Kharon could feel an overwhelming force pushing down on him. Even the hairs on his neck couldn't stand on end as he fought against the pressure. He willed his body to stand as he looked defiantly at the rift and smirked. The air seemed to turn cold as the world witnessed this exchange.
Suddenly the rift began to stir once again but this time, the eye began to close before vanishing completely as if it had never been there. Kharon looked at this scene with interest as he sighed. He wiped the sweat from his brows before returning to his task.
'I didn't know the eye could momentarily appear despite it not being Rift Bloom Day. Did it come out just to try and spite me? How strange...'
Kharon looked at his bracelet as it lit up with a faint golden light. His eyes widened as he looked at the time. He quickly composed himself with a deep breath.
'This is fine.'
His legs began to sink through the roof as he slowly vanished.
'I can't believe an hour passed so quickly. Just how long was I looking at the rift for? Well it did me a favour by entertaining me while I waited. Freya as a hunter, should be getting some rest. From what Zack said, she hunts everyday with the exception of Sunday. Since today is Saturday, I am sure she wouldn't mind a little distraction before work.'
Kharon smiled ominously as he landed softly on the ground. He walked down the corridor as he stood in front of Room 15. He slowly placed his hand on the door as he felt its smooth, wooden texture. He released a bit of aether before he began phasing through it. As he did, he made sure to maintain his invisibility.
He slowly walked through the apartment as he looked at the well furnished room. He walked through as he analysed the entire place before heading to the room. Like before, he touched the door to make sure it wasn't reinforced with aether as he tried to phase through. His hand began to go through as his body slowly followed.
Once he was inside the minimalistic room, he quietly walked towards the bed. Lying sound asleep was a girl with platinum blonde hair and pale, white skin. She looked like an angel peacefully sleeping on a cloud as Kharon pulled something from his cloak.
He took out a small black ring with a few inscriptions. He gently put it on her left middle finger as he snapped his fingers. In an instant, Freya was gone. All that remained were the faintly creased sheets, still warm from her presence.
'She sleeps like a statue.'
After a few seconds of contemplation, Kharon's body morphed before he vanished. In the next second, he was standing above in a room overlooking a wide, grassy field. Lying asleep in the middle of said field was Freya. The wind was gently blowing as she was suddenly woken by its faint whistling. The sun shone with it's radiant light as the clouds slowly drifted through the blue sky.
Kharon studied the scene, arms folded, lips unreadable as Zack walked into the room with a drink.
"You already brought her here boss? That was quick! I am surprised she has only just woken up. The first trial she will go through is physical right?"
"Yes I created the Room of Trials to act as a mirror to the challenger's psyche. I am unsure of how her trials will work as I made sure the room can generate whatever it needs. We will just have to assess her depending on what we see. Since this is the first time it is being used, I will need to study how it does and improve it for later."
Zack looked at him with wide eyes as he asked, "You didn't check if the room was safe to use?"
Kharon stared at Zack indifferently as he answered, "The room is safe. I made sure of it. I just said, I am unsure of how the trials will work. If something goes wrong, I will deactivate it. I spent a long time creating countermeasures just to be safe."
Zack nodded as they looked at the field. Freya had already stood up and had started analysing her surroundings. She began to run as she murmured something. As she did this, her words could suddenly be heard from a little crystal in the room.
"Where am I? Could this be a dream...?"
Before she could reach the edge of the field, Kharon snapped his fingers as several creatures appeared in the field and blocked her way.
Looking confused, Zack asked, "You said you didn't know what her trial was. So how-"
"I just started her trial. I was waiting for her to wake up before I activated it. The room has already taken shape but it doesn't automatically mean that her trial had begun. But now that it has started, we can assess what she has to do and rate her performance."
In the field, Freya was calmly assessing the situation as her eyes quickly passed over all the giant rodent-like creatures. However, despite her seemingly calm demeanor, Kharon could see faint shaking as Freya took on a fighting stance. The creatures suddenly lunged at her as their large incisors were revealed.
She breathed in slowly as the creatures approached before saying a few words.
"These creatures will slow down significantly."
However, the creatures' pace didn't change as one of them rammed into her. She punched it as it's upper incisors were broken in half. A few more tried ramming into her but she managed to avoid them as she jumped upwards. This led to the creatures hitting each other. As she fell downwards, her left leg was hit by another creature but Freya quickly kicked it away with her right leg.
She jumped away before slightly crouching down.
Kharon watched her in silence as Zack spoke up.
"She seems to be doing quite... well? I wonder why her ability failed. Did you-?"
"Yes. She can't use her abilities in the first trial. This is a test of strength after all. We have to assess how she handles herself without her abilities. Constantly relying on them would lead to reliance. If she can't handle this, then she isn't strong enough to bear the weight of our cause."
"But we are wielders. We need our abilities to properly fight. Are you telling me that you could handle those creatures without any of your abilities?"
"Most of my abilities aren't geared for fighting. So I have to use and apply them in creative ways. I also use mystic constructs but I don't like relying on them unless necessary. My favourite way of fighting is through arcana. A skill that I have picked up and honed myself."
Kharon looked away as he whispered, "In this life and in my previous one..."
"But not everyone can use arcana."
"I never said it had to be arcana. What I meant was that your arcane abilities aren't everything. Why do you think I have assigned you as the owner of the training room? It's so that our members will learn to actually fight. Even I will have to learn from you. I never delved into anything more than basic combat..."
In the field, Freya was managing to keep the creatures off herself as she looked at her tattered clothes and huffed.
"My clothes are ruined! I spent 300 Aethermarks on this nightdress! 300 Aethermarks!"
Zack looked at Kharon as he chuckled. Kharon looked at him fiercely as he asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing boss... just that... Will you compensate her for the nightdress?"
"Of course. Who do you take me for?"
"Nevermind I asked..."
With one well timed kick, Freya killed one of the creatures. She sighed as she said, "One down. 49 more to go..."
Kharon looked at Zack and then at the field before sighing. He briefly left the room and quickly returned with a thin sword.
"You said she uses a sword right?"
"From what I know, yes. But why is it so thin?"
"She will have to make the most of it. It's made from sturdy material and won't break easily."
As he said this, Kharon made the glass in front of him disappear as he threw the sword down. As it flew downwards, it pierced through one of the creatures cleanly in it's head. Noticing the weapon's arc, she squinted warily at the sky, then dashed forward before hesitation could root her in place.
She paused for a moment as one of the creatures jumped towards her before she wrapped her hand on the sword's hilt. As she took the weapon in her hands, she realised how light yet sturdy it was. Her suspicions slowly vanished as an eerie smile crept onto her face.
"Time for a massacre!"
In the next few moments, she managed to kill over ten of the creatures with a single move. Her dress was painted red as the smell of blood wafted through the field. She managed to wipe out all of them in a few minutes as she looked at the last one with satisfaction. An eerie smile plastered on her doll-like face.
"Time to end this."
As she lunged at the last creature, she was blocked by a mountain of new rodents. She looked at them as her eyes moved in all directions.
"100, 200, 400... 451! Why did the number suddenly increase?! Someone has to be watching and testing me. I have been thinking about why I am here but now I am certain that I was kidnapped by someone! Or even several people. If you can here me, stop this! I don't want to continue this madness! Why give me a sword and increase the difficulty so much?!"
"Umm, boss. She really doesn't sound happy. I doubt she will be willing to join our organisation if we don't stop this..."