The Ancient Genes

Dark clouds covered the sky, and an ominous wind blew across the land. The land below was dry and cracked with a lack of vegetation around. It was a strange sight to see where one natural phenomenon didn't fit with the other.

"Crackle!"

Lightning flashed with a loud crackle, but there wasn't a single lifeless thing around to be frightened.

At this moment, a bright light flashed through the center of the chaotic place, and two figures slowly appeared in the bizarre land.

These two people were precisely Max and Blinken.

"Where are we?" Blinken muttered with surprise as he looked around.

Never would have one thought in their wildest dream that a place like this existed within their spatial pouch. It was like a separate world in their own world.

"This is the world of my trial.." A voice rang around, and this time, it was even audible to Blinken. "Welcome to it..."

Blinken was taken back for a second, but he soon turned calm and looked at Max.

"Let's deal with it first, I will explain everything then.." Max gazed at him, and Blinken nodded.

"Where is the beast you talk about, Senior?" Max asked as he looked above.

"It's obviously at the last stage of the trial. I have used all my ability to trap it there. You need to reach that place first, only then can I take over and deal with it. If not, there are strong chances of it escaping this place, and causing trouble in the outer world."

Max frowned a little upon hearing that, but then nodded.

"Besides, let this be a test for you too..clear all the trials..I will help you on the last one. If you can achieve that, I will consider you two clearing the trial.." The Voice spoke with a laugh before disappearing.

"What is this creature about?" Blinken asked with a frown as he looked at Max.

Max looked at him, and then finally explained what was going on.

"It's going to be more dangerous than..but I am interested in seeing this Ancient beast.." Blinken said with a smile.

"Be prepared, I have gone through this once. Believe me you can't trust anything here, keep a guard against me too. There are times when this place twist's reality. So, it's hard to tell where the danger will come from.." Max spoke with a serious look in his eyes, and the Blinken nodded.

'This place feels really off..' Andriel's voice rang in Max's mind. Surprisingly, this time, his spirit world was not sealed on entering the Trial like last time.

'What is wrong about it?' Max asked in confusion. He knew that the trail could take any form, and the places could be something which didn't even exist in the real world. So, he wasn't expecting anything from it.

'There is a dense amount of death energy here…' Andriel replied with a frown.

'Death Energy?' Max asked, a little confused.

'Yes, you already know what life energy is. Death energy on the other hand is opposite of it. It accumulates when one passes on, but with sheer will keeps hanging onto the last of his consciousness refusing to let go. This leads to the formation of Death energy, and with more and more time passing, it accrues until the consciousness becomes murky and transforms into something unrecognizable..'

'This is what gives birth to Undead in the Upper World. And, most of them existed in the Nether Realm. It's weird to find something like this here. I can't believe that some creature has the ability to turn into an undead here. It definitely must have died with lots of regrets..' She further added.

'Does that mean the voice is right? There is indeed something here…' Max's face turned serious upon hearing Andriel.

'I don't know that, but with this amount of dead energy that thing is sure capable of causing a lot of destruction if allowed to roam free. So, that old guy is not entirely wrong. But, this is why you need to be more careful. This is very dangerous. I can assure that the creature should have forgotten everything by now, leaving behind his instincts and regret which he is still fighting for. It's extremely dangerous to come in contact with something like this..'

'It would be a fight to death the moment you meet it. That's the kind of beast it is..'

'I will keep that in mind..' Max replied, while thinking of the situation ahead. He had to think things through before he reached that place. Otherwise, it would be too late then.

"Let's move ahead…the wind in that direction seems a little warm.." Blinken spoke as he looked at one end of the endless plain. To be honest, they really didn't know where to go when everything looked all the same.

"Well, let's go then…" Max too didn't know, and they could only decide to take a destination for now. They had to begin somewhere. Besides, time in the Trial flowed differently than the outer world. So, there was no need to hurry.

The two slowly began to move..

And, during their journey, they noticed one strange thing after another. It really felt as if this place was very chaotic.

'Is this imitation of some era in the past?' Max muttered to himself in confusion. This was what the previous trial had taught him. He knew that most of the areas depicted in the trial were some replica of the past. And, it would allow the participant to go through some difficult part in history.

It made Max think the same now. And, if that was true, then they would surely meet something. It was inevitable.

And, with that the time slowly began to slip away like sand from a closed fist..

In the blink of an eye, three weeks had gone by..

"Damn...I need water.." Blinken spoke with an exhausted look on his face. They had been travelling all this while. And, this really was killing him now. Especially the thirst. 𝘧𝓇𝒆𝗲𝓌𝙚𝙗𝓷o𝘷𝒆𝘭.𝐜𝚘𝒎

"Keep calm, or you will go insane fast.." Max muttered as he pulled out a ball of water from thin air, and splashed it on his face.

"Splash!"

Blinken immediately jumped around like a crazy animal, trying to preserve every drop of water and put it into his mouth. But, the next second, his entire body froze.

"Wait! You b*stard! Why didn't you give me water when you can produce some!!" Blinken suddenly realized, and screamed in anger.

A frown appeared on Max's face, but, his eyes were locked onto something in the distance which was approaching them fast.

"Finally.."