Underneath the sand, bursts of air continue to occur. It sounded like explosions paired with the bulk of sand sent into the sky by the sudden blow of air from the ground.
For a short time, I did think about why we didn't hear those deafening explosions earlier. The simplest answer and I guess also the correct one, is that they've blocked the sound coming out from this point. Something like that is completely easy to do.
Still being at the top of the slope, we observed the players from afar as they try to sense the hissing sound and then moved away to dodge the incoming burst of air.
Up till now, though the ground is filled with sand, you could feel a solid layer underneath. If you tried kicking the sand, you could immediately encounter the solid layer. Thus, it wasn't that hard to travel. But, one look and I could tell that the sand below us is much deeper. And it is further revealed when an air burst occurs since it creates a crater-like area within the sand.
The sand then falls down to the center. Creating a small sinkhole or I guess it's a sand hole.
Everyone felt hesitant about going down the cliff as the bursts of air still continue.
Urick squatted and is getting ready to go down the slope.
"Wait," Finnley said, "we've walked for a long time, right?"
I replied with confidence, "Yeah, a little more than an hour."
Everyone looked at me, there were also no doubts within their expression as if they believe that what I said is probably accurate.
"So, we just walked for an hour… I thought two hours already passed." Jin said.
Urick stood up, "We walked an hour, so what?" His face changed as he remembers something.
"Ah. Right, the wave!" he said.
Finnley looked at the tower in the distance,
"Yes, the next wave should come based on Gray's observation. And I feel that he's correct. If we go down on that field with those explosions and the wave arrives, we might be in greater danger."
"So, we wait?" Urick asked.
Before saying anything, Finnley looked at the area and the tower in the distance. After that, he crossed his arms and using the back of his right hand, he rubbed gently around his chin and took a glimpse at each of us.
"I think that it's our safest play. But what do you guys think we should do?"
"I'll follow everyone's decision," Aran said.
Fionn and Amelka didn't say anything. Finnley took it as them saying the same as Aran. While Urick seems to scratch his head unable to decide.
"I say we go now. The wave will come, but we're not sure when. It might be a good idea to pass this area before the wave." Jin said.
While we're having the discussion, I've been observing what's happening below. Trying to understand whatever pattern the area in front of us has. I could see the explosions happening in the far distance. The area with this kind of danger might be for a couple of kilometers.
The bursts of air that create small crater-like holes in the deep sand are random and for the couple of minutes that I've observed, a number of explosions could occur at the same time. And the biggest hole created by a burst of air from where I stand appears to be only around two meters.
As I am lost in my thoughts, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Gray?" Finnley asked.
"Oh. What did you say?"
"I was asking about your thoughts, and do you think we should proceed or wait?"
"I think we should proceed, now," I said.
Urick chuckled, "Damn, Gray has no chill," He said.
Hearing my answer soon as I heard what he asked, Finnley became confused even more so because my reply seemed to be different from what he thought I would say.
"Why do you think so?"
"Well…"
Before I could say what was on my mind, Jin alerted us about a group of other players reaching the slope. They are on our left, hundreds of meters away and there are six. Similar to us, they stopped at the slope and sat on the ground. Watching us and what's happening in front of them.
One of them is a woman that I am familiar with. Siti. She kept sending glares in my direction. At first, I felt a great feeling of anxiousness whenever I felt Siti watching or glaring at me. But now, she's like a cute cat from a distance that can't do anything to me. So when I saw her glaring, I almost laughed but managed to look away and just ignore her.
Urick stopped looking at them and turned his eyes toward me.
"Dude, just ignore them. What're you saying?"
"It's just a speculation and a feeling, I think we might be in more danger if we stay here and wait for the next wave."
Again, I've caught everyone's attention. After a brief pause, seeing that they were not saying anything and waiting for a further explanation for what I'd just said, I continued.
"Fionn said earlier that the same event or trial never happened in Hopeful Homicide. But what if in this stage it is only true to a certain extent?"
Urick crossed his arms. "What do you mean? So, the rude kid is wrong?" He said and glanced at Fionn with a grin on his face. Fionn didn't say or do anything in response to Urick.
"Is the wave really the same for everyone?" I asked
The wrinkling of Aran's forehead became more apparent.
"Are you saying that the wave does not happen at the same time for everyone?"
Amelka also became invested in the conversation and spoke, "Didn't we all see others from the distance do or fight the same thing?" she said with her soft voice.
"I think what Gray is pointing at are the players we do not see," Finnley said.
It seems that Finnley understood where I'm getting at. But he argued that it is also possible that whatever the wave brings could be similar wherever you are on the map. I told him that he could be right, but, now that we know that there are also areas like the one in front of us, it feels like they would want to compliment the area with whatever they would release in the wave. They've done it a lot of times in the past. Where challenges made sense with the area. Almost like it's a theme.
