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Chapter 14: Test of Courage (and patience)

On the way to meet with Xia Hou Ming, Ye Yan feels that the soldier leading him starting to become a little strange, and his nervousness could be sensed easily. But what could have made him like this? They were just walking and there is no danger or, at least, it is what he thinks. Because of the soldier's behavior, Ye Yan started to become vigilant and observed his surroundings more attentively. But even when they arrived, nothing happened, what puzzled him.

The NPC was in the swordsman training ground sparring with a soldier, but it looked more than a spar. If the soldier wasn't using metal armor to cover his entire body, he would have been shredded to pieces already. Xia Hou Ming was fierce and powerful and the soldier could only try his best to not suffer too much, sparks could be seen every time his sword hit the metal armor. The poor soldier couldn't even touch Xia Hou Ming during all the duration of the battle and you could see for his expression that he wants to be anywhere but here, and Ye Yan almost could see tears running down his face.

Finally, the battle ended, to the relief of the poor soldier.

"You need to train more. With this level of swordsmanship, you can't stand even one minute in a real battle. Now go train more because the next time I will not take easy on you." Ye Yan thought that if that is taking easy on him, how it will be if he doesn't. And now he finally understood why the soldier that lead him here were behaving like that, this Xia Hou Ming is not someone a normal soldier could face without cowering in fear.

Xia Hou Ming looked at them and asked. "What is it?"

"Co-commander Xia Hou Liang o-order me to-to bring this person to meet you." The soldier stammered in fear.

"Humpf. You can go now." Xia Hou Ming can't stand these scared soldiers. "What you want from me?" He looked at Ye Yan approvingly because he returned his gaze without any hint of fear.

"My name is Jun Xie and Commander Xia told me to seek you for my Test of Courage." Ye Yan showed the special token to him.

"Haha. He never sent anyone to me before for the test. It looked like he really thinks that you can do it. Come with me." Xia Hou Ming showed such a sinister smile in the end that made him get goosebumps.

Ye Yan followed him to a place with an array like the one of the first test.

"This is the entrance of the Test of Courage. Let's see if you have real courage or just have more guts than those soldiers. I'm too tired of those cowards." Ye Yan looked at him with an interrogative gaze after his last statement.

"You think they are brave but they are just afraid. Most of them became soldiers because they didn't have any other way of surviving. The world is not as beautiful as it looks, people are starving and some of them even sold themself to slavery. The lucky ones are working as maids and manservants" Xia Hou Ming shook his head as if he wants to shake away the sad thoughts. "The reason I consider them cowards is that they only looked so brave when confronting an enemy because they are afraid of death, but not death by the enemy's hands but by execution. If a soldier deserter, they will be killed, so they try their lucks in battle which they consider the easier way. If they fear death by the enemy and confront them even so, I would admire them but that's not the case. In truth, they are just worthy of pity." He makes a brief pause and advises Ye Yan. "Someone told me a long time ago something that I still remember: 'I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear', because 'Fear and courage are brothers', so you need to always go ahead even if you are afraid. But remember: 'Being terrified but going ahead and doing what must be done, that's courage. The one who feels no fear is a fool, and the one who lets fear rule him is a coward'. Now go."

'Great! I've just being called a coward by an NPC. But he says this because he never has eaten a fucking cockroach.' Ye Yan complained to himself while entering the array.

This time, he didn't feel so bad after the teleportation because his mind is already adapting to it, but he is starting to think that he turned blind because after 5 minutes had passed, he is still seeing nothing but dark. Suddenly, he heard the system voice in his ear.

System: 'Go back?' he thought. 'No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!' So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter[4]."

"So I'm not blind, it's just too dark here. Phew." Ye Yan understood that he needs to try to find a way out of this dark place, but when he gave his first step, the system sound came again.

System: 'Your pain adjustment was disabled. You will feel 100% pain until the end of your trial.'

"Fuck! I'm not afraid of some pain but there's a big difference between getting an injection and fall in a deep pit. Hum, maybe for Qian Zhong there is no difference..." His friend runs away from an injection as if it were the devil.

After about 1 hour of walking in the dark, feeling the wall and the floor, he finally arrived at the exit. He was blinded by the light at first, and as it returned to normal, he could see and feel where he was. There is hot lava everywhere around him and he couldn't see any way to get out of the cave without having to pass through it.

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System: 'You have passed the first trial of the Test of Courage. 200 exp. gained. Did you wish to continue or you will go back and take the test on normal difficult? You only have one chance, if you die in the test, you will not be able to challenge the hard mode again and will need to wait three days to start the quest again on normal mode.'

"I'm already here, so I will continue."

Ye Yan started to look around with even more attention. He tried to get near the lava but it was too hot that he started to feel dehydrated and began to take damage, so he went back to the place he was before.

System: 'When we are afraid, we ought not to occupy ourselves with endeavoring to prove that there is no danger, but in strengthening ourselves to go on in spite of the danger[5].'

"Tsk. Can the system read minds? I have thought about sacrificing some of my items to see if it was some kind of illusion." The CyberTech system can only connect with people's minds and cannot read or input information.

Ye Yan tried to analyze everything once again, and when he looked up, he saw some indentations on the Vulcan's wall. It would be really difficult to climb but there's no other way. It's better to die trying than do nothing.

