As I walked deeper into the room and looked up into the window. The purple haired elf walked up to and adjusted—what looked like a microphone. It started to crackle a bit, and she speaks, "Good morning, Mr. Kima. My name is Arial Skyloft, and I will be the one advising and monitoring you throughout the trials of enrollment."
I waved hello, and she says, "Um, we can hear you."
"Oh! Haha…I don't know why I thought you guys couldn't," I let out a laugh of embarrassment.
She clears her throat and says, "So, I assume that you have already been informed by the Headmaster herself about what you will be doing here. So, without further ado, please walk over to the middle of the room."
I do what she says, and at the center of the room, a small area of the floor sank into the ground—creating a hole. A circular shiny chrome platform rose from that hole and the loudspeaker went off again, "Place all of your belongings on the platform and we will give them back to you at the end." I walked towards the platform and did what the advisor said, placing the only item I have that Eliza gave me—the Horo. I stepped back, and a tiny barrier formed over the Horo, it was similar to the one outside of Cerene. The chrome circle sunk back into the ground and the original white floor reappeared. That was pretty cool, they're so technologically advanced. I wonder if magic plays a big part in this advancement.
"I'm ready when you guys are!" I said out loud. She then replies, "It's good to see that you're eager to begin. Before that, how do you expect to fight without any Magic gear?" The room that was once white slowly turned black and then I saw blue lines glow from walls. It created a checker pattern on the walls. I flinched and got a bit anxious about what was going to happen, but then, a flash of light voided my vision. I instantly covered my eyes with my arm to keep the blinding light from coming in. After a few seconds, I put my arm down to see that the room has completely changed. A gallery of weapons from small to large appeared.
"Whoa…This is amazing!" I couldn't believe my eyes and I got carried away—so I looked around for a bit and then Arial spoke, "Mr. Kima, welcome to Siren's weaponry facility. Here, you will pick any weapon of your choice to use for this trial. When done, please stand at the empty space in the middle." I look around me and see metallic tables filled with different weapons, and the walls carried an array of different armor. Swords, daggers, guns, bows with arrows, bombs, gauntlets, and light to heavy armor. I walk around slowly and stop a few times to check some out.
"Any weapon, huh?" I say to myself as I come across a katana with a golden hilt. I tried swinging it—it was very light and sharp. "I don't even know how to properly use any of these weapons and they expect me to fight with them?" I mumbled to myself as I put it down. "I heard that…" Arial said I was surprised. How did she even hear me?
I turned around I saw something shine in the corner of my eye. Out of curiosity, I decided to check it out and I came across a unique gadget. It's the shape of a rectangular slate; it was the same size as my smartphone. It's a beige color with a half blue and red crystal ball at the center. It was in a Ying Yang style. "What is this block? Maybe if I—," I touched the crystal ball in the middle and I heard a click. "Oh shit!" I shout as I drop the whole slate while it starts transforming into a sword hilt and a beam shot out of it. "A beam sword?! That is not what I expected." The beam itself was the coolest part; half of the beam is blue and the other half red--just like the crystal ball embedded into the hilt.
"Hey! Be careful with the weapons. They're school property," Arial scolded me.
"Ah…Sorry, I got spooked," I replied.
I picked up the sword and waved it around. "Hmm, this feels right. Ok, I think I've found my weapon." I clicked the same button that I accidentally pressed, and the beam disappeared instantly, and the hilt turned back into a slate. It had a little clip on the side, "Pretty convenient," I said while clipping it on the right side of my pants. I walk over to the circle and Arial asks, "Interesting choice. Any armor? Some chainmail, heavy knight armor, a light chest plate perhaps?"
"Um…no, I don't think I really need it since this is an enrollment test. I doubt that I will need it." I replied.
She lets out a tiny laugh in amusement, "Oh? Confident, are we? I like that. Fair enough, please stand by, while we set up your battle/survival test." I looked up at the window, and the staff members are messing around with holographic displays. Touching, swiping, scrolling and dragging stuff around. Anxiety begins to set in, but I try to stay calm with a deep breath and stand firmly. I can do this! There's no way I can fail. This shouldn't be that hard. But what if…I die? I don't have any battle experience, and this could end up badly. Do I give up if I can't fight anymore? I don't want to fail, though. I don't want to die. No no no…I need to survive—no matter what!
As I'm having an argument with myself, debating on how my survival rate was, they eventually stopped, waiting for Arial's confirmation to proceed—she nods and instantly—another white light voids my vision, it feels like the time when Eliza transported me to Nuvia.
The blinding light fades away, giving my eyes clarity—I realized that I wasn't in the weaponry facility anymore. I was outside, in the middle of nowhere, "Where am I? Are these the plains outside of Cerene city?" I asked myself, observing the area around me—which was hardly recognizable. I'm in what looks like an endless grass field, and no matter how I far look out into the distance, I feel as if this goes on for miles. It was a bit humid and the sun was beating down on me.
"Mr. Kima? Can you hear me?" The Trials advisor, Arial, spoke to me inside of my head. Telepathy? I answered back, "Y-yeah…? Where am I and how did you get inside my head?"
"Relax, we're communicating through telepathy since you have been transported far away from the city. Anyways, you will have to fight 5 incoming waves of monsters and you must defeat them all within 2 hours. You may use whatever tactic that could favor you in battle. Any questions?" she asked.
