Chapter 2: Preliminary
Emma was no longer in the place of night and day, yet it was a void all the same. The black sky was without its abnormal sun, and the ground seemed to be composed of glass tiles, a faint blue hue to its every corners. There was nothing for miles, and no one to address to.
She felt a solid weight in her hand and looked down. A four-barrel pistol in her grip, the very weapon she used against Lewis. She never recalled letting this weapon go, but was sure that it hadn't been in her clutch when she spoke to that child demon. She quickly checked the barrels of the pistol and found it still loaded with its four special bullets: flash, bang, net, and tear gas.
There was an extra weight on her back as well, with straps around her shoulders. Pulling it over and setting it in front of her, it was the backpack she took with her from the underground shelter and thought to have lost. Attached to it was her rifle, a bow, and arrows inside its quiver.
There was a sudden beep that startled Emma. A hologram of a blank screen appeared in front of her, and Emma quickly picked up her backpack in defense. A sentence was typed within the screen, and a female robotic voice spoke in reading.
[Please look over the data on the screen you currently see to confirm your registry.]
A datasheet showed below the text. One brief glance at it, Emma realized she was reading a sheet about herself. From her name, age, place of birth, information that more so surprised her than it did disturb her for how much was known. There were even the test scores she received from when she was living in Gracefield - what was, she later found out, to be the best way in separating the smartest from the rest; the level of intelligence equating to the quality of the child, with the brain likely being the best part and most favorite food for the demons.
Putting on her backpack, she looked through her sheet, affirming the accuracy of it – and not very sure how else to treat it. She presses the confirm button at the bottom of the screen. The data sheet went away, and a new text is spelled out.
[Your registration is now complete. Candidate: Emma of Gracefield Orphanage/63194. Welcome to the preliminary simulation of the Competition Between Worlds. The preliminary is a trial you must pass in order to officially enter as a contestant.]
A simulation... Meaning a computer-generated scenario? Emma had only heard of it in books and thought it to be phenomenal. A whole world existing inside a computer, or even as small as an electronic device – although she's never seen one before. Yet even for a simulation, and that her mind has been transferred here, she will be having the same experience as she would in the real world. It's nothing short of an incredible thing. Ray and Norman would have been just as amazed if they were here.
To think that there would be other humans in this competition as well. All from different worlds. She wondered what they were like.
[Please pay close attention to the following instructions. Any question concerning the aftermath of the preliminary will only be answered once you have successfully completed this course.]
So unless the person could accomplish whatever task the preliminary will give, there was no point in elaborating the exact nature of how to achieve the grand prize if the person would be out of the competition anyway. The candidate must earn their place to compete. A goal that requires diligence at the utmost, something that she imagined Ray would advise.
As requested, Emma offered her full attention.
[Your main objectivity is to collect points. Each point represents a task that has been completed and will take the form of a gold star. The number of points required to pass the preliminary is: Five Stars.
You must rely on your skills, intellect, power, and all else at your disposal. Additional resources may be available to acquire during the match.
The theme for the preliminary is:
Monster Hunt.]
Symbols and silhouettes of unidentified creatures popped into show alongside the texts. Pixelated pictures of locations popped out of the screen as extended holograms, showcasing things like fangs, scales, beastly eyes, animal-like ears and so on.
[Your mission is to hunt and obtain a piece of a monster. Challenge Boards will be posted throughout the preliminary with limited information regarding a monster of interest, providing difficulty level, strength and weakness, and their general location.
You may choose which monster to hunt and use whatever means necessary to accomplish this task.
A piece of a monster is of any distinguishing feature that you may remove, such as a horn, teeth, scale, and etc. Each piece will accumulate to a single point. A second piece of the same monster will not be counted as a point. Therefore, all five points must be of different monster pieces collected.
Gathering more points beyond the five-point requirement is allowed. Failing to gather all five points before the deadline will result in failing the preliminary.]
An icon of a rectangular item pops up, a patch with a white base and rims. A new text appears on the screen underneath the icon.
[The patch presented will be where you may attach your obtained star-points. Upon passing the preliminary, this patch will be yours throughout your participation of the Competition Between Worlds.]
The patch icon lightly flashed. Emma reached up and touched the icon. A slight sheen across the patch and it suddenly prodded out from the screen. Surprised, Emma gently grasped the patch, now physically in her hold.
[It is within your power and responsibility to care and protect your patch. The patch will extend and separate into more patches should you collect more stars.]
Emma wondered why more than five stars were allowed. A precaution perhaps? In case if one or more stars are lost? That would imply that her stars can be stolen or maybe even destroyed – the statement to guard her patch led her to believe so.
She also wondered if, depending on the number of stars gathered, it will determine who will have a greater advantage once the competition officially begins. Could the next event also involve collecting points? Is there a certain number of stars they have to gather to win overall?
As Emma's thoughts wandered with these questions, the instructions for the preliminary continued.
[Finding Challenge Boards is not a requirement to hunt monsters and earn a point. Any means of collecting a piece of a monster will be considered a successful hunt. The Challenge Boards are a guidance to present options and gauge the monster's level of threat. Obtaining a piece of an unlisted monster will still be regarded as a point earned.]
Emma once more looked at the patch, a.k.a - her badge holder, and hid it inside one of the four pockets of her vest.
[Life-threatening obstacles will be listed within a Challenge Board regarding a monster's location, clues to a monster's ability, level of potency, and potential lasting effect of their ability.
Challenge Boards do not provide every info of the listed monster. You may speak to non-hostile residents to gather more information about your targeted monster before you begin your hunt.
Non-hostile residents are NPCs (Non-Participating Competitors) who may reside within villages, towns, or act on mobility as travelers, merchants, and etc. NPCs are able to offer rest, food, healing, special items, and other assistance regarding your hunt. It is likely for NPCs to make requests and grant you rewards once their request is met. Other resources will be available within the preliminary. It is within your power to search and procure them.
During the preliminary, a permanent death is an automatic loss. Upon losing, you will be returned to your world.]
It's really starting to sound like a video game... Emma thought to herself.
