Chapter 212: The Trial of the Unseen Road.
"Those who answered my Call..."
Naomi flinched at that voice.
The strangest part was that the voice didn’t come from a particular direction, nor did it feel like an echo whose direction could not be traced.
It came... from somewhere deep inside her, as if the voice was only talking to her.
"I welcome you."
The voice spoke again.
It belonged to a woman. The voice carried a strange power in it, it wasn’t loud, but even then, Naomi could hear it very, very clearly. That alone was more than enough for Naomi to understand—
This voice—
It was something linked to the Supernatural World.
And despite all of it, despite standing in the middle of nowhere, despite not being able to recognise this voice, for some reason, when Naomi heard it, she felt... a strange familiarity.
Which was strange, especially since Naomi was sure she had never heard this voice, yet, when the voice talked, her frightened, panicked heart felt... calm.
She felt... favoured.
Slowly, Naomi lowered her phone and listened.
"This is the Trial of the Unseen Road."
Naomi frowned at that.
A Trial?
What Trial?
And what ’Call’ did she answer to be here?
The voice did not care about her thoughts, it continued—
"Every path before you leads somewhere, some will carry you closer to me, others will lead you towards danger, you must choose carefully."
As the voice continued, Naomi saw silver lines forming beneath her feet, then these silver lines glowed brighter and suddenly—
Three empty symbols appeared on the back of her right hand.
"!!!"
Naomi’s eyes widened in surprise, she tried to rub the symbols away, but that did not work. Then, as if she was waiting just for her to focus again, the voice continued.
"You require three Waymarks to reach me. You can either find the Waymarks within the maze, or you can receive them from other participants, willingly or... forcefully."
Naomi’s expression changed at those words. She stared at the marks on her hand and instantly understood what they were.
Waymarks.
Or at least—
Spots that would hold the Waymarks.
As for what these Waymarks were, why she needed them, who this voice belonged to, why she would want to reach her—
She had no clue.
What she could tell, however, was that she was not kidnapped.
And if she was...
Then the kidnapper needed to be a lot more creative because this was the most generic game she had ever seen.
’These people really need to read more cultivation novels.’
She complained in her head.
’Lucian would have hated the lack of creativity.’
She chuckled at that thought, trying to keep a light mind so she wouldn’t make any wrong decisions in panic.
That was when the voice continued—
"You may travel alone, or you may form alliances. You may trade, you may betray, or you may fight."
Naomi clenched her jaw at those words.
She had already predicted it since she had read countless trials like this, but still, hearing how there could be possible fights here was enough for her to understand how dangerous it was, she could even die here.
Heck, most trials like these were the prime places where something happened and all the side characters were killed, leaving only the main character.
Someone like her would definitely die here.
And as if the voice knew what she was thinking—
"Death will not follow you on my road. In case you receive a fatal blow, you will be removed from the Trial."
The voice spoke and Naomi blinked, then sighed in relief.
At the very least, she wouldn’t die.
Now if only there was a way she could just give up and leav—
"Those who surrender may also leave."
And once again, the voice spoke and Naomi blinked.
’Is she... reading my mind?’
She wondered as she looked around more carefully. Then, she started actually considering the said option.
Should she... surrender?
But then...
She started to hesitate.
She wanted to leave, yes.
This was clearly dangerous but...
This was a Trial, if the novels she had read all this while were even barely correct, then Trials gave rewards, now the rewards could be anything—
Some kind of power, resources, or even an inheritance.
And Naomi...
In the situation she was in, she needed the reward.
She wanted to be with Lucian, he was clearly involved in something dangerous and she wanted to be there for him. That, however, was not possible if she was weak. With how she was right now, she would only hold him back.
But...
If she had some sort of power...
What she wanted wouldn’t just be wishful thinking.
And when she thought about all that, Naomi didn’t wish to leave.
Besides—
It’s not like she would die here, now was it?
Plus, she could surrender anytime she wanted, so...
Wouldn’t it be better to actually explore this place before deciding?
With such thoughts in her head, Naomi made up her mind.
She was going to participate.
And once again, as if the voice was waiting for her to make up her mind, it continued—
"Everything is permitted in the Trial, be it the weapons or Artifacts you use, strength you borrow from others, forbidden magic that you use that normally shouldn’t be used—
Every choice you make is permitted.
But understand this..."
The voice paused for a moment, making sure everyone listening understood.
"I am watching."
She spoke in a heavier tone than normal.
"Understand that reaching me does not guarantee my power.
The Trial does not choose my contractor.
I do."
The silver lines around Naomi glowed at those words, then finally—
"Walk."
The voice said one last word and finally, the silver light vanished and the corridor returned to normal.
The Trial had begun.
For the first few seconds, Naomi did not move. Then, the voice’s word echoed in her head.
’Walk.’
Naomi looked at both paths, one in front of her, one behind her. The one behind felt wrong, the moment Naomi considered taking it, she felt a strange, suffocating pressure inside her chest, as if something unpleasant waited in that direction.
She instantly dropped the idea and looked ahead.
The path ahead felt... warmer.
It had the same familiar, calming feeling that the voice had.
And since she had nothing else to guide her, Naomi placed her phone back inside her pocket and then she began walking.
It was now time for Naomi Pierce to join the Supernatural World.