"Kill us... what do you mean?"
The short guy looked at Morvian in bewilderment, who stood calmly beside him.
"You really don't know anything... anyway, let's start at the beginning..."-Morvian began to speak-"I hope you're aware that in a few hours we'll be undergoing a test?"
The dwarf nodded quickly and pretended as if he was being told the obvious. But it was.
"Now, should we fail the test, we will all turn into beasts of the abyss. Our minds will be clouded, and our bodies will mutate into hideous creatures that will begin to destroy everything around us. That's where the guards come in."
The people who had been listening to Morvian darkened dramatically and a few quiet prayers were heard.
The dwarf seemed very surprised by this and it didn't take long for the question to be asked.
"Since that's the case, how come I've never heard of it?"
A tall guy with a pleasant voice interjected into the conversation.
"That's the odd thing about it. The last incident like this was seven years ago. Were you in town then?"
The dwarf thought deeply, taking hold of his chin.
He stood like that for several long moments before exploding with irritation.
"Hmm... I don't remember. The hell with it. The main thing is just not to repeat that fate, that's all. My name is Jin by the way." said the dwarf.
Jin exhaled sharply, as if to release the tension, and suddenly held out his hand, his palm scarred and dirty, but the gesture was sincere. Morvian felt the bony phalanges clenched in his fingers, trembling with recent rage. "Me Morvian," he said, noticing the long-haired man studying their handshake with the cold eyes of a bird of prey.
"And you?" he said, looking at the taller boy.
"Elias. Nice to meet you."
After exchanging handshakes, the new acquaintances wanted to continue their conversation, but at that moment a deafening horn sounded.
The crowd fell silent and hundreds of pairs of eyes fixed their gazes on the main doors of the cathedral.
The massive wooden doors several meters high swung open and several new faces stepped out.
Several guardsmen armed with silver spears and wearing red robes stepped out to the crowd and began moving people away to form a passageway.
The next moment, a chanting choir of children in white robes could be heard as they slowly made their way out of the temple.
The children's voices, clear as bells, caused several women in the crowd to fall to their knees. A carved chamber of ebony floated from the temple - its surface mottled with runic writings from which a scarlet substance oozed. Six half-naked porters with veined arms carried the structure, their tunics slit at the sides revealing bodies covered with ritual scars. With each step they took, scarlet tentacles of light crawled out from beneath the chamber, licking the stone slabs.
The crowd fell silent, and the guards began methodically tapping their spear shafts against the ground.
Their metallic voices came from beneath their hoods, blending into a single song with the angelic chorus.
The wooden chamber floated smoothly toward the young men lined up in the square.
The song stopped and so did the clanging of iron against stone.
Everyone fell silent and the women stopped, then slowly lowered their burdens to the ground.
The cloths covering the inside of the chamber slid open and a tall man stepped out.
He reached almost three meters and his long black hair reached the floor.
He was dressed in a black and red man's dress, which was perfectly emphasized by his scarlet eyes.
On his arms were silver hoops that danced merrily in time with his movements.
The heart of the crowd froze in general awe and dared not move in front of their king.
The man's lips quivered and his voice boomed like thunder across the square.
"Greetings to all present. I, Valtazar Kaisersberg will once again conduct today's awakening ceremony."
The king's voice was deep and pleasant, with a hint of amusement.
"The rules have not changed from last year and I see that all the candidates are ready. However, it's still worth a brief briefing for you."
At that moment, a new voice was heard.
Rougher and colder, but with a dash of youthfulness.
"First, for the particularly unintelligent, during the test, you will be transported into a fragment of past events into the body of a random person."
The people's gaze went to the man standing next to the king.
He was much shorter than him, about 180 centimeters tall.
A black leather cloak was developing in the wind along with short hair of the same color.
A hideous scar stretching from his left eyebrow to the right tip of his lip was sewn shut with metal thread.
Bored black eyes stared blankly at the crowd while gloved hands adjusted his tie.
Despite the scar, the man was quite handsome and a few of the girls began to whisper excitedly.
Morvian cast a brief glance at them and snorted irritably.
