"So, Aydin… You are from, where?" asked Julio, to which Aydin said:
"I'm from Turkey."
"Eh? Turkey? I like turkeys, they taste good."
"Pfft, turkeys really do taste good don't they Julio, Haha," said Midas jokingly. Aydin could only shake his head at these two.
"Ha ha, very funny. Where are you guys from?"
"I'm from Brazil while Midas is from South Africa."
"Eh really? So Midas is South African. No wonder I couldn't tell what accent he had…" said Aydin in understanding.
Like that they got to know eachother while walking back towards the South. They had done all they needed to do and collected all they needed to collect and they were finally on their way back to the Stone Tablet. Apparently, Aydin hadn't seen it yet, and Julio was hyping it up to be a marvel and a spectacle.
At this time, which Midas estimated to be about 7am in the morning, there were more and more people walking North, and Midas and his group could occasionally hear conversations from them.
"Woah, did you see the Apple Trees? We can finally get something to eat!!"
"I know right? This challenge isn't gonna be that hard."
"Yeah but aren't they 10AC?"
"10AC is pretty cheap if you think about it."
"Really? I think it's expensive since those Trees won't be enough for all the people stuck in this First Trial anyway."
"So what? We need to eat something! I would buy them even if they made them 50AC!"
"I know, I already saw some people who bought a lot of them in bulk. And then right after, the Tree's fruit was regrown and even more Apple Trees were planted."
"I wish I had a Skill like that…"
Midas shook his head at this. He understood that the panic was real, but there is always a way out of any situation. If they calmed down and figured things out, then maybe they wouldn't have to resort to the Apple Trees.
Midas felt like it was too early to put his apples in the Gwen-Frank group's basket. As far as he was concerned, he still had options.
"By the way, Aydin… Do you have other friends maybe? We're trying to build a group so that we can take care of eachother. As you've already seen, this place is not safe at all." said Midas after thinking about it.
The reason he said this much was in case Aydin actually had friends or people he hung out with that might be useful. If there were none, then that was okay too. He was just trying to project the image of someone magnanimous and driven.
"I slept in the NorthWest side of the Shrine and there I met some guys, but we split up in the morning, so I wouldn't really call them my friends or anything." said Aydin with a wry smile.
"Haha, that's good too. Now that you meet us, we can be good friends from now on!" said Julio with his thumbs up and a smack on Aydin's back.
Aydin chuckled and shook his head. This guy was really easy to get along with. Unlike somebody else… He was now even more on guard against Midas.
Especially since if he knew what Skills he possessed, then he would have told Julio about it to make sure he doesn't fall for any tricks. But Midas merely watched on as Aydin used his Skills on Julio.
On their way through the forest a few minutes ago, Aydin was introducing himself, and seeing that Midas already knew that he had the Gift of Mimicry, he figured he might as well expose it partially.
Aydin then went on to explain his Skills and how he could use it to look like and learn other people's Skills. Of course, he phrased it as if he needed their permission first. He then asked for Julio's permission to demonstrate it.
After hearing this much, Julio expressly gave his permission and Aydin then held his hand. And after a few moments, his skin started visibly changing. His eye shape and colour, his nose and ears and facial features all morphed and started resembling Julio's. Even his height and body shape ended up morphing into an uncanny resemblance of Julio's
When Julio saw that Aydin could turn into him, Julio was even more excited. Didn't this mean that there were two of him now? So cool! When he looked closer, he realised that Aydin's version of himself was a bit more handsome… Wait, why was he more handsome? Weren't they meant to be the same.
Aydin then explained that he had somehow copied Julio's [Berserk] Skill and he could use it later in the future. He then thanked Julio for allowing him to demonstrate his Skill and also promised to make it up to Julio in the future.
Julio waved it all away, saying that now that they were teammates, they had to work hard to protect each other and he was glad that Aydin was now stronger.
Midas was watching all of this happen from the side with flashes of understanding.
This was incredibly fascinating.
In the past 2 hours he had been exposed to all manner of what earthlings may have termed to be impossible.
People who could release lasers out of their hands. People who could construct seemingly impenetrable barriers in mid air. People who could shape shift into Werewolves. People who could turn whole environments into icy cold scenes that resemble the arctic.
And now, he saw someone turn into someone else with a 99% likeness.
If he were told that these things were possible he would have vehemently disagreed.
And yet here he was, living in it.
He felt an insatiable greed for the knowledge that governed these impossible happenings. He wanted to know it all.
Now, they were talking about the Trees that were all over the forest and how they were so useless and boring and Midas decided to share what he knew.
"Actually, these trees might be dangerous," said Midas nonchalantly.
Aydin perked up at this time and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you guys as long as you promise to keep it a secret," said Midas with a low volume to his voice as if he was afraid someone else might hear him.
"Of course, you can trust us," said Julio. He knew that Midas had some insightful skills that could give him Knowledge about his environment. It seems Midas has figured something out again. Aydin on the other hand just listened in while nodding as if to affirm what Julio was saying.
Seeing them paying maximum attention, Midas continued, "I used my Skill on them and figured out that they are constantly releasing a fragrance that is affecting us. The longer we stay in this place, probably, the more we will be affected."
"Oh yeah, you did mention that this place isn't safe. So it was because of that," said Julio absentmindedly.
"Wait wait wait… Are you serious?" said Aydin in shock. He looked around and sniffed around but realised he couldn't tell what fragrance to look for. After realising that he had probably sniffed this fragrance in large quantities again, he tried to block his nose using his hand and the Shirt on his body.
Midas laughed and said, "What are you doing?"
