Will flew for a few seconds, covering a vast distance before slamming onto his back against the surface of the shallow pool. The impact punched the air from his lungs.
He laid there, motionless, staring upwards. Ripples spread around where he had landed.
'What…just happened?'
The world around him was silent— absolutely, unnaturally silent. The thick gray mist hanging over everything was still as death, clinging onto his skin and making him unable to see anything past a few meters.
He hadn't heard anything, hadn't seen anything coming towards him. He didn't even feel the water below him move. He just felt that something had pushed him with unnatural power.
He shifted his position a bit, then let out another groan. A sharp, searing sensation dragged his gaze down to his right arm. The Mark….was glowing — a bright, blue-ish silver light pulsing beneath his skin — and the burning was unbearable, like plunging his hand into molten metal.
"What is this? Why is this damn thing glowing now? And why in this colour?" He gritted his teeth. "And what the hell just hit me!? I didn't feel anything….didn't hear anything"
He looked back toward where he'd come from and shuddered. Something was there. Something with tremendous power and an even more unsettling presence. He couldn't see it, couldn't notice it, but every instinct in his body recoiled from it. The instinctive fear hadn't been irrational after all.
He stood slowly, water dripping from his clothes, the cold seeping onto his skin. He lingered for a while and made his decision without much deliberation. He wasn't going back. Whatever was there, he wanted no part of it.
Will stood there in the silence for a while, considering his choices, but he just couldn't think of a logical answer to this problem.
He looked in every direction, unsure of where to go. And while doing that, he suddenly stopped and looked down at his right arm, as if he noticed something weird happening to it.
The Mark was glowing specially bright when pointed towards one specific direction– the direction where the mysterious force was leading him.
Confused, he stared at the Mark and then at the direction. The path ahead of him was still covered with thick mist, refusing to reveal anything. He lingered for a while then took a few steps.
'Well, I don't know if this is a good idea. But what else can I do?'
He walked with uncertainty, each step cautious. He had no clear destination. He was being led by just the faint warmth of the Mark against his skin and an instinct he couldn't quite understand.
'Is this…. actually guiding me?' the thought lingered in his mind.
Seconds turned into minutes as he walked through the thick veil. His clothes were still wet, making him feel chills. His mind was always cautious, always calculating his surroundings.
Suddenly he stopped moving. He looked down at the water pool. He saw….water ripples coming at him from the front.
Will's face turned pale. He quickly shifted back, ready to flee from the place but stopped quickly. Where was he even going to run?
His eyes stayed glued to the front, waiting for something to come at him. But even after some torturously long seconds passed, nothing ever came out from the mist.
He got confused, then started walking forward, very slowly and cautiously. He had nowhere to run but at least he could dodge if something attacked him….probably.
After what felt like an eternity, he stopped and looked down at the water surface. He lingered for a while then let out a sigh of relief, revealing that he found the reason for his worries.
Will was looking below at a very familiar green object. A leaf…it was a leaf that created those ripples.
Will mumbled under his breath, "Well, it looks like I am going in the right way."
He started walking again, now with much more clarity and confidence but still ready to face danger. But it didn't take him much longer to stop again to look, this time, to look at the sight in front of him.
In front of him, far in the distance and way above the shallow water pool, peeking through the thick gray fog, was a sharp mountain peak.
Will smirked, 'Bingo!'
Will didn't understand how he could see the peak from so far away. The thick mist shouldn't have made this possible. Even more strange was the fact that the leaf swam across such a distance without any wind currents. Both of these didn't make sense.
'Interesting….'
Will walked for a few more minutes until finally the water grew even more shallow. Ahead of him, the land rose slightly, the elevation breaking the flatness of the water pool. Many large rocks seemed to be scattered around the area. Some were large enough to be used for hiding an armored vehicle.
He stepped into the land and looked around, taking in the surroundings.
There were quite a few trees in the land. The trees were absurdly large, each about 10 meters long. But their leaves, on the other hand, were really small. Will confirmed the leaf he found a few minutes ago to be this exact same one.
Winds were actually blowing in the land area, carrying with itself the scent of wet mud, leaves and dust. The winds encircled the land across the coast line, without seeping into the water.
'Strange….'he thought.
