Fallen Fate Online

Chapter 239 The Lake

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"Are you ready?" Edvin asked with a calm expression, looking at Zayne while his aura slowly returned to normal.

Zayne answered with a slight delay, "Yeah, I'm sure I can pass the Chaos Trial. You said I have a 70% success rate. Fine, that's good enough if it ever makes it to the same level you are at."

Edvin nodded, "Good attitude. Perhaps just now your chances have increased slightly, however, only slightly. In that case, go ahead, you have no reason to stay here any longer."

Whooooooooooosh.

At the same moment, a petal of the Bellflower flew in front of Zayne, as if it was already waiting for him. The petal wanted to guide Zayne to Chaos Trial which was just a short distance away.

"Sure." Zayne replied confidently, getting up from the ground.

"Zayne, I have to warn you about something else." Edvin said seriously, looking into the void with a deep gaze.

"Agh...?" Zayne gave him a questioning look. It seemed to him that they had discussed everything possible already.

"You probably already know that Chaos's job is to give anyone a chance, regardless of background, especially those who have wiped their hands in blood to climb out of the abyss of despair." Edvin uttered majestically, gazing up at the scarlet moon.

Zayne gulped. He had heard enough about Fate and Chaos in Bellflower to draw his own conclusions about the two entities.

"So... You must realize that anyone who goes through the Awakened Process does so through the Chaos Trial. It usually takes years of training and experience to reach the right level of understanding and break through the barrier. However, Chaos can change that, but it only gives that opportunity to some of us." Edvin calmly said.

"He's right." Toruf said in a deep voice, "I didn't go through the Chaos Trial, I didn't have that opportunity."

Zayne shook his head slightly, "In that case what about you?" Zayne stared at Edvin.

Edvin was strong, and Zayne was curious to see what he went through on his path.

Edvin sighed, "That was a long time ago. Well, that's enough of that. Let's go."

Realizing that this was the end of the conversation, Zayne didn't ask anything more. He said his goodbyes to the others and headed for the petal.

It was an unusual encounter on his path, especially since two of his companions were monsters and the third was a member of the Shattered Moon Order.

'Damn... First Karin, now Edvin... They are both frighteningly strong and yet completely different. Edvin is calm and cold, and Karin acts crazy, however... They're both so serene...' Zayne internally muttered as a slight sadness appeared in his eyes.

Zayne realized that people had different reasons for following the path of power. Some did it for power, some did it to protect someone or just to make money than was his way at first.

However, now Zayne realized that it was the other path that attracted him the most. He wanted to feel as serene as Edvin, Karin, or Klaus.

'Ah... Maybe that's what freedom looks like... Money or power doesn't always mean freedom, but, they... They look like nothing in this world can hold them back.' Zayne sighed while shaking his head before continuing to follow the petal.

He passed through the dry trees, moving towards his goal and thanks to Edvin's aura, there were no more monsters around. No one could stop Zayne from reaching the Chaos Trial and he understood that.

...

"Hey... Do you really think he can do it?" Toruf asked Edvin.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Edvin raised an eyebrow in a confusion.

"I'm talking about the Chaos Trial. 70%... That's quite a lot. I haven't participated in it myself, but I've heard a lot of stories and I know how difficult it must be." Toruf worried.

Edvin shrugged, "Yeah, you've seen for yourself what he's capable of. A young man in Terror Grade could take you to the ground. If he was a little stronger, he would have killed you and eaten you like we did that crocodile. Anyway, we'll see for ourselves soon."

Kota, who was already almost gone, taking a long walk away from the fire with slow steps, suddenly turned around.

"What...? You mean we can watch him do that?" Kota asked with a curious expression. 

Edvin nodded, "Sure. Didn't you know about that? Follow me if you want. I think I can guess where the petal is leading Zayne, so soon we'll know the beginning of the Chaos Trial."

Toruf and Kota looked at each other. The three of them had just met for the first time a while ago, and in any other situation, they might have been enemies. However, there was no reason to fight now, on the contrary, they couldn't let an opportunity like this go to waste.

