The next day, everyone came down early to gather. They were going to climb the town's famous colorful mountain forest today and visit the shrine located halfway through it.
Mr. Hughes appeared with Mrs. Hughes and Micah. Mrs. Hughes looked quite stable now but it was Mr. Hughes who looked worn out instead.
No one mentioned last night's dinner.
The trip up the mountain was very strenuous for most of the people in the group who never exercise often. Fortunately, the mountain was not too high and the road was not too steep. They managed to reach the top before the sunrise.
Andrew had already asked the hotel to prepare food for them early last night so they can have breakfast while watching the sunrise.
Charlie drank the soup from the thermos and let out a satisfied sigh. Turning her body, she poked Stephan, wanting to share the remaining content.
Stephan make up an excuse and refused, eating Meghan's sandwich instead. Seeing this, Charlie could only pout.
The group stayed at the mountaintop to take photos and enjoy the scenery for a while.
When they went down at nine, they finally visited the shrine.
The path to the shrine was different from where they climbed. Fortunately, there was another path at the mountaintop leading to it so the group did not need to make a detour.
Kai watched with furrowed brows as the black mists in the air became denser with every step they took forward. They were supposed to go to a sacred place of worship, why is the concentration of dark energy getting higher instead?
Andrew began his introduction as the group came to the periphery of the shrine.
"In the olden times, Wallux Town is often hit by beast tide that came down from the mountain. Our ancestors thought it was because the mountain god got mad at them for living at the foot of the mountain without its permission."
Wallux Town's shrine was built by the first inhabitants of Wallux Town as a sort of offering to the mountain god, believing it would quell the god's anger. Made mostly with stone, it had a very strong foundation and managed to last to this day.
"There are priests and servants living at the shrine. They would be the ones to welcome us."
The group arrived in front of the shrine and was indeed welcomed by a group of priests and servants who invited them inside.
The shrine had two floors. The first floor was the place of worship while the second floor was the living quarters of the priests.
On the altar on the first floor was a statue of a beautiful woman with small horns and a tail. The woman had a sacred expression on her face, her two arms spread open as if to welcome a hug.
In front of the altar were short chairs where people who came to worship could sit.
"Since you entered the shrine, you should all pay your respect to the deity."
Everyone complied, praying seriously to the statue.
Charlie sat on the short chair only to stagger. Andrew, who was next to her saw this and quickly came to support her.
Having Andrew's help, Charlie hurriedly stabilized herself and sat down, thanking the other before beginning to pray.
Of course, Kai wasn't actually praying. Whatever they were worshipping here was obviously evil given how dense the dark energy was, even making him almost unable to see anything but dark mist.
If it wasn't for the positive energy around the other candidates and the screen's light, he wouldn't know where to go.
Kai only found now that his extrasensory perception was troublesome. Usually, he can turn it off when he wants to but now, probably due to him not owning Charlie's body, he couldn't turn it off no matter what.
It was great if he could turn off his vision and let Charlie act. Unfortunately, that's not possible.
At this time, Kai heard the screen's prompt. He was surprised, thinking the other found his predicament only to see a green prompt, showing his first sub-task completion rate now reaching 22%.
He didn't know if he should be happy or sad.
He thought, 'I guess I can only suffer from blindness for now.'
Ten minutes or so passed and the group finished praying. After which they were finally allowed to walk around. On a very rare occasion, it was Stephan who invited Charlie, leading her to walk into a secluded place.
The silent environment and the lack of people made Charlie think Stephan wanted to do something improper with her, making her blush.
She waited for Stephan to speak, her heart beating with nervousness.
"Charlie, we've been together for almost three years, right?"
Charlie nodded, not speaking as she waited for him to continue.
Stephan paused for a while, finally asking, "Aren't you tired of our relationship? For almost three years, we always fight and argue. "
Charlie didn't expect him to say this and was stunned. When she recovered, she quickly denied, holding Stephan's hand. "Of course not. What are you talking about? Although we fight a lot, don't we also make up pretty fast?"
Stephan stared at the young woman and sighed, already feeling annoyed by her inability to read the lines. Prying her hands on him, he decided to be frank. "Charlie, I want to break up with you. I took you on this trip to tell you that."
Charlie was shocked, unable to respond for a while. Looking at Stephan who was looking at her with impatient eyes, she seemed to be unable to believe what was happening.
Stephan saw Charlie being silent and added, "You were too controlling. I have long gone tired of you but I'm afraid breaking with you will destroy your image so I waited until when we're about to graduate."
Tears began streaming down Charlie's face. She still didn't respond, staring blankly at Stephan.
Stephan was losing his patience. Forcing himself to act gentle, he spoke with heartache. "Charlie, for the sake of me never treating you badly in these almost three years, let me go, okay?"
These words seemed to have made Charlie finally realize that she and Stephan were really over.
She bowed down her head, speaking in a quiet and unbearable tone, "Okay."
Saying that she didn't wait for Stephan to say more and turned to leave.
Looking at Charlie's retreating back, Stephan felt smug. He finally got rid of her.
Meghan and Jester who had been following them came out of their hiding place seeing Charlie left.
"Are you ok? How did it go?" Meghan asked, already expecting an answer. Of course, Charlie wouldn't agree. That b*tch was too obsessed with Stephan.
Seeing the aggrieved expression on Meghan's face, Stephan smiled and put his arms around her. "She agreed."
These words made Meghan and Jester fell into disbelief. She actually agreed? So easy? Just like that?
Jester took time to get over this unexpected result. Finally, he commented, "I guess she wasn't that obsessed with you after all."
"I wouldn't say that," Stephan smirked, telling them how the conversation earlier went.
Meghan was in a daze hearing this. A few seconds later, she showed a guilty face, turning to ask Stephan. "Do you think she's going to hate me?"
Stephan hugged her in his chest, "How can she hate you? Aren't you best friends? If she started to hate you just because of this, wouldn't that show her friendship wasn't deep?"
Meghan was inwardly happy but reluctantly agreed on the surface, hugging Stephan back.
Jester took this scene in and looked away, suddenly feeling slight pity for Charlie. That girl sure had bad luck falling for a guy like Stephan and having a friend like Meghan.
The pitiful Charlie really had bad luck and aching to strangle Stephan right now.
How dare that guy took him to walk so far in a secluded place and then let him walk back by himself?! He was already not being able to see things in front of him, now without something to rely on as a guide, he was completely blind! How the hell was he supposed to go back?!
The feeling of suddenly losing your sight is terrible. It's like being thrown into a void where a monster may attack anytime and you were unable to see.
Thankfully, Kai still had his other senses. The insect noise, the rustling of the leaves, the feeling of the sun's rays, and the slightly cold blowing wind made it feel not so unbearable for him.
Kai just hoped a prompt wouldn't appear and make him do something or he would really be left without a choice but to act OOC.
Fumbling his hands in front of him, he was unable to stop tripping many times. He wasn't familiar with the mountains in the first place and he had no idea where Stephan took him. The only thing he could rely on was his memory of the path they took and the walls of the shrine, making him barely manage to walk straight.
If he is unable to find a solution to this predicament soon, he might really just rely on acting out of character to receive a free pass. Maybe if he walked far enough to the area with much less dark energy, with his sight back, he might be able to find the group before his free time ended?
As his thoughts were running, fifteen to twenty minutes had passed. He was about to shout some nonsense when in his peripheral, he finally saw something bright amidst the darkness.
Andrew had been talking to the priests in the temple when he saw Charlie left and hadn't come back. He began to worry. Did that guy got lost?
Seeing that it was almost time for the group to leave, Andrew went to look for the guy.
The priests acted like nothing happened after Andrew left, still talking to the air as if Andrew was still there. The sight was quite funny but also bizarre.
Andrew didn't take long to find Charlie. As he thought, the other was indeed lost and was already walking towards the servants' quarters. Andrew sighed, showing himself.
As if drawn to him, Charlie started walking briskly in his direction. After she arrived beside him, quickly grabbed his clothes without saying a word, as if he would suddenly leave if she didn't hold him.
Andrew was silent for a while. Finally, he raised his hand, flicking the other's head. "Idiot."
Kai heard Andrew's voice and inexplicably felt relieved.
He didn't mind the other calling him idiot. In fact, even if he called him a few more insulting words, he still wouldn't mind.
He didn't have to trouble himself with finding the way and looking for the group after he receive his warning anymore which is what mattered most. Why would he care about a few insults?
Kai peacefully waited some time for the warning to come. He had already readied his nerves so he shouldn't pass out.
Andrew stared at the young woman who appeared to be waiting for something. Realizing what it was, he laughed.
"Don't wait for it anymore, silly. I temporarily made an illusion to make everyone including the system in charge of the assessment think you went back to the shrine and then asked to go down the mountain first."
Kai was shocked to hear this. "... That's allowed?"
Andrew led him to walk. Giving him a side glance hearing his question. "Of course, it isn't."
Kai wrinkled his brows at Andrew's answer. "Why do it if wasn't allowed then? Would this not be unfair to others?"
Andrew was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he stopped, bending down to stare at the young woman. "You should have a little inkling that your ability to see energies is not ordinary."
Kai was surprised. How did he know he can see energy? Was he acting too obviously? And what does he mean by not ordinary?
Andrew easily read his thoughts and answered the first two questions. He moved his feet to continue to walk. "Do you know that you've been walking in circles after you arrived at an empty space? Everyone that sees you can immediately tell you're blind."
Kai paused. He had been walking in circles? And he even thought he was almost at the shrine's entrance with how far he walked! "Are you saying you did what you did to hide my ability?"
Andrew spoke with seriousness. "Yes."
Kai followed. "Because my ability is not ordinary?"
The two had reached an area far enough from the shrine to let Kai see a little normally.
Andrew didn't answer immediately. Just as Kai was thinking his silence was an agreement, Andrew speak with an unclear tone. "No, because it will cause chaos to the three realms."