The Final Push

Looking for a place to rest, Noah decided to ask Jason why they didn't help the injured man, since there was something they could have done for him only for Jason to give him reasons why the choice they made was the right, since they would be endangering themselves if they were to help him.

"I know you feel guilty for not helping him but we were left with no option and let's not forget that we still need to get to the other side and tomorrow is the last day of the trial, I hope we get to the other side in time" said Noah with a sigh.

"We will surely do Noah, we have to" replied Jason before talking to him for a while until he became sleepy and slept off.

The fourth day, the last day of the trial…

They continued with their journey and, unlike the other days, they were running instead of walking as they tried to get to the other side of time. Whenever they are tired of running, they will take a bite from the fruit to recharge themselves before continuing. It didn't take them much time before they left the forest and came across a river.

"A river?" asked Noah with a fearful look on his face as he looked at the river.

Jason didn't even think twice before running toward it and cupped a handful of water and took a drink from it.

"Oh my, it's been a long time since I tasted that. Guess I'm going to drink a lot more before we continue" said Jason, with a happy look on his face before turning around and asking Noah to come have some, only for him to see the fearful expression on his face.

"What is the matter Noah, could it be that you noticed someone or something?" Jason asked as he quickly walked away from the river.

"Not at all Jason, but I'm just wondering why there would be a river here" replied Noah as he quickly got himself in order before asking the question.

"Who knows, but I think we have to cross it if we want to get to the other side" said Jason.

"But how are we supposed to get to the other side? I mean this river is just too big for us to cross" complains Noah.

"There must be a way we could get to the other side without getting to cross the river. Come on, let's look around this place and see if there is any way we can get to the other side" said Jason before walking around while looking for something they could have used to cross the river.

They finally came to conclude that there was none, leaving them with no choice other than to stare at the river.

"What are we supposed to do now?" said Noah with a sigh as he sat on the ground.

Jason was lost in what to say as he just stood there looking around and other than the trees that were behind them, there was nothing else in the place.

"Give me your sword" ordered Jason with his hand stretched toward Noah.

"What do you plan to do with it?" asked Noah as he passed him the sword.

"Since there is no boat or a means for us to cross this river, then we will make one ourselves" replied Jason with determination as he walked towards a tree and began to hack it with the sword.

Seeing this movement of his, Noah's eyes opened in surprise as he quickly stood by the side while watching Jason as he continued to swing the sword on the tree. Once in a while, they would switch until the trees were finally taken down.

Taking out the branches, Jason and Noah carried the branch to the riverside and gently pushed it into the river before sitting on both sides.

"Ah, this is my first time moving on top of a river" said Noah with fear in his eyes.

"Just try and compose yourself, and you should be okay. One more thing, don't look at the river" encourages Jason with a smile as he uses his staff as a paddle.

With that, Jason continued to paddle away and Noah began to wonder if he had been doing this since he was paddling the branch like a professional.

"It seems like this is not your first time Jason?" asked Noah.

"I used to follow my father whenever he went out fishing, so I took the time to learn how to move the boat when he set off. Although I can't say I can move it well, as long as the water is calm, I don't have issues paddling.

With that, Jason continued to paddle and after an hour or so, they finally reached shore. Not even taking the time to move the branch out of the river, they continue with their journey as they begin to run on the plain road with no trees to shade them.

Running on the plain road was really exhausting when one seemed to be running for eternity, but still, they could not, knowing fully well if they did not get to the orb on time, it was the end for them. They run for hours even when they seem to be out of energy and, thankfully, they still have some fruit with them.

"This is the last one for me" said Noah with tearful eyes, as he ate the fruit to gain some energy.

"Same with me here. How come we still haven't gotten to our destination after running for so long" complains Jason.

"I don't think I will be able to continue once I run out of gas" said Noah who had his teeth gritted together.

"Hang in there Noah, given up now that we are almost there will be a huge waste after striving for three days" replied Jason as he tried to encourage him not to give up, even when he was also reaching his limit.

'There is no way I'm going to give up now, I'm this close to being reborn. I have to push on' thought Jason with his fist clenched together.