Sounds of clanging and tree felling greeted Elderond as he woke up.
After yesterday's mental torture, he needed a day relaxing in his bed or some light puzzle solving. However, Elderond's luck with girls was the same as with his training. It was shite.
Grandpa Lex was nowhere in sight; so, Elderond assumed the noise must have been coming from Grandpa's direction.
With a nonchalant expression, Elderond made himself a sandwich. There was a selection of monster meat and fruit sauces littered across the kitchen table.
The flavour was exquisite for a sandwich.
"Ah, naturally found produce is the best!"
"I will remind you, Master- you didn't find it- Grandpa did."
"Oh, come on, Medea! Don't pick holes in everything I say."
"If I don't, how will you become better spoken? If you were to converse with the nobility on this planet, they'd make a mockery of you humph."
"Luckily, I'm not going to meet them for a long time."
Elderond's cheeky smile elicited some tutting out of Medea.
"Foolish Master, If I, were materialised I'd clobber you for being a dunce."
"Shame you're not, eh? I'd also love to tape that mouth of yours shut, Medea."
Elderond's laughter sounded as Medea face palmed within his cerebral space.
As the duo quietened down, Elderond spotted a familiar figure walking in through the backdoor.
It was Grandpa Lex.
"Morning, Grandpa."
"Morning? Ha, it's nearly afternoon, Elderond! You sleep like a baby."
Elderond's face flushed. Sleeping was one of his strong points. He cherished the commodity.
"Well, I hope your wide-awake boy, today won't be a picnic."
All Elderond's nonchalance vanished. It was time to enter the belly of the beast once again. Today's training, what could it be?
"Now, since you have, done some mental training yesterday, I think it's time to get back to some physical training."
"It will the most exciting but gruelling thing you've ever done."
At those words, Elderond's eyes focused and sent a prayer to his dead race.
"Ancestors give me strength…"
It was time to find out if he would make it back in one piece.
Lex and his apprentice made their way out of the wooden house, heading to the familiar clearing once again. However, this time something was different.
There was an eminent aura of danger around the assault course, warning of the atrocities one could experience.
"Well, welcome to the assault course Elderond. I specifically prepared this for you."
"It is time to train your agility."
"When facing many foes, it is important to be able to block, dodge and position yourself to survive the encounter, and that requires spatial awareness, good movement and a desire to survive."
"If a man loses the will to continue, he might as well be considered dead on the battlefield."
As Grandpa Lex said this, Elderond surveyed the assault course in front of him: it was a horrific sight.
Pulley's laden with small logs and rocks sat perched on wooden arms, ready to fling them if a change in air currents occurred on the assault course path. At set intervals, there were holes drilled into propped wooden walls. The holes contained metal spears primed for impact should anyone attempt the vine-made bridge, overlooking the swamp-like pond, riddled with insects.
What Elderond didn't know was that under the path lay vines that acted as tripwires. These tripwires would signal the activation of a catapult system that would send forth a cloud of leaves and mud, obscuring this vision. Thus, making him rely on his reflexes and senses to dodge the incoming projectiles.
What he saw was merely the first stage of the course.
The second stage contained a raised platform consisting of logs tied together on swinging pulleys. These logs would travel to the centre continuously once released from their holders. The holders were kept in place by a thick knotted vine. But was it so simple?
"Ah, I see you have noticed the second platform. It seems merely like a dodging activity. However, the catch is you will be blindfolded; thus, training your spatial awareness and how quickly you can precisely move out of the way."
"Are you trying to kill me, Grandpa?!"
"No silly Elderond, training is tough- the tougher it is, the more prepared you will be when you leave this forest."
"He-he Master, you're in for some hellish pain this time."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Medea, you damned sadistic artificial intelligence."
"Ah, please, it was merely some banter."
Medea knew she was pushing Elderond's patience. After all, he was her Master, so she felt a little bad for the comments she expressed.
"I may say these comments; but, please be careful, Master."
"That's the nicest thing you've said to me."
"Don't push your luck, Master."
There was one thing that did seem a little off.-Where was the third stage?
"Grandpa, what about the third stage?"
"Hmm, well, that stage doesn't happen in this clearing. We must travel to the mountain range just outside of the forest and test your agility with a real encounter."
"An encounter with what?"
"The Amethyst Goat."
Elderond was dumfounded. Was he going to challenge a goat? Wasn't that ridiculous?
"It may seem ridiculous; but, you will see what I mean when the time comes."
As the conversation ended, Elderond stood there in thought. Was it possible to not get hurt during this activity?
