Chapter 9 – The Forest Challenge

Three weeks passed since Suzaku’s test. Due to injuries from the roots developing through my body I have been bed ridden the entire time. For parts of it I was alone with nothing but my thoughts; the thoughts of Cecelia dying, thoughts of her kissing me prior to the test, and thoughts of purgatory. These poisonous ideas cloud my mind, torturing me day and night. I may have gone mad if it wasn’t for Lucarus and Aarushi coming to my bed side every day.

Lucarus would come in and talk about the future. He would idolize the many adventures and dangers we will soon encounter inside the forest. The free and open land lay in front of us, trees as far as the eye can see with nothing holding us back to run, climb and jump. Exaggerating the ease to which we strike down monsters with our new found power. He wishes for us to become an unstoppable force that could change the world. He has big dreams for us; wanting us to become heroes that go around saving people all across the land. I laugh and joke with him, I know these things are impossible but for some reason he looks up to me and truly believes we can change the world. His unending hopes make me almost want to hope for the same things.

Aarushi comes and visits me with completely random ideas or strange items. One time she brought a mouse she found in her house over to show me how ‘cute’ she thought it was. While displaying the small rodent to me she accidently dropped it on my face causing me to freak out and fall off the bed. It reopened a few of my wounds, and I still see the dam thing scurry around at night. I know she means well but she is the biggest idiot I know. With this in mind I still consider her my best friend after Lucarus.

During this time I realized that I had more goals than just fixing the Suzaku problem. I want to become strong to protect my friends. I want to fall in love. I want to live this life to the fullest and become the best I can. But even saying this one day if I get the chance I will find a way to stop people from having to use the Death seed.

Since the test I have learned two things. The first is why people do no learn how to use fire before the test; the second is a new collection of abilities. Comparing the amount of power I had prior to what I have now would be like comparing a cup of water to an entire lake. Supposedly everyone in my race has this kind of power after the test. This means I am not special and the last ten years of pyromancy was completely wasted. The set of new skills I hold will be displayed during the challenge to leave the village.

Aarushi explained the Challenge to Lucarus and me while I was in bed. It is three parts. The first is an exam on the monsters outside the village. This includes strengths, weakness, and general knowledge of beasts. We learned all of these things in school so everyone should pass. The second part is a test of practical abilities. The practical abilities that are tested are climbing, pyromancer capabilities, and survival techniques such as cooking and gathering. The final part of the test is combat. You can have all the knowledge in the world but without actual defensive capabilities you would die in the wild.

Aarushi also explained a few minor details. If one fails to do the exam by themselves they can partner up and do it with other people. Once you pass the exam you can take anyone of age with you into the forest, meaning not everyone in your party needs to pass the exam to leave the village.

Today I am fully healed and will take the challenge. But first I’m going to grab breakfast. As I leave I hear a squeal from the kitchen.

Aris runs up to me “You’re finally better!” She rushes over to me and wraps her arms around me. “I was so worried!”

I hug her back. “I thought if you survived the test there was nothing to worry about.”

“Heavens no, I was always told that if roots begins to form anywhere on your body it means certain death. I still don’t know how you’re alive now.” She releases me from her grip. “I guess you can’t believe everything your told.”

I nod my head “Haha well that’s obvious, they said it’s impossible to use fire before you receive the seed, but the truth is it’s just extremely hard.”

Aris gives me a smile and says "haha I guess that's true."

“I was able to make a small flame in my hand and a few other tricks before I was even old enough to take the test.”

My mother crosses her arms “And maybe that is why you survived. Or maybe it was just random luck. I know before you have said Cecelia was able to make fire, but...” Aris trails off for a moment before going back into the kitchen.

After breakfast I head over to the giant red tree where the test should begin. Lucarus and Aarushi are already there along with one of the town guards.

The town guard sees me and waves me over “We all seem to be gathered here now. I assume you three will be doing the challenge together?”

Aarushi nods her head immediately shouting. “Definitely!”

Lucarus also nods and says. “Of course.”

