Jake shuddered. This voice that had boomed in his ears, it seemed to come from all around him. This voice was intimidating all right.
He still kept going forward though, not stopping for a mere voice that was just a tad bit loud.
"You may not pass!!!"
This time, the voice was even louder, and along with the voice, there was also a wind that tried to push Jake back.
"At least I know that I am going the right way." Jake thought to himself.
He kept going forward, withstanding the winds that kept getting stronger as the time passed. With every passing moment, the wind grew fiercer and louder.
Soon, they were deafening, and he no longer heard the imposing sound that tried to force him to stop. And as the sound of the man had disappeared, Jake felt a sharp pain in his ears, like his ear drums were being torn apart.
It was painful, and it was like he was slowly losing his ability to hear.
Still, he preserved, knowing that none of this was real. He kept walking forward, forcing himself through the pain.
"Damn this. I never felt pain like this in my previous life. Just what kind of missions am I coming across, for the human rights abuse to be so fragrant?" Jake wondered.
Suddenly though, the wind disappeared. All the noise, the force, the feeling, all of it just disappeared.
It was pitch dark and completely still, without a single sound audible, except for Jake's aggravated breathing. All of this moving against the wind made him breath much harder than he needed to.
"Guess this is over." Jake thought to himself.
But there was still no exit in sight. There was no sign that he could leave this dark cave. And that only meant one thing. The trial wasn't over yet. He still had to go forward, steeling himself against what would come next.
And he was right. As this trial ended, another seemed to start. He felt a sharp pain on his right palm. It was like something bit his palm, and was slowly slithering close to him?
He wasn't sure, for he couldn't see a thing.
Jake tried to grab whatever was on his hands, but when he did, he felt nothing. All he could feel was the cold touch of his skin. Nothing more.
"An illusion. This is an illusion." He told himself as he kept walking forward.
But the feeling of something that was crawling from his right hand, slowly reaching his neck, was all too apparent, and he was just unable to ignore it.
It took all of his power not to take out his sword and see just what it was that was forcing him into this dire status of helplessness.
But he didn't. All he did was keep walking. He endured the feeling of what seemed to be a reptile, its slimy skin scraping over his neck, and shuddered every time it moved.
He felt chills all over his back, and whenever he did, he just hastened his pace just a little more. But not too much for him to lose his stamina at a place like this, where he had no idea what would happen to him.
The other problem remained that he had no idea how long it would take for him to complete this path and leave it.
"Damn this all." Jake cursed with the loudest voice that he could muster.
But it didn't even echo. He didn't even know how tall the dimensions of this pitch black cave were. He wasn't stupid enough to imagine that it was exactly the same as the cave that he had entered.
It could very well have expanded in all directions, but the opposite could also be true. And he just couldn't know until he took a peak.
"Do not take out your sword, Jake. There must be a reason that Father Joseph said that. There must be a way that someone like me can cross this place and get to the Holy Grounds without dying in the process." Jake too himself.
It was like a chant that he said again and again. Something that he used to steel his will, and give him the encouragement to keep going on.
In this dark place where he had no one else to rely on, and no one else to help him out, he was slowly losing his mind.
His entire cave around him, and his brain was where all the sound of his thoughts echoed. The silence around him was too deafening, and his brain over compensated by thinking way too much.
This was probably the biggest trial. Where he faced a trial of hearing, his touch, he was facing the trial of his sight all throughout.
The fear of not knowing what lay ahead of him, that was the most haunting.
"What is next? A trial of taste? Just what exactly will they assault my tongue and my nose?" Jake thought to himself.
He understood what the trials were based on after what had happened until now. He was a little prepared to face a terrible smell and a terrible taste.
But instead, what awaited him was surprising.
His eyes, which were wide open despite the darkness, were suddenly flooded with light. Even the slightest bit of light would blind him, as they were too accustomed to the darkness.
And at the moment, the light that came upon them was no small flash. It was like the very sun and shone directly upon him.
He screamed with pain and looked away, eyes searing with pain. The light was way too sudden, and he ducked away, trying his best to adjust to this sudden change.
"What happened? Looks like this isn't going to be a test of the senses after all." Jake cursed.
"Shadow King! What are you doing! Let us get going!" A familiar voice came from in front of Jake. He couldn't see just yet, but he recognized the voice. It was Annie. Sister Annie.
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