She was not familiar with video games as she preferred outdoor activities, but she understood the mechanics thanks to Ray, remembering when Ray got something called a game boy for his tenth birthday – which now that she thought about it, must have been one of those request Ray made as part of his deal with Mama, and used it to build that nullifying gadget for their tracking devices. She recalled the game he had played to have been something about catching monsters too.
This preliminary event sounds akin to that game, but it won't be a matter of fun. The stakes are high, and the danger will be very real. Just as it was when Emma and Norman found out about the truth of their world.
Her resolve to win this competition further strengthened.
[The preliminary is a time-sensitive event. Upon approaching the deadline, you will be directed to an End Point. If you do not reach the End Point within the expected timeframe, or fail to collect all five stars, you will automatically fail the preliminary.
Your Time Limit for the preliminary is: Seven Days.]
One week... Emma grips to the straps of her backpack. The demon I talked to said that each round varies, so each round could have different time limits, and that none of the competitions before this one lasted more than a year.
Such a long time. It would have been very worrisome having to endure this competition for that long. But if what the one-eyed demon said is true, then she was thankful that time was essentially unmoving back in her reality, although the concept of it was too incredible and a little difficult to understand still.
[This concludes the Preliminary Instructions. Further intel will be provided within the simulation. It is within your ability to uncover them.
Do you understand the information provided? Please confirm vocally.]
Emma took a moment to regard everything that has been told, feeling the weight of it over her shoulders she carried without waver. "I understand."
The screen loaded, and another passage was typed out.
[Are you ready and willing to experience life and death situations? Do you accept the risks of pain and injuries. To strive for a wish by any means?
Are you willing to participate for an extensive amount of time until a winner has been declared or your admittance to defeat?
Do you affirm your decision to enter the Competition Between Worlds? Please vocalize.]
A Competition Between Worlds. Of people from other universes. It was so jarring to comprehend, yet enlightening at the prospect to see other humans. Would they be children and adults? Are their worlds similar to hers? Or completely different? Would any of the worlds the other competitors are from be anything like the Human World? A world she and her family are trying to reach.
You should not subjugate yourself to only your understanding of your world.
Emma recalled the advice of the child-demon. How other realities have different laws, histories, even gods... It would not be much help to understand what other worlds are like if she can only comprehend the world where she is from, and barely know of with its wonders and system of ruling by a Demon monarchy. She determines herself to keep an open mind, and hopes that she won't be too overwhelmed by everything she'll come across.
She remembered the mention of incredible power the other competitors have, and how there would be Demons participating in this contest as well. Were they someone as strong as Lewis? It would be risky to immediately assume they're friendly like Sonju and Musica, but she did not want to toss that notion aside either. She knew the pain of suspecting someone deeply, even worse when she had done it against her own family when it's believed that there was a spy looking over Emma and Norman's plan of escape, until Ray's blunt reveal.
The one-eyed demon also said something about there being more beside humans and demons. People neither human nor demon participating. Should she be cautious of them as well? Or perhaps she should try to understand them first.
The unknown was more than likely to be dangerous, as well as the threat that this competition will promise her, but she was never one to back down from the unforeseen. Emma, who encouraged her family to escape into the unknown world full of Demons, for freedom.
With this mindset, her heart is filled with hope for this chance. A wish that will save them all.
"I do." Holding onto her courage, she accepts the terms.
A confirmation bell after her answer, and a new text appeared.
[Best of luck to you. The Preliminary will begin in fifteen seconds.]
"A-Already!?" While it should have been expected and likely preferred, Emma staggered at just how immediate it was. She equipped her rifle quickly, checking its loaded ammunition as she readies herself.
[Generating world...
Caution and diligence are advised. Prepare yourself.
The Preliminary will now commence in: 10...]
Here it is, the awaiting test trial. Emma clutches her rifle, pressing the balls of her feet against the ground, preparing to run if she must.
[9... 8... 7... 6...]
Emma gasped at the sight of change to her surroundings. The black sky brightened into a lighter blue. The ground became greener. Various places rose and morphed into solidifying shapes. Colors of life were added to them. The tall objects becoming brown barks of trees with bushy hairs of hundreds of green leaves. Thick bushes and stones scattered around her. Open pathways in grass or dirt.
Everything was being coded into existence. Pixels until it was down to the finest detail, to genuinely appear like that of an actual forest.
[5...]
Emma remained still, observing in awe at the simulated world forming before her eyes.
[4...]
This is it. It was about to begin.
[3...]
Ray... Don... Gilda... Everyone...
[2...]
Norman... I'll do my best for all of you... I'll give everything I have to win. For our future!
[1...]
The world was complete.
The pleasant songs of birds in trees. The fresh air of nature and its gentle warm temperature. The lovely blue sky and its calmly drifting puffy white clouds. The distant bright sun. The robotic speaker was silent; there was no point for it now.
The Preliminary has started.
Emma regarded her surroundings. She looked at the few paths around her, and then at the trees.
I need to see where I am first...
She walked up to one tree, the tallest from the rest. Grasping the barks, she climbed until she reached the top and upon a sturdy branch, an entire view of her whereabouts was revealed to her. She was in a forest, acres of trees, and mountains in the distant. There was no person, Demon, or monster she could spot or identify, nor a village or town.
What should I do? Emma questioned herself. Do I find a monster right away? Go look for a village? Or maybe I should find a Challenge Board first. If a Challenge Board has any information about whatever I might come across, then I need to get to it before I should have to hunt a monster.
There was also a matter of where she may have to stop and rest if she does not find a village by the end of the day. A hidden base she can return to, like a cave maybe? But she may end up having to travel far, so if she is to make camp, they would only have to be temporary, and a cave is too dangerous if something like a wild animal or even a monster was to be in it. She could start for the mountains where there is a greater vantage point, but there is a high possibility that it could also have a monster there, or be infested with it.
It would be good to get five points together as soon as possible, but I need a better understanding of what I have to look out for.
One week is all she has. For this amount of time for what sounds to be a simple task, it could only imply that this challenge will be tricky, and may take patience to accomplish. To pick what monster to hunt, the hunt itself, and the proof of the success of the hunt.