"Only if you can dodge, Master."
"Yes, hopefully, my reflexes can save me."
Elderond prepared himself for the festivities. Relaxing his breathing, he stretched his limbs, making sure his joints and ligaments weren't too tight. He didn't want to be pulling a muscle during this.
"If you've finished warming up, then begin!"
Elderond darted forward towards the path in which the course lay. His breathing calm and steady, he looked for the trigger, which caused the rocks and small logs to be released.
At the same time, his foot touched on the path, the air current shifted. The pulley's moved, launching logs and rocks straight at him. Twisting his body, he narrowly dodged the stray rocks aimed at his torso; however, one of the small logs aimed at his thigh slammed into his shin.
"Fuck, that stings."
"Keep going, Master- no pain, no gain."
Shaking off the dull pain in his shin, Elderond bolted forward, setting off a tripwire.
The catapult-launched a pellet containing leaves and mud straight at his destination. The projectile shot through the air silently, masked by Lex's aura. Elderond was utterly unaware of the approaching danger.
As Elderond's foot made contact with the forest floor, dirt and undergrowth exploded outwards, covering his vision in a sea of leaves and mud.
"What the fuck?!"
"Always expect the unexpected Elderond- you will never have it easy."
With his vision blurred from all the debris, he only just noticed the rock aiming at his head at the last moment. Throwing his arms backwards, he initiated a kick up, avoiding the rock whilst returning himself upright.
It was the correct move, yet for some reason, a small log whacked him around the face, disorientating him.
"Arghh!"
He felt warm blood trickle down his neck.
Elderond knew he needed to think of something fast; or, he would be a sitting duck under the incoming volley or pain.
Closing his eyes, he relied on his ears to dodge the next volley of projectiles. Darting on the balls of his feet, he successfully swerved around the small logs and noticed there was a distinct rustle in the leaf shroud when a rock entered it. Pinpointing the location of the rock trail, he jumped into the air, half-twisting his torso and legs, flipping over the incoming rocks. Somersaulting out of the shroud of debris, he exited the projectile range sporting a fair share of bruises and cuts.
As he breathed a sigh of relief, he released he had entered the death zone: the range of the metal spears.
Surveying the small area, he realised a tree lay to his right in the path of the metal spear wall. If he got hit with a spear, he'd smack right into the tree, impaling him as a target for the rest of the spears.
"Damn, this sucks."
"I need to test the activation of these spears. Are they dependent on the fluctuations in the wind currents; or, is there some form of tripwire masked within the forest floor?"
Elderond strafed forwards and backwards, testing the trigger for the metal spears. It didn't take long.
The instant his foot entered the range of the wooden wall, the spears launched themselves straight at his torso.
Luckily, Elderond launched himself backwards, avoiding the first volley as it slammed into the trunk of the tree. Since he had moved out of the range of the wooden wall, the spears no longer fired.
"It seems that the air fluctuates when you enter the range of the spear wall, Master."
"Indeed, I don't have a choice except to cross it to get to the bridge."
With an idea of how the mechanism worked, Elderond attempting the cross again, darting forwards. The top-holed metal spears launched, causing Elderond to tuck his body into the ground, avoiding them. He had crossed 1/3 of the way.
Just as he re-aligned himself, the second volley launched from the waist height holes. It travelled through the air at high velocity, causing the metal to screech. With only a few seconds till impact, Elderond jumped into the air full-twisting, his body as he assailed past the spears, his knee scraped the shafts.
Landing hard on the ground, he was a sitting duck for the final wave of metal spears.
"Shit!"
The metal spears shot out. The wind whistled with devilish joy.
"Master, you can make it go!"
With a last burst of speed-Elderond darted the last- 1/3 of the wall, front-flipping over the spears.
Unforchantly, things didn't go exactly to plan.
As his lead foot cleared the early spears, his dragging foot was impaled by one of the spears, veering him off to the right.
Elderond screamed.
The voice of an abandoned child erupted out, echoing.
His face contorted from the immense pain as he smashed into the weeds at the edge of the pond.
The spear had cleanly impaled itself into his calf, ripping away fibrous tissue, exposing the bone, the muscle was attached. Parts of the calf muscle lay scattered around him as blood erupted out of the wound.
He had survived the stage; but, it had cost him a leg.
Lex saw this and used wind aura to dart over.
"Sometimes Elderond, one should not push their limits. Take this as a lesson."
Elderond's mind started to shut down from the pain.
All he remembered was seeing Grandpa Lex pull a red object from his robe.
His vision went black.