Chương 6: Rain and Spear

Anadis watched the carcass of the Hollow-Eyed Crawler decay into the soil, just like any organic matter would, except that with Grulls, the process was hundreds of times faster than with any living creature. It was as if the planet rejected them completely, unable to wait to be rid of such ghastliness for good. There were many theories for this.

One, and the most popular, was that Leywave pulses took their cursed energy, purified it, and returned it to the world as nourishment for plants, rivers, and all living things. He didn't know, and couldn't care. All he knew was that in a couple of hours, the damn thing would become ash to be carried off by the wind or washed away by rain, whichever came first. That's what you deserve for killing her, he thought bitterly as he spat at the corpse.

"Are you going to grab the Grullshard?" Albus asked, peering at the dead creature.

"These Grulls don't drop a Grullshard," Anadis told him confidently.

"Not in the trial."

"I see." A Grullshard was the crystallized essence left behind when a Grull was slain—its remaining life force condensed into a small gem. Yet he had read that during the Blessed Trial, no Grull ever dropped one. That only strengthened the theory that these creatures weren't real at all, but mere replicas created by the gods specifically for the Trial. The entire idea of the gods creating this place and populating it with Grulls—fake or not—for kids like Zoe to fight and die in never sat right with him.

But that was blasphemy. Just voicing such an opinion could get him and his entire family in deep trouble. So, for all those reasons, when a faint glimmer caught his eye near the creature's dissolving remains, he almost dismissed it. Almost.

"Wait a second," Anadis uttered. He crouched down and picked up the small, warm crystal. It glowed with a bruised-purple hue.

"That's… not supposed to be here."

"What?" Albus asked beside him. Anadis turned the shard over in his fingers, then glanced at the rapidly deteriorating carcass as if it might offer an explanation. It didn't. Huh?

"There's a Grullshard…"

"I thought—""I know," Anadis interrupted, lifting the shard for his twin to see.

"Still, here it is."

"It looks real, for all I can tell."

"Should we take it?" he asked, eyeing his twin.

"It's yours. You earned it," the boy replied with his usual honesty.

"I wouldn't say I earned it all on my own." Albus shrugged and turned to walk away, seemingly uninterested in starting what would surely be a no-you-take-it back-and-forth. So, with a small nod, Anadis pocketed it, a hint of greed in the quickness of his movement. With that, they pressed deeper into the forest and walked in a straight line for what felt like miles, or maybe they didn't; it was hard to tell, since everything looked exactly the same.

It felt like an endless loop of bushes, grass, towering trees, and a roaring river beside them. They had come to realize they were trapped on a flat stretch of ground level with the river—the same uphill slope Anadis had fallen from earlier was now unreachable. Climbing it was out of the question. And to make matters worse, they still hadn't found any of the other core bearers. The forest seemed immense, so much so that finding anyone in there felt like an impossible task.

Worry churned in his stomach as he watched the suns slowly dip beneath the horizon. Once night had fully settled, they chose to camp in a small open patch of the forest. They cleared the ground and built a fire with dry leaves and twigs, something Anadis had learned in the Learning Hall's Trial Readiness course. Survival wasn't just about slaying whatever danger presented itself. It was also about knowing how to stay warm, how to find and secure a perimeter, and how to hunt.

The latter, he knew, would have to happen soon, as hunger was making itself known with the many grumbles of his stomach. Albus lay beside him. If his twin wasn't already asleep, he was about to be. After drawing the short straw, Anadis was stuck with first watch.

"Are you thinking about her?" Albus suddenly asked, his voice flat. Okay, not sleeping yet, I see.

"I wasn't, but now I am. Thanks," Anadis muttered sarcastically, rubbing his face.

"No problem," Albus replied honestly.

"That's not—" Anadis grunted.

"Never mind."

"You shouldn't blame yourself. I didn't know her, but I know you, and I'm sure you tried your best to help her," Albus said, then, without waiting for a reply, turned away and went to sleep. Leaving Zoe's body behind somehow felt profoundly wrong. But it wasn't. It was what he ought to have done. Climbing back up the embankment would take hours, and Aelia was still out there, but knowing that didn't make it any easier… he pursed his lips, doubt creeping in.

With a deep inhale and a shake of his head, he shut his eyes and pushed the thought away. Then, to occupy himself, he tried to measure the passing hours in his mind, which proved difficult, but luckily, the Divine voice had him covered. Time remaining: 26 hours, 22 minutes. So about an hour had passed since they decided to stop and rest. That meant they had been walking for nearly four hours straight. No kidding, his calves were burning. This story originates from Royal Road.

Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With a thought and a shimmer of white light, the weak shield appeared on his left arm. A moment later, the Curved Sword materialized in his right hand. After the fight with the Grull, he had discovered he could summon and dismiss them at will. That was how the Curved Sword had miraculously appeared in his hand at the perfect moment, allowing him to sever the frog's head.

It was a truly convenient feature, and he wondered if once he became a full-fledged Blessen, he could still use it or if it was something that only existed in the Trial. Focusing again, the serene voice echoed in his head. Greetings, Core bearer. • Total cohort count: 5 Ledger of objectives: 0 of 2 completed. • Cohort objective: eliminate all Grulls – Progress: 1 of 2 • Personal objective: save a life – Progress: 0 of 1 So nothing has changed yet. That was both a curse and a blessing.

