"You are the one asking for it," the cold voice from Vyras was heard. Suddenly Tirnath felt a terrifying shake from the cave. He turned around, looking at the exit direction, but found that the direction of the exit was closed only in an instant.
Tirnath approaches and ensures that the way out is completely deadlocked. And after finding that there was no other way, Tirnath finally turned to the only direction he had left.
Tirnath gulped and tried to control his breathing. After the way Vyras almost killed him, he became a bit paranoid with every little thing that seemed suspicious. But if he did nothing and his trial of custodian fails, there was a big chance that Vyras would end his life.
"The choice between a small chance to die or a big chance to die, huh? Ha ha." Tirnath spoke and laughed to himself to try to ease his depressed mood.
Tirnath moves forward a few steps before stopping. His instincts say something is wrong and dangerous. He took a stone from the floor of the cave and threw it into the darkness of the cave.
There is no response.
Tirnath sighed in relief. He stepped forward then stopped. "What if this was Vyras' trap?"
"Or maybe not?" Vyras interjected, in a very suspicious tone to Tirnath.
Tirnath took some stones and kept throwing them into the darkness of the cave. Around 20 stones of various sizes he had thrown. He sighed, "Maybe I am too paranoid." But deep inside, he cursed Vyras. When he really think about it, how could an experienced spirit like him clearly sounded suspicious? The answer is he intentionally sounded suspicious.
He stepped and ventured into the darkness of the cave. He still walked slowly and very carefully. His heart was beating fast over the various possibilities that might occur. But until he reached the end of the cave, there was no trap.
"If only I could still sleep, I would be sleeping soundly now."
Tirnath feels a little embarrassed, angry, and relieved. At least he was safe, right? Tirnath sighed and began to inspect the wall from the end of the cave. Until he feels something pushed in into the wall.
"Hm? A secret mechanism? " Tirnath assumes and starts checking carefully. But some sound from behind him made him disturbed.
He turned his head, trying to find out what was happening. But what he found was a strong vibration coming from the direction he came before. The most frightening thing is the vibration keeps getting stronger every time.
Tirnath doesn't want nor need to think about what the dangers that might come are. What he needs is a solution. He immediately looked around the room and found a new opening.
Tirnath, who found a new path, immediately took a long breath and calmed down a little. Before he walked there, he had to determine what really came. Tirnath stood near the road and kept looking back to the source of the vibration.
Just some second after, he finally found out what came. A large boulder rolled at high speed. Tirnath immediately feels happy, to be careful and patient is indeed a good choice.
He immediately moved away from the boulder's path and let it roll and pass down without danger. Tirnath sighed in relief, he is saved for now.
He walked inside while sinking in his mind. Vyras's spirit is probably very strong and very old. His ability to intervene in the real world is truly extraordinary. Although dangerous, Tirnath believes that Totem Vyras can make him achieve his goals.
For a time he didn't count, he walked deeper and deeper. If it wasn't for Vyras's spirit giving him help in vision in this cave, he might have died several times already.
The obstacles this time are simple, such as tight gaps, stalactites, and narrow holes. The obstacles are too simple so that even though it's difficult, Tirnath can pass it.
Finally, from afar, Tirnath can find a totem statue that is most likely to be Vyras. He immediately felt his enthusiasm rise again. He will soon become a custodian, and a custodian of strong spirits even!
Tirnath walked carefully and found a large ravine. After ensuring that there was no trap around here and that the distance was feasible, Tirnath took a few steps back.
He then ran and jumped right at the end of the cliff. He floated in the air, stepping on the air as if he was walking.
His face was full of joy, and he was very confident. He could not believe he would really succeed in becoming a custodian. All of this will not happen if it is not due to the boost of the strength given by Vyras after he starts his trials.
"Turns out he wasn't that bad."
But suddenly, the other end of the cliff was moved away from Tirnath. His heart sank, he blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but even though he did not believe all of this. Everything is real.
He failed to reach the other side and fell.
Tirnath felt difficulty breathing. He felt his gaze darkened. He felt his body as if frozen. He felt his heart seemed to stop beating.
"I'll die?" Tirnath feels really hopeless. The longer he fell, the more weakened his consciousness. "Nice effort...I guess," Tirnath said, before he lost his consciousness.
Tirnath fell into darkness. His body that has lost its consciousness is falling free into the depths of the darkness. Until a loud voice echoed.
