Enter the Trial

"Welcome everyone to the Trial Of The Gods!" Waving his hands an old man with a white beard and odd clothes slammed a wooden staff onto the stage in front of us. Fireworks went off as we all stopped talking and looked up in awe.

"I'm sure all of you here are aware of why we are here, but I will have to ask you to listen closely once again to ensure there are no troubles" The old man looked at us with his wide and suprisingly energetic eyes.

"As you are all aware, you will be entering the trials in a few minutes and depending on your performance, the trial will allow you to accept a gift from a patron god as well as give you the chance to plunder the various artefacts. Of course the better you do the better your rewards. As you enter the door you will be teleported elsewhere and be given a test to measure your abilities. The test is different every year, but the test is the sane for everyone.

Remember, this a merely a test, fail and you will not be able to reach the eyes of the gods. Don't even talk about recieving their blessing.

After the test each person will progress to a different area. What you will face? I am unsure. Some might fight a group of monsters, others might compete in a maze. You might find yourself in a team or alone. I can only wish you luck here.

You do not have to fear what you face, for death is meaningless to the merciful gods. Therefore, do what you can and try what you must. The only danger is to your mind, not your body.

Remember, only those who are 10-16 years old may enter the trial. Only death awaits those who are older, and trauma awaits those who are younger.

Now then, everyone should line up at the tables to your left. We will hand you your watch and send you on your way.

May the Gods look upon you in favour."

The old man clapped his hands together around the wooden staff and the space around him warped. In the blink of an eye he dissappeard followed by everyones gasp.

"The princaple sure does enjoy showing off, right Will?" my friend Jeremy, walked quickly to keep up with me.

"Well, they have to keep the theatrics up for the media," I pointed towards a camera in the distance. "It's a cool finish too."

We stopped walking with the people in front of us. Forming a single file line.

"Glad we got here early, I would hate to wait in line for the watches." Jeremy turned around to look at the different lines. A few thousand people of various ages present.

While anyone can enter the trial at 10, most people don't due to the fact that you only get three tries. Therefore, most people wait until they're 13 to take the trial to maximize training, knowledge, and growth.

"Next!" calling us forward the person behind the table passed us a piece of paper.

"Read this and sign when you're ready." We wrote down our basic information like name and address, and Tradied the paper back for a watch. We were then sent into a large semi circula room with plenty of seating arranged around an open space in front of an large, open door filled with complex but beutiful designs.

"Quick, quick, turn on your watch and show me your stats." Jeremy ignored the twists amd turns on the door and quickly found a seat to fiddle with his watch.

"Ouch" The watch pricked out wrists when we turned it on.

[Welcome Will. I am the Status Analysis Measurer, you can call me SAM. Please give me a moment to record your body information.]

[Thank you, how would you like your status to be displayed?]

"Numerically please" I replied to Sam, an eager smile on my face.

[Here is your status:

Name: William

Race: Human

Blessing: (None)

Ability: (None)

Mana: 2

Vitality: 2

Agility: 2

Strength: 1.5

Intelligece 1.5

Techniques: Basic Mana Circulation, Basic Body Training]

"Sam, why is there only my Mana Circulation and Body Training techniques shown?"

[While you may have other techniques, I am unable to display them without prior data. The Mana Circulation and Body Training are physically present in your body.

By analyzing your blood I can determine only these two as they are the only two that have internal effects. As opposed to something like swordsmanship, which would be displayed externally.

If you use it while wearing SAM however, I will be able to display the technique as long as you have enough profficiency.]

"Quick, quick, stop talking to Sam and show me your stats." Jeremy waved his hand in front of me and then displayed his watch.

[Here are your stats:

Name: Jeremy

Race: Human

Blessing: (None)

Abilities: (None)

Mana: 2.2

Vitality: 1.5

Agility: 1.5

Strength: 1.2

Intelligence: 1

Techniques: Basic Mana Circulation, Basic Body Training]

"What! How are your stats higher then mine when we use the same techniques!" A shocked expression on his face.

[Techniques have various affects on different people due to many factors, in this case your bmi is different then Will's, causing the effects to strengthen different areas. For example, your mana pathways are shorter so you are able to complete more rotations.]

"What Sam's trying to say is that you're short." I laughed at him as Sam finished talking.

"This...This isn't fai-"

"Numbers 45-60, please make your way to the door."

[It is your turn to go up. You are number 47.] Sam flashed with a large number 47 on my watch while Jeremy's showed number 48.

"Let's go!" I started walking as Jeremy was still protesting to Sam.

Lining up side-by-side all 15 of us stood in front of the door and waited excitedly. I looked around at the other members. Beside Jeremy and I, there were 6 girls and 7 boys. The youngest person in our group looked to be about 13 too. She had long brown hair, and was wearing a long blue robe with a staff that had a twist on its end. I couldn't see her face but from her stomping on the ground she seemed upset by something.

She was talking to a person next to her who looked to be about 15. He had a dagger on his waist and wore leather armour. His hair was also brown and was cut fairly short revealing his amused face that was looking at the girl.

The girl paused before turning around and glaring at me. Her grey eyes narrowed, with her small mouth in a frown. The boy noticed this and waved with an apologetic expression.

Before I could look closely at the others a staff member walked out and restated the explanation. After comfirming we didn't have any questions he proceeded to walk away.

"You are free to enter the trial in 10 seconds. 9 seconds. 8. 7...2. 1. Enter!"

Two people ran towards the door while the rest of us walked. This wasn't a competition so there was no point in running. Still, I could understand how excited they were because I had to stop myself from running too.

I took the bow off my back as Jeremy removed his sword from his sheath and we approached the door. Taking one last glace at the girl and boy we dissappeared as we crossed the door.