"Before I start I have to inform you of the tests you've done so far. The first was the falling test, the second was the race up the stairs, the third was the illusion, and the fourth was a two part test made up of a socializing and cooperation test. Ten points total, 5 points in each half."
So we weren't brought to that bar to rest..
"The first part of the test was meant to gauge how well you get along with others, after socializing you were put into a combat situation where team work was required.
It's importance to promote cooperation and camaraderie here at the guild. So many adventurers get so hell-bent on competition which there's nothing wrong with, but tends to lead to grim ghastly situations.
So along with a friendly competitive spirit, we want you all to be comfortable working with each other to tackle problems.
After all, all the greatest adventurers are in parties."
A party huh?
A party is a group of adventures banding together.
"Well without further-further do!"
"AT RANK 1 WITH 40 POINTS ANDROS GORGON! TIED AT RANK 2 WITH 39 POINTE ARE: LAMIA AGRONA, SIMON STONE, CASSIUS FREEMAN, ROGUE EDWARDS, TIMOTHY WINEMAN, HANY NARDER..."
At this point my brain shuts down, she goes on for a several minutes then says:
"There's another multiple way tie at rank 3, they are: GRIFFITH RONDOR, WYLEY WEEFOR, HEDON ASPOOL, MUKO KANDA, BETTY CHIPA..."
I zone out again because of how long it is, that's until I hear:
"AND ZACHARY HAZE"
M-me?
I think I pass out from the shock of it all, by the time I wake up everybody is gone except for Hank.
"PUNY HUMAN, I'M AT 15TH PLACE!"
'THAT'S AMAZING HANK!'
"OF COURSE IT'S AMAZING, HANK IS UNDEFEATABLE!"
"Anyways we get a few minutes of respite before we do the next trial."
'I see... Uh sorry to bother you but did I miss anything while I was asleep?'
"Hmm let's see... Ah yes, I REMEMBER NOW!
The next test is also in two parts, survival and traversal."
'Ah thanks for telling me, also thank you for staying here with me.'
"YOU NEED NOT THANK ME PUNY HUMAN! FOR WE ARE BRETHREN FROM THE SAME LOINCLOTH!"
Is that his way of saying I'm his brother from another mother?
"WITHOUT YOU I WOULDN'T HAVE DONE SO WELL IN THE RACE, MY FRIEND. YOU HAVE HELPED ME SO I MUST HELP YOU, THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!!"
He's really loud, but I appreciate what he's saying.
Life really is a strange thing, one moment you're hitching a ride on a giants back, the next you're congratulating them.
It feels weird to say but, Hank and I just hit it off with each other. The bonds we forged in that strenuous race were strong.
GROWL
'Ugh my stomach'
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT TINY MAN!?"
How'd I go from puny human to tiny man? Don't tell me I've been demoted...
'Uh I have to go-' before I can finish my sentence my legs start to move on their own in search for the nearest restroom.
COME ON, COME ON!
WHERE THE HELL IS IT? I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO EXPLODE!
Well... Technically I've already exploded myself once today.
I search the massive room and I cut it dangerously close.
And now we're back to the present, so just in case you were confused on what was going on.
I was constipated-
I'm not going to elaborate...
This is my reward for besting cardose... Ugh my stomach.
Once I'm done with fighting my inner demons and regretting every single one of my life decisions that lead me to this point, I wash up and exit the restroom.
To my surprise Hank is right outside waiting for me.
"I figured you wouldn't know the way so I decided to stay."
Ah that's true. Man I have to repay him for this, we're the only two people here, and he's only here because of me.
I follow Hank as he leads the way to the next location.
A minute passes, then ten minutes, then 20, then what I assume is an hour.
It feels like we're just going in circles, the next trial should have started by now, I doubt the guild is being super generous with the breaks they gave us.
'Wait a second...' I unintentionally blurt out. Feeling a semblance of an idea forming in my head.
Hank stops his gait and turns towards me.