I cross my arms before speaking. “Actually I will be taking mine alone, I wish to test my skills, and I wish to be able to leave town alone as well.” I look over to Lucarus and Aarushi to see their surprised expressions. “Don’t worry if I pass I can take you with me even if you fail. If all of us fail we can just take it again together.”

The guard lets out a small laugh. “I like the way you think kid, but don’t be too cocky until you actually take the challenge.”

I look at him in the eyes and say without hesitation. “I will not fail!”

Aarushi rushes up behind me yelling “I’m going to pass too!”

Lucarus steps up next to me and sheepishly speaks. “Me too… I’ll try my best.”

We separate and take our tests. I go first. The oral portion is easy. The first question asks us to describe a quadwolf. A quadwolf is similar to a wolf from my world, except it has four eyes. Two on the front like normal wolves for hunting smaller prey, and two on the side of its head to be able to pick up on any larger predators. This is similar to a combination of rabbit eyes and wolf eyes. They need this because monsters in this world can become much stronger and bigger than in my world. Their weakness is attacks from above. The questions and answers continued like this.

After thirty minutes I finished and continue on to the second phase. The guard commandingly yells “Climb up this tree as fast as you can!” I do as he says and wait at the top. “Ok get down here! That was pretty fast for your age, your quit agile. But you’re still not perfect so keep practicing! Anyways next I want you to show me your fire.”

I give off a slight smile, if I am going to impress him with anything it will be this. I bring my hands up to my chest and take a deep breath. I begin to pour energy into them, but before I ignite the air the guard holds his hand out and yells. “Wait, I know you haven’t had much practice with fire since you just gained the ability a few weeks ago so why do you start step by step by putting energy into the small orb you have around your neck.” I pull a page out of Aarushi’s book and tilt my head in confusion. This guy is looking down on me! But whatever I should just follow what he says and complete the test. I grab the orb Lucarus gave me for my birthday form my necklace and put it into my hand. This is going to be easy now that I have so much extra energy.

While cradling the ball I gather energy in to my hands. I pull heat from the pit of my stomach. I push it all out in a continuously flow like a water fall. The red piece of wood inside of the clear glass glows brightly and radiates with heat. This is expected, but then suddenly something happens. The ball expands and the red wood inside begins to dance and grow like an actual fire. Extending its roots through the expanding glass, glowing with a warm amber light, and moving in an unpredictable and flickering manner gives it the feeling of a real fire. After about ten seconds I expend almost half my energy and the orb is the size of a large watermelon. I never expected something like this to happen.

The guard rubs his chin while saying “hmmm seems you’re the explosive type, you will have a lot of trouble controlling the fire and making it do small and fine gestures. Also harming your friends in the future is very possible; it’s a good choice you decided to take the challenge alone.”

I raise one eye brow then rebuttal, “What are you talking about, I purposely made my energy escape quickly.” I raise my hand with each of my fingers spread apart then pour a small porting of energy into each one. The tips of my fingers look as if they have been replaced by lighters as a small flame pours out of each tip. Exaggerating each movement I slowly curl my fingers slightly bringing the small flames into one larger one. With the larger flame I drop it over my arm and let the it engulf my hand and arm, slowly trickling over my skin. The bright orange fire molds perfectly to my hand and fore arm creating a glove of fire. I look back at the guard who has lowered his hand from his chin and stares in my direction. “I can keep going if you would like.”

The guard puts his hand back on his chin and looks into the distance. “People your age shouldn’t have that much control over fire, nor should they be able to switch from such extremes. How much of your energy did you place into the orb?”

I quickly answer his question hoping for more information to come. “I put about half of it in there.”

“That makes it impossible to be one of Xeodra’s decedents; otherwise you wouldn’t have so little energy.”

“How much energy would be normal for my age? And is there a way to increase my maximum energy?”