If the worst happens that she meets a dangerous monster on accident, then she will have to make the best out of the encounter, learn more about the enemy and its strengths before she can make a move against it, or retreat if she can afford to. She must take caution not to underestimate anything she may stumble upon.
I can't be too eager. I have to take my time.
While she would want the ideal outcome rather than amount to the most logical path, to achieve the ideal path would be to make rational decisions. She must know how and when to be calm. To think and strategize, just as Norman and Ray knew how to apply, and in this case...
I'm by myself.
Her heart pinched at this acknowledgment. She was without the support of her family, without Ray, without anyone here to help her. Since the beginning, she has relied on her family. It was because of them that they were able to leave Gracefield. Their contribution was the reason how they were able to fool their Mama Isabella and escape. Even in Goldy Pond, she had the aid of her new-found friends to defeat the demons. But now, she will have to thrive on her own.
In order for her to survive and pass the Preliminary, she must enforce everything she has learned during and after escaping Gracefield. Her witness of Norman's and Ray's impeccable calculating minds, their quick capture of crucial details. The survival and hunting skills granted by Musica and Sonju. The nameless man's use of guns and careful tread across dangerous territories.
What she has learned from her failures and success. What she gained from every challenge she was confronted with. What she has endured, and what she has experienced from others. If she is to win this competition, she must utilize herself and apply everything she has on her.
Still... Emma thoughtfully added. Even though I want to save everyone from the Demon World, I'm a little sad that I have to fight for it. The other participants must have wishes too...
She comprehended this, even as she is driven to rescue all of the cattle children that led her to fearlessly register for this competition of incredible proportions. But to delve her thoughts deeper into this, and she may lose her resolve.
I have to focus, Emma retreated back down from the tree. I've already passed the point of second-guessing myself. I have to keep moving forward.
Landing on her feet, she removed her backpack and opened it to examine the inside of it. The backpack carried a small supply of ammunition for her rifle, a small medicine kit to treat wounds, an empty water canteen, a blanket, and other survival necessities although it is a light carry – as Emma would prefer it if she is to move quickly without having to lug around too many things.
"Huh?" Emma noticed something as she rummages through her pack. Grasping the item, she takes it out slowly. The air caught in her throat that she nearly choked.
Three sets of flowers, long stems of sharp ends, and pale white petals that have not yet bloomed. Vida Flowers. A strange flower that sucks all the blood from a single body by stabbing the sharp end of the stem into the heart. This flower, from what Sonju has explained to her, is used by the Demons to keep the body dry so that the meat would not rot too quickly.
It was a flower especially used to kill cattle children before they are shipped and processed, farm animals delivered to be slaughtered and later eaten, what Emma and her family were born for.
What had been done to Conny.
Conny...
Emma wished she did not have to find out the truth the way that she did. She wished she could have known beforehand, known somehow so to have saved her family sooner, to have warned everyone before they were taken away. She wishes... that she could have saved Conny, that sweet little girl that was nothing less than a precious little sister of theirs. It was almost unthinkable to have barely recognized that gentle spirit from the lifeless husk of a body, every color of her very youthful life, drained to the last drop by a flower like this one.
What Emma imagined Norman to have succumbed to as well.
She withheld the urge to cry her eyes out.
All of you have suffered...
The eldest and youngest children who were shipped before herself and the others. What other families from other orphanages are unknowingly undergoing, and what the survivors of Goldy Pond have experienced. To see the death of their fellow members and other children right before their eyes.
I'll get us out of there. I swear it.
The grand scale of her promise did not falter her in the slightest. It was a must, no exception, or she will never be able to live with her family in peace, nor feel the right to it.
She returns the Vida flowers inside and secures her backpack. It was time for her to move now and to place her focus on her mission, else she may curl up and never leave this spot until her grief disappears.
I better go find water... Dehydration is worse than starvation, lasting without food for weeks is nothing if left without water, especially when a hefty activity is expected. She wears the pack over her back before looking up to the sky, blocking the light of the sun with her hand while measuring its position.
Some hours until noon – maybe three to four. That will be enough time to have everything ready for travel.
"Hopefully, I might find a Challenge Board along the way."
First stop: either find a riverbank, natural product of the wild carrying water, or a village. With this in mind, Emma takes the dirt path. Be calm and attentive, one quiet step at a time, there could be an attack from a wild beast at any moment. She must always be on alert.
A few minutes of careful treading across the wilderness, something out of place was noticed and she immediately stopped. Looking through the crowded trees, she carefully pushes through the bushes and approaches a tree with the thickest trunk. A board was nailed against it, a paper-clipped onto it with a picture drawn and a written passage underneath it.
"Is this...?" Emma walked closer to examine the paper.
Frenzy Boar
Threat Level: 1
Bio: A monster with tough tusks capable of inflicting damage that will leave you in pain. Medium size yet relatively weak. Will not attack unless provoked. Generally lives in grassy areas and open space. Likely to be in a group or secluded.
Weakness: Somewhere around the head.
A Challenge Board! Emma removes the paper from the board and examines the drawn picture. "There's a map on here too."
Sketched on the corner of the paper. A single look at it, she was able to tell that it marked her position and the direction of where she may find the listed monster.
"Based on this map... The area where this boar could be is somewhere west."
Folding the paper and placing it inside the pocket of her backpack, Emma leaves the bushes and resumed her way. Though she has the destination to achieve her potential first hunt, she must first make a place where she may take the slain monster to. She walked for ten minutes, assuring that her steps were so faint that it would not draw the attention of any beast that may be in hiding somewhere around her.
She learned this from watching the nameless man, how in her world while in that forest of stone trees, if they so much as make one little noise, Wild Demons will be upon them, and tear them apart with their teeth alone.
The terrifying memories of her encounter and the narrow escape of the Wild Demons send a chill down her spine, and wondered if this simulation will have Wild Demons or the like of them here. If yes, then hopefully the weak spot to permanently kill them remained the same. Emma also hoped that the other competitors will be able to figure this out as well.
