Every fiber of his body focused on moving forward, faster and faster, as if the idea of slowing down did not exist. The air was warm against his skin and his breath came out in short bursts. Sweat rolled down his temples while the ground blurred beneath his feet. From the way the distant shouting carried behind him, he guessed he had far less time than he wanted to believe. Nothing mattered except running.
'Do not push yourself too far. It is alright. You are safe with me,' her voice said, gentle and steady in his mind.
He tried to take comfort in it, though his legs continued to burn. Before long he entered the tall lavender woods, the same place where he had first woken up in this strange trial. The trees rose above him like quiet sentries, their purple bark catching the faint light. Leaves rustled in a slow rhythm, almost as if they were trying to calm him down. He stopped by the base of one tree, a hand pressed to its bark while he bent forward, trying to catch his breath.
"Alright," he muttered to himself. "Alright, just a second."
He let out a rough exhale and glanced over his shoulder, expecting someone to appear from the trees. Nothing. It allowed him a small moment to focus again.
"Alice, how much distance and time do they have until they clash?"
Back in the open field, before he ran, he noticed how strange the spacing between the two forces had been. Even with his sharper sight, the gap had not made sense.
"From what I saw, it was more than a hundred meters," she answered. "They will meet in about two or three minutes." After a short pause she added, "But that does not concern you right now."
He nodded to himself and began walking again. His fingers slid across the rough bark of a nearby tree, feeling more familiar with each step. The air here smelled faintly of damp soil and the same purple grass. This was the place he had first arrived. Yet now, there was no sign of Tyriana.
Two conclusions formed in his mind.
"This is the past," Alice said. Her voice came in before he finished the thought, reading it straight out of him. It made something in his chest tighten. He knew she could read his thoughts, yet each time she did it without warning, he felt a little more exposed. Like parts of him were being peeled open. It chipped at the trust he held for her, a trust that had already been stretched thin.
"You are right," he said aloud. He pressed his palms to his forehead, trying to shape everything into something clear. "Since this is a trial inside a sentrum rift, we need to solve a problem from the past." He continued walking as he spoke. "This must be around the time the rebels started building their town after breaking from the Empire of Materna." He lifted his eyes toward the bluish purple sky. It looked the same as when he first arrived, as if time barely mattered here.
"You seem to be a pretty smart young man," a voice said from behind him, somewhere deeper inside the trees.
Lucid spun around so fast he almost tripped. His throat tightened.
"Who is there?" he called out. His voice came out hoarse, caught somewhere between surprise and fear. 'Is this someone else taking the trial? Another participant?'
A figure stepped through the violet shadows and into the open. The man wore silver armor marked with the crest of Materna, and a helmet that hid most of his face. Lucid felt a prick of recognition. He was the messenger who had read the scroll earlier. It made no sense that he was here. Then Lucid reminded himself there was no real person inside a sentrum rift. The rebels, the soldiers, all of them were only creations meant to shape the test. Their movements and anger and stories were not real lives. Yet that does not necessarily mean the events happening didn't go down in history. However Whatever he did inside the rift could still change the path of the trial.
'What a strange npc,' he thought.
"It is smart to run," the man said. His voice sounded flat inside the helmet, cold but almost calm. "I never understood those who fight until their last breath for the sake of honor." His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his sword. "You made the right choice. Still, your leader should have surrendered."
Lucid clenched his jaw. "And how do I know you would not have killed everyone the moment they surrendered?"
"You do not know," the man said. "But that is the past. I am afraid you have to die now. Let your blood be the foundation for Materna to rise higher. It is an honor, if you ask me."
'A rotten honor,' Lucid thought, but he did not say it.
'Lucid, be careful!' Alice shouted in his mind, sharp with panic.
He reacted on instinct. His head jerked right just as something sliced past him. A warm trickle ran down his ear. A dagger had missed its mark by only a little. The soldier moved again with sudden, impossible speed. One second he stood still and the next he was in front of Lucid, swinging a heavy blade toward his shoulders. Lucid kicked off the ground and moved aside, avoiding the strike by inches. The man did not slow. Slash after slash came at him, each one stronger and faster than the last.
"You brat, die!" the man roared.
