Chapter 36 - Challenge Part 1 (Patreon)

The month she had been training hard through was finally over.  She had mixed feelings about it being over.  Avery’s mate would be the one to administer the challenge for Violet.  Rasmus would fly her to the challenge and observe her progress.

All questions about the challenge were met with silence when she had asked throughout the month of training.  The only answer she received was that a good challenge needed to be done without outside help.  If anyone had to step in during the challenge, she would have failed and would be delivered to the town where her parents were staying.

When Rasmus arrived to take her to the trial, he looked like a slightly larger version of Avery.  His feathers were also the whole rainbow but more vibrant.  In between each color was an outline of black to make each color stand out.  He eyed Violet and said, “I hope you pass, youngling. My Avery is quite taken with you.”

He picked her up in one of his claws, and they went flying over the treetops.  They flew for several hours before the scenery below them changed.  There was a giant hedge maze that had to be at least a mile long on each side.  She could see several animals wandering throughout the maze.  In the center of the labyrinth, there was a giant tree.

Landing at the base of the giant tree, Rasmus began to explain the rules to her of this challenge.  As he spoke, an illusionary list floated in the air next to them.  On the illusion were the bullet points of the rules he was explaining to her.

• Climbing the hedge is an immediate disqualification.
• If she encountered a magical beast, she could kill it, use it, or hide from it.
• If at any time she wished to forfeit the challenge, she need only call his name.
• If he had to save her, she would be disqualified.
• To win this challenge, she had to find any of the four exits.

After Rasmus answered her questions, he flew up onto one of the tree branches and settled in to watch her progress.  She had only the clothes she was wearing and her whits to begin the trial.  When Violet had asked about food, she was informed there were beasts to eat and foraging inside the maze.  While she didn’t want to eat raw meat, she would if she was desperate enough.  She knew a human could last for several weeks without food as long as they had adequate access to water.  Water would not be an issue for her.

She had no interest in being lost in a maze for weeks, so the first thing she did was sit at the base of a tree and create a tiny Decoy of a bird.  Her little bird flew above the labyrinth while Violet used Visualization to memorize the route she would need to take.  There were no limits on time for this challenge, so she mapped the entire maze making sure to note down any large nests of beasts or where she may find foraging.

Once she had mapped the entire maze, she attempted to create something like her Mental Notes to mark her route.  It took her several attempts before she was able to manipulate the map the way she wanted to.

[Skill gained: Pathfinding 1]

As soon as she gained the skill, she placed marks on her visualized map, and finding the shortest path became more manageable.  However, she chose not to go with the shortest path because the largest nest of beasts was along that route.  Every direction had challenges to overcome, so she decided to take the shortest route with the least amount of danger.

She waited for her mana to regenerate before setting off into the maze. The first challenge she came to was a pond filled with fish.  She needed to cross six feet of water two feet deep on the edge nearest the hedges and quite deep near the center.  She dared not swim because she could not see the bottom of the pond near the center. The other problem was the fish were aggressive carnivores.

An animal had attempted to get a drink from the pond while she was observing from above.  A large fish jumped up, grabbed its throat, and dragged it into the center of the pond before it had time even to register the danger.  While the larger fish was carrying the animal below, the water had turned red as a feeding frenzy took place.

To get over the pond, she created a thick ice bridge.  The bridge included a three-foot vertical wall facing the water to keep her safe from jumping fish.  She made sure to place her bridge at the very edge of the pond where it was most shallow.  As soon as she made the ice, she sprinted across to conserve mana.  That trick cost her a third of her mana to create and keep active while she ran through.

When she was mapping this maze, there were several ponds like this one scattered throughout.  It was an oddity she had not expected to find in a hedge maze.  Then again, you usually don't find foraging in a hedge maze either.  The hedges themselves were six feet thick and fifteen feet tall.  The space between each barrier varied, but she noted a minimum distance of eight feet between walls.