She hears the whispers of running water. Maneuvering around some trees, she arrived on top of a small cliff and a stream below it. She climbed down the cliff and approached the flowing stream. Though the water is crystal clear, Emma knew from her reading of nature books in Gracefield, and the survival lessons from Musica and Sonju, that to drink unpurified stream water would be detrimental to her health. It made for a good landmark, however, and she knew a way to purify the water.
Emma regarded the small cliff beside her, there was an arch that made into a ceiling of a sort and enough space for her to lay under it. It made for a decent place to hide from any animals coming from above ground, and if there were anything to come along the river, she could quickly take to the trees and hide at the top. It's decided then, this will be the place to camp for tonight.
Securing her new-found shelter, Emma sat within the arched cliff in front of the stream. She takes out the paper she pulled from the Challenge Board and re-read its information.
"Frenzy Boar... The weakness is somewhere around the head."
Maybe behind the ear or above the back of its neck? She should have plenty of ammunition ready and on her, if it may require her to make than one shot. There is also a chance she will run into a dangerous creature on her way to this boar, so she has to have enough arrows ready.
A bow and arrows would do well as silent weapons. Preferably so if she wishes to remain discreet than using a rifle that can be heard for miles. There were enough trees around her to pluck branches from to make herself more arrows, and enough stones lying all around her to make arrowheads. Memorizing the map and location of the listed monster, Emma nodded to herself and returns it to her pack.
Time to start preparations.
The travel to find the listed monster was without commotion or distress, only one sighting of a passing deer, which Emma left alone. If after hunting the Frenzy Boar would allow her to have its meat, then she should not have to hunt other animals so needlessly. She questioned, however, if this applies to all other monsters, or if it's even safe to eat the Frenzy Boar.
If it was a Wild Demon, she could never consider eating it. Those were creatures who were not as developed as the demons who could speak and think for themselves, to eat them as if they were animals would be the same as how the cattle children are treated. It was sad enough having to defend herself by killing something alive, then leave its body for the wilderness to overtake. She would have liked for there to be a better solution, but in the moment of urgency where every second means life or death - for yourself and for others around you, she had no time to think of an alternative. No time to consider if truly one or the other must perish in order for someone to remain alive.
Why does the world - her world, have to revolve around killing so much just to survive? Ray would think this was a silly question. It was simply the work of nature. People hunt so to feed themselves. Without food, life dwindles. Every animal understood this; both predator and prey alike, even plants were not exempted from this. A life must be vanquished so that another would continue living.
But did that mean that there were no rights to be given?
Emma never had truly contemplated this until meeting Sonju and Musica. She had known the meaning of having food on her plate long before, she knew what she was eating, but she never truly comprehended the extent of prospering from the life of the Earth. It never truly struck her until learning about the other plantations. Sonju had explained to her that her family was raised in a pristine farm; the quality of the children was the most important, and only afforded by the rich.
While there was a limited number of pristine farms, in several other plantations, children were being produced as nothing more than sacks of meat, not even learning their first word by the time they turn twelve years old - the said limited life-span of a cattle child reaching maturity before they had to be killed and processed.
Born and grown without knowing or comprehending the world they exist in. Those children were alive, but they were not living as human beings, only imprisoned and fed through tubes as they thoughtlessly waited for their death. They were never even given a false life of a loving home, as Emma's family had, they were just cheap products cultivated in order to respond to the high demands of the lower-class Demons. A horrifying revelation that Emma and her family were considered the lucky ones to have at least known happiness, however disingenuous it was.
All those poor children in the factories who were not taught the ability of speech or awareness, who could not escape even if they knew the meaning of that word. The children raised in those factories, as much as Emma wanted to defy the awful acknowledgment, they were a lost cause. There was no saving them for what they have been raised to be even if Emma were to break them free from their inhumane prisons. When fleeing is no longer an option, those children would be no different than the Wild Demons who had no sense of thought or self.
Though Emma would never admit such an easy defeat. Even if those children were doomed since birth, she will find a way to save them as well. She just cannot imagine abandoning any of them. Even if what awaits for those children is a hopeless future, they deserved better than to be left in those factories.
But can that same mercy be said for the Demons, if there is no difference between them and humans?
-!
Emma stopped. Quietly, she crouches down, hiding behind thick bushes. Before her, it was a wide field covered in grass, and in the middle of the field, there was one creature. A fairly large boar – as tall as her and much wider than that, with dark blue fur and red eyes that did not shine in hostility. Its mouth that had two tusks near its corners munches the grass it eats, unaware of Emma's presence.
She had her bow and arrow ready. The weakness is somewhere around the head. She pulled back her arrow by the string of the bow, her sight on a particular spot. Holding her breath and steadying her arms, she released the arrow.
A dead-set accuracy. The Frenzy Boar squealed at the feeling of the arrow piercing above its ear. It leaps around, angry noises and exhales through the snout, but the monster refuses to fall. Not a perfect fatal shot, but she was close. Emma had her second arrow ready when the Frenzy Boar whipped its body around and spotted her messy bob of orange hair in the midst of the bushes.
"Uh oh."
The Frenzy Boar charged for her with another angry squeal. A ferocious-looking creature with harmful intentions no doubt.
But Emma has fought bigger, more ruthless foes.
It was the back of the head. It only took Emma the use of her third arrow to find the exact weak point. The second having no effect to its forehead, and the third finally able to knock the Frenzy Boar down. However, the monster was still breathing, exhausted and in pain. Struggling to cling onto life. Emma held the Vida flower in one hand, and in the other, she gently petted the body of the fallen boar. She was already used to the role of the hunter since Sonju has trained her, but it did not make her sorrow for every creature she killed any less apparent.
Stabbing this flower into the boar will drain its blood, and quickly end its life, without further suffering. She wondered if there was a Demon whoever felt sympathy like this, to a cattle child who cries out at the sight of them. She could not condone their actions even if they had, but here, she was taking life so to help herself, just as the Demons were taking life to feed their people.
There was no difference between hunters who sought for survival.