'Idiots. Right now it is far more important to listen to him than to admire him. Information from an experienced revenant is invaluable.''
Meanwhile, the man continued speaking.
"Secondly, you will all have a common goal that you must figure out for yourselves. No one will tell you what to do, so you need to grasp whatever information you can."
"Third, you will have to figure out and fulfill that goal in a certain amount of time. If you fail, you will die. And because of failing the test, your bodies will turn into abyss beasts. Then these guys will take over."
Saying this, the man pointed his finger at the guards with guns.
Eyes as black as a maelstrom examined the applicants.
Each of them had a peculiar expression on their faces.
Some were frightened and their eyes darted from side to side, searching for their parents.
Some were enthusiastic and their eyes burned with confidence and eagerness. Their posture was as hard as a rock.
Someone was in a kind of space of their own. Their eyes were empty and their body relaxed. They were just going with the flow.
There were also people who outwardly showed themselves calm, but were nervous inside.
"By the way, depending on exactly how you pass the test, that's the ability you'll get after passing. If you sit out, however, you will only awaken."
The people darkened and most of them had sweat trickling down their backs.
"However... I won't advise you to try to stand out in any way for the sake of obtaining the ability. Remember, your lives are more important and it's better to stand aside for once."
"I will also ask you to memorize this sign."
With that said, the Revenant folded his thumb and pinky, then put his hand to his chest.
"This is the official Revenant greeting sign. You will be in other people's bodies, and yelling about being test subjects in the street is not a good idea. It's best to try showing this sign to identify others like you in the crowd."
Many people tried to repeat the sign and memorize it.
Next, the revenant with the scar began to speak technical points that Morvian already knew.
At this point, he noticed Jin, who was trembling and his eyes darting from side to side.
Morvian wanted to say something to him, but he noticed that the people around him were behaving the same way as his stunted acquaintance.
Many had trembling hands and were restless. Silently praying and trying to find their family in the crowd.
Their fear couldn't help but affect Morvian, but he tried to suppress the feeling.
"I see you're calmer than the others."
Morvian raised his gaze and looked at Elias.
The boy's blond hair fluttered in the wind, catching the red particles.
"You don't look scared either," the black-haired man replied.
Elias sighed and looked sadly at the others. His almond eyes seemed to have gotten a little darker.
"Fear is inevitable, but it must be suppressed as soon as possible. Otherwise, it might play a cruel trick. We'll be disoriented for a while when we're in someone else's body anyway, and fear will only prolong that state. Which can play a key role in survival."
"But the first challenge isn't usually a particularly difficult one. At least not something the likes of us can't handle in any way. Especially in the beginning, things should be calm." replied Morvian.
Loud clapping distracted the crowd and Morvian and Elias.
The king clapped his hands to get attention.
"The test will begin any minute now. So please calm down and prepare yourselves. You all have different levels of training, but everyone has a chance of survival. So put aside unnecessary worries that will get you nowhere. Good luck to you!"
At this moment, the ringing of the bells that announced the beginning of the ceremony was heard.
After a few blows, there was a sepulchral silence.
It seemed as if the whole world had frozen.
Sweat dripped off people's faces and prayers stopped.
Scarlet particles fell from the sky and melted as soon as they touched something.
Morvian blinked and the next moment the world went dark.
A moment later, he felt his body go numb from the bitter cold, and a strong wind blew across his face.
Tearing pain bound his wrists and feet.
Morvian opened his tired eyes and saw several people in tattered clothes around him.
They were all sitting in some sort of open wooden wagon, traveling somewhere.
Morvian noticed that his hands were shackled in an old iron chain connected to the others.
A random rock caused the wagon to bounce and Morvian groaned in pain.
In that same second, he was hit in the head so hard that it nearly broke away from his body.
Morvian looked back and saw a bearded man with rotten teeth smiling strangely.
His index finger was pressed to his lips, telling him to be quiet.
Morvian remained silent and looked around once more.
After analyzing it, he could say a few things.
He was in the body of a slave who was being taken somewhere with others like him.
They were high up in the mountains.
Also... he realized that his ordeal was going to be much harder than he thought.