'Why don't we scream for help since we're los-' before I can finish I'm interrupted by a deep feral loud voice saying:
"WE ARE NOT LOST!"
Gulp.
I think I almost soiled myself, that was terrifying.
Just like that I was silenced, unable to speak a single word of protest. The next few minutes are as uneventful as can get as they're spent walking to no destination.
This is becoming too much! I have to say something, but if I do I'm scared my head will get split in half.
Although Hank and I formed quite a bond during our shared time in the race, I'm not sure if it's strong enough to keep me safe from him.
If for whatever reason he loses his temper, I could end up like a broken twig, and I really do not want to end up like a broken twig.
Maybe I'm overreacting, but his voice sounded feral and terrifying a few minutes ago.
'Hey buddy why don't we go through another route?'
Hank looks at me with an expression that sends chills down my spine.
Oh come on- I didn't even say anything to deserve this kind of death stare.
Damnit, I shouldn't be so afraid of confrontation! I've faced a ton of scary situations so far.
I faced fear and anxiety when I first stepped foot into the guild, I faced fear as I spent way too much money for two books, I faced fear when facing a golem larger than Hank, I faced fear when I found the 1000kurs in my pocket, and I faced really horrifying fear during the illusion test.
I've gone through all these experiences and some more and I'm supposed to be afraid of a mere giant.
GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!
As If letting my frustrations towards myself seep outwardly I shout 'HANK!!!'.
Oh shit that was loud.
In an effort to de-escalate any possible conflict before it can even start I say 'Hank what's going on?' trying not to let my hidden frustration about the whole situation seep into my voice.
I-I failed. I screamed at him a second time.
"I FORGOT THE WAY!" He says with immense sadness displaying on his face.
What the... Why does he look so unbelievably sad?
Is it because I shouted at him?
I didn't shout at him that loud did I?
It's like his hard brudish exterior flakes off to show a soft interior sometimes.
Just like when he threw me towards the top floor and that time during the registration.
I can't believe I raised my voice at this gentle giant, I'm such a monster. Well gentle with me so far st least, his death stare and feral voice were awfully horrifying before.
'Sorry big guy, I didn't mean to raise my voice.' I say as I pat him on the back
He face has confusing written all over it.
So I was off the mark eh...
"..." He opens his mouth without saying anything then goes on to say:
"We mountain men are supposed to have great navigation skill. I AM A FAILURE TO MY PEOPLE!" He says pain showing in his voice.
WAHH WAHHHH WAHHH!
Oof, he's crying and has balled himself on the floor.
So there's no soft interior eh... Noted. It was a matter of pride, his pride as a mountain man wouldn't let him admit to us being lost.
So he's not so scary after all, well as long as you don't hurt his pride that is.
'Hey bud, did the lady with the white hair mention how to get to the next location?'
'Y-yes.' he says between sobs.
So he knows the directions, and supposedly his people are good at finding their way.
Something doesn't add up. From start to finish we've been enduring these trials. I think this is one of them.
Survival and traversal...
'It's not your fault Hank, I'm pretty sure we're going through a test right now'
"We are?" He says with hope showing on face.
'Yeah I'm pretty sure.'
"HAHAHA! I KNEW IT! I SIMPLY CANNOT FAIL UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES!" he says as he strikes a pose.
Wow it's almost as if his mood did a 180.
Once he regains his spirits we continue walking.
Sigh~
We've e been walking for a while now... Yet we haven't made any headway, I'm pretty sure this passage way has turned into a maze.
No matter how many branching corridors we walk through or how many stairs we climb we seem to always end up in a wide passageway.
I'd assume the area was looping if not for the fact we haven't stumbled on to the entrance to the room we left over an hour ago.
Hank over here hasn't had any luck navigating through this corridor, so I doubt I would either.
What to do, what to do? Well we don't really need to do anything. We're already technically adventurers, we could just wait it out.
But if we do that, we miss out on extra points that could go towards are grade as adventurers.