"I'm sorry..." Emma apologized to the Frenzy Boar. She clutches the stem of the Vida flower with both of her hands, intertwining her fingers in prayer - the ritual of the Gupna, a tradition Demons follow when using this flower, hoping for the blessings and good health from the meat of this creature. After saying a prayer, she moved the Frenzy Boar somewhat, the chest area bare to her, and inserted the sharp end of the Vida Flower.
Not too long after, the misery of the Frenzy Boar ended, and he went peacefully. The white petals bloomed a beautiful red of life, spread and vibrant. A good color like this means that the meat is safe to eat, while in Demon's tradition, it is an offering for their Demon God.
Emma silently, and sadly watched over the deceased monster, now thinner from the drainage of its blood and much paler. A brief moment later, she reaches for her pack and pulls out a hunting knife.
"I only need one piece of it..."
She grips the tusk of the Frenzy Boar, and gradually sawed it off, claiming her first point.
A startled gasp from her as the tusk suddenly glowed in her hand. It shrunk and changed shape. With a pop, the tusk became a golden star badge, gleaming under the light of day.
A little mesmerized by it, Emma puts the star on her patch inside her vest pocket. That's one down. Four more to go.
Now to have this Frenzy Boar back to her camp. She remembered the distance of here to the river, then regarded the weight of the slain monster. It was too large to carry it all, let alone bring it back to her camp.
This was going to be tricky.
By the time she returned to her camp with the sliced collection of meats she carved from the Frenzy Boar, it was already past noon. It won't be long before the sun will set and it'll be too dark to hunt. Before she could think to eat, she better fortify her camp first. If a wild animal or monster were to roam and attack before letting her the chance to reach for her weapon, she'll be finished.
She was alone, she can only rely on herself to survive, even when help would have been well appreciated, as well as the company of others.
Emma slammed both her hands to her face, "Okay! I can do this!" She self-encouraged and began her work to prepare for the night.
A few hours went by, the sky colored in a dark orange and red. Chunks of the Frenzy Boar meat hang near the flames of the campfire by a stick that was stabbed into the ground. A canteen filled with river water also lay near the fire, boiling and killing potential bacteria for it to be drinkable. The hide of the Frenzy Boar washed with the water of the running stream, to use as either a package carry or a blanket for the night. Handful of stones placed around her camp as a minuscule barrier, and sound traps that would warn her of any intrusion or visitors with the use of sticks hidden under the leaves and blending with the ground to make them hardly noticeable.
She had her fill with the bitter meat. Bland as it was without salt but knowing that there was no use for complaints, as long as she can put her hunger aside and save the rest of the meat for later. She had a few sips of purified water after it was cooled, and proceeded to put out the flame.
By this time, night has fallen over the whole vicinity. She collected her bow and arrows, rifle and packed cooked meats with empty containers found inside her backpack. She stepped out of the camp and climbed up the small cliff behind her. A beautiful canvas far above her head that reached as far as her eyes can see, stars lighting up the sky that surrounds itself in blue and violet rivers, flowing like strokes of paintbrushes. Insects sang their nightly anthem around her, and the birds have turned silent, sleeping in their nests in the trees.
She walked up towards the tree that stood above her camp and climbed it as well. Taking the higher ground was far better than letting herself be susceptible to an ambush from below, she knew this from experience. Even so, there may be monsters who knew how to climb as well. She'll just have to react quickly if that happens.
Emma suspects that she won't be able to fully rest for tonight. She cannot afford to lower her guard, and so she armed herself with her rifle in both hands. She subconsciously thanked the nameless man in her world for teaching this to her, albeit indirectly and he had been wanting her and Ray dead from the beginning. She understood his pain though, as Emma's family reminds him too much of the family he lost. She was glad to have been proven right of his goodness in the end when he came to her rescue from Lewis.
I wish I could have known his name...
Emma lay with her backpack against the bark of the tree. The washed hide of the Frenzy Boar used as warmth to bear with the night's coldness. She tilted her head up to the sky, smiling at the beautiful sight. She doesn't think there was a night sky like this in her world, her family would have loved it though.
It should have been this time that she would convince all the younger children of her family to prepare for bed. She and the other older children would help the youngest be dressed in their pajamas and tuck them in their respective beds. Occasionally, Emma would read to the little ones a bedtime story to help them fall into a peaceful slumber, then listen in content to the soft snores and happy whispers of their dreams.
She had only ever known company; at the House, at her travel through the dangerous wilderness, in the bunker, at Goldy Pond. There was always someone there, even if they were strangers or potential enemies, she was always comforted by the presence of others.
Now there was none. The only noise accompanying her was the faint rustles of the forest around her and the ringing of crickets. It was so quiet, the quietest she has ever heard. Not a sight or breath of another person close by. There was no one to say goodnight to or have those wishes be returned. So utterly quiet and cold.
Lonely.
She never realized just how painful this loneliness was.
Everyone... Emma hugged the base of her rifle by bringing it close to her chest. A day without her family or friends, and she was already craving to be with them again. Wanting to see everyone and missing them terribly. She would never wish this upon anyone, and she very, very much wished that Norman and the other children who were killed felt only a short moment of this before their spirits reached the afterlife.
This must be what that man felt.
Only, she could imagine that it must have been so much worse than this. That nameless man lived over a decade alone, believing he was the sole survivor of his family. To go through years without his loved ones, their disappearance forever haunting his mind and eating away his spirit. Emma did not believe that she could ever endure all that, and her sympathy for the nameless man grew ten-fold.
But she indeed has her family still, waiting for her in the Demon World, waiting unknowingly as she works to pass this trial and many more afterwards. The nameless man, though his family could never be replaced, he will no longer know the terrible feeling of loneliness again. Emma is resolute to make sure of this for when she returns, hopefully in victory. Bearing the quiet night, she closed her eyes.
One year... I can do it. Just hang in there...
Though that was the estimated time for how long this competition will last, it was not absolute. But for however long it will take, she will proceed without waver. This cold feeling will not be enough to break her. She will remain strong.
Endure. Learn. And Survive. She whispered these words to herself as she gradually drifted into sleep, sending sweet prayers of goodnight to her family and friends.
