At that moment the other 3 got up and grabbed Panther, not without giving him a bite.
—Why?
—Because there's no way out of this hallway, let's throw Panther into the fog to see if he's really poisonous.
Oh.
Oh, I forgot.
That I can't trust anyone.
...
I saw Panther being taken to the poisonous cloud and thrown into it.
I tried to resist, but between the middle-aged man and Mari they had me pinned down. I couldn't move.
—Panther! No! Panther! Don't do that! No! Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaanther!
—Oh, shut up. He's just a miserable dog.
The middle-aged man came over to me to pin me to the ground since Mari wasn't enough.
But, in front of me, my dog was thrown into the poisonous cloud.
—PAAAAANTHEER!
Her wailing and decomposed barking shattered what little sanity I had left.
—Why, Mari? WHY?!
—Why did I stick a knife in you? Why did we kill Panther? Why did I betray your trust? Well, I really just want to live, and I don't care who I have to sell to and what I have to do to survive. I sold my mother and my sister, I sold the one who took care of me, I sold the one who taught me how to survive. I am a survivor and I don't care what I have to do to live. You've said it before, better a little harm than death.
The straw that broke the camel's back.
With what little strength I had I punched her and sent her to the ground.
With the knife stuck in my stomach and my ankle half shattered, I also got rid of the middle-aged man and got up.
Even in my state, no one could prevent the bloodbath that followed.
When I finished and saw the 4 corpses in front of me I vomited.
—Shit.
In my mind I only had blurs of what had just happened.
Behind me I had what the rest had called the end of the road.
I was crying, I was broken, I was dead.
—Goddess! This is what you wanted! You wanted us to kill each other! Well, congratulations, you did it! On top of that there was no way out either. Agility test? Bullshit. You're crazy! You hear me! CRA-ZY!
The poison cloud was already eating the corpses.
I watched it advance and was less than 100 meters away.
I guess I'll have to break the promise I made to Basma and Igor.
Then the Goddess sent me a message.
__________
I'm sorry for what happened, but are you just going to give up like that?
It's true that your dog died, but it wasn't even a normal dog, was it? There's no dog that strong or that fast.
Besides, you only have to climb the wall behind you to get out. If you had looked at the ceiling you would have seen that the wall behind you is low enough that, if you jump from wall to wall, you can get to the top.
Although I wonder if you will be able to make it in your current state. I still have faith in you. And I think other people do too.
Good luck Caelum.
__________
I didn't know what to think.
I just wanted the Goddess to shut up.
I was clutching the hair on my head because I didn't know what to do. At that moment I thought of Basma and Igor.
Even in my state, shattered, I decided to put the two points I had gotten for leveling up by killing these 4 in agility.
In my mind Mari's words echoed: 'I am a survivor and I don't care what I have to do to live'.
I sighed and turned to look at Mari's body.
—That's not true Mari, you can't do anything to live. There is always another way without stepping on others, without hurting others.... I don't know if heaven exists, or if you are seeing me, but I will prove you wrong.
And with that I said goodbye to Mari's body that was being swallowed by the cloud.
But it is not uncommon to meet people like her. During the first test there was also a group that wanted to eat Panther.
I wiped away the tears running down my face and focused on what I had to do.
As I turned around a wall high enough to think it was the end of the path, but above it had a gap in it.
—Even with the foot wounds I'll make it up. For you I will, Panther.
And so I did.
I reinforced my body with mana and went jumping from wall to wall until I reached the gap and entered.
At the end of the hallway was painted with a black and white checkered trench. The end.
The hallway was a place where you had to jump and slide.
As I started to run the fog entered the corridor, and it advanced at a speed that if I made a mistake it would catch me.
Crying from the pain in my ankle I reached the last jumping obstacle, but my foot got caught and I had to roll. The sole of my shoe touched the mist and almost completely fell apart.
I breathed easy when I crossed the area that marks the end and as if there was an invisible wall, the poisonous cloud could not get through.
I was shattered, I was in a miserable state.
Then a white light enveloped me and I disappeared.
When I opened them I was in the same windowless room where I appeared after the maze.
Confirming that I was safe I fell asleep.
And I dreamed.
I dreamed of something that was more like a nightmare, my life.
...
...
...
—You've been fighting again Caelum?
I crossed my arms.
—On my way home there were some people in an alley who were robbing a kid. I only hit because they were in my way, not because they were stealing.
My mother remained thoughtful and then went back to wiping the wound on my face.
—But, Caelum, there's no alley on the way home. You didn't stray from the road?
I made a surprised face. How did she know?
No, I can't be fooled so quickly, I'm sure she doesn't know.
—Never. I would never do that for anyone.
My mother put on a kind smile.
—I understand, I understand, but you should be more careful where you go, I don't want anything bad to happen to you.
I smiled.
—Of course. Nothing bad would ever happen to me.
My mother laughed and got up.
—Come on son, let's eat before it gets cold.
—What about dad?
Just as I said that my father walked in the door.
—What's up honey? What's up Cam?
—Are you done at the gym yet?
—Yes.
Seeing both my parents made me happy.
—Hey Cam, did you hit someone again?
—They were in my way and wanted to hurt me.
My dad looked at me suspiciously, but my mom came out to defend me.
—Don't worry. Thanks to what you taught him about karate, Caelum doesn't have any problems.
—Well, it's normal that he can win. But avoid getting into trouble, okay. You're not the best in karate or fighting, and you don't know how the other one can fight. Always be careful.
I nodded as I smiled and picked up my cutlery.
—Dinner!
We weren't the richest and we lived above my father's gym, but we were happy.
But what I didn't know then is that even good things come to an end.