The Dark King

by Steffen Schmidt

  "Dean, come here," Mason greeted Dudian.

  Dudian looked around and before he went inside.?In addition to Mason, the other two children who shared the room with Dudian were present in the carriage. Mason had convened them to act together in the test and mutually care for each another. Obviously, as the people from the same room were the most trustworthy ones.?"Damn, the curtains are sewn here." Mason tried to lift the drapery to look out.

  A bad feeling emerged in Dudian's heart. Is the test venue... outside the giant wall?

  ...

  ...

  Dudian closed his eyes, quietly listening and calculating everything ever since carriage had left the school field about 20 minutes ago. In the beginning, he could hear the voices of passer-by people, but gradually the noises quieted down. After some time, Dudian heard nothing but hoof sounds of horses and crackling of wheels.

  This silence lasted for another half an hour. The carriage gradually slowed to a halt and it came to a complete stop.

  Dudian slowly opened his eyes: "Twenty-eight turns, three times short stops. The route taken should be to the west direction from the school ... ..."

  His mind repeatedly recalled every single previous detail. The carriage sped very fast so it when the carriage turned to the right or to the left, it was obvious.?If at the moment Kris knew about what Dudian did, she would be stunned. It was not difficult to do what he did. If enough attention was given any of these children could have done that. However, from the moment the children entered to the carriage to the blockage of the windows, as well as the psychological pressure via possibility of elimination, it was specially designed to put psychological pressure on them. The children were filled with apprehensions and worries, so no one paid any attention to small details the way Dudian did. It showed how calm he was.

  The was the most important thing. The calmness of the mind.

  The carriage's door was opened. Dudian immediately knew that it the purpose was not to inspect them but they had finally reached their intended destination.

  The children quickly alighted down the carriages, eager to look forward to the place which they had to survive for the next ten days.?It turned out to be ... ... a desert!

  The sand covered any and every place that they saw.?Survive ten days in the desert?

  All the children wanted to vomit blood.

  Dudian leaped from the carriage to see this endless scorching hot desert. He could not help but sigh deeply. Surely enough, if Tobu said "simple", it can never be so "simple"

  "Kids!" With a charming smile on Kris' face she clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention. "For the next ten days you will be here. If you can't hold on any longer, then just draw an "X" sign on the ground and you will be rescued. Of course, if you are rescued it means elimination. Similarly, it means the costs of the special training will be bore by your family. I believe you know the approximate numbers. If you don't want to ruin your homes, then do what you have to do and survive!"

  She stopped for a moment, blinked for a few times and said, "I wish you good luck. By the way, this is the first test and the most simple one." Then, she turned around to jump onto a nearly three-meter-high dark coloured horse. Dudian had seen this type of horse before. It was the same one as Fernando had used.

  Obviously, this also represented Kris's identity as a hunter!

  Dudian narrowed his eyes staring at Kris as she whipped the horse and went away. The rest of the carriages also turned towards the same direction, maintaining the same formation, and left away. Gradually they disappeared into the horizon.

  For now, in this huge desert, slightly more than 300 children were present.

  "Is this..... how to survive?"

  "This is murder!"

  "I knew it was not going to be so simple ... ..."

  The children's anger was directed at Kris who led the carriage away.

  "Ladies and gentlemen!" A physically strong, tall child loudly yelled out, "We have to unite! The first thing to do is to find water. If we can find a water source, we can survive. Strength lies in unity!"

  Other children who heard his speech did not complain. Some heeded his words while a few others began to think about a way on how to survive for the next ten days. They began to skim through the knowledge that they had gained in the previous three months. Everyone learnt not to ask Tobu for advises, because every time they did with their mouths Tobu only answered with his fists. It was a kind of mental training too. The point was to raise individuals who could critically think for themselves in cases such as this.

  "Dean, let's go with them," Mason suggested to Dudian. Ever since from day one, Mason and other children in the room were used to consulting Dudian for his views. In their room, even though Mason was the most charismatic person, without a doubt, the most prestigious was in fact Dudian.

  "No, the four of us will stay together to form a team." Dudian shook his head in disapproval.

  Macon was stunned: "Why?"

  The other two children also were also puzzled. It was an absolute truth that if they grouped together with everyone their strength would increase. Even the core of the course was based on this idiom: in harsh environments, when united then everyone would have a much better chance to survive!

  They did not immediately question Dudian.

  "It is easy to find water. But do not forget that we are in the desert, not a jungle nor a swamp. Even if we find water easily, it would be scarce. It would only be enough to supply the needs of some and ultimately the unity what you talk about will disintegrate because of uneven distribution of resources", Dudian directly replied.

  Mason and the other two children immediately woke up in realization.

  "Let's go, we have already wasted a lot of time." Dudian looked around, and then found a direction to move to and left the place.

  Chapter 19: Danger

  Mason and the other two children grouped together as one, and immediately tried to keep up with Dudian.

  Except for Dudian's small team, there were other two or three medium sized teams. The rest of the children were hesitant. As if adhering to the herd mentality, most of them formed a single large team.

  More than 300 people reformed themselves into colony-like teams which gradually dispersed into the desert.

