Kharon remained still as he continued to watch Freya slaughtering the rodents. A satisfied smile crept onto his face as he looked through the glass more intently. As he did, Freya once again screamed as she complained.
"I can't kill all of these creatures! If you want, you can take back the sword ok?! I just want to return to my apartment! If I manage to defeat all of these creatures will you let me go?!"
A soft chuckle came from Kharon as Zack looked at Freya, his expression tight with worry. Kharon's smile grew wider as his ring suddenly shone with a faint light. In the next second, a white crystal appeared in front of Kharon as he cleared his throat before speaking.
"You are currently being tested by the Null Order. We are in the process of recruiting young talents who can help us achieve our goals. One of our main goals is to free the people from the Arcane Association's iron grip and make knowledge about the paths public. We also have a few other goals but you may only know once you are a member. If you want, I can send you back to your apartment and you can go about your life like before."
Kharon paused as he watched Freya dance gracefully around the field as the rodents were each being stabbed or beheaded. He coughed nervously as he continued.
"Or if you want, you can join us and make a change. The world needs strong, brave people who are willing to fight for it's freedom. So will you join us or will you give up this once in a life time chance to truly become someone..."
Freya continued to dance around and kill her enemies, but her movements were slowly becoming sluggish and unfocused. She narrowly dodged one of the rodents as they continued to swarm her. Her nightdress was even more tattered and she was caked in blood. Kharon watched with a frown as Freya slowed down and began struggling to keep up.
Zack crossed his arms as he watched Freya; worry clearly visible in his eyes. Kharon looked at him before turning back to Freya. He sighed as he snapped his fingers and muttered a few words.
"Not everyone excels."
He brought the crystal closer to his mouth as he said, "You have ten seconds. Use your abilities and finish them."
In an instant, the exhaustion vanished from Freya—replaced by fierce determination in her eyes as she raised her hand high. Her lips parted, and the command fell not like words, but like a decree from an unflinching god.
"All creatures in a 50 meter radius around me, will suffer severe injuries."
The words seemed to echo across the open field as in an instant, all the rodents' limbs were broken; blood oozing from their orifices. The sickening sound of bone break made Kharon shiver as he looked at Freya in fear and awe.
'She can give such commands?! Despite what I read, I still don't know the full extent of each path. I need to be careful about how I handle things from now on. If I am not careful my limbs will probably end up like that. But still that command wouldn't come without a price...'
As the rodents fell to the ground one by one. Freya quickly ran around the field and dealt the finishing blow to each of them before collapsing on the ground. Her whole body was painted red as she looked like an angel of war, sleeping peacefully in the aftermath of carnage. She took in large gulps of air as she suddenly turned on her side and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Kharon watched this in silence as Zack's expression worsened.
'So there was an equivalent backlash according to her command. I was expecting this, but the backlash seems less severe than I thought. If a command is too demanding then an equivalent price must be paid by the wielder. So she is strong enough to handle it, huh...'
Kharon smiled excitedly as he watched Freya slowly rise from red field. A few blades of grass stuck to her skin as she looked up at the sky and shouted, "What kind of test is this?! Are you trying to kill your potential 'recruits' or what? If you wanted people to join your organisation, then you should ask them before putting them through hell!"
"I told you boss... at this rate, she will probably say no."
Zack was about to continue when Freya said, "However. I am interested. It would have been better if I had been asked if I wanted to take this test, but I am willing to join. The Arcane Association are my enemies. So if you want to overthrow them then I am in."
Kharon's indifferent eyes met Zack's wide ones as a sly smile made itself known.
"I told you it would be fine. My methods can be considered questionable, but they work."
Kharon looked at Freya as he spoke into the crystal, "You still have two more tests before you can join. But before those tests, you will receive a short five minute break. So get ready for what comes next."
After saying this, Kharon snapped his fingers as the grassy field began to shrink. The sky seemed to fall as it began to turn completely white. It hardened as, becoming the ceiling of a small, white room. Chairs, tables and different utensils appeared as a door opened. Many different meals began floating in as Freya looked on in surprise. When she looked down at herself, she saw her body beginning to mend itself as all the blood was wiped from her skin and clothes.
"How did you do that boss?!"
"I used many different runeweaves to create this room. It's a separate space which resides in the Room of Trials. I created it independently from the room before merging them together. While the Room of Trials just morphs depending on it's challenger's psyche, this space is always the same. The meals are preplanned and stored in the Null Order's pantry which I created yesterday. I had to sacrifice my box, but it was worth it."
"Your... box?"
"It doesn't matter. The only thing you need to know is that, those meals aren't created by the room. So don't think I can create meals out of thin air. Using arcana to try and create a meal is a recipe for disaster."
Zack nodded as he looked at Kharon expectantly, his eyes clearly desiring something. As Kharon looked at him, he said, "You can go to the pantry. It's in the same room as the workshop, but it's not the right wall. You can use your ring to open the door and take a meal. You have to warm it up though, it's all stored using cooling and preservation runes."
Zack quickly left the room as Kharon shook his head disapprovingly as a smile crept on his face. He quickly returned to his stone cold demeanour as he watched Freya who was enjoying her meal. She looked up at the ceiling as she asked, "You will compensate me for my ruined nightdress right?"
Her slightly incomprehensible muffled voice through her eating made Kharon scratch his head in thought as he said, "I will give you money to compensate for your dress. It was 300 Aethermarks. So I will add another 100 Aethermarks as an apology."
Freya's face lit up as he muttered a thank you and continued to enjoy her meal. Three minutes passed as Zack came back into the room with a large tray filled with food. Kharon looked at him with an eyebrow raised as Zack was eating a skyfowl leg.
"What?! Wielders of enhancement need a lot of food. How else are we meant to retain our strength? We need fuel!"
Kharon looked away as Zack stuffed himself with food. He watched Freya who had finished her meal and spoke through the crystal, "You have ten seconds remaining. Get ready for your second trial. Good luck."
Kharon snapped his fingers as the room rapidly expanded as the ceiling rose infinitely higher as it began to turn dark and gloomy. Bright white dots began to appear as in an instant, the sky was filled with hundreds of stars. Each star was part of a bigger group as they formed constellations of different shapes and sizes. Freya looked at the scene in amazement as she quickly woke from her stupor.
Zack quickly analysed the sky as he said, "It seems like a puzzle. Maybe the constellations are there to help or trick her. This has to be a mental trial, right boss?"
"It is. It uses the challenger's knowledge and memories to create a hard puzzle they have to solve. If not, they fall into a pit with an even harder puzzle. They can't leave unless they solve a puzzle or I stop the trial. But they could also try and destroy the room."
"Knowing just how meticulous you are, the rooms are probably reinforced. Trying to destroy it would be like trying to destroy Lunaris Haven with all its pocket dimensions and reinforcement runes."
They watched as Freya's gaze moved from the mesmerising sky to the large, stone circle on the ground. On it were many different symbols, all in a strange pattern. At the centre of the circle was a little hole which seemed to be missing something.
As Freya looked at the strange symbols around her, she suddenly said, "Not this again..."