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Chapter 102: Test Of Courage Part One

Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Everyone looked at the round object that had appeared in awe. Some knew what this object was and others did not. Alicia was one of the ones who did not know what the object was used for or what it had to do with the test. Luckily the knight in light leather armor did not make her wait in anticipation. "This object is called, Illusion World. It creates a different scenario for each person who steps inside. Everything in this Illusion world will seem real! If you die within the Illusion world you will be ejected out. Remember failure means you fail the test. Only the one hundred who pass all seven tests with the highest scores will become squires. I wish you all good luck!"

Once the knight in light leather armor finished speaking he waved his hand and two squires came walking forward. One of them, a young man around seventeen years old, shouted out: "Please form a line and one by one enter the Illusion World."

"Young Miss, from what I understand once you enter you will be told what the scenario is about. After that it lets you complete the scenario in whichever way you think is best. These tests do not just test your ability to follow the seven virtues but also your decision making skills. It is said that every test is different and no one will ever have the same scenario. Making it impossible to pass along information on how to complete each scenario." Rose explained.

"If that is the case I hope all four of us can pass." Alicia wondered what was in store for her when she entered. The first test was a test of courage so it might have something to do with battle or it could be something completely different.

"Alicia what do I do if I fail!?" Starla suddenly pulled on Alicia's sleeve. Her eyes filled with worry.

Alicia turned and looked at Starla who appeared to be beyond nervous. She took Starla's hand and tried to console her. "Whether you fail or not does not matter. I will talk to my father and make sure you can stay by my side either way. But I have a feeling that you will pass with flying colors. So try your best!"

Starla felt a bit of relief as she took a deep breath. "Your right. I will do my best! It's just that if I fail I have a feeling that your father will put me through some inhumane training that will most likely kill me. " This was the real reason for her nervousness!

Alicia let out a laugh but she did not deny it. King Augustus as Berlin, had put her through very tough training. But as she thought about it more there was one solid conclusion that Alicia was sure of. "Starla, I do not think it matters whether we pass or not. Father will definitely put us all through rigorous training no matter what the outcome is."

This statement made the other three girls pale. They were lucky that King Augustus had finally allowed them to take their weights off. They could not imagine what they would need to wear next after the squire's test.

Time passed by quickly and it was finally Alicia's turn to enter the Illusion World. "Just stick your hand on to the Illusion World and it will bring you in." The young squire who stood to the side directed.

Alicia nodded her head and placed her hand on the Illusion world. The feeling in her hand was as if she was placing her hand on a round ball of gelatin. Her hand had only just touched the Illusion world for a few seconds when everything went white and she felt as if her whole body was being sucked into a vacuum. When she finally opened her eyes again. She found herself in an unfamiliar room.

Alicia looked around and saw that the room was quite dirty. All the wooden furniture was old and falling apart. Alicia sat up and felt a little strange. She suddenly felt that her line of sight seemed a bit higher. She looked down at her hands to find that they were much bigger than before. These hands showed no hint of using a sword for years on end. They were tanned, rough, and dirty, but they did not have a single callus in the right spot. These hands of hers did not have any sign of ever wielding a sword. Alicia looked down at herself to discover she was not even wearing the same clothes as before. When she entered the Illusion world she had on leather armor and metal plating. Now she was wearing a long dirty shirt that seemed to have been white at some point but now was grey.

The bed she laid on was made of straw that was covered by a thin sheet. So thin that the straw was poking through it. There was also a thin blank as well but it did little to keep one warm. What surprised Alicia the most was the two small bulges on her chest. This alone told Alicia that this was no longer her body. This point actually scared Alicia. As someone who had already died once, to suddenly find your body had changed once again was a scary thing. Because of this sudden change, Alicia's breathing became erratic. She quickly got out of bed and opened the window as she did her best to try to catch her breath. The cold air from outside pushed past Alicia's face somewhat calming her nerves. "Calm down Alicia this is just an illusion set up for the test!" Alica muttered to herself. She had never expected that the Illusion World would be so real to the point that it would make you a different person altogether.

Chapter 103: Test Of Courage Part Two

Phantasia: The Princess Knight

After taking a few minutes to calm down Alicia finally felt the cold of the air sinking in. She quickly closed the window and turned around. "There was supposed to be some kind of explanation of what we are supposed to do but I have not heard anything yet..."

