During the night, a mysterious voice eludes Rhea’s mind. It called for her as if it were her sister. Rhea turns during her sleep, clearly in distress. Her face was ashen as if she had seen a ghost. She would gasp for air and at the same time try to scream, yet her voice was being muffled, but not enough to completely stop her.

Lancel felt uneasy during the night and went and saw the whole thing, yet he did not wake her. He thought it would be best to see how things would turn out, and sure enough, Rhea woke screaming in torment.

“Agh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Screamed Rhea as she awoke from her nightmare. She looked around quickly only to see Lancel lurking about. “Lancel! Can you bring me water, please!”

*How did she know it was me* thought Lancel as he replied, “Wait one moment!”

Lancel rushes to bring Rhea water. When Lancel returned, he noticed that Rhea reopened the scouting report.

Scouting reports are usually scrolls, yet the report presented to them was too big for a scroll. Rhea turns to Lancel and tells him. “Do you know how to cast at least 5th-tier holy magic?”

“What’s this all of a sudden?” Asked Lancel in a confused tone.

“Please hurry. Can you do it?”

“I suppose… I haven’t cast holy magic it in a while.”

“That will do! Please cast holy magic on this cup of water.”

The water began sparkling after a quick incantation from Lancel. “Perfect! Thank you, Lancel!”

“What are you doing, Rhea?”

Rhea poured the blessed water on the scouting report, and the paper turned black. Instructions finally begin to glow on the black material written in red ink. On It reads.

Trial Of Zeta

Location: Faith Woods of Octavia

We will be waiting……

. . . . . . .

“Rhea…. What on earth is this?”

“I’m not sure… Should we report this back to Grismala?”

“NO!” said Lancel. “We should investigate this ourselves.”

“Okay! We will. What about Avo?” Said Rhea. She was confused why Lancel refused to report this to his sister so quickly. She thought that, if anything, Grismala would prove to be helpful in a situation like this. The only explanation why Lancel refuses to do so is because he is hiding something.

“Well, we need a messenger. Let’s send Avo along with the caravan and tell him to inform Grismala of our findings. We will explore this Zeta trial or whatever it is in the meantime.”

“Just us?” Asked Rhea. Something strange was going on, and she could sense it. Lancel was not acting like his usual self. He was confident, yet he had become impatient ever since he found out about the scroll and the trial.

“Rhea, this place, this Zeta, it’s an ancient dialect of the elven tribe. It means Trial of Ascension. But we must not speak of this to anyone here. Do you understand?”

“I suppose.” Said Rhea as she thought to herself, “Aha! so he does know something after all.”

“Don’t I suppose me, and also give that scroll, would you?”

Rhea turned around to grab the scroll, but its text was once again invisible. “Huh?” Said Rhea. “The text is gone!”

“What! give me that!” Said Lancel as he rushed over to see what had happened.

Lancel quickly grabs the scroll out of Rhea’s hands and examines the scroll. After casting his magic once more, nothing else appeared. Just a plain white empty scroll. “Speak of this to no one!”

“Fine!” Said Rhea. “I’ll get my things, but we should move fast.”

“I’ll grab my things as well, then. We must make haste. If Zeta’s power falls into the wrong hands, we will have great trouble in the foreseeable future.”

Lancel quickly rushed out of Rhea’s tent to get his things. This was the first time Rhea had seen him like this. Like a child trying to hide something from a parent, Lancel was obviously on edge. Whatever it was that Lancel was hiding, Rhea was determined to find out.

Rhea sorts out her stuff inside her tent. Inside her backpack was a wand, a miniature dagger, a picture of her with her family, and her sister’s teddy bear. “I guess that’s really all I need to take with me… I should head out soon….”

All the traveling around had exhausted Rhea. Since she was already packed up, she decided to relax. She completely released herself as she fell onto her blanket, staring up.

“Lancel…. There is something that is pulling me towards you… Surely this can’t be love…. We haven’t done anything …. What am I even thinking…. I really should stop being lazy, that’s for sure. Lancel is probably ready as well…. I Should get going….”

