Without hesitation, Rigel followed Arcturus instructions and stepped out of the room and saw a huge waterfall right before his eyes. From a distance, the waterfall had been like a silent white stream cascading over the rocket outcrops.
"Woah! I can't believe what I am seeing with my own eyes! And where is the castle?! Arcturus must be fooling me." exclaimed Rigel. "I remembered that I could see it from my room's view but I am nowhere near now!"
"Right now... I am stuck on this hill with no other paths at all. How does Arcturus expect me to get across?" wondered Rigel. "Hello!! Will anyone come and save me!"
As Rigel walked closer to the edge, the noise increased steadily until he could barely hear himself over the defeaning roar of the water. "Can someone just save me from this ordeal already, I don't even know why I am here to start with..." Suddenly, a strong gust of wind passed by which caused Rigel to lose his balance. He tripped over the edge.
"Ahh! I'm surely dead this time! Goodbye mum! Goodbye Dad!" weeped Rigel.
However, the flow of the waterfall suddenly surged rapidly which managed to engulf Rigel's impact from the fall. Rigel was in disarray and quickly attempted to keep afloat. But the plume of water vapor that hung over the plunge pool made Rigel breathless as well as losing sight of his surroundings.
"Oh... oh my... my god, save me!! I can't breathe soon!" cried Rigel.
Suddenly, a tribal looking guy lifted Rigel with a big fishing net.
"Oh my god! What now! I am caught in a net! Don't kill me please" pleaded Rigel. "Please just let me go..."
The tribal guy finally released Rigel at the bottom of the waterfall. Then, he pulled Rigel into the dark woods. The bare branches spiked into the sky with no signs of life to be found anywhere. It was so dark that one would barely able to see where one is going. The only sounds were rustling bushes and howl of the wind. At this point in time, Rigel was apprehensive about the journey ahead.
"Young man, change into a new set of clothes first." ordered the Tribal man. "What brings you here anyway?
"Hey, thanks for the clothes man! I have no idea why I am here too." replied Rigel "By the way, where am I?"
"Young man, I have never ever seen a clothing like yours! I am deeply shocked! You are in the Wandering Oak Grove forest!" answered the Tribal man.
"Where on earth is that? I have never heard of it before! Anyway, have you seen a Castle nearby here?" questioned Rigel.
"What are you saying, young man. How can there be a castle in the woods?" laughed the Tribal man. "Anyway, I have been waiting for a young gentleman to pass by this forest for years. I have an important task for you"
"Huh. What? I just want to get out of here..." pleaded Rigel.
The tribal man forcefully brought Rigel to a hill and thereafter handed Rigel a pickaxe.
"Young man, this means a lot to me and my family. I'm already old. My wife is currently very sick. Behind this hill lies a hospital and by knocking down this hill would mean that my family need not travel such a long distance anymore." pleaded the Tribal man.
"Okay... I'm sorry to hear that your wife is undergoing such an ordeal... but I will be very frank with you. I will need a very long time to knock down this hill. By then... maybe traveling to the hospital via the longer route would make more sense to save your wife's life..." replied Rigel.
While the Tribal man continues to be in his own world.
"Young man, I can see that you are very different. No man would travel to this forest on their own accord!" replied the Tribal man.
"Hey... you see, I have no intentions to be here at all... never mind. I will try my best." sighed Rigel.
Rigel picked up the pickaxe and began to chip off the big rocks. While the old man looked at him by the side. This went on for several hours. Surprisingly, Rigel did not back away and instead, worked harder as time passed by.
"I could be saving one's life if I can knock down this hill." Rigel naively thought to himself. "Since I'm already stuck here, let's just make use of my time wisely."
Meanwhile, six hours have passed, the old man only continued to watch by the side and Rigel never stopped. When the old man noticed that he was about to black out, he spoke.
"Young man, you used six hours and chipped off more rocks than I ever did in five years. I am very touched by your actions." smiled the Tribal man.
"Hey, it's nothing much man. Haha. I'm really glad that you are reciprocative towards my efforts! I hope all these will get to save your wife!" replied Rigel. "Anyway, I guess I am prepared to be stuck here forever..."
"Young man, do retract your last sentence. Where has your confidence gone to? You are behaving very differently now! What I saw for the past six hours was a confident young man using only a pickaxe to chip away the rocks." the Tribal man retorted. "Alright, young man, stop chipping away the rocks."
"Don't you want to save your wife anymore?" wondered Rigel.
"Young man, I really admire your naivety and faith in me. I'm thankful for your efforts, but my wife passed away several years ago." replied the Tribal man. "Rigel, these are your weaknesses - you have always been quick to trust people as well as always giving someone your best without thinking for yourself at all."
"Wait, you know my real name all along?!" replied Rigel. "What is all this about?!"
"I did it for your own good. I set these challenges to ensure that you realized your own weaknesses, Rigel. Do you still want to get to the castle? If that's the case, now, I want you to imagine that there's a castle behind this hill." ordered the Tribal man.
"I am so angry with you but yeah, thanks!! I have wasted so much time here and I need to get to the castle quickly!" replied Rigel.
Rigel's imagination made the entire hill disappeared into thin air. He was in disarray once more. Finally, the old man smiled and gave his parting words.
"Rigel, you have a strong mind and will. Your qualities such as determination and perserverance will get you where you want to be. Do remember that it can be a really lonely process. What I admire about you is that you will always see things to the end with your best. Just be careful of your weaknesses." cautioned the Tribal man.
"Yeah! Thank you for the guidance! I have to get going to the castle now!" thanked Rigel.
The old man walked back into the dark woods and disappeared into the thick fog. Suddenly, Arcturus's voice appeared.
"Rigel, congratulations. Please make your way to the castle now. I am sure that you want to find out the real reason behind all these." ordered Arcturus.But at this point in time, Rigel looked up to the skies...
"Hmm... it seems like I have something unaccomplished..." wondered Rigel.
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