Three Seasons Forest.
"Wow, it is so beautiful!"
"Right? I have heard many legends about this forest but to see this up close, it's no kidding!"
*Pfft* "You just realized?"
It was only six in the morning but the entrance to the forest was already filled with guests and participants.
Terla, who would have never made it there this early, was surprisingly standing at the very front of the crowd, as she saw over the oh-so-magnificent forest.
Three seasons forest, as simple as it may sound, the mystical forest before her was never to be misjudged.
There are only three seasons in this mysterious forest, summer, monsoon and winter, with no definitive duration. The climate in it is unpredictable, changing as it wishes.
You might come for a snowy winter vacation but might be escaping the forest from a sleet attack the next hour. Besides, it is not somewhere you would want to plan a vacation regardless because of the residents of the forest.
All kinds of beasts, poisonous and medicinal herbs and plants ranging from lower grade to upper grade reside here. It also bears a legend of a man seeing a divine gryphon at the deepest part.
"Hello, Hello.", the voice of a cheerful woman roared from the runes in the sky.
"Welcome, our distinguished guests and participants. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate our people of Orton and our Mayor for the honour of our city being the host of such a grand event.
.
.
.
.
As you all might have been informed, the main context of the Hunting Contest is to…. Survive! You will have to survive for 5 deadly days as you venture into our mysterious Three seasons forest."
*babble*
"What, isn't it too dangerous?"
"Right! Isn't it the same as telling us to go in and die?"
"Of course, it may sound like herding cats for some of you but I know many of the people here are more than excited about it. So, if you think this contest is unjust, you can turn right back home caz' no one's gonnal stop you."
*babble* *stomps* *sighs*
"Huh. We better go back home."
"Sure, let's just return home."
Among the babbles and returning crowds, Terla didn't flinch a little as she stood still at the same place and stared at the hovering trees folding her arms.
'Those trees, I feel like they are staring me back. I heard even trees can talk in here. If I could find an oak tree…, maybe it will tell me the answer.'
'Master! Are you sure you are going in? They say it is a dead end.'
"I know. This forest, even one day would be enough to kill more than half of the people here, much less five days. But I still must go in regardless and I am not bothered by how life-threatening it is."
'Ahh…, that's what worries me more, because you can be so fearless and stubborn.' Eleni sighed.
"Moreover, I don't believe they can just look on and let people die whatever an event this is. I came here with one purpose in mind. To free myself. It might be a deadly dare but there's no turning back."
"Wo! It is not unexpected but now that almost half of the participants have left, I think we can start the contest now."
"Imm!"
*Pfft* "Cowards." A boy near Terla mumbled in disdain.
"Exactly! How dangerous can a forest be? I wouldn't give up on such a rare chance to observe the beautiful sceneries inside.", the girl embraced in his left arm agreed.
"Right, young master is here. Little beasts won't be able to do any harm to us.", another girl in his right arm added on.
"Yes, yes, my ladies are right!" *mwah*, the young master grabbed their waist tighter and kissed.
*Yuck* Terla couldn't express how disgusted she felt as she quickly turned away and left for another standing place.
"Mmm..hmm, so this might be our brave young generation of Land of Peace, huh?"
"Haha..h" *laughter*
"Sorry to keep you waiting but we were making preparations to give you the best possible experience, so please don't take it personal."
"Now, I would like to request you all to come and queue here at the arranged counters as we are giving out teleport stones to each of you. The purpose of these will be discussed later with the rules so please stand by. "
*Rumble*
Just as the voice ended the crowd spread and reached the queues.
.
.
.
.
"Please only take one per each and sign your name here."
"Hey! Where are you going? Don't jump the queue!" A girl not far behind Terla called out and grabbed the boy rushing to the front.
"F**k off!"
"What!"
The boy broke off from the grasp with force and rushed to Terla as a tiny filiform needle appeared among his fingers.
Terla felt a somehow sinister feeling but she wasn't bothered as she continued her queue.
