Chapter 28: Test Run!

Chapter 28: Test Run! "Would you like to run a test run of the trial or directly challenge it?" A childish voice resounded in the space Ken was in. It was childish and feminine. Ken wondered if this spirit was a child, but it definitely was young. He was going to choose a test run, but he decided to stop and ask something. "What do you suggest?" Ken spoke to nothing, trying to test if the tower spirit or whatever was talking to him would respond. This was his way of acting on the hints’ advice. "..." Almost as if not expecting someone to speak to it, the spirit didn’t speak for a few seconds. "The wisest choice is to take the trial test." Then the voice spoke again. "It’ll allow you to get a very detailed look at the situation you’re put in, and depending on how well you analyze everything around you, you could very well ace the challenge, which will get you additional benefits aside from assigning you a very high rank amongst your fellow disciples." The spirit spoke a lot, as if content about not having to speak the same words again and again. Its childish voice was excited to get this chance, and Ken immediately knew what to do. "Oh my, thank you. That helps a lot; I would have immediately gone with the official test." He said, lying through his teeth. "Mhm mhm, you’re welcome. Normally new disciples are always haughty, going for the official rank. If only they were as thoughtful as you to ask, those who take advantage of the test run first have a higher chance of winning." She said, her joy more than visible. The dark room Ken was in almost started to look vibrant, which made him almost chuckle. "You’re right." Ken nodded with his consciousness. He was planning to just go directly, but he waited for a couple seconds. And just as he thought. "Mhm mhm, spirit path cultivators should always use their higher perception and try to study the environments they’re in before they act. Though this test run could seem like too much of an advantage, it’s there to build a habit of taking things slowly and, once one has enough information, acting decisively." The spirit, almost too eager to let Ken go, spoke way too much. But Ken wouldn’t say no to free information. Speak about charisma. But he soon got serious. "I will make sure to follow your advice to heart." He said. "Mhm mhm, alright, that’s all. Let me send your consciousness right to the prison. I will be watching, so do your best!" The spirit spoke before Ken’s perception changed. Before he could think about other things, he heard a very disturbing sound, and his vision caught onto some rectangular object passing through his legs to hit the dirty stone ground as if someone threw it from behind him. *Thud* Ken looked up, his perception taking in many things at once. To his left and right, a pair of double beds could almost touch his arms due to the very shallow distance between them. The source of light within the room was a candle on the miniature desk in front of him. It was right next to the iron rods enclosing him in here, and in the other corner, to the right of the prison door, was what he could immediately tell was the toilet from the massive dark goo, which was the source of the heavy and suffocating smell in this... Prison cell. The entire cell had only the basic necessities, aside from the desk, which was a nice bonus, and it looked run-down, almost as if someone punched a hole and called it a cave; the entire room should be less than 2 cubic meters. Then he slowly turned. His expression, knowing that this was no place to joke around and knowing that from now on, his life wouldn’t be as easy any longer, was serious. And in a second’s worth of time, he started getting furious. Behind him was less than a meter’s distance and a wall, so he stood around the center of the room. There was but a single window, a hole with more iron rods, from which minimal sunlight filtered through. He could tell that the sun was going down and that wherever this place was, it was probably in some desolate place, just from the vines entering through the window and dancing through the stone walls and ceiling. Ken was barefoot on the jagged stone floor, wearing rags for clothes; in fact, he didn’t even have anything on his lower body. The rag he was wearing went all the way down to his knees... And so was the dark-skinned man behind him. "Ooooh, so feisty." The man put a hand on his voice and another on his thigh as the rough voice of the man in front almost made his ears twitch. "Don’t look at me that way, baby~ You’re making me feel all weird~." He added while wriggling his whole body in an ugly dance. Then he immediately became serious and pointed at the object that was first thrown in Ken’s direction while still keeping the weird pose. "Now now, get down all slowly and... pick it up for me!" The irritatingly softened voice of the dark-skinned man shifted into a deep, authoritative one commanding Ken to do exactly what it wanted. And it expected nothing more than for its orders to be followed. The man left no room for any thoughts. His position was right behind Ken, on the side of the window. Ken would have a hard time even turning back and... "Pick it up!" "Pick it up!" The prisoners from the other room, all kinds of dangerous-looking fellas, shouted one after the other. They could barely see what was happening with the help of the torches on the corridor walls, but even those from the cells to the side of Ken’s were cheering; if they couldn’t see, they could hear, and all was good for them. Each cell had 2 to 4 members, and due to the large distance between the cells on each side, even those to Ken’s left and right could see clearly what was happening. Even the silent ones were watching intently, hoping that another ’victim’ would join their ranks. Veins appeared in Ken’s forehead, and the dark-skinned man smiled. "Three!" he started counting with the hand he was pointing at, holding 3 fingers that soon went down to just 2. "Pick It Up!" "Pick It Up!" "Pick It Up!" Ken looked back at the soap and then at the other prisoners cheering. "Two!" Then just as he was going to look back at the man before him. "One!" -----End-----