Another two days later, and after making sure they had everything they could need, Viktor and Elga headed toward their next destination: Arbreris's trunk. They knew what the incoming Épreuve would be, the information wasn't guarded but it didn't make it any easier. The Épreuve of Résilience was one of the deadlier out of every path.
At the moment, they were at the branch city of Oscarnis. To reach the trunk usually wouldn't take a while, thanks to teleportation technology but things wouldn't be so easy for the duo. There were written rules established by the Dix Dieux, and anyone partaking in the Épreuves had to follow them. One of the rules of the Épreuve of Résilience was that any participant had to take a specific road to reach the trunk.
The route in question was particularly dangerous, needless to say there were Ruinbringers of many different grades, but that was the last of the participants' worries. There was a unique phenomenon in the Neo-Arkos universe known as Calamitous Storms. There were tempest of massive scales where the rules of reality basically stop applying to a certain degree, anything could happen inside one, literally anything.
Many didn't come out of one alive and barely any bodies were found after the storm dissolved. Teleportation allowed one to get close but never through, and that was how Elga and Viktor were going to continue their journey.
The duo walked toward Oscarnis's edge, they walked into a grand building of black stone. At the back was a colossal light blue portal, that was the duo's entrance but they couldn't just waltz in as the portal also brought to other places across Arbreris. They had to find a special clerk, they were always one responsible for Épreuves.
"So crowded..." Viktor grunted as he squeezed his massive body through the crowd.
"Tough luck, big guy." Elga remarked teasingly, weaving through the crowd. "There's a lot more civilians than I thought though..."
"Well obviously... There can't only be Trainee Chaoswalkers around here..." Viktor pointed out, struggling to squeeze through.
"Duh, I know that!" Elga rolled her eyes. She wasn't making allusions to that specifically but before she could elaborate, they arrived at an empty counter. There was no one around, neither clerk nor civilians. But there was a bell, so Elga did the most sensible thing and pressed the hell out of it. Obviously, that attracted some attention.
"Damn, calm down!" Viktor grabbed her wrist.
A grey figure rose from behind the counter, its face lighting up as he looked at the duo. He had Néo-humain features but he clearly wasn't, judging by his face that glowed like a screen. It was a Mecan, a race of purely mechanical beings. "Hello, how may I help you?" He greeted while bowing.
"Me and my partner here are partaking in the Épreuve of Résilience." Elga said, pulling Viktor close. The clerk nodded as he brought out a small statuette of a man standing firm, planets gravitating around his form.
"Please, put one hand on this statuette and pour a sliver of your Résilience Souline energy."
Viktor and Elga looked at each other, and before the dark-skinned boy could utter a word... "You go first." Elga forcibly placed his hand on the statuette.
Viktor didn't object as he let a bit of his brown energy out of his palm. The statuette shone briefly before imprinting something into the dark-skinned boy's palm. "What is that?" Viktor asked, confused by the number 87 in his palm.
"It indicates that you're still eligible to enter the sacred land." The clerk replied.
"Never heard of that," Elga said, she was going the process as well. "Is this a new thing?"
"It is because Seigneur Kupraca keep this part hidden. Since most of the information is available to the public, His Greatness added this extra step. Be aware that other people can snatch, so be sure to keep it hidden at all times."
This bit of information wasn't reassuring to hear for the duo, they not only had to keep their guard up against Ruinbringers, which was going to be a headache with the storm but now they had to look out for other people. This wasn't just a senseless addition to spice things up, this was a warning. A cultivator's path will be stained with blood from both Ruinbringers and their kin. If one cannot accept that, then cultivation was never their path.
The clerk then directed the duo to the portal, "Good luck out there." He said as they vanished in the blue light.