Before the commotion even began the three had already managed to get in one of the trials. They didn’t particularly check what the Trial contained.
Trial: En Passant Fleur
Difficulty: Maze
Participants: 1-10
Restrictions: None
Goal: Let it bloom
Rewards: Plants and Herbs
Daine glanced at the contents before entering the Trial alongside the two of them. Of the three, Noah seemed to be the most eager one out of all of them. His pursuit of knowledge was far too addicting for him, even more important than his own life.
As they entered the Trial, the familiar white void embraced them. As it was only the three of them, the Trial took a little while before it closed the door. Erasing their only exit for the time being.
They waited until the white void started to manifest a mystical garden where extinct trees and fauna were abundant. Noah immediately took note of such plants that he had only read in a book.
Directly below them were twenty-four circles, a different symbol pertaining to one flower. Noah smiled as he saw the outlines for each one of them. He immediately realized just what he was seeing here.
These twenty-four circles were connected to one another in a bigger circle. From the looks of it, each one had an affliction that caused it to not properly bloom. Whether it lacked water or had an invasive species around it, each flower had a problem.
With Noah’s knowledge of everything, he knew what each symbol represented and how he could possibly get a Perfect Clear. If not for his immense stock of information, he highly doubted anyone could possibly get a Perfect Clear without a lot of trial and error.
“You know what we need to do?” Daine curiously asked Noah. She had a brief overview of how they could get a consistent a Completion Rate of 70% without much difficulty.
“I have a solid theory of how to go about this one.” Noah looked around, noticing that one area had common and bland varieties of plants, some were even available for purchase in the city. The other side had exotic plants of unknown functions and properties.
Daine pointed at the area with the common variety of vegetation, “We can go here and get rid of some grass around the flower. A little elbow grease but it should still be basic.”
“What’s the Danger Level for this one?” Patrick glanced at Daine.
“It’s only a Danger Level 2. Any normal person should be able to finish this without issue. We can wrap this up pretty quickly since it should be relatively straightforward.”
Noah ignored Daine’s words and started exploring the area directly opposite it.
“This is Wooden Marrow, consuming it makes someone satiated for days. It makes it really handy for prolonged travel. Its weight is worth more than gold.” Noah didn’t even need to check whether it was safe to consume or not.
Noah broke apart a half-tilted trunk and split it apart. The inner segments of the trunk had small pockets of sap that had caramelized. He took a small orb of the stuff and consumed it.
“The books did not do this justice at all! You should try some!” Noah took two orbs of Wooden Marrow and threw them at Daine and Patrick. He continued eating more and more bits to satiate himself.
Patrick easily caught it and didn’t even question Noah’s words. He also ate it causing his eyes to widen in pure satisfaction. It tasted like candy but it was extremely sweet, far sweeter than any candy he had consumed. It strikes that delicate balance of being on the brink of inedibility and pleasant taste.
Daine was caught off guard and almost dropped the orb that Noah gave her. Luckily for her, she managed to grab ahold of it before it dropped to the ground. She looked at the two boys eating one piece after another and decided to do so as well.
“All the effects will disappear after we leave anyway, I might as well.” Daine opened her mouth and delicately placed it on her tongue. This orb of sweet delight melted in her mouth, causing her to grasp. She raised both of her hands and closed her mouth open, never before had she had something this delicious. “Noah, this is really delicious.”
“Exactly, it’s so good, I was willing to die for it. Anyways, we should finish this up, we have approximately around… two hours before we die.” Noah took the last piece on the trunk and ate it, ignoring what he had just said.
“Wait… what?” Patrick had to double-take and make sure that he didn’t hear incorrectly. “Noah, what are you talking about?”
“Oh. Wooden Marrow’s a food substitute, it’s completely safe to consume… if you can control Malum. As it turns out, the sap inside your stomach will start to melt down and blend with your body. It’ll start turning your blood into sap as well, it’s not a pretty sight.” Noah pushed a fern blocking his path to the side and started moving forward.
Patrick was enraged, he grabbed Noah’s collar and shouted in his face, “Why didn’t you tell us that before!”
Noah pinched Patrick’s hand away, “A Danger Level 2 shouldn’t even pose a threat. If you’re that scared then I don’t know what to tell you. Besides, the risk was worth it.”
Patrick knew what Noah said was correct. A Danger Level 2 Maze Trial shouldn’t even be able to hold them back at all. Adding on the fact that the Wooden Marrow was so delicious that he might even willingly eat another one given the opportunity.
Daine helplessly sighed. She had no control over the group at all. With that being the case, she was dragged along to sightsee for the time being.
They started going deeper into the forest. With each step, Noah’s acute eyes started to see more and more extinct species. It was clear that this place was a treasure trove.
“Hopefully the rewards will give us some extinct herbs. Like that one, that’s extremely toxic, one touch and you’ll forever lose your vision.” Noah pointed at a small plant, barely perceptible to the human eye. It had small thorns growing across its vines, if one were to look even closer, there was a small moist area that was doused with venom.
