Ryujin instinctively leapt to the side as he narrowly evaded the massive maws of what appeared to be a giant anaconda.
The massive serpent loomed large; its thickness, exactly the same as the width of a school bus, and it's length, longer than a dozen school buses, lined into a train.
The hair all over Ryujin's body stood on end as goosebumps sprouted all over him like moles out of soil.
His heart pounded heavily, as a torrent of adrenaline and blood gushed into his brain, shifting his limbs in ways that felt familiar and yet foreign.
Ryujin darted into the thick foliage, as his instincts guided him beneath the tree canopies warning him to only move within the shadows it provided.
Nevertheless, chasing from behind, and in hot pursuit was the anaconda whose heat detecting snout and chemical probing forked tongue had locked onto his trail.
In no time at all, Ryujin swiftly realized that the giant anaconda was significantly faster than he was.
With a single thought, he abandoned his camouflage and darted through the forest in a straight line.
Ryujin knew that he could -by virtue of his powerful muscles- tear through the forest in a straight line; however, the anaconda whose head was weaker will have to slither and weave its way through.
As a result, he was able to maintain the distance between them, and recover a brief moment of respite.
However, as if the heavens were intent on killing him, Ryujin suddenly found himself within a part of the forest where lots of fallen tree trunks and boulders were scattered everywhere.
Then in the blink of an eye, the little advantage he had gained, and even his brief moment of respite, vanished.
Ryujin realized he could no longer power his way through, and as such, had to maneuver his way around.
His predator on the other hand, seemed to have been thrown straight in the middle of her favorite sport; a Spartan Race.
She glided and weaved her way through the tree trunks and boulders like a fish in the open seas; her prowess shining forth in all its glory, as she closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds.
Snap!
The first bite came, missing Ryujin by a fraction of a finger's length; leaving him with a palpable reminder that he had fallen within the striking range of his predator.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Ryujin dodged three more, as every single one of his steps became a calculated risk, and a potential trap in his dance with death.
His pursuer was relentless; her massive form morphing into a looming specter in the green; a silent wave of destruction.
He couldn't see, but only feel the pressure of her presence, and the dreadful threat it posed to his life.
'Is this the test?
Am I meant to simply survive this hunt and avoid death?
Why does this seem more like a test of physical prowess?'
Ryujin thought in chase as he avoided another snap that sent a ringing noise prickling at his eardrums.
-------
Back at the entrance of the labyrinth, Yama and the phoenix stood mid-air watching Ryujin who had been standing at the same spot within the labyrinth's tunnel all this while.
"Do you think he will figure it out?" Yama asked, gripping his hand behind his back in palpable worry.
"You said this memory was from his life as a Jaguar right?" The phoenix asked as Yama slowly nodded in reply.
"Well, if that's the case, then there's a high chance he would fail." The phoenix replied as Yama slowly shut his eyes.
But after taking a deep breath, he opened them again, and this time, every trace of worry within them were gone.
"I believe him. He will figure it out." He vouched with in a voice dripping with absolute confidence.
The phoenix gazed at the Nether King from the corners of its eyes, but said nothing, as it returned to spectating the trial.
-------
Back within the forest...
The chase continued on for hours with Ryujin managing to barely evade the snapping maws of the anaconda more times than he could recall.
The chase led them to the edge of the forest; a precipice overlooking a raging waterfall and the churning river below.
With no path left to tread, Ryujin was left with only one chance at survival; one that was staring him in the face as he approached the edge of the cliff.
But just as he was about to leap and surrender himself to air and gravity, he suddenly hesitated.
His eyes flashed with a hint of reckless craziness.
He knew he was taking a gamble, and would most likely fail the test, but something within him was telling him that; should he jumped, he would most undoubtedly die.
Thus, since the road ahead leads to certain death, then he would have to go the other way.
And with that, he ground himself to an abrupt skidding halt.
However, upon turning to face his predator, he was only met with the open maws of the latter, open wide and coming in for the kill.
At the sight of hundreds of sickle-looking teeth that were gleaming with a sheen of brutal savagery, and an abyssal throat that beckoned at his soul, Ryujin's mind blanked.
He felt his soul chill like it had been plunged into a tank of nitrogen gas, and before his instincts body could regain locomotion, it was already too late.
With a thundering snap that echoed across the forest, the giant anaconda took a massive bite, and sundered Ryujin in half
-------
"Ah!"
Ryujin's eyes snapped open.
The deepest core of his very soul trembled in fear as his legs turned jelly.
He fell to his knees, trying his best to keep his bated breath under control.
Then all of sudden, his eyes widened in shock as he realized he was now back within the first tunnel of the labyrinth.
He frantically check out his body, looking for any missing body part.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find any.
"Fuck!" He yelled in frustration.
To think his entire experience was no more than a mere illusion?!
To think he had basked, feared, and fled every single minute of it?
Ryujin knelt within the corridor of shifting mist; the dim otherworldly ambience casting a long shadow of his slumped visage across the maze walls.
He knew there was no one to blame but himself.
He had prided himself on his sharp instincts, and his ability to assess and navigate the trickiest of situations with an almost animalistic sense.
However, the trial of perception had proven to be a different beast altogether.
He let out a heavy sigh, his mind replaying the entire trial, as he began to search for the moment where he had confused his instincts for intuition.