*whoosh* *grasp*
"Mister, please don't jump the line. We are all here to participate with dignity." A familiar voice stopped the man and alarmed Terla.
*crack*
"Ah!"
Terla turned around to the voice and without a doubt…
.
.
.
.
"Brother Nicholas!" the girls behind shouted.
Terla was surprised and looked at him for the first second but she turned back around with an indifferent face.
However, in her mind…
'Why is he here? Isn't he bedridden? Oh, it's been a month. Wait! Why do you even care!?'
Looking at the back of the woman, Nick could only leave in a disheartened manner.
'Still, it's only been one month. Even if he has been completely healed, he should rest! How come he is here at a dangerous event? He's not going to participate right? What if he …"
"Miss." " ..died in the forest, will the blame…" "Miss!"
The receptionist shouted but Terla wasn't shaken a bit as she stared at the teleport stones soullessly. "Miss!"
"Huh?"
"Please sign here!"
"Ah, yes."
"Here."
# # #
"Sorry, lady. I…I failed." A boy with a distorted hand reported with a quivering voice and trembling body as he bowed in fear.
In front of him stood a little girl in a jeweled hunting suit.
"What! You failed such an easy task but you dare come back?!"
*Clang*
The girl threw a vase nearby at the boy in anger, making him fall back to the ground.
*Hymph*
"Useless!" The girl stepped on the broken vase and she stomped outside of the tent.
"Dorothy."
Just as she stepped out, a voice stunned her.
Her face immediately changed from anger to anxiousness and then to a cute smiling one as she responded with a sweet voice.
"Brother Nicholas, hee hee, did you come here to see me? Did you miss…"
"Is that your doing?!" Nick cut her off without hesitation as he showed her a tiny needle.
Seeing the needle, Dorothy's face didn't change a little as she answered with an innocent face.
"Brother Nicholas, I am not sure what you are talking about, but if you need help, I am certainly at your service." Dorothy's eyes shone in a faint gold light as they stared at Nick's. She then slowly grabbed his wrist and … "But before that, brother, how about we sit for a nice sweet tea…"
*Whack*
However, Nick didn't fall into her trap as he broke off from her grip and walked away in disappointment.
"Those tricks won't work on me again!"
"No, brother! You don't understand! If I can't accomplish this, she will die worse!!" Dorothy shouted but Nick couldn't hear her reasons anymore.
# # #
Terla took the stone and left the queue but she was still deep in thought until a girl called out to her.
"Yo, Terla?"
A pair of boys and three girls accompanied her as they stood and watched Terla. Terla might not have recognized them alone but the three faces in the middle were something she couldn't forget.
The girl wore a laced-up cream shirt and dark brown breeches fitted with a pair of midnight boots. Her wolf-cut aqua hair resembled ocean waves as it washed over her sunburnt beige skin, her pacific opal eyes weren't as wide as before but they mirrored gems embedded in the beach.
"Angel?"
"Imm, long time no see."
"Yeah, I heard about you from VV. You…" Terla hesitated as she looked at the girl with a powdered pixie cut and smiled.
"You remember me?"
"Yes."
'Lilyia Mermut'
{ "VV, you are still in contact with Angel?"
"Yeah? Aren't you?"
"Nope."
"So you don't know about that yet."
"About?"
"About her significant other. It would shock you for sure, lol."
"What? She's got a boyfriend?"
"Nah. It's nowhere shocking, she has had a bunch before."
"Then, is she getting married?"
Violet looked at her with "seriously?" eyes and sighed as she revealed startling news.
', current girlfriend of Angelina.'
"Hey, would you stop staring at her now?"
"Mmm, sorry. I forgot your names for a second there, haha."
"Oh, someone's name can be written but you don't remember hers?" Angel asked playfully as she pointed to the girl beside her.
"Terla, good to see you again." The girl greeted Terla with a smile.
"Good to see you too, Hazel."
Terla greeted other people with a smile thinking how much they had changed over time.
'Hazel is still pretty and cute as always although some features can't be held on.'
