MTLNOVEL Chapter 113: Aurora's Trial
Aurora went into details about everything she had experienced since the time she entered the Bloodthorn Labyrinth. She was a talkative person, so Veer was already used to her way of talking.
What he heard made him sigh in defeat. Things were really messed up and looked so bleak. It was true that the floating islands were a breathtaking place, but they could also be really breathtaking, literally.
From what Aurora knew, there were a lot of islands that floated around the central Island, which housed the castle. She didn't know the exact number, but it was above forty.
There wasn't any pattern in their movements as, even after a whole month of observation, Aurora found nothing. She had a guess that the castle was the solution to the conflict, but there was just no way to reach it.
The Islands themselves were very dangerous as they were packed with Magical Creatures unaffected by the true world. They were still living in the environment of a thousand years ago and were extremely dangerous.
Despite having stepped into the Intermediate Stage officially after a gruesome week in the Labyrinth, Aurora was still afraid to explore the island.
The Magical Creatures were just too powerful and bizarre. She had just cleared a part of the island and made her residence here. She was just on the way to clear more of the forest when she encountered Veer and Rain.
As for the trial, it was an interesting one where she had to live in an illusion. In it, she was a slum girl who was forced to survive on nothing but leftover food.
It was a qualitative change for someone like her who had grown up in a Noble environment. Her mentality was affected heavily by it, and she had begun to view the world through new eyes.
It was also the reason she was able to forgive Veer that easily, as she realised her position in the world. After living almost a year in the illusion, she had changed greatly.
The moment she had accepted herself and come to terms with it, she passed the trials and was thrown onto the floating island.
'As expected, the trials are weird and are trying to power us up,' Veer thought. 'That illusion Rune Formation must be very high-tiered too, right?'
[I can't analyse something like that.]
'I know,' Veer smiled lightly as he looked at Aurora. He felt proud of her and really felt happy that she had managed to overcome some of her weaknesses.
"So, basically, I tried to find out about things here and encountered a few people. Unfortunately, most of them were swallowed whole by the magical creatures," Aurora sighed. "And others went to other islands."
"You can do that?" Veer asked, surprised by the new intel.
Aurora said with a nod, "Yeah, every once in a while, some Island would pass through here, so they hopped on them to explore and hopefully find a solution."
She looked at the distant castle and said, "As we are now, we're practically trapped here, and if we don't solve the conflict soon, everyone will die."
"That's good enough," Veer said, as he stood up. "Let's go. I'm really hungry after all that."
"Good! I want to eat your cooking," Aurora grinned and jumped on his back. Though he skillfully avoided it, making her fall on the ground.
Not minding it at all, she stood up and followed him. Their temporary home was actually a cave in a small hill. It wasn't far from the Island's edge, so Aurora had chosen it.
As they were walking, something flashed by their vision as Aurora kicked off her feet, barely managing to dodge a dagger coming right at her throat. If she was a second late, the dark blade would have skewed her.
Making some distance from the assaulter, Aurora took out her Needles and assessed the situation. However, she wasn't given enough time before another stab came from her side.
'Fast! Also, why can't I sense anything?' Aurora frowned, but keeping a cool head, she easily dodged the attacks.
She was just taken by surprise in the first sneak attack, and something like that wouldn't work twice. She was ready to use the next attack to her advantage, but something heavy slammed into a tree beside her, making her flinch.
She turned speechless, as she looked at the petite young woman with a scrawny figure laying at the base of the tree. Her triangular ears flapped slightly as her tail helped her stand up again.
Pointing her needle at Rain, Aurora said, "Don't even try, Girl. You can't kill me even if I give one more chance."
"The dialogue is wrong. You should say, 'You can't kill me even if I'm just standing still.'"
Aurora rolled her eyes upon hearing Veer's annoying voice. She looked at him as he went towards the rat woman who was still glaring at her. Your next read awaits at empire
She was even more speechless when she saw how Veer patted Rain's head and helped her walk again. Apparently, she had sprained her ankle after kicking the tree.
'What the hell were you even doing there?' Aurora was speechless.
Ignoring the fierce glare of Aurora, Veer helped Rain walk and asked, "Why are you here?"
Rain looked down and muttered, "When I woke up, I was all alone. I thought this woman killed you."
"Ah! Don't worry about it, she will never kill me," Veer laughed it off. "Am I right, Aur?"
"No, I will kill you," Aurora narrowed her eyes at him and replied.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Veer turned his attention back to Rain and said, "Don't worry about it. I'm not leaving this world so soon. Also, that woman is actually my friend, so you can become friends with her if you want."
Rain nodded but still kept her head down. After a while, she whispered, "I'm sorry for meddling in your matter."
"It's fine. If my friend are to take dumb decisions, I would also kick them," Veer chuckled. "Anyway, let's go back and eat. I still need to think on how to get out of here."
Rain nodded, and the trio then went back to their temporary home. Unknown to them, another Island had passed by their island, and a group had stepped onto their Island.