The First Test

When Nero had awoke, he found himself in a different setting, around him was a chamber of old and hard looking stone, each with a few plants growing through their cracks. He smelled another type of scent, a smell he was all too familiar with in some regions of the Gutter Zone.

'It smells like death here...' Nero thought to himself as he looked around with a frown, but though the foul odor was immense, it didn't seem to do more than slightly disturbed him.

"Hmm, what do I do now?" Nero spoke to himself as he stared around, noticing that other than an endless passage of darkness, only within his chamber was a few wall-mounted candles that burned in spooky green lights.

"..." Adult Nero remained silent as this was Nero's test, he should face it by himself and learn the ways of these kinds of trials.

'Tsk! Fine, be like that, I can solve it on my own...' Nero cursed inwardly, as he began to observe more carefully. Looking on the stone-paved ground, one would notice a few bones from unusual creatures and a few sticks wrapped by what seemed like flammable material on one end.

A dreary silence filled the area, leaving only the sounds from the burning candles that sent a wave of gloominess to all souls. Nevertheless, Nero didn't mind this as he paused for a moment to think, 'There are no instructions as to what I should be doing, so it's highly likely that this phase is a part of the trial itself. I'll just grab a torch and make my way through...'

Not wasting any time, Nero grabbed a torch and lit it from one of the mounted candles, causing its end to ignite in a green flame. He cautiously made his way through the dark hallway, traveling towards the unknown with a brave heart, the small radius of light slowly pushing away the dark as it revealed some sections ahead.

After walking for a while, Nero soon noticed another light source ahead, he smiled and spoke, "Finally, it's about time I got to the end,"

Following his words, Nero picked up his pace, arriving at that sector in less than a minute. Currently, the light from his torch was overwhelmed by the newfound red light that illuminated both Nero and the surrounding dozen or so meters.

Nero looked and saw that this area was nothing more than a slightly large circular chamber, with the only difference being its statue that shone with bright lights at its center. It was a statue of a reaper, his robe obscured his face, but his skeleton arms, which had an exquisitely detailed scythe were showed from its well-carved sleeves.

Nero stared at this with a frown as he thought, 'Che! To think it was nothing more than a dead-end, what do I do now?'

As if the statue heard his thoughts, two circular red lights shone from underneath its hood, Nero sensing this change stepped back in alarm as he exclaimed, "Darn! I really hope this thing won't be some monster to defeat!"

However, though he said this, Nero still assumed a battle stance, calling out his Crimson Iron Sword. Moments after, the walls shook as three different pathways had appeared on the walls behind the statue.

Before Nero could even react in surprise, a voice soon sounded in Nero's head along with a series of information that appeared before his eyes.

____

[Commencing First Test!]

[You have 1 minute to choose the correct path of the doors behind you, otherwise, you shall be transferred from this Trial Zone.]

[Human Novice, listen to the riddle, and choose wisely!]

[The truth lies beyond salvation, but courage is the way to victory.]

____

Nero frowned as he saw this, he placed the sword away while thinking to himself, 'A riddle? Is this old grave keeper playing a game... tch! I guess it can't be helped; let's take a look at these doors.'

As Nero thought, he hurriedly shifted his eyes from the statue, noticing the three doors. One of them had a dense blood aura, as just by looking at it, he saw illusions of a skull and wandering souls.

The second door had a feeling of calmness as if nothing was behind it, it was as if it would lead one to an internal world of emptiness. Lastly, the final door was even more unique; it had a holy and divine aura as if it could lead one to the heavens.

After inspecting the doors, Nero's eyes took on a strange look as he recited the riddle, "The truth... lies beyond salvation, but courage is the way to victory. Hmm, such an interesting choice of words… could it be…?"

When Nero thought here, his eyes flickered as he stared at the doors carefully, his mouth curved into a smile when he thought to himself, 'Heh, you underestimate me old man...'

Following this, Nero took a step forward with a confident expression, heading towards one of the doors. However, while Nero did this in another room, Frazel was currently looking at the three doors before him with a panicked expression.

"Darn! What the hell kind of riddle is this? How do I choose?" Frazel said while feeling anxious, his expression one of a struggle.

He looked nearby the statute and saw that an hourglass was quickly running out of sand, as he now had roughly 30 seconds left.

"I won't lose to some human brat!" Frazel said as he closed his eyes and ran towards a random door, not even bothering to think about the consequences.

Both Nero and Frazel make their own choices, but unaware to either of them, within the Birgime Graveyard, the old grave keeper sat calmly on his crate with a peculiar smile on his face if he was enjoying something.

"Hoho... well now, such interesting choices, one found out by luck and the other with intelligence. Still, I wonder, what will they do in the second test?" The old grave keeper said in an odd tone, his squinted eyes glowing a dim green light as he slightly opened them.

The air here still carrying a dark spooky vibe, as it once more shifted towards the unknown chamber were both Nero and Frazel were still undergoing his tests.

***

Nero had taken the door with blood-red auras, his face filled with confidence as he stepped through it without a strand of hesitation.

Having warped and arrived at a new location in moments, Nero felt proud as he thought, 'I knew, it could only be inferring that the true path was the path that required courage, how could the others even make sense?'

Though Nero felt proud of his success, he didn't forget to inspect his new surroundings. He soon noticed that he was in a broad room, one in which a myriad of reaper statues was arranged uniquely.

A giant statue with a crown rested at its center as it glowed in bright lights, one that carried a dangerous presence causing Nero to frown as he sighed while thinking to himself, "It seems that this might take a bit longer than I'd anticipated..."

The scene here soon after undergoing a drastic change as every statue glowed with brilliant lights, beckoning the start of a more ominous and troublesome test.