Trials of Power

Location: Unknown

Time: Year 16 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

In an unknown place that was like a white canvas, there was no end in sight. Typically, there was nothing in this seemingly unending white canvas. Yet, there were two life forms currently running for some peculiar reason as if their lives depended on it. "You just had to choose your own path, had to be different!" shouted the little dog while heavily panting. "Hey! I didn't know this would happen! And even then, who would think that such a creature would be in this bloody space of nothing!?" shouted Steven in retort to the little dog, pushing himself to the breaking point as to not slow down.

Hearing this, the dog could only swallow its grievances, as the little dog also couldn't spare any energy on anything else but to run as fast as possible. This was because not too far away from the two was a giant grotesque spider chasing them. It had over 900 large red eyes that glowed with bloodlust and fangs that seemed to shine with golden splendour, only waiting to be sunken into the flesh that was in front of it. "And why are you complaining, aren't you supposed to be some supreme existence?! You sure don't seem like one!" shouted Steven to the dog in an attempt to see if the little dog could use a method to deal with the grotesque spider chasing them. Yet, when hearing this, the little dog only scoffed, and after proceeding to run for a while, it said. "Do you know how much energy I wasted in saving you before from that darkness consuming you? How much energy it took me to even enter this space with you?! Don't think I am some battery that will never run out, boy! And show some respect! Stop thinking you can talk so casually to me just because my current appearance is that of a little dog!"

As if disgusted by what he heard, Steven answered the dog, saying: "Oh, please let us not pretend that you did that out of the kindness out of your heart. I know you want something. I just don't know what. Plus, why should I talk formally to a being I don't know nor truly care about?! It's not like I care about your so-called "great existence"! "Why You-!" as the little dog wanted to further rant and argue with Steven, he suddenly noticed something not too far ahead of them. "Is it just me, or do I see a mountain ahead of us?" asked the little dog in surprise as it noticed a gigantic mountain about a kilometre ahead of them. "No, it's not just you! And I think that mountain might be the only place where we can lose that disgusting excuse for a spider!" said Steven as he pushed himself even further, so much so that he felt like he could collapse at any minute. Nonetheless, he persevered and kept running as quickly as he could. The little dog simply nodded to what Steven said and kept running next to him.

Unbeknownst to Steven and the little dog, the spider could also see the mountain. Furthermore, it could hear and understand everything that Steven and the little dog had said. Therefore, when Steven and the little dog spoke about the grotesque spider, which basically compared itself to a simple beast, the monstrous spider was enraged and motivated even further to feast on the boy and little dog in front of it. The spider remembered that it had another reason for chasing Steven. Yet, it was overwhelmed with an insatiable lust to devour Steven and the little dog for some reason. This feeling was so strong that the spider couldn't think about anything but deliciously consuming Steven and the little dog. It would devour them till nothing was left, not even their bones.

However, before the spider could decide how, Steven and the little dog disappeared. The spider seeing this was furious and overwhelmed by confusion. How was it possible that its prey managed to disappear right in front of it in the span of a few seconds! The spider did not know what to do. It couldn't find anything resembling its prey, not even their scent. Thus slowly, the spider started to lose its anger that had consumed and preoccupied its mind. As the spider was no longer under the influence of uncontrollable rage, it calmy looked over to the large mountain in the distance. It felt that its prey and an answer to what was going on was somewhere on that mountain. It, therefore, decided to slowly traverse along the white canvas to the majestic mountain ahead of it.

Somewhere on the mountain:

"Ugh…what happened…where am I?" asked Steven as he woke up in an unknown tropical forest. "Damn, I feel so dizzy. It makes me feel sick! But wait, where is the dog? Why does something always have to drag me away from other people…" said Steven with frustration as he slowly stood up and observed his surroundings. Steven didn't know where he was, yet he knew he did not have the luxury to waste any more time thinking of such things. Who knew what awaited him in this tropical forest if he let his guard down. Steven had learned from his long 5-year journey with his companions that something would always be happening in the background, which, one way or another, would affect a person. With this knowledge, Steven started walking in North West in the forest. Yet, Steven still had doubts if he was actually going in the direction of North West. This was due to all the normal and unchangeable things in his old world, which suddenly changed. Furthermore, Steven noted that even though he was now in some unknown forest, it was most probably still in the unending white canvas, meaning that all in all, he was just walking in a specific direction, hoping he would have fruitful results.