'It was the ambience... the scents... the trees.. the rustling leaves... the trickling stream...
Heck, even the anaconda's presence had given me goosebumps!'
"How could I have been so blind?" He berated himself, his words laced with self-reproach.
The illusions were designed to deceive, to blur the lines between reality and perception, and he had fallen for it; hook, line, and sinker.
He remembered when his instincts had told him to run beneath the shadows...
When it had convinced him that he had the physical prowess to tear through the forest foliage with blinding speed...
He had truly felt powerful back then... Prideful in the attributes that made up the very fibers of his physical nature...
But to think they were all lies... To think his instincts and thoughts were all part of the illusion.
'Unacceptable!' Ryujin reprimanded himself seriously; his hands clenching into fists.
"You're better than this, Ryujin. You know you are!" He scolded, the disappointment in his voice echoing through the tunnel-like corridor.
This wasn't a test about fight or flight, it was a dance of discernment, a challenge to separate the visceral gut reactions from the whispers of subconscious wisdom.
He stood up, pacing back and forth as he continued his self-reprimand.
"What are instincts?
Instincts are biological responses designed for survival... Innately fixed patterns of behavior....
Automatic and involuntary responses to environmental stimuli....
What is intuition?
Intuition; a cognitive process that helps make decisions based on experiences and subconscious trance.
A form of knowledge that isn't based on rational analysis or conscious thought."
Ryujin began to unlearn, learn, and relearn from the memories of his life as a Nobel Scientist.
"Instincts are raw, primal and straightforward... They are fight or flight responses to external threats; they should have led me through this maze.
Intuition is more flexible; the quiet guide that only responds to internal threats; I should have listened when it was whispering the truth of my situation to me.
But I- I let them tangle, become indistinct, and nearly jumped myself to death."
Ryujin stopped in his tracks, taking a deep breath. He knew that berating himself wouldn't change the past, but perhaps it could help forge a sharper mind for the next illusion.
"Next time," he vowed; "I will listen, and I will never be deceived!"
With that, Ryujin gathered his composure; the first test of the trial of perception had doled him a harsh lesson, and it was one he would never forget.
-------
Meanwhile, back at the entrance of the labyrinth.
"To think he eventually figured it out." The phoenix commented in slight surprise.
Yama on the other hand, simply gripped his fist in silent celebration.
"I knew it! I knew you wouldn't fail. Not now… not here… not ever…" He thought to himself as he watched Ryujin pace about in thought.
"This little one truly possesses some luck; he even managed to attain Zen of Nature, just before the serpent struck. " The phoenix added.
Yama smirked at the comment, wondering how the bird would react if he told her Ryujin had only attained 'One with Self' a few days ago.
-------
Back within the maze, Ryujin pressed onward; encountering series of illusions that threatened to shatter his newfound resolve and plunge him to an eternal darkness.
In some illusions, phantom figures that beckoned at him from the shadows.
Some appearing as allies, offering false guidance and support during his test; while those he was supposed to truly listen to were disguised as adversaries seeking to lead him astray.
The deeper he ventured, the more the illusions grew insidious; playing upon his deepest fears and insecurities; forcing him to question the motives behind the illusions themselves.
They tested his discernment; looking to tangle his six senses into braids of knots that would never be unraveled.
However, with each test he overcame his perception sharpened, honed by illusions that tested him with the memories of the ten lives he had just been gifted.
Gradually, he gained insights into the innermost workings of his own mind, and was able to lessen the time it took him to distinguish truth from falsehood within each trial.
Almost an entire day later, Ryujin finally arrived at the heart of the maze.
Here, he was confronted with the greatest illusion of all; one that tested his perception of reality itself.
The very fabric of space and time seemed to warp and twist around him, creating a kaleidoscope of shifting patterns and colors that sent his mind spinning into an irrecoverable vertigo
However, Ryujin's attention never warped; instead, he focused his gaze even deeper into the kaleidoscope.
Then it happened...
He caught a glimpse of two small, multicolored orbs swiveling around each other within the chaos, like kids in a playground.
Swiftly, Ryujin reached out and touched them, and in that instant, the kaleidoscope of colors suddenly shattered into mirror-like fragments and shards.
Then just like a storage space for energy, an ocean of energy surged into Ryujin for the second time, illuminating the entire labyrinth, as a wave of enlightenment washed over him.
"In a world of illusions, one's eyes can only be opened to the light of truth when reality is their only path, and clarity their greatest guide."
By the time the light dimmed, Ryujin had regained clarity, and he found himself standing in the presence of both Yama and the phoenix.
The duo were staring at him with gazes of acknowledgement and pride respectively.
They could see it; his eyes swirling like paint in water with different hues of various colors.
A sense of pride and accomplishment surged within Ryujin as he bowed to the phoenix and then turned to Yama.
"Shall we?" He said, mimicking Yama's previous gesture with perfect precision.
"Haha haha ha!!!" Yama laughed uproariously as he slapped Ryujin on the shoulder.
"We shall... Definitely!" His voice boomed in joy as he swept the former up with a wave of his arm.
Sneaked a peek at the phoenix and catching her off-guard, Yama suddenly took a step that sent a powerful shockwave rippling towards the latter.
From pointblank range, there was little the bird could do to mitigate the impact, and surely, she was blasted away and sent tumbling into the distance, as the perpetrators vanished from her realm.