Chapter 18 - Soul Training - Part One

The next day came faster than I thought it would, and I felt a bit more relieved to finally have answers now. But all that came with more questions than answers. Why was I a repeat competitor? What happened to Ryu?

Grace herself looked a bit distant when we ate breakfast. We were in a rather simple dining area, not like any of the stereotypically fancy-looking dining halls you see in fantasy novels. I suppose the revelation that we would have to kill her god was likely doing a number on her.

“Are you ok?” I decided to break the silence; it was just us right now, I assume Elowyn either already ate or has her own dining area.

Grace nodded. “I’m fine, just everything we learned yesterday was a bit much.” She paused to take a bite to eat. “I knew for a while the Goddess was not a kind one to us, but to think the faith, the repentance my people went through, would be for naught. That it meant nothing. The beliefs and values that I was raised on.”

I wasn’t sure how to console her, having your entire beliefs, the thing you dedicated your entire life to, being dashed before your very eyes. That’s not something you can just shrug off like it’s nothing.

“Well, look at it this way. There’s a nice Goddess, or so they say. We’ll meet her, and besides. You don’t have to trash your values and beliefs just because the Goddess you worship is horrible.” I figured this was an alright way to go about it, and I think Grace felt the same way; her expression perked up slightly.

“If this new Goddess turns out to be the real deal, then you’ll have a new Goddess to look up to. So, don’t worry.” I reasoned.

“So you are planning to do the training at the very least and meet with the Goddess?” A new voice rang out. The doors slammed open. It was Elowyn. With a plate of her own, she sat down in front of me and Grace.

“Well, I’m bound by that soul contract you put on me, so I kind of have to fight her, but at least to get the soul crystal back. I might as well see what this new Goddess is all about. Doesn’t mean I trust either of you.” I explained.

Elowyn’s expression darkened.

“I understand. This is a lot to take in, but our Goddess is not evil. She’s helped us a lot over the years as we’re her direct creations.”

I was a bit confused by Elowyn’s words. “So there are two Goddesses, one representing life, the other death. What does the Life goddess do? Compared to Death?

Elowyn took a bite to eat, slowly. “They facilitate their own individual domains. Death herself, the one who summoned you here, is the one who brings souls from point A to point B. The Goddess of Life is the one who facilitates the entire rebirth process. Someone has to provide the vessels and allow for the creation of new life.”

I thought a bit about those words.

“So this Goddess of Life? She opposes the contests, I assume?” I asked.

Elowyn nodded. “Of course, she stands directly opposite to Death. She’s been a good ally to us, not to mention you in your previous incarnations.”

I met her before. Then, in that case, if past me was willing to trust her, maybe she wasn’t all that bad. Then again, I can never be too sure.

“So this training.” I began, and I noticed my plate was almost empty. “How will this work? I just trained with you guys for a few weeks, then I get to meet the Goddess?”

Elowyn nodded. “To an extent, yes. You will have to pass three training tests, which includes, of course, your final test, in order to even see the Goddess. All of which are designed to test your physical and spiritual attributes.” She began. “After all, I can tell you’ve been neglecting it; one use of your special move almost knocked you out in your fight against Tetsuo.”

She was right, I couldn’t keep relying on boosts from Grace forever, I need to be able to stand on my own two feet as a competitor.

“Then what is today's test?” I asked.

Fast forward to the training grounds, a massive outdoor area, and a rather formidable obstacle course stood in my way.

“You need me to take care of this obstacle course, right? That’ll be an easy feat.” With my own physical attributes, I shouldn’t have a problem with this. Suddenly, Elowyn shot a collar around my neck.

“Hey! What is this?!” I shouted.

“Oh, stop being a baby. This will put some strain on your magic energy. In other words, you will be doing this at a handicap. Your training here will be complete when you manage to get enough magical energy to clear the setup.”

Oh great, I was already feeling a bit tired now, but I bet if I took it slowly, I could still make it.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? You have a time limit of ten minutes as well to clear the course.” Elowyn smirked as she mentioned this. Part of me is glad her spirits are lifted, but another part of me is groaning at the difficulty of this test.

“No sense beating around the bush, the sooner I start, the sooner I finish.” I boasted. Of course, it was just empty, and I’m sure she could tell as well, my confidence in completing it had been shattered at the revelation of a time limit.

With that, the timer began, and I had to clear the first of ten obstacles. The first was a ladder to a high-up platform, though I say high up, it was about ten feet. I immediately jumped and grabbed onto it and began to make my way up. I felt more and more exhausted the further I strained. Not to mention, I needed to take a few minutes at a time to not throw up. I hated heights.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, I got up.

