty sure his arm had been fractured in three places, but the pain was nowhere near that level. He figured that the physical stat did pull its weight, or maybe it was the four recovery pills he’d downed in one go that did the magic. Either way, it didn’t matter.

“Meoow!” Luna projected the emotions of excitement as she saw Jack regain consciousness, causing Jack to involuntarily break out into a smile. He had survived. Luna had survived. The Orc Titan either couldn’t get inside, or just gave up. That was enough for Jack to smile, he had succeeded in his objective. Well, for now.

Jack had managed to hoist his upper body, but he wondered if his right leg was still serviceable- if fractures could be healed, why not flesh wounds. Left leg first, followed by the right, he got back up to a standing position, and a searing pain tore across his right thigh. Jack let out a silent scream, but the pain immediately started receding- almost as if his body was adapting to it.

He started to examine his surroundings, slightly surprised that he could see inside the cave without any light source. It was hard to tell in the daylight, but the white marble like substance the mountain was made of had luminescent qualities, and the small, narrow cave he was in was constructed entirely of that material.

“Meeeooow!” A louder, miffed wail of protest came from his side, and Jack turned to Luna, who was clearly displeased.

“Ah…” Jack played with his hair, a nervous tick of his, “You’re hungry, aren’t you? Well, I guess the pills should work. Sorry, Your Highness, I don’t have the royal fare you are accustomed to,” He pulled out two pills from one of his pockets, tossing one to Luna and biting down on the other.

Luna swooped the pill midair, downing it in one go.

“Hey, it’s actually not bad,” Jack muttered appreciatively, because even though it didn’t have any real taste his hunger was gone in an instant.

“Meow,” Luna gave Jack a small nod of acknowledgement, seemingly satisfied by his humble offering. Jack had to admit it, he still wasn’t used to a cat that nodded to his responses, but it was the one good thing this apocalypse had brought him.

“So, where the hell are we,” Jack turned around, but like his sensory abilities had already informed him, the entrance that had saved his life was replaced with a wall of white rock- he could neither feel air flowing in from any opening in the cavern walls, nor could he hear any sound from outside.

“Meow,” A small, uncertain response was the answer Luna gave, projecting the emotion of confusion through their bond.

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“So the mountain just decided to close in on us,” Jack sighed, but didn’t seem too phased. The thing about confronting an Orc Titan almost twenty levels above you is that there’s few things that can terrify you anymore. It was almost expected in this purgatory they called a ‘trial’. Maybe this was a different kind of test, some other challenge created by the system.

Jack did feel as if he was missing something, and his higher thought processing stats immediately gave him the answer: his mini-map was missing.

“Hey System, can you pull up the mini-map?” Jack asked, for relying on the system for support was almost second nature.

The familiar blue screen that he’d come to appreciate and hate at the same time, was nowhere to be seen.

“System?” Jack called out again, with some uncertainty building up in his voice.

No response.

“System?” Thought Jack, hoping that thought commands would work if voice commands did not.

No response.

“Uh, Sir Divinity. I deeply apologize for cursing at you earlier, I -er, wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Jack called out, with unmasked shock in his voice. Would a divinity really be that petty? Jack didn’t think so, it would certainly be easier to smite him down to rubble instead.

No response.

A deep chill ran down Jack’s spine, and he felt goosebumps all over his body. A cold bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, as he tried to assess the situation. The trial was designed by somebody, which was either the system itself or the three unknown beings that called themselves Empyreans. Their aim should not be to kill all humans, and Jack couldn’t imagine most people surviving what he did- it was a combination of will power, determination and luck- and even Jack would not claim that he could replicate the feat under the same circumstances.

The thought that something had gone wrong with the trial, that was what terrified Jack. Who were the enemies of the three realms? Who had killed their divinity? What information were they withholding?

Jack smashed his fist against the white stone in frustration, causing a loud boom to echo out in the narrow cave, sound bouncing off against the walls. The wall stood there unfazed, while he received a minor cut for his attempt.

“Odd,” Jack muttered, because he clearly felt as powerful as he was before. The system disappeared, but his improved stats did not. So the system was still connected to him, but couldn’t respond? He didn’t have enough damn information to reach a conclusion.

Jack did not attempt to break through the wall again, he knew that was a lost cause. If the mountain was so easily penetrated, then Jack figured the angry orc outside had a far greater chance than him. Anyway, his senses were sharp enough now- he could tell that material would not budge, weapon or no weapon.

A thought struck Jack, clearing the fog of uncertainty looming over his thoughts in one go. Perhaps this was a test from the system. Perhaps this was the work of an organization or entity that opposed the system. What did it have to do with him? He was not the aggressor, but the victim. What value did killing him have? The system was doing that well enough on its own. He had allegiances to no party but his own.

The Orc Titan was also standing outside this place. Was that a coincidence? Jack did not think so. Was it guarding this place? Why?

What secrets did this place hold?

He had the option to sit in a narrow cavern, weaponless, until his food ran out or move forward and discover them for himself.

His danger sense indicated that there was no danger coming from up ahead, not even a trace of it. Maybe it was his paranoia talking, but that made Jack even more wary.

"Survival lies ahead," Jack mentally centered himself, knowing that there was no other option. He had fought an Orc Titan and lived to tell the tale, and he would face what lay ahead with the same determination.