Chapter 10 – Thunder, Fire and Clear Skies

Flames were dancing about without restraint, scorching everything that dared stay in their way. The intense burning heat quickly erased even the slightest thought of the shivering cold still lingering in my mind.

Out of the smoke and ash, that had engulfed the now red forest, emerged two canine creatures. Clad in deep red fur, both of them had a scarlet gem decorating their foreheads.

【Cinderwolf – Affinity: Flame – Rank: Usual – Rarity: B】

Cinderwolves. While they too, were merely the rank of Usual, I’d bet my money that the two of them could very well take on a gale vulture. The wolves proudly displayed their elemental prowess, letting out a frightening howl, accompanied by the flames rising up to the skies, as though the cry was commanding them. Their blazing crimson eyes were measuring me up as they began to surround me.

Hesitantly, I readied myself and once again drew my blade from its sheath. Much unlike the previous ‘fights’ I had, this time I would actually have to fight. Contrary to the encounters with monsters before, which I had been able to end peacefully, cinderwolves were much more aggressive... And my intuition tells me that they would fight to the death.

The two wolves quickly encircled me and lashed out simultaneously from both my left and my right. At a glance, it was as if their fangs had become a molten metal. Their ridiculously sharp teeth glistened white-hot as the wolves pounced on me. I was shocked. Those fangs would tear deep into my flesh and burn it from within without the slightest of problems if they ever reached me. I have to avoid that at all costs.

I swiftly leaped forwards, which caused the wolves to get disoriented as they charged. It was then that I witnessed something even more frightening than their molten metal jaws. When they vigorously closed their fiery mouths shut, a faint explosion could be seen from between their burning teeth. Dangerous, however, not dangerous enough for me to run away.

I'm going to see this through if it's the last thing I do, goddammit.

Despite preferring an escape to a fight, I took a defensive stance and readied myself for another attack. I don’t have the skill to take the initiative against monsters like these, but there is one thing that might just work. The wolves took the opportunity given to them in an instant and attacked once again.

This time, the I nimbly dodged sideways and jammed my blade into the side of the wolf that assaulted me from the left. Putting some actual strength the attack I accidentally used against the gale vulture proved extremely effective, as I managed to lodge my blade deep into its ribcage. It worked once before, so I saw no reason why it wouldn’t work with the cinderwolves.

Though one could say that it worked too well. I felt disgusted when I felt the faint vibrations of its squirming insides transmitting to my hand through the thin blade that was now lodged deep within its chest. But knowing that my life was at stake, I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and brutally twisted the black blade. The frightening howl was reduced to a lifeless whimper.

Only one remained.

I readied my now blood soiled blade once again. The remaining cinderwolf howled, several times louder than before, and the echo from the flames ravaging the forest was no less impressive. The frenzied wolf, now clad in a coat of blazing flames, rushed at me once more.

This time the wolf was faster. Much faster. Fast enough to completely rewrite everything the I had thought about the wolves, or rather monsters as a whole, before. The drastic change in the speed alone was enough to confuse me for a split second. But that minuscule mistake would soon make me realize that the speed wasn’t the only thing that had drastically improved.

Hot.

Excruciatingly hot.

I desperately tried to dodge the furious flaming beast, but the moment of hesitation brought me into a vast world of hurt. The wolf had sunken it’s white-hot fangs, now nearly twice in length, deep into the flesh on my left arm. I cried out in pain as I felt my very flesh boil to my bone. Blood, however, was nowhere to be seen, as the heat of the fangs had immediately cauterized the wound. Ah, how humane...

But while I expected my arm to be entirely blown off from the elbow down, the sharp, nigh unbearable pain was only accompanied by damage amounting to nothing more than a deep charred wound.

The cinderwolf raised it’s head, seemingly to look down on me, as I was now holding my arm in agony. I was hurt, rather badly in fact. However, even more so, I was angry. Towards none other than myself. Is this where it ends? So soon? No. Not a way in hell. I don’t want to die again, and I've come too far to give up now. I won’t be laid to rest by a fucking mutt with matchsticks for teeth, dammit. I fell on my knees grasping my arm and shrieked in pain.

The wolf took this the opportunity and started to charge towards me for one last time. But that reaction was exactly what I had planned for. All I have been able to learn of the wolves' nature, is that they're merciless.

As the wolf was rapidly closing in, I raised my head and locked eyes with the approaching wolf. This time, the split second hesitation had switched sides. The wolf was confused, as it realized it had misunderstood my state. At that moment I kicked the ground and leaped towards the rabid dog, that doesn’t know to not play with fire, with vigor I didn't know I was capable of.

