Glenn gasped and held his breath, his eyes widening as they discovered the breathtaking sight beyond the door. Instead of the bustling cityscape he was expecting, he found himself amidst vast wheat fields that stretched for kilometers. The cereal leaves rustled gently in the breeze, the light creating an illusion of a golden wave moving across the land.
The twilight sunlight fell on the wheat like a gentle caress, making it glow in an otherworldly manner. Beyond the fields, a fair distance away, appeared to be a village, markedly more prosperous than the Sewers. Farmers were wielding scythes amid the wheat, meticulously reaping the harvest alongside some weird-looking scarecrows.
Glenn enjoyed the sight, a trust feast for the senses when he realized that the village he noticed was nestled against another towering wall, even grander than the one through which he just entered.
‘They really like walls here…’ He silently thought, before sighing in confusion.
'So this is King's Rise... It's weird, it didn't look like that from up top, when we were coming from the Still Peak,' Glenn mused, rubbing his head. Maybe he hallucinated it, or remembered it wrong? It just…he was almost certain something was there.
‘My best bet is on some kind of illusion magic,’ Diamanes speculated, ‘...Even though it is quite insane to have one spanning over hundreds of kilometers like that. King’s Rise is by no means a small city, after all.’
Glenn shook the awe off, "Well, it seems like this is where it all begins. I need to find the...Auberge, right?" Glenn murmured, glancing at a piece of paper Redan gave him. "I'm supposed to meet Sahro there, but they didn't specify when, did they?" A mischievous grin played on his lips.
"I think I'll indulge myself in a bit of exploration. After all, it took me what, two, three months to get here? I might as well 'savor' the experience now that I've arrived." He declared, stashing the paper back where it came from.
‘Well, you’re free to do so, but Sahro probably won’t be too happy about it,’ Diamanes warned without much expectation, the entity probably thrilled at the idea of their conflict.
Glenn chuckled wickedly, the aches of his fight against the Black Heir throbbing slightly, "Oh, but I'm counting on it. The longer I make him wait, the more satisfaction I'll get."
With a wide, satisfied grin, Glenn strode with measured steps, enjoying the last sun rays before the night fell. The scent of fresh dirt and cereals was simply wonderful compared to the stink of the Sewers. There was a dirt road cutting through the fields, with a few carriages heading for the village. Glenn paused when he noticed a farmer sitting under the shade of a tree, his scythe and straw hat beside him. He was drinking from a leather flask, water trickling down his chin.
Glenn approached him, intending to ask about the "Auberge". The farmer's annoyed eyes rose to face him as wiped his mouth.
"We've already paid the tax; there should be quite a while until the next Harvest. What do you want?" he spat, eyeing Glenn's attire up and down. Glenn couldn’t help but mimic him, looking at Jefferson’s clothes. He was probably going to need a change of attire if that was the reaction of everyone he met. Being mistaken for a noble had its pros and cons, but the cons kind of outweighed the pros in this world, it seemed.
"Could you tell me the way to the "Auberge", please?" asked Glenn politely. The farmer blew his nose into his hand and wiped it on his tunic.
Glenn’s eyelids twitched as he struggled to keep up a polite smile. He almost spat an insult, but instead chose to draw a deep, measured breath. That didn’t change that he was still quite flustered at the evident show of hostility from the farmer. Were the nobles hated everywhere, by everyone? He knew this was kind of a common thing in medieval eras, with the lords overtaxing their serfs and the like, but still.
It was surprising.
"You just have to follow the road; you'll see the signs when you arrive. Now, stop bothering me; I have work to do." The farmer picked up his scythe and hat and walked towards the fields. He paused for a second, still showing his back to Glenn.
"Oh, and remember. Stay on the path." He said mysteriously, his tone slightly mocking. He then went and returned to the fields, disappearing between the wheat plants to go and reap the product of his labor. Glenn moistened his lips, wondering what he should do with that, and shrugged. He resumed his journey, blissfully unaware of whatever the farmer was trying to warn him about.
The walk was quite pleasant, the sound of cicadas feeling like music to his ears. A few birds were perched on the scarecrows, cawing and singing. He was enjoying this peaceful atmosphere so much that it was really easy for him to notice something wrong.
