Chapter 8: Testimony Of Will

Kaito continued to pick up the rocks, seemingly unbothered by the absence of the wooden knight. Even as time ticked down slowly, his smirk never dimmed. Eventually Kaito gathered enough rocks, just enough to not slow him down as he ran. The young man slowly stood up and let out a sigh while looking at the Great ElderWood forest with a sigh.

The young man's smirk dimmed into a soft smile as he began thinking of the possibilities and ways to get to the center. Reluctantly, Kaito raised his leg and stepped forward, he reached into his pocket and retrieved one of the rocks he had recently picked up.

The young man sighed while slowly approaching the forest, he clenched his fists and looked at the grayish trees before him. With another sigh, Kaito lifted his hand and hurled the rock towards one of the trees furthest away from him. 

'Alright, forget it! I want to do this now!'

Kaito didn't have a reason to hurry, it's not like anything waited for him at home. But that was precisely why he was in such a rush to finish the trial. If he won and became one of the Enlightened, he could enter the academy and prepare for his second trial. He didn't have much to lose, but he had so much to gain.

Kaito gritted his teeth and rushed towards the forest. Right before the rock he had thrown earlier hit the tree, a wooden blade deflected it. It was the wooden Knight. Kaito reached into his pockets and threw multiple rocks at once, each one aimed at different trees. The fire in the knight's eyes lit up, making them visible from the visor of its wooden helmet. 

The young man shuddered as he ran with all his might, rushing deeper into the forest while throwing multiple rocks towards every tree. The knight rushed towards the trajectory of each rock and deflected them. It was so desperate to not let a single scratch reach any of the gray trees.

'Crap! Crap! Crap! I'll run out soon if I don't make any distance!'

Just as the young man kept running and throwing the rocks, each one was deflected with relative ease. Until it wasn't, the wooden knight couldn't reach the rock that Kaito threw at the tree before him. 

Once the rock collided with the tree the knight clutched its chest, momentarily stopping. That was all the time Kaito needed. Swiftly he maneuvered through the trees and bushes while gaining a great amount of distance between the creature and himself.

The young man's heart raced nonstop, his legs felt weak, he was out of breath and on the verge of collapsing. Yet for some reason the young man didn't. Even while his legs felt so weak. He was tired, so tired, and yet he continued to run. 

'Come on you idiot, this is your plan! Come on, move those scrawny legs of yours faster! I can do this!'

Kaito gritted his teeth while hurling the rocks at multiple different trees, his breath was ragged and each step left him more drained than the last. He was almost at the verge of collapsing, crumbling and letting himself be attacked by that fearsome knight. But he did not, instead he kept running, pushing himself far past the limits of his frail and abused body. 

Every action he made only brought him more pain, his speed began to decrease, he was slowing down. Kaito's eyes began to water, tears of frustration threatening to spill from them.

The knight was already catching up, Kaito had failed in hitting another tree, the wooden knight seemed to take guarding the trees more seriously after being brought to its knees briefly. Now, the knight was almost upon Kaito, slashing at the rocks before they could even make it halfway to any tree. Eventually the knight did a somersault and landed gracefully before the frail young man. 

The young man staggered back at the display and gritted his teeth, tears finally began slowly streaming down his face. Kaito grabbed the remaining 6 rocks he had and threw one at the tree furthest away from him. The knight seemed to look at the young man with something that seemed to look like... pity...? No, maybe it was amusement, or contempt at his pathetic attempts.

'Damn it all! You piece of trash leave me alone, don't look at me like that!'

The knight threw itself forward to slash the pebble before it could reach the tree, however by then the young man had already dashed once more. The wooden Knight tilted its head and followed after him. 

Kaito grabbed yet another rock and threw it at the tree furthest to his left. The young man almost tripped while trying to throw the rock but managed to balance himself. As tears continued to flow down the dirty face of the young man, he threw the rock with all his might.

However to the young man's utter shock and horror the rock was cut in half by a wooden blade. Then he was met by a hard and cold fist connecting with his back. Kaito had no time to react, he was too slow, too weak, this fight was out of his league to begin with. As the blow connected, Kaito was sent flying forward, his vision blurred, immeasurable amounts of pain consumed him. 

'No!'

The pain didn't allow for any more thoughts, he was thrown so far his body collided with a marble statue, ricocheting off of the statue, Kaito's body fell atop of an altar right before the statue.

His body was damaged severely, no thoughts could form within his mind. His spin seemed to have been broken, not crushed by the blow. It was performed by a creature many ranks above him after all. Blood began to seep out from the young man's back, bone penetrating his skin. The young frail man began to cough up blood atop of the altar. As Kaito's blood began to cover the altar and slowly drip onto the cold marble ground he heard footsteps. His vision was too blurry to decipher the identity of the figure approaching him, his hearing obstructed by loud ringing. The young man found himself wanting to laugh and cry. 

There was no need for him to decipher the identity of who was before him, he already knew what creature was approaching him, it was the wretched knight. Right before the young man could pass out and succumb to his wounds, a soothing and familiar voice whispered into his ear. The voice was so melodious, so magical, as if calming him down as he began his eternal slumber.

[Congratulations, Warrior of Mankind, you have completed the trial].

[Your body is being repaired, you are being transported into the judgement room].

[Your will is being tested].

After hearing these words, Kaito's soul felt at ease. He slowly closed his eyes and everything went dark. A few moments later, the young man had opened his eyes. He was now in a pure white void. Before he could question anything he once again felt something whisper into his ear as words began materializing before him.

[Your will is admirable, the Gods look down upon you but do not extend their blessing. The Gods are displeased with your performance, you have not received a blessing from the gods].

'Really? Really?! It wasn't grand enough for you bastards?! I'm sorry I didn't meet your ridiculous expectations!'

Once more Kaito found himself wanting to cry and laugh all he possibly could. It was just too damn funny, perhaps it was his attribute, perhaps it was his pathetic death. He didn't care, it didn't matter after all. However once the voice continued and more words began forming before him, his eyes widened.

[The Demon of Knowledge acknowledges your despair, you have been bestowed with an unauthorized blessing].

Kaito's eyes widened in utter shock. He didn't know whether to be happy or confused.

'Why is it unauthorized? Who is the Demon of Knowledge?'

The young man didn't get time to ponder or check the details of his blessing because the white void began to shake, the world seeming as if it was about to collapse on itself as Kaito stared at the words forming before him in shock, at that moment he heard another whisper in his ear, this one slightly more hurried].

[The Gods stir in outrage and express their displeasure, preparing to take action].

[Your trial has been ended abruptly by the Demon of Knowledge, stop dreaming Warrior of Mankind. It is time for you to return to your world].