Chapter 2: Madness
A faint sound of dripping could be heard inside the cave.
Sitting not far from his group of friends, Cedric was questioning the recent events in his mind.
'We were on our way to this cave… We took the information pamphlet from the quest board before we left. How could they have followed us?…. Siegward was scouting ahead.'
Looking from one teammate's face to the other, Cedric started narrowing down the suspects.
'Meifeng is too straightforward.. Siegward may be a clown but he's a trustworthy friend… Could it be Kenny? But why would he end up dead anyway. He would have known about the ambush.'
Looking at the last suspect currently sharing some of his jerky with the other teammates. His wound no longer there.
'Ivan's vitality is way too high, the wound is already gone. He just joined us a week ago. He's the only one who's thoughts I can't predict.'
"Hey Ced!, Want some of this jerky? It's honey glazed. You can't go wrong with honey glazed jerky man!"
Snapped awake from his reverie Cedric waves his hand in dismissal "No thanks Ivan. I'm not hungry."
A panicked expression appears on the earth mage's face. Ivan yells back "Man, I'm not taking no for an answer! You have to try this jerky. I'll be very sad if you don't taste this delicacy! Take a small piec-."
As Ivan was trying ceaselessly to persuade Cedric to try the jerky, A low growl echoed out from the darkness, a pair of amber colored eyes staring back at Ivan with a sinister gleam.
"NO. LEAVE. ME. ALONE."
"A-Ah, okay man. Suit yourself. Maan, having high regeneration sure brings an appetite."
Quickly averting his gaze from the scary fellow, Ivan turns to Siegward and Meifeng.
"Is he always this scary?"
"MMhm mm" Gulping down the piece of jerky he was chewing, Siegward repeatead:
"Nah, I believe he's just coping with the insanity of this trial in his own way. We were all warned that people go crazy in the third stage of the trial. Seeing all this death around us, having to kill other trainees to survive. It takes a toll on you man."
"A-ah I understand. Yeah, the third trial is quite scary. We've only had to face monsters before. Now, having to compete with others… "
Winking to Ivan, Siegward turns back to look at the spot his friend was sitting at.
'Cedric. What's going on inside of that head of yours…?'
Shaking his head, Cedric tries to get rid of the intrusive thoughts invading his mind.
'I should kill him. Ivan is a variable. GET. RID. OF. HIM'
'Sigh' lifting his head to look at the stalactites hanging off the cave's ceiling, Cedric hopelessly wraps his arms around his head.
'I'm going to break again. I don't want to hurt the others anymore. I should find a way to leave them once we finish the boss. I'll get my reward from Siegward later.'
Standing up, Cedric steps back into the dimly lit area his teammates were sitting at. Seeing Ivan is no longer injured and everyone is back to fighting shape, he states:
"Everyone looks rested enough. Let's go find the boss at the end of the cave and end this. I still have some stuff to take care of."
Looking at his teammates standing back up, Cedric catches a small whiff of an unknown origin.
'Huh, This smell. It's feels… familiar.'
Seeing everyone moving in deeper inside the cave, Cedric starts walking behind the pack.
The cave was large enough for all four of them to be able to walk together side by side, yet Cedric kept walking behind the group.
As the group kept advancing, a source of natural light started to appear in the form of blue colored veins running upon the wall's surface.
Cedric, deep in thought while observing his teammates.
'This smell couldn't have come from the outside. I felt it when Ivan passed me. Was it the jerky? I still can't put my finger on it.'
"Stop." Says Siegward.
Surprised by the sudden call, Ivan turns to the elf leading the pack "Huh? What happen-" raising his finger to Ivan's mouth, Meifeng quiets the confused trainee.
"Shush"
His visage illuminated by the blue light coming from the walls of the cave, Siegward's ears twitching about. As the twitching stops, Siegward turns to the group
"Around a hundred meters from here, someone's already fighting the boss at the end of the cave. Let's hurry. I want to see what information we can gather on the way he fights."
Breaking out in a sprint, the group started running at a fast pace towards the location of the supposed location of the people currently embroiled in a fight against their target.
"Wait up!" yells Ivan from the back, trying to convince the group to slow down
"Why hurry!? We're so close already. Let's just take our time. I still feel exhausted from the previous fight."
Turning to the flustered trainee, Siegward states in a heavy tone "Are you absolutely sure you passed the first and second trials? How did you even end up on this level with such a weak mindset. The opportunity is there-" swinging his arm, to indicate their target location, Siegward continues
"And you're telling me to just wait around a bit so that you could rest? There's no rest in the third trial. If the others manage to complete this floor before us, there is no point in being here!"
Shivering, Ivan barely manages to give a reply "a-alright.. Let's go. I-Sigh. I'm sorry for slowing you down."
Seeing sweat starting to appear on Siegward's face, Ivan tries to hold back a grin.
As they start running again, Ivan mutters in a hushed tone "It's working."
Feeling a chill run down his spine, Ivan turns his head to the side and sees Cedric running very close to him, with cold, piercing eyes fixed upon him, making Ivan feel as if Cedric is peering into his very soul.
"What are you grinning for? Mind sharing?"
"I-It's nothing. Just remembering some past experiences, is all."
While replying to Cedric, Ivan was thinking 'This fucking bastard keeps ruining my plans. I'm going to have to get rid of him some other way.'
'Don't you worry Cedric. Irhan will soon be here. I won't have to worry about you for long.'
'SHIT'
Cursing in his mind, Cedric was struggling to put together any cohesive thoughts.
'Ivan. Kill. Let my sword feast upon his blood-I'm... about to break.... again. I won't make it. The Madness. i-I Can't. Fight. It'
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone