"Ouch..." A reverberating sound rang out as Kai's head bumped into something hard.
He glanced ahead and saw a round circular gate with an orb in its middle.
"Oh, have we reached the gate?" Fred feigned surprise.
"Ouch...that hurt" He rubbed his head, then bent to pick up the lantern which had fallen.
But then he glanced at his clothes and froze.
He was wearing tight-fitted leather armour with a dagger on his waist, it looked good but had no protection whatsoever.
Kai found himself extremely embarrassed as earlier he had been too busy observing this trial world and only now did he get the time to observe himself.
'It's okay, it's okay, these people aren't real, it's like Ms.Amy told me...they are just conscious constructs made by the Psion that are not alive at all!!'
'But these people and this whole trial looks too real even to the point that Gerald and Fred sound more like an actual person rather than a conscious construct'
Kai looked at Gerald and Fred and was confused by their solemn expressions.
"What happened to both of you?"
"This gate was not here before" Gerald answered.
"What?"
At this moment an orb suddenly detached from the circular gate and moved towards his head at a...slow speed?
"Watch it...?" Gerald was also confused but he did not let it come near Kai's head and flicked it with the flat side of his longsword towards the wall.
Fred was also in an attacking stance with his rapier ready.
Only Kai was standing in his position like a doofus.
"What are you standing there for, come behind us and be prepared with your dagger," Fred said sternly.
"Uhh, okay" Kai nodded and stood behind them holding his dagger like a complete amateur.
The orb floated up again, albeit a bit wobbly this time but then a green light lit up on its top and then it moved towards them again.
But then suddenly the ground beneath them also turned bright green, and the same bright green...slime started moving up their bodies, constricting them.
While this was happening a wobbly gooey humanoid body forming from the same bright green slime and the orb came above its head and stopped, effectively giving it stability.
The head had the shape of a droplet with triangular-shaped blue flat eyes.
Kai tried moving but the slime was tightening around his feet too fast.
"Dammit how can this be in the beginning of the ruins or did we take the wrong route!" Gerald shouted as he hacked his longsword at the slime in an attempt to be free from it.
"This ruin only has one entrance, the one we came through!!" Fred grunted
'Dammit, hitting the slime is useless as it just restores itself, the orb... The orb must be its weakness but how do I reach there?' thought Kai to himself.
He then glanced at the dagger in his hand and an idea struck him.
He aimed his dagger at the orb and threw it.
The dagger flew at the orb and then missed it...
Both of them looked at him with astonished looks as they saw the dagger miss the orb.
Kai looked at them with an awkward expression and thought that this was only normal as he had never practised throwing daggers before but still he thought that her had a chance.
The dagger continued moving and hit the round gate, producing an echoing sound, then bounced back and hit the orb, successfully impaling it.
The orb produced a few sparks and
As if a switch had been turned off, the whole humanoid slime creature lost its shape and fell in a disgusting goop, with it the slime constricting them also lost its grip on them and fell down.
Kai, Gerald and Fred were stupefied by this sudden twist of fates but were thankful nonetheless.
Just then the Psion's voice announced:
[killed Ruinic Goop]
[Forgotten orb acquired]
Kai was confused at first, then was elated at this unexpected gain.
'Let's see how to summon my Status, I just have to concentrate on my name and then...'
Suddenly in front of him, some intelligible words appeared and started reorganising themselves into something he could read. It showed:
[Name: Kai
Rank: Sequence 0
Class: Mortal
Astrix: Unknown
Astritems: Forgotten orb, Drop of ichor, Life essence crystal]
Kai looked at this magical scene happening in front of him with awe as this was the first time he got to see a bit of the supernatural side of the world, leaving this trial of course...
But this also reminded him of the system novels he read earlier in his life but only a little.
"It also seems that they do not hear the Psion's voice as I do, it was as Ms.Amy said'
Now he focused on the Forgotten orb and a description of it appeared in the same magical way as words rearranging themselves and finally formed:
[Forgotten Orb: A history long forgotten and with it, the guard was also forgotten of the Horizon Voyager. Makes the wearer far less noticeable and reduces his presence]
'So that's why we weren't able to detect it'
Then he focussed on the drop of ichor:
[Drop of Ichor: A drop of Ichor]
'What does that even explain, it literally just added an A'
'Maybe I should ask them' He mused
*Click*
A lock opening-like sound came from the front and he was startled to see the door turning to dust and finally opening the passage.
He saw Fred standing up in front of the gate, supposedly he had opened it.
"Great work Kai, although you missed it the first time, your luck killed it the second time"
Gerald came and enveloped him in a bear hug
"You know luck is also a type of power but a fickle one at that, you never when it's bad or good" Fred chided from the front with an annoyed expression.
"So shall we move forward," Fred said and started moving.
Kai glanced ahead and saw that the passage was pitch black with mottled grey walls, He could notice these details with the help of the lantern which was making the environment more spooky.
There were also the occasional squelching sounds...
"Yes we shall," Kai shuddered and moved ahead of them and while doing so, he did not forget to pick up dagger.