The Trials

Jun quickly brought the plate close to his face, and an unfamiliar aroma filled his nostrils, awakening his taste buds.

He couldn't discern what type of food was in front of him, but he knew it was a mix of leftovers, probably something ground up from scraps. However, he was sure it would taste better than the moss he had been scraping up until now, and more importantly, it was nutritious.

The mere proximity of the food made his mouth water, but Jun didn't let hunger take over and controlled his instincts.

He remembered that this food came from the man who had imprisoned him in that dark and damp place.

He couldn't clearly distinguish the ingredients, and if there was poison in the food, he knew it could be the end of him. But, unlike when moss was his only option for sustenance, now he had the choice of what to eat.

He could set the plate aside and continue surviving on moss, water, and willpower.

Despite this, the saliva at the corners of his mouth wouldn't stop, and Jun knew he needed more information before making a decision.

At first, he realized this was a test for survival; it didn't take him long to learn that. Since he wasn't in a modern society, he knew this wasn't the challenge of a bored man with power.

So, after thinking for a long time, what was the real reason for this? Obviously, it was a test.

Jun was in a trial; he had to survive this test to move on to the next stage.

In an age where battles were fought with swords and bows, the only way to create strong men, also known as assassins, was to train them in the harshest ways possible to maximize their abilities.

If he was in a trial, everything in this place was designed to test his capabilities or kill him if he wasn't smart enough.

In the absolute darkness that surrounded him, where not a single ray of light penetrated, his only reliable tools were his sense of smell, hearing, touch, and patience.

Jun took a deep breath, almost pressing his nose to the plate, and distinguished multiple mixed scents. Some were nauseating, similar to medicine, while others retained a trace of freshness.

Before being imprisoned, Jun wouldn't have been able to separate the scents he perceived, but now, with his sharpened sense of smell, he was able to identify the components of the food one by one.

One of the smells was of rotten fish, another of mint leaves. He could also recognize the scent of pork and remnants of some medicinal material.

The variety of smells led him to an inevitable conclusion: There were people consuming different types of food in that place.

And if those leftovers didn't contain poison, then they were scraps left by others and used to feed him, a valuable source of information for him that confirmed they were being tested, he and others, by dangerous people.

Jun knew he wasn't alone in that underground prison.

It was illogical to think that all that effort had been designed just for him.

There had to be more people, and each of those meals he identified told him there were people with different food preferences, or simply that many dishes were consumed there, as he was accustomed to with Western food.

The number of people, both those watching over him and those in a situation similar to his, had to be considerable.

But was he really being tested to become a warrior?

The history of China is a great history of wars between dynasties before the unification of all its power, which made it clear to him that whoever was hosting this trial needed strong warriors.

Trash was discarded, the weak forgotten, and fools left to their fate.

This training method was developed to play with the minds of the participants. It wasn't common to be subjected to a test where one's mind was pushed to the limit, but here it was the opposite; they were being tested to assess their capabilities.

Jun assumed that at some point that iron door would open, and he would discover the truth.

Despite all this, he wasn't angry; he knew that the chances of him surviving in a world like ancient China were illogical.

But if he took advantage of these upcoming trials, if he molded them to his body and focused solely on them, there was nothing in this world he couldn't achieve.

He needed to stay cold and focused, gathering information from every detail he perceived.

It wasn't an easy task, but he was succeeding so far, and being patient was giving him many clues.

...

Day after day, week after week, Jun analyzed the food they gave him and compared the scents, trying to learn more about his situation and that of the other captives.

Time passed, turning into months locked in this place, and Jun, though deprived of human contact, clung to his sanity with all his strength as he began to engage in more physical exercise.

He trained his breathing, needing to hold out as long as possible to be ready if a water test was involved.

He walked ceaselessly in the confined space, at first almost without strength, but little by little, his body surprisingly began to develop muscles.

As he grew stronger, he also constantly adapted to the darkness.

His eyes began to pick up faint shapes, allowing him to see the bare walls and the insects that gathered around his excrement.

Then, one day, while he was walking, a scorpion bit his hand.

The venom spread quickly through his body, bringing him to a state of agony he thought would kill him.

For three days, he endured unimaginable pain; the fever was killing him, and the only way to relieve it a little was by placing moss all over his body.

The only way he could resist was by eating that food they threw at him; that was the way to survive. Maybe that food contained medicine that nourished him more than regular food; the truth didn't matter to him; he just focused on recovering.

It was so painful to be alone that Jun slowly developed defenses in his mind that made him stronger in this environment.

It wouldn't be a surprise if he went mad if he managed to survive.

"I am Jun; I am nine years old; I am alone in this world, and I have to survive." If this was a test, then he would pass it, no matter how many inner demons he had to defeat.