Vyras's voice echoed in that dark abyss, it's looks like he talking to someone. His voice was cold, but he also regretted him a little. "At first you were too careful, the result was you wasted your time. Now you are too confident, the result is you die. Anything in excess is not good."
Silence follows the end of Vyras's words. But only needing a moment before Vyras laughs, "Interesting! What a crazy mortal you are!" Vyras shouted, still with a loud laugh.
At the bottom of the darkness of this abyss, Tirnath's body lay without consciousness. All over his body, the red liquid of blood flooded a lot. But the liquid is kept shrinking and shrinking, or rather, returning to the body of Tirnath.
Tirnath's pale face returned to normal. His body that was broken and destroyed before slowly returning to its initial shape.
Tirnath suddenly opened his eyes. He shouted very loudly. This terrific pain he felt made him lose his consciousness, but he did not lose his consciousness even after he felt he had lost control over his body.
A totem appeared in front of Tirnath, the totem was Vyras. Vyras laughed and praised him for his courage. "That's what I call unyielding! Ha ha ha!"
Tirnath, who still holds the terrific pain, cannot think clearly why Vyras praised him. But slowly, as the pain he felt reduced, even if it only reduced a little, he slowly gained his cognitive ability.
"I will give you a special condition like our previous agreement. Every time you enter the 'dead' condition, I will give you my strength. But the more you are in that condition, the weaker the strength you have as a custodian later."
Tirnath, who listened carefully, felt a little relief. This means that he will be able to complete this Trials of Custodian with a far greater chance. But the word "dead" slightly makes him uncomfortable. Is he not just fainting earlier?
"Dead…?" Tirnath asked, a little confused. He was confused whether it was better he pretended to understand or not. But in the end, Vyras realized that Tirnath was not aware of what was happening.
"Well, we talked about it when you are in spirit. So you won't remember it until you really die. "
Tirnath was a little scared. Is he dead? And his spirit that is free from his body negotiated with Vyras?
As if knowing what Tirnath's thought about, Vyras answered his question, "No no, actually you are not dead yet, it's just that you are very close to death. Even I don't have the power to bring you back to life. But I indeed in agreement with your soul."
"Lord Vyras, can you tell me what the contents of this agreement are?" Tirnath immediately asked because of the discomfort in his heart.
"Honestly, I don't want to. But because of your spirit's courage, I will tell you on a condition. "
"What are the condition?"
"You can only be in 'dead' condition for 3 more times."
Tirnath then felt another feel of danger. He is not too concerned with the decrease in the strength of a totem, because for himself, the uniqueness of the totem was the important thing.
'But if I don't know what this agreement is, I don't know what dangers are actually waiting for me.' He once witnessed a case where a custodian lost her body. The Spirit of the totem replaces the spirit in the body of that person because she failed to give offerings. What if the same thing happens to Tirnath? What if in the agreements, there is an offering he must gave to Vyras?
The dangerous fact is that he does not know what is happening and what his spirit promises. This made him unable to anticipate and avoid the triggers. Without clear knowledge about what they discussed, didn't it the same with giving up his body?
'Whatever it is, don't I just need to not fail?' Tirnath calms himself from his head, who thinks the worst scenario is constantly.
"Aight, what are you waiting for? It's time for you to continue your trials."
"But... I'm in the bottom of the ravine?" Tirnath asked, a little confused. Didn't he fail in the test to go through this ravine obstacle, so he "died"?
Vyras seemed not to hear Tirnath's words, or maybe pretended to. He instead pointed at a water stream not far from where he landed and died. "That water stream, you must swim towards the source of the water stream."
Vyras' totem then disappeared. Tirnath gulped and calmed himself. Luckily the pain he felt had decreased. He then raised his hand and used it as his support for standing.
"Aagh!" He shouted very loudly. The unbearable pain felt as he pressed his body.
Tirnath could only hold back his tears and keep screaming as he kept pressing his body to stand up. This unbearable pain should make him faint, but strangely, he did not lose his consciousness.
Once standing, Tirnath grimaced constantly and then realized how difficult this test was. He had to swim in such a strong stream, and even more, he had to swim against the flow. Just standing is enough to make him scream and tremble loudly, let alone swimming against the flow.
Tirmath lifted his legs, felt overwhelming pain from his pedestal feet. This time he had strengthened his determination, he bit his lips and said in a hoarse voice, the result of his hysterical screams from earlier. "I already die once, what's to fear?"