Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggh!!!
He screamed as he rained down punches at the beast from multiple directions, but still it wasn't doing much.
Still in deep focus on the beast in front of him, Dem forgot the fact that there were still a horde of beasts behind it and right beside him. A beast leaped forward with its claws ready.
*Slash*
It sliced through Gem's armor and then through Gem's hand, slicing through his left arm like butter.
The slice went quite deep, drawing out blood.
"Geeeeeeem!!!"
They both screamed from behind, but it was already too late as they watched in horror. He staggered backwards before crashing on the ground unconsciously.
"No.. No... Gem!"
Screaming out Gem's name now won't change anything. Both Zain and Dem seemed to grasp the fact quickly and change strategies. Every millisecond they waste without attempting to save themselves tenses up the air.
Placing a hand on Zain's shoulder, Dem nodded, ignoring the beasts to the best of his ability. Zain understood the signal well and together, they both chanted their last resort.
"Gem, peek-a-boo!!! Gem, peek-a-boo!!! Gem, peek-a-boo!!!"
They both screamed out, "Zain, say it louder," Dem ordered. Zain couldn't help but do as he was ordered. One thing he was certain of was that Dem knows what he is doing.
"Gem, peekaboo!!! Gem, peekaboo!!! Gem, peekaboo!!! Gem, peekaboo!!! Gem, peekaboo!!! Gem, peekaboo!!!"
They both screamed at the top of their lungs.
******Flashback******
"Ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha"
Gem's father laughed heartily as he spun baby Gem around in his arms. Finally dropping him on the bed, he squatted towards Gem, locking eyes with him.
"Wanna play with daddy?" he asked, and Gem gave out a cute baby scream in response.
"Let's play the peekaboo game." He decided, and Gem also let out a cute baby scream in response.
The peekaboo game is a game played with young children whereby you hide your face and suddenly reveal it, saying "peekaboo."
This game is one of the most common games in their village. Gem's father decided to try it out as he was a newbie in the training of children.
3! 2! 1! Peekaboo!
**CRACK**
Actually, the peek-a-boo game is supposed to make babies smile and laugh, but for his children, it was different.
When he went to play with Dem, it went horribly. Dem's serious expression didn't change. "A baby always serious, where does that exist other than my house?"
As for Gem's case, he had been happy all along in the babysit he was rendering to him until now.
The moment he closed his eyes then opened it and said, "peek-a-boo," Gem didn't laugh or smile. Rather, he was shocked.
It made baby Gem shocked instead, and he swung his legs in reaction towards his father's chest, colliding with the upper part of his chest and breaking his ribs.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggh!!!
Holding onto his chest, Dem's dad fell on the ground in pain as tears filled his eyes. He cursed.
"Damn! Damn! Damn!!!!!"
"What kind of disasters did I give birth to? What kind? Why does fate hate me this much?" He screamed in tears as his 6-month-old baby, who was responsible, stared blankly at him, blinking his eyes rapidly.
A baby with such strength, even adults could not casually perform such a feat, except by an extremely rare accident.
"Both of them, both of my children, are monsters. I can't believe I named them Gem and Dem; they are supposed to be called monster and demon."
*******
The beast was inching closer, ready to devour its first defeated prey on the ground, this time, closer than ever...
"Gem, peek-a-boo!!! Gem, peek-a-boo!!! Gem, peek-a..."
A pair of golden-brown eyes that were closing earlier shot back wide open. Gem is back with his adrenaline striking beyond his regular plus 200 percent he normally displayed.
Adrenaline normally, even the rare few that managed to access it by accident never goes beyond plus 35 percent of their normal capabilities. Gem's norm was 200 percent and Dem had to assume it to be his limit.
This adrenaline of his is one that he cannot control; it activated itself when Gem feels a rush of emotions.
Gasp!
BoooooooooM!!!!
