Alchemist of Metals

Trial Two

The wooden doors of the trial hall slowly opened, drawing everyone’s attention to the center where the chief examiner stood flanked by elite guards wearing dark black jackets, and three-star gold trimmed badges. And the chief examiner has 4 stars, the same as Athena. He was Kyle Raymond.

The examiner stepped forward, his voice cutting through the silent hall. "Children of Zoldyck, the second trial begins now. This is a survival test. Seven days and out in the wild. You will be allowed to form your own seven member teams by choice. We will blindfold each of you before moving out. When the cloth comes off... you'll be in the field."

His gaze darted across the children. "Our blood runs like steel, skin strong as titanium, and our hearts with cold resolve. Prove that you deserve the name Zoldyck."

The guards quickly moved across the hall, distributing black duffle bags filled with essential gear like blankets, rations, a tool kit, a pot, and a survival knife before covering blindfolds over the children's eyes.

After some time they reached the place.

When the blindfold finally removed, Julian blinked against the pale, cold sky. The thick snow filled the ground, and towering pine trees swayed in the cool gust under a gray cloud cover. The woods stretched in every direction.

"Seven-man team, huh…" he said to no one. "This might be a problem." 

He started walking carefully, boots crunching into the snow. His coat wasn't thick enough for this weather, but it'd have to do. 

"I don't even have any friends to team up with," he muttered. "And I'm on a crazy girl's hit list…" 

He sneezed loudly. "Ugh. Focus on surviving first." 

Julian shook off the cold and got to work. 

He realized something about the memories that kept flooding his dreams. First, whenever he slept, he would always dream of different scenes from the life he might have lived in a strange world. Second, some scenes he had already dreamt about kept replaying again and again. Lastly, the memories felt like a book stored inside his head. When he focused deeply on the knowledge within them, the scenes would play again in his mind like a movie. 

Like a unique Alchemy ability those Mc in the comics I read have as cheat codes. He thought to himself, smiling. 

Because of this, he began to learn from them. The survival books, military guides, backwoods manuals, and even strange things like trapping and cooking in the wild surfaced clearly. The person whose life he saw in his dreams had read all of these during his time in the army. 

He scouted a good spot. A wide stone cave tucked between two frozen hills, just a few meters from a narrow stream with actual fish swimming under the icy top layer. Lucky break. 

He cleared a space, built a simple rock ring for the fire, collected branches and dry leaves, then used the flint from his bag to light it. The crackle of fire was the best sound he'd heard all day. 

Next came shelter, he reinforced the cave opening with branches and snowpacked walls to keep in warmth. It wasn't fancy, but it worked. 

By the time night fell, Julian was sitting inside his new base, firelight dancing across the rock walls. A fish roasted on a stick over the flames, and the smell was way better than he expected. He'd even crushed some leaves for makeshift spice. 

His stomach growled, and he let out a breath. "This… isn't so bad." 

Three days passed. Julian had a routine now. He woke at dawn, cleaned himself in the stream, even though it was freezing, hunted fish or squirrels, checked his traps, studied hand-drawn schematics he got from his past memory, and reviewed some of the things he could recollect from his past times in the army. 

No one had found him. No animals had attacked. No snowstorms, no injuries. In fact… things were going too well. 

That made him a bit nervous. As he was rotating a fish over his fire that evening, he heard it. 

Snap! It was a twig. 

His body reacted immediately. He snatched the wooden bow which he made for fishing and fitted an arrow as his eyes narrowed. He didn't move as he heard fast footsteps.

"Who's there?!" he shouted, aiming toward the sound. 

A figure pushed through the bushes; hands raised. A boy. He was maybe a year older, brown hair matted with snow. 

"Wait! We're not here to fight!" 

Julian didn't lower the bow. "Why are you the only one talking?" 

The boy hesitated, seeing the ground frantically.

"Everyone else. Come out now!" Julian demanded, his aim steady.

And the boy flinched. "Guys, it's okay. Come out." 

One by one, four others appeared, they were two boys, and two girls. They looked wrecked. 

One girl's eyes were red, like she hadn't slept in days. One boy was limping. Another was being carried, completely unconscious, his face pale and arms dangling like wet rags. 

"Please," the first boy said again, "we need help." 

Julian didn't move. "Those injuries… weren't from animals." 

"They were ambushed," one of the girls said. "Another group took our supplies. Left us for dead." 

"Let's just leave," the boy holding the injured kid said, scowling. "You can see he doesn't want us here." 

"Shut it, Lucas!" the girl beside him snapped. Julian analysed each of them. Still aiming at them.

The leader stepped forward a bit. "My name's Marcus. You can tell from our hair—we're all from the lower-line. We're not a threat." 

Julian didn't respond, and his expression didn't change. 

"Don't you care?" the second girl snapped. "He's dying!" 

"We've all killed someone already," Julian replied coldly. "So, what makes one more death matter now?" 

The girl's fists clenched. 

"Gena," Marcus said gently, stopping her from stepping forward. "Please. We're not here to fight. Just one night. Let us rest. We'll leave by morning." 

Julian stared at him. Then lowered the bow. 

"…One night," he said. "Nothing more." 

The group exhaled in relief and followed him into the cave, shocked by how clean and structured everything looked. Julian had built a legit camp, fire pit, water filtration setup, sleeping spot lined with dry leaves, and basic weapon racks. It looked more like a field soldier's base than a teen's hideout. 

"Your place is amazing," Gena said. Julian didn't reply. They watched him continue roasting his fish. Their stomachs growled. Even the unconscious boy shifted from the smell. Julian sighed. 

"I'll make more." He stood, grabbed more fish, and got to work. 

"Thank you," they all said quietly, but Julian didn't answer. A faint grin appeared on the injured boy's face but it was for a fraction of a second.