Chapter 24: The Trail of Magic

The preparations didn't seem to take long, as the room began to change, errors could be seen as it tried to shift dimensions, that was when Geo remembered what his friend from his previous life would have called them.

"Glitches! Yes! Finally, I remembered how those were supposed to be called!

Hmm… no wonder I forgot though… I'm not that great with electrical and digital stuff."

[The Trial of Magic is about to start. Advising "the player" to ready themselves for the coming trials ahead.] Immediately after revealing the next trial waiting for him.

[The Trial of Magic;

Since ancient times, those with a close connection to nature have learned to harness the prowess of essence for themselves, this phenomenon is called "magic manipulation". Even if magic has become a privileges use in modern days. Not all learned how to do this, the mind had found a way around it to adapt in these times. Changing its ways of old.

Objective;

Learn to harness the prowess of magic itself, creating substantial usage in the process.

Collect essence and create your magic through creativity. How or what this mind results into is up to you.

Reward; Skill; [???]

Failure results in the immediate termination of the trails, neglecting the use of magic to the user.]

Alerted by the failure notice Geo decided to give it his all, thinking about what kind of things he could do with the crystals, would have given him enough motivation to make him learn it on his own.

"Whoever made these trials means business, damn… Well… Best keep up the winning streak if I say so myself."

Without another thought within his mind, he was determined to find a way.

But how was he supposed to create his magic? Where could he find the inspiration and how would it work? A ton of things flashed through his mind; the magic he had used within The Tournament of Beginnings, his love for animals, Elemental usage?

Thinking about this, he had to find what was most useful to him, within battle and outside of it.

For all, he knew all kinds of unexpected things could happen.

"Like the last few trials, I should take this seriously as for all I know I could be stuck with whatever comes out of this for life!"

The room finalized its metamorphosis. Revealing several areas containing different elements.

Geo could find a room based around archery followed by an armory filled with weapons to the brim.

Even a comfortable bedroom, but none appealed to his interests although archery seemed cool to him in a way.

"What might the purpose of these rooms be? Is this supposed to help me think of a way to create my original magic? What would my parents have done?"

Geo tried to think back at a time where he was together with his parents,

as he tried desperately he could vaguely think of their outlines,

but he was unable to think of what they used to say. The reason for this?

He could not think of anything particular…

This trial, although more interesting than the others, had proven to be the most challenging yet…

What was he to create? What were the things that defined him? He had to focus…

Clear his mind and think about what made him who he was, what he would use the most, and in his own words. "What would be most universal in any situation."

He had passed more rooms along the way, trying to find the one thing on his mind.

Passing along a room full of cooking utensils and an area fully prepared with kitchen and stove.

Almost like magic Geo got drawn to the room, but he knew there had to be something else…

Trying to fight the urge, he continued along the path in front of him.

It was weird though, weren't these trials supposed to be ancient?

Geo kept thinking about it as the idea intrigued him. Geo had walked past a multitude of rooms, containing his deepest desires, even rooms filled with gold. When he passed that room in particular he shrugged and said; "Using gold in magic would essentially be Alchemy, I can always learn to manipulate materials later, now is the time to go for the thing I truly need. And if what I think I need is correct, then there should be a field inside these ruins, right?"

Geo knew what he was looking for, but would he be able to find it?

Along the way, the occasional room piqued his interest, such as a room that had a stone altar that reminded him of the ring of a wrestling match. Weirded out, yet vaccinated by it he entered without a second thought.

"Wow… What is this doing here? It was the last thing I would have expected… Cooking utensils, weird but plausible, a vault filled to the brim? What is this place… Is it linked to my desires or something? And now this?! Who would have thought."

As Ge entered the room torches along the wall and in each of the four corners of the room lid up the room.

"This… this couldn't be…"

The room looked like a replica of the wrestling matches he would watch as a kid.

But… Nothing of the sort was within this world, so how could this perfectly replicated room be here? Geo boggled his mind over the phenomenon as he tried to enter the ring.

Trying to climb the sturdy yet highly detailed work around the ring his eyes suddenly got blinded by glistering, of what Geo didn't know… But it had snapped him out of his curiosity.

Annoyed by this he left the room.

"Man… The room looked so interesting! But it's not what I'm looking for,

thankfully I snapped out of it in time. Then again… I haven't created anything, yet."

Geo went on his way, along his path he doubted himself,

should he leave such a good opportunity? Then, he decided to look back once, but to his surprise,

nothing was there… As if it had never been there in the first place.

A bit disappointed he realized something.

"If all trials are connected, them the collection of essence and manipulation of energy should lead me to what I need, the magic which resides within my soul."

Moments later, losing himself within this philosophy he didn't have eyes for his surroundings.

His surroundings had been shifting, with every fleeting thought essence drifted closer around him when suddenly Geo found himself outside. The bright light snapped him out of his trance.

He looked around to see where he was, but couldn't recognize the slightest of details.

"I'm… Outside? How is that even possible, I thought that was impossible?"

[Enough experience has been accumulated [Analyze Lv. 1] has been unlocked.]

"Wait… a skill, at this time? That's so random!!"

Geo had to sit down for a moment, thinking about everything he had experienced,

That and his stomach began to rumble. He probably hadn't eaten for hours,

seeing as how his stomach was protesting against moving around. Geo had to find something edible, within a field of swaying grass, was there any possibility of food?

As Geo looked around, at first glance he couldn't seem to find anything looking like food.

But after several attempts of observing and searching the area, out of nowhere a farm could be seen in the distance. Geo hurried towards it in the hopes of finding anything edible.

Abandoned and ruined, nothing much could be found except for the remains which looked like a farm. Was it even a farm? Wanting to take a closer look, Geo decided it was best to observe the ruins to some extent. While walking through the fields it became apparent that the area had been simulated in the same way all the other rooms were simulated.

Geo noticed the weird glitches occasionally appeared like before, but what was even more of an apparent season for not being in the open right now was the sky.

At first glance, it all seemed natural, but when Geo looked up there was no blue sky.

Instead, what he saw were crystal which shined like the sun.

"Hmm… No sun… but crystals who re-direct the lights? Makes you think…

Does it work the same as with the moon, reflecting the rays of the sun?"

Certain places were lighter than others, as Geo looked where the lights touched the earth, one of such concentrated places were the ruins he was heading towards.

Before arriving in the area, Geo stumbled upon a fence. Finding this weird Geo knew he had to get to the bottom of this, maybe there would be food to be found at this weird location. Traces of him not being the only one here could be found all over.

"Someone was here before me, were they still here? Or did something happen to them?

I have to get to the bottom of this, not because I'm curious, which I am! But because of my survival!"