30-Night Journeys

The dusk already settled when Renir woke up from his slumber.

He sat up to look at the night sky, trying to remember what transpired.

The cold bites made him shiver and embrace himself.

But before he could recall anything that happened why he was brought there, the landscapes entered his eyes.

Above the shadows, the evergreen reflected the moonlight. Sea of trees, ranges of mountains, lightless sky, and one bright moon.

No, no matter what he recalled from before, whatever had happened, he shouldn't be in this place...

Renir turned around and around, confused, shock, and most of all, scared!

The wind got colder when fear devoured his whole entirety.

"What..??", the only word he could muster and mutter at such time.

He was in a world he never knew what.

At that time, he was at the peak of a cliff. In front of him and from left to right, was the endless landscapes of mountains, trees, and rivers.

His back was where the cliff's mountain stood immutably.

Scared of the unknown and also of height, Renir backed off from the edges of the cliff and there, he noticed the soft waving light at the entrance of a cave.

He was baffled, is there where he came from? Why? How?

Renir was sure his questions will be left unanswered if he did not explore the cave where the descending stairs from the cliff reside.

Even with a clear objective at his front, Renir couldn't help but stay, leaning on the wall of the mountain while curled up, wanting to cry.

'There is no way this is a dream.', Renir thought immediately.

He wouldn't think of it all like a dream, it was too realistic. Every second he remembered, and every second is almost an eternity to him.

After a series of sobbing and taking deep breaths, he mustered his courage to venture down the stairs.

Each step creates a clacking sound with his leather shoes.

From what he recalled, the bell rang and the usual bullies took him to an abandoned church.

Not that he was weak, but he was naive, easy to be played, and tricked.

There he laid beaten, his nose bleeding and bruises hidden within his clothes, in front of him was the bright moon.

He wished he could fight back. But like everything else, it was more complicated than it seemed.

If he did fight back, there are unjust consequences, the bullies will just come back from revenge, and most of all, he would hurt somebody unnecessarily.

Deep within his naive thoughts, Renir landed on the plain solid ground with his last step while looking at himself to see the bruises were gone.

He was confused but there, he met the exit of the cave, entrance to the deep and dark forest that halted his train of thoughts

But before the exit was a stone tablet. Unrecognizable symbols carved on it.

Renir saw it as a clue and maybe a start to know why he was there and where that may be.

He walked forward and the unrecognizable symbols lit blue.

Without warning, as if literal enlightenment; the light that the symbols glowed brazenly entered Renir's curious eyes.

He was engulfed by this blue light!

It was so sudden, there was no time to close his eyes.

Then words appeared in his head.

[

The celestial being will descend behind the horizon and the night will end. After a moment of time past, it will appear on the other side, the new night begins.

Every night comes with new challenges and you, the Rune User shall overcome these.

But beware of the Lunar Eclipse every fifth night for it brings the most dangerous trial.

For you, the Rune User to survive the nights to come, you shall be granted a new ability, the ability to Adapt.

Rune User, you are now granted the power to withstand. Use it as you will and improve.

Survive the nights in Gantlet.

]

Afterward, Renir stared blankly at the stone tablet...

"Huh? What happened?"

The unrecognizable symbols seemed simple to him. The words that appeared in his head were the words engraved on the stone.

'This is unbelievable!', Renir sweated with his eyes widened in shock.

As if he was paralyzed, he couldn't feel his own body, left alone move it.

The reason was not due to another unknown phenomenon happening to him, but only because of pure shock and terror.

What is worse than being in a dark and unknown vast land alone?

There are many worse things that could happen, but one of them was being warned that there are dangers in that vast land.

It was obviously an omen to Renir.

That stone tablet showed something inapprehensible to an ordinary person, Renir. Why would he not believe that what it said was not true?

What is the harm to believe a warning even if it seemed a hallucination?

This is since Renir himself knew that there was no reason for him to experience this.

He was sure he was not taking illegal drugs, heck, he was the bullied, how could he take drugs?

'And what drug can take you to another place like this?', Renir thought.