Rhea grabs her backpack and leaves her tent. Lancel had already put on his armor by the time she came out. Lancel wore a shiny white full-plate armor, and his horse was covered in enchanted jewelry. His enchanted sword, which Rhea assumed he got while a paladin was also by his side. He looked frighteningly impressive and super strong with all his gear on, about level 60-70.

“Whoa…. that’s some fancy armor you got there….”

“I suppose so. I crafted it myself.”

“You did?” Said Rhea as she thought to herself. “He must be serious about this. He never went all out like he is now before. Not even when we were face to face with that so-called God.

“I was, at one point, an apprentice of the head craftsman of the elves. I picked up a few things here and there.” Said Lancel proudly.

“Do you think you could make me something?” Said Rhea.

Lancel caught off guard, shies away for a moment. “Yeah... of course I can!”

Of course, Lancel couldn’t say no to a request like that. It was something in her eyes that compelled him to say yes.

Rhea notices Lancel’s face turn red underneath his helmet as if he was blushing. “And! I bet anything you make would be better than the kingdom’s.”

“Please stop it, Rhea.”

“Ugh, your no fun.” Rhea chuckled.

“We must hurry, though, have you grabbed your stuff?”

“I have. It’s all inside this backpack.”

“The faith woods of Octavia, huh….” Lancel murmured to himself as if he knew something was off.

“Lancel?”

“No, it’s nothing, it’s just, I’ve heard legends about this place.”

“Legends?” Asked Rhea. She had heard of legends before from her father, but in terms of stories, she did not believe in them.

“Elven legends dating back thousands of years. What confuses me now is why the trail resurfaced….”

“Speaking of Legends, I remember my father telling me about the man-eater of Octavia.”

“Oh, you have?” Asked Lancel, but no longer in his regular cheerful voice. “So? Tell me what it is….”

Rhea was too full of herself to pay attention to his tone. She continued to blabber on. “Well, from what I remember, the man-eater of Octavia was a terrifying beast that could snuff the soul out of a human’s body. Kind of like necromancy. The souls he had collected were forged into magical gear.”

Lancel frowned…. disgusted at the story. “How does this story end, Rhea?”

“If anything, I thought you would know!” Said Rhea.

“I want to hear it from you….”

“If you insist… The King of Octavia had to come and stop the man-eater personally. With the legendary axe passed down through their traditions, the mighty king destroyed the man-eater with a single strike.”

Lancel looked pale. With a grim expression, he stood there in silence until Rhea said. “Hey, should we go now?”

“Yeah…. let’s go, Rhea.”

Rhea and Lancel departed from the main party and took a detour into the woods.

The Octavian Forest was an enormous territory with multiple regions. The outer part of the forest was home to many goblins and orcs. These Orcs had grown accustomed to human tradition and had a more passive approach to life. Instead of killing humans for food, they hunted and farmed. Agriculture served a crucial role in their society.

A scouting party of goblins was scouring the area in the outer region of the forest for food. The part consisted of roughly two hundred goblins. The reason for large scouting forces was that goblins were generally weak. An average human could beat about five goblins single-handedly. The goblins occasionally brought along male children to teach them how to hunt in the woods.

Lancel was vigilant, traveling through the forest. From time to time, he would hear something in the bushes, and when he turned back, there was nothing there. Rhea was confused about why he did what he did since she didn’t feel they were being followed.

Suddenly an arrow came flying toward Rhea. The arrow itself was a practice arrow shot by one of the children of the goblin village.

Lancel noticed an arrow flying right toward Rhea, and he shouted. “Rhea! Get down!”

Rhea throws herself off her horse, dodging an arrow that could prove fatal. “Ow!” said Rhea as she fell. “That was close!”

When she stood up, Rhea saw Lancel annihilating the group of goblins like a scythe on a wheat field. Blood spewed on the ground, and each enemy was quickly disposed of. A master swordsman would have difficulty achieving the same results as Lancel did. Each slash cut down two to three goblins, but these hits were not enough to kill them outright.

