Unaware of the source emitting such a strange pressure, Sol’s competitors cleared the area near her and retreated to a more distant location to continue their climb. Within the cave, Sol’s breathing slowed to a crawl and her consciousness was fully withdrawn.
Within her mental world, Sol observed the changes her model was undergoing as if it were unrelated to her. Through sheer intuition and subconscious reflection, Sol analyzed the model, asked questions, and received feedback.
From it, Sol started to understand the mental model and how it interacted with the world. As if directed by another will, The Unchained Queen Beast model injected magic into her body. Observing the processing, Sol noticed the faintest hints of tendrils fine as hair extending from the model and reaching into the ether.
Though only a spiritual form, Sol could still somehow control her body within the mental world. Her head shifted to follow the tendrils and the magic they extruded. Each pulse that ran through the tendril reflected itself in the physical world by relieving her fatigue.
An odd understanding crept through her as she realized the mental model was a crude lever of sorts. Just as the model could apply force in the real world, the resistance of the real world applied an equal force to the mental model.
Despite maintaining her trance, Sol still experienced the epiphany in full. “No wonder it’s always damaged when I push myself… It’s as if I’m using a wooden knife to cut stone.” Her spiritual form exhaled a sigh as it embedded the realization into her memory.
As if to reward her new understanding, the mental model sprouted new growths from damaged and infected areas. Oddly, the new sprouts retained a white shimmer through what appeared to be veins as if it contained polished silver.
For the first time since Sol lost her memory, she felt a sudden boat in strength. It felt as if the world owed her and presented her with a bundle of magic. She could feel something growing beneath her skin and from it, a refreshing and cool sensation flow of something.
Reacting to the new surge, Sol watched her mental model exhibit growth once more. The infected areas spread further across the pristine areas of the mental model. Pain slammed Sol as she felt a heavy weight assault her mind. Exhaustion spread through her body and mind leaving her an empty husk.
The pain broke her from her trance and she could only look at the model with a sense of horror. The rust-like infection had spread across nearly the entire model. At this stage, Sol was unable to reconcile the sight with ‘normalcy’.
Festers of red and yellow flaked off the semi organic, semi metal structure. Sol’s spirit examined the model up close, however the infected areas appeared to be inert. At the very least, she could no longer detect anything wrong with the model’s output.
Feeling powerless, Sol withdrew from her mental world and opened her eyes in the cave. Surrounding her were metallic silver flowers bent towards her as if frozen in time. Her eyes drifted to one nearby.
With hesitance, Sol gently pressed the flower. Her eyes widened as the petal disintegrated into a fine silver dust. As if a trigger, the chain reaction spread from the flower, across the floor, and up to the nearby plants.
The disintegrating plants filled the cave with a powder that soon lost its luster. Shocked, Sol watched the event without much reaction. Perhaps numbed by the lingering fatigue induced by the trance, Sol closed her eyes and took a moment to regain her bearings.
Rather than ask questions she had no answers for, Sol revolved her mental model. To her amazement, magic flooded her system providing a strength and stamina that easily exceeded her previous capacity. A glimmer of intelligence flashed across her eyes before it was subdued.
Consuming a deep breath, Sol stood from her resting spot and exited the cave. Her fresh eyes scanned the deep valley near the base of the mountain and took in a level of detail she never thought was possible. Colors were somehow more vivid. Details and textures she saw from afar were magnified and gave the impression she could touch it by just reaching out.
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Sol closed her eyes and cycled her model once more. The magic built in her system and from her, a spiritual awareness blasted out across the mountain side. To her surprise, her spiritual awareness surpassed her 500 meter limit and broached the 750 meter mark.
Her surprise soon turned into a frown after realizing the lack of competitors near her. Sol glanced to the sky to take measurement of the Sun only to be confused further. Less than 20 minutes passed since she rested in the cave, so where had everyone gone?
From her pocket, Sol retrieved the Zhao coin and gave it another glance. Despite her increased ability, the coin remained a minor mystery to her. Sighing to herself, Sol’s gaze turned to the peak. Magic ripped through her system and her body blurred with its newfound strength.
Dashing up the mountainside, Sol could feel a resistance pressing back against her. The faster she moved, the greater the resistance and as she measured it more accurately, she found it increased as she gained altitude as well.
Sol had little understanding of the magic world, however she had an uncanny ability to understand the relative situation. She felt as if years of experience honed an intuition that pointed towards the right answer. As it stood, that intuition was pointing blame at Elder Zhao.
Kicking off a ledge, Sol leaped across a minor ravine. Her spiritual awareness was busy scanning for contestants while her other senses monitored the increasing resistance. Sol soon caught up to another contestant as the youngster pulled himself up over a cliff face.
Chasing after her, Sol zigzagged from face to face to scale the cliff. The moment her head broke the cliff face, Sol found a thick branch only inches from her face. Her reaction exceeded her thoughts as her arms crossed in front of her.
The impact sent Sol flying back off the cliff and into the woodline below. Gasping for air on the cliff, the young male wiped sweat off his brow before tossing the branch and accelerating up the mountain side once more.
Sol reflected as soon as she realized her mistake. Ego. Hubris. Overconfidence. Call it what you will, she underestimated her fellow contestants and was now living through the consequences. The treeline approached Sol quickly as her body fell towards it.
With effort, she managed to twist her body mid fall and took in her destination. A deep breath filled her lungs and with each exhale, magic rippled beneath her skin. Sol primed her body as much as time allowed and upon reaching the canopy of the woods, her hands moved with lightning speed to grasp whatever branch was available.
Gritting her teeth, Sol stripped smaller branches naked of leaves as her hands slipped along its length. Larger branches fractured as it failed to endure her weight. Despite the multiple failures, Sol managed to decelerate enough to where the final branch only flexed under her weight.
Sol dropped from the branch to the ground and coughed while grasping her bloody hands. ‘What a painful lesson…’ The pain radiating from her hands etched the mistake into her memory. Her thoughts churned while her eyes drifted back to the cliff. How much time did she just lose? It was hard to estimate.
Sol’s shaking hand reached for the Zhao token to ensure it was there. After discovering it remained with her, Sol released a relieved sigh. She understood her only chance to pass now was if retaining your token was the success condition.
Stuffing the token back into her pocket, Sol resumed her trek to the mountain top. Along the way, Sol only encountered one other competitor. Unfortunately, the youngster had already relinquished their token to another.
It took nearly two hours before Sol crested the final cliff and found a group of youngsters recovering. Standing before them was Elder Zhao whose eyes seemed to project a complex mix of emotions at Sol.
Sol approached the Elder and held her hand out revealing the single token. “Has this Lady passed your trial, Elder Zhao?” Though exhausted, her tone remained flat and her voice clear. Seeing such Elder Zhao closed her eyes. “The time limit has passed and you’re lacking the required number of tokens.”
Sigh. What else could she do but sigh. The coin fell from her hand and Sol turned her back on the Elder. Rather than continue the facade, she chose to find another way. It may have been a precious opportunity provided by her parents, however this test in particular opened her mind to how one sided it was.
Sol learned many lessons from this trial. In particular, she understood the gap between herself and the Elder. With that understanding came a sense of release. If it’s impossible, then why slam her head against it? It’s an exceptionally rare event that any single goal has only one method of achievement.
Thinking as such, Sol’s feet halted and she turned around to face the Elder once more. “Elder Zhao, what direction should this Lady travel to find the nearest town or city?” “Aside from Plausa?,” he asked with a hint of reluctance. “Yes.” Sol’s gaze remained firm as if to suggest she wouldn’t leave without an answer. “Girl, if you’re thinking of traveling at your age, it should be done with others.”