Way of the Knights

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"Roll out the hill for this Old Man!"

The angry roar of the Elder sounded once more. He flicked his sleeves and an invisible force swept the pale faced and unwilling guy out of the hill. And true to the old man's words, the pitiful guy was sent rolling down the hill and there's nothing he could do to stop it. 

The participants had varying reactions towards the pitiful guy and the elder. Some of them mocked and disdained the guy from acting like that and some were even laughing coldly inwardly. They were of course wary about the elder's strength but they knew that so long as they don't act inappropriately, then the elder won't do anything to make their lives difficult. 

"Well, he's asking for it. He thought too highly of himself." Jason sighed and said in a whisper beside Raven. He then leaned in closer and said: "But hey, at least he gave us some hints about the tests. You heard that too right?"

Raven silently nodded in confirmation. In truth however, Raven already had an idea on what's going on due to him spying through curtain of light earlier. 

"The poor guy though…" Raven sighed, "He got humiliated pretty bad. He will never have a face to show anyone from now on."

"What he did was worse than courting death. I mean, who gave him the gall to question the authority of Ancient Elysium Sect? Not only that, he's also making things difficult for the Twin Star Academy. His guts is as big as the heavens, yet he doesn't have the strength to back it up. That's his fault." Jason shook his head as he spoke. 

Raven didn't say anything since he knew that what Jason said was correct. That guy was truly asking for it. He was akin to an ant trying to shake a tree. Without strength to back it up, everything else is hollow. Isn't this why they were trying to join a great power? How absurd of that guy to think that he had the qualifications for the Ancient Elysium Sect and Twin Star Academy to give him an explanation. 

"Before we proceed, let me clarify this once and for all." The Elder's cold voice sounded amongst the participants. "No one asked you to be here. We, the Twin Star Academy and the Ancient Elysium Sect never forced anyone to participate in this recruitment. You came on your own accord because you have your own reasons."

"The Ancient Elysium Sect is already kind enough to allow you people to take the tests. Don't think to highly of yourselves like that idiot over there since if you truly are someone with a great status, then there's absolutely no reason for you to be here. Now, if you want to participate, then follow the rules. If you passed then you passed, if you fail then you've nothing but yourselves to blame. Those who doesn't feel like doing so can scram away from here. Your presence isn't welcomed here."

The hilltop was silent for a bit, no one walked away even after being berated by the Elder. The old man snorted and said:

"Since no one stepped out, then we shall begin. Participants #51 to 100, step forward." 

Hearing this, the people who were called out stepped forward, amongst them was Raven and Jason. As they walked forward, Jason leaned in towards Raven and whispered:

"Dude, they're not switching the test even though that idiot earlier gave us hints." 

'It means that they are either confident about the tests or they didn't notice it. Either way, we're in no position to question it. Let's just do our best.' Raven replied via voice transmission. 

'Right. Good luck.'

'You too.'

As soon as they finished transmitting to each other, the participants were then enveloped by a thick curtain of light. As soon as this light touched them, all of them lost consciousness, Raven included. 

Everyone went into a seated position and an absolute silence permeated their surroundings. Once this occurred, the Elder closed his eyes and waited until this batch finished their tests. 

***

Loud sounds of explosion woke up Raven. 

A frown surfaced on his face as soon as he saw debris flying across his head. Everything around him was burning, screams of pain, agony and unwillingness sounded on his ears causing Raven's heart to pound inside his chest. 

"Get down!"

"Ahh! Noo!"

"My baby! No!"

"Honey, please wake up! Don't leave me!"

Raven's eyes were dull as he stared at his surroundings. He was confused. He didn't know where he was, what was happening or how did he end up here. All he could feel is a heart-wrenching pain deep in his heart as he looked at the mourning people. 

He didn't know why but somewhere inside of him, he could feel a deep sense of familiarity over this people. 

Raven walked aimlessly. He didn't know where he was going. All he could do is to stare at the mourning people and the current destruction surrounding him. Fear started creeping up on his heart. He didn't understand it. Why did he feel like he knew this people but at the same time don't? Why could he feel their hurt? Why would he sympathize with them? Why is here? Where is this place? 

A pity that no one can answer this questions for him. Therefore, he could only walk forward. 

Sadness gradually filled up his heart. He could feel their pain, their despair, their hopelessness. He didn't understand how but for some reason he could. 

Throughout his travels, he ended up at a blocked road. There were large pieces of rubble in front of him, densely packed and unmovable. Yet it wasn't those that stopped him from walking. 

Beneath those rubble, he could see two bodies. He couldn't see their faces nor even their whole body as they were trapped underneath the fallen rubbles. Yet when he saw them, the pain on Raven's heart intensified. 

Tears flowed from his eyes due to the pain he's feeling, yet what really angered him is the confusion because his heart was screaming at him that he knew who these people were but he couldn't remember anything at all! 

He wanted to rush over yet he knew that it was useless since he couldn't feel any life signs on these two. They were dead. There's nothing he could do. But the agitation was killing him. He felt helplessness, despair, grief, and overwhelming sense of loss upon looking at these two dead bodies. 

Gritting his teeth, he chose to walk away. Why? He was wondering about that too. 

It didn't take long before a dull and emptiness returned to his eyes. He wandered aimlessly yet again, not knowing where his feet will take him this time. The destruction around him remained, he saw myriad of people in despair, he felt them as well yet he truly didn't understand what's happening. 

His feet eventually took him at a base of a hill. From here, he could see a what used to be a humble and simple house, now reduced to ruins. 

Seeing this destroyed house caused his freezing heart to speed up once more. Terror filled his heart and before he knew it, he found himself rushing over towards the house. 

He was anxious but he didn't know why. He was scared and found himself pleading for something he didn't know or aware of. 

Raven's heart almost leapt up to his throat when he saw how bad the situation looks like. He felt weak on his knees. The house was completely devastated, reduced to a mere pile of rubble. 

He unknowingly gnashed his teeth in frustration. Without hesitation, he knelt down and started digging. He didn't know why he's doing so but his emotions were completely in control of him as he was doing this. 

Raven felt something amiss. Something tells him that he shouldn't be this weak to the point where he couldn't even lift a single piece of rubble without exerting immense effort. 

He abhorred this feeling of weakness. His hair was dishelved, his eyes were bloodshot and he could feel himself trembling from exhaustion yet he didn't stop. He didn't want to stop because he was afraid. 

Unfortunately, up until this point, he's still not aware what exactly he was afraid of. 

Raven continued his arduous digging. It came to the point where every piece of rubble felt as heavy as a mountain. Sweat drenched his whole body, his expression was twisted. He was on the verge of getting mad from anxiety and fear. Something was telling him to hurry up since there's no time anymore. 

He lifted another piece of rubble with so much difficulty, what made him somewhat excited is the fact that he could now see the floor on the house. 

Raven was energized by this sight, he could feel that the source of his anxiety was very near. Not knowing how, he managed to throw things with a fervent ardor and much faster compared before. The floor was then revealed piece by piece until he saw something that caused his soul to shake from an overwhelming sense of horror.

"A-avi? Is t-that you my baby boy?"

"NOOOOOOOO!!!"

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