God's Tree-Chapter 100: The Second Trial – A Battle of Mind and Will

The air had stilled completely.

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Not a single leaf rustled.

Not a single branch swayed.

The forest was watching.

Argolaith could feel it now more than ever—the weight of unseen eyes, the slow, calculating presence of something ancient and powerful pressing down on them.

Kaelred exhaled sharply, shifting his stance. "Alright. This is worse."

Malakar smirked, stepping forward. "It is only the beginning."

The words had barely left his lips when the shadows between the trees shifted.

Something was moving.

Not a beast. Not a creature.

The forest itself.

Argolaith felt the shift in his bones.

A wave of dizziness overtook him, his vision swimming as if the very air around him had thickened.

He staggered, barely catching himself.

Kaelred groaned beside him. "What… what is this?"

Malakar's eyes gleamed in amusement. "A test. One that does not rely on your swords."

The trees around them began to twist, their bark shifting into strange, almost human-like patterns—faces, distorted and blurred, half-formed expressions frozen in eternal silence.

The forest flickered.

And suddenly—

They were no longer alone.

Figures emerged from the trees, stepping forward in a slow, almost unnatural rhythm.

Not ghosts.

Not beasts.

Something worse.

They resembled people—their forms human-like, their eyes glowing with golden light.

But they were not alive.

Kaelred's hand shot to his sword. "This is unnatural."

Malakar chuckled. "Oh, absolutely."

The figures stopped a few paces away, their golden gazes locking onto Argolaith.

Then—

They spoke.

"Turn back."

The voice was not one voice, but many, overlapping in eerie harmony.

"You do not belong here."

The pressure in the air doubled.

Argolaith gritted his teeth. "And if I don't?"

The golden-eyed figures did not blink.

"Then you will be unmade."

Kaelred hissed through his teeth. "What kind of trial is this?"

Malakar stepped forward, watching closely. "A battle of mind and will. Fascinating."

Argolaith ignored them, his focus locked on the figures before him.

They weren't moving.

They weren't attacking.

But he could feel it—something pressing against his mind.

Like a thousand whispers clawing at the edges of his thoughts, trying to pull him apart piece by piece.

The ground beneath his feet warped, shifting into something soft and endless.

It felt like he was sinking.

Kaelred groaned, gripping his head. "It's inside my mind."

Malakar tilted his head. "Yes. That is the nature of the trial."

Argolaith clenched his fists. "How do we fight it?"

Malakar's grin widened. "You don't. You endure."

The golden-eyed figures stepped closer, their presence pressing against reality itself.

Their whispers grew louder, twisting into half-formed sentences—memories, regrets, fears.

Argolaith saw his own past unravel before him.

His mother and father, whom he had never known.

The lonely nights in the town of Seminah, wandering the outskirts of the Forsaken Forest, searching for something he couldn't name.

The first time he held a sword.

The moment he decided to leave.

Every choice. Every failure.

Played out before him like a cruel performance.

Kaelred screamed, his body dropping to a knee as his own visions overwhelmed him.

Malakar, meanwhile, remained unaffected, his arms crossed as he watched in amusement.

"They are making you question yourself."

His voice cut through the whispers, anchoring them back to the present.

"Your doubts. Your regrets. They are trying to tear you apart."

Argolaith gritted his teeth.

His breath was ragged, his heartbeat too fast, but he forced his mind to steady itself.

These figures—they weren't real.

They were projections. Constructs.

The trial wasn't about fighting them.

It was about standing against them.

Argolaith straightened.

The whispers did not stop.

But he refused to let them consume him.

Kaelred, seeing Argolaith's stance, forced himself to rise as well.

He clutched his head, sweat dripping from his brow, but he fought through the pain.

And then—

The golden-eyed figures stopped.

The whispers vanished.

The weight on their minds lifted.

And the figures faded into nothing.

Kaelred collapsed onto one knee, breathing heavily. "That was awful."

Argolaith exhaled slowly.

His muscles shook, not from exhaustion, but from the sheer mental effort it had taken to push through.

Malakar clapped his hands once, his grin never fading. "Well done. You survived the second trial."

Kaelred shot him a glare. "You could've helped."

Malakar shrugged. "That would have been boring."

Argolaith looked around.

The forest was quiet again.

The air lighter.

The trial had passed.

But he knew.

There were more ahead.

And each one would only be harder.

Kaelred sighed, rubbing his temples. "If every trial is going to feel like that, I might actually lose my mind before we even get to the tree."

Argolaith smirked. "Then get stronger."

Kaelred shot him a glare. "Easy for you to say."

Malakar chuckled, walking ahead. "You should get moving. The next trial will not wait for you."

Argolaith took one last look at the trees around them.

The whispers had stopped, but he could still feel it.

The tree was watching.

And it was not done testing him yet.

He exhaled.

"Let's go."

The journey continued south.

And the real challenges were only just beginning.

The forest remained silent.

The golden-eyed figures were gone, vanished into nothingness, but their presence still lingered in the depths of Argolaith's mind.

Kaelred rubbed his forehead, his breath still uneven from the ordeal. "That was worse than any battle."

Argolaith nodded, rolling his shoulders as he tried to shake off the weight of the trial.

Malakar, ever amused, tilted his head. "You should be honored."

Kaelred shot him a glare. "Honored?"

Malakar spread his hands. "Few mortals ever make it this far. The tree has taken notice of you. It wishes to see what else you are capable of."

Kaelred scoffed. "If the next test is anything like the last, I'd rather it not notice me at all."

Argolaith, however, was already moving forward.

The next trial awaited.

The deeper they traveled into the First Tree's domain, the more unreal the world around them became.

What had once been a dense, living forest now felt like a realm outside of time.

The trees no longer swayed with the wind—because there was no wind.

The ground beneath their feet felt solid but unnatural, as if they were walking on something not entirely real.

Kaelred frowned. "I don't like this."

Malakar smirked. "Good. That means it's working."

Argolaith said nothing.

He could feel the tree's presence growing stronger.

It was waiting, watching.

Testing them, and then—

The path ended.

Before them lay a ravine, stretching endlessly into the mist.

No bottom could be seen, only a vast emptiness that pulsed with an unfamiliar energy.

A single bridge of ancient stone stretched across it.

Wide enough for only one person at a time.

Kaelred let out a low whistle. "That doesn't look suspicious at all."

Argolaith took a step forward—but the moment his boot touched the stone—

The forest spoke.

Not with whispers.

But with force.

A weight pressed down on him, as if the air itself had turned to iron.

His muscles tensed.

Kaelred took a step forward and immediately staggered. "What… what is this?"

Malakar hummed. "The Trial of Endurance."

Argolaith gritted his teeth.

The pressure wasn't just on them—it was inside them.

It was testing their bodies. Their will.

The further they moved, the heavier the burden became.

And the only way forward was across the bridge.