  "Why are we headed towards that direction? We are walking facing the sun!" Mason raised his hand to cover his face from the sun rays. It had been less than an hour but his body was sweating non-stop because of the heat.

  "We seem to be at least heading in the same direction with the sun," another brown-haired child spoke. His name was Sham. He was one of the four that shared a room with Mason and Dudian. He had a boring character, but as a person he was a diligent child. Just like Dudian, he was the only person to stack his bed.

  "Even if we want to avoid competition, we shouldn't have come this way!" Mason responded.

  Dudian whispered: "In desert, the difference of climates and temperatures are being extreme. Even though it is "Black Death" season right now, and therefore it is highest possible temperatures appear during this season. However, later in the evening the temperature will drop to the same level as "Black Snow" season. Therefore, we must head westward as much as possible. It would be the warmest place in the evening."

  The three people heard Dudian as he solemnly explained. Mason bitterly said, "If we went eastward we could have avoided withstanding the sun and heat, even in the case that we couldn't find water source we would have gained better than harm. Considering the problem of insulation at night as well, how do you know the temperature will drop at night? My feet are burning; they are on fire! How the heck the temperature will drop?"

  Sham and the other child named Zach were also very curious. It was so hot right now, so how could it get cold at night?

  "You will know once it gets dark." Dudian did not explain the heat-absorbing and heat-dissipating effects of sand. This kind of knowledge was not taught during the studies in camp so conversing about it would lead to d
oubt. Besides, the concept of endothermic cooling would not be understood by them even if he took the effort to inform them of it.

  "There is surely water to be found, the only thing we have to pay attention to is to absolutely avoid from getting sick!" Dudian solemnly warned Mason, Zach and Sham.

  Zach, Sham and Mason were somewhat surprised hearing Dudian's confident words regarding the issue of water. However, they did not question him, but were very curious, how would he find water in this desert that is full of sand. Where does that certainty and confidence come from?

  It did not take long before Dudian's team had lost sight of other teams. All what they could see were sand that endlessly covered the desert. They could not but become tensed and nervous at the sight. The only thing that the team-mates could do was to continue to believe in Dudian's judgement. He had never let them down during the training in the camp so they hoped that his judgement this time will be right in the desert too.

  "Do you still remember the part where they first taught us on how to find water in the desert?" Dudian stopped, looking around.

  "I remember, we first have to look for shady sand and then dig until we find water" Mason said.

  Dudian raised his hand and pointed towards the front. There was a hill made of sand. The side which he was pointing at was protected from the sun because of the angle of the hill. The sun could not illuminate that part even in the morning when it rose from the east. Only at noon the sun rays would penetrate the sand but only for a small time. "Let us go there". He stepped forward and took the lead. As they reached the hill, Dudian touched the sand. It was very cool.

  Mason, Zach and Sham were delighted at the sight. They squatted down to prepare to dig.

  Dudian waved his hand: "First wrap clothing around your hand, so that stones won't scratch it." Then, he tore off a fabric and wrapped around his hands and squatted down to start digging.

  Mason laughed: "We are lucky that you are mindful."

  Three of them tore off clothing, covered their hands and began to dig.

  It must be noted that three months of endurance training had greatly improved physical strength for the four of them. They had walked for over four or five miles under the scorching sun but they still had enough energy to dig. However, this was also kind of a gamble. Because in event that they could not find water after digging, they would not be able to support their bodies to find the next possible place to dig for water.

  Thus, even Dudian felt nervous. Especially, after digging for half a meter depth they were still touching soft sand.

  "Let's end it here! We should move on to the next place." Dudian decisively stopped. If they did not touch wet sand in this phase even if they dug for three or four meters, there was a high possibility that they will not find water.?"We have done so much, so why give up now?" Mason asked.

  Dudian replied with a sullen face: "We can't gamble and hope to win now. Follow me, let's move on" Finished speaking, he turned to move out and walk forward.

  Mason and Zach were full of doubts. They were unwilling to move on. Sham stood up and said: "Let's go. What Dean said was right. We can't gamble now." Then he ran over to keep up with Dudian's pace.

  Mason and Zach sighed, they shook their hands on their knees to remove the sand.

  Now, when God closes a door for you, he won't open another one but He will release the dog at you. Suddenly Zach screamed out loud, jumped half a meter high and hurried towards Dudian.

  Dudian and Sham turned back towards Mason and Zach. They suddenly saw a two-meter-long snake drilling out from the sand. Its skin was brownish, the scales reflected under the shining sun. All of them felt their bodies turned cold.

  "Run!" Dudian was the first to recover. He roared loudly, turned and ran away.

  The rest of the team members tried to keep up.

  Mason panicked and his feet stumbled. A Plop sound echoed and he tumbled onto sand.

  Dudian was running in front but when he heard the sound he could not help but to look backwards. He saw Mason on the ground and there were a bit more than ten meters between him and the snake. Snake was twisting its body as if swimming on the desert sand. The situation became precarious, he turned back towards Mason and rushed to him.