Daine immediately felt a shiver get sent straight down her spine. She almost forgot that they were in a Trial with how safe sailing it was. Little did she know just how many dangers they had avoided. With Noah leading the group, they had evaded man-eating plants, poisonous spores, sentient mushrooms, and even large trees that were waiting for them to arrive close enough.
“This is a pretty dangerous forest after all. If we followed the path from earlier, we wouldn’t have needed to be so cautious but there’s no point in doing that.”
Daine nervously asked, “W-We could still turn back…”
“Going back for mediocre rewards isn’t reasonable. A Perfect Clear should be earned after all.” Noah bent down and grabbed a small stone on the muddy ground. He accurately threw the stone into an unassuming area.
A few seconds passed by with nothing happening at all. Patrick got a little impatient and tried to walk forward when Noah reached out his hand, stopping him from moving forward. As he did so, the direct area in front of them immediately caved. A giant hole appeared as the earth seemed to have opened its mouth to eat.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Pravum. That’s cute.” Noah curiously looked at the majestic creature before him. “Daine, just a heads up, this is definitely not a Danger Level 2. Fortunately, this Maze-level Trial isn’t as merciless as it looked. This particular type of Pravum is a sentient plant-based creature that burrows into the ground and waits for its prey to enter one of its crevices. It would then close its mouth and eat them.” Noah expertly deduced the Pravum before them.
Daine was on the ground. Her legs had given out as her heart nearly burst out of her heart in shock. “We… we were so close to dying…” She clenched her chest, trying to calm down yet couldn’t.
Patrick was faring better, he was only startled when the hole appeared but quickly reclaimed his composure. As the first experience he had with a Pravum, Patrick wanted to know, “Are Pravum always this large?”
Looking down into the hole, it could be seen that the only thing they could see was an unholy hole so deep that they couldn’t see the bottom at all. One could only assume just how gigantic this creature was.
“It’s a spectrum, some are large and docile while others are small yet violent, and vice versa. Fortunately for us, it’s a stationary predator that has no intent in going for prey that had noticed. Danger Level 2, haha!”
Daine still couldn’t feel her legs. Taking a deep breath, she also regained clarity. This was the third time she had faced death in the face. The first time was during her childhood when Sefi nearly took her life while the second time was when Arin was crushing her neck.
“Just a word of advice, you should get used to facing death, Daine.” Noah had a mysterious smile on his face. He always had that mysterious aura behind him, all-knowing yet at the same time, contradictory.
“Noah, why do you say that?” Daine didn’t feel like this was the normal kind of mystery that Noah had. This was more intentional.
“Coincidences in the world happen but when far too many coincidences happen then there’s something more to it. I don’t know what’ll happen in the future but I could guess.” Noah came up to her and reached out his hand.
Daine gritted her teeth and took his hand, “It doesn’t matter. Arin’s going to kill me later. Now that I could guess what happened to my parents, there’s no point anymore.”
Noah clasped her hand and dragged her up, “My intuition says you’ll be alive for the time being. A handy chess piece like you won’t be disregarded that easily.”
Daine didn’t want to ask any further. Noah’s answers just lead to even more questions and she can’t have that anymore.
Noah went to the side, patting Patrick’s back. “You, my friend, should watch out. You just got caught up in something you shouldn’t have. Talk about bad luck, tsk, tsk tsk.”
“Watch it! I’m not going to die that easily!” Patrick shoved Noah away while shouting. “I’ll survive one way or another.”
Noah joyfully smiled, “That’s why I like you. Word of advice, when you get your Combat Technique, get the most dangerous one you could get your hands on. You think Arin got that strong by standing in the back? Go big or go home, Patrick. Oh, go tell the spy to do the same.”
Patrick narrowed his eyes. Noah definitely knew far too many things. How did he manage to uncover this information? No one knew except for him.
“Don’t look at me like that. It was obvious.” Noah snickered.
There were far too many esteemed Solvers in the city, Noah’s background was just far too mysterious. No one knew who his family was, not even the ‘Blight’ name was recognizable so it was most likely a fake name.
“No point in waiting around, let’s start moving. We have around an hour and a half before we kick the bucket.” Noah didn’t wait for them at all, walking forward as he took odd paths forward. Sometimes it was a zigzag, other times he went back and went forward. There were even times when they went in circles only to end up further than where they started from.
Daine didn’t like Noah one bit, despite being enslaved the look in his was extremely hopeful for the future. She didn’t understand just why he was so happy being in this situation. Even as they were getting dragged along a safe route, she still didn’t accept just how easily Noah accepted the situation.
She had to struggle with her own thoughts for countless nights before finally accepting that this was her life. She had to distance her actions and her desires from one another to survive. It was only when Arin had shown up that she broke character.
Standing right behind Diane to ensure she didn’t fall behind, Patrick was also thinking about the future. His life had been derailed into such a predicament, learning about things normal people would never be able to glance at at all.
The party went on quite the distance, dodging dangerous traps more threatening than the last. It came to a point that they could no longer just passively go around the dangers anymore. A great entity was blocking the way forward, an open clearing.