While Alicia was lost in thought as she tried to figure out what was going on a knock came on the door. "Rachel! Are you not up yet!? Come out here quickly and help me clean! Otherwise, the Countess will have you kneeling out in the yard again or worse!"

"Huh? Oh, I will be right out!" Alicia answered. Not sure what was going on. But she did understand one thing. She was a servant and it seems that she gets into trouble with this Countess person a lot.

Alicia looked around the room and found a long grey skirt hanging on the wall. She walked over and stripped off her nightwear and put the skirt on. She also put on a pair of boots that were sitting near the door. When she was done she exited the room to see a young girl who was a little shorter than herself standing anxiously outside the door. "Rachel! Finally, you came out! Quickly or we will both be in trouble!" The young girl grabbed Alicia's hand and pulled her along heading down the hall and up a set of stairs.

When they got to the top of the stairs there was a rickety old door that led outside. Alicia had noticed that as she walked down the hall with the young girl there were many other rooms here. The young girl pushed the door open and pulled Alicia outside with her. The cold wind pierced through their clothing that was definitely not made for this kind of weather. Looking back Alicia saw that the place they had just exited from was only a small building standing above the ground. It seemed that the servant quarters were situated underground.

Lost In thought Alicia came to when she felt something being shoved into her hands. She looked down to see an old shovel in her hands. "We have to quickly clear this snow or else the Countess will punish us both!" The young girl said as she started to shovel the snow around them. The girl shoveled out a large space before stopping to look over at Alicia. "Rachel what are you doing help me!"

Hearing the young girl yell over to her once again Alicia finally snapped out of her daze and replied: "Ah! Yeah sorry!" Before quickly going to work.

Alicia could tell that it was still early morning. The sun had yet to really make an entrance and only the light that peered over the horizon gave enough light to see what they were doing. The two continued to shovel the snow, clearing out a path from each entrance and connecting them to allow the other servants to go about their jobs with ease. As Alicia worked, she kept trying to figure out what her purpose was during this time. To her, it seemed as if hours had passed by but she was not sure if that was the case in the real world. She had never once received any information on what she needed to accomplish in order to pass this test. This point was really starting to bother Alicia.

A few things that she did find out was that the girl next to her was named Beth. Beth was the same age as her in this Illusion which was fifteen. The Countess's name was Countess Eleanor Covett. It was said that the Countess was not a good human being at all. She would beat and punish servants for the littlest things. There were even a few who had lost their lives from being thrown to the dogs. Those that were whipped had to tend to their wounds at night and still wake up early the next morning to work.

The servants under the Countess were all bought from a slave trader. Beth and Alicia were actually from the same place before their country was riddled with war. The two were good friends since childhood so they both had escaped together hoping to find work in a new land to take care of themselves. But who would have thought that as soon as they crossed the border they were kidnapped and shoved into a cage? Luckily they were both bought by the same person so that they could stay together.

While Alicia was poking and prodding Beth was wondering if something had happened to Rachel's brain since she seemed to have "forgotten many things". Servants were only allowed one meal a day. Which they got to have at night. This was something that Alicia frowned upon since they had to spend an entire day doing manual labor. Alicia could feel her stomach growling only after working for a few hours. Having to work all day without any food was a very hard thing to do.

After a full day's worth of work, Alicia walked into her small room and closed the door. She felt exhausted all over. She walked over to the bed and sat down trying to piece together everything she learned. "If I am not wrong this scenario is meant to save these servants from their harsh life. Which would mean I need to have the courage to stand up and go against the countess. This would be a dumb move for someone with no backing or noble rank..."

--

While Alicia was pondering her purpose in her scenario the others were also having similar experiences. Standing outside the Illusion World was King Augustus, his eyes trained on to the white sphere in front of him with his hands behind his back, and next to him was the knight in light leather armor. "Your majesty this isn't normal! Every year we give some hints on how to pass the test so that they do not get confused. But this year..."

"This year is different. These kids need to understand their surroundings and figure out the situation they are in. If they can not figure this much out on their own then we do not need them in our ranks! Becoming a knight will put one in many situations where they will have to figure out what is going on. Only by finding the clues at hand and piecing them all together will they be able to survive long into the future! " King Augustus explained.

"Well, this I can not deny... But that little girl, Alicia's tests… You set the test to max difficulty! On top of that, there were three other girls who got medium difficulty!" The Knight in light leather complained. He did not understand why these girls were being tried so unfairly. He could only guess that these girls had somehow angered the king and were being punished!

"Do not worry they will be fine! Those four girls are special."