[Mission Complete]

[Rewards: update to the next mission & 10+ system points.]

“…” the moment I came to see my name on the board and screamed my victory in passing the exam with flying colors, the mission system board before my eyes, indicating my reward.

But I wasn’t yet so compelled with spending my reward at that moment, I was more curious of the next mission I had to partake in.

[Mission #3: Conquer a Dungeon.]

[Rewards: [Reward: 3 questions for God & 10+ System points.]

[Failure: You will be submitted with a curse that will last a whole month ]

[Time Limit: 1 month]

“…Huh, what a weird quest.” I said as I felt curious at the rewards it showed.

“…Three questions for God.” that was the reward that made me curious above all.

So if I conquer a dungeon in a month, I can have access to God’s personal answer. I’ve been dying to talk to him…and this mission will be my chance to do so. The only problem with it is that I can’t do it right away, after all, class starts tomorrow. I can’t do it until the weekend.

“…Haa, lets go back. ” I said to the four animals that were with me when I came here. But when I looked around, I couldn’t find those animals. Not the dog, not the hawk, not the snake and not the beaver.

They must have left…

“.…I should get back home.” I said as I stood up from the ground and walked home.

It was far away, but I can take it.

Despite my disheveled figure that resembles that of a zombie, I am perfectly fine in my roots. I can still walk home.

Walking back, I tried to remember the time that I spent in the back of the Dojo’s mountain.

And one word that I could only ever describe it was that it was….treacherous.

Traps were everywhere…as each step I took, each branch I grab hold of, each mud I cautiously step in, an unknowingly thrown spear made of wood was stabbed at my skin to a point that it could physically break my bones, a rolling boulder coming from an edge of a hill, a pitfall filled with spikes would stick out, a huddle of poisonous insects would roll and crawl all over me.

My resources were as scarce as anything available to my front view. From its running water in the river, all it could offer in its state was a weird taste in my mouth that made me paralyze for minutes on end. It wasn’t something I could always afford to do in this exercise. But I can sip a little if by little is only about a lick of that water…if I did that, the water would numb my tongue, but not my body. Its good enough…I guess.

The food I found, like fruits and meat were nowhere to be seen. Almost as if, not a single edible thing was found in that forest. So I survived off the bark of a tree…trees that were filled with sap. I could barely pick them off. And little by little, I go hungry for each day that passed. But because of my big stature and physique from being quite fat, but now tubby. I could last a whole week here without having a proper meal…but only for a week.

Living on my own in that forest, I had to live off without a roof over my head, without food and a bare minimum of water. Even when I try to make shelter, strong winds are always the constant of that environment. So when at night, I could barely make a cover for myself to shield from the cold strong winds.

And the fire, the one thing that I yearned for in that forest…heat…warm heat. I wanted it more than anything. But despite my efforts, I barely had the time to create it…and the one factor that kept me from being warm of myself was the most devious part of this forest.

The Animals…

The Animals assigned to look over me from afar. All of which were carrying one bell. These animals were my objective. To catch its bell and bring it to my master.

The first one I encountered was the Dog. The first time I saw him was that time where he stood up from the top of a hill with a pile of boulder’s conveniently placed behind him. It was clear that brother Cecil made that trap in the assignment that the dog activates it on the sight of my presence. He nearly killed me that day, and when I tried to go after him, his speed was clearly more superior than that of mine. He never made any attempts to make physical contact with me in his attacks. Only through the traps did he attempt to make his own presence known.

For the past two days…even when I try to sleep, boulders are always heard rolling on to my way, intended traps were activated,  spears were flying my way…the dog knows everything about the traps of this forest. And although I was impressed, I was more so furious. I barely had the time to take a nap. To a point that I could only ever keep one eye open as I lay my body down on the cold dirt to rest, being as vigilant as I can.

The second animal I encountered was the Hawk who pestered me in its own nature. To dive down to a point that it could break the sound barrier and strike me down like a small missile. With its strong attacks coming from above, I made the habit of looking above my head each time I heard something out of the ordinary. Even when I can hide under the trees, it was pointless seeing as how it made the effort to catch up to me by flying across the branches and scratching my face every chance it had. I could only ever move from one place to another until the night came and the hawk stopped following me. Only when the night would come would I have a rest from that hawk.