"Wait, hang on a sec. I may have to think this over. Is there a possibility of dying?" I asked while shaking in my shoes. I am so nervous that I can't even think properly.
"Of course, you can die. The battle simulation will commence 5 seconds. Best of luck, Mr. Kima." Her voice fades away.
"WAIT! IM NOT READY!" I shouted, in hopes, she could hear me and get me out of this.
The countdown reached to one, and it was just silent. I took out my sword and instinctively went into a weird fighter's stance. A surge of adrenaline shoots through me, "Let's do this, where are you bastards going to come from?" I looked at all directions and then, I felt a small breeze on my neck, as if someone swiped their hand. I turn around and see three small goblins with dual daggers, wearing leather armor and five—what looked like kobolds with red and black stripes with axes and some spears with wooden shields. Their tails whipping back and forth as they ran towards me. The goblins just running as fast as they can, almost in a hopping fashion.
Those kobolds...and their color, it's like that monster from my dream. I take a few steps back but there was nowhere to run or hide from those monsters. They get closer and closer and let out battle cries. I couldn't move, I was frozen even though I tried and tried as hard as I could to run away.
Move! Move! I can't die like this! I yelled at myself. The goblins got to me first and stabbed my right leg into my shin and the other two on my left thigh. I was yelling in agony and the pain was excruciating. "AH! Shit!" I collapsed, and I started to crawl away. The goblins laughed as they tried to attack once again, but I swung blindly, killing two of the goblins with an attack across their chest.
They let out a screech before collapsing; the other one tried to jump on top of me, but I grabbed some grass with soil and threw it in its eyes, temporarily blinding it. It screeched while holding its eyes from the dirt in its eyes. I need to run away...and figure something out. Those kobolds are a bit slow, but I think I can out-. In mid-thought, a spear launched from one of the kobolds heading barely missed me. They aimed for my head…and quickly, I pulled out the daggers from both legs and throw them away to the side. I get up slowly, trying to withstand the pain. I kill the remaining goblin that was rubbing its eyes and gave it a thrusting blow to the chest, impaling it to the ground and I pulled my sword away immediately. The sword evaporated all the blood, and a bit of smoke came off it—it smelled awful.
I tried to run, but I ended up limping and blood was dripping down my leg, leaving stains on the pure green grass. My right leg was in bad condition since they stabbed my shin twice. As I kept trying to run, I noticed a tree and a huge boulder. "What? That wasn't there before," I headed there as fast as I could, and I jumped behind the boulder. As soon as I did, a spear hit the boulder, shielding me in time. I laid my sword on the ground, I took off my blazer and quickly cut the sleeves off. I threw the remains of the blazer away since I didn't need it anymore. I need to stop the bleeding quickly, and just like in the movies, I wrapped and tied it to my legs. I heard the 5 kobolds nearby, so I grabbed my beam sword and charged.
I'm so going to regret this…but I can do this!
Multiple thoughts flooded my brain and it ended up overpowering my fear of dying. "HAAA!" From above, I slash the kobold diagonally from shoulder to hip. Blood spewed uncontrollably from it, and it stumbled back before collapsing. Quickly, I turn around to swipe away the others getting near me, and one of them shielded my attack with ease. I knew it wasn't going to be this easy. Knowing this, I smirked with confidence, "How about this?!" I kicked it in the gut and it let out a cry of pain, leaving it wide open, and so I followed up with a thrust to its chest. Just like I did to the blind goblin. These ones are a bit feisty, huh? It kept moving like a fish out of the water. Before finally dying, the other kobolds charge at me, seeking revenge for their fallen brethren.
One of them goes for an aerial attack, I take out my sword in time and avoid the worse by jumping a few feet back. I could still feel some pain in my leg when landing. "Two down, three more to go." For some odd reason, I get a surge of excitement and energy. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of this. They charged at me once again, letting out the same battle cry from before, their lizard-like tongues sway when doing so. Two of them slammed their axes down, but I sidestepped and retaliated with a slash to both of their necks. They die instantly. I might as well aim for the neck most of the time to not waste any energy.
The final Kobold knocked me down with its tail, sending me about twenty feet away. It's tailed weighed so much, it felt like getting tackled. I squeeze my stomach in pain and trying to catch my breath. It throws its ax at me and judging by its trajectory, it was a perfect aim. I reacted in time and rolled to the side. "It doesn't have a weapon now…this is my chance," I got up breathing heavily, and ran towards it. It swung its tail again but jumped over it. Landing still hurt, but there was no time to for that, I swung at its neck and decapitated it.
"Oh god, that was so exhausting." I sit down and take a minute for a breather. I smiled, "My plan went well by going for a vital spot." I went under the tree for some rest and I looked at my clothes and they were full of blood. Suddenly, I feel the ground shaking around me, "An earthquake??" I say as I'm struggling to keep my balance. I look past the boulder and I see golems filled with moss and shiny rocks on them, rise from the ground like zombies. "DAMN IT! I forgot that there were more waves…" I said in frustration.
There were around 5 golems, and they were really slow. In the corner of my eye, one of them digs into the ground and throws a boulder, half the size of the one I'm hiding behind.
"Well shit…" I dodged out of the way to not get destroyed.