There was a large amount of ambient mana in this area.  Violet estimated that she regenerated twice as fast than she did at the aviary.  It made a kind of sense that they would drop her in a magical area to test her.  Beasts were drawn to this area, so there would be plenty of challenges before you even added in the labyrinth.

Leaving the pond behind, she worked her way through the maze until she came to a large open area filled with plants.  Her goal when choosing this direction was to forage food in this area before moving on to the first animal she was likely to encounter.

The plant area opened up into a large clearing with a narrow path zig-zagging around the various large bushes.  She would exit this area, not far from a sizeable willowy tree with multiple vines hanging from its branches.  The tree was around thirty feet tall and around its branches spread out sixty feet in diameter.

She kept a wary eye out for animals that made their home in this place as she started on the zig-zagging path.  Rustling in the bushes could be heard as she slowly made her way into the clearing.  She had not yet located any plants she knew were edible, and every noise had her jumping.

She conjured a Shadow Blade to ease her nerves to have it ready if anything jumped at her.  She had made it a third of the way through this section before anything happened.  The first animal she had seen emerged from a hole in the ground not far from her.  It was a tiny rat-like creature with a long fluffy tail reminding her of a chinchilla.

As soon as she saw the animal charging at her, she shot off an Ice Shard to end the threat.  The poor thing’s head exploded on impact, and it just flopped over without making a sound.  It was far enough into the bushes that she decided not to collect her kill.  She was worried there would be more in hiding ready to avenge their fallen.

She made it two steps further along the path before the corpse she had just created was dragged into the undergrowth and away from sight. From her vantage, it looked like the bushes swallowed it whole.  It was confusing for her because plants weren’t supposed to eat rats.  She assumed it was another animal that had stolen the corpse while remaining hidden in the dense layer of the brush.

When she made it to the center of the open area, the bush closest to the path shot a vine directly at her.  Because she was on high alert, she was able to jump out of its way and bring her shadow blade down on the offending vine.  A screeching sound could be heard from the bush after losing the appendage.  The vine she had cut was leaking green fluid on the ground in front of her.

In her rush to get away from the shrieking bush, she almost backed into another such bush.  Once she knew about the vines, she could dodge them, and the plant could only snap one fast attack before it had to reset.  To avoid any more episodes, she hurriedly moved further along the path she was on until she was out of range.

She had to dodge several more shooting vines as she made her way further along the zig-zagging trail.  All thoughts of leaving the safe(ish) path were abandoned, with the plant life attacking her.  She made sure to assess all possible threats as she made her way along the path.  It wasn’t until she was two-thirds of the way through the clearing that the vines on the tree started to sway a little.

If it weren’t for the other plant life trying to attack her, she would have discounted the swaying as wind.  There was no way she would get past that many vines to exit this area without her changing tactics.  She decided to use the plants along the path as test subjects.  She used them to see which of her aspects would help her the most with this.

The first thing she tried was Fear.  While that did produce a result, it was not one she was looking for.  Once she used that aspect on the bush, it started to attack everything around itself wildly.  She did not feel she had very good chances of dodging erratic vines.  Hypnotize did absolutely nothing when she attempted to use it.

She next used Disguise Self to make herself look like a bush.  The plant she tested this theory on attacked her just as quickly as all previous ones had.  It would make sense that the plant did not have the best vision.

Assuming that the attacks were based on movement, she used Cloaking to turn herself invisible when she walked past the next bush.  The bush did not attack until she kicked a rock in front of it.  Walking past the evil bushes was simple once she started to use Cloaking.  As she neared the garden exit, the vines on the tree started to become agitated.  They began moving as if searching for something.

Playing it safe, she activated her Sneak skill and slowly approached the vines and the exit beyond them.  Sensing she was near, the tree began to search for her more actively.  At the exit of the clearing, the vines were whipping themselves around in a predictable pattern, so she was able to time getting past them.  Making it by the vines was anti-climatic.  The big trick she was on edge for never happened.