26: Start of the first trial

"Let's start the test since you are ready. Dunn should've already told you about the contents of the test..."

Fushigiro said with a steady, but magnetic, voice.

Caleb nodded.

They are now close to the river. It was an open space. There are no trees in the surrounding distance of twelve meters.

Caleb took the fresh breeze of air to his lungs, appreciating the clean air once again. After all, he came from the modern world blessed by industrial buildings but also cursed by various pollutions. Dirty water, polluted air. Such a change of scenery was just a gift to a traverser like Caleb.

The rays of the sun hit Caleb's face. He looked at the members of the hunting party and said:

"I'm ready."

Just like that, the members watched as Caleb's shoulder pressed a boulder that overshadowed his size.

"It seems Dunn wasn't saying nonsense. This guy is strong for his age. We might have a genius here in terms of physical strength." Athena muttered.

"Damn... When I was his age, I couldn't even lift my body weight."

"I wonder how this kid trains. He has a slender physique, but his muscles can do wonders."

"Look at those lean muscles. That's what they call sleeper build!"

Dunn's smile became bigger as he saw the surprised expressions of other members.

In the next few minutes, Caleb lifted heavy objects, one after another. Even with his current strength, he still felt some soreness in random parts of his body. After those tests, Caleb saw that the way the members looked at him was that of pure astonishment.

With his stature and his age, who would believe that he was hiding such a powerful force?

The next thing Caleb knew, he managed to finish all the body weight exercises from push-ups, pull-ups, squats, etc... With an insane amount of repetitions.

"This kid is a monster," Miles spoke with a numb expression on his face. By now, everyone began to accept that a seventeen-year-old managed to pass the test they'd struggled against when they passed it as an adult.

Jin, who always had a faint smile on his face, spoke at this time.

"Don't call him kid anymore. I'm sure he would become one of us now. With his physical ability, as long as he doesn't choose a captain. He has a higher chance of landing a hit on us in the third trial. What is his name again? Johan. Then call him by his name."

"..."

Dunn, Rina, Miles, Athena, and even the bald-caped guy looked at Jin speechlessly. They didn't expect that Jin, the vice-captain who doesn't think highly of anyone except for their captain, would have such an evaluation of Johan.

Athena smirked.

"Johan, is it? Then let's call him Johan! He earned this at least."

If Calen heard their conversation, he would surely protest and say. Caleb! His name is damn Caleb!

...

The next thing Caleb found himself to was standing at the edge of the cliff with the bald-caped man behind him. He couldn't help but shudder due to the cold air that touched his skin. He felt as if he was thrown into an ice cellar shirtless.

"Had it been always this cold here?" Caleb looked at the guy behind who had his usual dead-fish eyes and expressionless, unreadable, bored face. He even wants to ask why there's not a single strand of hair on his head, but he knows that it would be a rude question.

The bald-caped man in question tilted his head at Caleb comically. When the guy saw Caleb nod. The bald guy gave an answer with a voice devoid of tone. "Yes."

Caleb blinked three times. 'Yes? That's it?'

He was expecting a slightly informative answer, at least, not just 'yes'. Caleb coughed in embarrassment. 'It seems we have a quiet guy here.'

Without a proper person to talk to. Caleb turned his attention again to what was in front of him. Around them, the atmosphere was enveloped with white mist. And weirdly, the sunlight couldn't penetrate the edge of the cliff. Then, there's also a sea of trees behind them. Brown leaves, shuriken-shaped leaves, rough dark woods. The trees were the type that Caleb found creepy and unfamiliar.

To climb the cliff, you have to get past the forest behind them. It just looks eerie, but there's no actual danger. No snakes or wild animals could be found. However, it is easy to get lost if you're not familiar with the forest. That's why the bald-caped guy whose name he still didn't know had escorted him.

Caleb glanced below the cliff, only to see the six members of the hunting party. He couldn't really see their face in detail at such a distance but he vaguely perceived that Athena was waving at him.

'Now, the question is to jump or not to jump?'

Of course, it was an easy answer. Caleb had experienced various ways of death. One of them was falling to death from a nine-story building, landing first with his head. He didn't even feel pain due to how instant he died. It's a scary, but not painful way of death.

'If I die, there's no big deal here. At most, I'll just reincarnate again.' Caleb tried to gather courage by convincing himself. With a last look at the boring guy behind him, Caleb jumped. "Hey, dude. I'm off"

Just like that, Caleb felt the rush of air on his face. He subconsciously closed his eyes due to air resistance. There's no fear in his face, but only a hint of excitement. 'How exhilarating!'

...

"Didn't expect this guy to be this brave. He jumped without anyone forcing him. And we didn't even need to wait for him to make up his mind. He has a guts, I like it." Dunn laughed heartily.

Miles sighed.

"Can't you see the smirk on his face in mid-air? He's a damned daredevil!!"

Jin smiled and looked at their captain. He took a wooden fan from the sleeves of his black robe and turned his head at Fushigiro.

"Captain, why did you let Tamasai accompany Johan to the cliff instead of Dunn? Tamasai is a weird guy. We are obviously fighting side by side with each other, experiencing life and death for years now, but he still doesn't talk to us much or take us seriously."

Hearing this, Athena scoffed.

"Let the guy be... Obviously, he doesn't like talking to people. Plus that bald guy, we don't even know his true purpose and the extent of his strength."

"I have my own considerations," Fushigiro responded with his usual sunny smile.