Chapter 6: Alaric

[ Congratulation, the number of participants has reached the threshold to enter the next phase of the trial. Please refrain from acting any further. Going against the rules will be punished based on severity.

Starting number of participants: 9, 876, 543, 210

Current number of participants: 7, 625, 597, 484

Comment: Quite an interesting show, not gonna lie. ]

[ For the next phase of the trial, please move towards the marked location. ]

The green screen vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, leaving behind a faint hum in the air. Bittu blinked, his mind struggling to process what he'd just seen—and felt. The overwhelming sense of direction clamped down on him like a vice, a magnetic pull toward the mountain. He staggered, his knees buckling, as the world seemed to tilt. When he looked up, the man behind him was gone.

But not alone.

A shadow detached itself from the treeline—tall, broad-shouldered, moving with the fluid grace of a predator. The man's coat billowed like smoke, and his laughter rang out, warm and dissonant against the carnage. "Well, well," he drawled, clapping slowly as he stepped into the crimson-stained light. "Aren't you two a pair of lost puppies?"

When Leonardo saw the newcomer and remembered what Bittu looked like a second ago, he knew who had been following him all this while. Leonardo's face hardened as restrained words escaped his mouth, "Were you the one watching me?"

Alaric grinned, all teeth, his hands raised in mock surrender. "Darling, If I were merely a spectator, I'd have etched runes into the bark and sipped wine instead" He flicked a glance at Bittu, eyes sharp behind silver-rimmed spectacles. "And you—" He paused, tilting his head. "—are interesting .

Bittu's throat tightened. "Who are you?"

"The name's Alaric," he said, bowing with a flourish. "And before you ask—yes, I know about the lakes, the bodies, the artistic symbolism." His grin faltered, just for a heartbeat. "Also, the trial. The countdown. The… rules."

Before he could continue, within a blink of an eye, a dagger appeared just inches away from the rough skin near his neck. Alaric with his hands clutching Leonard's hand looked right into his eyes and said in a calm tone, "If not for the rules, you would be in a worse condition than the corpses you left all around the area."

Leonardo did not give a damn about this guy, he wanted to kill, so tried. Put all his focus on a chance to land a lethal strike.

The air was thick with tension. Leonardo's blade hovered inches from Alaric's throat, the latter grinning like a wolf baring its teeth. Bittu's breath hitched. The mountain's pull yanked at his bones, but the violence in front of him demanded attention.

"Enough!" Bittu stepped forward, hands raised. His voice cracked, but the desperation in it cut through the hostility. "This isn't the time. You know it isn't."

Even though Bittu was unsure of what exactly was the situation he was in, his years of experience in his dreams and with his common sense, he could put two and two together and conclude that, he had to follow as the screen said. The two before him reinforced his thoughts.

Alaric arched a brow, amused. "Brave little rabbit, aren't you?"

Leonardo snarled, blade still steady. "Move, and I'll—"

"You'll what ?" Bittu snapped, surprising himself. His hands trembled, but he stood his ground. "Kill him? Here? With that… that thing out there?" He gestured wildly at the forest, where the shadows seemed to writhe. "You felt it too. The call. The rules. If we fight now, we're dead before sunrise!"

Silence. Alaric's grin widened. "Sensible. And refreshingly dramatic."

Leonardo's eyes burned, but his dagger lowered. "This isn't over," he growled, stepping back.

"Pity," Alaric sighed, adjusting his coat. "I do love a good show."

Bittu exhaled; knees weak. "We need to move. Now."

The trek was a discordance of unspoken threats and brittle truces. Alaric hummed while tossing Leonardo's journal between his hands like a taunt. Leonardo stalked ahead, every one of his muscles strained, while Bittu walked the line between them, a human buffer.

"The river's just beyond," Alaric said, pausing at a curtain of ivy. He glanced back, eyes glinting. "Shall we, gentlemen?"

Leonardo lunged, but Bittu caught his arm. "Stop! Both of you!" His voice broke, raw and pleading. "You want answers? Fine. But if you fight here, whatever's watching us wins. You think the trial brought us together by accident?"

