Chapter 26: Madam Life
Ciel at this moment was running at full capacity towards the dome atop the hill. He managed to escape from Circe the moment he noticed her change.He realized if she could change so suddenly, then it was also possible that other readers would experience the same.
And coupled with the announcement that occurred a few moments ago, Ciel understood that soon this field would soon turn into a blood land. So, while the rest went on their killing spree, he would simply find his way out.
He headed for one of the paths filled with broken stone pillare- it seemed to connect to a cave that led to the distant hill. Soon, he entered into the dark cave.
Immediately, a bizarre feeling engulfed his body and mind. It was though the world behind him had vanished behind a taunting darkness, and all that was left were the twitching, dark paths that appeared before him.
The inside of the cave seemed endless!
Shaking his head, Ciel cautiously made his way deeper into the vast blackness. Now, him passing the class depended on whether or not he could survive till he reached the Dome- even better before the 10 minutes was over.
Within his sole journey, Ciel had enough time to study the cave, noticing more details in its composition. Littered around were countless bones crushed beneath rocks, or the occasional full skeleton that was slacked on the walls.
Carefully making his way through the darkness, his enhanced perception as an apprentice playing an important role in navigation. He discovered many turns and corners within the cave, some leading to unexpected places like a lake, others simply leading to a dead end. As such, in every few minutes, Ciel would abruptly utter:
"Damnit!" He said, staring at a stone wall, barely lit and seemingly wrapped in darkness.
'It's another dead end. Seriously, why isn't there a map for this?' Ciel felt his agitation rising with each passing minute. He felt the possibility that he was walking the other way, and by the end of the clock, he would be the one being eliminated.
This brooding fear was bestowing a growing paranoia.
After an extra few minutes of countless dead ends, Ciel finally saw something at the distance.
With a rekindled Sense of hope, Ciel rushed to the small turquoise light that glowed lonesome amidst the surrounding darkness.
As he drew closer to the darkness, he suddenly made a pause, as his eyes twitched at what the light turned out to be.
A lady dressed in white tattered clothes, her long black hair reaching all the way to her legs, her visage pale with an outworldly blue glow to it. She stood alone, her gaze staring at the emptiness, yet it held a needing peer. As if she longed for something she couldn't have.
The lady seemed undisturbed and cared not about the sudden visitor that made its way to her.
Ciel, momentarily entranced by the beauty of the lady, managed to get a grasp of himself. He planned on making a tactical retreat. However, as he took a step back, the holographic screen appeared before his eyes.
[Spotted the boss of the world gone beautiful. Worth 30 cores
Eliminate her to instantly pass the class]
Just when he thought everything was manageable, this had to just happen. This wasn't some slightly powerful apprentice he could manage or perhaps a Magister. No. This was a master! A truly powerhouse monster at the master rank! He was simply doomed. There was simply nothing he could do about this situation.
'Sigh. And here I thought bad luck didn't extend into the simulation. Perhaps this is karma, I ditched Circe; the girl who saved me. Believing she was an obstacle. But instead I met another who was a greater obstacle. Yeah, this must be destiny.' Ciel sighed again.
Suddenly made aware by the consecutive sighs, the lady radiating the dim turquoise light, and dressed in tattered white clothes turned her head to Ciel, her face slightly blank with a hint of confusion.
Parting her rose colored lips, the lady expressed in a tranquil voice, akin to the moving of wind through a tree.
"You? Who are you?...."
Ciel immediately felt a chill run down his spine, the lady now radiated the same suppression as he felt when the branch master Oliver appeared.
'A master rank indeed.' Ciel silently cursed his luck.
"Who are you? I thought all the humans were gone… Wait, no, there are some outside. A lot of them, about 200. That's not Fair, all I wanted was some peace. Why do you destroyers keep coming back…." The lady suddenly stopped, her arms parted into an inviting hug. "Maybe a hug would fix it…"
"!!"
Ciel's eyes widened at the occurrence. 'She isn't immune to the effects? But she's a master! Something like that shouldn't affect her!'
Though he hadn't physically seen the true power of a master, except for Oliver, Ciel had heard enough rumors to know that a master was comparable to the might of a nuclear bomb. Such a monstrosity couldn't be stopped by such a thing, right?
"I see…" the ethereal lady signed, "Why can't your kind be spontaneous? This was a chance for you to leave here alive. To prove you can disregard all things just to fulfill a request.."