Steven continued walking for a while, trying to make his way through the tropical forest. Yet, after a while, Steven felt like he was not getting anywhere and suddenly came up with an idea. He decided that he would try to find a tall and robust tree where he could climb up to survey the area and see exactly where he was and where he needed to go. As he thought of this, he proceeded to search for a suitable tree. After searching for just the right tree, which to Steven felt like ages, he finally found one that was tall enough and strong enough for him to climb upon. Looking at the tree, Steven saw ample thick branches and long and thick vines on the tree, which would make it much easier for Steven to climb upon it. Steven then proceeded to stretch himself to make sure he was flexible enough to climb up the tree. After stretching for a few minutes, Steven slowly but steadily proceeded to climb his way up to the top of the tree. This, though, took quite a while, for the tree was extremely tall. Steven had to be very careful not to step onto a weak branch or hold onto a thin vine, as he was unwilling to fall down and possibly get seriously injured. Therefore, only after a long and arduous climb did Steven finally reach the top of the tree.

Once at the top, Steven was shocked and couldn't believe what he was seeing. All that Steven could see was more trees, hills and some green fields. The forest he was in was huge and could be said to be the size of a large city before the world changed. Steven saw that if he wanted to get out of the forest to the fields or hills, it would take him quite a while. And even then, he didn't know where he would have to go. Where did the mountain disappear to, where was the seemingly unending white canvas? Or the irritating little dog? Or even the grotesque spider that was chasing them? Steven didn't know where to go or what to do. But before he would allow himself to be overwhelmed by such thoughts, Steven decided that he would spend the night on the top of the tree sleeping. As he saw that the "sun" of this place was sinking and nighttime was slowly setting in. Therefore, to the best of his ability, Steven made himself comfortable and put aside his worries. He told himself he could worry about tomorrow's details, but he had to rest for now.

Somewhere not too far away from Steven`s location:

"Why does this happen every time!!! Aghh!!!!! The scruffy screams of the little dog could be heard from kilometres away. The little dog was extremely frustrated and upset with his current situation. After all of his efforts and sacrifices, he was still far away from achieving his goal. The person he had been waiting and searching for, for so long was in his grasp. Yet, for some reason, he was separated from him, in some unknown hilly area that was covered with nothing but green grass. The little dog grumbled in frustration thinking of this and promised itself that it would rip that insolent spider apart for interfering with his plans. After complaining for a while, the little dog looked at his surroundings and wondered what was going on. He knew what the white canvas was. He just didn't think the boy needed to know yet what the white canvas was. Yet ever since having left the set path with the boy, the little dog no longer knew what was going on.

First, it was some grotesque spider chasing them, then an extremely large mountain appearing out of nowhere. Then he was brought to an unknown hilly area. The little dog was perplexed. In its long life, it had never experienced something like this. This was not normal and was definitely not what the little dog had expected would ever happen. Yet, it decided it would be best to think about what it should do later, as it was tired and the sun of this area had already set, being overtaken by its moon. Trying to make itself comfortable, the little dog searched for a nice patch of dry grass. After looking for a while, it finally found one. He then proceeded to slowly lie down and close his eyes. Yet, just before it entirely closed its eyes and fell asleep, it saw something incredible. Before its very eyes, small white glowing orbs started appearing from the ground. There were so many that they could not be counted. These orbs were as plentiful as salt in the ocean. They all started gravitating to the centre of the hilly area where the little dog was. It was first at a very slow pace, but gradually the glowing orbs of light sped up and started to form a bright tornado of light at the area where they were gathering. Seeing this, the little dog`s eyes opened with shock. It couldn't believe what it was seeing. No, it refused to consider what it was seeing. It knew what these orbs were and what they represented, as well as what their purpose was. Yet, it couldn't understand why it would be in such a place. This was not normal, and the little dog knew that whatever happened next would be something that would change everything.

As the little dog was thinking of this, though, he failed to recognise that the little glowing orbs of light had all finally reached their destination. The tornado made out of light had gradually become smaller and weaker until it eventually disappeared. Realising this, the little dog was surprised. From its knowledge, an event like this would take much longer. It would have a much more significant impact on its surrounding area. Yet, what it saw next mystified the little dog even more. At the centre of where the little orbs of light had previously gathered, a man, made out of what seemed to be pure light, smiled and waved at the little dog. The little dog was overwhelmed with awe and utter shock at what was in front of him. However, before the little dog could say anything, the man made out of light smiled and put a finger in front of his mouth, telling the little dog to be quiet and not say anything.

