The robed man looked at Aldric, and in a show of confidence, Aldric held his gaze, only allowing his eyes to trail down to his attire for a moment—a dark robe that brushed against the forest floor, its edges embroidered with a washed grey. It was quite different from a priest's robe but held a similarity in its holy aesthetic.
"Well, that makes things easier," Blindfold smiled. Since the beginning, he had already seemed to assert a certain dominance. For Aldric, it was through a clawing fear he had for the man, and for the rest, something more.
"Fine, I shall begin," the robed man peeled his eyes away from Aldric, his gaze scanning around the groups before, after a short while, settling back on Aldric.
'I'm done for; this is it.'
Aldric blinked, and his panic rose; his mind raced with a plan out of the predicament.
The robed man walked to the center of the gathering, with a slow deliberacy that induced slight unease among some. His next words could possibly be the death sentence of another.
"Him," the robed man pointed to Aldric with a tone devoid of any discernible emotion.
They all turned to look, and not one of them had even the slightest bit of shock on their faces or anything to hint that they had not expected Aldric to be the one; even Aldric himself could hardly act shocked.
"Is that so?" Blindfold said with an eerie calmness. "Could you tell us why?"
'Why?'
There were multiple reasons. Aldric had horrid stats, most likely still worse than theirs, even though they were suppressed. He had no magic; he was a record-breaking Tier Zero Warrior rank, and to sum it all up, he had no affinity. There were many reasons why, Aldric simply wondered which one the robed man would say.
"He doesn't have a marking!"
Aldric's face contorted into further shock; however, this time, it was genuine.
'Is this guy an idiot? Or a fraud?'
Aldric lacked many things, and a lot could be listed to make him the weakest standing among these individuals, but the robed man somehow managed to point out the one thing he did have.
Aldric's loudly beating heart slowed, and his pupils dilated; he was given an opportunity, and he could either let it play out or capitalize on it.
"How certain are you of that? I strongly believe markings are not something others can read, no matter their ability."
Aldric turned to the smooth voice of the speaker, a girl with ears like those of an elf, her eyes a fading green, and a face so pretty it'd leave most staring blankly—like Aldric did. But rather than at her face, at her chest; her breasts highlighted provocatively by a white fabric part of her armor that seemed barely capable of containing them. Trailing down, the top piece of her armor seemed to stop just above her stomach and the armour began again at the curves of her hips.
"Yes," Aldric cleared his throat, careful not to be caught staring. "What you said just now was a blatant lie, since I do have a marking."
"Is that so?" Robes raised an eyebrow, genuine confidence in his words. "You are right, miss. I can't see the markings of others, but I can tell a person's rank. It is only possible to obtain a marking when one becomes a Flawless rank, and this man is the lowest tier warrior. So how is it possible he could have a marking?"
Aldric remained quiet, more intrigued than anything else. Robes was right about his low rank, but Aldric did indeed have a marking, although he wasn't sure how he attained one. In fact, he didn't know what they were until a while ago.
"So what you're saying is... a warrior rank somehow became a final candidate for the First's trial? That's less likely than the fact that you're just lying," the elf shrugged with a head tilt.
'Yes, hot elf! I don't know who you are, but you might just save my life.'
"I don't trust the kid, but the elf is right. How could a warrior rank make it here?" Muscles chimed in.
"Let's adjourn this for now; it's almost nightfall. Let's make a fire... We'll get nowhere with baseless accusations," Blindfold advised, and with slight relief, they took it.
***
It didn't take long before muscles had harassed and assaulted a couple of trees for their wood, and they had a fire going in no time. They scattered sparsely around the fire as they all sat in either awkward silence or calculated quiet.
Aldric found his gaze often trailing to the only person out of the six he was yet to hear speak: a woman with a glint of cold detachment in her eyes, her gaze fixated on the sheath of her katana, which she tapped on rhythmically, her golden hair packed messily atop her head.
Aldric shifted his gaze from her to the fire. Its heat was no comfort, as the possibility of being targeted by the people around him still lingered. Amid the soothing crackle of flames, a counterpoint was given—blood-curdling sounds of unseen creatures.
Aldric would often hear growls and screams from within the forest as he tried with great might to conceal his terror, a terror that seemed absent in the faces of others. Aldric wondered if they were acting as well or just unbothered by the horrid sounds. If they were indeed unbothered, that was quite telling of who he sat amongst.
"If you have a marking, what grade is it?" Robes broke the silence with a question, and his burning glare at Aldric told whom his question was for.
'Crap, what the hell does he mean by grade?'
Aldric panicked internally. He barely knew what markings were, and as for them having grades, this would be his first time hearing about it. As seconds bled into one another, Aldric was left with two options alone: remain silent or blurt out a guess likely to be wrong, either way ending up with him being thought a liar.
'When silence and lies are no use, maybe honesty is the best choice.'
"I don't know," Aldric admitted, his eyes shifting to the fingers of the golden-haired girl, the taps on her sheath, and he began to count carefully.
What followed was a silence, one dripping with bitter expectation. Then, with movements even the wind itself could not witness, Blindfold blurred—this was a speed and silence born from his marking, so not even the rest had seen him move, no less Aldric.
As if with a flicker into existence alone, Blindfold appeared behind Al, his blade cocked back as he readied to take off his head.
"Before you bring down that blade, I wonder..." Aldric's voice turned dark and hoarse. "If you are fine losing your life over a hunch?"
Blindfold clenched his hilt and staggered back, his face colored in complete disbelief.
"How did he react to me?" Blindfold muttered bewildered.