He can not recall receiving a blunt trauma to his head, or another kind of trauma from past experience.

"This is definitely a strange phenomenon."

After thinking for himself, Renir, sweating, and frowning, looked outside and saw that the moon was visibly moving.

He was yet again petrified.

What scared him was that the moon was already halfway done and is descending.

"Celestial being?", Renir glanced back at the stone tablet.

Maybe intuition or logic, but Renir was sure that the celestial being the stone tablet was talking about was definitely the moon.

After it descends, the night will end. Then when it appears again, the night alongside it a challenge will begin.

Renir gritted his teeth.

'Surviving was already hard to think of and there are already challenges after the first night?', he complained inside his head.

Time was limited and Renir began to think immediately.

The first goal was to survive.

What is needed to survive?

Renir's brain was pulsating with pain as he struggled to solve the puzzle that was unintentionally given to him.

Renir lived in a modern time, and living alone in the forest was not his priority to learn. He had no single idea how to survive in the wildlife, let alone with the mysterious challenges to come.

But he has hints and clues. It is common sense what are the needs of human:

Water, food, shelter, and maybe a fire. The cold night winds were becoming unbearable to him and according to the stone tablets, there are only nights as no days were said to come.

It was unbelievable to think that the sun would not rise but Renir was already convinced.

He was already persuaded by the strange phenomenon done to him by the stone tablet. No logic could explain that.

Maybe even the mystery of his bruises disappearing was the same as the mystery of this stone tablet.

But, still, he wished that it was a lie and the sun will rise.

His sanity was slowly stopped from declining when he thought his shelter was already provided- the cave.

And from where he came through, the stairs from the cliff, there were torches to light the way.

"Torches?"

Renir had his eyes widened as he kicked the ground and leaped to sprint towards the stairs and see the torches.

It was like in his thoughts, the torches were new and seemed it was lightened not too long ago.

He had not seen a torch before or what kind of wood it uses but looking at its size, it was definitely new.

How could he not notice this earlier?

But when thinking back, it was reasonable. He was deep in his thoughts and had a clouded mind filled with fear.

Then with realization, he stood blankly once more.

"Actually, why am I able to think clearly, or more, now?"

From what he can recollect...

Yes!

The power to Adapt written on the tablet.

Although he does not understand; Adaptation is already a natural course, but it was given to him as if he had none in the first place.

Renir shook his head.

"No, this is not the time to think of that. Whatever it is, I am thankful if it is truly helpful."

Renir was unknowingly deceiving himself.

In truth, the fear was still there but the fear of not surviving was greater so he was left to think rationally.

Naturally, what not surviving meant was death.

He tried not to think of this. He knew he will come to that dark fate if he fell into self-pity and curl up then do nothing...

Back to the torches.

Renir thought about it. Even if it is not a new torch, it will not change the fact that it is manmade.

Are there people here before him? Will they come back later?

There are more questions stuck in his head about these people, but it is already better that there are others so he will not overthink about it, yet.

Renir had his mind more composed with this thought.

"Now,", his eyes became fierce, "what to do?"

His stomach grumbled right after he mumbled those words.

And that gave him his first goal.

Until the first night ends and the challenge will come, he needed to find a reliable source of food and water.

Renir stepped down the stairs and saw the exit.

"So I have to explore that creepy forest?", Renir had his expression clenched.

But what can he do about it? It is better than nothing to eat and drink.

After mustering determination and courage, Renir decided to step out of the cave.

He glanced back and there, he thought, 'Maybe I should improvise and cover this entrance.', he felt he needed to do so.

Renir stared at the forest and made his first step to it. Hesitation and fear were slowing him down to stop, yet, he made another step and continued...

This is my first night at this unrealistic situation I was put into.

This surreal world never stopped to scare me.

... I want to cry...

I don't know what will happen to me or what does the incoming challenges will bring me through.

But... I hope to survive this. I still have a life back on Earth, or should I worry more here? The answer is obvious.

.....

Renir had a terrified face when he entered the dark woodland.

The unknown awaits him.