Alaric stilled, studying Bittu with newfound interest. "Shrewd. For a shadow."

"Then let's go," Bittu insisted, ignoring the jab. "If the trial wants us dead, it'll happen. But if not…" He swallowed. "Maybe we're supposed to fix this. Together."

Leonardo's glare softened, just slightly. Alaric chuckled. "Ugh, fine. But only because you're both exquisitely dull when you're depressed."

The screen directing them told them to go behind the waterfall, that came floating down from the top of the rocky mountain. Following the path they did just that.

The den was colder than winter's breath. Symbols glowed on the walls—Leonardo's sigils, Alaric's handwriting scrawled beneath them in cryptic notes. Bittu shivered, the weight of the mountain pressing down.

Alaric lit a lantern, casting the room in gold. "Home," he declared, "is where the heart bleeds."

Leonardo's hand twitched toward his blade, but Bittu stepped between them, voice firm. "Rest. We talk at dawn."

Alaric flopped onto a bedroll, feigning a yawn. "Dream of numbers, boys. They're dying to meet you."

Bittu looking at the two felt a headache coming. They appeared to be like fire and water glaring at each other almost if it they would clash at the briefest moment his gaze left them.

He shook his head as his thoughts ran as he tried to make sense of what he had seen until this moment.

He was in a trial of some sort. Not just him, there were billions of people in a similar condition as him either willingly or not. Very dangerous, not everyone but quite a number of them. He could be killed at any moment. And all this was controlled by the green screen or the one behind it.

While thinking, he took a quick glance at the two beside him, when a question appeared in his mind…. Why were the two of them so powerful… powerful as in, they were so quick, so direct, so ruthless. He shuddered as some memories washed over him. Was it because they chose one of the options presented by the green screen right at the start? Or were they trained in some sort of art and techniques since childhood?

With the current situation he was in, his thoughts drifted towards the first options: they choose one of the options presented by the screen. As soon as he thought this, the screen appeared before his eyes once again.

[Please choose the path that you wish to take:

1. Aedrakar: Strength, survival, and grounding.

2. Ignara: Emotions, creativity, and desire.

3. Solvahr: Personal power and will.

4. Sylvaris: Love and connection.

5. Echolyn: Communication and truth.

6. Astravyn: Intuition and perception.

7. Lumivhar: Spirituality and unity.

NOTE: Only way to survival is the path that smooths your soul.]

"..."

Looking at the words again, he felt saddened. He could not even read the words, let alone understand them and choose one that would let him survive.

He glanced at the two, hesitant if he could put a question forward? Maybe if he even should? But, he needed to or else how would he thread the path forward if he could not even survive. At least he needed to find out what happened to him? He was killed so how was he brought here? Who was that guy? And what was this desire he was talking about?

However, he was speechless to find the two in an arm wrestling with full force without making the slightest sound. Looking at the two, he really could not figure out how, one of them could be a ruthless psychopath and the other a stalker who seemed to stalk this psychopath at least according to their words.

"Ahem..Ahem"

As if stuck by lightning, both of them froze for a second and sat opposite to each other, whistling as if they weren't just fighting at all.

Bittu hesitated for a second, but made up his mind and asked, "…How are you guys.. so powerful?"

As if he had stepped on a landmine, the cave dropped in an absolute silence. Both of them, with utmost seriousness, gazed at Bittu. Their thoughts unknown. As time passed, he felt suffocated. Simultaneously, a sudden feeling of danger began to rise in his heart. Before it could reach truly threating levels, he added quickly, "Did you guys choose the option presented to you by that green screen? Is that why you guys are so powerful?"

"..."

"..."

"Hahahahahahahaahaha….. Truly a daring but navie little rabbit." Alaric spoke but the same was not true for Leonardo. He was silent but his eyes were trying to read Bittu, as if trying to peer deep into his thoughts.

"…..", though Alaric was not one to stay silent, he spoke.