The night was calm and peaceful. It was only a few times did Emma awake abruptly at the creeping sounds of crushed grass and fallen branches, then relaxed when the sounds distanced themselves away from her. She remained attentive, however. Cautious of any potential threat that may prowl in the darkness. At the expense of having full energy by morning sunrise, she would be ready to react at a moment's notice.
She was completely unprepared when a sound of an explosion ignited from afar.
"W-what?!" Emma grabbed the barks of the tree quickly, the Frenzy Boar hide blanket falling off from her at her abrupt movement. The very air trembled. Leaves rustled at the disturbance of whatever produced such a startling sound as frightened birds sprung for the sky. A strange loud noise, like wind tearing through, destructive and powerful. Emma stood up, gripping her rifle, her heart rapidly beating with trepidation.
What was that? She questioned in alarmed. It came from the mountains.
The worst came to mind. Had it been a volcano? Something just as bad? She'll have to get ready to abandon this spot. First, assess the situation, decide on the best path to take, and make a run for it, flee from the impending threat.
Standing on the branch, Emma proceeded to climb further up the tree. It was still dark, around 2 A.M. based on the position of the moon. Upon reaching the top of the tree, she turned her attention to the mountains.
She didn't immediately register what she was looking at.
Her urgency fell into an abrupt, baffled amazement. Something had indeed erupted from the shoulder of the mountain. Chunks of giant rocks and debris tumbling down the slope from what she could see. A giant bright crescent escaped to the sky. A laser beam? Emma didn't know. She has never seen one before so she couldn't be sure, but she could feel the incredible power emitting from it. Dangerous energy that shook her very soul, watching it expulsed and faded towards the stars, having sliced through the clouds that left her in a shudder.
What did that?
A machine? A weapon? Or was it a natural phenomenon of this world that she had just not been aware of? Was it a rare example of a natural disaster, or a sign of one coming? Should she leave here now?
The sound of a fallen tree rattled her back to her senses before she could make her decision. Her head whipped to another direction. An acre away, the trees shook. Their distress snaked across the forest and closer to where she hid. Something was coming.
Emma retreated, hiding within the leaves thickened in numbers. She crouched as she looked below the branch she stood on, held her breath and waited.
A body leaped out from the bushes. Swift and agile, their feet glazed across the grass. Emma recognized the shape in the darkness. A human!
The human was a boy in black clothing. Blue tipped black hair that spiked upward like a flame. His eyes were sharp, threatening and determined. He moved amazingly quick over the bushes and boulders as he headed down a path.
"Wait Hiei!"
A breath of surprise from Emma, she sees another human running out, roughly pushing aside the bushes and spreading leaves everywhere. He was a boy with green-tinted dark hair. A yellow sleeveless shirt and dark blue pants tied with a black belt. His round eyes were lively and fierce, yet pure all the same.
They were also widened with panic as he angrily shouts after the boy far ahead of him "Dammit! Don't just leave me behind you jerk!"
The boy in black, Hiei, pointedly responded. "You're the one that decided it was smart to shoot."
"How was I supposed to know there was a nest hiding there?!"
They rush further into the forest, disappearing from Emma's wondering view. She looks back to see who or what gives chase. Her stomach clutched at her first sight of the pursuers.
Long legs of an insect, hundreds of them traveled over the grass. Their bodies earthly red, their huge heads were without eyes, and in place were yellow squiggle-like lines and their two fangs that looked to be hard as stones jabbed together in relentless bites. Ants. Numerous of them, and not at all were the small insects Emma usually finds outside her home. These creatures were as big as vehicles and fast, maneuvering around the trees as they pursue the fleeing humans.
Emma grasped onto a sturdy branch as the monstrous insects pass the very tree she hid upon, hearing their tough bodies scrape against the barks as they crawled along the trunk, yet otherwise never realizing her presence. Her attention shot for where the boys ran, instinct to help kicked in even at the acknowledged threat of exposing herself. She held her rifle and traveled across trees overhead, jumping from one to the next with controlled footing and remaining pace, keeping out of view of the monster ants notice.
"-rit Shotgun!"
Something in the air warned her. Suddenly, she hears trees and insect bodies torn apart, a powerful shake to her surroundings that made her lose her footing. She felt gravity pull her aside, even though she was still gripping the tough branch. She realized at once, the tree was falling over the cliff, and she was falling with it.
She sees the river below her. Inhaling a quick breath, Emma timed herself just as she was closer to the ground and let goes, landing onto the river water that dowsed her boots, but lived without pain or injury. A close call. She looked back at the tree she had fallen out of, it lay over the side of the cliff, upside down and over her camp. The trunk was obliterated, somehow, as if a cannonball had struck.
One monster ant fell alongside it. Its entire right side was missing most of its legs, but still alive. It struggled to recover and steady its balance. Emma equipped her rifle just as its large head turned for it.
A high, gargling cry escaped its fangs. She hears rustling from the forest, and more ants showed themselves. Shoot or run? Emma chose the latter, then the first at the same time. Bullets punctured the shell of the ants, specifically through where the eyes should be, by far more sensitive to attacks as the rest of its body was merely grazed from her bullets.
A human body tumbled out of the forest and rolled over the hill until he stopped himself at the other side of the river, hitting the water along the way. The boy looked at the ants down in the river, and then at Emma who was firing at them. "What the-? A kid?!"
A monster ant appeared while he was distracted, and leaped for him.
Look out! Emma quickly aimed at the ambushing ant and pulled the trigger. The monster ant's surprise attack was disrupted, and the boy was able to react, kicking the monster aside.
Another monster ant came down, ambushing from the fallen trees towards Emma. She spun around and raised her rifle in defense as the monster ant lunged for her. Tough fangs bite the body of her rifle. Its strength was great enough that it pushed her off balance, and hovered over her fallen self. The rifle cracks, the fangs threatening to snap it into two gouge itself into her neck. Thinking quickly, she'll have to sacrifice her rifle to slip out and escape the ant's pressure.
"Spirit Gun!"
