Trial of the Forgotten – Blood of the Basilisk

Chapter 11: Trial of the Forgotten – Blood of the Basilisk

Scene One: Fractures in the Earth, Fractures in the Team

Deep within the changing corridors of the Simulated Wilderness Labyrinth, Evan's team pushed forward in silence.

The shrine they left behind hadn't stopped humming.

Alaric's spells flickered weaker. Naelle complained of headaches. Even Nex remained unnervingly still—coiled close to Evan's feet, tongue never flicking.

Cassia scanned the walls. "The path's twisting again. That's the third time in an hour. This place is warping."

Silva crouched beside a puddle—what should have been water shimmered like liquid silver. "We're being redirected."

Evan finally spoke. "Something wants us deeper."

"Then we leave," Naelle snapped. "You heard what Ashven said—this is an observation test. Not suicide."

Evan looked at her, quiet and cold. "You can go. But this path isn't part of the trial. It's meant for me."

Cassia frowned. "You're not seriously suggesting we split up."

"I'm not suggesting anything," Evan said, already walking forward.

And like planets drawn by unseen gravity, they followed.

Scene Two: Gareth's Descent

Elsewhere in the labyrinth, Gareth Ironfang stared at the strange beast egg left behind by the vanished student.

It pulsed.

Not with life. With hunger.

The mark on Gareth's wrist darkened.

"You're not afraid, are you?" a voice whispered in his mind. A voice not his own. "You've always known you were meant for more than them. More than the nobles. More than the Rochel boy."

Gareth dropped to his knees, sweating, clutching his temples. His beast—a flame-touched boar—whimpered and backed away.

"Feed me… and I will grant you power. One taste. One bond."

He didn't resist.

He touched the egg.

And something from outside the labyrinth—from beyond this world—reached back.

Scene Three: Clash of Rivals – Evan vs. Gareth Begins

Two hours later, as paths twisted and fate closed the gap, Team 9 ran straight into Gareth's team at a collapsed cavern.

But something was wrong.

Gareth's eyes glowed red-gold. His armor was cracking. And his beast… wasn't the boar anymore.

It was a malformed chimera—half-boar, half-snake, half-shadow. Its growl echoed like a broken instrument.

Cassia drew her sword. "Gareth… what happened to you?"

He just smiled. "Finally got rid of the training wheels. You wouldn't understand."

Silva's eyes narrowed. "That's not a beast from Aflety's registry."

"It's not from here at all," Evan murmured.

Gareth's gaze snapped to him.

"Rochel. Come prove your bloodline matters. Or are you just another pretty heir hiding behind a myth?"

Without warning—he charged.

Evan barely dodged, Nex hissing in perfect sync. The corrupted chimera lunged at Silva, who cast three illusion wards before it shattered through the last.

Alaric shouted, "He's berserking! That thing's feeding off his stamina and sanity—!"

Cassia gritted her teeth. "We take it down now, before Gareth loses himself."

But Evan… stepped forward, alone.

"No."

He pulled off his gloves, revealing a faint mark on his left palm—coiling serpent fangs wreathed in blue-black light.

Nex raised his head.

The Basilisk's Aspect awakened.

Scene Four: Awakening the Blood

Time slowed.

Evan breathed in.

The corruption within Gareth's beast shimmered—tainted energy, mixed with something ancient.

Nex hissed—and for the first time, his voice rang in every beast nearby.

A domain pulse.

Even Cassia's Phoenix-Fang shuddered.

Silva stared wide-eyed. "…He's asserting domain over other beasts. That's not just Divine Beast behavior. That's Bloodline Authority."

Nex uncoiled, his scales glowing with dark ripples as he opened his mouth—

And spoke.

Not with words. With will.

Gareth's beast howled and convulsed.

"You are beneath us. Cease."

The chimera froze—locked mid-attack—before collapsing into black mist. Gareth dropped with it, unconscious.

The mark on his wrist shattered like glass.

Evan stepped over him.

Not victorious.

Not smug.

Just colder than ever.

And deep within the cavern's walls… the serpent shrine pulsed again.

Scene Five: The Watching One

From the highest shadowed dome of Aflety's surveillance chamber, Professor Gawain stood alone, observing.

His ancient falcon beast flared its wings once.

"A Basilisk's voice… heard across bonded channels. That hasn't happened since the Serpent War."

Behind him, a masked figure in student robes approached silently.

"You saw what he did," the figure said. "Shall we make contact?"

Gawain did not turn. "Not yet. The serpent tests its own kind. And the Black Nest has already moved too soon."

The figure lowered their head.

"What if he remembers?"

Gawain's gaze sharpened.

"Then the gods themselves will regret awakening him."

Evan sat in silence beside the defeated Gareth.

The corrupted beast was gone—but the mark it left remained in the air like a stain. Even now, Gareth's breathing was shallow, his body trembling from backlash. Nex, though calm, stared toward the jagged wall nearby where glowing runes began to shimmer into life.

