Chapter 5: 5. The third trial
With a horrible grinding sound, the scales locked in place and began turning, completely disregarding the two people on top, who were forced to fight hard to not fell down.
In such a way a bridge, over the chasm that led to a door beside the relief's feet, was created.
The adventurers glanced at each other, their eyes full of desire to find the answer. They whispered among themselves as they followed Xu Lei, who walked confidently towards the bridge.
"What did he do?"
"What happened?"
"What did he say? What was the answer?"
Those were only a few of many spoken questions.
Alice still felt her heart pounding in her chest, while Dan wiped the sweat from his forehead. They exchanged a shaky glance before closing the distance to Xu Lei. He reached the blonde guy first, who muttered a quiet "Thank you". Then he approached the brown-haired girl, who looked at him with tearful eyes.
"You saved me. T-thank you," she stammered, on the verge of breaking down.
He nodded and continued his march.
Rolan pushed his way to him as well. "Good job, young lad. You saved them, although I'm not sure how…" he said, his voice full of confusion. He patted Xu Lei on the shoulder.
"The answer was silence. The line about not lying gave me the idea. If I don't say anything I won't lie. Besides, silence is something that can be broken or kept, but never held," he explained, smiling slightly.
"Good job," Rolan repeated, chuckling under his nose. He patted him again.
They reached the door and opened it, revealing another short, but wide, corridor and darkness ahead. A familiar view, so they had no problem stepping further.
The door slammed shut behind the last person, trapping them inside. The voice of the statue echoed in their minds.
'Now the time for the third trial has come! You can choose to overcome it as a group, but if you win, the reward will be split among all of you. If you choose to compete alone, then only one will take it all, as you will have to go against each other. Make your decision, and enter the chamber!'
Xu Lei once again felt a surge of adrenaline. He scanned the faces of the other adventurers, trying to guess their choices before they spoke them out loud.
Some hesitated, weighing their options. Others looked determined, having made up their minds already. One of them was Rolan.
"I'm sorry, I have to," he said, meeting Xu Lei's gaze. "My village… We have problems with monsters attacking us every harvest. There is barely any food these days. Children are starving. I need those blessings to lead my people," he said, his voice firm.
A cry pierced Xu Lei's ears. He turned and saw Alice sobbing. She was looking at him with tearful eyes, with snot hanging from her nose and a little bit of spit on her lips. She was overwhelmed by her emotions.
"You saved me. T-thank you," she stammered, on the verge of breaking down. „I'm so sorry...", she wailed. „You saved me, but I have to betray you", she said rather shortly, as the sadness took over, forcing her to sob even harder.
He had no idea what was going on. There was nothing he actually knew about all those people, but there definitely had to be some reasoning behind them coming to such a place, and risking their lives to finish the trials.
''Heroe's Road' was famous for its incredible quests. 'The Elysia' will clearly be the same. I'm just having a taste of it', Xu Lei thought to himself. 'They are just NPCs and I don't even know their stories, but… Why do I feel so sad?', he asked himself.
Expressing his emotions was something that he struggled with after the accident. Even now he could feel his fingers clenched tightly in fists. He was getting angry at himself.
'I can't afford pity for them. They are not even real. Instead of wasting my time on a bunch of NPCs, I should focus on the goal. My revenge!', a sudden burst of fury vocalized itself in his mind, decimating all the hesitation.
'Very well! You made your decisions. Greed and selfishness are guiding you on your quest. Come! Reach for my treasures! Fight for them! Show no mercy!', the voice of the statue once again hit their minds. It was like pouring a bucket of ice-cold water on their heads.
The laughter that came after, was even worse.
For Xu Lei, it was something he needed to further seal his resolve to beat everybody and finish this quest alone.
Encouraged by the voice, the first adventurers decided to step forward, towards the dark chamber, and it immediately got bright, illuminated by a light coming down from the ceiling. Another display of grotesque game mechanics, mocking the laws of physics.
Xu Lei stared at the massive, dark hole in the distance. Several platforms levitated in the air above it, some higher, some lower. There was no apparent order or pattern to their arrangement.
'Cross to the other side, open the door and the reward is yours,' a voice echoed in the heads of all the adventurers. 'Here are your keys.'
A quick flash of light and a key appeared in front of each adventurer. All the objects fell to the ground with a metallic clang. People immediately went down to grab their key and examined it. Each looked identical to all the others.
Xu Lei wished he had pockets to store it, but he had to hold it in his hand like many others.
He shifted his attention to the trial ahead. The first row of platforms was close enough for a short jump, and there were enough of them for everyone. But as he looked further, he saw that the platforms became fewer and farther apart. At the very end, there was only one iron square, hanging near the opposite edge of the hole. It was just within jumping distance of the finish line.
He knew what he had to do, and so did the others. They all rushed forward to claim a platform for themselves.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone