Trial

"So you have to do this hero's trial now?" Kaguya asked, "What is it?"

"Apparently, I have to find a certain flower and take it to the grave of their founder, Brea." Roko sighed, "And I have to do it alone."

"Alone?! Oh, boooo!" Helena griped.

"Seems pretty simple for a hero's trial." Momo munched on some salad lettuce, "What's the catch?"

"Well the flower I have to find, the Sanctuary Lily, only blooms in certain conditions so I have to find this flower in the middle of the Arbrea. The only weapon they're giving me is a bow and some arrows."

"Man, they didn't even give you a magical weapon?" Roland scoffed.

"Did you think they hand out magic weapons here?" Helena said.

"The arrows might be enhanced with some higher durability." Roko shrugged, "But aside from that, not much else."

"No map?" Momo asked.

"None."

"Hmmmm..." Kaguya thought aloud, "Then we should prepare you as best we can. When do you start this trial?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" Helena coughed on her lemonade, "They just told you about this trial today, didn't they?!"

"Yeah, there were circumstances."

"What circumstances?!"

"Eh. Tell you later."

"Alright." Kaguya sighed, "We'd better start doing some research on the forest then. Don't want you getting lost in there, do we?"

"From what it sounds, I think I'd get lost anyway no matter how I prepare." Roko scoffed.

"We can still look up the local flora and fauna at least." Momo nodded, "Anything else we can help cram into your head before the test? Maybe we can make you some rations? Right, Corissa?"

Corissa sat there with a displeased pout on her face as she glared at Roko, "You said you weren't going to overwork yourself."

"What?! This doesn't count!" Roko cried as he set down his glass of apple juice, "I'm literally putting down everything else to do this trial! And they're not really giving me any other choice so I had to do this anyway!"

"Now now." Helena snickered, "As much as I'd hate to cut into your little newly wed couple routine..."

"Who's a newly wed couple?!" Roko cried as Corissa blushed heavily.

"But the day's going to be over before you know it so let's get some action going!" Helena stood up, "We need to get as much information and resources as we can!"

"I'm back!" Treesa's voice called as she returned to their lodge.

"Perfect timing!" Helena spun around, "Treesa! What do you know about the Hero's Trial?!"

"The Hero's Trial?" Treesa said as she placed an armful of groceries onto a counter, "Are one of you researching it now?"

"Roko's gonna take it tomorrow."

"You're going to take the Hero's Trial?!" Treesa cried, turning to Roko in surprise, "Why?! That's usually reserved for people of great importance!"

"Well, I have some important things to do, I guess." Roko shrugged.

"Oh dear." Treesa murmured, "You might be the youngest person to undergo the Hero's Trial now. Most of the humans that went through the Hero's Trial before were pretty young for a human but you're still in school."

"Is this trial really hard?" Momo asked.

"Not for elves. Everyone knows the location of Lady Brea's grave and what the Sanctuary Lily looks like but humans have to do all this with no help."

"So when you say no help..." Kaguya said

"No help from those that are not undergoing the trial." Treesa sighed, "I suppose you can still buy supplies if you're preparing but you're not supposed to take help from people unrelated to the trial."

"That's pretty harsh isn't it?" Helena frowned.

"It used to be different but after anti-hero Gifford easily passed the trial with the assistance with a magical item given to him by the queen's own daughter, the restrictions for the trial has gotten a lot tighter. This was several thousand years ago though."

"Has anybody ever failed the trial?" Roko asked.

"Oh no, the forest is quite dangerous but we don't usually offer it to people we don't believe could succeed. Most people who take the trial are either successful or are able to return to the city and concede before they die."

"So would you say it's pretty safe?" Kaguya asked.

"Oh no, I wouldn't say so." Treesa replied, "Just because the trials are usually successful doesn't mean those who took it returned in fine state. I mean some of the greatest heroes have managed with minimal damage but people have been maimed pretty badly."

"...So is it too late for us to tag along, Roko?" Momo asked.

"I always planned to do it alone anyway."

"But..." Corissa frowned.

"The queen and I challenged each other." Roko insisted, "I can't go asking for help now."

You challenged the queen?" Treesa said, surprised.

"Kind of. It all depends on whenever I can win this trial."

"Hmmm...Well I wish I could help you but I can't really do anything for you."

"You can tell us more about the forest!" Helena cried, "Maybe you can't tell us where Brea's grave is or where the Sanctuary Lily is but you can tell us about the animals and plants right? Like, what's there to look out for!"

"Well..." Treesa thought about it for a moment, "The most dangerous creature in Arbrea is perhaps the displacer beast. Ferocious illusory creatures that were attracted to the illusory magics weaved into the Arbrea. They're pretty difficult to kill and have been a great danger to elves and heroes alike. Then of course there are the owlbears. Highly powerful and aggressive. Though they are endangered, you're allowed to kill in self defense so don't worry about that."

"How are they endangered if they're so powerful?" Helena frowned.