We clashed, yet the fangs of the wolf never reached their target. Blood was dripping down on the ash covered ground. The black blade that took the life of the first cinderwolf, had now done so once more. The slash was aimed beautifully right at its neck from below, and the strike had nearly stolen the head of the wolf from its body. The cut was clean, the cinderwolves were no more.

As the raging fire started to dwindle, the corpses of the cinderwolves started to disintegrate, beautifully shifting from bloody corpses into particles of lively light, eventually dispersing into thin air.

What was left was the two gems from the foreheads of the now gone monsters. They were halves of an Elemental Manastone of Flame. When I collected the halves from the ashen bed they laid on, the two halves started to seek each other as extremely strong magnets would. When the two reached one another, with a bright flash they conjoined into one.

›Find: 6/1

I had now collected a total of 6 Elemental Manastones. Six times how many I needed, I know, but I wouldn’t let myself get away with just gathering one of them given that multiples exist. Yet stone by stone, I regret my decision more and more...

Out all the elements I knew, I still lacked 3. Thunder, Void and most importantly, Origin. Out of those three, I only thought Thunder to be something within the realm of possibility to find. I doubt I’ll have to enter the void or witness the creation of life on the Trail. I need to keep an eye out for if a bolt of lightning strikes though. With that thought, I once again pressed on.

【Goblin – Affinity: None – Rank: Usual – Rarity: F】

This time, the path was infested with the same little pranksters I met when I traveled in the southern forests of the capital. Goblins. Small, green, grotesque creatures. Though humanoids, if one could even call them that, their appearance was twisted to the point where one would assume their entire species was perpetually cursed. Their nature was mischievous and sometimes even malicious, yet to the relief of many, they lacked in both strength and intellect, which hardly made them a threat for anyone that wasn’t a child.

Knowing this, I decided that avoiding combat and just running past the goblin horde was the best course of action. I'm already satisfying my inner completionist by collecting the Manastones.

As I weaved through the horde, I avoided the strikes of the disgusting green creatures with ease. Not because I was skilled at dodging or anything, but because the monsters were just blatantly incompetent compared to the monsters I had fought just now. I continued running in full speed ahead until the goblins gave up on chasing me.

Finally, I could feel the finale upon myself, as I walked through a giant red wooden gate, the surrounding forest opened up into a vast flowery field brimming with life. And in the middle of the field stood an eerily familiar shrine.

Contrary to the one I instantly connected said shrine to, on the front of this one stood a lonely pedestal, and on that pedestal a radiant crystal ball. I was confused, and as such proceeded with care.

Reminiscing of events not too long in the past, I decided to once again kneel down and offer a prayer. Perhaps the prayer will reach the afterlife from this world too...

›Reach: 1/1

⌈Gramps... If only you were here to see this.⌋

As I started to think about the life I had before, I was reminded of an event I’d much rather have forgotten. Thunder and lightning, huh.

Anxious, I started to observe the skies above and the shrine in front of me. Any second now…

Lightning struck from the blue skies and the thunder roared not a second behind. The shrine was set ablaze. Unlike normal people who would run away from the now burning building, I decisively dashed in without a moment's hesitation. On the floor at the point of the lightning's impact, I found a dazzling yellow stone, that sparkled wonderfully. Elemental Manastone of Thunder!

›Find: 7/1

Somehow I felt like I had just cheated the system a bit, but I didn’t have time to worry about such trivial matters. Not if I don’t want to get burned alive, that is. However as I rushed back outside, to avoid roasting myself to a crisp, I accidentally knocked down the pedestal that the crystal ball laid on. I had hoped that my blunder wouldn’t set me back too much, but that hope was quickly crushed to bits.

A white light escaped from the shattering crystal ball, drowning the surroundings in its radiant shine. As the light gradually faded, and I regained my sight, I felt a shiver, unlike any before, run down my spine. The Guardian of the Shrine had emerged.

【Guardian Ogre – Affinity: None – Rank: Regular – Rarity: D】

What now stood in front of me was a variant of the ogre species. A variant I'm all too familiar with.

A menacing red monster towering over three meters in height. It was the first monster on the Trial to break the rule of having the rank of Usual, however, the given Regular-rank barely gave any insight to the true power the Guardian Ogre possessed.

