I stood on the deck, admiring the calm view, when something suddenly appeared in front of me.
[ Trial 2. Stage 2 starts now. Time remaining: 59:59 ]
"What? It already started?" I muttered, startled.
Everyone rushed out of the cabin, looking around in confusion. It was eerily calm. I checked the water while the others scoured the other sides of the ship, but there was nothing.
"What are we supposed to do?" Ezra asked, breaking the silence.
Before anyone could answer, Ezra stepped back inside the cabin, only to be launched out with insane speed. He slammed into the ship's wall, breaking it.
"What the hell?" I shouted as we all immediately took battle stances.
From the cabin emerged a warrior. Almost 3 meters tall, its entire body was shimmering with dark green armor, skin, and eyes, all glowing with an unnatural hue. It didn't move to attack, just stood there, staring at us.
"What the hell is this thing?" I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Then, text appeared before us.
[ Survive the Sovest ]
"Sovest?" I muttered, staring at the green figure. "Why isn't it doing anything?"
It didn't move, almost as if it were waiting for something. But then Ezra stepped forward, his weapon raised, ready to attack. The moment he did, the Sovest shifted. Its color changed to blood-red, and in a blur, it appeared in front of him.
Ezra didn't even have time to react as the creature's sword sliced through his stomach. He coughed up blood and crumpled to the ground.
"Ezra!" Liam shouted, charging forward in a blind rage.
"Wait!" I yelled, but it was too late. Liam attacked, and the Sovest moved like lightning, dodging effortlessly and slashing at him.
I gritted my teeth and joined the attack, swinging the blade that Nely gave to me. It avoided me just as easily, darting past to slash my cheek. Blood dripped down my face.
"Too fast… it's too damn fast!" I growled.
Nely jumped in, scythe raised, but the Sovest knocked her back with brutal force. She crashed through the cabin wall, groaning in pain.
"What is this power?" I muttered, gripping my sword tightly.
The Sovest froze suddenly, its color fading back to green. We all froze with it, breathing heavily and unsure of what to do next.
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Liam muttered. "Dune?"
I stared at the Sovest, piecing it together. "Wait, don't move!" I said. "I think it only attacks when we move."
"What are you saying?" Nely groaned.
"When it's green, don't move," I said firmly.
The Sovest stood still, as if waiting. I checked the timer.
[ 55:50 → 55:40 ]
Exactly ten seconds passed, and the Sovest disappeared.
Text appeared before us again:
[ Sovest will reappear in 01:29 ]
I exhaled in relief and hurried to Nely. "Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up.
"I'm fine," she said, already healing her wounds.
Next, I approached the twins. "When it's green, we can't attack or even move," I explained.
Ezra, holding his stomach, smirked through the pain. "Yeah, I noticed. Damn thing's too strong anyway."
This is different. I didn't expect a trial like this.
Before I could think further, the timer ran out. The Sovest reappeared in the center of the ship, but this time, it was yellow.
"What does yellow mean?" I asked aloud.
"I don't know!" Ezra shouted, but before we could figure it out, the Sovest vanished again.
"What…?"
"Search it! It's on the ship!" Nely suddenly yelled. "We have to find it, now!"
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Trust me! Find it!"
A timer appeared in my vision:
[ 00:19 ]
"Damn it!" I cursed, dashing to the lower deck while the twins ran into the cabins. Nely searched the ship's upper decks.
"Where are you, bastard?" I muttered under my breath. The seconds ticked down.
[ 00:07… 00:06… 00:05… 00:04… 00:03… ]
[ Sovest was found by Nely. ]
"Good job!" I cheered as I ran to the center of the ship, where everyone was gathering.
"How did you know?" I asked Nely, panting.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and answered, "Because I've played this game. In the memory I regained, I played it with my dad once."
"Damn," I muttered. "We're lucky to have you."
The twins jumped on Nely, grinning.
"You're our savior!" Liam said.
"What would we do without you?" Ezra added dramatically.
"Get off me!" Nely pushed them away with a scowl.
"Anyway," she said, brushing herself off, "the rules are simple. Green means don't move. Yellow means find it as fast as possible."
[ 00:00 ]
The Sovest reappeared in the center, and this time, it was red.
"Then what does red mean?" I asked, feeling a sinking dread.
Nely's eyes widened. "Run!" she screamed.
We all dashed away from the center as fast as we could. "Who's it gonna chase?" I thought, my heart racing.
The Sovest answered immediately, darting straight toward me.
"Of course it's me. Perfect," I muttered bitterly, sprinting away.
I activated Nebastep, dashing high into the air to try and evade it. The Sovest followed me like a relentless shadow, its speed unmatched.
"Get away, you damn bastard!" I shouted, trying to knock it back with a burst of energy.
Suddenly, the Sovest slowed.
