My Unconventional Lover: Seeing A Different World

150 So Close, Yet So Far

(Tom’s PoV)

That night, I was brought back to the same house where all the elders and white-clothed men were sitting the last time. I guessed I passed the first trial and now I was ‘invited’ to follow the second one. I looked around and noticed that there was an additional chair on the right side of the big chair. The last time I came here, there was only one chair on the left side. Since there are two chairs on the either side of the big chair, I thought that someone more important than Sir Ahmad would eventually come.

Would the King finally show himself?

I couldn’t wait!

I was curious about the man who ruled this Satu Village. The excitement to finally see the King filled my mind, but I tried so hard to keep my expression in check, not to show anything. The situation was still the same, where the elders closed their eyes and the white-clothed men stood like statues. After I made sure that they did looked the same, I finally noticed the additional soft cushion being put a meter away from me.

Someone must have passed the first trial.

Somehow, my mind reminded me of my encounter with the woman in grey hoodie. I had a strong feeling that the other person would her.

Well, whoever it was, it didn’t have anything to do with me. The trial was meant for individual test, knowing my rival would mean nothing to me. After all, I didn’t even know her and where to find her if I wish to spy on her ability so that I could prepare myself. It’s better to just leave it alone and try my best in this trial that I didn’t sign up for.

Ah, right. The woman seemed eager to be the General, it meant she knew about it before and probably had been practicing for a long time. I, on the other hand, was summoned here without my consent and too confused to realize what had happened until the first trial started. I had no other choice but to follow the trial.

.....

Honestly speaking, I didn’t care whether I got selected for the position or not. I just couldn’t give up halfway whenever I started something. I must give my best no matter what the outcome was.

So, even though I really didn’t care about this General position, I was still obediently sitting here and waiting for the Supervisor to come.

A minute later, I heard sound of someone’s coming. “Candidate Number 2, please, take a seat and wait for a while.” The voice of the man that led me here was heard.

There was no response, but I could hear the light steps of this Candidate Number 2. I took a peek from the corner of my eyes and saw a tall woman sat cross-legged on the cushion beside me.

Judging from her height, she was really the one who attacked me that night. But, her appearance really caught me off guard for a while.

It’s rude to stare, I reminded myself as I forced to turn my head around and fixed my sight ahead, wherever my eyes would land as long as it’s not on her.

I was sure she was not from the same region as me. It was most probably that she came from the further east region. Her dreadlocks was tied up in a pony tail. Her eyes didn’t show many expressions, but remained steady and cold. She was wearing a black tank top and army trousers, complete with military boots. Her arms looked strong and even though I could only see a bit of her, I could see that she had a perfect body as a soldier. Was she in the army? That explained why she looked so tough.

My judgement over Number 2 was soon over as the door from the furthest end was pulled open. There were three people came in this time. But, somehow I couldn’t see the other two clearly. They looked more like shadows than humans. The only difference was I could see their feet touching the wooden floor, solid and not floating. But, based on the height of these people, I could guess that one was a girl and the other one was a man. Or, maybe I was wrong. The big cloak covered their figures perfectly, which reminded me...

I wrongly guessed the gender of the person that night! Fine, let’s just say these two were men.

Oh, there was someone sitting in the big chair! Was that person the king?

As usual, Sir Ahmad sat on the left chair. The other one occupied the chair on the right.

“Let’s begin!” Sir Ahmad said.

The man who brought me here stood up. “Congratulations for those who passed the first trial; Soul Endurance. The candidates are invited here to follow the second trial to test candidates’ attitude and aptitude in battling enemies. Any battle strategies are welcomed to support your trial. Your performances will be supervised by Sir Ahmad Ismail, and two of our honorable guests; The Master and Adviser of the First Army. For further secrecy and objective assessment, we put on some enchantments that will not allow you to see the appearance of the Master and Adviser of First Army, and otherwise.”

Ah, so they are Master and Adviser of First Army. I nodded inwardly. I thought he was the King of Satu Village.

“The second trial is also conducted under the guidance of the Elders of Satu Village. The rule is simple; after this you will be taken to the arena and each of you can use all your ability to stabilize the condition there. We will watch you closely and objectively. Any forms of cheating are not allowed and whoever does it will be disquilified from the trial in instant. Now, do any of you have any inquiries about the second trial?” The man looked at us.

Based on what he was saying, it seemed like we were going to be sent into a place where we needed to stabilize the situation there by using our own ability. I was curious where they would send us, though. I understood what he said, but why did I feel like I was going to be sent into a virtual place like those in the RPG? Only, I was sure it was not all about fight since our main goal was to stabilize the situation, not killing people.

“Do we have a time limit?” The woman beside me asked. Her voice was the same with the one that night. Even though she sounded colder and calmer now, I was sure I didn’t mistake her for anybody else. That was really her.

“Yes. You only have six to eight hours to finish the trial. After eight hours and you’re still not successful with your trial, you will be forced to return and it will be a disqualification. If both of you failed at the same time, we’re going to hold another trial for you. But, if both of you are succeed in completing the trial, we will judge based on the points that we have prepared.”

I frowned. Just six to eight hours? I hope it’s enough.

“Master and Adviser of First Army, do you have anything to say?” The man looked at those two.

The one in the middle raised her hand. Hm? Now that she had raised her hand, I could see the slim figure hiding behind the big cloak. So, Master of First Army was a woman.

But, why do I feel like she was familiar?

“Do your best. I’ll be waiting for the best General to stand beside me in commanding the First Army.” She said cooly. She didn’t sound like a girl, instead she sounded like a mature woman. So charismatic, aloof, but reliable.

My heart thumped as I heard her speaking. All of my focus was on her. It was strange, that kind of voice obviously belonged to the one who was used to lead masses, the charismatic leader like voice, but why did my heart thump faster when I heard her?

No, no, no. Why would my heart respond to some unknown woman’s voice? This is not right!

I cursed myself inside as I tried to distract my mind from the echo of her voice. But, I couldn’t help but to stare at her even though I couldn’t see her clearly.

The more I saw her, the more I found her similar to Jane. Based on my memory of Jane’s body, the woman sitting in the main chair had ninety nine percent similarity to Jane. But, her voice was different.

Ah, maybe I missed her so much that I started to see her in other people’s figure. There was no way the one in front of me was Jane. I must be hallucinating.

I shook my head slightly.

“Candidate Number One, do you have any other questions?”

I looked up and found out they had been staring at me. Maybe they saw my little antics and I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by my own stupidity.

“Ehem, no.” I said. “I will definitely do my best.” I bowed my head a bit.

“Good. Now, we will send you to your appointed arena. Good luck!” With that sentence, I felt everything around me twisted and disappeared. I felt dizzy for all the changes, so I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, my surrounding had changed.

Where am I?