"The trial he is taking is on the demi-god difficulty if not stronger" Mr. Stylianos blurted out
"What?!" the four demi humans exclaimed in shock
"Advanced difficulty should be only wind bullets, but this one involves wind blades too which is actually the demi-god difficulty" Sirius explained after calming down
"Wow. It's the first time I'm actually experiencing a trial with the demi-god difficulty" Mr. Stylianos said with stars in his eyes
"You already experienced one yourself during your advancement" Sirius shook his head
*Boom*Boom*
A thick smoke screen appeared in Orpheus' surroundings as loud explosions began to occur one after the other, making the transparent barrier to tremble slightly
"Hey man," Aster turned to Sirius "is that barrier going to hold?"
"It should hold" Sirius nodded his head "Probably"
Meanwhile, Orpheus was busy deflecting both wind bullets and blades while running around
"How the hell am I supposed to complete this trial?" they're getting faster by the second"
[It's the agility and perception trial not the speed trial]
"How does that relate with what I'm saying?" Orpheus said as he dodged a wind bullet
[What I'm saying is, you're not meant to run away from the onslaught. You have to either dodge or deflect the attacks]
"Oh, that's why you told me to push my five senses to the limit. But how do I do that though? Shit!" Orpheus cursed as he dodged another wind bullet.
[It's simple. Just try to be one with your environment]
"Explain better!" Orpheus yelled
[Ah, you're so dumb. Concentrate on your surroundings. Feel the air, hear the fluctuations in the air, see the air and taste the air]
"How the hell am I supposed to see and taste air, you dumbass!" Orpheus yelled again
[Don't know]
"Who's he talking to?" Mr. Stylianos asked in confusion
"Uh… it's me" Andrian said "You know, telepathy stuff"
"Why is he yelling then? I thought telepathy is mind communication" Sirius asked
"He's… he's… he's yelling out of frustration. I'm trying to explain the basics of perception to him" Andrian rubbed his cheek
"He has learnt the basics of meditation, right?" Mr. Stylianos asked
"I think so. He used it to go berserk during The Separation" Tana nodded
"Good, tell him this. Create a barrier around yourself with the sound and wind element. It'll help him greatly" Mr. Stylianos said
Andrian relayed the message to Costas who in turn, relayed it to Orpheus. Receiving the message, Orpheus made a layer of sound and wind barrier on his body before maximizing his five senses
[Make the barrier a little bit bigger. Like the size on your body]
"Woah! I can literally feel and hear the air now" Orpheus said in astonishment
*Pang*
He waved his dagger behind him, deflecting a wind blade before shifting his slightly to dodge a wind bullet. Like starved beasts who had just seen their prey, the remaining wind blades and bullets pounced on Orpheus at the same time
"Whoa, they're really trying to kill me" Orpheus said, flabbergasted
[Shit! They're now testing speed agility and perception at the same time?!!]
"The hell!!" Orpheus cursed
*Boom*
…
"Hey Ajax" a young boy walked up to Ajax, a high-level intermediate magus "You're taking your trial today, right?"
"Yeah" Ajax nodded "Have you seen Mr. Stylianos? I heard he's in charge of this kind of stuff"
"Don't know, you can ask Mr. Iason to help you with the trial"
"Oh yeah. Thanks a million" Ajax ran in the direction of the infirmary
Getting to the infirmary, he took a deep breath before walking into the building
"Another one?" Mr. Iason, the academy's medic captain rose his head from the file he was staring at "Oh, it's you. Haven't you gone for your trial?"
"About that sir, I haven't seen Mr. Stylianos anywhere. So, I had to come and meet you"
"Hmmm, I don't have any patients right now. I guess it will be possible. Let's go" Mr. Iason dropped the file he was reading and left the infirmary
"Sir, where am I challenging the trial?" Ajax asked while rushing after him
"Where else? The place where advanced trials are taken" Mr. Iason replied while walking in the direction of a small hill
"Oh. Okay sir"
…
"Woah. That speed is close to rivaling mine" Sirius marveled at the sight before him
"I have to say; he has improved considerably" Mr. Stylianos nodded his head
Orpheus was leaving after images as he slashed and dodged the attacks from both the wind bullets and the blades
[Ha! You've finally grasped it! That's my boy!]
~Fudge you man, I'm concentrating here ~
[Oh yeah. Keep up the good work]
*Slash* *Boom*
"Hah! That was the last of'em" Orpheus wiped the sweat off his forehead
[You passed the trial. The next one will be the strength trial and it will probably be the dark elem… shit! It's lightning?!!]