The screams of the goblins bleeding out on the floor deafened Rhea’s ears. The adults and the child goblins screamed, begging Lancel to stop, and tried to reason with him, but Lancel was having none of it. He continued to cut them down without hesitation.

It seemed as if Lancel was enjoying himself. A devilish smile was apparent on his face. He rode through with his mighty rune blade, killing all in the way.

As if he was dancing, Lancel circled the enemies as they began to retreat. His horse gallantly charged right through their ranks, trampling to death the goblins in the process. “Bwahgahagaahaha!”

“This is a slaughter…. Lancel!” Screamed Rhea. “Stop!”

It wasn’t just Rhea who was begging Lancel to stop. The goblins and the children begged him to stop and tried to explain what had just happened. However, someone like Lancel cared not for what the goblins had to say.

Lancel continued to charge through the enemies. One after another until all had fallen. As he returned to Rhea, his armor red in the blood of the goblins, he took off his helmet and asked. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, but what of them?” Rhea pointed at the goblins, who were still alive, bleeding out uncontrollably.

“Ah, yes… You still don’t know my special power….”

“No…. I thought you were a priest / holy caster.” Said Rhea, terrified of how many goblins Lancel killed with such ease.

“AhaHAha! Did you? I guess I’m good at those too, but my main ability is called Anthropophagus.”

“What does that do?”

“Let me show you.”

Lancel gets off his horse, and with his sword, he hits the ground. The flesh on the bodies of the goblins begin to melt quickly. The blood of the slain slowly trails toward the Lancel, creating a circle of power around him. The Sword then began to grow red, as the blood formed a pentagram inside the ring. The blood inside the circle of power then began turning itself into magical energy, which was absorbed by the sword.

The sword’s sharpness depended on how many people or monsters it had killed. Some targets had higher values, such as elves having a value of 100 and humans having a value of 10. Goblins had a value of 1, yet Lancel managed to cut down hundreds of them in that brief fight.

“This is my power… Rhea….” Said Lancel. He looked as if he was refreshed. The Lancel Rhea once knew seemed gone.

Rhea backs away, terrified of what she saw. “This is the same trickery in Dr. Bango’s basement.”

“In a way, yes… But I’m tired of being pushed around all the time... The world should know of my power….”

“Yes, but you shouldn’t bring that with violence. That’s senseless!”

“Ugh… you’re just like my sister, always looking down on me, trying to protect me.”

“Lancel, this power you have is evil to its very core.”

“And so what? If I didn’t use this power, these goblins would’ve killed us!”

“But you didn’t just kill the ones who attacked us, the children! Lancel, this is the same behavior as the Demonic God we were trying to stop!”

“Rhea… these goblin children will also grow to hate us. Extermination of their race is the only way forward.”

“Why is that?”

“They are creatures of darkness, Rhea!”

“And what of it! You use this so-called dark power. Shouldn’t you be punished as well!”

“…..Yes…..”

“Please, Lancel, snap out of it. This magic, it can corrupt you….”

“But you wouldn’t understand! None of you do!”

“How can I understand when you don’t tell me anything.”

“Rhea….”

“……”

“I’m sorry for worrying you, but time is of the essence. We do not have any more time to waste. We must get to the trial… I told you I’d give you an explanation, but I suppose this is the right time….”

“What explanation? Stop diverting the conversation.”

“Rhea, I love you.”

Rhea thought to herself at that very moment that something strange was going on. she thought, “Why say such a thing at such a time… Lancel…. what’s troubling you?”

Of course, she could not speak it since she was still bewildered by the words. Her mind raced, calculating all possible ways to hit with a counterargument. Yet, she just couldn’t. Shocked to her very core, she stood there in silence.

“Why would… why…. would you… why would you… say that?” Said Rhea.

“That is what I must find out!”

“Find out?”

“Rhea, I have a rather dark past which I’d rather not discuss in length, but I have been inside the temple of Zeta before.”