“You have a normal amount for your age. One of Xeodra’s decedents could have up to ten times that right now. The only way to increase it more is to use it every day. Most warriors in their mid-twenties would have thirty to forty times that energy, so you’re still an infant. There are rumors that some people build it up to several hundred times more than what you have now, but those people are usually leaders or heroes. Xeodra was said to have an unlimited amount of energy from when he was only a child, maybe that’s why he could control more than just one clan’s power.”

My mouth drops open. I will need to work myself to the limit every day if I want to become as powerful as a worrier let alone some type of hero. I’m sorry Cecelia, I won’t be able to become the man you look up to. A sad face forms on my face and dark green light slightly dissipates from my hand. I don’t think I’ll be able to kill Suzaku either, but I can still protect my friends.

“Hey, hey now don’t get down, your just a kid you got plenty of time to get stronger!” he walks over and puts his hand on my shoulder, and continues talking. “The amount of energy is not everything in this world, the way you use it and the techniques you acquire are just as important. You have a good head on your shoulders, if you keep working on both fire and agility, plus gain a little fighting experience you could really become something! Maybe in a few years you can actually go and try the arena!”

I perk up slightly with that last bit. An arena sounds fun. I should ask more about that. “What’s the arena?”

“Haha well it’s about six months south of here. It is in the town of Twin Trees. People from all over this region go to it. The town is home of two great death trees, one of them is a phoenix tree and the other is the mocking tree.”

So many questions come to mind and all I want to do is ask everything at once but I need to use restraint.

“Haha let me explain further you look confused. The town is called Twin Trees because of its two death trees. Dozens of great death trees cover the world, but there are only five great phoenix trees, and our phoenix tree would not be counted among them until it bares fruit. The mocking tree belongs to the wind god of mocking, Loki. He is a god of wind and pranks. His descendants are blessed with mirage magic and the ability to control wind. The most prominent of which is the wind magic while the other just helps them do simple tricks such as minor illusions. Several other gods exist in this world each giving their decedents different powers.”

He takes his hand of my shoulder and continues talking “Let’s finish your exam. We have a few more things to do before the final part.”

The rest of the second part goes smoothly as I display my abilities to survive in the wild. Things like finding plants to eat or getting clean drinking water is what it mainly consists of. After about an hour the battle portion is about to begin.

“Alright I want you to refill your energy by absorbing heat from this tree, once your done come to me.”

I refill my energy quickly. “Ok I’m ready!”

“Wow that was pretty fast, you are good at manipulating energy from object to object. Any ways follow me to the gate at the north side.” We walk to the north side and he gives a motion to one of the other guards. The other guard goes behind the wall for a few seconds then pulls a Quadwolf on a leash to his side. “This is a Quadwolf as you know. They are semi-fire-retardant. You must find a way to defend yourself from this creature and escape from it. You can do this in any way you choose fit. If you believe you’re in danger I will come in and help, but this will end the test in failure. When you’re ready we will release it.”

Looking at the wolf up close I was wrong about it being similar to earths wolves. Its fangs are much larger and died black. The skin is black with reddish fur protruding from it. The eyes glow yellow with red veins pulsing through them. The beast’s breathing and growling is loud and sporadic. The claws on its frying pan sized paws measure several inches. This creature is much lager then me. Actually it’s even slightly bigger than a full grown man.

I gulp down saliva built up in my throat as a cold sweet builds on my brow. I nod my head and prepare to fight.

The second guard drops the chain wrapped around its neck and it charges in my direction. I raise my hands and shoot a fire several feet in front of me in a continuous spray. Completely ignoring my flame thrower the wolf Jumps through the fire and slashes at my hands with its claws. From the force of its giant paws my hands get knocked to the side as the wolf comes in with its savage black jaws. I fall the ground raising one foot at the wolf’s stomach. The weight of the wolf completely takes me by surprise and my leg crumbles beneath it. Placing both my arms in a cross formation at its neck I stop the bight from reaching my face.