Edvin headed towards the forest with a calm gait, "In fact, we won't be the only ones. When Zayne reaches the place, then everyone will head towards this forest. It will be a momentous occasion even in the Dark Lands."

Toruf's and Kota's eyes flashed with interest as they immediately followed Edvin, moving towards the hill that overlooked the entire Dark Mist Forest.

At the same time, Marcus, Fosca, and Sara were gradually approaching Dark Mist Forest, slowing down slightly as Fosca and Sara couldn't keep up with Marcus's pace, but in less than an hour, they would reach Zayne.

...

Step. Step. Step.

Zayne moved leisurely through petal after petal until he saw that the endless layer of dry trees was beginning to end. Then, he sped up and ran outside, finding himself in front of something massive. 

"Wow... I didn't realize there was something like this here..." Zayne muttered in amazement looking at the wide lake, the end of which he could only partially see.

The shore of the lake was of white sand, and the water itself was dark, but not murky, but crystal clear. The surface of the lake reflected the scarlet moon and hundreds of stars in the night sky.

There was no one and nothing around, it seemed that it was an impregnable zone and only someone unique could enter there, although there were no barriers or passageways.

"How unusual..." Zayne muttered, looking at his hand trembling slightly, as his whole body was covered in goosebumps as soon as he saw this scene.

"It's like my instincts are telling me that this is a dangerous place, and yet I feel so calm..." Zayne whispered, sinking into his thoughts, but, a scarlet petal swept before his eyes brought him to his senses.

'Right... Now is not the time for this, I have a chance to become much stronger and learn about my power, and I must use it. There's no other way.' Zayne internally said, clenched his hands into a fist, and stepped forward.

Zayne followed the petal, stepping on the white sand and leaving footprints on it. Zayne reached right up to the water, but, the petal indicated to move on.

"Hmm? Do I really have to swim?" Zayne gulped. He didn't know what was in the lake and wasn't at all prepared for it.

Whooooooooooooooooooosh.

At the same moment, the petal plunged into the water, then scarlet energy waves traveled through the water, causing light ripples.

Before Zayne could realize it, a bridge of bones appeared in front of him, crimson blood dripping from its edges. The petal was gone, and now that bridge was the only clue for Zayne.

The bridge looked eerie, as it gave off an aura of death, but that didn't scare Zayne at all. In fact, he had expected Chaos Trial to be something like this. Before this, everything was too harmless and safe.

Zayne took a deep breath and stepped onto the bridge. As soon as he walked a few meters, part of the bridge beneath him collapsed, leaving no way back for him.

'Hmm...? Are they moving? Zayne looked at the bone fragments that were slowly moving across the sand. They stopped at the same distance from each other like outer runes in a magic circle.

The farther Zayne moved forward, the more bones remained, which filled the vacant spots, around the huge lake.

Zayne didn't notice it, but there were already eyes on him, and they were getting bigger by the second. Some were lurking in the forest, some were in the hills, and some were watching Zayne from the top of the mountains and the edges of the cliffs that were a few kilometers away from the lake.

"Wow... So that's how it happens..." Kota muttered with wide eyes, "Now he has to fight someone?"

"Hey." Edvin said calmly, then he turned to Kota, and his cold as ancient glacier gaze fell on her, "Shut up. I like everyone here want to enjoy the moment, and if you ruin it, I will silence you by force."

Kota immediately did as Edvin said, if she could she would have forgotten how to talk after such a threat. Toruf grinned but didn't say anything. He watched carefully behind Zayne, who had already reached the last platform of the bridge, located in the center of the lake.

Zayne looked around, not understanding what he was supposed to do. He was worried and puzzled.

Whoooooooosh.

Suddenly, a powerful stream of scarlet flames appeared in front of him that he was very familiar with. Zayne wasn't worried, he knew that Chaos Flame wouldn't hurt him, at least not now.

Then, a tall silhouette emerged from the flames, heading straight for Zayne.