As soon as Samuele passed through the portal, he saw a forest in front of him. There was silence. In fact, there was too much silence. He turned around and saw none of those who had entered before him. Sofia, who had entered at the same time with him, was also not there.
From the portal came a boy and soon after a girl, respectively, and immediately closed, disappearing into thin air. These two looked around before turning to Samuele, who gave them a little wave.
"Why is it just us?" The boy asked. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He wore black sweatpants, and around his neck he seemed to wear a necklace that was hidden under his shirt. He was thin, but at the same time muscular.
"It looks like we've been divided into groups." Samuele replied. "My name is Samuele, by the way."
"Federico. Nice to meet you." Replied the boy.
"My name is Eliana, nice to meet you." The girl also introduced herself in a calm tone, who had been silent until then. She had curly red hair and light brown eyes. Unlike the two boys, she was a bit shorter, roughly about ten centimeters. "What are we doing here?" Eliana wondered, slowly massaging her arm and looking around once more.
"I don't know." Samuele answered and turned toward the only area where there was anything. All around it was practically an empty plain. "But I guess it has something to do with that forest."
"Should we go into it? Just like that, without a goal?" Federico asked in an uncertain tone, looking at Samuele. The latter shrugged and sighed, not understanding what the point of it all was.
Fortunately for him, someone seemed to have figured it out.
"Hello, Adventurers!" From above their heads, a figure appeared to the three boys, who looked at him in surprise. The man had dark red hair. "Welcome to the first test of this examination. Your purpose is simple: all you have to do is to overcome the obstacles that will present themselves to you and arrive at the place where the second test will be held. Good luck to you all." He explained and immediately disappeared.
Samuele looked at Federico with a wry half-smile. "Is that enough motivation?"
Federico raised the corners of his lips slightly, amused. "I'll make it enough." He walked over to Samuele and turned to Eliana, who had been standing still. "Are we all ready?"
"Yes." The girl answered after a few seconds and walked with them inside the forest.
The walk was quiet. Even too much so. There was total silence around them, which did not bode well for the three Adventurers.
"We forgot to properly introduce ourselves." Federico spoke suddenly. "I am a Warrior."
"You're right." Agreed the other boy. Knowing one's classmates' class was important information for a likely confrontation with enemies. That way, one could predict what others would do and organize better. "I'm a mage, but I'm more of a close-range fighter type. I use a sword."
"Good to know. I use martial arts for fighting." Said the Warrior.
"I am a Healer. As long as I can, I prefer to stay in the back and only deal with offering support and dressings. Sorry, but I don't like fighting."
"Don't worry." Federico reassured her. "You're a Healer, it's only fair. Samuele and I will take care of defeating the enemies. We rely on you for healing, Eliana."
The girl nodded in thanks and smiled. "Of course. I rely on you for the fighting."
Samuele had a feeling that something was going to interrupt their quiet path. And at that moment he wished he had cursed his feelings, for what he imagined happened.
A dull whistle brutally breached through their eardrums, forcing them to plug their ears with their hands and close their eyes in annoyance.
"What the hell is that!" Samuele shouted, but no one heard him. A few seconds passed before that tremendous sound ended.
From above fell a giant creature that landed in its four legs, causing an earthquake tremor throughout the surrounding area. Eliana was unable to stand because of it.
Looking at him closely, he resembled a giant wolf without eyes.
Samuele turned his gaze toward Federico. "Do your martial arts work against this beast?"
"It depends on how strong it is." He replied, squinting toward the beast and striking a defensive pose with his hands forward.
Samuele did the same and drew his sword, pointing it at the quadruped. "Then follow me."
YOU HAVE ACTIVATED "ACTIVE SKILL: TIMELY BLESSING!"
Samuele launched himself toward the monster, with the latter trying to strike him with his paw, failing. The boy dodged the attack, jumped in the direction of its head and with the toothed side of the sword tried to cut its neck. Unfortunately, his skin was too leathery to be nicked by the sword. No, Samuele reasoned, the problem was not the sword itself, but the difference in strength between him and the beast.
He snapped his tongue and jumped out of its jaws. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Federico overtake him and throw a punch under the wolf's chin, with the latter falling backward from the superhuman strength of that attack.
'He is a warrior after all...' Samuele thought, watching the scene in awe.
The wolf immediately got up again, as if nothing had happened. In fact, he now seemed to be much angrier. He gnashed his sharp teeth and drool dripped onto the ground. Eliana looked at the scene terrified.
"This is not working!" Shouted the girl to her two companions. "You have to aim for the back of the neck!"
"What, why?" Samuele asked, doubtful.
"I saw it when you landed him! That's his weak point!"
"All right! I trust you!" Federico exclaimed, launching himself on the attack again. The wolf's eyes turned blood-red. He snapped and, in the blink of an eye, Federico found him off to the side. He opened his eyes wide at the astonishing speed, but he did not have time to dodge or parry the blow from his paw that caught him and sent him flying through the dense trees.