Frozen in fear I take a snapshot of the situation. My heart pumps to the beat of a drum solo. Sweat covers my body from head to toe sapping the heat from me. My legs entangled with the wolf’s hind legs as his front legs rest a few inches from my ears. His red fur grazes my skin and I begin to bleed. I realize then that the red on his fur is from blood. I need to break through his iron like defense if I want to get him off of me. I should also aim for a weak spot. His eyes, I will push a powerful attack into his eyes.

While keeping his jaws away from my face I begin to pour energy into my palms. Warm drool drips onto me, my gag reflex reacts and I swallow to keep from heaving. I take a large breath and shoot fire from my elbows to project my arms forward and push the wolf up a short distance. I close my eyes and slam his head between my palms and release all of the power I have into his head. A large bang resonates through the village and echoes back off the walls. I sit silently in fear with my eyes closed for several seconds. A slight chill comes over me.

I open my eyes not to see the wolf destroyed in my hands but to see nothing but my hands covered in a black thick residue. I lower my hands and push myself into a seated position. Myself and the area round me are both covered in the same black liquid. Scanning my environment I see the wolf motionlessly sitting several feet away. Or I should say the lower half of the wolf. The shoulders up are nowhere to be seen. I look over to the guards for answers.

The closer guard runs up to me “Are you ok?” he kneels down next to me and grabs my hands. I nod slowly after mentally checking my body. “Good, I really wasn’t expecting something like that. With your climbing skills I figured you would run and climb up something, or maybe distract it with fire first but never did I imagine you killing it. First it would have never jumped through someone’s flames like that. Somehow it was agitated by something or someone. Are you sure you’re ok? That was a really high level move you did in the end.”

I raise one of my eyebrows and cough out. “What are you talking about, didn’t you kill it?”

He shakes his head before saying “I didn’t lift a finger that was all you. The move you did was a double explosion blast. It’s a move that requires lots of energy to be released in a very short period of time, I didn’t learn to do that tell I was about 19. Also an explosion blast shouldn’t be possible with your little amount of energy; I can only do four or five. In fact you should have been knocked out by using so much energy so quickly, how do you feel?”

I look up at him and honestly say. “I’m dead tired. I need an easier way to kill those guys… and a nap.”

“Haha very good, I’ll bring you home to rest now. Oh and one more thing you passed the challenge to enter the forest!”

I get home and fall asleep immediately. I dream of going to the forest and finding a cave. Inside is a fire. I walk up to the fire then hear someone cry out “Deadra what are you doing here? Get away from this place!” I turn around and see a figure shrouded in darkness. It cries out “Deadra… Deadra… DEADRA!!”

I wake with a start Aarushi placing her mouth almost in my ear, Lucarus standing a few feet back leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Oh you’re finally awake!” Aarushi pats me on the head then does a quick three sixty and shouts “Guess who passed the challenge exam?”

“You did right?”

“Yup!” Aarushi squeezes her cheeks together in bliss.

Lucarus puts his hand on her shoulder and sighs. “Don’t lie to Deadra. If you keep it up you will get bad karma. We passed, but only because they let us do it together. Let me explain what happened.”

The results were not very surprising. Lucarus aced the first two parts but failed the third. Aarushi accomplished the exact opposite. If they go together or with me they can leave the village, I on the other hand can come and go as I please.

Lucarus finishes his story with “I hesitated too much with the third one and was over taken when I was trying to climb a wall. He grabbed the back of me and pulled me back down. Luckily at that point the Guard came and helped.”

Aarushi buts her head in and exclaims. “I kicked the wolf’s butt left and right! I ended up scaring it away after clawing and biting at it for a while!” she smiles happily, then looks over at me and turns her head sideways. Placing one finger on her lips she asks “How did you do?”

I decide to be blunt and straight forward. “I completely destroyed the first two tests, but the third gave me some trouble. The wolf was outraged for some reason and went berserk so I was forced to blow the upper half of its body off.” I jump out of bed and stretch my arms and legs. “Hey do you guys want to go to the river to wash off?”

Lucarus and Aarushi both stare at me without making a sound… maybe I shouldn’t have been so blunt. Either way tomorrow we will be going to the forest.