Lucid kept moving on the balls of his feet, each step quick and uneven. He had no weapon to rely on. He had none of the powers the Enlightened on his old team used to carry. All he had were his torn clothes and his own hands. His body was a little stronger because of Alice, but not enough to match someone trained for war. He could hear her breathing inside his mind, tight and shaky, like she was holding something heavy up for his sake.
A blade rushed toward him. Too fast. He tilted his head to the right but not fast enough. Pain lit up along the right side of his head as the blade cut from his temple down part of his chest. The force pushed him sideways. He gritted his teeth and threw a punch at the soldier. It was weak, but it hit hard enough to make the man reach for his eyes.
"Graaagh, you little rat!" the man shouted. He clawed at his helmet, but his fingers could not reach through the narrow opening. Lucid had not even hit him with his fist. He had jabbed two fingers into the eye slit, blinding him for a moment.
Lucid felt his strength slipping. His legs wobbled and he fell to one knee. The forest spun around him. He heard the man stumble toward him again, following the faint noise Lucid made.
The full weight of the armored man suddenly crashed onto him. Lucid gasped, the pressure hitting the fresh wound on his chest. He did not scream, only let out a strained grunt. The soldier punched him again and again with metal gloves. Each hit felt like a hammer landing against his skull. Lucid forced his fingers up again, jabbing one eye through the slit. The soldier yelled and faltered. Lucid hit him with a shaky punch that barely counted as a strike, but it was enough to push the man off balance.
"Lucid, look out!" Alice cried.
Lucid turned in time to see the soldier lunging again. Lucid had made a mistake thinking he was unarmed. A short dagger flashed in the soldier's hand.
"Surrender!" the soldier shouted and drove the dagger down.
Lucid raised both arms to block, but he had nothing to block with except his own flesh. The blade tore through his palm as if it were paper. Blood exploded from the wound and sprayed across his face. The pain almost blinded him. The soldier was older, stronger, and trained. Lucid was only a teenager who had never been in hand to hand combat like this. He only had Alice trying to keep him alive.
Blood covered the soldier's armor, turning the silver plates into a sickening red. Lucid's vision blurred. It felt like his whole body was falling apart. Alice was doing everything she could, but she could not enhance him forever.
He made a desperate choice. He let the blade pierce deeper while he turned his head so it only cut a small part of his left ear. Pain ran down his spine, but it gave him an opening. He slammed his forehead into the soldier's helmet. The crack echoed around them. The soldier loosened his grip and the dagger slipped from his hold. Lucid kept striking, hitting the man's helmet with his bloody fist. Each punch sent a painful shock up his arm, but he kept going until the man staggered back, blind and disoriented.
Lucid grabbed the dagger still stuck in his palm and yanked it out. He nearly passed out from the pain. Alice's energy was fading. Her presence felt thinner, weaker.
Still, he pushed forward. Step by step. He swung his leg and kicked the soldier in the head with all the strength he had left. A dull thud rang out. The man dropped to the ground and did not move.
Lucid stood shaking, gasping for air. Blood dripped from his hand and face. The dagger felt heavy and disgusting in his grip. His stomach turned at the sight of himself, drenched in so much blood.
The man was unconscious.
He had survived. 'How much time has passed?' he wondered.
Then something strange happened.
His body moved without him choosing to move it. He took a step toward the fallen soldier, then another. His breathing quickened in panic.
'What is happening? Why am I doing this?'
His body felt like a puppet being tugged around by invisible hands. His arms lifted the dagger, slow and awkward, shaking from the effort.
'Alice,' he thought.
Her presence pressed harder in his mind.
"Lucid, you must live. I need you alive. I need you. This is for your own good," Alice said. Her voice sounded strained, almost afraid.
"Stop, Alice, listen to me, stop, this is not right!" he yelled. He looked like someone arguing with himself, but he did not care.
His arms did not stop moving.
"Alice... I will not ask you twice... please stop"
The dagger came down with a hard thrust and pierced the soldier's neck. The man died instantly.
"No!" Lucid cried out. It broke from his throat, raw and full of disbelief.
A voice spoke in his ears, flat and calm, without emotion.
***
The Divine Maiden Alice has slain a human.
Fate essence +100.
Your path shines brighter.
***