It was still too early in the morning and the sun hasn't risen yet. Most of the people were still asleep in their homes at this hour while some are starting to prepare their meals for the morning. In a place where a complicated structure which was made up of sturdy rocks and concrete stood, a pale and skinny young teenager with scruffy hair and dressed in plain old clothes was standing in front of a huge gate locked with chains and a signboard that says 'DANGER! DO NOT ENTER' was attached on it. He looked quite thin as if he hasn't been eating for days.
Lloyd sighed as he turned around without looking back. As for why he was there, he had a crazy impulse of breaking into that gate while he was only supposed to watch it from afar. However, he knew he would die if he did something crazy as that or if not, he would be caught and sentenced to death; even just by attempting to destroy the chains, much less opening the gate itself. He had another purpose for coming to this place but it seemed like he would go back in disappointment as the person watching the gates was not there.
As he was walking back towards the outer district of Asteria fortress, he was looking around the environment where he spent most of his life in.
This city was one of the few places in the world where humans could live peacefully for the time being.
Two decades had passed since the whole world has changed in an instant. An incurable disease struck most of humanity and slowly drained their life force which claimed lots of lives. Not only that but those who have died from the disease invoked another horrifying disaster. They had transformed into different kinds of powerful flesh-eating monsters unkillable by any present weapon man had made.
Since then, different areas of the world had turned into a horrifying labyrinth filled with these monsters walking around everywhere.
It took everything the humans have just to survive that ordeal. Some had fallen to despair and acted lawless, while some retained their hopes until humans found a way to fight back through conquering the trials of a special structure that had spawned in specific places. Those things were called 'the labyrinth of trials'. Because of it, humanity had slowly started getting up again.
The current human civilization had no way to return to the old, modern technology they had before the apocalypse happened and most of the knowledge from that time was lost, so everything they could use in this generation was a mixture of some of the old technology combined with the knowledge and application they had discovered from the unique constitution of monsters.
"Hey, you there! Did you just come from the gate?"
A man in a black military uniform walked towards him and gave him a questioning look. The grumpy-looking expression he was wearing told him that he was not the type who loved friendly chatters with a stranger. Lloyd's eyes glistened as he saw the man. This was the guardian of the gate whom he was looking for.
"Yes. I came to have a look at the famous gate that leads to the barren lands."
Lloyd nodded and pretended to walk away but the guard stood in front of him and stretched his arm.
"What's a poor kid like you doing in this area anyway? Those who have proven themselves in the labyrinth of trials are the only ones allowed to approach the gate, much less enter it. If you are trying to do something foolish like opening the gate, then I will have to arrest you."
The guard was now looking irritated and Lloyd could sense a little bit of hostility coming from him as he was slowly reaching out for the gun in his holster. He scoffed and thought about how these people really think so highly of themselves. He is just some lowly guard anyway. Nevertheless, he didn't speak it out in fear of angering him more.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was really just looking at it from afar. But, good sir, maybe you could help me a little request?"
"What?"
"I want to enter the academy. Could you please recommend me to someone from there so I could join this year's trial ceremony?"
He reached out for his worn-out pouch and showed it to the guard.
"Here! I only have my lifetime savings with me. I hope you could put in a good word for me there."
The guard took the pouch and opened it. Inside the pouch were three common soul orbs which is the lowest grade of its kind. Soul orbs are found inside monsters called hellspawns. Once they are killed, soul orbs can be looted from their dead bodies and can be used for many things such as fuel, electricity source, or even currency.
He frowned and looked at the pitiful boy with contempt.
"Lifetime savings, my ass. This can't even feed you for a day!"
However, he didn't refuse his request despite not being satisfied. He thought it won't be a problem since the boy would eventually die in the middle of the trial. Who doesn't want free money?
"But alright! I will tell someone who can bring you inside the academy. Wait at the academy entrance later in the morning. I should remind you though that if you tell anyone about this, I won't spare you. Now get lost!"
The guard finally stopped talking and moved along towards the gate. His role there was to prevent mundane people like Lloyd lurking around and cause some irreversible calamity by opening those gates, especially when no one is watching. Lloyd knew it best what would happen should the gates be opened without anyone guarding at the entrance. Someone did it before and lots of people had died before the gate was sealed once again.
"Thank you, sir."
He clenched his fists out of anger but he endured it. One day, he would eventually get out of his miserable situation and come back to spite at them all once he becomes stronger. He has fulfilled what he came here for.
'Just you wait one day! You won't be looking smug for too long.'
Lloyd went back to an old dilapidated house found at the corner of a small alleyway of the outer district. That house was where his family lived when they were still alive. Lloyd was an only child so his parents shouldn't have a hard time raising him.
Unexpectedly, a few years after the strange epidemic, a food shortage happened in the outer district and the government doesn't really care in helping them out. A war broke out, and soldiers were ordered to kill those who protest. Among those who had been killed were Lloyd's mother.