"You said there's a fragrance being spread by the trees, so I'm trying to filter it." said Aydin with a dumb look on his face. Wasn't this obvious? Unless… This sneaky guy was joking around…
"Wait, this isn't a joke right?" asked Aydin, trying to make sure of things. He still kept his hand and T-Shirt by his mouth and nose just to make sure though. Midas laughed even harder seeing this.
"It's real. It's also too late. You've been breathing it in, this whole time. And you are probably still breathing it in. So you might as well stop doing that." said Midas, shaking his head. Julio giggled from the side thinking this Aydin was an interesting character.
"Ah? Fucking shit! What does the fragrance do to us? Is it a sleeping drug? Does it make us go crazy?" said Aydin, now freaking out. Midas and Julio laughed even harder and Aydin wanted to punch them because of this. They just revealed that the trees were releasing a fragrance that was affecting people and now they were laughing about it? These guys…
"It's okay. I think that the fragrance is something that makes us extremely prone to emotional outbursts. So think of every emotional state you can have, and now amplify it. That's what is going to happen to us. I think the longer we breathe in the fragrance, the more our emotions will be amplified."
Aydin's eyes almost popped out of his head, and even Julio was surprised. He knew that the trees were weird according to Midas' earlier words, but this was the first time he was hearing the in-depth explanation of what was happening.
"What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck--"
"Hey, Aydin, are you okay? Don't get too Emotional." said Midas trying to calm him down in a joking manner. Aydin panicked even more, thinking that the trees' fragrance was actually working on him now.
'Is this guy a hypochondriac?' thought Midas. He expected a Con-man and a fraudster to be more calm than this.
Aydin then tried to make his face have a blank expression on it as if he was unaffected about things anymore. Midas giggled to himself yet again. Why are all the Chosen such weirdos?
"How sure are you of this, Midas?" asked Julio.
"Well, I'm 70 percent sure. I'm sure that the fragrance will affect our emotions, but whether or not it amplifies them or does anything more specific, that I'm not too sure about. Although, according to my deductions, it should be amplification. And it'll only get worse over time." said Midas, to which Julio nodded and continued speaking
"Is there anything that might happen because of this emotions?"
"If I'm right, then people will start going crazy. And it will happen soon. Very soon," said Midas. Aydin and Julio's faces changed again into some serious expressions. Midas continued speaking, saying:
"Well, think about it. What are emotions? Emotions are nothing more than drives, punishments and rewards that the body sends to your Mind to make sure that you are still in check."
"If you eat food and drink water, your body rewards you with positive emotions like happiness and satisfaction as if to tell you to keep doing that. And in contrast if you isolate yourself, or do anything that might be seen as bad for your survival, then the body punishes you by sending you negative emotional states like guilt and sadness."
"Those emotional states drive you to your next actions, causing you to react in a certain way. If you have amplified emotional states, then the body will need amplified homeostatic mechanisms. Homeostasis is the process by which the body tries to keep itself in an okay or balanced state. Not too happy, not too sad, not too bored, not too excited… You guys get it now right?"
"Get what?" asked Aydin.
"What would happen if the emotions you experience for certain things were blown out of proportion? You do the smallest thing, and you will immediately feel like the happiest person in the world, causing you to feel really good. Imagine when the body will try to regulate itself, so the down from any high will be brutal."
Midas continued, making sure to fully enunciate every syllable, "In a case like this, it would be like our emotions are a drug and we are drug addicts."
"Oh my god…"
"Think about if someone experiences sadness. If that is amplified, they could even become irrational and hurt themselves, maybe even hurt other people too. Think about Anger, Frustration, Guilt, Greed, Lust. Think about how many people would start hurting eachother due to these drives and emotional states."
"Jesus…" said Julio, now understanding the severity of the situation.
Midas, after thinking some more continued:
"Julio, back then, was that something you would do? Would you just start a fight with people after they talk shit?"
"No. Not really actually…" said Julio with some shock in his tone.
"Yeah. I thought so. Even I found myself getting angry at those guys after they called us names. And I never get angry. Like never. This might be scary to think about, but we might be getting affected already."
"..."
Midas calmly delivered this piece of news, causing the two men to be shocked beyond words. Even he found this a bit annoying, and he would have to regulate himself thoroughly from now on.
Aydin, on the other hand, was terrified. He knew that his mental state had never been so stable. He started worrying about all the things that might happen to him from now on. Whether it was through his own irrational actions or the irrational actions of others.
Julio was a bit more calm, but he was still nervous. That anger that overtook him back there could come back in the future, and it could be even more terrifying. He didn't want anything bad to happen to himself or the people he cared about.
"Man, fuck all this shit! Who cares? As long as someone doesn't mess with us, then I'm good." said Julio, to which Midas smiled. Aydin however, sported a frown that dug deeper and deeper wrinkles on his face.
"What the fuck are these Trials? Why are we here? Why us?" asked Aydin while laughing self mockingly.
They had just been sent in here one day out of nowhere. They had been abducted, some of them had been killed by getting their heads exploded, and now they were going to slowly but surely become crazy the longer they stayed in this First Trial?
And worse still, This was only the First Trail. There were Six more to go. SIX!
What Julio said was really on point. Fuck all this shit! If Aydin ever found whoever put them here he would make sure to liquidate all their assets and belongings and empty all their bank accounts.
Midas thought for a moment, before continuing sceptically:
"Actually, I think that's why this trial is called the Trial of Self. The amplified emotional states will reveal the best and worst sides of people. It will reveal their irrationality, their Egos and their True Selves. Anyways this is just my theory after being here for 16 hours now, so it might be wrong, but still... Take care of your emotional states, guys."
"..."
A heavy atmosphere took over and for some time, none of the men spoke. If what Midas said was true, this really was a dangerous situation.