The serpent shrine was awakening again.

Cassia stepped forward warily. "Why is it doing that now?"

Evan approached the runes, reaching out instinctively. As his fingers brushed the stone, an invisible pulse rushed out from the wall like a heartbeat.

"Heir of scaled fate… kneel."

The words weren't in his ears.

They rang in his soul.

The world shifted.

Scene Two: The Basilisk Memory

In an instant, Evan stood in another place.

Dark skies.

Burning lands.

A mountain range that writhed like serpents. And atop a shattered tower of bones, a colossal creature coiled, taller than cities, older than empires.

The Serpent King.

Its voice thundered like rivers flooding the void.

"They betrayed us… burned our eggs… sealed our kin in stone."

"But a fragment lived."

"And through you… that fragment remembers."

Evan stood frozen as images flashed—wars of beasts, gods falling, serpents tearing through dragon hordes.

He saw Nex, smaller, younger, coiling around a burning egg. A baby Basilisk.

"You are not just my tamer, Evan Rochel."

"You are my shadow. My vessel. My vengeance."

"When you bleed, I awaken."

Then the world shattered—

And he awoke back in the labyrinth, gasping, Cassia gripping his shoulder to keep him from falling.

Silva stared at him. "What… did you see?"

Evan stood.

His eyes now glowed faintly with basilisk gold.

"I saw a memory that wasn't mine."

"And a warning—one the Nest already knows."

Scene Three: The First Betrayal

Back in one of the lower labyrinth wings, Silva Elowen's younger sister, Celise, part of a different team, was cornered by what she thought was a fellow student.

The figure leaned close, whispering with a smile.

"You shouldn't have used that holy ward. The Nest doesn't like light."

And then the illusion dropped.

A Black Nest infiltrator, masked in crimson bone, struck fast.

Celise cried out—her beast leaping to defend her—but it was already too late. A curse mark was etched on her shoulder, glowing like coal.

The infiltrator vanished just as Silva's tracking mark flared.

Her blood ran cold.

"Sister."

Scene Four: A Message from the Nest

That night, around the flickering firelight in a temporary encampment, Evan's team rested—though the air was heavy with tension.

Cassia spoke first. "What happened with Gareth… that wasn't just power. It was possession."

Naelle muttered, "Beasts shouldn't act like that unless corrupted by a God Fragment or Void Seed."

Silva stood alone, silent, holding a cracked pendant—Celise's.

A moment later, a scroll burst into flame mid-air, landing at Evan's feet.

He opened it.

There were no words.

Just a drawing—an image of Nex's coiled form—surrounded by black thorned chains.

And at the bottom, the sigil of The Black Nest: a hollow egg cracked from within, a serpent's eye staring out.

Evan crushed the scroll.

"They're not after the school.

They're after what's beneath it."

"And they think Nex… is the key."

Scene One: Into the Forbidden

The next morning, before the others awoke, Evan stood at the edge of a dark spiral path hidden behind the shrine wall—recently revealed after his bloodline had touched the runes.

Only Silva joined him.

She said nothing, merely nodding before stepping into the dark beside him. Her beast, a sapphire-winged Wyrm named Velthera, slithered close, its luminous eyes flicking in all directions.

Cassia had wanted to come. Alaric offered to track. Even Nex had growled in warning.

But this path… this was serpent-bound. Only the cursed and the chosen could walk it.

They descended.

Step after step, breath tightening, the air growing colder, until all light disappeared. The world was nothing but black rock and whispering stone.

And then—

They arrived.

Scene Two: The Sealed Chamber

Before them lay a circular vault, its walls carved with ancient beast-script, runes from the early imperial era—before even the founding of Aflety.

At the center stood a massive petrified serpent skull, easily the size of a small house, its eyes socketed with moonstone orbs that pulsed faintly.

Silva whispered, "Is this… the original Basilisk?"

Evan approached the skull. Nex slithered from his shoulder and bowed, touching his head to the stone.

Suddenly, runes flared.

A ghostly projection flickered into being: a young girl with pale silver hair and serpent tattoos along her arms. She floated above the skull, eyes closed.

"If you see this, then blood still remembers."

"This academy was founded atop a sealed tomb. The first beast god we buried here… was not dead."

Silva froze. "A Beast God?"

"The Basilisk King fell here during the Serpent Rebellion. But only his body died. His soul splintered, scattered into fragments to avoid the gods' purge."

"Aflety was built to contain what remained… and to find the vessel who would one day awaken him."

The projection turned directly to Evan, even though she was long dead.

"Rochel blood. You are his vessel. But you are not alone."

"Others will rise—those corrupted by the Nest, those cursed by the void, those loyal to the old serpent order."

"You must decide whether to revive the king… or become him."

The image faded.

Scene Three: Silva's Truth

They left the chamber in silence.

But halfway up the spiral path, Silva finally stopped. Her voice was quiet, almost shaking.

"Evan… if Celise is caught in this—if the Nest used her as bait, I…"

He turned to her. "You're not alone."