"Hah! I'm so good at this," I smirked, only for the Sovest to turn green mid-air.
"What?!"
Green means don't move. I couldn't stop myself in mid-air, and as I fell back towards the ship deck, the Sovest turned red again, dashing towards me.
"This is unfair!" I activated Nebastep just in time, narrowly blocking its blade, but the explosion from the impact still sent me crashing into the deck.
Coughing blood, I looked up as the Sovest rushed toward me again. But its color shifted to yellow just before it could strike.
"It's yellow!" I screamed weakly, warning the others.
Nely and the twins scattered, frantically searching the ship.
[ 00:03… 00:02… 00:01… ]
[ Sovest was found by Ezra. ]
I collapsed back onto the deck, gasping for air.
"Dune, you okay?" Liam asked as they gathered around me.
"No, I'm not. I almost died," I groaned, clutching my side.
[ Sovest reappears in 02:50. Time remaining for stage 2 to end: 41:45. ]
Nely knelt beside me and started helping me to heal my wounds. I gritted my teeth and used her channeled Neba to heal myself.
"Listen," I said, my voice strained. "It only stays the same color for ten seconds. After that, it changes. Red is the worst, just run. Yellow and green are easier to deal with."
We all exchanged tired glances, bracing ourselves for the next phase.
Two minutes passed, and we gathered at the center of the ship once more. The timer ticked down relentlessly, and as the last ten seconds began to count, the Sovest reappeared.
"Here we go," I muttered, tightening my grip on Nely's weapon.
The Sovest shimmered green, don't move. We all froze. But then, out of nowhere, another Glitch materialized behind us.
"What the hell!" I shouted.
"Two of them?" Ezra grinned wide, his eyes glinting with excitement. "This is crazy..."
"Why is this idiot smiling, What is wrong with him?" I thought, biting back my irritation. "What could possibly be exciting about this?"
The second Sovest was yellow and vanished almost instantly.
"Damn it! What do we do now?" I thought, frantically glancing between Nely and the twins. I'll move. I'll distract the green one, lead it away, and they'll have time to search for the yellow one.*
But before I could act, Liam placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll handle green," he said, his voice steady.
Then, without another word, he dashed forward. The green Sovest turned red in an instant and lunged at him.
Me and Nely sprinted toward the cabins, already searching for the yellow Sovest. I pushed myself harder, using Nebastep to surge forward. *Faster, faster!*
Back on deck, the red Sovest swung its sword toward Liam in a vicious arc. But the moment the blade was about to strike, Liam disappeared. In his place stood Ezra, crouched and perfectly positioned to avoid the attack.
"Too slow," Ezra taunted, smirking.
The red Sovest snarled, or at least it sounded like it did, and swung again. This time, it targeted Ezra. But just as the sword neared him, Ezra vanished, and Liam reappeared in his place, sidestepping the blow effortlessly.
Ezra grinned wide as he swapped positions again. "This dumbass can't even touch us," he thought.
The twins moved like clockwork, their teamwork seamless. When one stood in a perfect dodging stance, the other would instantly switch places, throwing the Sovest off balance every time. The red Sovest's attacks hit nothing but air.
"We can keep this up all day," Ezra thought. Then a flicker of doubt crossed his mind: But if this thing can adapt... we're screwed.
Meanwhile, below deck, I dashed through the narrow hallways, my heart pounding. At the last second, I spotted the yellow Sovest. It disappeared just before I reached it, and I sprinted back toward the deck.
When I arrived, Liam and Ezra were still dodging flawlessly.
"Lucky bastards," I muttered, relieved they were unharmed.
The pattern repeated itself over and over. Nely and I took care of the yellow Sovest every time, while the twins handled the green one. After what felt like an eternity of tense, coordinated effort, the wave finally ended.
[ Next glitch appears in 02:00 ]
[ Trial ends in: 02:40 ]
I let out a shaky breath, wiping the sweat from my brow. "We're so close," I muttered, glancing at Nely as she stepped up beside me.
"Two of them were hard enough," she said, her voice strained. "What are we going to do for the last one?"
I took a deep breath, thinking carefully. "It's obvious," I began, "the last one will involve three Sovests."
"Liam and Ezra," I continued, "you two should handle the red Sovest from the start. That'll give us two extra seconds until the green one turns red. We don't have a choice, we'll need to move fast anyway."
"I'll find the yellow one as quickly as I can," I added, meeting Nely's gaze. "Once I take care of it, I'll come back to help you with the green one Nely. By then, it'll probably have turned red too."
The group nodded in silent agreement. There wasn't much else to say. We all knew the stakes.
And then, finally, the timer hit zero. Three Sovests appeared simultaneously in a flash of light.
One green.
One yellow.
One red.
I tightened my grip on my blade. "Let's do this,"