The trial had begun.
The outside was worse than Elric ever imagined.
His Father had regaled with stories him of his various hunts painting an image of what the outside world looked like, paired with the tales from the various wandering merchants who graced the town periodically, he had built an image of what to expect beyond the ring of torches.
This was different.
They were welcomed by blackness as thick as oil and the haunting silence of the world beyond the gates.
The air was heavier out here. The ground beneath their boots shifted unpredictably—sometimes soft like loam, sometimes crunching with hidden bones. Trees, twisted and gnarled like hunched old men, stood in solemn silence as Elric and his team moved deeper into the woods. In the distance, abandoned stone structures jutted out like broken teeth.
They moved quickly at first, with Elric leading the group, his torch held high, the flame crackling with a sacred orange hue. Den followed behind him, keeping his bow at the ready. Fen took the flank, sword drawn in one hand and torch in the other while Mira brought up the rear, with another torch in her hand her eyes constantly scanned their path.
They had barely gone a mile when the sound and torchlight from the other initiates vanished.
Noticing this the group came to a stop, "Alright it looks like we have gained some distance from the others and..." Mira spoke up as she quickly had a look around them before continuing "... this looks like as good a spot as any".
At those words Elric gave Mira a nod of understanding and pulled out pulled out the worn parchment map, a faded outline of the known terrain beyond the wall. The marked locations of possible artifact sites were vague at best, more suggestion than guidance.
Each group was handed one of these as they followed the Captain out of the hunters hall.
"Which direction?" Fen asked, his voice low but steady, as he looked over the map with the others. "We need to find a place to rest up and plan for the next two cycles", Elric was the first to speak up.
Fen quirked a brow at that, "You sure about that? everyone else is probably off getting artefacts right about now, won't we be left behind if we spend the whole of the first cycle doing well... nothing."
"We're not doing nothing we are setting up, planning our moves instead of just running in blindly." Mira added, " there is a reason we were given three cycles to do this, and also don't forget there is more than artefacts out here."
"Everyone is so focused on the artefacts they have forgotten there is a reason why we have a ring of torches, surrounding our home" Elric's words brought the group back to reality.
The truth was that, the sequence of events had led to the initiates rushing out high on adrenaline each filled with thoughts of grabbing the most valuable artefacts and returning home a hunter. They had all subconsciously forgotten the morbid truth.
Not everyone will come home.
"With all the commotion caused by the others, the inhabitants of the woods are probably already stirring." Den spoke up, causing Fen to break out in cold sweat as he nervously looked around.
"Never forget safety first, Maria where to?"
"This way," Mira said after a short pause pointing to a point on the map. Den leaned in to have a better look at where she pointed to, and nodded "The terrain rises that way. Easier to spot threats."
"Alright since we all agree lets move", Elric addressed the team as the four of them moved in formation. An hour passed in tense silence. Shadows danced at the edges of their torchlight.
Den, bringing up the rear, had taken out a coil of wire and was subtly marking trees as they passed. "If we make it back, we'll want a clean trail." He poke up when Fen turned to look at him with a questioning look.
"I don't like that 'if' in your voice," Fen grumbled, though his usual bravado lacked heat.
The road curved slightly, the earth beneath cracked and uneven. What once might have been farmland was now little more than blackened soil and gnarled roots. No wind moved here, but they could hear things—whispers in the treetops, the occasional distant scuttling, and the constant hum of tension in the air, like a string pulled too tight.
They came upon old stone remnants of a settlement long abandoned. The houses, or what was left of them, were little more than shattered walls and rotting beams.
Exchanging glances, they pulled out their weapons and began to search the ruins for any artefacts or worse monsters that may be lying in wait. Their search was thorough.
The good news was there were no monsters bad news is there were no artefacts as well.
"Keep moving," Mira said, already scanning ahead.
By the time they reached the outskirts of the ruined town, the first cycle had nearly passed. The sky overhead never truly brightened, but now it dimmed even further. They needed to find shelter.
It was Fen who noticed it, and called out to the others pointing to a small chapel, half sunken into the earth. "There."
The structure was mostly intact.Cracks ran through its stone body, but the roof held. The interior of the chapel smelled of damp earth and old rot. Pew benches were overturned or decayed beyond use. A fractured altar sat at the far end of the room beneath a half-collapsed mural. The scene once painted there was long obscured, now just a smear of reds and blacks. A few skeletal remains lay scattered—small animals maybe, or not. Elric didn't want to look too closely. Inside, they found remnants of old pews and a shattered altar.
Elric moved to seal the entrance as best he could while the others made camp.
Den lit a smaller, travel torch and placed it in the center. Fen and Maria moved to secure the corners making sure there were no shadowy corners to birth any horrors.
Once their camp was all set up, the team met in the center, with Maria placing the map before all of them. "Okay we might have used up a lot of time making it here and spent even more time scouring these ruins. However the good news is that we have confirmed that there is no immediate threat to our surroundings for now".
"And no artefacts." Fen added on to Maria's words.
"So now we need to determine where to begin our search upon the next cycle." Elric spoke as he pulled out some snacks to share with the others. "I say we rule out, all the obvious landmarks" Maria proceeded to cross out some areas on the map.
"The others would have surely gone to those places first. So chances are if there are any artefacts there, they've already found it."
"That means our only choices will be to move to those areas that are hard to reach if we want to find any unclaimed artefacts but that means..."
"There is a high chance we'll run into some monsters" Fen finished Elric's words.
Having spent so long in this nightmarish world, its residents have began to deduce some underlying rules of this world. One of the most important discoveries was about the birth of the monsters.
Now no one could say exactly how these monsters were born, but what was known for certain was that once there was a dark enough space a monster would spawn. Even if it was a sealed room with no way in or out, once it was dark enough some fresh horror would simply come into being.
So some area that was hard to access, might as well have a sign saying monster nest as it was very likely to have a monster or two.
"Don't tell me you're scared." Den gave Fen a mocking grin.
"Me, the fuck I am!" Fen stood to his feet slamming his fist to his chest. "I'm here to be a hunter, if I meet any monster I'm reducing it to mush." the familiar actions caused the group to smile.
"Alright, alright no one is smashing any monsters without being well rested, we sleep in shifts. Two up, two down."
Elric stated as he rose to his feet, "Fen and I will take first watch."
Fen groaned but didn't argue.
That night, Elric sat by the torch with Fen, watching shadows slither across the walls.
"You scared?" Fen asked.
Elric didn't answer immediately.
"I think it'd be stupid not to be."
Fen nodded slowly. "Yeah. But I trust us. That matters."
Elric glanced at the torch, then back at the chapel door.
"Let's hope it's enough."