Fionn turned to us, "So you're saying that the event the wave brings is based on which area we are on the map?"
"Yes. Something like that. They would assume that we're going to continue, so to an extent you are correct that the trials are not repeated for us. Since they also gave us the time to move forward, I think my assumption is right." I replied.
"Wait… If what you're saying is correct, isn't it better to stay here?" Jin said.
Urick's eyes widened, "Yeah, Jin's right!"
At first, it is also what I thought. If my theory is correct, waiting for the wave might be the most logical thing to do. But, even though I couldn't explain it better in words, there's this feeling, or maybe it's my instinct telling me that it will be better to be at the center of the area below when the wave happens. Maybe it is also because I know that the people behind these games are a bunch of sadists.
I scratched the back of my head, "I just think that they would want us to be in that area when the wave happens and might do something to force us to be there when it happens. I'm not sure whether staying here is better than being in the field. But, my guts are telling me to be on the field."
A moment of silence visits us after what I've said.
As we try to reach a decision, a couple more groups of players arrived at the cliff. Most of them went down immediately and without a second thought. Including Hector, the frightening man I can notice from afar. He is together with Toby and maybe more than twenty people.
Toby still has a smirk on his face. He looked in my direction for a few seconds before going down. Some of the groups took a halt and talked to each other but also went down after a couple of minutes.
More than a hundred players are now going through the area below.
"Let's do a vote then," Finnley said.
Everyone agrees to decide with a vote.
"Raise your hand if you want to proceed."
Jin raised his hands immediately. I followed suit. After a few seconds, Aran and Amelka also raised their hands while looking at me.
"Okay then," Finnley said.
Fionn just followed. He didn't say or do anything against what has been decided. I think he also didn't know what to do and just planned to go with the majority.
We slid down the rocky slope. It has a few areas of sand that also falls down as we carefully try to go down. When the sand is removed, some cracks in the rocks are revealed. The protruding small rocks also help us to get down easily.
In the end, only Siti's group was left at the edge of the cliff.
As I took a glance at Siti's group, I saw her also going down, I don't know why she decided to copy what we're doing or maybe she chose to go with the majority of players.
The remaining five players didn't stop Siti and just observe her and all of the other players that went down. Some of them kept shouting about giving them a good show. It seems like they've also thought that it would be dangerous to be at the field when the next wave arrives or they want to see someone get blown by the burst of air. We paid their jeers no mind.
"No sweat," Urick said when he reached the bottom.
When everyone got to the field, I could see them becoming alert and listening for the hissing sound. We proceed with our journey. This time walking closer to each other so that we wouldn't miss the sound of air before it burst since we got seven pairs of ears.
Though we managed to dodge every burst of air that came from the ground without any problem, walking in the deep sand is tiring. I could feel my shoes get filled by the sand.
Groups of players ahead of us, including Hector's, seem to also pass the explosions with ease.
Even though the sand slows us down, this area is easy to pass. Knowing this, made me gulp in nervousness thinking about the next wave. Since I'm the reason we decided to go down the slope before it arrives.
"Hissing to the right," Jin said.
We moved, away from the hissing sound, then came a big explosion. It created a hole of around two meters.
I sometimes glance at Siti just to see how she's doing out of curiosity. It seems like she also thought the same as our eyes keep on meeting. Though, she still glares at me. And by now, even her glare's hostility is more akin to a cat's.
Her distance from us also seems to become lesser. As she manages to dodge the bursts of air and sand with ease.
Being surrounded by the hissing sound and the explosions for almost half an hour now, we've become numbed by the loud noise it makes. Looking back, we could still see the slope and the few players who stayed behind waiting for the next wave.
Then, the thundering noise from the tower happens. Dark clouds formed only around the tower. I could see everyone block their eyes or look away from the tower and pull out their combat knives. I did the same. After the thundering noise, a gust of wind came. Though the wind isn't that harsh since it is the first one on this wave, the sand is swept by it finding shelter in our bodies. Some even went inside my mouth.
Immediately after the gust of wind stopped, everyone looked around. Finnley pulled out a poison gas bomb and everyone who saw him did the same, till everyone saw each other and has a poison gas bomb on the ready.
"Come at me!" Urick said.
But for a few seconds nothing happened, the bursts of air that causes the explosions also came to a halt. The area became quiet. Some players hundreds of meters in front of us began to run as fast as they could when the explosions stopped.
"What's going on?" Aran asked.
Amelka pointed at the slope, "There!" she said in a slightly louder voice.
We saw the figure of the five players that stayed behind as they run down the slope in a great hurry. And behind them, covering the entire edge, are standing monsters twice the size of a normal human, and from the distance, they look like crocodiles.