By night, The third animal was the snake…I met this thing while I was taking the effort to sip down small amounts of water down my mouth. I only ever noticed his presence when I fell paralyzed down the river when I drank too much water out of my carelessness. Iwas very tired and dehydrated to a point that sipping down the water was like honey that dripped from the heavens. Even if it paralyzed my body, it felt so worth the taste. Although my eyes could see what was happening, my body was unmovable. Being by the river, I rolled over to the current and I was swept away in the river and floated in the rocky and dangerous waves. By then, the snake followed me and quickly wrapped its body all over paralyzed body and made the attempt to drown me under. I only ever survived because by then, the luck that I had, the moment I felt the tips of my hands move again, I made the struggle to a point that the snake was made aware of my awakening self. Being so focused on me, it did not notice the branch sticking out under the water. Its sharp end was good enough to harm the snake as well as me, and as we were carried by the current, the snake hits this branch and lets go of my body, letting me flow across the river. But despite being free from its grasp, I was also stabbed down at my shoulder by the branch. Being still paralyzed, I did not fully feel the pain, but being so, I was still moving with the current and was then thrown off again from the river to a running waterfall.

By then, I thought that I would have died…but-

The moment I woke up, I found myself being covered by a beaver’s nest. This was the time that I met the last animal I had to fight off. The beaver himself, who by coincidence was making a dam and using my weak body as one of the logs. On his neck, I could see the bell shining its reflection down at me. I was pale…like a ghost in the night, I was very pale.

Seeing the bell on its neck, I tried to reach for it, but the beaver made the strong relent to slap my face over a dozen times before he went back to work. It seems as though he wasn’t interested in me but was more so on his home. When it had to swim down under the dam doing its business, I used that chance to forcefully move my body and escape.

But as I did so, I ruined the dam and the beaver came out of his home furious. It chased me down but to my struggle, I was able to escape to the land and ran as fast as I could. The beaver was slow in the land compared to in the water, and seeing it so, I was relieved that I could escape.

Feeling very tired and almost dead with how slow my heart was beating, I wanted to make the effort to do something about my situation. So I ran and ran and ran…

Until finally, I came across a cave.

For the first time, I shed a tear so filled with the emotion called relief.

It felt like that cave was a saving grace compared to everything else that was on this goddam forest.

So I ran inside and hid.

In that time, my time in the cave, I finally made fire with the sticks and logs I found lying around.

I took my time resting my body and fixing my injuries…

From the branch that stabbed me, I was only able to push some herbs on it and wrapped it in some leaf…hoping that it’ll fix it in some way.

And seeing my food situation, I did nothing but eat the moss that was sticking on the rocks at that cave. It was moist and a bit gross…but it was all that I had.

I thought to myself that if I was taking the effort of this entire test just to satisfy my master, was it really worth the trouble? I’m suffering so much in the past few days…it felt like dying would have been a sweet release from this problem. It would have been my escape…

But I digress…

I gave up on that thought of dying…because it wasn’t the answer.

Seven Days…I’m only ever going to last in this forest for seven days…after that, everything should get back to normal.

So for now, I should rest.

Although I hate my master for putting me into this situation, I can’t really do anything about it.

I just had to endure.

Because if I complained, If I run away, they might hunt me down.

Being a part of the House of Shadows isn’t a simple task, I know that now…

Its not a walk in the park, its nothing easy like that. The standards of their livelihood is based of this situation that I am standing right now.

At my level, seeing that this forest was more so like hell and seeing it that way, it could only mean that the House of Shadows is just that Dark and Difficult. So like I figured out, its not a walk in the park.

It’s a jog through hell, that’s what it is.

And to my carelessness, I joined this house thinking that I could gain some power, and I could, I can…all it would take is some grit and some spit and some few hundred hell-like experience.

This is what the standard life of being a Shadow is like…

I know that know.

So to survive, I should do everything that I can…everything in my power.

With what I have in the moment, I don’t have a single piece of thing to use against those animals, except for some sticks found laying in the ground. It’s the only thing I can use, and it’s the only thing that should matter.

This day already marks my third day, I only have four more to go before everything is over.

So I have to plan.

i need to make a plan.

I can’t take them all at once…but I can do it one at a time.

Be competent…just be competent.

Conserve my energy, use this time to rest…

Just like brother Cecil has said to me…I have time…I have free will…I should do what I can to gain what I need.

The first one to hunt…is the hawk.

Being a flying animal that sees everything from the sky, he is something that is most of a threat to me.

So I’ll hunt the hawk…

I’ll hunt the Snake…

I’ll hunt the Beaver….

I’ll hunt the Dog…

I’ll hunt them all!!!

Everything I did with caution was met with danger. Danger to a point that I always aimed for my life.

But I learned some things in that 7 days of hell.

I learned to conserve my energy.

I learned to listen in all the accounts of danger.

I learned that even when I’m asleep, I should always keep one eye open.

I learned to trust my instincts, like what a wild animal would.

Every situation is a living lesson…Master made me believe in that. Even in the darkest times, I didn’t die because I moved my body out of the incoming danger, I moved my body because of my instinct to live…I moved my body…I simply moved my body out of my own desire.

In the end, I left the forest learning to survive…to truly survive.