Seeing this, the little dog could only nod its head. Happy with the little dog`s answer, the man smiled and suddenly vanished. Shocked, the little dog shook its head and looked in the surrounding area to see where the man made out of light had gone. Yet to his dismay, the man made out of light was nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, the little dog shook its head and wondered what was going on. It never expected that something like this would ever happen in such a place. Thinking of all these things, though, was exhausting. Before he knew it, the little dog had already fallen asleep, overwhelmed by what it had just experienced.

Steven`s location:

After a pleasant night of sleep, Steven slowly woke up with a loud yawn, stretching his arms simultaneously. Opening his eyes, Steven saw that the sun was slowly rising and that the day had officially started. Steven prepared himself and decided he would go to the fields and see what he would find there, as he was beginning to become hungry and quite thirsty. He found this strange, as before on the white canvas; he never became tired, hungry, thirsty, or anything else really. Yet, once he appeared in this area, all of these things had returned, and he knew he could not ignore them, as he did not know how long he would be stuck in this place. While slowly making his way down the tree, Steven started gathering loose vines to not get lost. He would tie the vines together and then tie them to the tree while taking the other vines connected to the tree with him. If he ever had to return to the tree, he could always use the vines as a means of locating it. Once Steven finally reached the bottom of the tree, he proceeded to do as he planned. As he finished, Steven looked for a broken branch. After searching for a while, he found a relatively long branch. It was pretty thick, yet not too heavy. After swinging it around for a while, Steven decided this would be a suitable weapon to use to whack whatever enemy he would be confronted with. It would allow him some precious time to run away, as he was not strong enough to put up a fight against anyone, be it in his previous normal world or the one that had changed. Prepping himself mentally by slapping his face, Steven inhaled and began to walk in the direction of the fields he had seen from up on the tree. Steven usually would be pretty lax when travelling, as he was always surrounded by his strong friends and companions. Yet, he knew he did not have this luxury anymore, especially seeing that he was totally alone in some unknown forest. Thinking of this, Steven sighed. He couldn't understand why he had such bad luck, to end up alone in some weird forest in the middle of nowhere. He wished he appeared on some lovely beach, with palm trees and friendly local natives, and maybe some nice friendly native girls as a bonus. Yet, luck would have it that he would always end up in a secluded and extraordinary place. This frustrated Steven beyond any doubt, and just as he was about to go on a rant at how unfair life was, he heard something he didn't like.

Not too far away from Steven, he heard the sound of something being munched on. It was the sound of large teeth ripping, tearing and chewing some extremely hard and raw meat. Hearing this disgusting noise, Steven`s eyes shrunk, and he crouched to looked at his surrounding area to see where that nice sound had come from. Seeing that it wasn't anywhere in his nearby vicinity, Steven took a breath of relief. Yet, he did not stand up. Instead, he quickly took his branch and prepared himself to slowly crouch forward so as to not make too much noise and pull the attention of whatever creature was feasting towards him. Doing this, Steven gradually distanced himself from whatever creature was dining, and after observing his surroundings, he stood up. Sighing in relief and patting himself on the shoulder, Steven proceeded to where the fields were, yet he suddenly stopped. Steven gulped and had his eyes wide open because he felt and knew that there was something behind him. Something perilous and that could kill him in an instant. He couldn't hear, smell, or see it. Yet, he knew something was right behind him. He didn't know what to do. Before he could do anything, he heard something. "Finally- I found you, my precious little boy! My treasure! Mhmm, you look so tasty!" the voice was rough and scruffy, yet it had a very feminine tone to it.

Steven didn't know what it was, but when he heard that voice, his entire body shook and fear, and he couldn't help but feel extremely cold as if he was about to die. It didn't help that as he thought of this, a sticky long and hairy spider leg appeared on his shoulder. Seeing this, Steven wanted to run away as quickly as possible, yet he knew he would not be able to escape. His fate was sealed. He would become the snack of this grotesque creature. Thinking of this, Steven couldn't help but cry and complain to the heavens and ask why was this happening to him. "Now, now, do not cry, little one! Do not be afraid, I simply-…" just as the grotesque spider wanted to further speak, something made it stop midway in its sentence.

Not too far ahead from Steven and the grotesque spider, a man made out of light appeared and smiled at Steven and the monstrous spider. The man smiled when looking at Steven, yet when he put his sights on the spider, he frowned and held a look of disgust in his eyes. He then proceeded to say: "I finally found you, and I am not letting you go." Following this, what would happen next was something the bewildered Steven would never have thought to be possible.