Noah cautiously started walking back, “This isn’t a joke, move back… slowly and quietly…”
Hearing Noah’s tone, the both of them followed suit. They didn’t even dare ask Noah what made him so scared. They simply believed him since they knew nothing at all of what was contained here.
After retreating a safe distance, Noah finally eased up, “That was close, that was pretty dangerous. If we caught that primordial flower’s attention then we would’ve been in big trouble.”
Saying so, Noah looked behind him only to close his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“We didn’t escape. This is a terrible situation for us.” Noah rubbed his temple, he didn’t expect that he would get trapped like this. “If I didn’t warn you then I should’ve been safe.”
Hearing this Daine didn’t even know how to react anymore. If he had chosen to forsake them at this point then she couldn’t even blame him.
Despite being under numerous trees, they all started to feel as if their bodies were enshrouded in warm light. This odd sensation caused them to suddenly feel as if their bodies were warping. In the very next moment, they blinked and they had been teleported.
They looked around to see that they were in the same clearing that they had seen earlier. Directly in the middle of it was a simple cerulean flower. It was showing signs of wilting away but for the time being, it still held extreme vitality.
“The Echoing Bloom traps other living creatures in the vicinity and prevents them from escaping. The only way to escape is to either kill the flower or to satiate its need to bloom. This is bad…” Noah was sighing in complete defeat, it was as if their deaths were set in stone.
Patrick came over to the Echoing Bloom and yelled at Noah, “How do we kill it?”
“Using Malum, so we can’t do that. As for letting it bloom…” Noah annoyingly walked over to it. He hovered just above it and sat in front of it, waiting for something to happen. “Someone get over here and tell it a secret.”
“Eh?” Daine saw two gazes looking at her. One was empty and bored while the other was calm and steady. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” Noah pointed at Daine and disappointingly said. “I wanted to get the Dawnful Nightmare instead of this Echoing Bloom. Such a waste of time.”
Patrick was slightly angry at the fact how nonchalant Noah was taking it. “So you’re telling me you made us scared because we didn’t find the flower you wanted to get?”
“A Danger Level 2 for a reason I guess. Other than the dangers of the forest, the flowers are all relatively easy to make bloom. All you need is to either know the flower itself or to try a few things until you get out.”
“But a secret? Will that really work?” Patrick crossed his arms in doubt.
Noah pointed at a few shifting words directly around the Echoing Bloom.
He read out loud, “Words may be spoken and forgotten for an eternity. Yet I refuse to let it happen! Speak your darkest of secrets to let the world know forever of your legacy.”
“Tch, I guess that Danger Level is correct. Such a joke of a Trial, literally such a joke.” Noah was dealt the wrong hand. He didn’t get what he wanted and he wasn’t even challenged at all.
“Then why does it have to be me?” Daine pointed at herself.
Noah narrowed his eyes, “If I’m not going to get a Dawnful Nightmare then I want to know what happened that made your parents sell you out. From the looks of this place, only above-average people live here. Even that one guy that Sefi killed was relatively skilled.”
Daine didn’t expect Noah’s gentlemanly nature to suddenly turn twisted in anger.
“Your sister’s Sefi, a teenage girl that has managed to gain the approval of a Mysterious Fragment. Your parents even sent you here, a place so depraved that they enslave people. You managed to catch Kian’s attention, a peak Labyrinth Solver. And the public story that everyone knows is that Sefi killed her family but yet here you are, alive and well.”
Daine bit her lip, she knew that Sefi’s existence here meant that her parents were already dead but for her to hear it from Noah’s mouth was harder than she expected it to be. She also had just learned that Sefi had managed to gain the favor of a Mysterious Fragment, something even Kian would want to have.
Unexpectedly, Daine started tearing up. As one tear slid down her face, it signified a downpour as the floodgates continued. Noah was unimpressed, he wanted to get something out of this at the very least, something he could leverage.
“I-I don’t know… everything you said’s new to me! My parents saw how insane Sefi was turning and sent me here! They promised me they’ll come get me after the trouble’s over but it’s been years since then.” Daine looked down, unable to contain any of her tears. “Now you told me my family’s gone… I…”
Patrick felt bad for Daine. He saw how helpless she was against her fate. “Noah, just back off a bit. At least let her catch her breath.”
“...” Noah looked at Patrick and closed his eyes. This was unbefitting of him. “You have five minutes.”
Daine cried and cried. As the five-minute point had arrived, Noah was about to interrupt her sorrows when Patrick shook his head. With so much time left, Noah didn’t mind extending it a bit longer.
Daine’s tears eventually dried up. All that was coming from her was a soft whimper, similar to a wounded cat. With nothing to live forward to, she drifted off into empty thoughts.
She clenched her hands and spoke out all of a sudden. “Sefi’s Mysterious Fragment, Cacophony of Madness, was supposed to be mine…”
The Echoing Bloom mimicked Daine’s voice, “Sefi’s Mysterious Fragment, Cacophony of Madness, was supposed to be mine…”
Noah and Patrick’s eyes were blinded by light, only for them to realize that they had escaped.
“A Perfect Clear.” Noah looked around him as an Echoing Bloom appeared in his hand, among other exotic and extinct plants. He had left with a curious expression on his face.