  Sham and Zach were surprised for a moment. They also witnessed Mason's fall. They saw the twisting body of snake and their faces became extremely ugly and they become hesitant.

  At this point, Dudian rushed to the front of Mason, grabbed his arm, and growled: "Stand up!

  Mason managed to climb up and look back. There were two or three meters between him and the snake. If it jumped it would be able to pounce its body onto him. Mason was too scared, he hurriedly retreated.

  Suddenly snake leaped towards Mason, it opened its mouth showing two sharp fangs.

  Chapter 20: Alchemist

  At this moment, a gray shadow flashed by Mason and knocked the snake onto the sand.

  "Run!" Dudian growled.

  Mason recovered and ran away in a hurry.

  Dudian looked at snake which began to twist its body towards him. He turned to run away as fast as possible. His jacket was tightly wrapped around his hand. Previously he hit down the snake thanks to the help of jacket which protected his hand from possibly bitten by the snake.?

  Sou! (I assume it's the sound made while passing Mason)

  Dudian quickly overtook Mason and went to the front. In endurance training his results were the best compared to his dorm-mates.

  After fleeing for a few hundred meters, Dudian looked back, but he saw Mason and rest keeping up with him. There was no trace of the snake, probably it should have realized that it failed to hunt so it decisively gave up on them. After all, in such a harsh environment even animals tried to avoid useless consumption of energy while hunting down the prey.

  Dudian was relieved and said: "Stop running. It has stopped chasing us."

  Mason, Zach and Sham looked at the rear and noted that the snake has stopped chasing after them. The next moment they felt deeply tired, their throat were dry. They were thirsty and the weather was awfully hot.?"It scared me." Zach had a lingering fear as he patted his chest.

  "Let's take a break, I'm exhausted," Sham breathed rapidly while panting.

  Mason heard the words of the two, suddenly looked up to the Dudian. He slightly nodded to Dudian and said: "Dean, this time you saved my life, after what ... ..."

  "Do not speak." Dudian patted his shoulder, "Save your energy. Zach, sham we are not going to stop. It's possible for snake to continue to catch up with us while crawling under the sand. We do not know if we are out of its hunting range. Moreover, it's getting late. We must find water as soon as possible, otherwise it will be very difficult to get past tonight. "Then, he continued to lead the way in front.

  Mason looked at Zach and Sham. He shook his head right and left in disapproval and followed Dudian.

  Zach and Sham looked at each other. Recalling their hesitation in the previous situation they bowed their heads, without saying anything and followed Dudian.

  Dudian and the crew continued to walk in westbound direction. All what they saw along the way was sand and dry clods. Except Dudian, other three could not help but to wonder, if they went in another direct would they be able to find water?

  However, at the insistence of Dudian, they did not change the direction.

  By dusk, they were walking forward with a pace slower than a turtle. Their bodies were sweating, they were tired, their faces were tanned red.

  "Found it!", Dudian's sound echoed.

  Mason, Zach and Sham's faces were as numb as corpse's. However as soon as they heard Dudian's voice hope burst out of their dried eyes.

  "Where?" Mason hurriedly asked.

  Dudian raised his hand and pointed with his index finger. There was a small slope in front. Not far from the slope, there were some dry green grass and cactuses, which were common plants of desert.

  "Plants, plants!" They cried in excitement.

  Dudian's
face also formed a smile, and said: "If there are plants then there must be water!" All of them ran towards the plants at the same time but Dudian warned them, "Be careful, there may be something lurking here."

  Mason and other two nervously looked around.

  It was not long before Dudian began to dig the moist sand beneath the green grass. After digging the sand to the depth of one meter, finally they got to see water. It was little and mixed together with sand.

  "It's dirty. How can we drink it?" Macon and other two were dumbfounded.

  Dudian did not speak. He placed the jacket that he previously used to beat the snake onto ground. He used both his hands to scoop up the water that was mixed with sand and poured onto the jacket. Next, he twisted the jacket as hard as he could. He knew that jacket was made from wool. So, he used it to filter the water. As he continued to tighten the coat, the clean water began to flow out.

  They felt thirsty for whole day. This simple, filtered water tasted as delicious as heavenly nectar for them.

  Dudian drank a few mouthfuls of water. He did not continue to drink more, but wet his lips with water, and then climbed up, said: "Do not drink too much. It's more than adequate if the basic consumption of the body is met.

  There was admiration in Mason and other two children's eyes.

  "This grass is edible." Dudian pulled out the green grass. He kneaded the roots of the grass from the wet soil. Later, he broke them off. There was no outflow of colored juice so he immediately bit and gently chewed on it. A faint sweet taste diffused from the roots of the grass and it filled his mouth. It was a bit jerky but he chewed carefully and then swallowed it.

  The other three saw Dudian and broke off the grass to eat up.

  "so bitter!"

  "It's so hard to eat!"

  Zach and Sham were unhappy with the taste but still chewed and swallowed the grass.

  Dudian looked up to the sky and said: "Tonight we should sleep here. We should collect some dry wood to make fire to last through the night. Also, one of us should stay on guard duty throughout the night. Let's pick the one who should stay up for guard duty tonight right away so that he can sleep immediately."