'What sort of flawed logic is that? How do you expect a rat to hug the legs of a lion?' Ciel stared motionless.
'But this means she wasn't affected at all!' Ciel conceived an understanding. 'But then why was she acting like that? A trick?'
"You know," the lady took a step forward towards Ciel, "Humans were previously a beautiful species- like many of my children, however they became greedy to acquire the things that are special to the other races. They needed to fly, so they built the sky ships, they needed to move as fast as the cheetah, so they built the cars, they needed to see the world from the highest point, so they built the tall buildings. All this and many more, are simply the acts caused by greed and envy…., Such cruel creatures they all are."
Ciel stared for a moment before a sigh reverberated from his lips, "I wonder if I should agree with you?"
"You should." The lady interrupted.
"Maybe." Ciel slowly pulled out his katana, and pointed at the lady, "So are you going to fight already or what?" A grin curled up on his face.
.....
"Gasp!" Seth's head recoiled backwards, his eyes widened as he attempted to grip tightly at his breathing.
Courtesy to the sand, he managed to extract information from the corpse; from which he realized the absolute theme of the simulated scene.
It's a world akin to an earth; a world where humans have become too greedy and as such have consumed through earth, burning down the trees, cutting the animals, and polluting the air. And as a consequence; nature arose. The undying force of the world awoke and plunged humanity into desolation, after which the world was rebuilt into the perfect garden.
However, at the end of the book, a certain character merges with nature, creating a personality that was a fusion of the two. And her name was: Madam Life!
Seth's eyes constricted, his breath turned forced, and his nose leaked with a crimson fluid.
'For a simulation everything is realistic, even the effects of certain things.' Seth understood that higher powerful beings could resist certain things within the domain of Mysticism - as explained by Master Olivia. And even though he was currently in a simulated reality, he was still suffering the effects of peering into knowledge of a higher ranked individual as if it were real.
He couldn't imagine the amount of blood and sweat that went into making such a technology.
Finally getting a hind of himself, Seth stood up from the ground, his eyes glancing once more through the exterior of the ancient dome.
'This must be the place.' Seth recognized the room as something he saw in the revelation; it was the place where madam life was born. It was here that nature merged with that certain character.
'Alright, what should I do next?' Seth placed his hands into his special pouch, before scooping out a handful of translucent sand.
Not stopping there, he equally pulled out a transparent bottle filled with a bubbling liquid.
With a clear expression, he downed the entire bottle; the sweet but sore taste spreading through his tongue, before turning scorching hot as it washed down his throat.
His expression quickly frowned, as if he had suddenly been engulfed by a feeling of war and madness.
Muttering a certain whispery indescribable words, his body suddenly erupted into bright crimson flames. The room quickly filled with the stench of iron and blood.
This was a potion he created after witnessing his brother Adelard confront Blair. All his life, he had never seen anyone in his family display that 'Form' before his eyes. Courtesy to a law enforced by the patriarch.
He always wondered why such a law existed….
Gripping his blade, Seth turned to the door he came from, his body burning like the inferno.
With gentle steps, he pushed his body through the door. Flames sizzled and erupted as he scorched through the brick walls.
....
"Do you actually think you can do anything to me?" The lady glowing in the ethereal light jessed.
'Well no, I'm just hoping you see it so much as a joke that you laugh for 7 minutes till the test is over.'
He didn't need to move forward anymore, after all, if he was this close to the boss monster, he was probably already in the dome.
This Ciel believed.
Staring at Ciel with a somewhat mixed expression; one of amusement and disgust, the lady stretched out her hands, the ground around him immediately began shaking.
And with the turmoil, Ciel couldn't help but think back to when he was still in his first scene and the subjects were drilling out from the ground. Was something like that going to happen again?
In the next moment, a massive pincer shot out of the ground. Tearing the air in a whistling sound, the pincer struck down, threatening to split him in half.
'Of course.'
This was the first thought in Ciel's mind as he managed to duck to the side - avoiding the strike that abruptly collided with the cobblestone grounds.
Ciel landed on his back. It was a good thing that he wasn't suppressed by any external stimuli that could weaken his strength. As such, he truly now had an apprentice rank perception.
Luckily that was enough to perceive the attack…
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CelestialPen
CelestialPen Sorry about the short chapter. was too busy today. But I will make it up with tomorrow's chapters
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