“Nice try, but you wasted all ten minutes getting up. Now get down here.” Elowyn shouted. I cursed at myself and then hopped down.

“This will take a while.” Elowyn groaned, face-palming at my apparent lack of progress. She signaled for Grace, who came in a heartbeat as she moved to heal me.

“Grace will heal you up, and you’ll be good to go again.” Elowyn seemed to be trying her hardest not to bite my head off for failing the first obstacle.

Grace put her hands on me, and I felt immediately perked up. I could tell this was going to be just as much of a test for her as it would be for me.

“Baby steps,” I said to Elowyn. “I may be struggling to get up the first of ten, but before you know it. I will be clearing all of them in record time.” I felt I was more convincing to myself than her.

The ten steps of the obstacle course.

The ladder - The first step. It is a little shaky, though.

The monkey bars - Move from the first platform to the next.

The swing - Moving to yet another platform, this time you must swing across on a rope.

The pole - A simple straight ride on the pole to the ground; however, it also includes a five-meter dash to the next obstacle.

The stairs - Halfway there, now you've got to take a large stairway to the next platform.

The rock wall - Climbing your way across yet another platform-wide gap.

Tightrope walking - I love heights (not).

Treadmill - Exactly what it sounds like, running across a ten-foot-long treadmill going 50 km/h. The first actual roadblock (Sapper ran).

A platform down - You run down it; however, due to how narrow, it’s easy with exhaustion to trip and fall.

Stone hopping - Hop from stone to stone in a small pond to the finish line.

These were the ten steps I got very familiar with over the course of a couple of days. I failed at almost every step in every possible way. I’ve passed out mid-way through the treadmill, sending me flying off and onto the ground.

I’ve lost my balance and fallen off the tightrope, or the stones. I’ve also just happened to complete the course and run out of time several times. Usually finishing in twelve or thirteen minutes.

Every day of this, ended in the same way. Me on the ground, with my whole body in pain from an intense tumble. Even beyond the couple of days, I found myself getting more and more exhausted but getting further and further. It didn’t help that I hated heights, and heights was exactly what I was doing. Did I mention I hated heights?

On the sixth day, I fell off again. As I lay on the ground recovering, Elowyn looked over me. “Let me show you how it’s done. Honestly, you couldn’t climb your way out of a paper bag if you tried.” She then proceeded to climb the ladder, clear the monkey bars, swing across, slide down the pole, traverse the stairs, make it through the rock wall, cross the tightrope, run the treadmill, dash down the platform, and hop across the rocks.

She did it all in four minutes.

I could already hear her taunting. Suddenly, I felt a well of motivation surge through me as I got up again and proceeded to try one more time. I made it through one step after the other; I didn’t even find myself struggling against big killers like the tightrope.

Finally, I made it across the finish line in five minutes, not as fast as what Elowyn was capable of, but I passed it with flying colors.

“I love how competitive you are.” Elowyn grinned, clearly happy at the progress I made. I suppose I was able to do it thanks to her jeering.

“You did it, Razan!” Grace hugged me.

“Of course I did. I’ll clear the rest pretty easily, too.” I boasted, I felt my head growing just a bit more, but I was fine with that. I did something that I once thought was physically impossible, and cleared it in half the time.

“We’ll see how you feel tomorrow when you get to do the next part of the test. For now, enjoy the rest of the day off.” With that, Elowyn strutted out of the room. Bud was standing there nearby, ready to lead us back.

“Lady Elowyn trusts me enough to lead you guys back. So that I’ll do.” He saluted again; it was kind of cute.

“Where is she half the time anyway?” I asked. It felt like she was always absent one way or another. I suppose being a Princess is a lot of work.

“She’s spending time with her father. Understandable, given the circumstances.” I suppose I could understand as well. If what the servants said about elves dying being a rare occurrence is true, she probably never expected to ever lose her father.

“Best not to dwell on it,” Bud stated. “You got training to focus on.” His posh little accent is kicking in.

Finally, we arrived at our rooms.

“Dinner will be ready in three hours from now. Please wait here until your escorts arrive.” With a final salute from Bud, he left.

I decided to go into my room to rest. I felt exhausted, even if I made great progress in my training.

Slowly, I began to close my eyes. Sleep took hold of me as the collar itself began to power down.

Remaining participants: 40/100.

Game status: In progress.

Razan Hamada Status: Alive.