Last Era

Chapter-4(Part 2) Selection Tests II

"Haa...Haa...!"...the sound of rough breathing...

The sunlight fell on the ground filtered through the leaves; the scenery in front of me was mix of bright shades of rich lustrous yellow and green leaves hanging on sturdy nicotine-brown wood.

I was surrounded by thick trees in a forest.

It was roughly 10 minutes, but it felt like much more time had passed. I was feeling strange...

My breathing was heavy, my pupils dilated.

My heart beat more vigorously than ever and sweat beads ran along the backside of my neck.

I only jogged a little but not enough to make me sweat so heavily...yet my body was now covered in the stench of heavy perspiration and unsteady breaths.

I stood behind the shadow of a thick tree, my left hand holding the handle which was surrounded by faint blue light in a shape reminiscent of a rectangular shield, its width wasn't enough to cover both shoulders if held upright, it stretched from one shoulder to the pocket on the other side of my black jacket and if held horizontally then the lower side was greatly exposed making me vulnerable to attacks almost either way and in my right held a dark gray gun.

The unnatural blend of colors in front of me were captivating, no it was more than just captivating or breathtaking...it felt like if I stared too much I'd get sucked into it.

*Ba-dump*

My pulse rose, but I couldn't tell why.

My skin tingled and breathing quickened. Surrounded by trees and nature of an unusually bright hue I felt weird.

More than just being bright the surroundings gave me an instinctual fear. But the only things I could infer was that this could be the so called gimmick my intuition told me with no conclusive basis.

My trembling feet were screaming,.. telling me... 'run', as if they were crying out.

Somewhere...anywhere....just run.

My arms too and my entire body as well were brimming with a weird energy. It wasn't anything novel-like or climatic like the energy to push myself in tough times as depicted in games and novels.

It was simply...fear. A very base...natural and primitive instinct that pushed me.

I placed my arm over the other and leaned my back against the tree.

"Haaaa........"

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself.

I pressed my foot against the ground as if trying to crush something underneath and hit my thigh strongly with the base of my gun.

"Guhh......."

I tried to use the pain to calm myself even if it could help only a little, I still needed that.

I took another deep breath. My mind cleared a little bit.

I raised my head to look around.

Damn....the same nauseating colors......

Then I notice something...

Sound...? There's almost no sound.

There was no sound anywhere. No cicadas crying or the humming of birds. Only the occasional sound of wind rustling against the leaves, but apart from that there was virtually no sound.

My teeth grind in chagrin...

Almost every detail of this environment was designed to confuse the people in it. The strange hue of the leaves and trees, the absence of sound...