“?”

“The Trial, Rhea! This darn trial! I’ve failed it before!

“What?”

“Rhea… This trial shows you four things.”

“And what is that?”

“It shows you the past, the present, the future, and an illusion. To pass this trial, the participant must destroy the illusion. If you fail to do so, you will die.”

“If the participant fails, and the result of that failure is death, then how are you still alive?”

“Rhea… you really don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Rhea….”

“….”

“Rhea, by doing this trial, you will gain an ascension point. Please, no matter what you do with it, do not exchange it for another reward.”

“Another reward? Exchange?”

“Rhea, the temple is not far from here. I must keep my silence for a promise I made hundreds of years ago.”

Rhea looked at Lancel’s face. She had never looked him in the eye before this, thinking him to be a selfish man. Yet, for some odd reason, she was drawn to him. The eyes she had finally gazed upon were not full of life, like most creatures, but of death itself, much like the doctor they knew.

“Rhea…. we must hurry.” Said Lancel as he approached her slowly to try and stop her from throwing a tantrum.

Rhea brushed off his advances and said, “I can’t! Don’t you see! Nothing you say makes any sense! Please! Explain what you mean!”

“Rhea, I wish I could, but… I’m on borrowed time…. Please listen, and all will be clear to you.”

“Borrowed time? Lancel! What have you done?”

“Rhea, please, let’s just go!”

Lancel was becoming desperate to persuade Rhea, yet the only reason he got into this mess was that Lancel trusted her with one of his secrets. Rhea considered this for a moment and decided to trust Lancel for now.

“The temple should be close to us now.” Said Lancel to calm Rhea down.

“…..”

“Rhea….”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing. Just hang in there for me.”

“Sure.”

Lancel began chanting a ritual on a piece of paper to create a map around their location.

Rhea spoke out suddenly after noticing the effects of the spell for a brief second, leading to something curious. “What’s that over there?”

“What?” Lancel looks over, only to see nothing.

“There is a tombstone over there, a rather big one at that. Don’t you see it?”

“Where?”

“it’s covered in moss, but you can see its texture… come.”

The two walked towards the tombstone. It was an enormous tombstone, at least twice their size. It was hidden between two rocks, and the moss camouflaged it perfectly.

“Huh?”

“What is it, Lancel?”

“What does this stone say?”

“I can’t tell…. maybe if we removed the moss.”

Lancel chanted another spell, and a holy beam came down from the sky. The spell was relatively weak and was meant to set fire to the moss. The fire was not strong enough to damage anything else surrounding the tombstone.

“Rhea… this tombstone, it’s not a tombstone at all!”

“What is it then?”

“This is a gateway….”

“A gateway?”

“They are magical portals that transport you instantly through space.”

“And where does it lead?”

“It says that inside, one will find the heart’s true desires and shadows. Zeta…”

“What does that mean?”

“Which part of it?”

“The Zeta, what does it mean?”

“I’m not quite sure. It isn’t a word of the elven tongue, perhaps something of the demon world.”

“I see.”

Lancel began putting enchantments on himself, mainly things such as mental fortitude, to strengthen himself for the trail. “Rhea, this door can be opened by magic that has not taken a side yet. In short, you must open it.”

“Magic that has not taken side?”

“Pure form of magic. One does not corrupt by evil or good attributes.”

Rhea stood before the portal and began casting a tier 2 fireball spell. Any tier magic would be sufficient to open this, and to many, it seems like a most basic task, yet having someone who was not affected by good or evil was rare. Since the portal opened only for pure magic casters, only Rhea could open it.

At the end of the spell, a fireball launched and was vacuumed into the portal. The fire completely disappeared, and the portal activated.

Rhea’s mind still lingered at what Lancel said to her, but their mission was more important. “I’ll ask him about it once we get back….” She thought.

“Congratulations, Rhea! You finally were able to cast a tier 2 spell properly.” Said Lancel.

