Haruto's heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he could feel each beat reverberating through his entire body. Fear and urgency weighed him down, but he pushed himself to his limits and beyond, determined to keep running. The dense fog enveloped him like a shroud, obscuring his vision and making every step like a leap of faith.
Beside him, Fu, Chen, and the others were struggling to keep pace, their breaths ragged and labored. With each explosive eruption, the ground trembled beneath their feet, sending shockwaves rippling through the air and threatening to throw them off balance. It was as if the earth was trying to stop them from reaching their destination.
Haruto's mind was racing as he tried to navigate through the swirling mist. He strained his senses to detect any signs of danger ahead, but the fog was so thick that he could barely see his hand in front of his face. He could hear the sound of roaring and crashing in the distance, a constant reminder of the peril they faced.
Despite the danger, Haruto and his companions pressed on. Their mission was too important to abandon, and they were determined to see it through to the end. With every step they took, they were one step closer to their goal - and one step further from the danger that threatened to engulf them.
They fell to their knees, their breath labored as they huffed and puffed, the fog growing denser, Fu admired Haruto who sat down at the bark of bamboo, his prize in his hands, although out of breath, he refused to show exhaustion.
"I need to find a way back to Kaito, thanks to those two monsters, I lost the markings I was leaving behind"
'I also wasted time arguing with that idiot, my reaction, what was that... a waste of energy and effort, how shameful' Haruto tormented himself.
Cursing at his emotional outburst,
"It doesn't matter anyway, let's just move on, the rules of the test said nothing about asking for direction, they just said get two beast heads, then what? we don't have maps, and the fog blocks out the sun we don't even know east from west in here" Haruto said.
Getting up he drew the attention of those that had followed him when they ran, unwillingly it seemed that he was trusted into a leadership role, and out of the seven that picked his side three were dead already.
Fu, Chen, Haruto, and Girl, with a slightly curvy figure and beautiful hair, were left, the girl had kept mostly to herself, always looking at her muddied feet, she had hung on to the two beast heads clenching her grasp so hard one would think she was trying to smash their skulls.
Out of breath as she was, she stood up immediately after Haruto did, trying to force air into her lungs, she looked half dead from the splint they had just done, with pale skin and a limp body, whatever energy she had was gone.
Most likely burning through her nerves just to keep up with the three of them. She looked at Haruto as opening and closed her mouth, drinking the air to get enough energy to speak.
"P...Please, w...wait a moment, let me stand up straight I'm ready to move... just a bit more please" Rui said, her beautiful blue hair, vibrant, the wet atmosphere had done wonders for her looks.
Haruto walked towards her slowly, allowing her to catch her breath, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Rest, we don't even know where we're going next," He said, making sure to slowly descend, making her mimic his actions till they were on the rocky and muddy ground.
As they paused to catch their breath, Haruto's mind raced with thoughts of their next move. The dense fog seemed to press in on them from all sides, obscuring their surroundings and making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. They were lost in a labyrinth of bamboo and mist, with no clear path to guide them.
Haruto glanced around at his companions, taking in their exhausted faces and labored breathing. "You are nothing like Zen, he would force us to keep up with everyone else, making even the weakest fight up front or he would threaten to leave us behind. The world is unfair, while others are born with strength some are exploited and destined to lose... Huh! I don't know why I bothered"
'I see, she doesn't have a high opinion of herself, and yet, out of seven she outran the three that died, just now thinking we were about to leave, she forced herself to stand and even lied about catching her breath' Haruto read Rui's type.
"Is that what you believe?" He asked.
"Yes, some people are great while some are just doomed to fail"
"Do you know who I am?" Haruto asked, still sitting close to Rui.
She turned her gaze away from his, batting her eyes "Well, Your Haruto Arata, the only illegitement child of lord Bloodfire, the leader of the Jigoku clan" She said.
"Despite this fact, you haven't displayed any remarkable feats to gain the instructor's attention, some instructors are disappointed by your progress and say it's because of your mother's inferior gens"
Despite her demeanor, Rui had proved her value, she held information even Haru didn't know of... "Tell me, what is your opinion of me right now" he mussed.
"Well, you're hot-headed and deathly cold"
Letting out an amused sigh, Haruto placed his hand on her beautiful hair, patting her head like a father would their child.
"It doesn't matter if you're born with talent or not, saying you're destined to fail is admitting defeat in a world that is against you, to begin with, it eliminates the personal need to improve and shrouds you in a protective bubble, one which allows you to play the victim and justify your lack of effort. Before long you'll start saying, I'm not trying because there is no point in doing so, someone of noble blood will just oppress me or I'm not worthy... I believe no matter what the disadvantage you placed in, complaining and playing victim won't help, if you choose to put in effort on a specific goal and set your mind and body into it, diving into the water and fighting with the fish and monsters that come your way, proving your worth. you will achieve what you want. you can become better than the talented one because only obsession beats talent and never forget that"
"In a world that is against you, never give up without exercising your strength, if it's limited improve on it, mentally, physically, intellectually, never stop seeking greatness never slow down or surrender," Haruto said.
Not knowing in this wet and obscured atmosphere he had been the spark needed in Rui's eyes, to light a fire inside her, she always questioned why she bothered and why she tried so hard, and now that answer had arrived from a cold person.
She gazed at Haruto as he pondered their next step and all she could see in his eyes was a darkness that swallowed everything, every light, a darkness that threatened to consume anything that explored it.
'Why is it you look so lonely right now' She thought to herself, feeling Haruto's body heat from his hand, her face lit up slightly.
"Teachers what do we do now!?" Haruto shouted, his voice absorbed by the dense lingering fog and reflected by the forest as a mockery of his creation.
Fu and Chen were caught off guard by this, they hadn't expected Haruto to call out for the teachers so suddenly without discussing this with them no less.
'The instructors never told us what to do after, they simply said cross the forest and collect two beast heads, our goal was to make it out of the forest and onto the outer wall of the clan, but this fog removes the sense of direction, the bamboo's are all straight, like line drawn from the sky, we can't see the sun and even with the ability to detect Chi, one can't get out of this forest' Haruto thought, willing to take a gamble by asking for the instructors help.
If things went wrong he could simply exploit the fact that teachers were not to help and twist the situation in his favor. In other words, if his gamble didn't work, he could exploit it.
"Hey, what are you doing" Said Fu as she rushed to Haruto.
But immediately her advances came to a halt as a tall figure with dark blue robes stood between her and Haruto, her long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, her hands stacked neatly into her robes the sigil of the Jigoku clan on the back of her uniform, her eyes a blood red with two lines rotating around the pupil.
"Congratulations you move on to the final phase of the exam," The instructor said, as the gentle breeze blew her hair sideways.