Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

[This test will run for 24 hours, with a time dilation of 1:7, equaling 7 days in this virtual world.]

[Introduction: Youhave landed in a quiet, secluded forest away from civilisation after escaping from a group of bandits who had attacked and killed the rest of your camp.

Scenario: Once a formidable warrior, you are left powerless. Your abilities have vanished, leaving you with only your wits and wisdom to carry you through this test.

Objective: Assassinate 'The Whisperer', an F- rank awakened. Seemingly weak in regards to the average awakened, but a deadly opponent for a powerless human like you.]

Lines of information appeared in front of Alex as he found his consciousness being dragged into this empty, dark space.

But after he finished reading the information the system had given to him and started to get accustomed to floating around in this completely black, empty void, he felt himself getting pulled into another space once again.

'This feels just like every time I've been pulled through the portals to and from the Primordial Expanse…'

***

The forest stood silent, the entire place seeming empty and completely devoid of life.

Alex blinked, disoriented. The world around him shifted, pixelating into existence.

But he was unable to see any of this as he adjusted to his new body.

'This feels horrible!'

He hadn't realised it before, as he had gained his strength through a gradual process of ranking up over the months, but the difference between Alex when he was a normal person and when he was a D tier awakened was like heaven and earth!

With his strength and abilities being stripped away, this naturally meant any upgrades to his physical body as well, which included all of his five senses.

The change was so drastic that he felt like he had been plunged into a sensory deprivation chamber, and it took him over an hour before he had come to terms with his new body.

For a moment, Alex was startled at the realism of this place, almost forgetting that it was a simulation and thinking that he had somehow been dragged back into the Primordial Expanse.

But when he tried to use any of his abilities, and failed, he knew he was still in the test.

'How the hell am I supposed to assassinate an F- rank awakened like this!?'

Feeling stripped of everything that made him unique, Alex felt vulnerable and only now realised the difficulty of this assessment.

His once formidable presence reduced to that of an ordinary man, he stood at the forest's threshold, the cool mist of the morning clinging to his skin.

The forest was unlike any he had seen before — the air tasted metallic, and the trees, skeletal and twisted, reached for the grey sky like desperate hands.

'This place gives me the creeps…'

The ground crunched under his boots as he stepped forward. The forest stretched endlessly, devoid of life.

No birds sang, no insects buzzed. Only silence — an oppressive, suffocating silence.

With his eyes now focused, Alex noted something that stayed in his vision no matter where he looked, or if he closed his eyes.

6 days, 22 hours, 57 minutes.

'A countdown. That helps.'

He had a week to complete the trial, and with the countdown there, it would add a constant pressure and motivator to him to start work immediately.

Alex pressed deeper into the forest, the creepy trees branching out like fingers everywhere he looked.

He scanned the ground, searching for any signs indicating that life other than himself was occupying the forest.

But there was nothing but dead leaves and the faint remnants of what might have been a vibrant undergrowth.

'Where do I even start? The least the examiners could have done is point me in the direction of the enemy. Now I have to track them down as well as form some sort of impossible plan to assassinate them…'

Clearly Alex wasn't happy with his scenario so far.

"Great, now the test just becomes even harder.'

He had no clue whether the other students were as confused or anxious as him.

In fact, he didn't even know whether the scenario would be the same for everyone, or whether each person would be dropped into different ones.

Maybe others had been dropped into the middle of an urban environment?

Or maybe they were like Alex, and dropped into the middle of bumfuck nowhere and not given any indication of where to even start.

But whatever the case, it meant nothing to Alex at the moment as he only had himself to worry about.

Of course, he worried a little for Mira, but considering the surprise she brought with her results in the Combat assessment, he had confidence in her.

***

6 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes.

Over 5 hours had passed, and Alex hadn't found a single thing.

He had just walked aimlessly deeper into the forest, not having any clue if he was even moving in the right direction or not.

'This is just stupid!'

Alex's anger welled up, as this pointless hunt was just wasting his limited time.

To make matters even worse, it was getting dark.

Night was starting to fall, and Alex could do nothing but huddle up against one of the creepy trees.

With the mist still constantly hovering on the forest floor, his vision was reduced to only a metre in front of himself, and the darkness made it even worse.

'They could have at least made a better scenario.'

Alex was still coping, refusing to accept that he was incompetent in everything that came to planning and strategy.

With nothing left to do, Alex slowly drifted into a sleep.

With his body being that of a normal person, he was already exhausted from the hours of walking.

Thankfully, he wasn't hungry at all.

The examiners had probably removed the function after taking into account the type of environment he'd be dropped into.

***

'Seek the temple of darkness, where moonlight weeps,'

Alex shifted in his sleep. His eyes darted around rapidly under his eyelids.

'Where roots entwine secrets, and shadows keep.'

His expression drifted into a frown, looking pained as his hands started to twitch.

'There, the whisperer waits, veiled in grey,'

At this point, he was full on shaking.

'To test your mettle, to steal your light away.'

His eyes dashed open, and he shot up to his feet.

"WHO'S THERE!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, his hands balled up into fists.

Alex shifted his gaze all around him, but all he saw was the same dark mist stopping his vision from reaching any deeper into the forest.

"Haaaa, this place is driving me crazy." He sighed.

"Even the forest is whispering to me. What the hell was that? A riddle? A poem?"

Alex didn't realise it, but his hands were still shaking.

His chest was heaving up and down with exasperated breaths.

This was the first time in a while he felt real fear.

He hadn't even felt this scared when he faced the Count, as during that time he was filled with anger.

The last time he felt like this, it was when the Galephant attacked his camp when he first arrived in the Primordial Expanse…