"That's all due to the dark elves." Treesa's face darkened,"They hunted the poor beasts to near extinction. They do nothing but tear apart the forest for their own sick pleasure. They're the real monsters and the worst vermin living in our forest."

Everyone looked at Treesa, stunned to see their gentle and kind landlady in such a harsh mood. Noticing everyone's shock, Treesa quickly composed herself again,

"S-Sorry." She apologized, "That was rather uncouth of me."

"It's fine." Helena nodded, "Do you have some history with the dark elves?"

"They..." Treesa looked down, "They killed my husband years ago."

"I...I'm so sorry." Helena said as the party looked down solemnly.

"It's fine!" Treesa said as cheerfully as she could, "That was a few thousand years ago now. But I have heard of dark elves interfering with those that undertake the Hero's Trial so I would be careful around them if I ever come across them, okay Roko?"

"Got it." Roko nodded.

"Well, I that's probably all I know about Arbrea so I think that's all the help I can provide. Aside from making you a nice meal before you leave so do stay over for dinner, won't you Roko?" Treesa smiled as she headed to the kitchen.

The morning of the next day was abuzz with chatter as the rumor of a human taking the Hero's Trial had spread among the city and elves had gathered around the exit to Granreveria to see Roko set off.

"Word sure travels fast." Helena noted as the elves crowed around their group a few feet away, "You think you can do this, Roko?"

"More or less." Roko replied as he twanged the string on the bow he was given, "This seems like a pretty well made bow. As for the arrows..." Roko drew one of the arrows from the quiver on his back, "They've definitely been enhanced by magic though how powerful they are now, I not sure. Kinda wish I could test it but there's no target around here."

"How are your preparations?" Kaguya asked.

"Well, I managed to secure some light leather armor and a knife." Roko touched the light armor he had bought just yesterday, "So that should help a little. I also got some pouches for my belt since I'll be carrying a quiver on my back. They're pretty empty for now but I can always scavenge some food to put in there."

"Why didn't you just bring along some food?"

"I did a little but there isn't that much I can get in a short time. Not anything that could last longer than a few days anyway."

"Are you going to be okay?" Helena frowned, "You seem woefully underprepared."

"That's the point." Rivera's voice called out to them as the crowd of elves parted for their queen to approach Roko, "Though I expected you'd come begging to allow you to take one or two of your companions with you."

"It'd be too easy if they did. Besides, the terms of our agreement were pretty clear." Roko replied, "I, for one, have no intention of tricking the other."

"Cheeky aren't you? Well, then allow me to offer a bit of recompense. Hand me one of your arrows."

"What are you doing?" Helena asked as Roko handed Rivera the arrow in his hand.

"The space for Brea's grave is protected by a spell that requires you to demonstrate the three natural elements. That is Water, Earth and Wind. As you don't have magic of your own, I'm enchanting this one arrow with these three elements. This will essentially be your key in, though you will have to find the Sanctuary Lily on your own. The enchantments will only last for one shot though so I wouldn't recommend hunting with it."

"What happened to getting no help?" Roko said.

"This isn't help, this is righting the difficulty. We elves would prefer not to be known for sending a poor man off to his death with no chance of success. This way, you actually have a chance."

"How kind of you." Roko said as he took the enchanted arrow from Rivera, the weapon glowing with power and the fletching now colored in green, blue and brown.

"Now, young Roko. Your trial begins. Prove to us your virtues and you shall have the strength of the elves behind you."

"Take care!" Helena waved as Roko turned to leave, "We'll take care of your little home while you're gone, don't worry!"

"Forget about the hut and take care of yourselves." Roko scoffed, "Especially Corissa now that I'll be gone."

"Ah man, I forgot about that." Helena frowned.

"Where is she anyway?" Momo asked.

"I think I saw her heading to the castle library." Kaguya explained.

"Planning to study now is she?" Roko said, "Well, if she finds something I missed, then that's fine. But someone should really check up on her."

"She has Varis, she'll be fine!"

"..."

"..."

…

"Yeah, okay, I'll check up on her later." Helena sighed.

"Are you talking about me?"

"Oh Corissa!" Helena turned around as the pretty princess joined them, "You made it!"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss seeing my friend off!" Corissa smiled before turning to Roko, "Roko...I'm sorry. I forced you into something unreasonable again."

"It's okay. I'm used to it."

"Ehe." Corissa giggled a bit before she looking to Roko again with an earnest look in her eyes, "You remember how I said I wanted to be like you one day?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I decided to stop leaving everything to you!" Corissa smiled as she held up one of the historical texts that Roko had been given for his research in her hands, "I'm going to do my best to help every step of the way so I won't be a burden on you!"

"..." Roko walked over and placed a gentle hand on top of Corissa's head, "That's fine but if it ever becomes too hard to be me then don't forget to be yourself."

Corissa took a moment to process his words before smiling brightly, "Yes! I'll do my best!"

"I will too." Roko said as he finally left the elf's city.

