Encounter

The air feels rough. It's as if I'm drowning in a sea of dust.

As I head upwards the mountain, I remembered.

What I remembered was what this mountain was called. "The mountain of blood" also known as the "Rocadies Mountain". Mother once talked to me about this certain mountain, she called it a "Death Zone". I didn't know what a "Death Zone" was at that time so I asked father.

"Father, mother mentioned something called a 'Death Zone' what does this mean?"

"A 'Death Zone' is an area which is restricted or cut off from the world, they tend to have a rather high death rate and almost a 0% survival rate."

"Is the Rocadies Mountain really that dangerous?"

"Well, yes and no, the Rocadies Mountain is a death zone that is very dangerous but..."

"But?"

"Uh, Oh look at the time, it's time for my daily meeting, gotta go!"

Ah, I still remember how father used his meeting as an excuse to run away, I don't even know why he stopped but it seems to be something a child like me shouldn't have known at that time.

The air feels harder to breathe. The deeper I go in the mountains, the harder it's getting to breathe. Is this one of the reasons for it being so dangerous, even for me who is moderately strong, this seems difficult. Their was a thick fog surrounding me, I look back, the way I came from seems barely visible now.

2 hours of walking and still no sign of life. I couldn't even go back now, the path where I walked from was nowhere in sight.

Was this the so called "Illusion" I heard so much about or was it just the mountains terrain?

If I recall...

An Illusion is something that is created by people no matter from how long ago. Illusions make the people stuck in the Illusion confused, it's as if even if you spend years in an illusion, your chances of getting out is close to none without correct judgement and knowledge about illusions.

I was lucky. Lucky enough to get out of the fog and escape the illusion. This illusion was something I had learned from my parents. It was a Tier 2 illusion but for me it was as easy as killing a rat. Even if it was a Tier 3 or Tier 4 illusion, I could easily escape. Unlike most people I had actual training and an ability to escape any illusion I was faced against.

4 hours pass...

I finally found something. It looked like a small cabin, but there's no way monsters could have made these. Hmm, was it a person, someone stuck in this forsaken mountain, or?

I knock on the cabins door.

"Hello? Anyone in there?"

The door opens slowly as if it was one of those scary haunted houses mother had read about. A old man comes out.

"Oi, it seems I won't be lonely for all my life."

"Ah, hello."

"Hello young man, you seem to be lost in the mountain, come in, come in."

I walk inside, the cabin was HUGE. The cabin looked like an old shed from the outside, but when I entered, the inside was as big as a castle from the stories mother read to me.

"Have a seat young man."

The old man seemed kind enough to trust. I sat down on table that had looked like it was mostly worn out from no visitors.

"Um, Could you tell me how to get out of the mountain?"

"Hmm, you want to leave this mountain, young man?"

"Yeah, I have been stuck here for 6 years and this is the first time i ever came further up the mountain. I don't even know how I got in the mountain in the first place."

"Oh, it seems like you had a tough time, these mountain parts aren't a place for a kid to run around in. Your strength is pretty amazing as well for your age!"

What? How could he tell how strong I was from just a look? Is this old man a pro or is he just bluffing.

"Hoho, young man, if you want to leave these mountains you would need to pass a certain test. This test is very dangerous to take at only the level of Tier 2 stage 5 magician. Even if you are at that level and a warrior, it would be pretty difficult and could result in your death."

This old man seems like the real deal...

"So what can I do to pass this test and leave the mountains, old man?"

"Lets see. If you want, I could pass on some of my techniques to you and also train you until you get very strong, strong enough to survive out deep in the mountains and the outside world."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

I would rather take my chances with this nice old man than go out and die a dumb death.

"Alright, thank you, what should I kill you, sir?"

"Call me whatever you want kid."

And so. My hellish training began.