Strat of the Trials

Once again, the teenagers were gathered in a spacious hall, each one made to stand while they waited for an official to address them. 

Unlike two days ago when they had been easygoing and talkative, today it was different. The hall was eerily silent save for the sound of the rain outside. 

This was because today was the day of the trial. The trial had taken place on this exact day for the last couple of years so there was no reason to think it would be different this time. 

No one decided the date, it could not be pushed forward and it could not be avoided. Once this day came everyone would face their awakening forcefully. 

Now as for the reason everyone was so tense… the awakening trials were known to be brutal. It was said to be different for everyone but there was a universally known fact—

Surviving the trial was not easy. Each year throngs of eighteen year olds faced the trial and each year hundreds of young people would die. 

That was not the only problem associated with the trials. 

If you are to die during the trial, as though to make some sort of twisted compensation, any family you have that is younger than eighteen would receive your mark. 

Therefore becoming the next Marked. 

Sometimes that sibling would die as well and the mark would move the next. In theory, if each and every child were to keep failing the trial then the entire family save for those who were above 18 before the first trial would survive. 

There were already cases where this happened, an entire family wiped out by the trials. 

So although people saw awakening as a sure way to wealth and fame, it was not any less brutal. 

Some people today would be fighting not just for themselves, but for the sake of their siblings as well. 

The hall was relatively full so Ark had to strain himself to find who he was looking for. 

His eyes first met the girl he had run into on the first day. She seemed rather nervous but apart from that she was fine. 

It was not difficult to tell those whose parents were skilled Curse bearers. 

The dark haired girl, the one that had helped him out on their first day, was standing at the front of the crowd. She looked determined, completely unfazed by what was to befall them. 

Many people like her had been trained from a young age to prepare for the trials. They had been properly acclimated to what to expect in the trials and as such were more stalwart than the rest. 

It was only logical. Among everyone here, it seemed only he and a few others were perfectly fine. 

Ark had decided from the moment he realized what the mark meant that he was going to make the most out of it. 

It was the one shot he had if he wanted to live a fulfilling life and spending the last few days here had only served to strengthen his resolve. 

The food here was so amazing that it was hard to think people ate like this every day. Even the water was pleasant, it was far better than the rainwater he always drank. 

'I cannot fail.'

Because failure was worse than death. 

The man from their first day as well as the professor walked into the room just as Ark finished his internal musings. 

Just like the students, they too bore serious expressions that showed that they were on serious business today.

The younger man spoke first. 

"As you all know in a few moments the trial will automatically begin and you will be teleported to the trial site by the Archive."

"We have only witnessed six trials so far, yours being the seventh, so we have not gathered enough data on it yet, but there are a few things you should know."

"You cannot leave the trial without completing it. No one knows where you will be moved to, no one can save you when the trial starts!"

He then proceeded to roll up his sleeve revealing a thick scar that started from his arm and went deeper into his shirt triggering a gasp from the teenagers. 

"Whatever injury you receive in the trial will follow you to real life. If you lose an arm you will be one arm short here as well."

His eyes were firm as he spoke. 

"Do be careful…"

The old man gave a sideways glance at the man before stepping forward. 

"The trial is going to take some of your worst fears and use its own creative architecture to craft a trial for you…" The old man began. 

"Now I know some of you will be thinking this is entirely unfair but one conclusion we have arrived at over the years is that the trial is always fair no matter your nightmares."

There was a slight pause before he continued. 

"The punishment that has been placed on us is a cruel one. Till this day we do not know our sin and yet we must fight or be destroyed by the apocalypse."

"This is what makes the trials important, because without new curse bearers the world would sink into desolation."

He paused for a short moment, allowing his words to sink in. 

"Once the trial starts you will be faced with an obstacle that will require both your strength, wit and situation awareness to conquer."

"You must do everything in your power to survive. Remember that you are not only fighting for yourself but the millions of people that could have been saved by virtue of your awakening."

The two men then went on to explain various details about the trial and what would come after for those that would pass. 

The most important thing Ark picked was that, during the trial, there was a chance of them awakening a fragment of their curse. 

A curse was a unique ability that enabled curse bearers to fight against the apocalypse. Some people could command fire, others were swift while some were impervious to damage. 

Without the curse, it would be impossible to fight, let alone suppress the apocalypse beasts. 

After the trial, the now successful curse bearers would be assigned a class and a corresponding weapon based on their class.

The lecture continued for a few more minutes and then the time for the trial had finally come. 

"For the last six years, we have been plagued by the blight of the apocalypse and its beasts, losing millions in the process. You are the future of our nation, our hope at redemption. I wish you good luck!"

Just as he finished, as though they had perfectly timed that the trial would begin after the speech Ark suddenly felt dizzy. 

Everything around him seemed to change, at first he could still see those in front of him but then the image blurred into a mix of colours and shortly after, darkness overtook his vision. 

It felt as though his body was twisting, as though it was changing. His heart was pounding in his chest and then a feeling of weightlessness overtook him. 

That was when a sting of golden lines appeared in the darkness. 

[Initiating Synchronization…]

[Finding Match…]

[Match Found]

[Accessing Trial]

[Incursion Complete]

Incursion?' 

According to the professor, none of what the Archive was telling him was correct. It was entirely different. 

And why was it gold? The archive was meant to be blue…

'What is going on?'

Before he could wrap his head around the situation the darkness was chased away and he opened his eyes. 

"Where am I?"