Immediately upon leaving the city of Granreveria, Roko was plunged back into the shadowy blue forest that he had seen when he first arrived here nearly 11 days ago. And after a few steps, Roko could no longer see the emerald light of the elven city behind him either. Roko took a moment for a moment to adjust to the utter loneliness that he hadn't felt in what felt like forever, ever since he was alone in his apartment in his old world. Once he adjusted his mind, Roko turned to the immediate problems that he was facing. Of course there was finding the grave and the Sanctuary Lily but he also needed to stock up on some food if this was going to take longer than a day or two. Actually with the forest in blue shadows like this, it would be impossible for Roko to determine when night would be. Well, he'll just eat when he's hungry and rest when he's tired then. For now…

"Analyze Map."

Roko sent out a pulse as far as he could, wrapping through all the bushes and foliages, around the trunks of trees. Though his spell didn't really reach far above him, Roko could see his immediate surroundings all at once. And immediately there was nothing around. He couldn't even see the road back to Granreveria anymore even though he barely took a few steps out of its vicinity. No animals and...well he hadn't really tuned his search capabilities to look for plants. And he wasn't really sure how he would make it do so anyway so at this point. So there was nothing he could do than start scavenging. So Roko reached into his pack and pulled out a slab of cured meat. It was pretty difficult to find something like this in elven society but Roko managed to find one shop that could provide some for him. Taking this pretty delectable piece of meat, Roko notched it into some hooks by the side of his belt, letting it hang there for a moment. Perhaps this was foolishly naive of him, perhaps it was foolishly reckless of him. But the idea was that this piece of meat would attract some predators that he could then kill and eat himself. Assuming he doesn't get ambushed while he was scavenging but that was what his map pulse was for. In this way, he can double up on his resource search at the same time. Assuming he kept up his map scans regularly anyway.

Roko picked a direction and began walking. There probably wasn't a point to mapping the woods as the layout was sure to change at any given moment. All Roko could do was keep his eyes open for anything that stood out. Strange looking plants, sudden clearings, that sort of stuff.

In lieu of such clear observations, Roko was left to shift through plants for what few herbs he recognized in his half a day of cramming survival information. He was sure that his analyze spell would find poisonous plants if he focused on them but not edible ones. The information he gains were usually combat oriented so unless he already knew that the plant was edible, his spells wouldn't be able to tell him either. This kind of confirms something Roko had always suspected. That his spells work better the more information he has. There were some things that his spell would inform him about without prior knowledge but for a more complete description, he'd need to at least register the information before it can be added to his analysis spell. Even things Roko might've forgotten, his spells might remember.

"The more I know, the stronger I am huh?" Roko muttered as he picked through some edible herbs, "What's even the point of my spells then?"

Roko's sarcastic question went unanswered as he continued his trek through the woods. Regular scans had begun to turn up more and more wildlife though they were still merely small creatures like birds and lizards and squirrels. Nothing quite substantial enough to bother hunting. His meat lure didn't seem particularly effective in luring anything so far and Roko estimated that he's been walking around for almost three hours now, almost time for lunch probably. Finding a nice rock to rest on, Roko took out some of the biscuits and jerky that he had brought from Granreveria. It was a particularly dry meal so Roko made liberal use of the water in his container, drawing attention to to the issue of refilling on water. He hadn't seen any rivers or lakes so far and he hasn't heard the sound of any running water either. Now he had another thing to worry about but he also had possible lead now. While there was no guarantee that either the grave or the lily would conveniently be near a source of water, animals were sure to gather around water. Some of which he might be able to hunt. And if it was a river, he could begin mapping the forest by following it. The forest may be twisted and impossible to navigate but they couldn't twist the path of an entire river could they? Regardless, despite the only mild increase in his stock of supplies Roko had managed to build, he decided to set out to find a river. How he was going to do that? More wandering, he supposed. So once he finished his lunch, Roko let out a sigh and got up again, this time with a slightly clearer goal in mind.

Eventually the Arbrea forest started to become more like a jungle. Bushes that came up to his waist, trees with exposed roots looming taller than its neighbors on higher grounds. It wasn't treacherous like the deeper parts of Paramnesia Forest where a misstep could lead to a cracked head. Roko had to practically climb his way up and around trees and boulders, no road to orient himself with. In short time, Roko felt much more fatigued than he had ever been, forced to take a break as he started to struggle with keeping himself awake. But without a proper place to camp, Roko wasn't willing to stop despite how much his body wanted to collapse. But in the corner of his mind, Roko registered something off in the distance. The sound of water.

Revitalized, Roko began to climb up and over the terrain again, sliding down a dangerously steep slope into a small rocky clearing. Taking a short break here for a moment, Roko called upon his analyze spell again to see if he could pinpoint the water he had heard. Instead he found the shape of a large beast in the trees, seconds before it simply strolled out of the leaves. A black muscular feline, looked down at him with murderous eyes as two spiky tendrils whipped about, attached to this leopard like creature's back. Roko recognized it from his brief research and from Treesa's warnings.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Roko growled as he notched an arrow into his bow, "Right off the bat?"

With a smirking, smug grin the displacer beast climbed down towards Roko.