"Eliana, check his condition! I'll take care of it here! Somehow..." He said to the girl, whispering the last part.
"All right. Be careful!"
Samuele saw the wolf heading toward Eliana and attempting to strike her.
YOU ACTIVATED "ACTIVE SKILL: TIMELY BLESSING"!
He managed to parry the attack with the blade of his sword, but the impact knocked him back several meters, causing some minor damage.
Samuele almost did not even have time to get up from the ground that already the beast had reached him. Fortunately, he had his skill to assist him and narrowly dodged an attack that might have been deadly.
'Since he has been enraged he has become much faster and perhaps even stronger.' He reasoned. 'If it is true that his weak point is the back of his neck, how should I approach it? In speed, perhaps, both of us equal each other, but in terms of sheer strength he surpasses me. What do I do?'
The monster did not wait for Samuele to finish his reasoning. It leapt into the air and with its fangs tried to impale him. The boy dodged with a somersault and activated both his abilities.
YOU ACTIVATED "ACTIVE SKILL: TIMELY BLESSING"!
YOU ACTIVATED "ACTIVE SKILL: ETERNAL BLADE!"
Samuele approached his hind legs hurled a slash at his ankle in an attempt to slow his speed, but it caused only a superficial cut.
Although the 'Ethereal Blade' skill increased his sword strength by fifty percent, it failed to do anything to him.
'Blades do not scratch him. Fists tickle him. What do I do?' This was a serious problem for Samuele. It meant that the only part that was possible to cut, assuming what Eliana said was true, was the back of his neck. It was worth giving it a try.
He used both his skills again and jumped between the trees, thus reaching a height above the wolf. Pushing himself against the tree, he jumped toward the wolf at great speed and aimed for the weak spot the girl spoke of.
He did not expect the wolf to quickly turn its head and open its jaws as if to eat him. Samuele's eyes went wide, but he could not change the trajectory. He imprecated aloud and the distance between him and its mouth decreased.
The wolf's head snapped fiercely to the side, missing Samuele and allowing him to land nimbly. He looked at the wolf, not understanding what had happened, and saw Federico land shortly after.
"Everything okay?" He asked. Samuele immediately understood what happened and thanked him with a nod. He had punched him in the head just in time to save him from a very bad situation.
"Did the attack earlier hurt you badly?" He asked in turn.
"Not too bad, but thanks to Eliana I'm fine." He replied, turning his arm clockwise and looking at the wolf, who was watching them with pure hatred.
"Now that there are two of us, we may be able to defeat him. From what I understand from our fight, he has no weaknesses. We only have Eliana's words that give us hope. It's our only gamble." Samuele explained the situation.
"You said it well: it's hope. That's all we need."
The two moved simultaneously and separated on opposite sides of the beast. The latter targeted Samuele, who dodged all its attacks. Federico threw kicks and punches to try to send it down, almost succeeding. The monster moved its tail in the direction of the Warrior and struck him, but he caught it with both hands. He took a breath, his eyes lit up for a thousandth of a second, and pulled it to himself. The wolf found itself in the air and an instant later was slammed violently back to the ground, causing cracks in the ground below.
As the wolf got back up with more difficulty than before, Samuele caught a glimpse of the bare spot on its neck. He took the ball and lunged toward it.
YOU ACTIVATED "ACTIVE SKILL: TIMELY BLESSING"!
YOU ACTIVATED "ACTIVE SKILL: ETERNAL BLADE!"
With the serrated part of the blade, he made a clean cut along its neck. This time, the skin did not resist her blow, managing to cut deep and making him cry out in agony. Blood spurted from the cut like a fountain, soaking the wolf's fur and creating a pool around his helpless body.
Samuele sighed with relief. He turned his gaze to Eliana, who had approached in the meantime.
"How did you know it was his weak spot? I just saw it up close and it showed no cosmetic change. Like the rest of his body it looked hard, but it wasn't." He asked in a curious, almost admiring tone.
"That's my skill. It allows me to see the opponent's weaknesses, if the opponent is not too much higher level than me."
Samuele nodded in satisfaction. "Well, thank you. Without you, we couldn't have done it."
Eliana shook her curly hair behind her ear and smiled sincerely. "Glad I could help."
Federico smiled at her. Then he looked around, bewildered. "Where to now?"
"The sky." Said Eliana. The two turned confusedly toward her and saw her point to something above with her hand. They followed the indicated point with their eyes and saw a bright spot in the empty night sky. "I think we should follow that star."
"You know what? From now on, I will never doubt your words again." Said Samuele, walking toward the bright spot in the sky. The other two walked alongside him.
About ten minutes passed when the forest ended and they faced a cliff. A hundred meters away from where the land ended, there was another clump of earth. Between the two was only emptiness. To the side, however, was a wall with some small handholds that continued to the other side.
