When I get to Griffon's home, I see the ancient man named Charles in a spherical field, not unlike the one Gxyuip created around the students, though this one is a lighter blue. The field is protecting him from pieces of rubble that have fallen from the building, but his face still appears injured, with a streak of blood running down his forehead. With a weighty kick, I run over and push off a chunk that is floating over his head. He notices this, and the blue field blinks twice before disappearing.
He pants and heaves a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Griffon."
"It is no issue, Charles," I reply.
He chuckles in an exasperated manner. "You speak a little weird now, don't you?"
"Do I?"
"All hell's gone loose, and that's the first thing I think of." He laughs. "Can you believe it?"
I think for a moment. "I think it is fair to say that humor is the best cure for an ailing soul."
He looks shocked. "You're a little too calm for a sixteen-year-old who's had to see all this shit happen."
"It is an attribute of mine," I lie. I have seen too much suffering in my original world to be too surprised by death and devastation.
He nods his head. "I wish I had one like that. All I've got is this force field to protect me with." He points a palm out, and a blue sphere appears around the two of us. "Rely on me from now on, will ya?" He turns to me and smiles.
"I will do so," I say, nodding. "Do you know what has happened to my parents?"
He shakes his head, a gloomy look crossing onto his face. "I lost sight of them as soon as the giant rats came out."
"Giant rats?"
"Did you have a different trial?"
I think for a moment about the best way to respond to his question. Should I tell the truth? But who would believe that I did not purposely choose to kill another person and accidentally passed?
"We had... another monster to deal with," I carefully choose my words.
"I see," he replies, gazing into the distance. "We should find some food before that damn imp comes."
He leads the way, and I follow. Taking advantage of the situation, I activate my all-perceiving eye on him.
Base Attribute: Protector
A force field may be activated. Limitations will be applied based on the strength of will.
I see. So he does not have a second attribute. I do not know if I can completely trust this man, but I also do not know where to find food, something that is direly needed by my body. I rub my belly and try to ease the grumbling in my stomach. We walk past destroyed buildings and falling neon lights, the cold wind blowing into my hair. I shiver.
Finally, we enter a dilapidated construction with shelves of gleaming packages lining the walls. Charles picks one of them up and throws it to me. I catch it with both hands.
"Sorry, there isn't anything healthier here. Maybe someone else has taken the rest, or it may have been crushed in the destruction." He points at the debris in the corner.
I look at the bag in my hands. "How... do I eat this?"
He looks startled for a moment before slapping his forehead. "Ah, right. I forgot about the... amnesia. Sorry." He takes a bag in his hands, pinches it on both sides, and tears it open. Then, he takes out an item from the package and pops it into his mouth. "See? Easy, right?"
I am a little hesitant, but I imitate his motions. I crush the hard object with my teeth slowly before quickly finishing the rest, moaning in pleasure. "This is delicious," I say.
"Chips taste the best when you're hungry," he says, chuckling. I stuff the chips into my mouth and savor their salty taste, occasionally choking slightly before washing it down with a bottle of water. After eating and drinking our fill, an imp pops into existence next to us.
"Was that a nice break?" Gxyuip asks. "We have a special, trans-world event for trial number two!" My heart pounds in my chest. Trans-world? Is my home also being affected by the constellations?
A white light suddenly surrounds me, and in the next moment, I am transported to a forest, Charles nowhere to be found. I immediately enter the lotus position and meditate, trying to sense any qi in my surroundings.
Nothing.
Does that mean that people from my world are not participants in this trial? An idea comes up in my head.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"Hey, Gxyuip!" I shout. An imp appears out of nowhere.
"Oh?" Gxyuip muses. "You're one of the first people to call for me."
"You say that we should think of you as a moderator, so I do not see why we should not be able to ask you questions relating to the trials, yes?" I ask.
"Yes, yes," the imp says, checking its nails. "Just don't waste my time or piss me off."
I suppress a grimace. I must be careful of what I say in front of this creature. "May I ask if there are cultivators in this place?"
"Cultivators?" Gxyuip wonders. "Like, farmers? A couple, I guess. Why?" The imp looks at me in bemusement.
"Ah, it is because my grandfather was a cultivator. Thank you for answering my question," I reply, bowing in front of him. It is not a lie, but it seems that the cultivators I am thinking of are not present here. I sigh with relief.
"At least you have some respect," the imp says before fizzling away.
Right after the imp leaves, the red-orange box with swaths of light blue appears before me and swarms my mind with information.
[Team Trial] Defeat the goblin king. 24 hours will be given.
A small map appears in front of me, but it is hard for me to understand it. I have only seen very few maps in my life, and I could only get glimpses of them before they were taken away from my prying eyes. I take a look around.
