Their entire voyage to planet Roku, awkward silence reigned inside the plane, a silence that seemed to only bother Henry and Lillian.
Talen, Valen, and Calistis, however, sat comfortably in the silence, going over their strategy for the third trial. At least Talen and Calistis were.
For Talen, it was extremely simple. He planned to explore the area he found himself in and hunt as many Chaos Monsters as possible, with the sole exception of the Bird of Plague.
'And if I run into one of those three.' Talen thought, glancing at Henry, Lillian, and Kestis. 'I'll be getting answers to some questions.' He thought, clutching his mother's scarf. 'Don't worry, Mom, I'll try to be safe. No promises though.' Talen smiled, his empty smile.
Across from Talen, Valen sat, arms folded, his Viking war hammer cradled in them.
His eyes were closed, his face and body still in tranquil calm. 'Is he sleeping.' Talen thought. Observing him closer, Talen heard quiet rumbling snores. 'Those two can hardly breathe, and he's here dozing off. I like him.' Talen thought, subtly chuckling.
Next to Valen, Henry sat, his fist whitening around his katana's hilt, his legs excessively tapping on the metal floor of the plane. 'It's just a week. You can do it, Hen.' Henry thought, taking in a deep breath.
To his side, Lillian sat, her knives clutched in each hand. She sat, a carbon copy of Valen. However, Talen could see her eyes darting underneath her eyelids.
Taking his eyes off Lillian, Talen glanced at Calistis. Nothing had changed, neither her posture nor expression.
Next to her was Kestis. Similarly, he didn't move. He was still salivating at Calistis. Only it seemed the intensity had grown.
In front of the ten seats, the door to the cockpit stood. 'Fifty-five.' Talen thought, counting the minutes.
'Sixty.' Talen counted, as the cockpit's door slid open. No compressed air escaped, only the burnt aroma of coffee.
Talen scrunched his nose as he caught the smell. 'That's inside him now. Bleegh.' Talen thought, turning his head.
Garvin stepped out of the cockpit, his eyes immediately scanning the six of them, landing on Valen. "Wake him up." Garvin commanded Henry.
Henry stood up and began tapping Valen, then he began shaking him gently, then violently until, finally, Valen woke up.
Waking up, Valen looked confused.
All eyes in the plane were staring at him. "I apologize." Valen muttered, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
Garvin's gaze lingered on Valen for longer than usual. "We are here." He said, walking to the ramp.
Placing his hand on the ramp's side, he clicked a button. Then the ramp began opening slowly, its whir substituting the silence.
The ramp's door opened, revealing an endless sea of trees. Powerful winds rushed into the plane, rustling their fitted uniforms.
Glancing at Talen, Garvin announced. "You're first."
Hearing his barely audible words, Talen unbuckled. Standing up, he began walking towards the ramp, clutching his jian and mother's scarf. 'Here we go.'
Talen turned his head, looking at Garvin. "Do I just jump?" He shouted.
"Of course." Garvin replied.
An empty, nervous smile manifested on Talen's face. "No parachute or jet packs."
Raising his hand, Garvin replied, annoyed. "This ain't nursery, kid."
'Where do I even land, and how?' Talen thought, when suddenly he felt Garvin's hands on his back. Before he could react, he felt a force push him.
'The hell.' Talen thought, the ground stolen from his feet. "At least give me a damn warning." Talen shouted back at Garvin.
Inside the plane, Kestis sneered as he watched. "Such trash." He muttered.
Talen spun wildly in Roku's blue skies, its unrelenting winds clashed against Talen's body.
Talen's eyes darted in search. He saw nothing but trees. 'Very well, then.' Talen thought, the wind pushing into his mouth and nose the scent of earth violently invading.
Closing his eyes, Talen slipped into the Zone.
Using his enhanced mind, Talen scanned again. "There." He shouted, as he spotted not far ahead of him a towering tree.
It had a thin trunk with giant green leaves. Talen smiled, tucking his hands to his sides.
Stepping out of the Zone, his descent grew faster.
Roku's sharp winds cut through Talen's hair as he grew closer to his target.
Talen went into an arch as he got within range.
His body smashed into the first leaf with a powerful thud. The impact sent shock waves through Talen's body, knocking the air out of his lungs.
To Talen's relief, however, there was no permanent damage.
The impact pushed him through the first leaf to the second, third, fourth.
He kept going until he was on the final leaf.
Talen struggled to breathe. Even though his crash landing didn't leave any permanent injuries, it left his lungs in pain, screaming for oxygen.
Talen's vision blurred. The world began spinning. He clutched his mother's scarf. 'Dying from a successful crash landing is not how I'm going out.'
Straining his body further, Talen pushed himself off the leaf, aiming for the solid earth three feet below.
Talen hurled himself down, clenching his jian and his mother's scarf, as he braced for impact, body tensed.
Talen's body made impact with a dull thud.
Talen shrugged off the impact, hoping his lungs wouldn't.
The force shot through Talen's body straight to his lungs, jolting them back into action.
Drawing in a long, hard breath, oxygen rushed into his lungs, causing Talen to cough violently. 'Sweet inhale.' He thought, his aching lungs healing.
Talen laid on the forest's cold floor, his breathing heavy.
Looking up at Roku's clear sky. "Day one and I almost died." Talen groaned, in between breaths.
Talen rested for five minutes on the cold, hard ground.
After which he stood up, breathing into his healed lungs.
Looking around the forest, Talen thought. 'It really is like the hologram.'
The whole of the planet really was a dense forest. Now on it, the only change was perspective. The trees were much bigger than on the hologram, as expected.