"Now, now. You are staring at Hazel again. What, you are feeling guilty-pity now?"
"Angel." Hazel stopped her without a single cringe on her face.
"Come on. It's not like I'm accusing her. She did …. steal your boyfriend." Angelina mumbled as she checked on Terla with side eyes.
Terla's eyes slanted. She would have laughed it off under normal circumstances but being accused was what Terla hated the most.
"Angel, is that meant to humiliate me?"
"Yea."
"Steal? Angelina, I'm not gonna explain what I didn't do but, before accusing me, you should go ask that man whether I ever asked him to be my boyfriend because I don't want or take what's not mine. Is that clear?" Terla spoke out gracefully without losing her posture.
"You!"
"Right, she never asked."
A man came and answered as he stood tall behind Terla.
"Nick!?" Angelina was astonished by the appearance of the man.
"And she's never been my girlfriend," Nick claimed before looking down at the woman's face, and muttered, "as of now."
At a place not far away from the group, Dorothy stomped away in frustration.
"Hello again, everyone, it's already almost noon and I believe you all have received your teleport stones. So, now, some of you might have been familiar with the rules but for those who don't, let me introduce them to you. Actually, there is literally no rule in this contest but to survive. Any type of magic, runes, weapons, just anything of use to your survival are allowed in the forest. Surviving, however, in our Three Season Forest filled with nothing but danger, is no joke. But don't worry, for the safety of everyone, we have prepared a way out as long as you wish to surrender. So, survive, fight and enjoy to the fullest but remember to break those stones in your hand to save your life. You can either go solo or in groups but I recommend finding yourself a reliable group because that will give extra lives. Lastly, there is one thing I want to remind you, the teleport stones are not designated to any person so be extra careful not to lose them. How it works? You just have to find out for yourself. The gate to the forest will open exactly at 12 so you have 5 minutes to join a group. So, warriors, survive! We will be watching you and waiting here for your return."
"Angel, let's just go. The contest is more important. We should go find more members. More people the better, right? Let's go."
"Vale, Terla."
One of the boys persuaded Angel and pushed his friends to leave as he smiled and said goodbye.
As they walked away, a group of four boys reached the two.
"Bro!"
"Terla, will"
"No." Nick wished to invite her to the group but Terla cut him off with an immediate "No" as she walked forward and left without bothering herself to turn around and look at him.
"Bro, are you with us?" His friends prompted.
Nick didn't answer as his soul followed the leaving back.
*Sigh* "Huh. Where do I find a group in five minutes? I have no friends and even VV is not here!"
"I miss you VV." Terla sighed.
{"VV, please come with me, please."
"I said no. Why don't you go persuade your friends instead of this lady who didn't even register?"
"Ahh…, you know I have no one and registration is still open until midnight. Please, I only have you to ask."
"No, no, no. I told you I'm not interested in..mmm..what is it again.."
"Token to a university in Theo."
"Yes, that thing. I can't understand why you want it so much. It is not even …aww… a gem or something."
"But…" *sigh*}
Terla tried to persuade her dear sister but failed like she always did.
"Oh, hey! Little miss there! Do you have a group yet?" A girl shouted.
"Huh? Me?" Terla was confused for a second before she responded.
The girl nodded and came to drag her to her group.
Terla followed along, still in a confused state.
"Here, let me introduce you. This pretty baby girl here is Calliope. This beauty is Kaoru and I am Janice."
"Ahh, yes."
"What's your name?"
"Mmm…it's Terla."
"Oh, what a beautiful name!"
"Ha..haha." Terla couldn't understand where her name sounded so beautiful that she had to fake a laugh.
Terla looked around and found that these girls were not the only members in the group.
"Hey, so are you in?"
"?" Terla couldn't respond as her mind was still struggling to perceive the situation.
"You've been standing there for minutes so we thought you hadn't found a group."
"Ahh? Mmm, yes."
"So, you are joining us?"
"I"
*Ding___*
"Oh the gate's open! Let's go!"
The gate to the forest opened and Terla was dragged by the girls without her consent.