Author’s note- Ok, so there was some confusion in the last chapter on what Adam said about Nathaniel being marked. It was not the stone clan that did this; it was the Lynch family. I showed this before the trial actually started through the dialogue through Natalie and Nathaniel. Sorry for not making this clear in the story.

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Orbs of Blood (4)

While I ran, I kept the golden aura active. Without my luck aiding me, I had no idea what I would encounter. And the fact that it protected me from both dangers I could foresee and couldn’t foresee made keeping it active worth it. Plus, keeping my abilities active had no negative effects, so there was no reason not to.

Other than following the path set by my ability, I also kept my eyes on the gigantic tower that extended upwards way past the clouds. It drove my thoughts, to think about it’s role in this game. The Tower of Resurrection…

Its role was obvious from its name: to resurrect those killed in this trial. But there was definitely something hidden about that tower, otherwise it would of been stated clearly in the introduction about the tower. But instead, he just mentioned the name of the tower in passing when he was talking about bringing the orbs to the tower. Did the orbs have something to do with the resurrection aspect?

Suddenly, the tracker in my pocket started to vibrate, notifying me of the passing of the ten minutes. So I pulled it out, checking my relative position compared to the others.

The center was my position, and three dots blinked behind me. Two were green dots, and the last one was a dark red. The red dot was moving rapidly towards a green dot, and the distance between them was like nothing to the red dot. It overtook the green dot to my right, and suddenly the green faded away. Did the outsider get another kill?

Suddenly, I saw a flash of blue light coming from behind me, and in a next moment it was almost at the tower. But suddenly, shadowy chains extended from a place I couldn’t see and pierced the blue light.

The light distorted, and reformed into a human figure struggling fiercely against the chains. Stewart!

The standstill only lasted for a second, and then more chains arrived! They pierced his limbs and then wrapped around them, digging deep into the light that was Stewart. He continued to struggle, but now he was being dragged backwards!

His light shone even fiercer, and he fought back much harder than before. However, a last chain extended from the edge of the world, streaking out like black lightning!

Piercing the back of his neck, Stewart let out a terrible scream!

Stewart- “AHHHH!!!!!”

It dragged him back to the edge of the world, and then his screams were stifled… A bloody light started to radiate from the edge of the world at the end of this, and I froze, my skin crawling. What was that!?

???- “A warning to the two of you who are left. The outsider has fed upon the blood of three contestants, and now it has almost awakened. Do not, by any means, allow it to get an Orb of Blood!”

Glancing at my tracker to see who its next target was, I noticed that the blood red dot that represented the outsider had doubled in size! It now moved towards the closest target. And the only other person alive should be Stella, right? Then what happened to Natalie?

Wait… It said the outsider has fed upon the blood upon 3 contestants…

Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. The outsider had killed her!

Looking back at the red horizon, I played around with the thought that she was still in this trial, that it was Stella that died. However, I already knew that couldn’t be the case. The voice had already revealed it to me. When it said, “Do not, by any means, allow it to get an Orb of Blood,” it involuntarily gave another message: “It hasn’t gotten an Orb of Blood yet.”

Based on my earlier deductions, Stella possesses an orb. And the fact that I already have acquired two orbs of blood rules out any possibility of a different orb carrier. Stella was the only other person left alive.

So I had three options. One, I could go back and lure the outsider away from Stella. That would have the benefit of keeping the outsider from getting another orb, and I would prevent a devastating catastrophe. However, I would be inviting disaster by helping my enemy, and considering the strength of that thing, whether I could escape from the outsider once again was debatable.

Two, I continue on my path to the Tower of Resurrection. That would have the benefit of immediately completing my objective, and it would allow me to avoid the risk of keeping Stella alive. But, this method also had its drawbacks. By leaving the smaller threat, Stella, I would be making the outsider become a serious threat to my life! After all, it was already strong enough… Giving that thing an Orb of Blood was insane.

Three, I go back and kill Stella before the outsider does, take her orb, and then race back to the tower. If I could pull it off, I would receive a much greater reward than the other two options. But this option has a similar drawback to the first option, and that was I wasn’t sure if I could outrun that thing once again. This was a serious issue as well as the added risk of killing Stella within the time limit.

After considering them carefully, I was more inclined towards the 2nd and 3rd options. Honestly, the very thought of helping her, even if it was for my potential gain, disgusted me. That alone was enough for me to completely discard it.

And as for the second option, its disadvantage seemed to be debatable after second thought. It really came down to whether getting to the tower with an Orb of Blood would end the trial or not.

The only evidence I had regarding the subject was the voice, yet what would happen was still somewhat unclear. On one hand, it said that our goal was to bring an Orb of Blood to the tower, and then we would win. But what did it mean by the word, win? Does winning dictate the end of the trial for the person who brought the orbs? Or was what it said applicable to all the orbs as a whole, meaning they would all have to be taken to the tower in order to end the trial?

