Thank you for retaining faith in me," Gem spoke, "and remember, don't give up."
The creaking sounds increased as the wooden gloves slowly slipped off the rod. Zain's and Dem's eyes curiously followed the gloves, hoping that a miracle would occur and save Gem, or that he would suddenly use his adrenaline, but it never came, not this time.
Right in front of their eyes, it completely slipped, and straight into the endless pit was where Gem fell, still bearing a sad smile.
"NOOOOOOO!" Zain's scream echoed in the air but there was nothing he could do.
As he fell deeper into the dark pit, Zain tried to reach out and grab Gem's hand, but it was too far away. Gem reached out desperately, but their hands couldn't quite touch. Zain's heart sank as he watched Gem disappear into the darkness below.
"Nooooooo!!" Zain screamed again for the second time as tears could be seen gushing down his face.
"Gem!
Please don't go... *sob*
Don't go, Gem *sniff*
Brother, please don't, Gem, please don't."
These words continued flooding out of Dem's mouth as tears streamed down his face.
Zain couldn't do anything than to stare into the endless pit which Gem disappeared into, motionlessly.
"If I don't keep going, we'll be next," he advised us, "to not let anything that happens distracts us and to complete the task because his hard work resides in it." Zain said with determination in his eyes slowly recovering from the trauma.
It wasn't like he isn't pained by what just happened, he was just better at keeping it in, and besides, Gem's last words were what he was obeying at the moment, a dying wish is not something he could bring himself to disobey.
Rest in peace Gem.
"We won't give up, Gem. We'll finish what you started," Zain said, his voice filled with determination as he clenched his fists tighter at the rods, his hands were feeling numb, which was a solid reason why he should keep going, except he want to die as well.
Stretching one of his arms, he then gripped further at the rod, repeating the process, he was going further and further.
This would give him a big blow though, Zain was even too afraid to stare further because he might just get discouraged and go for suicide.
One kilometer in this situation isn't child's play, worse case, he is traveling by hand.
"I have to keep going. I can't let Gem's hard work be in vain. I have to keep going," Zain chanted as he was moving as fast as he could. Before he realized it, minutes turned into an hour, and when he finally stretched his hands again to grab further on the rod, he got restricted by a flat solidified surface, a wall right below a cliff.
"We've finished the trial; we have completed the mission; we've reached our destination," Zain spoke out relieved but not in a happy tone, he was grunting after every statement.
Dragging himself to the surface along with Dem who was still holding onto his legs even after they had left the bridge.
Dem was still traumatized; his eyes were wide open, veins could be seen visible in the red eyes.
"Dem, are you alright?" Zain questioned even when he knew the obvious answer. He squats down and remove Dem's hands from his leg gently.
Dem didn't even respond, forcing Zain to rethink the situation. The emotions he has been keeping in were starting to trigger but before he could be consumed enough to be rendered useless like Dem currently, a familiar voice was heard.
"Oh wow, I am impressed. Both of you survived the trial; seems like I underestimated you guys," the dynamic wielder came into view.
"To be honest, I was expecting you to be the one to die; I never expected that the one I see as the most capable lost himself into history, what a pain."
Zain chimed in.
Well, that's good, but where is our prize, why, why isn't it here, you said this is the final assessment or did you scam us, did we get scammed.
"Without further ado, let's move further." Dynamic wielder then answered with a few claps.
*clap* *clap*
Following it, the ground was starting to vibrate, tiny debris and rock fell as the wall in front of them divided slow.
*Rumble* *rumble*
As the wall separated, a green glow could already be seen emanating from the room behind and behold, the sight they have always wanted could be seen.
Levitating in the air was a book that was lying horizontally, and above it was a green crystal.
"Finally, we've seen the book! And that crystal, why does it feel familiar?" Zain questioned inwardly, he hadn't seen it before though but the feeling...
His mind was scanning as he stared at the crystal, but the dynamic wielder chimed in before anything and spoke.
"What's standing before you is a crystal Green himself left for who deserves it. It's the Green Heart."
"The Green Heart is a crystal that has the power to forcefully open one's gate of energy, and in the process, the person gains magic. As for..."
"You deserve it, kids. The trial was just to confirm, and besides, I was really hoping that you would have been dead," he spoke, pointing towards Zain.
"Huh! Zain couldn't hold it any longer. What's the deal?"
"Besides, you should know that I hate you; you're a murderer. You killed my best friend Gem. I'll never forgive you, nor would I forget."
"Right, Dem?" He asked, but Dem didn't answer; his face was emotionless.
The dynamic wielder was flattered for a moment before he smiled. "Yeah, I know."
"So, go grab the crystal and the book since that's what you came here for."
Scrunching his face in displeasure, Zain then walked forward towards the items.
Grabbing onto the crystal was the first thing Zain did. Unlike the previous beast crystal they got, this crystal was different; the dynamic wielder was aware of it but decided to keep shut.
The moment Zain grabbed the crystal was the moment it all began. His veins started bulging, and the crystal's luminescent glow increased in an instant, radiating with blinding light.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh!" He screamed in pain. His veins looked like they were going to explode, energy surging through him.
His body was consumed by a strange green aura possessing a flame-like texture, and green lightning sparks.
"I'm sorry, Dem. Seems like Zain got the crystal because you were slacking behind, so it should be only right if you got the book," the dynamic wielder spoke while Zain faced his problem. The crystal is a one-time thing, you know.
"Go! Take your prize," he added to the motionless Dem who then turned towards him for the first time in a while, showed a flicker of emotion as a sudden realization hit him.