She looked at him—eyes soft for a moment, the first crack in her usual composure.

"Do you think Nex will become him? The king?"

Evan looked toward the top of the stairs, to where faint light shone.

"I don't know."

He placed a hand on Nex's scaled head.

"But I'll choose his path. Not the other way around."

Silva smiled faintly.

"Let's find my sister."

Scene Four: A New Threat Awakens

Far above, on the surface layer of the labyrinth, Cassia, Naelle, and Alaric were surrounded by several injured students. One boy lay unconscious—skin pale, breathing rapid.

Naelle knelt beside him, checking his pulse. "He's been cursed."

Cassia examined the wound.

A serpent bite.

But no beast in the academy's registry matched that venom pattern.

Alaric stood quickly. "Where's Silva? Where's Evan?"

Cassia turned toward the east wing.

"…They already knew."

Scene Five: The Masked Student Moves

Atop a high cavern balcony, the Black Nest infiltrator watched through a bone-crafted spyglass.

The shrine had reacted.

The chamber had opened.

And the vessel had awakened.

The masked figure opened a scroll lined with beast-hide glyphs.

"Phase Two begins."

Behind them, an injured student lay bleeding—bound by illusion spells, stolen uniform torn.

The real Silva had never returned from her last mission.

The one beside Evan was an impostor.

Scene One: Return with a Stranger

Evan and the girl who looked like Silva emerged from the lower spiral just as the artificial sunstone ceiling of the labyrinth flickered—Aflety's daylight simulation dimming to evening hues.

Waiting for them were Cassia, Alaric, and Naelle, their expressions taut.

Cassia was the first to step forward. "You're back. But where's Silva?"

The girl beside Evan tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Cassia's hand drifted subtly to her wand. "The tracking rune we placed on her… was found far from here."

Naelle stepped up beside her. "And we found someone drained of mana in the west wing. Their blood magic signature matches yours, 'Silva.' Explain that."

Evan blinked, glancing at the girl beside him—who now smiled too slowly, too coldly.

"…You're not her."

The illusion shimmered—subtle, rippling like heated air—and in an instant, the figure standing beside Evan morphed.

Gone were Silva's features. In her place was a young man in crimson robes, bearing the symbol of The Black Nest—the cracked egg and serpent eye.

"You're sharp, vessel of the King."

He threw a vial of black smoke, and the clearing exploded in cursed miasma.

Scene Two: Illusion Break

Alaric raised his enchanted fan and blew a gust of sacred wind, dispelling the poison just in time.

Evan lunged through it with Nex surging forward like a coiled whip, but the infiltrator moved like liquid shadow, dodging every strike.

"You're early," the infiltrator hissed. "The King's power wasn't meant to awaken so soon."

Cassia struck with a bolt of focused light, forcing him back.

Evan pressed forward, fury flashing in his voice. "Where's the real Silva?"

The Black Nest agent gave a twisted grin. "With the serpents. Where all old gods sleep."

But then his grin faltered.

Behind Evan, Nex changed.

The runes on his body flared violet. His eyes narrowed. And from the darkness of the cave wall, something responded—

A second aura. Ancient. Sleeping. And hungry.

Nex roared—not a normal roar, but something deeper. Primal. Echoing.

For a brief second, a phantom Basilisk's head appeared behind him, larger than any present beast.

The infiltrator staggered.

"You're already syncing—?! No… It's too soon!"

He turned to run, but Evan was faster. One command was enough.

"Bind."

Nex's scales twisted into serpentine chains that shot forward and coiled around the agent's legs.

But before they could finish, the man bit down on a black tooth hidden in his cheek.

A curse-escape rune exploded.

Only smoke remained.

Scene Three: A Fragment Stirring

Silence returned to the cave.

Cassia exhaled, dropping to one knee. "That wasn't just an illusion… it was a blood double. They stole her mana signature."

Naelle nodded grimly. "And they wanted Evan isolated."

Alaric walked up beside Nex, who now lay curled in a protective stance, his body faintly glowing.

Evan approached him slowly. "Nex…"

But something responded inside him.

Not Nex. Something older.

"Let them come."

"I am not yet whole… but I remember pain."

"And I will devour it."

Evan staggered. The phantom voice vanished.

He steadied himself with a deep breath.

Nex was evolving.

But not just in power—something was waking inside him.

Scene Four: Silva's Message

That night, while the others rested at the upper camp, Evan stepped outside the warded perimeter and opened a message crystal.

To his surprise, it flared with Silva's voice—weak, but still sharp.

"Evan. If you get this, I've been captured.

They're trying to use me as a conduit—some kind of ritual in the deeper zone.

Don't trust anyone who acts like me. Not even your own beast.

They're trying to trigger his true bloodline.

Please… hurry."

The crystal burned out.

And Evan, for a long moment, just stared into the darkness.

"The trials aren't over," he muttered.

"They've only just begun."

[End of Chapter 11]