Starlight awoke.
Immediately, he glanced around, but all he could see was darkness. Starlight placed his hands against the ground. After a second, he swiftly jerked them away. The ground was cold. Starlight slowly lowered them again and brushed them against the foreign substance.
"Stone." Starlight gasped.
The ground beneath him was cold, rough stone.
[Your Trial begins now, challenger Starlight.]
He stared at the symbols, which were faintly illuminating part of the strange environment. From what Starlight could see, he was indeed sitting on rocks. By using the dim light provided by the symbols, he scanned the surrounding space, but could only make out the vague shape of rocks that hung from above.
"Am I in a cave?" He questioned.
Starlight spent so much time alone that he was in the habit of talking out loud. He felt his suspicions confirmed when he quietly shivered from a drop of water that hit his head.
"Humans weren't supposed to have their first trial until sixteen."
Starlight attempted to move closer to the symbols, praying in his heart that it would shield him from the dark, but to no avail. Every time he leaned close to them, they receded, or from what he could perceive, they did.
"Fourteen is too young for a trial… they told me they'd teach me when I'm older. I'm not ready, I can't die here."
"I've only watched fights between Divers and monsters before. How am I supposed to slay a monster to complete the trial? For a year at that, most trials last over a year!" Starlight cried out.
He looked down, his gaze full of hope in the fact that he could be dreaming, but that wasn't the case. Starlight repeatedly glanced around, expecting a different scene, but everything was still dark. He sighed, half his heart was accepting defeat, but the other wanted to survive. To keep fighting until one day, when he would finally leave the void and go to the paradise called Earth.
Luckily, Starlight had some sort of protection, the only thing his mother had left for him, an artifact. It was of the Legendary rank, a powerful and priceless artifact.
Artifacts ranged in rank, starting with spiritual, rare, sacred, legendary, divine, and finally mythic. They could be a sword or spear, a set of mystical armour, and even a small charm or amulet that could boost your speed when you were in the shade.
The artifact Starlight had was called "Shroud of Ivory." It was a pure white cloak made from the hide of a powerful monster and had the ability to blend into nearby environments. The ability was very useful for hiding from monsters and other humans. But if studied closely enough, you could spot some discrepancies; it also didn't fully cover his face or legs.
"Although you don't have the essence which is required to use the artifact's abilities, one day, when you become a Diver like me, it will save you. Like it did for me."
Starlight recalled his mother's words; it was one of the only things he remembered about her.
After some time, Starlight crawled onto his hands and knees, moved across the rocky floor. Born in the Void, he had a faint form of night vision, just enough to see a meter ahead, preventing him from smashing his head into the walls of the supposed cave.
After reaching a wall, he helped himself up and stood there, peering into the expanse of darkness.
"This is no different from when those creepy government scientists locked me in those rooms."
Starlight whispered, as his voice trembled.
Still, he continued forward, his body pressed against the jagged stone wall.
Starlight lost track of time. Maybe he'd been walking for an hour, maybe a day. He didn't know. His stomach growled, and his throat burned; Starlight was hungry and thirsty. He hadn't eaten since leaving the previous stronghold, which was at least a couple of hours before he entered the trial.
Multiple times during his walk, he stopped dead in his tracks, scanning his surroundings, praying that whatever thing that sounded like a slug moving across the stone floor wasn't after him.
The sound became more frequent and louder. Starlight was in trouble; he had never fought anything before. Being raised in the safety of the government's control, surrounded by multiple guards that always took care of anything or anyone that threatened him. No one had ever taught him how to fight or even how to run away from a monster.
Skeeeee!
An ear-piercing screech echoed throughout the cave. Dropping Starlight to a knee as he cupped his ears in his palm. When the echo faded into silence, Starliht made up his mind, deciding he could not waste any more time in this stupid cave.
Starlight grabbed a hold of the wall, pulling himself up, and ran. He had no time to spare; he couldn't just sit there and wait around for whatever it was that lurked in the dark to find him; he had to go now.
In the panic of his run, he failed to notice a pit right in front of him. Before Starlight could stop himself, he crashed right into the hole.
Luckily, the drop wasn't too deep. He only fell a couple of meters, enough for him to scrape his elbows but not break any bones. A sharp sting spread through his arms. Starlight whimpered in pain. He held back tears as crying would not magically heal his arm and rescue him from the cave and trial.
Starlight grabbed at the rocky walls and pushed himself up off the ground, kicking around, attempting to secure a foothold.
By the time he hoisted himself out of the pit, the sound of the thing he was hearing had become louder than ever been.
Starlight scrambled to his feet and ran, this time being more cautious of his surroundings. His eyes darted between the ground and the darkness ahead.
A squishy sound rang out from behind him. Instinctively, Starlight turned his head, looking back, but nothing was there.
Squish!
Starlight ran right into something, but he didn't bounce back; he stuck to it. It was warm. It clung to him. It was slimy and… alive?
Starlight quickly pushed himself off the thing and fell straight to the ground, his cloak covered in glowing slime. He looked up and saw it, a monster.
It loomed above him. A horrific cross between a slug and a worm; its long neck protruded from its body with red dots as eyes, which protruded from its face. The creature's body was long, and occasionally it pulsated. It was coated in translucent slime that slowly flickered blue as the creature's slime began to light up and illuminate the surrounding area.
The actual body seemed to be blue with bright white spots that reminded Starlight of the sky in the Void. Tentacles stretched out its body, each of which dripped profusely with blue slime and ended in a blunt, fingerless tip.
Starlight looked at it in shock. It was the first time he'd seen a live monster so close before. He couldn't help but tremble at the sight of its glaring eyes staring right into his soul.
"Please don't..."