"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere you find yourself." -C.M. Stunich-
Taking another step, shadows twisted and swirled when a change occurred. With a leap forward through the underbrush, A spiked vine whipped through the trees, snapping against the bark where my head once was. The tree that got hit showed cracks forming along its body as if lightning had struck it before toppling to the ground. I had to roll away once more to avoid being crushed.
"Fuck fuck fuck. I could have died."
Speaking softly to myself, I quickly analyzed the vine-like limb.
[You have used Analyze Lv. 3]
[Analyze has Leveled up]
[Analyze is now Lv. 4]
[Vine Blight Lv. 14 ???? ????]
"Yeah, no, I'm going to run."
Turning away, I started running as the Vine Blight's body curled upon itself, moving tendrils to the tree, grabbing the broken pieces of the scattered remnants and pulling them to itself as it wriggled in dissatisfaction. The Broken pieces of wood shatter under the grip of the Vine Blight.
Rushing away, My breath heaving as I feel myself tumble and fall, red flashing in my vision.
[ Sp: 3/50]
Looking around, I started moving to a part of an opening in a hollowed-out tree. With that, I Grab the wand and focus on my spell, Mana Manipulation.
[You have used Mana Manipulation Lv. 3]
[You have unlocked a new sub-spell, Earthen Wall]
[(Common) Earthen Wall Lv. 0 (Active) allows the caster to manipulate the earth with their mana to create a wall from the ground. Mana cost 30 MP.]
[Sub spell can fuse with Mana Manipulation to create new ability Earth magic]
[Would you like to fuse Mana manipulation with the Earthen wall? Y/N]
[You have selected N is this correct Y/N]
[Spells
(Basic) Mana Manipulation Lv. 3
{NEW} (Common) Earthen Wall Lv. 0
(Uncommon) Detection Lv. 5
(Uncommon) Lesser Resistance Lv. 1
(Common) Analyze Lv. 4]
Looking at my notifications, I couldn't help but sigh.
[Trial
Trial: Survival
Participants: 3,259
Survivors: 2,593
Time: 576 Days
Time Remaining: 574 Days
Sub Quests:
Tomb of the Fallen 0/1
Laberynth of the Forgotten 0/5
Holder of Time 0/40]
Covering my face, I held back my sobs.
Day one trial
"It's okay, everything is okay. I got this. It said that it will only last for 24 hours. I must survive that long, and everything will be fine."
Speaking to myself, I hugged my knees to my chest and rocked myself back and forth.
[Notification for all trial participants.]
What? Looking at the message, I opened it, and a new screen popped in front of my eyes.
[Welcome to the Trial of Survival,
All current participants will be able to see how many are in the same Trial next to their status screen. The Amount will consistently update whenever a participant fails to survive. This Trial will take the course over 576 days. This Trial takes the course in a time dilation where you will experience 576 days, while it is only 24 hours in real-time. Specified titles will be granted to all participants at the end of the trial.]
Reading that, it was like the earth swallowed my hopes whole. Over a year... I'll be stuck here for over a year.