Seth

The sun beat down over the arena sands. It was brightly illuminated, the only thing that the sun shone on in this void of a realm Seth found himself in. As he panted in the center of the arena, he held his head high as he fought to remain poised. “He seems to be flagging.” The cold voice of his mother emanated from the shadowed stands of the arena. “Send in an orc. My son will not fail so easily.” “Two orcs.” The measured, steely voice of Master Seindrick spoke. “He can take it.”

Seth had mostly caught his breath from the grueling battle with a quartet of goblins and their shaman. Emphasis on almost. Every battle had been adding to his burden, never allowing him to fully recover or prepare himself. As two greenish muscular humanoids entered through the gate opposite him, readied his sword and took up a calm posture, as if he had nothing to fear from them. The trial monsters would never truly hesitate, but they might be a bit slower to attack, allowing him more time to recover.

The orcs grunted to each other before drawing swords and charging at him. He dodged and weaved through their attacks, noting how they were a bit faster and more skilled than goblins. Of course, orcs never relied on speed or skill to slaughter their foes. Even the watered down versions inside Tutorials could break him in two, and they would take a lot of punishment to down. But that was fine. He wouldn’t lose.

A cut there. A cut here. That one got an eye. Lead the uninjured one farther while the cautious one stands back. A perfect swing, cutting the orcs throat while allowing him to make space. They were rushing him now. Desperate now that one of them was dying. They were already too sloppy for it to affect their swordsmanship. It didn’t matter. Like that apparition said. He wouldn’t fall to this. Couldn’t.

When the orc with the slit throat finally bled out, he switched his full focus toward offense. The last orc was panicking, not attacking in its fear. After it died, its blood staining the sand, he relaxed. Gasping for breath, he waited for the voices to send in the next challenge.

“Well, he performed up to standards there.” The voice of Lord Starin spoke. “Shall we send in three next?” “Ridiculous.” Seth’s sword instructor scoffed. “After he scored one good hit, he fled and cowered! I’ve never seen such a disgraceful display In my life!” The voices continued to discuss his performance, and he wondered for the hundredth time if he could pass the challenge by defying them. But it was simply not so. The first trial often involved conquering things that held you back. And his family was never holding him back. They always pushed him higher, to be as powerful and perfect as he possibly could! No, what was holding him back was his fear. Of them. Of expectations.

‘But I can’t continue this.’ Seth thought. ‘I will eventually get exhausted, and fail. I have to face my fears.’ Face his fears… oh. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

“No, send in another two. He must be perfect, not just successful.” Instructor Schallot said. “Fine.” His mother’s voice agreed. “Send in two mo-.“ “Send in an ogre.” Silence greeted Seth’s statement. Just as he was about to lose his nerve, his father spoke. “Very well.”

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As the gate on the far side of the arena opened, Seth centered his mind. He could save berating himself for not realizing the trick for later. Now, he just needed to win one final fight.

As the ogre stormed through the gate it stretched to its full height of five meters, towering above Seth. It roared, squinting in the harsh sunlight. At least a wide as it was tall, the ogre was a grayish green with knobs and warts all over its muscle-bound frame. A daunting sight even to experienced Improvers. But Seth stood steady, still recovering from the last fight, waiting for it to make the first move.

Bellowing, the monster barreled towards Seth with frightening speed for its size. Seth held steady until it was almost on top of him then suddenly dove to the side. Barely avoiding its large frame, he immediately jumped back up and ran at the ogre. The monster was too slow, and he had climbed up its back before it could recover from its charge. However, unlike trolls, an ogre’s arms are long and flexible enough for it to reach pesky gnats on its back. Of course, Seth knew this. He was simply using it as a means of attack.

He put his sword around the front of the ogre’s head and stabbed into its eye. With a bellow of pain and rage, the ogre thrashed its arms, trying to hit the human who dared hurt it. Seth had already jumped away to safety, leaving the enraged ogre to tire itself out. The moment the ogre calmed down enough to look around, he had already circled around and jumped on its back again.

In the ogres surprise, it failed to prevent him from repeating the maneuver with its other eye. But this time, he was unable to get away in time. The ogre’s arm just grazed his side, but he flew away, impacting the sands of the arena. His sword fell at the ogre’s feet. He surged to his feet, staggering a little, but managing to rush out of the way as the blind ogre rampaged towards where he landed.

Clutching his side, Seth cursed at the strength of the ogre. Although its speed and toughness were scaled down for his first trial, its absurd brute power didn’t seem hampered in the slightest. But now the fight was over. As long as he focused and didn’t get complacent, he could avoid the blind ogre and whittle it down. After a long and intense balancing act, ogre collapsed from blood loss. Seth collapsed along with it at the opposite end of the arena.

Elation surged through his veins. He did it. He conquered his fear and defeated the boss. Now, he could finally rest.

“What a cowardly and pathetic showing.” The ice-cold voice of Nancy Starin cut through his celebration. “No son of mine would resort to such cowardly tactics. Send in another!” Despair pooled in Seth’s stomach. “No! I won!” He could almost hear the sneer in her voice. “Win? Have you destroyed the Rot? Have you plucked the stars from the skies and presented them to me?” A shadowy figure loomed over him. “You pathetic worm. You will never amount to anything. You shame the Starin name!” Her voice turned into a snarl, a noise that he had never heard his mother make. That was enough to jar him out of his trance.

“You are not my mother! I won, and you can’t take that away! You’re just a figment of my fear! You are NOT. MY. MOTHER!!!” He raised his blade and slashed the monster before him. The shadows reformed and tried to drag him down. “But this is how your mother truly feels. What hides behind her civilized veneer. You will never truly satisfy her. She will just take and take and take! Until you have nothing left.”

“No!” Seth found his confidence mounting. “you’ve lost!” A glimmer revealed itself inside his chest—his heart. “You are just my fear. You failed to hold me back the moment I felt courage. I will make them proud!” The shadows churned. “You will see! You can’t beat me with courage, because I’m not your fear! They are the ones holding you back! When you fail, remember this for your next trial. They are your enemy! Wait, why can I say this—”

Seth screamed as light and warmth exploded from his chest and drove back the darkness, swaddling him in its embrace. As he lay there in a realm of peace and comfort, he felt something pooling in his heart, followed by a sense of unlocking there, then a similar, but somehow less important feeling in his entire body.

The next thing he knew, he was back in the classroom, the same instant he left.