His father went mad afterwards and developed a habit of beating out Lloyd. But still, Lloyd couldn't bring himself to hate his father despite all the painful punches he received from him. Eventually, his dad also succumbed to the illness and died, turning into a hellspawn and was put down by an aspirant.
He went inside and took out a wooden bowl from an old box. He was terribly hungry and he needed to eat. Upon seeing the contents, he sighed as he took out the last piece of bread remaining. His food supply was fully gone and he doesn't have any money left. The last three common soul orbs he has kept was given to the guard so he could enter the academy through bribery.
"Damn it. This won't do me any good. I have to pass this trial. It's dying by starvation or dying inside the labyrinth."
After eating, he packed up what little equipment he had to carry and went outside, leaving his home for good. A couple of minutes later, he finally arrived at the academy.
It was still 7am in the morning but the academy entrance was already crowded. There were lots of aspirants who wished to conquer the labyrinth of trials this year, both coming from common families as well as those from elite families. Some elites were even showing off their flashy equipment inherited from their families and boasted how they were going to be the ones to succeed first.
Lloyd could see that most of them are already acquainted with each other while some where already forming groups for an easy trip to the trials.
As for Lloyd, nobody paid attention to him. The way he was dressing clearly hinted that he has no proper equipment that can save him from the terrors inside the trial. Some are even whispering things about him such as how he is the first to die inside, while others are even questioning if he would even be allowed to enter the trial.
Nevertheless, one cannot predict what might happen inside the trial since the challenges changes from year to year and the difficulties are also different from the previous years so Lloyd was never really worried about it.
He ignored them and looked around for someone that might call him out. A voice finally called out to him.
"Hey, kid. What's your name?"
A man in his thirties, wearing a tuxedo and glasses, approached him. Based on his attire, this guy seemed to be an instructor of the academy. He looked around and saw that no one else was near except for him.
"Lloyd, sir. Were you looking for me?"
A confirmed look showed up in the guy's face as he nodded. He introduced himself as Professor Thomas, the one assigned to uphold the trials this year. It seemed like the grumpy guard really asked someone to let him participate in today's events.
"Come with me. I have already processed the requirements needed for your participation. However, do not forget that no matter what happens to you in the trials, we will not be held responsible. And neither are we providing equipment for those who are participating."
Lloyd nodded without asking any questions. It was plenty enough that he gets to join the trials.
He joined in the crowd and stayed quietly in the corner. The professor was now briefing them about the most basic things to do once the trial starts.
"Welcome to this year's trials, aspirants. Listen carefully as to what I am going to tell you as this might aid you in your survival. Once you successfully complete the trial, you'll finally automatically become a true aspirant and receive the soul tree system."
Apparently, the trial of the labyrinth consisted of a single floor area that was like a maze. The trial was very simple. They just had to survive the ordeal and reach the end of the maze where an altar awaited at the end and receive the results of their tests based on how well they had performed in the trials.
They would then receive an innate ability, along with the soul tree system that provided a way where they could use soul orbs to rank up, get stronger, and acquire more abilities based on the nature of their soul tree.
However, surviving the labyrinth was not an easy task as it was populated with different kinds of hellspawns. If one was very unlucky, they might encounter a hellspawn immediately that could obliterate them in a blink of an eye.
Hellspawns were categorized into eight ranks in ascending order based on how radiant its soul orb was glowing although it could only be seen if dug from its body or through certain abilities and skills: starting from grunts, champion, elite, elder, defiled emissary, archfiend, voidwalker and finally, the primordial which had enough power to destroy the whole human civilization, and probably the whole world with ease.
The more potent the soul orb was, the stronger the hellspawns were. They also had different abilities. Some were more into destructive power while there were also rare ones that affected the mind to the point of altering memories or even dealing damage directly to their souls, effectively killing them and turning their body into empty husks which was too creepy.
Although surviving in the trials once meeting a hellspawn was almost an impossible task without proper weapons, those who had brought weapons from the outside had a higher chance of killing one and those that had been killed sometimes dropped equipment that could provide protection, offensive strength, or utility purposes.
There were two ways to acquire weapons that could destroy hellspawns. The first method was to keep hunting hellspawns until they dropped equipment of ranks equal to the ones killed. However, everyone knew this was also the riskiest method since fighting these abominations could potentially result to death.
Another way to acquire equipment was by crafting. Crafting in this generation was somehow similar to the way ancient people before modern technology craft their equipment, with the addition of the infusion of soul orbs to make the weapon stronger and capable of killing hellspawns. The downside to this method was there were only few weaponsmiths that could create high quality ones and most of them belonged to the four great families of Asteria.
Lloyd took note of all the things the professor had told them. He was hellbent on surviving and achieving what he wanted to do in life in the future, so he could not afford to miss a single information that might help him to survive.
"And lastly, everyone is given a set of rations that you will carry inside the labyrinth. After all, it might take days for you to finish the trials so you'll have manage your resources well. I wish the best of you good luck and survive!"