There was apparent distrust between them in the air, yet both continued as if they were on friendly terms. If there was any rush for them to get to the temple, Rhea thought that it would be best not to delay further.

Rhea pretends to be pleased with the compliment and replies, “Hehe, thanks!”

“Hey, what was that!” Said Lancel as he quickly turned around. “Show yourself!”

Prince Avo came out of the bushes that surrounded them. With his mighty axe, he walked towards them.

“It’s me, Avo! Calm down!”

“Why are you here!” Said Lancel with his hand on his sword about to strike.

“Calm down, partner!” Said Avo. “I’ve been following you for quite some time now. Of course, I knew the scroll would lead to something, so I abandoned the caravan and decided to tag along.”

“You were supposed to be escorted safely to our empire!” Said Lancel, with a somewhat displeased look on his face.

“Hey, Lancel, let him just come with us.” Said Rhea, utterly clueless as to what the trial held.

“Rhea, it’s too dangerous to even stand near this portal. I don’t want to risk the future of a country just because he wants to come to explore!”

Avo replies with a grim expression, “What kingdom….”

“I’m sorry…….” Said Lancel.

“It’s all right. We should have known better.” Said Avo.

The temperature suddenly started to drop. A cold breeze of air came out of the portal. Both Lancel and Avo were on guard, sensing a powerful demonic entity.

Rhea felt the chill go up through her spine. She knew that something evil was afoot. Much weaker than the evil she witnessed but still strong enough not to be taken lightly.

An Elf-like demon came through the portal. He wore impressive attire, fit for kings even. His clothes were enchanted to their maximum capacity, a rare sight to behold. The demon had a pair of red demonic wings. Demonic wings were something that many elite demons could only possess.

As the demon came out of the portal, the vegetation around him began to die. A blight began to grow from the portal around the field.

Rhea and Avo look at the demon in fear. They had no idea of the magnitude of magic he possessed. However, Lancel was undeterred. As if he had already met him.

“Greetings…… I am Asmodeus.”

Asmodeus looks at Rhea, surprised that a lowly human could cast pure magic.

“Rhea. You look different…..” Said Asmodeus as he sized up their party and their strength.

Rhea replies in a confused tone, “What do you mean different?”

“Oh, it seems she has not yet regained her memories, but why is she in human form?”

“Asmodeus…..” Said Lancel.

“If it isn’t my dear friend Lancel, I have been waiting for you.”

“Foul demon! why are you here.” Said Lancel.

“I find it hilarious that you, of all people, call me a demon.” Replied Asmodeus. “It would seem that your time with those noble holy paladins has worn down your strength….”

“Foul? Lancel, what does he mean?” Said Rhea.

“Don’t mind him. He is a demon who has mastered the art of toying with emotions.”

“I see you have brought an extra companion along, has your hunger for power driven you to such desperate measures?”

“Lancel? Do you know this demon?” Said Avo.

“This fiend was once an Elf, like me. He betrayed us.”

“I betrayed the elves?” Said Asmodeus. “Look who’s talking! Bah!”

“Why are you here? Surely it cants be that you want to torment me.” Asked Lancel.

“Unfortunately, I am tasked with welcoming challengers of Zeta. My master told me you would come.”

“Your master?” Said Avo.

“My master, or rather, queen of the demon realm, Alicia the unwavering.”

“How did your master know that we would come?” Asked Avo.

“My master sees all humans. She told me of your arrival. She told me that two humans and an elf would greet me.”

“My master this, my master that. You are a deceitful, envious creature, low of self-esteem, and most cunning. You would not serve anyone if it did not benefit you.” Said Lancel.

“You know me too well, Lance. There is some truth to what you said. My master, or rather, Alicia, has grown rather weak as of late. The reason for which I do not know. I relied on her to maintain my power, yet many demons have been unable to use her enormous magical power.”

“You demons can channel each other’s magics?” Asked Rhea.

“Why, of course, we can. Do you humans not?”

“First I’ve heard of it.” Said Avo.

“Enough of my rambling. You three are here for the trial, correct?”