Not only that there's no idea how long it'll will take for people to find us if we do give up, or worse what if no one comes to our rescue.
There's also somebody finds us but it takes forever, that would definitely suck.
So wait it out is definitely not an option.
The one good thing about this situation is the fact that the good vibes are back to how they were now that Hank is all chipper. Being so tense around someone so imposing is nothing short of nerve wracking.
Feeling the semblance of a plan I had before, resurface after being buried by Hank's outburst I ask 'Do you have you crossbow with you?'.
I ask him this because when I first laid eyes on him he had a gargantuan crossbow strapped to his arm.
A bright light flashes around his arm as the crossbow seemingly materializes out of thin air.
"What now?" He asks. 'Simple actually, I want you to shoot the walls'
He gives me a confused look before aiming his weapon at the nearest wall to him.
My plan is nothing special, we just have to mark the walls as we travel so that we can find our way out of this... Eventually.
BOOM!
'Huh!? No way!'
The wall to the right just ceased to exist, Hank annihilated it with a single arrow.
"Was I not supposed break it?" He asks with worry filling his voice.
'N-no you weren't, but this is even better!'
Why mark walls and look for a way out when you can just burst through?
'HANK, BREAK THESE WALLS!' I say with my hand pointing upwards.
"AYE AYE CAPTAIN PUNY HUMAN!" Immediately after saying this he shoots arrows after arrow tearing through several walls sometimes the walls were especially durable so I'd use Stella Cadens so we could keep on progressing.
After doing this for a while the innumerous monotonous hallways I had gotten accustomed to seeing after felling many walls are replaced by a room housing the silver haired woman and other guild staff.
"Oho? So you two are the first to arrive." Says the silver haired woman.
Her remark instinctively causes I and Hank to look at each other with smirks on our faces.
There were no words exchanged between us but we had reached a shared tacit understanding of how monumental our achievement was.
"Well, don't stop now, keep on going!" She says rather enthusiastically.
'What do you mean keep goin-' before I can finish my sentence my legs buckle underneath my weight.
W-what the? Did I suddenly get heavier?
No it wasn't that, judging from the grass on the wet earthy soil my face would have definitely come in contact with if not for my hands bracing my fall, I've been transported outside.
The sound of crickets, cicadas and chirping birds alongside the intense feeling of the burning sunlight beating my back suggests one thing; I'm in a forrest. Looking around confirms this suspicion.
There's nothing but shrubs, grass, and tall wide trees with monstrously large crowns composed of broad dark green leaves surrounding me.
I'm in the wilderness through and through.
Sigh~
What's worse is that Hank is nowhere to be seen, meaning I have to deal with this solo. Well it's not like I expected to go through the trials with someone, it's just that escaping through the seemingly endless inter connected hallways was only possible thanks to him.
With his help this would surely have been far easier as well.
No point in whining about what can't be changed.
I get up from the ground dusting my dirty palms on one of the bark of nearby trees.
Maybe I shouldn't do that.. what if the trees are poisonous or something?
So I'm supposed to survive and traverse... But how much survival and traversal can you really do in a day.
I doomed myself the moment I said that.
It's been several days since then, maybe about five. In five days I've been attacked by all sorts of animals, buffalo, pigs, really angry monkeys that fling poops and rocks at you if you get too close... Or they just fling it at you randomly.
Of the creatures I've encountered, bugs and insects have been the worst. They buzz around and sting you, just there to disturb the peace... Well not like there's much of that.
My first day was pretty simple, I walked around trying to cover as much ground as possible, you know classic fun adventure esque activities.
Well that is until I accidentally stepped on a giant snake, a giant constrictor. It wasn't very friendly to say the least, but it's not my fault I stepped on it. I mean the damn thing is green and stays on grass, shouldn't it have been flattered that I didn't see it?
But no it wasn't flattered, I'd go as far as to say it felt the opposite of flattered and was annoyed, and being the mean creature that it is it took out it's frustrations on me.
It wrapped around me so quickly that I couldn't even process what was happening.