"First things first, a shelter." Talen spoke, rubbing his hands together as his exploration began.
Talen began walking in a random direction in search of a place to set camp. When.
Suddenly from behind him, Talen heard the rustling of leaves, then slow, heavy steps.
Turning around slowly, Talen discovered the source of the sound. He smiled his empty smile.
Behind Talen was an enormous red scorpion. Its shell resembled molten metal. Its mouth was a pool of sharp, jagged teeth grinding. Its pincers snapped with a bone-shivering crack.
Its blood-red eyes were a well of murderous bloodlust.
Observing The Red Scorpion, Talen clenched his jian. He prepared to battle.
'A Behemoth already. Guess I'm your favorite, Roku.' Talen thought, taking slow, steady steps away from the giant scorpion, his empty smile growing wider. 'You surely look easy, don't you.' Talen thought.
After all, the giant scorpion was a Behemoth. Its physical attributes far surpassed that of most level 2 Zoners. Only the most potent could match them, such as Talen. However, their blind rage was their weakness and defining strength.
Talen scanned his surroundings with darting eyes.
Talen paused his steady retreat. 'Gonna fight it, the dip style.' Talen thought, eyes locked on the scorpion.
It growled. Talen's bones felt it.
The bloodlust in its eyes glowed as it raised its four front legs, roaring. Leaves fell from trees.
Its legs met the ground with a thunderous thud. Talen felt the ground beneath his feet shake.
The Red charged at him.
The ground continued trembling as it charged at Talen.
Talen observed it, unmoving. His eyes analyzed each of its movements, in wait for the perfect moment.
The scorpion shrieking on its charge. 'Closer.' Talen thought, crouching down, clutching the jian.
'Perfect.' Talen thought, dipping into the Zone as he jumped.
The scorpion's pincers closed with a crack, narrowly missing Talen.
As Talen jumped high into the air, he grabbed onto a thick branch. Looking down, he thought. 'So unathletic.'
The scorpion snapped at Talen, enraged. Seeing that, he smiled. "Eager for death, are we now." He shouted at the scorpion. 'Damn brainless savage can't even understand me.' Talen turned his head, assessing his situation further. He smirked.
Tightening his grip around the branch, he pulled himself onto it.
Turning his back to the scorpion, Talen crouched. Taking in a deep breath, he jumped.
As Talen rose high, he extended both his arms. Leaning back, he began his descent.
He closed his eyes, timing his fall. '5..4..3..2.. now.' Talen opened his eyes in the Zone. He was inches away from one of the scorpion's pincers. His body was in the perfectly positioned.
Gnashing his teeth, he lashed out with his jian. Its sharp edge met the scorpion's solid armor. It resisted.
Clenching his teeth, Talen tightened his grip around the jian, tensing his arm muscles. He pushed his jian, groaning.
Talen kept pushing until, finally, his jian went through the scorpion's armor, cutting through the soft flesh inside. Green blood sprayed out, painting Talen.
He pushed his jian deeper, severing the Behemoth's pincer.
Retreating his jian, Talen landed on top of the scorpion.
The monster roared in agony. More leaves fell.
It began flailing around. Talen remained on its back, struggling to maintain balance.
Raising his jian, Talen prepared to penetrate the monster's skull. He wasn't going to miss this golden opportunity. Similarly, the scorpion had no intention of handling it out easily.
Raising its good pincer, the abomination hurled it towards Talen.
Talen, still in the Zone, noticed the attack. However, the flailing scorpion made it difficult for Talen to dodge, so he blocked using his jian.
The pincer met the jian with a clang, sending a violent tremor through it to Talen.
The force sent Talen flying. Luckily, due to its flailing, it could not use the full force of its pincer.
Landing, Talen went out of the Zone, lunging at the disoriented scorpion.
Noticing Talen, the Red Scorpion lunged.
Observing the lunging Chaos Monster, Talen changed his direction, running to a thick-trunked tree.
Arriving at the tree, he waited for the charging scorpion.
The scorpion continued its mindless charge. One pincer out of commission, it aimed to ram through Talen.
Talen knew that, though. 'I'm disappointed you think that will be enough to kill me.' He thought, the scorpion inches away from him.
Going back into the Zone, Talen jumped with everything he had and more. 'New personal record. Great.' Talen thought, as he spun around, he began another descent.
The scorpion rammed hard into the tree in Talen's absence. Chunks of the tree's trunk and its shell rose into the air. Leaves and branches fell.
Watching the abomination ram into the tree, Talen grinned. "Well, aren't you a good boy!" He shouted, everything going according to his plan.
As he descended, Talen gripped his jian like a spear. Still in the Zone, he used Luke's technique.
Using inertia and his enhanced strength, Talen threw his jian at the scorpion's head.
The jian's sharp tip cut through the air, reflecting the sun's light. Its speed increased exponentially. The scorpion tried to raise its head to look up at Talen, but before it could roar.
The jian stabbed deep into its eye, going deeper and penetrating its brain.
The scorpion died instantly. There was no resistance. Its body just hit the forest floor, raising dust around it.
Going out of the Zone, Talen landed right next to the scorpion's corpse.
Blood poured out from its cut limb and its eye. Its eight legs and pincers twitched.
Talen climbed onto the corpse, walking to his jian.
He found it plunged deep in the scorpion's eye. Grabbing its hilt, Talen retrieved it. As he did, it twitched violently.
More green blood bathed Talen.
Looking at the corpse, the hunger in Talen's eyes growled. "Is it dinner or lunch?"