The swift movements of the hand was so quick, I couldn't much defend myself.
I was the last one left. Lily had done pretty nice but not quite, Oliver had a hard five minutes, Xavier tried changing Trance into several different weapons to fight the hand but in vain. At last, I came forward as if I could do any better.
The machine was still at one place which was good for me and I got some hits in. But the wooden hand continuously slashed my hand as I came closer. My body was full of bruises all over and any second now, I would be dead. Then suddenly, I heard Magnum's voice from within. "Cut the wooden hand, idiot." He spoke.
His rudeness also had a nice feeling and advice for me and I agreed. With my battle-axe now showing high up in the sky (though the sky could not be seen), I charged at the wooden hand. It split into two and the screams the machine was making seemed as if trying to say, how dare you cut my hand? Only if I could walk…
Wade came running to me. "What did you do? Now we will have to build another again." He grumbled. I apologized. But my friends were smiling, as if to say, nice job. That thing should be treated just like that.
We moved on to the next test. The lava test was much more difficult with the hot molten magma even present on the sides of the surface, forcing us to leap as we fought. We went with the same order.
Lily was first, who used the lava to her advantage by pushing the robotic man into the lava by sword-fighting in an edge. Oliver also won by thrusting the sharp Tortunem into the chest of the robot. Xavier too, needn't do anything but blow the thin robot with his Trance/hammer, into the lava.
This test was much easier and I believed that I could succeed. As I walked into the lava suface with these thoughts, lost in my dreams, I couldn't notice when the robot had come up to me and struck his sword in my gut, throwing me into the lava.
Your usual reaction while drowning in lava would be Oh no! Somebody help! This lava is burning the hell out of me! But being a Darknor warrior, I could resurrect. But that didn't stop me from experiencing the pain of drowning in a lava lake. I felt like all the atoms in my body burnt, cursing me for being careless, losing my senses. As I was dying, I thought Oh! So this is how it feels to burn in lava. Interesting…
I resurrected soon and found my friends helping me to get to my feet. Wade was merciless, not allowing us to rest and continue the next test, maybe because he was still mad at me for breaking the wooden hand. After that we went to third test, the five arrow launchers.
"All five machines will launch the arrows at the same time. They will launch three different arrows, halting for two seconds in between each launch. The three arrow types you will face are sharp arrow, fire arrow and electric arrow." Wade explained. My face went pale. I knew I had a low chance of winning.
All five machines were facing us, which made it difficult to defend all at once. Lily came forward, her two daggers ready for some action. The test began. Five sharp-looking arrows were launched towards her and she deflected four of them. Her right arm was struck by a sharp arrow and before she had time to grieve, the row of fire arrows rushed. She skillfully deflected all of them, still feeling the pain in her arm. Then the electric arrows flew towards her. Before she could deflect, an arrow shocked her because of which all the shock arrows crashed into her.
The shock made her cry in pain, almost like a mad girl before she resurrected. Oliver too, failed, almost getting stricken by all the arrows. Xavier had a tough fight. He changed trance each time the arrows switched and was finally able to withstand all three rows without getting defeated, though two arrows had struck him.
I came forward and unsheathed Magnum. I knew I couldn't do it alone. I needed Magnum's help. As I closed my eyes, I talked to Magnum about winning the test.
The chances were low but I had to try. The sharp arrows came rushing to me but I slashed them with a horizontal strike all at once. That was pretty impressive for me. I did the same with fire arrows, though it burnt my body. Finally, the electric arrows got me, electrifying my body. I slashed all of them though the pain was intense. Luckily, I felt better after the test as I had passed.
Then the last one was the five-man fight. Each robot held a different weapon. One held a hammer, the other held a sword, and another one had a sharp-looking spear. The rest two had fighting knives. Lily came forward to fight. This time she looked more confident than before and eager to win. She fought valiantly but five against one wasn't fair. She lost and resurrected.
She surely looked frustrated of doing such bad performance in the tests that were laid down. When it comes to speed, Oliver's the hero. He escaped and rushed towards his opponents quickly, strategizing according to their movements.
One by one, he took all of them out. I was really impressed by the fight which made me fear I wouldn't do much good. Xavier, though, lost the fight. He tried transforming Trance into several different weapons, but five robots were too many for him to get free time. He got surrounded and was defeated.
It was my turn and I lazily went up to the fighting circle, knowing how this was going to end. The robots hit me one at a time which made it difficult for me even to get up. I was being thrown here and there.
Then suddenly Magnum's voice approached my ears. "Blaze, do not fear. Together, we can defeat anyone. Now let's go!" He encouraged me to fight. If it was Magnum advising me, it would be important. That was enough for me. I knew I had the spirit in me, just waiting to be unleashed. Magnum and I began to glow.
I jumped high up in the air; my eyes still closed and yelled my way forward, directly thrusting the battle-axe into the ground. All the robots broke. Wade smiled, "Good! We need that spirit. Let's go to the real battleground."