'Its monstrous strength stemmed from the primal will to protect whatever it had chosen to. Whoever it would deem to threaten what it protected, would be met with its unstoppable wrath. While it's strength in a regular state of mind was nothing to scoff at, once enraged, it was an unstoppable menace of near peerless strength. And that very menace had now set its blazing sights on me...'

It was one of the first 'boss monsters' I wrote of. I thought it would be a cool concept then, but now that I'm actually the one facing it, I'm not feeling too great about it. Coincidentally, the guardian ogre saw me dash out of the now burning shrine it was guarding, and to add insult to injury, I also managed to knock the crystal sphere over.

I'm fucked, aren't I?

The eyes of the ogre lit up in red as it bared it’s sharp and decayed teeth sticking out from its jutting jaw. As it groaned menacingly, the massive club it wielded its right hand came down from above with such force that the ground beneath it cracked. I anxiously swallowed. One hit from that ...thing and the fight would be over.

I wanted to run away, I wanted to escape, but I couldn’t just turn back now.

Now broken in a cold sweat, I started dashing towards the giant. In exchange for its massive strength, it had given up on speed, and that could be used against it. I never knew how frightening it would be to go against something that so thoroughly outclasses you in strength.

The club swung down once again…

Though it outclassed me in pure strength, its attacks boasted strength alone. After experiencing the frightening speed at which the enraged cinderwolf moved, dodging the ogre proved easier than I expected. I nimbly avoided the attack and continued to close in. Though the swings certainly packed a damn punch, they were slow and predictable. I managed to make my way behind the towering ogre before it readied itself to strike a second time.

Thinking about the spot where I could inflict the most damage against a monster numerous times my size, there was but a single spot I should go after, and coincidentally, that was also one of the only spots I could go after. I decided to target the Achilles tendon of the ogre’s left leg. That way, I could severely incapacitate its movement, and possibly even topple it by making it lose its balance, with a single well-placed strike.

As I slashed the heel of the unaware ogre, I was met with much more resistance than I had expected. While I easily pierced through the bones of the cinderwolves, I was barely able to cut through the rock hard sinews of the hulking ogre.

Furious, the ogre roared in pain and raised it’s club once more.

I approached again, but this time the ogre had formulated a plan to counter the difference in speed between us. Once more, it swung its club, but this time, it swung sideways, making it near impossible for me to dodge it.

The ogre was already getting ready to celebrate its inevitable victory, but to its surprise, the club encountered no resistance. Such strength was put into the swing, that as a result of the mass uncontrollably moving sideways, combined with the slashed tendon of the main supporting leg, the ogre fell down.

The ogre managed to come up with a counter to my speed, but doing that, it entirely forgot the difference between our sizes. I could easily duck beneath the swinging club. Though, my heart did skip a few beats as I felt blunt mass whooshing above of my head.

Struggling to get up once again, the ogre had now completely lost the sight of me. Now the field was level, and the monstrous ogre no longer stood twice my height. As I readied myself to cut the monster’s throat, I saw the bright red glow of its eyes fade away. It now looked deep into my soul with eyes that told the tale of a man sentenced to death. Filled with remorse, I delivered the ogre to the afterlife with one last blow.

A dark blade was now struck deep into its throat. It cleanly cut through the solid flesh and the thick dark red skin. In a way, the ogre was glad to die there. It wasn’t the strength or the skill of the opponent that was overwhelming, but rather despite lacking such, he overcame all the odds and fell the giant that stood before him. It wasn't a bloody fight to the bitter end. It was a rapid clash that came to a quick end.

Thoroughly outclassed, the beast finally closed its eyes and faded away…

【Trail of the Greenhorn – Status: Clear】

›Subjugate: 9/5

›Find: 7/1

›Reach: 1/1

›Exterminate: 1/1

›Rewards: Blessing of the Origin

Laying down on the flowery field, I came to the realization that the death game had finally reached its conclusion. I couldn't help but to laugh and curse, both at the same time.

⌈Ahahahaha!! I actually fucking managed to do it! Oooh... God fucking dammit! I didn’t sign up for a suicide mission like this. What even was that!? Throwing me against giants, with no prior experience!?! Fuck you, Seth! I damn near died there! Ahhh, nevermind that. I’m so tired I could just die on the spot.⌋

But my victory celebration came to an abrupt end, as someone called out to me. A figure I would eventually come to know all too well, for better or worse.

⌈I’m afraid that won’t do... I can’t possibly have you dying yet.⌋

⌈…!?⌋