Being squeezed by it made me feel claustrophobic, it wasn't a pleasant feeling, it reminded me of my clash with the red haired lady, ah yes the good old days.
I only survived the harsh encounter because a certain giant bird happened to be circling the area. One chirp from it's beak was enough to send the damned snake slithering away, hilarious right?
Well the humor was lost on me at the moment as I had passed out the moment it let me go.
I spent the next few hours knocked out and uneaten by any animals. By the time I awoke it was already night.
Traumatized by the whole ordeal I sought to find shelter, I climbed up a particularly tall tree and rested on it's branches for the night.
Or that's what would have happened if not for a giant bull that rammed into it, I'm not sure if it bashed into the tree once or multiple times, but once I woke up the tree was falling.
Luckily the force of the tree being hit was enough to shake me awake. Right before the tree hit the ground I said the only magic words I know, not please, thank you and sorry, but Stella Cadens.
It came out of one of my palms as a torrent of flames. Even though it saved me, because I used it with only one hand to cast it the forces on my body were askew.
Needless to say I got flung to the side as a result. I caught a glimpse of what fell the tree as I flew threw the air and crashed through branches of several trees then I fell to the ground afterwards.
Luckily there was a grassy shrub to break my fall with not just a broken spirit but broken ribs as well I just layed there helpless.
AND THEN IT WAS MORNING! Isn't that great? Aren't mornings so wonderful?
Bruised and battered, on the second day I swore to escape from this wretched place. I struggled to get up but once I did, I decided to explore as much as possible.
I picked up a random rock from the bush where I landed and marked nearby trees with arrows once I had travelled a sufficient distance in one direction, I headed back to my starting point until I had walked North, South, East and West from my starting position.
Or at least what I thought was North, South East and West, I wasn't really sure to be honest.
I still had maybe two or three hours of sunlight left once I was done exploring. I felt tempted to explore even farther but I didn't want to push my luck, after all I had gone a whole day without incident and I didn't want that to change.
I quietly layed down on the shrub that had cushioned my fall and watched as the sky gree darker and darker, and before I knew it, the sky was black and filled with stars. In a few moments I was asleep.
My sleep was interrupted by a loud noise a very loud noise. I squinted through the darkness of the night to see two giant dark silhouettes crashing against each other.
Loud beastly crises could be heard echoing through the forest as they fought, with each clash making a thunderous sound.
I couldn't do anything but watch in horror as the two gargantuan figures clashed with each clash getting closer and closer to my location.
They got so close that they were no longer silhouettes, it was a humongous ape crashing with a equally huge bull.
They were about half the height of the surrounding trees.
Eventually the bull overpowered the ape. It rammed it's horns into the creatures side and eded up skewering the ape on it's horns.
And just like that the clash was over. The ape was dead and the bull walked away.
I tried to sleep after watching the climax of the epic battle, but I just couldn't.
I spent most of the time my eyes were closed fearing that a giant monstrosity would gobble me up as slept.
The sun was high in the sky and birds were chirping and insect were, these were the signals to kick off a new day, the third day.
Glad that I was still alive and uneaten I was reminded of the fact I had not taken an ounce of food and water in the last two days
Thus I made my objective for that day to change that.
I got up from my shrub bed feeling far better than I did the day prior.
The corpse of the large ape was gone...
What could have grabbed it or worse, eaten it one one night? I wondered.
Yesterday I explored the surrounding area and up north monkeys could be found roaming around they were definitely the least dangerous creature in these parts.
Down south snakes were prevalent, which makes my encounter with the constrictor even stranger. I definitely had to avoid going south no matter what.
To the west buffalo and pigs could could be found in abundance along with a strange type of creature I'd never seen or heard of before. The creature resembled a dung beatle well if a dung beatle was as big as cow or horse that is.
The east was filled with a variety of different plants, this was definitely the best place to go in search for food. But i opted against it because eating unidentified plants is a quick and easy way to get yourself poisoned.
So after pondering for a while I decided to head west.