'Why do I feel like this?'
Aside from the pain that already plagued him, since entering the castle, Aldric had been feeling a strong sense of suppression, as if something in him was missing, yet he couldn't figure out what.
With measured, calculated steps, Aldric made it through the dark hallways—scarce flame torches offering a cruel joke at illumination, his eyes now more of a secondary dependency for directions. Inside the castle, the walls were adorned with engravings of languages Aldric did not speak but understood regardless.
"The last defence against true darkness."
That is what most engravings read. More than its meaning, Aldric found himself more intrigued by the fact he could clearly read the language. Now, giving it some thought, he realized the other candidates might not have been speaking English as well. In fact, they all spoke different languages—and yet he understood.
"Uh."
Aldric jolted as his legs bumped into something. He looked down, trying to make out what it was in the darkness. Then, as the smell of iron hit his nostrils, he knew immediately—it was another dead body.
He stepped over the corpse and continued moving.
This wouldn't be the first; he'd seen quite a few since entering the castle. More guards losing their lives in an attempt to stop the candidates that came before him. To eliminate the guards like this, the others probably did not need to lift a finger; it's likely they all tried to attack Asari and ended up killing themselves.
Aldric halted, reaching the end of the hallway. He now stood in front of a large door made of some kind of black metal. He immediately realized this was the door of the castle's throne room, which was his destination, as well as the fact he wouldn't be entering through the door.
He looked to the left, stared a moment, and placed his hands on the black brick wall. He began running his fingers across it as he walked to the side, carefully feeling each brick and applying slight pressure on them. After a while, one budged.
As Aldric pushed the brick inside, the wall seemed to split open, revealing a secret passage.
"Tsk, cliche much?"
Aldric walked into the passage, and by instinct pushed another brick, and the wall closed shut again behind him. Hearing what Blindfold had said about knowing "Alternative entry points," this is probably something Aldric discovered from him.
Wasting no time, he moved through the pitch-black passage. His steps were hesitant as he could not see anything that was before or around him and could only hope it was a straightforward entryway.
Then he saw light; he had reached the end, and as he crept closer, standing some distance away from him were the candidates. Their backs being turned to Aldric further highlighted the fact this was where they followed to get in, and standing before the candidates were two men.
The passage Aldric stood in was pitch black, so spotting him was impossible. However, the throne room itself was significantly lit up, far more than the entirety of the castle, and that allowed him to make out the expressions on both men's faces.
Disdain, annoyance; they were cornered.
Aldric immediately recognized both by memory as the two remaining lost men. The man on the left, his face tracing a long scar and his bushy hair left to its own devices, was none other than Hariga, the creature tamer.
And standing beside him with a cloak and looking significantly more panicked was Basid, the originator of Xai.
Aldric watched as Basid raised his hand in what looked like an attempt at an attack, only for nothing but silence to follow, his face increasingly surging with panic and disbelief.
"There's no point," the elf spoke, causing Al to turn to her, her hands placed together and a red glow emanating from her. "I have suppressed all Xai usage in a two-mile radius; you are wasting your time."
'So, that's what's going on.'
Aldric had to give props to what he assumed was an ability of the elf's Marking. This would make her extremely vital to the trial. If the entirety of Basid's power is Xai, and she's suppressed it, that would mean he's just a victim waiting to be killed with no way of stopping it. That left only the creature tamer.
Although, off the bat, Aldric had already made out his own shortcomings. He's a creature tamer, and they are now in a throne room with no creatures, which just makes him another victim to be killed. However, beneath Hariga's slight show of panic, there was an off-putting confidence.
"I must commend you all; you came well-prepared and nearly bested us."
"Nearly?" Blindfold scoffed.
"Indeed," Hariga laughed hysterically, and following it, the ground began to shake beneath them.
With a loud groan and heavy vibrations, a section of the throne room floor began to split open. Then, large crimson claws emerged from within, along with an aura of bloodlust that spilled out recklessly, enough to make even the mightiest warriors tremble.
Enough to make Aldric summon the blade of Black Star by instinct.
[You now stand before a dominion: Agraedian Reaper]
Aldric gazed at the notification with a certain detachment before muttering:
"So this was my end game."