Chapter 47 - 48- I’ll go through the test

Chapter 47: Chapter 48- I’ll go through the test Julian opened his eyes to see himself standing in a wide room, with a huge egg in the middle. "Competitor, start the challenge." A mechanical voice rang out. Julian glanced around but couldn’t see the source of the voice. He walked cautiously, the blaring sound following him. Moving to the edge, he noticed that the room seemed to be floating, with darkness enveloping everything below. "Whoever is speaking. Did you see a green-haired female pass through here?" Julian’s words echoed through the room, and the mechanical voice stopped. "I can’t disclose competitors’ identity. If you want to find the one you seek, go through the test." The mechanical voice rang out, and Julian frowned, unsatisfied at its answer. ’’Do you mean she had to go through the challenge as well?’’ Julian asked and the voice silence was the best answer. ’’I’ll go through the test.’’ Julian agreed, his gaze held urgency to see Eva, he hoped she was safe wherever she was—he would never let her leave his sight again. He took deep breaths to suppress the crazy possessive urge to lock her up. ’’The challenge begins. You can call out to quit but your growth and your beast egg reward would be revoked.’’ The voice advised as Julian disappeared to the testing grounds. Ethan also entered the room, demanding the same thing, and entered the challenge in the hopes of seeing Eva soon enough. The voice didn’t make them aware that the competitors could never meet in the same testing grounds using different tower entrances. So their test began, due to their power level, the forest beasts were tougher than what Eva faced. They sustained varying degrees of wounds but gathered items Eva would like. They were deprived of sleep and attacked every second of the day. The thought of Eva facing those beasts only fueled their urgency to find her but no matter how far they looked in the forest, there was no sign of Eva. Ethan’s expression grew colder as time passed, he let his frustration out on the beast that attacked him. Blood soaked his torn shoulders, but he froze the three huge beasts in place, turning his ice to sharp icicles and piercing through their skull. He wrapped his wounds and continued with his search for Eva. Julian, in the forest, heaved for breath; all around were the severed limbs of beasts; he wasn’t much better, his stomach bleeding from the claw wounds, his other hands dislocated. But he didn’t stop and continued with his search for Eva. ** Eva was disoriented by the sudden change of location. ’’Hiss...’’ she hopped on the searing ground, almost in tears as she took in her surroundings. Molten lava erupted from the Volcano’s peaks, and the cracked, rocky ground flowed with lava. White, acrid smoke filled the air as rocks shot up from the boiling molten rivers. "Just tell me you want my life! What kind of messed up test is this?! Is it even meant for humans...cough...’’ she coughed, her throat aching as the smoke stung her eyes and made them water. She didn’t have the chance to notice that her clothes were as good as new—what filled her mind was escaping this godforsaken place or she would be cooked by the heat. She hopped on both feet as she moved forward, the ground boiling beneath her. Tears slid down her cheeks, and the corners of her eyes reddened with irritation. The air was thick with sulfur, causing her eyes to burn, her throat burned and it was hard for her to breathe. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, sticky to her body as she moved forward—as time passed, her steps became heavy, and the cough reeked her, adding more pain to her lungs. She was about to rest, her gaze growing heavy as she slumped onto the rocky ground, her skin burning red from the hotness beneath. She grimaced in pain, but her eyelids were too heavy—her eyes closed as she drifted off for just a moment of rest. A sharp whistling sound came toward her; her sense of danger, which had been honed in the forest of despair, caused her body to react first before her mind. Dodging out of the way, a molten rock embedded into the ground she just laid a second ago. Sizzling smoke filled the air as the ground cracked, molten lava sipping out of the ground. Eva’s heart thundered in her throat; she nearly died. She moved forward and tried to absorb the energy in the air to keep her awake but her face turned ugly when her powers didn’t work. She tried again with her mind fully focused, and the result remained the same; she decided to use the healing potions in her space bag but was shocked when she couldn’t assess her bag either. ’’Now, that’s just playing dirty!’’ she screamed angrily followed by painful rounds of cough. That whistling sound came again, and Eva looked up to see three rocks shooting in her direction like meteors; Eva dashed forward, pushing her heavy body forward. The stones flew past her, hitting directly on the place she had stood a moment ago to assess her powers. Eva noticed if she stopped walking the volcano would shoot rocks at her, some molten lava rocks, others just plain hot ones. So she moved aimlessly without rest, the sounds of boiling lava and the smell of sulfur her partners. ’’move...move...move...’’ whispers left her cracked lips as she walked for days, her legs felt like leads, but she couldn’t stop to rest. Her energy drained, leaving only a blank, reddened face driven by the need to survive and return to them. Her stomach growled with hunger and thirst, but she had no way to satisfy her basic needs. It reminded her of when she was always filled with hunger but conscious enough not to eat human flesh. Her legs weakened, and she fell to the ground, but she crawled onward, knowing the rocks would come if she stopped. Her palms pressed against the hot ground, her skin sizzling and tearing as she left bloodied marks with each crawl. ’’Move...move...’’ whispered from her cracked lips, her eyes swollen red and her lungs burning with pain, she gritted her teeth from pain as her torn skin pressed on the hot ground. She didn’t know how far or how long she had walked, but her body no longer responded. She lay on the ground, blinking to stay awake. Her eyes closed, her soaked, curled form lying on the hot ground. White smoke swirled around her as the volcano erupted, sending fifty molten rocks shooting into the sky. The ground mist shot out hot rocks. They covered the sky, making sharp whistling sounds as they headed toward Eva’s unconscious figure on the ground.