A curse, because it meant they still had to find that Grull and deal with it. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of facing another creature like the Hollow-Eyed Crawler. It was also a blessing, because it meant no one else had died, which in turn meant Aelia was fine—well, not necessarily fine, but alive. Who knew if she was currently fighting the remaining Grull while he and Albus were resting? He wanted to pray to the gods to protect her, but then he recalled that those very gods had trapped them here.

With a drowsy sigh, Anadis glanced up at the starry sky and marveled at its magnificence. Although it was the same sky, it felt somehow otherworldly, unlike anything he'd seen before. Ribbons of nebulae stretched across in streaks of rose and violet. Countless stars shimmered in gold and white amid blue cosmic dust, resembling scattered jewels in the dark night.

"Gods," he whispered, his voice soft and almost reverent. He rested his head on his knees, savoring the moment for as long as he could. After about an hour, he shook Albus awake. The boy stirred groggily, still half-asleep, as Anadis laid his head on a patch of grass and surrendered to sleep. When he awoke, the sky was gray and cloudy, with a light breeze starting to pick up. They had slept a total of four hours each, leaving just over eighteen hours of trial time.

The first thing he did was check the Trial's status. He reached out to the Divine Voice. The answer was the same: nothing had changed. Wherever the rest of the cohort was, they were all still alive, and so was the Grull.

"Anything happen while I was asleep?" he asked his twin, stretching as a yawn slipped out. Albus gave a single shake of his head. Lightning flashed in the distance, leaving a diffuse glow in its wake, followed by a thunderous clap that reverberated through the ground. That reminded him of the strange skill Albus had used against the Grull. A literal lightning in a bottle, Anadis thought. Was that and the elixir the only things the gods had given him?

Surely they were amazing, but for a white core, something not seen in centuries, he would've thought they'd gifted him… he didn't know, something more grandiose?

"Albus," he began.

"The lightning bottle and the Elixir, were those the only things you got? No weapon or anything else?" His white haired twin didn't answer right away, as though weighing something in silence. A few seconds later, orange light shimmered above his open palm; at first it took the shape of a slender rod before it lengthened into a divine spear. Anadis tripped over his own feet and, not bothering to stand, crawled toward it with desperate urgency.

This was no ordinary weapon, certainly nothing like the Weak Shield he'd been given. The thing didn't look as though it had been forged by mortal hands, but rather by a god or at least decreed into existence. The shaft was matted black, wrapped with a gold band, while the head was slender and a deep, luminous purple, etched with intricate gold fretwork. Merely gazing at it felt wrong, let alone touching it.

"Wh-what's its class?" Anadis stammered.

"I don't know." His breath caught, eyes widening.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" he blurted, reaching out, his fingers brushing along the spear's edges.

"The Divine Voice only told me it was a spear, nothing else," his white haired twin said, seemingly oblivious to the fact that if the Voice was withholding its class, then what he held had to be at least exotic. Weapons were divided into six classes. They went from Common, Uncommon, Rare, Exotic, and Legendary, to Divine. However, Divine was more rumor than reality. There were probably fewer than a hundred legendary weapons in existence, not even all of the strongest Blessens alive possessing one.

If what Albus was holding so casually turned out to be one… No, no way. Unless…?

"It didn't tell you about a skill or something?" Anadis asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

"No." Albus shook his head.

"That was why I didn't use it to attack the Grull; I didn't know if it would've been able to pierce it and decided to use the lightning in a bottle skill instead." If Zoe's Curved Sword was able to wound the creature, the spear would've definitely caused even more damage; Anadis had zero doubts about it. Small droplets of rain began to fall.

"It looks like it's going to pour really hard today," Anadis muttered.

"Argh… I don't like water…"

"We should get going," Albus said a couple of seconds later. Anadis grunted. Yeah. They should. Then he staggered to his feet, raising his tunic over his head to prevent the rain from seeping under as he jogged beneath the colossal trees, their broad canopies shielding him and Albus from the worst of it. A low-pitched gurgling noise cut through the ever-rising rain. Anadis glanced at his brother, who was clutching his stomach with one hand.

"Hungry?" Albus gave a small nod.

"I am too," Anadis said as he glanced around the forest.

"We don't exactly have lots of options here."

"I know," said Albus, his eyes half shut against the water. The river up ahead had grown angrier as rain poured into it, so trying to catch anything there would be impossible; also, most rodents or birds would be tucked into underground burrows or tree hollows. And they'd need fire to cook whatever they miraculously managed to catch. Looking up at the stormy grey sky, he thought it looked like it might split at any time now. Sharp droplets of water stung Anadis's face, and more dripped from his curled hair.

He glanced at his brother.

"We should find shelter. The rain—" His words were cut short as the downpour suddenly intensified, turning into a deluge… no, the word deluge didn't capture how intense it was. It was no longer ordinary rain; it felt wrong, unnatural. Then thunder began rumbling from every direction all at once, low and ominous. A blinding bolt struck a tree dead center with a deafening crack so loud it made them cover their ears. Flames erupted even amidst the deluge as the colossal trunk split in half.

It teetered, then crashed down, dragging two more giant trees with it. The impacts shook the ground like an earthquake, the shockwave rippling through their bodies. Suddenly, a deep, heavy shadow loomed over them, and everything went dark. Both of them looked up at the sky, where the clouds had turned black and churning, devouring the light.

"Is the sky falling or something?!"