The clouds above began to darken as lightning began to flicker within it. The lightning flashed in different colors and the pressure it emitted was enough to knock out low-level intermediate magi
~What's wrong with lightning? ~
[The problem is that it will strike eight times, each one stronger than the last]
~Shit ~ Orpheus was dumbstruck
"Hey man, you said demi-god difficulty, right?" Aster asked Mr. Stylianos
"Yep" he nodded his head
"I'm gonna ask you again. Is that barrier going to hold?" Aster stared at the clouds darkening above Orpheus
"Look, I don't know anymore. Let's just hope it doesn't break because if it does, the concealment array will deactivate, telling everyone a trial is taking place here" Mr. Stylianos sighed and rubbed his forehead
"Someone is walking towards this direction" Aella sniffed the air
"It's two people" Tana squinted her eyes in a certain direction before turning to Mr. Stylianos "I heard you say this place was safe and discreet, didn't I?"
"Uh… I did say so, but…" Mr. Stylianos backed away in fear
"No long chitchat. You both have two options" Aster walked towards Mr. Stylianos and Sirius "Chase them away and you get to keep your heads or… you die. Go now and don't say anything suspicious"
…
"If I can recall, you're a psychic-based magus, correct?" Mr. Iason asked Ajax
"Yes sir. Three psychic elements and two nature elements"
"That's cool. Your trial wouldn't be that hard… isn't that Stylianos and… Sirius?" Mr. Iason asked on sighting two people running towards them in a frenzied manner
"What are they running from?" Ajax asked in confusion
"Iason and Ajax! You have to leave now!" Mr. Stylianos yelled from afar
"What the hell is he yelling about?" Mr. Iason peered in their direction
"He's saying something about us leaving now" Ajax said
"What do they mean by we have to leave now" Mr. Iason asked
"I don't know. Maybe when they get here, they can fill us in" Ajax shrugged
The duo arrived before Mr. Iason and Ajax while panting heavily sex
"You… mustn't… go… over… there" Mr. Stylianos said in-between sharp breaths
"Calm down, take a deep breath and explain yourself" Mr. Iason said
"You know about the four cardinal families, right?" Sirius spoke after seeming to catch his breath "and the one rumored to be the center and control the rest from the shadows"
"Yeah. Wait, don't tell me…" Mr. Iason gasped with wide eyes
"Yes. That family reached out to us to help one of their members advance to a demi-god" Sirius explained
~This boy is such a talented liar. Is this a new psychic element he acquired that no one knows about? ~ Mr. Stylianos stared at Sirius in shock
"For you to run over here frantically, it means they want it to be discreet" Mr. Iason said "I guess we have no choice then. Ajax, let's return. You'll advance tomorrow"
"But sir, we can just…" he protested
"I said it's no use. Don't you value your life? Let's go" Mr. Iason said before turning to leave with Ajax who had a forlorn expression on his face
"Whew" Mr. Stylianos and Sirius sighed in relief and turned back "Those demi humans are scaaary"
…
"Okay, I guess it's coming now" Orpheus gripped tightly on his twin daggers as he faced the dark clouds
The gloomy clouds began to flash in pink color as a pink colored lightning struck down on Orpheus, illuminating the dark atmosphere while disrupting the space mildly
[I suggest you max out your senses again for this one]
Just after Orpheus put a layer of sound and wind around him, the lightning suddenly disappeared from its original path and appeared behind him
"Shit!" he cursed as he immediately waved Khaos, slightly deflecting the lightning strike to the ground some inches away from his body
[That lighting contained the space element which is absolutely not normal. The lightning strike should only contain the power of the elements you wield]
~Wait a sec. does that mean the lightning is going to strike nine time instead of eight?!!! ~ Orpheus almost jumped in fright
Without waiting for Orpheus to recover, the next pink lightning struck, emanating a pressure that rendered his movements useless
"Orpheus?! What are you doing?! Block it!!" Tana yelled on seeing the lightning get closer to Orpheus
"I can't move! The closer the lightning gets, the greater the force of… I guess it's going to strike ten time then. Damn my luck" Orpheus shook his head as the lightning inched closer to him before suddenly hitting an invisible barrier
"I guess we arrived on time" Mr. Stylianos and Sirius staggered to the scene while panting heavily
"Naa, I don't think it's going to hold" Aster muttered as visible lines began to appear on the barrier
*Crack*
*Boom*