Trial Of The Endless Stairs

After being sent out of the forest, they found themselves in a similar white room, but unlike the other one, this one didn't have any weapons stored on the wall. There also seemed to be a spell in play inside the room as they felt their energy returning and those that had been wounded during the first trial were fully healed.

"Wow, I feel much like I did not undertake the trail and there is even more. I have never felt this sensation before" said Noah with a smile on his face after experiencing the changes that were going on in his body.

Jason didn't bother to comment even though he was still experiencing the same feeling, since there were bigger matters at hand.

"What is the trial going to be this time around? I hope it's not going to be life-threatening as the first one" Jason said out loud.

It was the same with the rest of the competitors as they didn't want to experience a trial similar to or more deadly than the first one. They waited patiently for the blurry figure to make his appearance and before that, they were already preparing themselves mentally for whatever trial the figure threw at them.

They waited for hours until the figure made an appearance. Just when they had relaxed themselves and seeing the figure again, brought about an unknown fear for the crowd.

"I believe you all must have gotten the time to prepare for the next trial" said the figure before waving his hand, not giving the crowd the chance to reply.

With a wave of his hand, the crowd suddenly disappeared from the room and appeared in a hall that had nothing else than stairs that seemed to go into infinity.

"Your next trial would be walking on the stairs. Anyone who is able to walk up to the five hundred stairs will be qualified to partake in the next trial" The figure introduced the next trial to the crowd as he waited for them to digest the information before speaking up.

"You will all go according to your tags. Being the first to appear underneath the orb, you would be the first to undergo the trial, and as for you two, congratulations to you for feasting on the fruit of life, with the properties of the fruit, you shouldn't have issues passing this trial if you give it your all" said the figure while looking towards Jason and Noah's direction.

The crowd did not understand what he meant by the fruit of life, but they remembered seeing some fruits in the forest while undertaking the first trial, and they began to regret why they didn't eat some during the encounter.

"Now that you have all familiarized yourself with the trial, let's proceed" said the figure with a snap of his finger, and the middle-aged man that made it to the orb first saw himself before the stair.

Swallowing his spit, he took a step and discovered that it was actually just like walking on stairs back on earth with no hindering and decided to take another step and seeing that there was no problem with the stairs, he began to run with a smile on his face, making the rest to wonder if it is that easy to pass this trial, but after running up to one hundred and ten stairs, they noticed that he was no longer running as fast as he usually does but rather became so slow like a smile as he steps on one stair which took him about ten minutes.

"What's happening, how come he's finding it difficult to step on a single stair" said someone from the crowd with a confused look on his face.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man's whole body was soaked in sweat as he felt the pressure pressing on him while stepping on the stairs until he could no longer man when he got to one hundred and fifteen stairs and suddenly disappeared from view.

"For a first timer, he actually made it this far it is quite unfortunate that he did not meet the requirements" said the figure in a sad tone.

When they saw the way the middle-aged man disappeared after failing to make it to the target, the other competitors began to feel the tension as they watched the second person take the stage. This time it was a lady who approached the stairs in a more cautious manner, making her not to copy the first person's method as she began to climb the stairs calmly, but just like the first person, after climbing to fifty-six, she began to feel the pressure pressing down on her.

Making it to the seventh stair after taking hours, the lady lost as he was finally sent out of the space. Leaving the hall in silence. Some of the competitors managed to make it to the five hundred stairs while others ended at four hundred and there were some who couldn't even walk up to ten stairs before they were disqualified from the hall.

Finally, it was Jason's turn to stage the stage. Remembering what the figure said about the fruit aiding them in this trial, Jason had little hope he would be able to make it far even if he didn't get to the target.

"You got this Jason" encouraged Noah from the side with a smile on his face.

Jason only nodded his head before approaching the stairs, he let out a deep breath to relax his nerves before walking on the stairs. He didn't feel anything when he took the first three steps and continued onward with a serious look on his face as he began to increase the pace little by little while trying to preserve his energy in case he came across any difficulty, just like the rest of the competitors. While he was taking the trial, Noah had his eyes focused on him, trying to see if Jason would be able to make it that far.

"If he can do it, so can I" he mutters with his fist clenched together as he continues to watch.