Directly just a few meters ahead, the ground elevated further, turning the terrain into a valley. The valley stretched uphill into the mist. Tall and dense trees covered its entire body.
Will stood at the edge of the slope, and looked down at his right arm.
The Mark was still glowing, now even brighter than before.
'Of course it is,' he thought and started walking
He cautiously moved through the forest, heading towards the direction of the mountain peak. He used the trees as cover, he stepped from trunk to another, sometimes pausing to listen. The forest was quiet, with only the rustling of the leaves and bushes seldom making noises.
A slow and uneventful hour passed like that. Nothing ever appeared, which was actually more terrifying to him. What could be more terrifying than being alone in a forest completely covered in a thick fog, with an unknown enemy?
As the trees started to thin out ahead, he started to slow his pace down. He reached the last trunk, crouched and took a deep breath, then stepped out.
The forest opened up completely. Stretching out before him was a vast lake, its surface smooth and dark. He couldn't see the other side of the lake. The water simply expanded until being swallowed by the mist.
Will studied his surroundings and only let out a sigh of relief after he confirmed that there was no danger around him, probably.
Will began studying his options.
He looked up. The mountain peak was still visible.
'Well, obviously I can't cross the lake. I need to go around it. Tsk, it's going to take a while.'
He started walking left, then suddenly stopped as he noticed something on the ground. He crouched to see clearly and froze.
On the mud…. there were footprints, shoe footprints.
Will's blood turned cold.
'What the!? There shouldn't be another human in the Trial! Well, not usually.'
His case of course wasn't usual, he had a 2nd Gen Mark afterall. Those affected by it experience unusual Trials, which is why the death rate is so high.
With another added factor now, the whole situation becomes bizarre and strange, not that it already wasn't.
Eventually, Will's panic subsided and he started thinking of the possibilities rationally.
'Hmm….the possibility of it being another human is quite low. It can also be a Corrupted creature in disguise….'
In a situation like this, being careful is top priority so he had to take every single possibility into account.
After a while, he started walking. Human or monster, he realised that he had to encounter it in order to clear the Trial.
He started to trace the footprints very cautiously. He avoided moving in the exact same way, hiding behind trunks and bushes whenever he could.
He didn't really find anything other than footprints for a few minutes, leaving him more stressed and anxious. But he tried to stay conscious and stealthy.
After a few more minutes, he heard a noise.
Will immediately hid behind the nearest tree trunk. Footsteps….he had heard footsteps. Will waited patiently,slowly breathing and calming himself down. The sound seemed to have been coming from the left, and it was getting closer.
….then it stopped, a few meters away from him. Will's face paled.
'Did it find me?'
1, 2, 3….seconds passed in anticipation. The sound didn't move. And so Will had to. He tried to take a peek through the edges of the trunk, very cautiously. His eyes narrowed upon seeing the scene ahead.
He saw a humanoid silhouette of a man, completely shrouded in mist, standing still with its back turned towards him. It seemed to be wearing a very old fashioned black suit, complemented by a half top hat of similar colour. It was also holding an old lantern in its left hand. The lantern seemed to be lit up by fire.
He began thinking, 'So….it is a human I suppose? And what is happening here!?'
Will looked down at his right arm and saw that the silver-blue glow of the Mark started to get a bit dim. It was as if….as if the Mark had fulfilled its purpose.
Will looked ahead and saw the man. He was still tense and careful. Even though the mysterious silhouette was that of a human, he couldn't guarantee if it really was one. And so he decided to stay hidden.
….or at least he wanted to. The mysterious figure seemed to be looking for something, and then it turned towards Will. This made him flinch a little, leading to him making a small mistake. He accidentally made some noise against a bush.
Upon realising that he had made a mistake, Will immediately looked ahead to see if the man noticed anything.
The man seemed to have noticed something. It turned towards Will's direction and started walking towards him. Will panicked, he wanted to run but knew that it was a horrible decision.
The man's footsteps echoed in the silent forest, as he reached closer and closer. Finally the man reached a distance where his face could be seen. Will's eyes widened upon seeing the man's face.
The man…..the man didn't have any features….he didn't have a face at all!
[Sorry for being wayyy too late. I was quite sick for the first few days and then became lazy asf lol. But I promise to provide atleast 1 chapter a week from now on. I could manage more but my studies probably won't allow me to. Please have patience :)]