At some point during his journey, the atmosphere began to shift strangely. At first, it was just a feeling, but the closer he got to the village, the weirder Glenn felt. There were a few signs that disturbed him: the wind had stopped blowing, the birds weren’t chippering, and the insects had stopped making noises. The silence was heavy and ominous like a shadow extending over him. The only thing he could hear was the sound of his feet hitting the ground, as well as his breath and heartbeat.
He continued to walk, slowly scanning his surroundings. Every farmer had mysteriously disappeared at some point. The sun was going down, little by little, bringing with it a magenta shade that gave the fields an even weirder property. Glenn rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was going crazy. Which wouldn’t be that much of a surprise, really.
Glenn’s gaze snapped to the left, searching for a movement on his left, only to see one of these grim scarecrows.
"...Weird...It felt as if–"
‘As if something moved? Yeah. Take out your staff; you're going to need it,’ warned Diamanes without further explanation. Glenn tensed up and complied without saying a word, turning his head to the right to find another scarecrow planted there, standing in the wheat a distance away. It almost felt like it was staring at him. Glenn’s fingers wrapped tightly around his Fire Staff, his heart racing as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
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“What kind of weird shit am I going to…” He muttered only to shut up, his eyes widening slightly as more scarecrows appeared on each side of the dirt road. If Diamanes warned him, that meant this was going to be some serious business. And he wasn’t sure he enjoyed that.
"Gee, I hate this. Why do they need to build up the tension?" A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, rolling down his chin. His body was tense and ready to dart off at any sign. It wasn’t like the first time, back when he met Father Albenas in the forest, or whatever his name was. He was anxious, sure, but not so much he wasn’t able to move. He felt more like a soldier on the front, waiting for a head to pop up to blast it before his own.
His pace increased gradually, synchronized with the rate of appearance of the scarecrows. He prepared a Magic Bullet in his left hand, keeping it at the ready. The sound of rustling leaves made him jump on his feet as he looked back and found yet another scarecrow, closer than ever as it stood in the middle of the golden cereals.
“...Shit, if I don’t get the hell out of there faster I might see Fiddlesticks,” Glenn muttered through his clenched teeth. Diamanes watched silently, wondering how his host was going to handle this predicament. Continuing toward the village, Glenn stepped on something, making a cracking sound. Looking down, he found a white bone, probably a humerus. He paused and looked to the side of the road, the blood draining off his face. There were more bones and skulls hidden there, right under the wheat.
"What the hell is going on?" Glenn questioned, his heart racing madly. Diamanes maintained his silence as an ominous feeling crept up Glenn's back. He glanced around, noticing more and more scarecrows standing in the fields, surrounding him.
Glenn took a deep breath, his eyes locked on the village in the distance. It was probably a 5-kilometer run. His pace quickened as he began running, and the scarecrows seemed to follow him through the fields, none of them venturing onto the road.
"The farmer clearly said to stay on the path. Was he aware of this?" Glenn questioned as he ran at full speed, his knuckles white from gripping the Fire Staff too tightly.
‘Probably. Stop worrying about that and focus on your surroundings. I can count at least twenty of those creatures,’ Diamanes warned, his usual mocking stance nowhere to be seen.
"What are they?" He questioned while looking back.
Diamanes scoffed, ‘No idea, but they don’t seem like they want to be friends with you.’
"No kidding,” snorted Glenn. One of the scarecrows on his left shuddered and a projectile emerged from its hat. Glenn ducked at the last second, feeling the air moved by the attack. The projectile was a long, sharp bone still attached to the scarecrow. Without giving it another thought, he smashed his fist on the bone, breaking it in two. The scarecrow reeled back silently, hiding behind its kin.
"That was a limb?" Glenn exclaimed, surprised by the weird sight. He glanced at the broken bone lying on the ground, discovering that a few pieces of flesh were still attached to the bone, completely rotten and filled with maggots. This strangely didn't disturb him as much as it would have a few days ago. Thinking back to it, he lived in a septic tank for a few months, so just a bunch of maggots weren't going to move him that much anymore. Well, it was still fucking disgusting.
Glenn pointed the Fire Staff toward the scarecrow that attacked him, shooting a fire bolt toward it. The fire wrapped the monster easily, burning it quickly without making a sound as it died. The bony limb vanished into ashes along with the main body. Strangely, the wheat fields remained unaffected by the fire.