System: 'There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid[6]."

'The system could give me a rope and not be saying these quotes'. Ye Yan climbed the Vulcan's wall while swearing without stop. Maybe cursing gave him the energy to continue. At least, he only felt tired while climbing or it would be hell because of the 100% pain adjustment.

When he got to the top, he found out that he would have to go down the Vulcan now. At least, going down is easier and Ye Yan sometimes even used his worn-out clothes like a mat for him to sit and slide without the risk of not being able to stop because the terrain is not too steep.

System: 'You have passed the second trial of the Test of Courage. 200 exp. gained. Did you wish to continue or you will go back and take the test on normal difficult? You only have one chance, if you die in the test, you will not be able to challenge the hard mode again and will need to wait three days to start the quest again on normal mode.'

"Of course I will continue." If he gives up after everything, he could only slap himself for his stupidness.

System: 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave,' his father told him[7].'

When Ye Yan heard the system this time, he knew it means trouble. And to show that his assumption was right, a giant adult [Tyrannosaurus Rex] come running in his direction. It was 4 meters high and 12 meters long and its head is more than 1,4 meters long.

'The system is crazy? He is only a novice now and his weapon are the same as a kitchen knife. How he can defeat it?' He started to run while trying to think about something helpful.

System: 'When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals; adjust the action steps[8].'

'I want to kill who had the idea of the system saying these quotes here!' While running, he saw a cave not far away and went directly to there. Luckily, the Tiranossaurus is too big for the cave, but the cavern is small and there is no other way for him to get out.

System: 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog[9].'

"Tsk. It's not a dog, but a damn T-Rex, and a furious, or hungry one at that.' Ye Yan began to think that maybe it was talking about himself. He is little compared to the dino, but he never was afraid of a fight.

"Man up, Ye Yan!" He decided to give it a try and left the cave. When he was about to start a fight, he noted that the dino was hurt and was moving very slow now. Maybe he was hurt before and when he tried to get to him, the wound got worse. Ye Yan has two options now, he can escape or he can try to fight. He chose the latter. If he can't defeat it, he still can run.

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[Tyranossaurus Rex] (Elite, weakened)

Level: 3

HP: 2,000

.

As the monster was weakened, his stats were lowered, including his flee and defense (FLEE 3, DEF 10). So Ye Yan could hit it in 13 damage per attack.

His battle turns out unexpectaly easy. He could dodge and attack the monster without problems and he didn't even take damage. About 9 minutes later the T-Rex was dead and it even dropped two items.

System: 'You have killed [Tyranossaurus Rex]. 200 exp. gained.

The monster gave only 200 of experience, probably because of the quest.

System: 'You have passed the third trial of the Test of Courage. 200 exp. gained. Did you wish to continue or you will go back and take the test on normal difficult? You only have one chance, if you die in the test, you will not be able to challenge the hard mode again and will need to wait three days to start the quest again on normal mode.'

"Continue! Continue!" He said while taking the items.

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[Lucky Hit] (Skill Book)

Description: Luck is as good as a skill if it gets results.

Effect: Your critical chance increase in (30+ Skill level*2)% for 1 minute.

Cooldown: (20-skill level) minutes

Class requirement: Unrestricted

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[Dinosaur Leather Shoes] (Cooper, armor: Footgear)

Description: Leather taken from the most tender part of a dinosaur, but don't ask from where.

DEF +15

Level Requirement: 3

Class requirement: Fighter, Swordsman, Thief, and Archer.

Durability: 40/40

Weight: 10

.

"Holy Shit!" Ye Yan couldn't believe his luck, both items could be used by him immediately. He learned the skill and used 2 SP to increase the skill to level 3, and equipped the dino shoes. "Now I am more prepared for what I will have to confront in the next step."

Ye Yan walked for some time and arrived in a little village. When he just asked the first NPC where he was, a [Black Dragon] flew over them and landed inside the village, attacking everything, including children! Even knowing that he couldn't defeat it and that they were NPCs, Ye Yan forgot about the test and tried to distract him for the villagers to escape. He gave a war cry and ran in the direction of the dragon.

System: 'You have passed the fourth trial of the Test of Courage. 200 exp. gained.'

System: 'Sometimes standing against evil is more important than defeating it. The greatest heroes stand because it is right to do so, not because they believe they will walk away with their lives. Such selfless courage is a victory in itself[10].'

System: 'Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage[8]. and you proved you are brave and righteous.'

All of a sudden he went back to the camp, where Xia Hou Ming was waiting for him.

"Hahahahaha. You proved yourself as a brave warrior that one day will dazzle all with your might." Ye Yan was still trying to understand what happened and suffering the effects of teleportation when he heard the NPC. "Good! Very good! But you must remember that being brave doesn't mean we looking for trouble[11]. Now go back to meet my elder brother and continue your tests."

System: 'This world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease[12].'

'Fuck!' Ye Yan showed his middle finger to the system in his mind and went to meet the commander.

.....

[1] Nelson Mandela

[2] Proverb

[3] Piers Anthony

[4] J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

[5] Mark Rutherford

[6] L.Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[7] George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

[8] Confucius

[9] Mark Twain

[10] N.D. Wilson, Dandelion Fire

[11] Mufasa. The Lion King

[12] Robert F. Kennedy