Through the fierce and dense walls of cold wind. Cale pushed through, tears freezing on his face.
'Finally.'
He smiled, a liberating feeling filling his empty innards as he continued to force himself through. Listening to the chatters of an old radio box.
—Just keep going in this direction youngling! There is shelter and a severely injured student of Gardenia in this direction! Follow the blood trail!
He...Wasn't clueless like before!
Any question was answered by the chatter box, giving away amazing answers like they were candy.
'Ah...Is this what those regressors feel each time?'
The feeling of knowing something you couldn't possibly have known at all...Was addictive to say the least.
His steps crunched lightly on the snow, his body fortifying itself further under the extreme cold it was subjected to. Coattails fluttered wildly in the opposite direction of where Cale stepped towards.
"Haa...Haa..."
Steamy white breaths left his cold, discolored lips. Mixed with faint laughter.
Eventually, Cale took a small break. Leaning against a tall but otherwise safe tree.
'This Chatter Box...Is so useful!'
Not only could it detect any life coming from 15 km in every direction, but it was also absurdly knowledgeable about everything.
One such example were the Storiems.
Cale had no idea about them aside from what that demon told him.
But the chatter box answered all!
'They were scenarios in history that changed the very entirety of the flow of time, scenarios that retold a story and rewarded those interested in them.'
A history lesson in other words.
Apparently, from what the chatter box said. It was said that the 'Goddess of Time' is the medium for these stories. He did say he could be wrong though.
—Remember youngling! Storiems aren't just some washed up, one clear events!
In the raging blizzard, the chatter box laxed its tone, voice booming and slashing through the harsh wind.
—Storiems like the one you just 'cleared' will come back to haunt you when you least expect it!
That's right, that wasn't all there was to Storiems. Storiems, while it seemed clearing them was easy. It wasn't.
"...."
Cale stayed silent, mulling over the words of the Chatter Box.
He did feel as though it wasn't over, that there was more in store for him. It couldn't possibly just end with him just escaping is what he thought.
And right he was. Storiems don't get cleared, in fact they can't be cleared, they attach themselves to those that walk over them, clinging to them until, when they least expect it, drag the unsuspecting victim into yet another dimension.
Of course, if the victim survives they will be rewarded, but each time they survive, the key entity that caused the domino to fall and create the Storiem would have a shackle on them released. Eventually leading to a final showdown between the survivor and the demon wearing human skin.
That was the path Cale was walking towards at the moment.
Now, artificially bringing forth a Storiem was a completely different argument.
—Artificial Storiems were unstable, missing a key entity that should cause the flow of time to change and therefore breaking down the instant the victim survives. Like the trial of baptism that students of Gardenia go through to unlock their insight!
With a heave. Cale rose from his spot, cold melting in his skin. Expression ever unchanging.
In his embrace he kept the chatter box close, hearing it chatter and fill the lonely wind with small warmth.
Each step he took left a print in the bloodied snow.
And each step he took felt like small knives inserting themselves into him.
Cale was still injured after all. That fact didn't change, just like his direction that didn't change. He didn't change his honesty for dishonesty.
Thoughts swirled inside him with each step that seemed to drag their crunches in the snow for longer.
Thoughts of this exam to be precise.
'Killing others gets me points, surviving also gets me points and those points can be used to buy an item.'
'Animals' didn't contribute to this point system.
And that was in fact the essence of this exam, learn to survive in whatever shape, way or form and we reward you.
Simple enough right?
Well....
—Stop.
"....?"
Cale stopped in his tracks.
"....."
His mouth hung slightly ajar, cold air entering into the small crevices.
—Oh dear....
Even the cheerful tone of the chatter box was wiped clean.
—If someone were to have gotten hit by that...Oh the horrific state they must be in!
Cale involuntarily agreed, finding himself nodding along.
In front of Cale was a crater, a wide but small ravine that snaked all the way to the mountains were a wingless dragon still resting.
Cale dropped to the uneven ground, stepping on the torn and worn pebbles, maneuvering through his way to the other side.
Climbing up, his scanned his surroundings, in the far distance, there was a small cave.
"....."
Cale didn't enter, not wanting a repeat of previous struggles.
So he first nudged at the chatter box.
—Huh? Oh the injured student I mentioned is in there. Hiding away like a rat, he was likely the target of that attack from the Asphalt Bow.
Cale mind froze. Not from the chatter box's ability to determine the exact source of the attack, but from something else.
He looked back with an astonished gaze.
'Wait...That crater was all done from a single arrow?'
Cale wasn't stupid to not realize what the Asphalt Bow was, it was inside that merchant's shop after all.
'So there was someone else in there?'
If so, why didn't they kill him when they had the chance?
'Is it because the merchant was there?'
Cale turned to look at the chatter box. Telling him of his thoughts before receiving a swift answer.
—The merchant would kill anyone who would resort to violence in her territory. No one is an exception to that, even Zenox. However, Zenox is someone who respects boundaries more than anyone. This is something everyone would know late November... How come you don't know?
"...."
Drawing in a sharp breath. Cale quivered closer to the cave, hearing the chatters that seemed to warm his insides.
—I wonder youngling...Do you prefer spicy pasta or plain pasta as is?
"...."
Cale stopped, taking a deep and disappointed glance at the chatter box before placing it on the snow layer.
The chatter box didn't fail to comment on Cale's actions.
—Oh! Will you go and talk to that broken mimic?
Already 15 meters away from it, Cale peered inside.
The sight was...Intriguing to say the least?
"....Uh, what the."
"Hic-! Ug!"
Cale, cheeks puffing with words that seemed to want to rush out slowly retreated his head back. Tapping his finger on his temple as a way of protesting against what he saw.
'Maybe I'm just becoming mentally ill, makes sense when you think about it like that right?'
Stealing the cold wind and packaging it inside his lungs, Cale took another swift but meaningful peek inside.
"Hi—hic!"
Inside was a messy mass of distorted and branched out mushrooms and leaves? He wasn't quite sure but it was crying and bawling their eyes out.
The whole floor was drenched in their tears.
Cale caught himself in a truly confusing situation.
"Just what the hell is wrong with him?"
He flung the words in the air for the sake of flinging them out, but it seemed that his small companion took them seriously.
—He's overused his insight it appears.
"...!"
Cale jumped from his spot, falling down to the ground, hairs standing upright from the scare.
*
"My lady..."
From the shadows given by the tall and thick trees, a silhouette addressed Martha.
"Yes?"
Martha, recognizing the familiar voice turned to face his sound.
"I'm not one to tell you what to do...But."
"But?"
Martha urged him to hurry on.
"I can't help but feel that not seducing Tiju Ern into our army was a waste.."
For a moment, the crickets wrote songs.
Until.
"Pft."
Martha chuckled, still wearing her blindfold.
"Was it? I believe that not seducing him actually paid off in the long run."
"...?"
The man, not understanding tilted his head to the side. Letting Martha's words continue further as she crossed her legs on the flat surface of a chopped tree.
"Now I will admit, the ability to turn poison into strength is overpowered, but there are just too many cons that come with it."
She raised a finger. Prompting everyone around her to focus on it.
"One of such cons being... It was a weak and niche ability for Gardenia in general."