Lancel puts away his sword and speaks. “Yes. But before we proceed, could you answer my question?”

Asmodeus gave off a smiling expression, one which showed clearly. He was happy to oblige. “What is it you want to ask of me?”

“You saw that… The thing, right?”

“Hm… What thing?”

“Don’t be coy with me…. I know you have been watching over me with clairvoyance magic….”

“Ahaha… so you realized, huh?”

For a moment, Lancel noticed the absolute fear deep inside Asmodeus when he asked that question. He realized that Asmodeus had seen the God they had to fight against and possibly more.

Asmodeus was very smooth, not allowing others to notice his fear, or at least everyone except Lancel. “Yes… I saw that thing….”

Lancel was finally hopeful after hearing those words. Those words served as a sort of assurance that Asmodeus did not like whatever they were fighting either.

“I assume your demon queen also knows of this?”

“Yes…. She does…”

“And?” Said Lancel.

“And…. she refuses to talk about what we should do… Every time that topic comes up, she dodges it….” Replied Asmodeus.

Lancel was too caught up trying to figure out the true goal of Asmodeus.

“It would seem that our conversation has come to an end. Please follow me through the portal.”

Rhea, Lancel, and Avo followed behind Asmodeus through the portal. Once through, they were transported into a completely new dimension. Within this fabrication of reality was a long pathway that led to a giant gate at the end of it.

“Come along. The main hall is right across.” Said Asmodeus.

The three quietly followed behind him as they looked around. The hallway was long and very narrow, with floating debris all around. Thousands of doors were floating around and constantly changing their places and colors. Desperate screams could be heard underneath them, yet none of them dared look down.

Something seemed to spark within Rhea in this Realm. This realm was a plane of existence in which neither good nor evil existed. Those who had not taken a side were bound to be boosted in their ability by the surrounding magic. This resonated clearly within Rhea, and her power felt strong…. Strong enough for even Asmodeus to be on his guard.

Asmodeus turns around and excitedly announces, “Here we are!”

The three suddenly stop and listen.

Asmodeus points at a purple door and continues, “Inside is the main hall. Please enter to begin the trial. I must leave now and will be absent for the trial, but do try to stay alive, will you?”

“Where are you going?” Asked Lancel.

“You know where…. Lancel….”

“Don’t you dare!” Yelled Lancel.

“Farewell.”

Lancel quickly tries to unsheathe his sword and strike at Asmodeus, but a magical portal appears immediately behind Asmodeus, teleporting him away.

“Damn it!” Said Lancel.

Avo and Rhea looked at Lancel as he threw a tantrum before the trial even began. “What the hell is going on?” Thought Rhea as she watched Lancel have a literal mental breakdown in front of her.

“Damn it, damn it!” Said Lancel. “That bastard keeps escaping right on time!”

“Leave him be, Rhea. We must take this trial!” Avo said in a low voice so that Lancel couldn’t hear. But he did hear, and immediately Lancel turned to them, panicking.

“Rhea! Please, you have to remember! It’s now or never! Please!”

“REMEMBER WHAT?!” cried out Rhea in desperation to understand what Lancel was asking of her. “What do you mean?! Explain!”

“Rhea, you are the key to this, all of this!”

“Me?! How??”

“Rhea, you are not some simple human! You are one of us!”

“I’m what??”

“Yes! You… You, you, you are an elf! Not just any simple elf, either. Your magic may deceive the eyes of my dear sister Grismala, but you cannot deceive me!”

Avo slowly sneaks away from the group towards the trial door while Lancel and Rhea continue their discussion.

“Please, Rhea, you have to remember our promise!”

“What do you mean! I’m not an elf!”

“Rhea, your father, is not some….”

The moment Lancel decided he would tell Rhea about the truth, he glances at Avo, attempting to open the door to the main hall.

“STOP!!!!!!!!” Said Lancel as he charged toward Avo to stop him.

It was too late by then. The trail door had been opened, and they were immediately teleported to an unknown location.