On the other hand, it also mentioned something pertaining to the outsider, stating that it must not be allowed to obtain an Orb of Blood at all costs. This statement was pretty absolute, but it didn’t mention any consequences, just that it should not happen, or else. Unfortunately for the voice, the lack of consequences mentioned inevitably made me want to disobey. However, I also knew that in order to win, I needed to obey the voice. And ironically, I could see a parallel to the voice in the trial, and the organization’s demands in real life.

Above all, the organization prioritized obeying orders, and the consequences of disobeying their orders led to a death order with your name written on it. Furthermore, even in the trials, this was part of the criteria. For an example, take Natalie.

For something as simple as finishing up a sentence after the teacher said silence, she was tortured and given the lowest ranking for the expressed reason of disobeying orders… So I concluded it would be in my best interests to obey the voice, even if I didn’t know the reason. I would execute option 3.

Turning around, I ran into the blood red horizon. And slowly, my surroundings became increasingly red, like they had been bathed in blood. I had a bad feeling about this…

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My ability ended up leading me to an alleyway, and further infusion of my ability made the rock unable to bounce. I assumed this meant I was to stay. And I waited for about 30 seconds before the sound of feet smashing into pavement came into my hearing range. She was here.

Quieting my breathing, I readied myself to ambush her, and as soon as the footsteps became close enough that I could read her position, I knew it was almost time… Now!

I dashed out of the alleyway at full speed, and I aimed a punch backed with both my flame tornado and my body strengthening at her head!

“Bam!”

She was unable to react in time, and flew backwards! I followed up with a flame point X10!

“BOOM!”

The explosion temporarily made me unable to astern how much damage I had dealt. But soon after, a flash of blue light told me the battle was over. Well that was quite anticlimactic; she didn’t even get to fight back! However, I wasn’t complaining. This left me with more time to escape the outsider!

Not willing to waste another moment, I picked up the last orb. And immediately, all the orbs flew out of my pocket to circle around me. What was going on!

They started to radiate a bloody light that resonated with the surroundings, and the orbs themselves seemed to start to absorb this light. They continually grew stronger and stronger until they let of a pulse of concentrated energy that I was unable to resist! My legs crumpled, and I fell to the ground. Leaving the orbs to rest upon me, radiating an evil aura. My vision blackened soon after.

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Waves. An endless sea. I stood gazing over all of it; looking as if I was staring into the eyes of a lover. Then a grin slowly crept onto my face… Yes, I created this sea. A sea of blood!

I looked over it kindly, yet after a moment passed, I heard something displeasing… All of the killing, it was never enough! They still kept coming like moths to a flame!

I turned around to face the next army, summoning my broadsword to hand. But what I faced was not another army, but a single man. My enemy!

Roaring out a mighty battle cry, I charged! But unexpectedly, chains extended from behind him, piercing into all parts of my body!

I struggled, but it was to no avail! And the man approached…

???- “You will serve me now.”

He extended his hand out to mark my forehead, but I roared in defiance! And suddenly, the sea exploded forth, rushing to defend its creator!

But it was all for naught. With a wave of his hand, the mighty sea became 3 orbs. And when his hand touched me, the redness faded from my skin, turning me black as the night. I was now his…

Me- “Master. How shall I serve?”

???- “As you have been the sword that killed my servants, so you shall now become my sword, to kill my enemy. Serve me well. Ah ha ha ha!”

He left, leaving me filled with unwillingness. But then something approached me from behind. Who?

???- “So, how does it feel, Nathaniel? Dreaming within a dream?”

I paused, confused. That wasn’t my name, was it?

???- “Well, it’s time to wake up anyways. I am unable to free you from the first dream, but they’d be dreaming if they thought they could trap us completely… Come back to the real world soon, ok? You’re keeping everybody waiting.”

The world shattered, and I was awakened to the angry roar of the outsider. It shook the buildings, and I felt a presence lock onto me. And at this moment, the voice came to me.

???- “As the last contestant alive, you have obtained all 3 Orbs of Blood. Please make your way hastily to the Tower of Resurrection, before the outsider catches up with you. The trial will end upon your safe arrival at the Tower of Resurrection, or upon your death by the hands of the outsider. And by the way, if you die the rewards obtained through the Orbs of Blood will not apply. So good luck!”

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Author’s note 2- Sorry this came out so late. As you could garner from the previous author’s note, I was preparing for the SAT. And after I had taken it, final’s week rushed upon me suddenly, leaving me no respite to write this chapter.

But now that all that’s all said and done, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as the start of winter break comes along! (By the way, I may or may not become lazy during this break and procrastinate. But only time will tell, so hope for the best!)