The other scarecrows closed in, no longer bothering to hide their monstrous appearance. Their heads were made of flesh and bone, giving them a grotesque look. Their arms and legs were simple branches, and under the garments that served as their clothing, there was more flesh, as well as black, beating hearts. Glenn managed to discover all that by shooting a Mana Bullet into the torso of one of them, using a few precious seconds to analyze them.
"Alright, they have a heart, so that's probably a weak point. And fire is very effective. Good to know." He huffed, jumping above another attack. He charged his staff with a huge chunk of Mana, a quarter of his reserve, shooting off an impressive short-range ray of fire. A dozen scarecrows went up in flames, leaving nothing behind but ashes.
Glenn picked up the pace and glanced at the village, wondering when exactly he was going to arrive at that damned village. He barely perceived a dozen figures blocking the road a kilometer further.
"Did the scarecrows plan an ambush? What the hell?" He yelled, starting to wonder when this bullshit was going to end. His palms were sweaty as he held the Fire Staff and continued to push back against the scarecrows. His Mana was quickly bottoming out, making the situation that much more urgent.
He kicked away a scarecrow a little too close for his taste and dashed under another attack. He got closer to the blockage, finding it to be held by farmers holding scythes and torches while wearing dark grins on their faces.
They waved at him as he escaped from the bony claws of another of these monsters. Were they...cheering him? He shook his head in bewilderment as he noticed two of the farmers toast to something while watching him. It felt the same as looking at two dads watching a football match. 'Damn it, where is my beer?'
"I can't even use my Implosion, it would be completely overkill and a waste of Mana!" Glenn said aloud, knocking a bone away. He didn’t know who he had to thank, his abnormal body or the brittleness of the scarecrows' limbs. He clenched his teeth and clutched the Fire Staff tightly, infusing half of the Mana he had left into it.
‘Thank god I took it from the bartender’s hands back then,’ Glenn silently thanked himself, readying to unleash the most powerful attack he could muster.
The Fire Shard on top of the staff gleamed brightly with incredible power until it broke into a myriad of pieces. Glenn blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing. He cursed and threw the broken staff into the nearest scarecrow’s face, stabbing it in the face.
“Fuck, my fucking rotten luck!” Glenn screamed as he ran for dear life, his eyes widening largely as a literal army of scarecrows appeared the way he came from. The fields were completely overrun by the army of monsters, yet he couldn’t hear any sounds except for those he produced.
"I hate this!" Glenn blurted out, narrowly avoiding another attack. He hurried toward the barricade, no longer bothering to be on the offensive. The more he shot down with his Magic Bullets, the more they appeared, swarming him. With his Mana close to bottoming out completely, Glenn jumped over the blockade and unsheathed the sword Giselle gave him, refusing to go down without a fight.
But the scarecrows had stopped right in front of the farmers. One of them walked up to them, a defiant look in his eyes. The scarecrow and the farmer exchanged a silent, intense stare-down.
Glenn stared intensely, “...What the fuck…?” He muttered in disbelief. Suddenly, the scarecrow retreated and disappeared amidst the wheat fields alongside the rest of his kind. The fields returned to their normal state, the wind rustling through the golden leaves. The sun reached down, leaving its place for the twin moons to take.
Glenn sighed in relief and collapsed to the ground, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The farmer he had met earlier emerged from the group, approaching him with a grin. He extended his left hand, prompting Glenn to stand back up, his other hand holding a scythe on his shoulder."Well, it's been a long time since I've seen one of the Court send one of their own for the Test. Good job, kid."
Glenn blinked, stuttering, "Huh? What? The Court? A Test? What the hell are you talking about? What the fuck was that?"
The farmers looked at each other, their faces marked with confusion. The one who had approached Glenn seemed equally bewildered and scratched his ear, "Well, that was the Test. Weren't you sent by the Court to take it?"
"Of course not! I don't even know what the Court is, and I knew even less that there was a test to come in this damned city!" shouted Glenn, still under the adrenaline of this event.
The farmers' faces paled, and the one who had talked to Glenn earlier blurted out,
"Oh, crap."