The final exam season had to be the worst. I had heard stories about it but experiencing it was a whole 'nother monster. Only two weeks to create plans that may not work, gather materials and get used to your new team.
"This should be it," I mumbled as I glanced down at the yellowing paper and back towards the large pillar towering overhead. Behind it lay an expansive forest stretched as far as the eye could see, starkly contrasting the fields and marshes they had walked through.
"At least it's better than the marshes. A forest will be easier to traverse," huffed Damien, his fingers curling around the hilt of his blade, "though the trees will worsen visibility. A bit of give and take, I guess."
"I'd rather deal with a forest dragon than another one of those giant mud daubers," Ellie shuddered, "I've had enough of those things for at least a century."
"Be careful what you wish for," I hummed, glancing towards her, "I'd take getting mud bombs thrown at me over poison any day of the week."
Ellie scratched the side of her mud-crusted check, "that's fair."
"Let's get to it then," said Damien as he gestured towards the trees, "there's no telling how far we'll have to walk, and it's already midday."
I could barely make out the path ahead due to the layers of shadows and fog. I narrowed my eyes as I looked around. Maybe an enchantment? But this alone wasn't enough to set me on edge, even if we were taught the dangers of staying in the dark for too long. It was the fact that there was no sound. No birds chirping, bugs, leaves brushing against each other, or sticks snapping underfoot. There was just nothing. Everything screamed that something wasn't right. Instinctively my fingers drifted towards the mana potions hung on my belt.
I stumbled, nearly running into Ellie, when Damien suddenly paused, one hand raised and the other beside his lips in a shushing motion. His eyes searched the trees as his fingers twitched. He reached down to pull out the sword he kept on his hip. That's when I heard an almost inaudible clicking sound off to the right of us. Pursing my lips, I looked into the trees. Hopefully, it's not something that can cause hallucinations by looking at it. There was no telling what the proctors put in this place. There! Behind one of the trees was a pale, see-through face with gleaming red eyes. A type of ghost, then. I winced at the sight of it; only one spirit I knew of had red eyes. A revenant. And we have given it more than enough time to lock onto someone.
A grin had begun to creep across its face, its eyes darting around. It knew. The revenant disappeared from its place, and what replaced it was a cold creeping feeling that trailed across my spine. I didn't know what was worse, the sudden temperature drop or the fact the thing had vanished entirely. At least it's not a-
I was suddenly flung to the side, a startled shriek ripping from my throat. It reeled back its claws and swiped. I ducked and skittered out of the way. Muttering out a spell, a large hand appeared and slammed into the spirit. Causing it to fly into a tree. I stumbled back further just as Ellie lunged forward. Her fingers alight with a blue hue. Electricity danced off her figure as she sent rounds of lightning bolts at it.
The creature screeched, dodging out of the way. Disoriented, I stepped backward right into another surface. Bark dug into my shoulders. I felt nauseous; everything was in doubles, twisting and swirling around. A tight prickling sensation encased my throat. Followed by a face and the feeling of not touching the ground. Lashing out, my hand slammed into its face. It let go with a scream, clutching at the right side of its face. My feet slid from under me as the creature lunged forward again. This time Damien tackled it, the runes on his armor casting the area in yellow. Digging into my satchel, I grabbed and shoved a purple leaf into my mouth. Cringing at the bitter taste of it, I relaxed marginally as everything stopped spinning.
My fingers dug into the bark as I pulled myself back up. Damien was still holding it off, twisting the creature's claws out of reach and swinging back with an iron-clad fist. Ellie was on the ground, clutching her side. Rushing over, I slid across the floor and stopped next to her. A loud beep echoed, the countdown started. Digging through my satchel I pulled out various herbs and rubbed them between my hands.
"Ellie, I need you to move your hands."
She responded with a mumble, wincing as she pulled her hands away. I smeared the herbs over the wound before pressing my hands on it entirely. Muttering out the spell, I could feel my hands begin to grow warm. The claw marks started healing, the muscle and skin piecing themselves back together.
"Thanks." She smiled as she slowly sat back up. I reached out to help her, gently tugging her back up.
"You're wel-"
I yelped as I was flung off to the side. Pushing myself up, I spat out dirt before rolling over just in time as claws embedded into the ground next to me. I snapped out my hand, a golden hue enveloping it. Nothing happened. The hue flicked before going out completely. Oh... Oh no.
The revenant's grin widened. It slowly opened its mouth tauntingly. A blue sphere began forming in front of it. Kicking outward, I attempted to pull myself back. Its hand lunged forward, latching onto my arm. Instinctively I reached over and tried to pull at it, only for my hand to go through it entirely. Right, it's a spirit.
Narrowing my eyes, I glanced over its shoulder before widening them. My arm shot out pointing behind it.
"What is that!?" I screeched. The revenant's head whipped around. I grabbed a potion hooked to my belt, popped the lid off, and downed its contents. Warmth seeped through my body as I tossed the glass bottle to the side. A grin formed on my face as, once again, my fingers glowed with a golden hue. The revenant twisted back around, its face twisted in a scowl. A beam of light shot forth into the creature's chest, sending it sprawling. It screamed, thrashing about on the ground as the light spread across its body. My hands flew up to my ears. It let loose another screech as its eyes narrowed before a howl of rage left it, and it lunged forward. A bolt of lightning slammed into it, sending it crashing to the ground. Its body glowed brighter before disappearing completely.
"Congratulations on completing the exam!" announced a voice from above.
"Woo.." I wheezed out from my place on the ground.