The whole area vibrated as Gem who fell on the ground curled himself up and then swung his legs randomly, landing an unintentional hit at the nearest beast's face.
The moment it collided, the beast was sent blasting away at an unimaginable speed, carrying force. It crashed into another, and they both crashed into more others and others. It kept going until the whole passage they were in, in the maze, was completely cleared.
"That's how it's done, Gem peek-a-boo." Turning around, Gem's serious expression was more clear.
"I've had enough! Let's end this trial," he declared.
Grabbing the two by the collar of their armor like weightless leaves, he then leaped upward to the fence of the closest wall easily. The maze itself didn't have a ceiling, is an underground after all. It was nearly as if it was made for one to watch the actions inside from above.
"It's like he's watching us for entertainment."
Leaping above, Dem landed on the top of the closest wall, which was high enough for anyone to even scale, but not Gem. Doing another jump, he landed on another.
"Ha, consider this trial completed," he thought inwardly as he did another massive inhuman jump going further and further with nimble jumps to the finish point.
–––
Staring from above, the bald man was rubbing his palms back and forth on his head, seemingly enjoying it.
'So, they passed the first trial! Impressive, I was hoping that kid would die.' he thought, staring intensively at Zain before he sighed. Seems like this never goes as planned.
Mists started appearing from thin air and consuming him.
I will be clearing the muscle head instead. With that said, he was completely engulfed by the mist, transporting away in a flash.
*Thump*
Gem's feet sounded as he landed on the ground at a platform stationed, probably the finish point.
A heavy mist could be seen, swirling in front of them as they landed.
"Congrats!!! You passed the first trial," he said while walking out of the fog.
"Just ten seconds before your time elapsed. Watch closely and see what would have happened to you if you all were still behind."
Turning around, at first there was silence, then it started. Right in front of their eyes they could see the whole maze rumbling.
All the walls in the room started rumbling and then... thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud. thud, thud, thud, thud. thud.
All the walls on opposite sides started clapping together, clipping so hard that the walls shattered into pieces on impact if they were still in between, they would have been surely crushed.
It didn't end there, the rubble all raised to the sky and, at first, slowed down before raining back down at an incredible speed.
"Damn! We would have been dead if not for Gem."
"You indeed have a Gem in your midst; Gem is your Gem, value him," the bald figure mumbled before going back to his cold composure.
"I'm impressed indeed; we should at least know each other.
I already know you guys all thanks to you screaming each other's names.
Pointing at them, he called Zain, Dem, and Gem.
As for myself, I'm afraid I cannot tell you my name, but... You can call me a nickname I gave myself, 'the Dynamic wielder'."
"I don't want to know your name; just tell me what else you want, what other trial you have in store so I can smash it to pieces and become that mage I dreamed about."
"Hm, hm, hm." He chuckled. I would have given you more assessment, but I'll end it here.
"As for the last and final assessment, it is the easiest."
Swinging his hands downwards, the mist split to allow them to see the sight before them.
"A bridge made of glass!!!
****
The final assessment was the hardest, where one can only pass by luck. It was something that should be called a bridge made of glass tiles, though they just saw it that way because it led from one place to another.
This assessment is seen as the hardest and the scariest because firstly, the bridge wasn't complete. The glass was like a tile, square in shape, and resting on four slim rods that traveled for 1 kilometer, which was the length of where they are meant to travel through.
Two rods close to each other by the left, then quite a wide spacing, and another pair by the right, each tile on each row was well-spaced, ten inches away from each other, vertically.
One of the tiles is just an illusion, and the other is actual glass that can hold people of Zain's size for ten seconds. After that, it cracks and shatters, which means after one steps on a tile, he must act fast.
Never forget that below your feet is a dark bottomless pit, one wrong move and that's checkmate.
And lastly, thinking of using walking on the rod was basically impossible for the trio because it is electrified.
****
The Dynamic wielder then explained everything the trio needed to know before the trial, and then...
"Let the trial begin!!!"