"What do we do?" Samuele asked.
"I don't know how to climb." Said Eliana immediately.
Federico scratched his head and looked carefully at the other side. He saw a rope woven into a wooden stick stuck in the ground. He followed the length of the rope and looked up. He saw that the rope started from a ring hanging in thin air. He thought it was due to magic.
He walked over to the wall and touched it in several places.
"Do you have an idea?" Samuele asked him.
"I will climb up the wall, get to the other side and pass the rope to you. You will use it to go over the cliff."
"Do you think you can make it? It's a good climb." Said Eliana in a worried tone.
"Don't worry. I'm very athletic. You can pray for me, though." Joked the boy, receiving a dirty look from Eliana. "Sorry, that sounded much better in my head."
Samuele tried to hold back a smile. The girl sighed. "Be careful." She recommended.
Federico began to climb the handholds. Contrary to what the two might have thought, the Warrior had little or no difficulty jumping and moving his body in such a way that he did not escape his grasp. With quick, careful and delicate movements, he reached the other side. He looked at Eliana and Samuele and raised his arms in the air as if in celebration.
Samuele rolled his eyes in amusement and applauded blatantly. The other boy reached the spot where the rope was tied and untied it. Nodding to the other two, he threw it toward them and Samuele caught it.
He turned to Eliana and handed it to her. "Do you want to go first?" He asked her.
The girl nodded after a few seconds and took it. She walked up to the cliff, her feet inches from the void, and held on tightly to the rope. She took a deep breath, turned back a few steps and ran, leaping into the void and flying across the cliff. She approached the other side and found Federico ready to catch her. Eliana didn't dare let go of the rope even after she got there, and the boy gently grabbed her so that he could stop her and bring her down.
"Thank you." Eliana said, receiving a nod from Federico, who grabbed the rope and threw it back to Samuele.
Once he, too, had passed to the other side, the trio resumed their walk being guided by the one star, but this time they were stopped abruptly by a masked fellow.
"S-stop right there!" Stutteringly exclaimed the figure blocking the path. He had a masculine, youthful voice. Noticing their curious glances he tensed his back and lowered his head. "Y-you can't pass...go back..."
"Who are you?" Federico asked, looking at him with a confused frown.
"I-it's not important who I am! You-you have no right to continue beyond this path!" His trembling voice grew louder, trying, but failing miserably, to make it threatening.
"Oh, really? Samuele wanted to laugh but restrained himself. "And what if we do, what happens?" He pronounced in a low, defiant voice. He surprised himself at how threatening he managed to sound despite only wanting to joke with him.
At this the masked man visibly winced, his shoulders shaking. "Why did I agree to this? I knew it was a bad idea..." Then he spoke to the three Adventurers. "Y-you can pass only if you pass this challenge."
"Do you want to fight?" Federico asked.
"N-no!" Quickly denied the man, putting his hands forward. "You must solve the riddle! If you guess, you can pass." He explained.
"Do we have a shot?" Eliana asked.
"You may try until you guess it, by the end of these ten minutes."
"Then let's begin." Said Samuele, sighing.
"Y-yes!" The masked man coughed and spoke. "In every step you take, in every word you say, In the heart of every relationship, you find it at every opportunity. You cannot touch or see it, but you feel it deep inside. Without it, bonds collapse, hopes vanish. What is the most precious treasure, which no gold can buy, and which only the brave can give?"
The three thought about it. Eliana raised her hand, hesitantly.
"Love?" Supposed the girl in an uncertain tone.
"W-would you like to explain why you think that is the answer?"
"Love is an abstract thing, but you feel it's there. It unites people and can't be bought." She explained.
"No, it's not the right answer."
"Too bad. I almost believed it was the right answer, too." Federico said and then continued. "Faith? Faith in someone you can't see or feel, but you feel inside that they exist. Faith gives people a reason to move forward." He tried too, but the masked man denied it.
"Faith." Said Samuele with an air of confidence.
The man bent his head to the side. "Why do you think that is the answer?"
"Trust is necessary between people. It sends relationships forward and strengthens bonds. Without it, everything collapses. Only the brave can give it, this is because it means putting one's life in the hands of others. Moreover, trust cannot be bought. You have to earn it."
"Correct answer. You have passed the first test of this exam. Do you see that flag? Stop there." The man congratulated them and pointed to the spot where the flag was. Then he stood aside, letting them pass, and sighed in exhaustion.
"Lizzy, where are you when I need you?" She complained softly, sitting down on the ground and pushing her head between her knees.
END OF CHAPTER.
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There are four chapters to go. I have nothing to say about this chapter, so I'll leave it to you. Was it good? Was it bad? Was it trash? As always, tell me yours by commenting, reviewing and leaving a power stone.
See you tomorrow, same time. Bye!