Under a sky almost swallowed by gray clouds, the dark green forest stretched out in silence. Its trees with transparent parts swayed slowly, while the scent of damp wood and wet, dark earth overpowered all other smells.
A cold wind whipped the leaves harshly, composing nature's own symphony.
The young men had moved far from the tribe's location, all heading in one direction at the maximum speed their bodies allowed. They ignored the cold wind, the old, dilapidated trees lying on the ground as natural obstacles, and the damp soil that was almost turning slippery. They leaped, slid, clung to intact and fallen trees, and to large rocks, as if they already knew every obstacle they would face.
And it wasn't an illusion; they had honed their skills in this very place, deep within the forest itself. The hunters had designated hunting areas around the village and set clear boundaries so no one would stray too far.
Those areas weren't very large or numerous, but they were sufficient to train the youth, until they became almost certain of what might cross their path.
The young men finally reached their destination: the Diamond River. There, the cold wind was stronger, while the scent of wood and earth was faint, and the sounds of rushing water blended with the swaying trees.
Despite running a long distance full of obstacles and difficulties to reach the river, they didn't stop to rest or catch their breath. Instead, they all ran toward the trees with large green leaves striped in blue.
There were indeed seven trees, but the young men were pushing and shoving violently, colliding with each other to get enough leaves. Some fell and were trampled, others fought among themselves for the best leaves, while one person didn't join the scramble with the rest of the young hunters, watching from a short distance away.
Soli watched them with half-open eyes, dark circles prominent beneath them against his snowy skin from lack of sleep. He observed them closely before turning and leaving the place, heading upstream along the river, leaving the scrambling youths behind him.
As Soli walked on the diamond stones along the riverbank, he glanced at the trees beside him, watching to avoid being ambushed by any creature.
Soli thought:
"Only now have they become savages... Before I met the tribe, I thought they were savages like cannibals, but it turns out I was wrong... After meeting them, I found them too intelligent to be savages. Moreover, they welcomed a stranger like me—different in appearance and knowledge—without any difficulties, which was very strange. Was it because Gray was with me at the time, or what?"
***
It didn't take long for Soli to finally reach his intended destination: a tree with poisonous fruits and striped leaves, standing alone. No similar trees were near it; it was well-hidden among the other different trees.
"Found you..."
Soli climbed the tree with difficulty, as the branches swayed as if about to break from the wind. He cut some leaves, wrapped them together, and placed them in his small bag.
"Good thing I searched for you earlier... After learning about the tree leaves' benefits and their ability to hide from the Night Folk, I knew they'd be the most sought-after resource for hunting and the trial, and that the beginners would fight over them."
Soli had used his hunting training periods with the cold hunter to secretly search the area for things that might help him. He remembered a particular tree he'd had an unpleasant experience with, so he secretly used the training periods to look for it.
After finishing cutting the leaves, Soli climbed down from the tree and immediately headed into the heart of the woods, hiding from the wind behind the largest trees he could find.
He took off his long, decorated cloak, took out the leaves he had just picked, and began attaching them all over the cloak. It was somewhat easy, as the artisans, when making clothes, included small threads arranged in evenly spaced loops for hunters to tie leaves onto.
Soli's fingers trembled violently, frozen until they turned blood-red, even though he was tying small, soft fur cords. His fingers stung as if holding broken glass under the deadly cold sting, which was why it took Soli a long time to finish attaching all the leaves.
Once done, Soli put his cloak back on and sat hunched over a bit in front of the large trees that offered slight protection from the cold wind—only slight—and kept thinking.
"I need to assess my situation before doing anything... First, I have seven full days until the trial ends. I have enough time, so no need to rush. I must take it slow and plan well... Second, the predators or beasts—the scaled ones—will be fewer in number. And at night,or when clouds cover the sky, the Night Folk emerge, which I need to be careful about."
Soli drew a circle on the ground with thin sticks he found nearby.
"As long as I don't cross the boundaries set by the hunters, I know very well the creatures I'll encounter... Now, resources: for water, I have the river behind me. For food, I'll rely on the purple ground fruit, and with my ability to endure hunger, I can last the entire seven days. That takes care of food and water. Now, shelter..."
Soli picked up the thin sticks again.
"I don't sleep at night. That would have been good to exploit, but because of the Night Folk, the opportunity is lost, so I won't be able to move at night. Therefore, I need to find places to rest and hide at night while searching during the day. So..."
Soli drew a small circle inside the large circle, then drew an 'X' next to the small circle.
"I have the hollow tree here—Gray's hideout. I'll use it when searching for prey in the area around the tree, securing a hiding place here..."
Soli placed the edge of the sticks inside the large circle beside the small circle, on a side without an 'X', and drew a small half-circle inside a slightly larger half-circle.
"And in this area, I can hide inside the cave near the hollow tree area, securing another hiding place here. That leaves this side... After a long search, I didn't find a hiding place on this side, so here I'll rely on burying myself underground or hiding among bushes..."
Soli placed his cold, trembling hand over his mouth, from which warm breath hit his hand. He kept looking at the circular drawing and the shapes inside, then thought:
"I'll start with the areas without hiding places first, because they'll be the most exhausting to move in, dig, and make temporary shelters, requiring a lot of energy. Second will be the hollow tree area, as it'll be good for taking cover and resting a bit after the exhausting digging phase. Third and finally will be the cave area, where I can finally light a fire, because light and heat will attract the Night Folk."
Soli stood up and headed toward the intended area. Fortunately, he didn't need to go far to reach the first area, as the place where the trial started was on the same side.
He moved at a moderate pace, not wanting to exhaust himself too much on the first day, so he relied on a speed that allowed him to move and cover a large search area while not being too strenuous.
As he passed, he scratched an 'X' symbol on trees, and next to the right side of the symbol, he drew a small line, until he reached a place that seemed slightly promising. He examined the place before the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
He carved a large 'V' symbol on the trees around the area he had examined and placed a line next to the right side of the symbol before continuing on his way. Time passed as he examined the area around him, scratching symbols on trees—sometimes an 'X', other times a 'V'. Time passed quickly before Soli noticed the sky.
"It's starting to get dark... I need to prepare a hiding place."
Soli used one of his daggers to dig a hole. When finished, he went to cut bushes and gathered them near the hole. He took off his cloak, placed it beside the hole, then lay down inside.
As soon as his back touched the bottom of the hole, he took a sharp breath, and his body began to tremble. He was wearing clothes under the cloak, but the cold still seeped through the fur and wool to his skin.
He gritted his teeth and resisted, covering himself with the cloak, then with the cold, damp soil, and placed branches over himself. He stayed like that until everything turned pitch black. Then the azure trees lit the area with a faint glow.
Soli opened his system screen as per his daily routine to avoid sleeping. As he stared at the black screen, he thought:
"Hah... I hid underground like this before to escape from Gray and the tribe, and now I'm hiding from..."
A distorted scream cut off Soli's thoughts. It was the scream of a Night Folk creature, followed by the scream of one of the young men. Then, the screams of Night Folk rose throughout the forest; one voice was even close to Soli, well-hidden. Then came the sound of thuds on the ground—the heavy footsteps of the Night Folk.
The screaming lasted a few seconds before stopping completely.
Soli thought:
"Seems someone had very bad luck to die on the first day."
Soli covered his face with the hood of his cloak and thought:
"I need to think about myself now and what I'll do tomorrow..."