My blood ran cold, I could only hear my heart beats. I reached out my hand to Kaein.

  "Don't act stupid, run, kid! You can't beat it , seek help from the others. "

  I glanced at the gorilla sized monster, which was covered in green spikes, staring at us calmly. I was drenched in sweat as I came to realize that he was right.

  Mikel seemed paralyzed as if charmed by this beast. Tears went down his cheeks as he stared in awe.

  I grabbed Mikel by the arm and turned tail .

  "Why do we have to survive...why do we have to survive...why do we have to survive ", he kept whispering over and over as I dodged spikes ducking behind trees.

  "Even an ant has better will power than you,"I remembered Kaein's words.

  For a second, I froze, my heart wanted to burst out of my ribs. "Why do we have to survive?" I said in union.

  I threw the goblin dagger I had been carrying directly into its eye. I grabbed Kaien by the shoulder, ready to run.

  Suddenly, I felt dizzy as I inhaled an awful smell. I vomited blood , the monster was producing a poisonous gas .

  As it dismounted from the tree, I thought if my death would be honored or just be forgotten as a fool who couldn't Obey his higher chi.

  A shield appeared to block the monsters punch. Mikel began to stand on his own two feet.

  The huge gorilla like monster sprouted mini sized versions of itself as it tried to crack the barrier.

  "Mik-"

  "If we're doomed to die like ant why not make our life worth living ", he smiled as blood oozed from his nose ,mouth , eyes and ears .

  Back in base candidate who had passed the test along with workers watched in a big screen as we hanged in there , some closed their eyes in pity, some prayed while some watched gleefully.

  "You know I never told you to stay this far behind,"

  As if thinking the same thing, we both gazed up towards the voice , but there was no one there.

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  "What are you staring at? Is there something on that tree."he said this, standing on the monsters head elegantly with one foot.

  The monster swinged its arm swiftly towards him ,but to its surprise, it was still fixed on the shield separate from the rest of his body. As it dropped on the ground, he said,

  "Your skins pretty strong"

  The crowd cheered in relief as Lucen entered the scene, some continued with their work or chats as long as he was in the scene there's nothing to worry about.

  Mikel collapsed on the floor vomiting blood .

  I deflected spikes from the mini gorilla's but Lucen's 3 teammates killed them before I could land a blow.

  I also sank to the ground as I saw that my presence was of no use.

  For a moment, his purple eyes were fixated upon me , I couldn't tell what his expression was at that moment because of the mask.

  "The rest of the squad should be back at base by now. Let me dance a bit. ok, guys? "

  The monsters hand healed almost instantaneously, and spikes swarmed towards us like a bunch of bees. They turned to dust as fast as they came.

  He vanished into the trees, dodging the spikes as they got faster. He decapitated both it hands , but they regenerated into tanticles with spikes.

  They sliced the branches without effort. Lucen was in a tough situation, but he still moved elegantly evading it attacks. He suddenly appeared behind the monster.

  "Thanks for the dance,"

  It turned towards him, but it head disobeyed it command. It turned upwards and then downwards. It had been decapitated.

  "He really likes to show of even without that many huns ", one of the men sighed.

  "Ohh Lucen !!"The two girls were shaking at their feet.

  And many more cheered back at base. The commander almost made a smile.

  Why are they so calm ? How...no when? He made it look easy .

  I bowed my head to avoid eye contact with him as he drew closer. How pathetic I was, I couldn't even scratch it with the goblin dagger.

  Something splashed on my face, I wiped and gazed at it, and to my surprise, it was blood . I looked at Lucen in horror.

  "Ru...n", he coughed blood as a result of being impaled by a huge spike.

  The girls grabbed each other as they processed the scene. With tears in their eyes, they turned tail and ran.

  As they did so, they were chopped into ice cubes. The other man in anger ran towards the huge gorilla like monster, which had miraculously survived and got stronger, seemingly by bonding with the trees .

  Tree leaves moved in beautiful harmony as the cut the man into pieces.

  Kaein was bleeding out kneeling in one knee, Lucen was in the same situation, and Mikel was paralyzed. Somehow, I'm still alive , though I'm the weakest out of all of them. Somehow, Lucen couldn't kill the monster.

  The people at base watched in horror " they're finished ", one of them muttered.

  A barrier prevented the monster from killing me .

  "Run you hear me !",Mikel said with a smile as tears of blood came from his eyes .

  "Run and don't look back ! Fly and fined paradise "

  Run, they say. That is the obvious thing to do . Although poisoned, I can still make it thanks to the shield. I smiled as I thought, Kaein was right that in this world, it's the survival of the fittest.

  The people at base took a step back as if their bodies knew it was hopeless.

  During the fight, I saw it weakness under those spikes. It really tried to hide it , but then again, even if I informed Lucen what good would he do.

  Die today as a warrior or run like a coward for another tomorrow. The answer was simple, right, mom?

  I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I was calm yet also tired , I really should consider those meditation classes. I thought as I approached the monster.

  Kaien smiled .

  Lucen gasped in shock.

  Mikel sighed with a weary smile m

  "I fell in love with the gream reaper but he embraced the abyss ", Mikel said as his vision deemed m

  My slow movement turned to a slow run, then faster and faster as I bent downwards to avoid the gas . I dodged the spikes and climbed on them to elevate myself towards the monster while dodging the tree leaves.

  Mikel threw his dagger, I crossed my arms both daggeres at hand as I approached the monster.

  Somehow, things seemed slower, calmer . I impaled it next to it liver. I felt it heartbeat as I went deeper. It cried out and let out spikes laced with poison as a defense mechanism.

  They impaled me, my grip losend , I felt myself losing consciousness. I'm tired , it enough, I've tried enough haven't I mo..

  A hand pushed me from behind, not yet ...not yet...not yet...NoT YeT, NOT YET!

  I screamed out, tightening my grip and pulling the dagger even deeper. I dag deeper, and deeper ,and deeper, and with both hands I descended cutting it in half.

  "That was fast," Kaein said in owe before falling asleep.

  The amateur flowers were painted red with blood. Surprisingly, it did not turn into ash . I looked up tiredly at the ever green leaves. Did I make you proud, mom? I thought as I closed my eyes.