CHAPTER 21 - The Third and Last Task, The Test of Spirit

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It was another few days that had already gone by and passed on so fast--which in reality it was only about another three days that's gone--and Arteria Blaze or Arty has been wondering what the next task would be if it might be the last and what kind of test that she'll be going through and need to succeed and pass it.

There wasn't any training for her to do more, so to keep herself busy and get her mind off from the next task, she did self-training by herself so that she wouldn't be thinking about it and focus on trying to get herself ready for whatever task she'll be taking on.

As she was wondering and pondering thoughtfully over this deeply, she didn't realize that she was approached again by the leader until he called her and she nearly jumped in the middle of her self-training upon hearing his voice. She was a little surprised that she wasn't aware enough to notice him coming.

She turned and looked at him and he told her bluntly and straight to the point once more that the third task she'll be partaking on with being the last one, and after that, if she succeeds and passes it, she is proven worthy and can stay as long as she wants with the freedom fighters.

Arty took a deep breath to calm herself and then nodded to the leader that she is ready to face her last task and test she'll be taking on.

He almost smiled approvingly at the courage she's showing to face against her last task, but then his face quickly went blank and he turned around to lead her where she needs to be and pass the last test she will be tested on to prove her worthiness with the freedom fighters.

She followed behind him, looking around curiously when she noticed that he's leading to another part of the thick forest that seemed similar like the one she had gone into from the previous second task before, but she could tell the difference that the area she is seeing isn't the same as she followed the leader to where she is going for her third and last task.

Then she saw that she's at another clearing, but not the same-looking kind that she had been in from the previous first task before. She looked at the leader who was looking at her with a grim expression on his face that she knew that it does not look good for her and she thinks that he thinks she might not pass the last task she will be tested on.

The leader said to her gravely, "For the third and last task you will take--you will need to face your worst fears and the greatest of horrors that you will ever face in your life. The most terrifying thing that you can't even imagine to deal with, but you will need all your courage and strong-nerve bravery to fight against it. Your task is to not fight against it physically with your weapons. But fight it with everything you have, all your body, mind and spirit itself. If you pass this task for about three hours--then you have proven yourself worthy into staying with my freedom-fighting kin. Good luck."

With that said in a grave ominous and foreboding way, the leader left her alone in the clearing and she watched him go and leave her alone by herself in the middle of it.

She wondered what he meant by saying that, and she wondered whether this will be another test almost similar to the first one before.

That was when a sudden fog started forming around her in the clearing she was in and the center of it all. And she tensed and prepared herself, ready for whatever she will face.

She wondered what it might be that she needs to fight against about that needs no weaponry or physical attacks, that was when some sort of misty foggy image is starting to form before her very eyes.

Now, she finally understood as quick and fast as she had instantly realized, unlike the previous two tasks when she figured it out in between fights or encounters before, for this one she could easily figure out just by watching the very scene that's playing in front of her.

For the task she's taking--it is a test of spirit! A test--that will make you try to face your worst fears and terrifying nightmares that might come true possibly in the future.

The misty fog seemed to form moving images of herself but Arty saw that she looked to be sacrificing herself on her fight against the Mad King with the Fiery Blade on hand, and after she defeated him, she watched in horror as she was being ignited somehow by fire and was being burned alive.

Arty froze, staring in stunned shock and horror at the scene, and then the next images that show her next, was herself again but as Elaina the writer, and this time it shows a misty foggy scene of her lying in a hospital bed, her whole body completely covered in bandages and she's hooked on life-support machines of the hospital. She saw that the monitor machine next to her lying body started beeping in alarm and showed a flatline, revealing that she had died in her real-world from back home, as she had been heavily burnt before from the apartment fire she had suffered through.

It didn't take long for Arty to snap out of it and realize what she must do for her to pass this test of the last task she's in. She knew that even though these two scenes is possible for her in the future to face against, she will have to fight through it, and when it does, she will have to accept her fate, no matter how much it hurts her because she is determined to see this through, whether the scenes she had seen will come true or not.

Somehow like in a fast instant motion, the fog cleared away as soon as Arty had seen this and made her self-decisions about it herself, and she didn't know what's going on until there were loud noises of joyous shouts and cheers towards her.

She turned around and was staring stunned at the incoming freedom fighters running at her and were giving her a group welcome and hugs and congratulations, that it didn't take long for her to realize that she had done it. She passed her last task and test.

The leader of the freedom fighters was the last person to come behind the group and he was smiling proudly at her that she had passed and had proven her worth among them.

As Arty took in so many praises and congratulations at her from the others, she was very glad that she somehow managed to finish the third and last task, the test of spirit and has proven herself worthy to keep staying and living with the group of freedom fighters. She was surprised herself that she didn't realize that when she was at the last task, the time seemed to have gone so fast already and she had passed it easily of it.

Now she had to be ready when the time comes that she needs to go and retrieve the Fiery Blade and pass the Trinity Goddess' trials and prove herself worthy to be chosen as the magical weapon's wielder. She wondered what's in store for her in the future when that very day comes to her.

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