"If you get lost here, you are worse than a headless ghost." Razvan chuckled as he led his team into a large hall. "Alright people, today we are going to explore this room." He gave the order, then grabbed Rahul by the arm and started walking into the complete darkness.
"Hey Tapló boss, I know you can see in the dark, but I'm blind here next to you." Rahul muttered as the darkness surrounded them.
"That's why we brought the eternal lanterns." Razvan chuckled, and as he finished, the blue light of the eternal lamp illuminated the pair.
"Do you always do things like this, or is it just an exceptional case, because I'm new?" Rahul asked.
"This is something that happens every year, although we are not always here. We sometimes go to other places in the Karrabata." Razvan shrugged.
"And what are we actually looking for?" The chüvigh boy put his hands on his hips.
"Anything that's weird, that's even a little bit strange." He received the answer from the red-clad hegin walking beside him.
"Then I won't be of help at all." Rahul sighed.
"It's not your job to search." The leader of the Athamanas hugged the chüvigh's shoulders.
"Then what is?" The other blinked at him suspiciously.
"To learn! I will show you the general Madüjawr cave flora and fauna." Razvan patted his shoulder while Rahul just rolled his eyes.
"Then you'd better show me what you want, Tapló boss." He folded his hands in front of him.
"Are we impatient? Are we impatient?" Razvan leaned closer to his face. "No need to be in such a hurry Rahul. There are things that the children don't need to see..." Razvan whispered, before the newest member of his team punched him in the face.
"Go to hell!" Rahul growled, while his friend just laughed.
"That's Fene." Rahul's ghost relative appeared next to him and managed to get the boy to look at him. At his puzzled look, Etele shook his head and continued. "It's 'Go to Fene', not 'Go to Hell'. You know, how I used to swear with you." He waved.
"Okay, then..." Rahul started and put his hand on his hip. "Go to Fene, and when you are there to the third tree at the right!" He growled at the ghost.
"What did you say?" Razvan spoke, and Rahul raised his hand to his neck and squeezed it, while looking at the hegin with an awkward smile on his face.
"It was just grandpa. He tried to explain how to swear like you." He giggled uncomfortably, and only got a grunt in response.
"It's too quiet suddenly." Razvan started, then turned back towards the side of the cave from which they came. Rahul immediately stepped next to him and blinked widely, trying to get used to the darkness to try to see their friends.
"Where did the others go?" Asked Rahul. "You see them Raz..." He started, but when he turned to the side to look at the leader of the team, he found nothing. "Razvan?" He whispered softly. "Razvan!" He called out, but he didn't get an answer. "Grandpa... Oh, you must be kidding me!" He started to panic when he couldn't find the ghost either no matter where he turned.
Meanwhile, in the observation cave, Mo Ching nodded in satisfaction. The tests went as they should, although there were minor and major hiccups, but he was still satisfied with the Athamanas. Each of them solved the skill tasks much faster than he expected. Only the team leader and his new apprentice were left.
When the pair in the other cave noticed that their companions had disappeared, Mo Ching used one of his miraculous machines to make the floor open silently under the chief of the Athamanas and Razvan fell down into the cave the chán man had created for him. This course, like all the previous ones, was special. However, unlike the others, its uniqueness did not lie in the nature of the tasks, but in the fact that it was able to suppress all soul magic.
Since the Zaukán tribe is a tribe of spiritual seers and Razvan, the heir to the title of chieftain, is a notoriously skilled spiritual seer, chán Mo Ching thought that this course, which took away his ability to see, would be the best way to check his abilities. After all, this was the purpose of this entire test, for the chán master to find out how strong, how resourceful, and how well the team members can work together. After all, if they want to be his disciples, they have to work for it.
"How did you do that?" The master's eyes widened when he saw on the stone wall that Razvan was jumping and crossing and avoiding obstacles as if he could see them clearly. "This is impossible, I set the timers differently!" The man's hands pressed against the small wooden board, causing his fingers to fade and the blue veins on his palms to bulge.
"Something is very wrong." He said, but before he could think about it better, the leader of the Athamanas had already completed his task and, as he had to, collapsed after the last obstacle. "It's time to test my student." The man nodded and Rahul appeared in front of him by pressing another spot of light. The boy stood gaping in the suddenly lit cave.
"Not at all suspicious." Rahul frowned when a table emerged from the ground to his left, and a large wooden box below it. "What's this?" The boy took a step back. "What is this infernal machine?" Rahul asked.
"It's time to show what you've learned." At the sudden sound, the adventurer boy immediately turned around, only to find himself face to face with Mo Ching, but this figure was definitely not the chán man, which Rahul immediately realized, as it was enough for the other to move a little and his figure trembled completely and faded, then its lines became stronger again.
"Master Mo?" Rahul tilted his head to the side, and the master bowed his head.
"There are machine parts in the box, I want to see how much you learned from my scrolls. Use the crafted weapon to destroy those statues." He gestured to the other side of the cave, and Rahul followed the movement with his eyes. "But you can't cross this wall here." As he said this, the ground beneath his outstretched hand rose up half an arm wildly.
"Master, the others..." Rahul started, but the cultivator just waved.
"They are safe, don't worry about them. Take care of your task!" He said and with that the figure disappeared leaving Rahul alone.
"It's time to get to work." The boy put his hands on his hip, and then walked to the small table. First, he unpacked the small box and spread the many pieces of weapons on the table. He just looked at them for a few moments, then started to DIY with a chuckle.
"Huh..." He sighed and wiped his forehead when with great difficulty he finished the strange little structure that fit in one hand, it was shaped like a sickle and had a strange hollow tube, and it had a strange little mouthpiece at the bottom, which theoretically should be pulled. "Let's see what we got!" He took a deep breath and walked over to the small waist-high wall. He raised his right hand in front of him, in which he held the gun, and began to aim as if he were shooting with a bow, then pulled the small trigger.
"Huh, I didn't expect that." Rahul said surprised when the statue fell into small pieces, although apparently nothing happened. "If this can be so effective, I should try the others." He turned his head back towards the table, then back to the gun. "And I'll take this..." As soon as he started, the weapon disappeared from his hand and Mo Ching appeared next to him.
"Perfect! You are worthy of the name disciple, but..." Here he put his hand on Rahul's shoulder. The waist-high wall in front of the boy suddenly sank, but it did not stop, and the part of the cave beyond the wall also sank further with it. "I don't condone my students not facing their fears, so..." He paused and Rahul's heart suddenly started pounding in his throat. "Good luck, my little student." He heard the chán man's words, but he didn't pay any attention to them, rather he screamed at the top of his lungs and squeezed his eyes as hard as possible. The man pushed him into the gaping abyss in front of them so that Rahul could face his greatest fear, heights.