Chapter 36: The End of the Trials?

Unable to produce more drones, the spherical structure was defenseless.

With its energy visually getting depleted, the spherical structure wasn't able to maintain its altitude. Crashing into the ground I arrived on point. The drones all lay there motionless as if none of this had happened earlier…

Knowing all too well that this was the reality I lived in now, I had to end what I had started in the first place. The drones surrounding the spherical object almost revealed a complete circle, my thought was that this too needed to become a whole, which was why I dragged the last of the drones over here. Finally putting it in place. At first, nothing seemed to happen, when suddenly all of them began to glow one after another.

All colors of the spectrum could be seen, when suddenly all of the light got redirected towards the spherical object. Almost as if it absorbed what got directed to it, it too began to emit a bright light… Different from before this light didn't have color… Instead, it filled the entirety of the room with warmth and color… White light filled my sight as slowly the spherical structure opened up.

I wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do, but I felt the warmth calling to me…

Welcoming me even… It wasn't about to judge me or anything else for that matter…

Almost instinctively I felt intrigued by the light, as it pulled me towards it I walked towards the object ever so slightly.

Unaware of what happened around me. The light became more intensified,

so did the shadows. Because one could not exist without the other.

"I have to end these ordeals... never-ending agony and chaos will come to an end, as I now accept myself for who I am! Flaws, shortcomings, my strong points... Everything!"

As I walked inside of the light something felt oddly familiar, I couldn't place the feeling at first when suddenly I thought back to the warm touch of my mother. Acceptance...

I had been searching for this all my life... But now... Had I finally found it?

Certain I accepted all of myself I opened up my arms as to accept the warm feeling, unaware of what would happen next.

The drones melted by the warmth of the light, one by one they turned into a pool of liquid metal. Surrounding the object, the liquid slowly began to enter. As everything came to a close the sphere closed off the way I had entered. I felt a cold liquefied substance rise to my knees, I realized what was happening. Having come to terms with me I decided to let it flow, flow as it entered the sphere… It too began to rise to my shoulders.

Slowly the liquid had filled the entire object. There was only one thing left to do…

Accept the faith that was to come… I snapped out of the euphoric trance that I had found myself in, realizing what was about to happen. I tried to fight it only to find that it was too late… Slowly it began to enter my pores, rising to neck level it was only a matter of time before it would enter my mouth, ears, and nose. With the only way out closed off, there was no way I could fight back. But why was I even fighting? Had I not accepted my flaws and sins? It was no use struggling till my last breath… Who knew what might happen?

A doubt made me think twice about everything that had happened before, why I was fighting, and even why I struggled through all these hardships! The liquid had almost reached the ceiling of the object, fighting for survival I took my final breath before the liquid finally reached out throughout the entirety of the object.

I had received all kinds of epic abilities, powers that I inherited from my heritage deep within the bloodlines. Prowess I couldn't even believe still lay dormant… Thinking about these hardships I couldn't care less about the struggles I was in at the moment…

Because something inside me knew… Something inside told me that it was okay to give in…

I opened my mouth as my last breath escaped my lungs, the liquid rapidly entered without any means of stopping. By now, the liquid had reached my stomach unable to breathe I lost consciousness with my final thoughts spent about my precious times with sunshine, family, and my little princess…

The liquid continued to fill the entirety of me integrating with my body, unconscious through it all I ran after the majestic Shetland Pony from home which I continued to call Sunshine. Cuddling to no end, the moments were a truly eternal blissful feeling.

Although the sudden euphoric, fluffy and blissful experience was pleasant,

I wasn't able to fully shake off the feeling that something was wrong…

A lingering feeling in the back of my head told me this couldn't be the reality I found myself in. At that moment Sunshine began to demand more attention. Stepping on my feet and even reaching for the pockets in my pants.

That was when it hit me, I realized this couldn't be real because Sunshine was the pony I took care of when I was in France… But now I was in an entirely different world from the earth!

As I got lost in the realization of the delusional dream, suddenly little princess Cady appeared out of nowhere, demanding the attention of her own. Unable to tend to the both of them, the little black and white cat became annoyed with me, jumping on top of my shoulder and even bopping my nose and cheeks.

Trying to please her demanding attitude I gently stroke her head, reaching back and to the tip of her tail. She seemed to like it, until out of nowhere she drew her claws and almost scratched my left eye out. At that moment I jumped in pain, only to realize I had awoken from an everlasting slumber.

Where was I? I could see the blue sky, I wasn't inside anymore…

Relieved that it seemed to all be a dream I reached out to every nook and cranny making sure I was okay. No damage could be found, except for the scratch I had dreamed about…

Could it be… That it all had been real?

The dream I had experienced? And what about the trials?!

I looked around hoping to find some sort of clue, realizing the quickest way would be to shout "status".

[LV. 4

HP: 50/300

MP: 90/270

Stamina: 50/190

Experience; 5%

Name: Geo Birchwood

Title: Survivor of Catastrophe

Race: Human

Class: Berserker

STR: 12 (+4)

DEX: 15 (+4)

VIT: 25 (+5)

INT: 10 (+4)

WIS: 09 (+4)

LUK: 25

CHA: 20

Unspent Attribute Points; 10]

Doing so revealed that my stats had indeed increased before awakening to this place.

I was outside… Maybe… Just maybe… Was this outside of the ruins? And the final trial? I have survived?! "Score!"

Closing the window on further inspection revealed a message button on the bottom right corner of my vision. I couldn't believe my eyes… Had this been here before?

Curiosity took the better of me when suddenly my stomach began to growl.

*growl*

"That's right!! I haven't even ever since the trials had started… Food… Food~

Is there any food close by~?"

Looking around I could see it slowly getting dark outside, the sun was setting. But thankfully it was bright enough to look for any means of food, or even a shelter for the elements.

Thinking about the situation made me realize that a village should be close by.

Putting my money on that thought I began searching for signs of life.

Lights, smoke, or noises of any sort should help me find what I was looking for.

After a few hours of mindless scavenging through the forest,

I had not taken into account that the sun had been setting faster than usual.

Suddenly I found myself in the darkness of the night as my eyes still tried to adjust to the situation. Slowly the darkness lifted, all kinds of wildlife could be found, glowing into the night even the plants had become luminescent. Oh had I missed this sight…

And can I tell you, it was a sight to behold?

As almost everything around me began to light up I had an easy time trying to find my way around the forest. Or… That was what I thought before ending up at an unknown place…

The downside was that I truly had no idea where I had ended up, but the upside was that there was a small cottage at the open field in front of me. The cottage revealed light from inside and smoke was even coming out of the chimney. Someone must have been present!

The air leaving the chimney found its way towards me, revealing a pleasant and mouthwatering smell. "Chicken!" I shouted! Deciding to head for the cottage in the middle of the open field a sudden gust of cold air swept me off my feet, making the dimly illuminated cottage seem all the more welcoming.

Within moments I reached the front door and without hesitation knocked against it gently with my fist.

*knock, knock, knock*

A few moments went by, without any reaction whatsoever…

Again I knocked, but this time with more force.

*knock, knock, knock*

"Hmm… Maybe no one is home?"

I asked myself as I turned around not wanting to intrude at a locked home.

Unaware of the door opening with my final attempt of knocks.

Until I heard the door creak.

*creak*