A blinding light. The ant was suddenly overtaken by it, exploding into pieces, and Emma found herself free. Confusion mended with her shock as the now carcass of the ant was all around her in bits and unmoving chunks. She looked back at the boy.
He was holding his index finger up like a pistol. It triggered a memory of her playing with her orphan siblings and their pretend games of shooting at one another, finger-gunning with exaggerated "bam! bam!" noise made with their mouths. She wondered then if that was exactly what the boy did, with the effects of its firing very real.
"What are you waiting for?!" The boy woke her from her stupor. "Don't just sit there stupidly! Run!"
The rustling of other monster ants emerges from the forest. Emma grabbed her rifle.
"Th-thank you! There's another path over there!" She shouted, pointing towards the direction behind the boy, a direction she will not be able to make as the monster ants cuts through between them. "It'll lead you to a clearing!"
The boy seemed to shout something back at her, but it was muffled as she used her still functioning rifle, firing to keep the monster ants at bay as she sprinted for another way. The monster ants injured by her bullets, and several others destroyed by another summoning of light beams from the boy. Emma reached a climbable path out of the riverbank, and hoped the boy will be able to escape too.
Running through the forest, she stopped at a particularly tall tree and hopped for it. Less than a few seconds after reaching the top, a small crowd of ants went by, missing her completely. A couple of seconds after they were gone, just as she breathed out in relief, her surroundings trembled. She held onto the tree, bracing herself against the violent disturbance.
A metallic noise pierced the bark of another tree several feet away from her. "Huh?!"
It was a hook of some kind, lodged into the tree with some kind of wire-rope attached. A grappling hook?
There was a noise of gas being exhausted, and suddenly a person appeared at the other end of the rope, rounding the tree. He had some kind of contraption around his hips. And in his hands, long blades of swords that were connected to the contraption, where its sheathes are. A boy in a military brown and white uniform, with brown hair and green eyes that were intensely focused on whatever was ahead of him.
"Captain!" The boy shouted out as he flung around the tree. Another grappling hook was fired from the other side of his contraption and was pulled with it, releasing the first hook. The boy flew across as he was propelled by steam shooting from the back of his maneuver-gear.
Emma was stunned by his flighty mobility and the machine he was using to do so. Her eyes followed his form, spotting a symbol at his back, a blue and white crossed pair of wings, was he a soldier of some kind? He shot for a clearing she had just now noticed, and then looked up when an ominous shadow fell over her.
Without any time to think, she jumped out of her tree. A massive boulder crashed down, destroying the tree and the ground with it. She managed to barely grasp the thick branch of another tree. Her palms scrapped for her abrupt catch before she was able to fling herself to the ground.
She rushed around the trees while ducking for cover as a horrifying growl escaped into the air. Climbing some cliffs and moving through bushes. She found a higher advantage point and turned at the small view of where the young man had just flown to.
It was a rocky plain that exited the forest, and at the center was huge gorilla-like monster. Green fur and pink skin, with four arms at its side. Its pitch-black eyes glared at the boy with brown hair as he quickly approached.
Emma watched as the boy with brown hair fiercely moved across the air, using the pull and momentum of his grappling hooks and steams as his wings. He swings one sword as he zipped past the monster, slashing against the green fur and flesh of the large creature, who roared in anger.
Another figure flew around the monster. A dark-hair male carrying the same weapons as the brown hair boy. His eyes were sharp and grimed with experience, unfazed of the danger before him. They worked together like flying angels with swords as they sliced the monster's flesh repeatedly.
The gorilla monster grabbed another boulder and threw it at the dark-haired young man. The man with incredible coordination mid-air, was able to dodge the boulder. He shot a grappling hook for the monster's face, quickly pulling himself in and stabbed his swords into the monster's eyes. The monster bellowed a painful screech as the grim-eyed soldier quickly retreated with the assist of his grappling hooks, using the trees to hook him away. Emma noticed that his handles were missing its long blades, meaning that the man must have disconnected them into the monster's eyes when he lodged them into the beast.
The brown hair boy reappeared and sliced across the back of the monster's neck. In turn, the grim-eyed soldier slashes through the front of the neck with his other blade. Both retreated when the monster attempted to reach both him and the other boy with its four arms, two for each fighter.
The grim-eyed soldier avoided capture, but the boy with brown hair was not as quick, and he was grabbed by the leg. "Shit-!" He loudly cursed.
Upon seeing this, Emma reacted at once. She aimed her rifle and fired several bullets for the gorilla monster. The monster's faced was pelted with monster-piercing bullets – a dead-accuracy. At the gorilla monster's shriek, he lets go of the boy and the boy was able to recover by sending another grappling him and pulling himself away. His contraption only clinked against the ground, and he was saved.
The gorilla monster grabbed another huge boulder and blindly threw it wherever the gunfire had come from. Coincidentally, the boulder was thrown at Emma's direction, and she ran away at once.
The fallen boulder destroyed the spot she was just on. Although the rumbling of the ground made her jump, she was able to protect herself from flying debris by taking guard behind trees, though as more debris continued to fall, she had no choice but to keep running.
Back at the clearing, the boy with brown hair looked to where he swore he saw the gunfire from.
"Who did that-?" Just as he asked, his superior called to him.
"Follow my lead, Jaeger!" The grim-eyed soldier yelled out as he went to slice the back ankle of the gorilla monster.
Eren snapped back to focus. Although his curiosity held as to who saved him just now, he has a battle he needs to finish.
"Yes, sir!" The soldier professed and returned to arms, gliding back into the gray of the disorientated gorilla monster.
The night was not yet done of its excitement as the forest continued its howl at the moon. Emma was able to escape the falling shards of the shattered boulder, but she debated returning for both those soldiers and the boy who had saved her from the monster ant. However, a shrill of a human deep in the woods steals her attention.
Someone else is in trouble!
While Ray would likely tell her to focus on her own survival, she cannot simply ignore the cries for help. She rushed towards the source. A pained scream that could touch the sky, Emma quickened her pace as she reloaded her rifle and arrived at a field. Taking shelter by the crowded trees, she huffed after her sprint and hid behind several bushes and a boulder larger than her.