Only in this moment do I truly take in the stunning scenery around me. The lush greenery is vibrantly saturated, and the clouds in the sky take wondrous forms. There are towering trees like the buildings I saw in the city, and drops of water spill into puddles from bushy leaves. Though there is no qi here, the air is clear and smells of vegetation.
Suddenly, I hear the sounds of people talking from beyond a veil of plants. I run over and am greeted by the sight of the dark-haired Sung and a blonde girl who looks younger than me. Around fourteen years of age, I estimate. I use the all-perceiving eye on her.
Unable to read this user's attributes.
I sigh, disappointed in the limitations of this power.
"I am Elaina, daughter of Eos, goddess of the dawn. Why are you stopping me?" she shouts, pointing at the smug-faced Sung.
"I know who you are," Sung says, crossing his arms. "Why else would I obstruct you?"
"Do you want to challenge me?" she asks, her face pouting.
Sung waves his hand. "Nothing like that; I just want to befriend you. But I assume you want a test of my strength beforehand?" He is smiling as if he is playing a game.
Elaina's face twists in anger, and a sword made of light actualizes in her hand. "You know me, and yet you still want to test my wrath? How dare you!"
Wings of light sprout from her back, and she lunges towards Sung while he casually takes out a silver bead from his pocket and throws it in the air. Smoke erupts from the bead and engulfs her body in midair, and she loses all momentum, coughing and swinging wildly into nothingness. Her eyes are damp from tears, most likely caused by the stinging qualities of the smoke. The man in front of her does not attack her, but waits for her to recover.
"Is that proof enough of my strength?" he asks, grinning.
"You cheated!" she shouts. "How did you even get that thing?"
"You didn't know that you can buy items from the imps?" he shakes his head. "I'm unimpressed with the almighty daughter of Eos."
"What do you want with me?"
"Join my team," he says. "Actually, I'm planning to team up with everyone here. I just think you're going to fail if we defeat the goblin king first, so I'm trying to help you out."
She glowers at him. "I don't believe you."
He shrugs. "Believe me or not, all I want is for you to join my team."
Elaina thinks for a moment before reluctantly nodding. "You're strategically minded and powerful in your own way. I don't really like you, but fine, I'll join you."
They shake hands, and a dim light forms around the point where their hands meet.
"Um," I say, coming out of my hiding spot. "You said that you would team up with everyone. How do you do that?"
They look startled for a second before they relax, seeing that I'm not a threat.
"Your imp didn't tell you?" Sung asks. "Just shake hands with someone, and the both of you will be on the same team." His face grows serious. "I'm planning to save everyone."
"It's a dumb ambition," Elaina interjects. "People will die in these trials no matter what. It's the only way to ascend and become a constellation. Step over the bodies of the dead and move on."
"Become a constellation?" This is news to me.
"Yeah, idiot," she replies. I frown, an urge telling me to smack this girl. She continues. "It's literally the whole point I'm here. I'm planning to join the ranks of my mother and build an even greater legend than her." At this, a small smile appears on her face and she puffs her chest out in pride. "My mother is the goddess of the dawn, by the way."
"A goddess of the dawn, you mean," Sung points out. He sticks his open hand out in my direction.
"Welcome to the team."
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Sung teaches me that the yellow points on the map indicate other people in the trial and that he has to track them down. The team trial is meant to divide people, but if he can save everyone, he says, then it must mean that the constellations will support it since it falls within the rules of the game. It is possible to make a team with everyone in it, and thus the constellations must have noticed it already.
Once everyone has grouped together, I notice that there is a wide variety of people here. There are those in the shape of lizards, others with the torso of a human and the legs of a horse, and other such odd creatures.
Sung leads the charge into the goblin king's domain and we find a giant black-skinned creature who towers above us. He notices us and the attack starts.
Time blurs in that moment as I fight with the rest of the team, though I understand that some have already run off. Blood stains my vision as I hear the bones cracking beneath the goblin king's flesh and the wailing he makes as Elaina slashes his skin. Sung uses his wings to fly around the creature, confusing it and drawing its attention while he prods its eyes. Soon, with the joint effort of the group, the goblin king passes away, its mangled corpse a destroyed mess.
Gxyuip emerges from the cadaver's mouth and claps his hands. "It seems everyone has lived this time. Interesting. Hope you all had a fun time with the trans-world event! We will then immediately move on to the next trial, as your prize, you see." He looks around at the faces in the room, then white light shimmers around me as I am sent into a classroom, the blood washed off my clothes. The red-orange box appears again.
Graduate from the magician's academy before time runs out. 3 months will be given. You will be sent back to Earth once finished.
"Please look at the notebook in front of you!" a man with a white beard at the front of the classroom shouts.
The paper in front of me changes into some sort of test. How do I pass this trial if I cannot read? I pray for someone to help me. In that moment, a familiar sucking feeling engulfs my body.
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I open my eyes to feel the qi surrounding me, tickling my pores and invigorating my body.
I am back.