As Silver looked below him, his eyes which contained fear and exhaustion, now flashed with a tinge of hope and anxiety.
He had finally found a way to survive. However, there was danger approaching him.
Silver's eyes flashed with a calculating glint for a second, and then he made his decision. He let go of the dried tree branch he was holding.
There was no other decision for him to make, and he knew that if he delayed for too long, he would not just have a single snake coming for him but a multitude of them.
Although he wasn't sure about the cultivation base of the snake since he didn't have a spiritual sense, what he knew was that the snake was stronger than him.
Well, everything was stronger than him in the Heartwood and the Greenbelt.
As he fell, the distance between him and the snake reduced and the snake's eyes flashed with delight, hunger, and maliciousness.
It had the urge to climb the walls but unfortunately, the walls were too smooth, making it seem like the hole was man made and not naturally created.
The snake could only hope that their emperor would rise faster so that he could reach its enticing prey before the others noticed its prey.
Meanwhile, Silver fell for about four seconds and as he fell, his eyes was constantly alternating between the hole, the snake, and the massive snake below him, and he noticed two things.
The first thing he noticed was related to the hole. He noticed there was a golden glow emanating from the hole, and the gears in his mind turned at the countless possibilities on what the golden glow could be.
The second thing he noticed was related to the massive snake. As the massive snake rose higher and higher, Silver saw a red object at the bottom of the hole.
At first Silver wanted to ignore it, thinking it would not be important. But when he looked at it again, he realized that the red object was on the massive snake.
And after he focused properly, he realized that the red object was a sword that was impaled into the lower body of the massive snake. He even saw glowing red lines on the lower body of the snake as the snake continued to rise higher.
'Is that sword restraining the snake?'
Silver thought, but he didn't have the energy and time to ponder on this thought. He was now close to the hole.
And so was the snake which had been eyeing him with hunger.
When Silver reached the hole, he stretched out his right hand to grab the edge of the hole, and to his relief, he didn't miss.
Silver dangled in the air for a few seconds, and then he tried to pull himself up.
But…
Crack!
The edge he was holding cracked, and before Silver could react, the edge broke.
Silver's eyes widened in fear, and in panic he stretched out his left hand to grab the new edge. He didn't miss and held the new edge, but the sharp and intense pain that he instantly felt made him hiss and cuss out loud.
"Fuck!"
Tears welled up in his eyes and he inhaled and exhaled deeply. He groaned and then he grabbed the edge with his right hand and struggled to pull himself up.
As he pulled himself up, he heard a hiss and instincts warned him once again. He looked down, and to his horror he saw the snake which had been eyeing him strike at him with its mouth opened wide.
Silver quickly pulled himself up, but he had underestimated the speed of the snake. Just as he was about to bring his legs into the hole, he felt a stinging pain in his right ankle.
Silver quickly dragged his leg inside, and then he looked at his ankle. When he did, he saw the snake hanging unto his right ankle, and the pain he felt made him groan and scream in pain.
"FUCK!"
Silver cursed, and he quickly brought out his short sword and cut off the snake's head from its body.
However, despite cutting the snake's head from its body, the snake's head still refused to remove it's fang from his ankle. In fact, the snake was still very much alive and he could see a tinge of mockery in its eyes.
Silver cursed, and with gritted teeth, he grabbed the mouth of the snake and pulled it apart with all his strength.
The snake hissed and struggled, refusing to leave his ankle. But Silver was stronger, and with a low shout, he tore apart the snake's head and killed the snake.
Silver inhaled and exhaled roughly with an immense amount of sweat pouring out of his body. He looked at his right ankle, and he saw green and black lines running along his veins and arteries.
"Ah shit. I've been poisoned."
Silver cursed softly with dizzy eyes and a wobbly head. His mind felt muddled, his body felt extremely hot and cold at the same time. He was in so much pain that even his little brain could not take all of it and return the signal to Silver.
He could also feel the breath running out of his lungs, he was having difficulty in his breathing. He was also sweating so much that he might even die of dehydration.
And most importantly. He was exhausted. Too too exhausted to do anything.
He just wanted to sleep.
Thud
He fell to the ground with tears streaming down his face, and a pained whisper escaped his lips.
"I'm sorry Mom. I'm sorry Dad."
"But it seems like this is the end for me. This is the end of my story."
"I tried so hard. I really did. I tried to use everything that happened in my rite of passage as my stepping stone, but it was too much and too difficult for me."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Would you proud to hear of all that I did? Would you be proud Dad that I did not give up and chose to find a way to survive until the very end?"
"Would you be proud Mom that I was able to use what you taught me to kill a Savage Wolf?"
His tears poured down the more and a sad smile appeared on his lips.
"But even though I really tried my best. I'm going to die in this hidden and forsaken place, and I'll most likely not be found."
He closed his eyes with the tears still pouring down his face.
"Maybe if I was as talented as Gabriel or even Nathaniel, I would have found a way to survive and go back home."
"I'm really sorry Mom."
"I'm really sorry Dad."
"Forgive me for being useless."
As Silver said these last words, his chest stopped rising and falling, and he stopped breathing.
A tear escaped his eye and the cave he was in became silent.
Three seconds later, a soft wind blew into the cave and the sound of the rustling of leaves filled the cave.
Behind Silver was a golden tree inside a golden pond.