"W-wait! Spare me! This is all a misunderstanding!"
A horrible sight. On an open field of grass where a man of dark hair and fearful brown eyes backs away, clutching to a bloody stump on the side of his shoulder, where his arm used to be. Sliced through by something incredibly sharp. Shocked and horrified by the wound, Emma looked over to the attacker, and what she saw further bewildered her – as if she hadn't been bewildered already these past several minutes.
"Your lies will not help you, monster, after you've attempted to kill my Master."
Stepping further onto the field and towards the wounded man, the moonlight reflected the silver armor of a yellow haired teen girl. Her sharp emerald eyes unwavering. Her royal blue gown with white flowery twins and gold accents mesmerizing. She walked forward while grasping the air at her side that dripped with blood.
An invisible weapon? Emma's eyes widened.
"I know that you are not human," the armored girl continued. "I've seen how your eyes changed. Reveal your true form, beast!"
The wounded human's pained groan transformed into a monstrous growl, and then an animalistic snarl, his eyes glowed yellow as his pupils sharpened like a wild beast. The wounded man's appearance began to shift. His body morphed and expanded. His clothes ripped apart as he grew in size. His skin darkened and his hair paled. Emma almost couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"A shapeshifter," the girl in armor said, raising her invisible weapon to her side. "Then you must be what we are hunting for. A yoma."
The roar of the yoma sends chills to Emma, and the monster declared, "Damn you... I'll eat you both alive!"
The girl in armor was undeterred by his threat, and launched herself for the monster, her feet blasting her off as if pushed by rockets. She seemed inhumanly fast, even the adults in Emma's world were never this fast! Furthermore, the way the blonde girl fought. The armor worn. The way she wielded her weapon like a sword.
A knight?
A real-life knight straight out of a fairy tale. Emma couldn't help but think how cool that was.
The monster threw his arm for the armored girl, claws extending, but caught only the edge of her blonde hair. The blue knight pierced the monster's side with a quick swing of her unseen weapon. Blood spurts out from the deeply inflicted wound and the monster screeches. With enough tenacity, the yoma threw a kick for her body, but she blocked the impact with her invisible weapon, pushed away heavily and far aback to the other end of the field, his strength undoubted, but it was endured by the girl in armor.
"Saber!"
The yoma went after the armored girl for a follow-up attack, but a beam of light suddenly arrived and attacked the beast's left side, disrupting him with pain and allowing Saber the chance to move away.
Emma looked over to the shouter. Far back, a boy with orange-red hair held up a bow in his hand. An arrow made out of light formed and popped into existence, placed in the palm of his hand. He pulled it against the strings, the arrow glowed blue, and at his release, the single arrow became several and berated the monster in piercing blows and explosions that shook the ground Emma stood.
H-he's forming arrows out of nothing!
Was he using magic? Was magic actually real? Well, in her world, there's all kind of wonderous things, but this is an entirely different level!
Another arm of the yoma was severed and Emma winced at his bellow. She watched as Saber stood her ground, holding her invisible weapon close to her side.
"Mana..."
The air tingled around Saber's invisible weapon. A grand whirlwind that triggered several alarms in Emma's head, warning her to leave. Now!
"Burst!"
A wide slash through the monster's body, its scream cut short. The rousing noise of the attack that traveled across the field like a spiraling fierce gust of pure light. Emma sprinted to the side and slid down the hill. The boulder she had just hidden behind was completely decimated by the powerful blast of Saber's power, ripping apart and disintegrating the bushes and a few trees along with it.
This was an entirely, world-widely, whole new different level for the eleven-year-old girl.
The forest continues to shout its dangers and violent scuffle from all around her. It seemed everything has exploded with activity. Monsters and humans running around. Chaos reign across the forest. No matter how many times Emma had to stop for breath, something would happen that would prompt her to keep going. Fights after fights. Attacks after attacks.
So this was the power of other competitors.
I can do this! I can do this! I'll survive! I can survive! Emma determinedly if panickily encouraged herself as she ran through the dimly moonlit forest with much needed haste.
This chapter has been recently edited as of 12/27/22.
A/N: Hello readers! Welcome to my new multi-crossover fanfic: A Promise Between Worlds.
As you may have read in the summary, this story will be introducing and collaborating with multiple Anime and Manga series from Shounen, Seinen, Shoujo, and more. Old Manga series to the recent Anime adaptation. From well-known series to not so well known. What will be presented is the Anime that I have watched and the Mangas that I have read, but will include references to other animes and mangas, perhaps anime video games as well.
We will be reading from the point of view of Emma from the Promised Neverland as the central character of this fic, however, there may come chapters that will change the point of view to other characters. It's very likely that not a lot of readers will instantly be familiar with who those characters are and what series they are from, so I'll be listing their names and series they hail from, as shown:
Competitors Introduced:
Emma (The Promised Neverland).
Yusuke and Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho).
Eren and Levi (Attack on Titan).
Saber and Shirou (Fate/Stay Night).
If there comes a time when characters have similar if not the same name, then I would probably put in something that will identify them differently from the other, such as Emma of the Promised Neverland and Emma of "Other Series." They may also have a specific title to their character, or nicknames, such as Edward the Fullmetal Alchemist or Vegeta the Prince of all Saiyans. Having different last names would also help differentiate them, like Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach, and Ichigo Momomiya from Tokyo Mew Mew.
Having to read a lot of exposition can probably be boring, especially when it's about an Anime readers may not have read or watched, that's why I also wish to put in a section explaining the backstory of these unfamiliar characters so to better grasp who they are, as well potentially recommending these series to sedate your Anime watch-time needs. :D
Not every character who will be introduced will immediately have their backstory told, likely a "brief"(probably won't be brief) summary of their experience while having to tell their story another time so that the chapters won't be too overwhelming(it probably will anyway).
This story is about contests and interactions between characters from several anime series,
it's NOT about who is the strongest or who is the better character or who has the better story,
this is just a fun adventure I've decided to write about while also keeping true to the characters part of this story and giving every one of them the love that they deserve. Hopefully, this will be a fun ride.
Please leave a kind and honest review!