Asahi had to rush down the rocks, grab his sword, and leave quickly. When he saw the others coming, he stopped, stood firm, and wiped away relieved sweat.
He turned toward Toivo and yelled, confusion clear in his expression and voice as he tried to make sense of what he just witnessed.
"What is that? Are those rocks moving?!"
Suddenly, sounds of shattering rocks echoed behind him.
Asahi looked back and realized it was not a mountain, but a creature.
The 'mountain' split apart, revealing a turquoise gap. The stones formed a human shape. Leftover boulders rolled over and fused, creating a thick, glowing stone arm. Asahi turned and saw more stones forming a sword and an arm.
The transformation ended when two small blue lights appeared on a large round boulder in the chest area.
In all honesty, for Asahi, it looked like those were their eyes.
Realization kicked in for him.
"This isn't a mountain. It's…"
The deep voice of Toivo echoed over the valley.
"That's AN ANCIENT GOLEM! Asahi, get your butt back here and run! That creature is far too powerful for you to fight, even with the sword you have."
He had doubted Toivo's warning, motivated by a mix of pride and a sense of duty to prove his worth. Believing that facing the golem would affirm his capabilities, he went his way to approach the humanoid of rocks on his own.
Soon, he discovered that this match would be far from his ability.
. . .
Asahi did everything, even throwing his fist at the golem, but it was of no use.
Every attack Asahi attempted, from swinging his blade to throwing his fists, failed to inflict any damage on the golem. Frustration grew with each futile move.
His skin was covered in dirt, mud, and torn bristles of grass. His blade shattered from the likes of his own actions as he ran around the valley. Luckily, bottomless pits and green slopes dotted about the area, making safe high-ground entry points for this battle.
Yet even then, the strength of the golem's arms was enough to shatter and form deep pits into the cliffs around the valley. Kendra couldn't bear to see his new partner struggle. Even the look on her eyes was enough to express that she was worried.
So, the blue-haired girl vaulted off the cliff and landed on the river, swimming back up onto shore and tightening her fists. As Kendra watched Asahi sliding and dodging for his life, she muttered to herself.
Brother, sister, let me show you what your youngest sibling can do. With each footstep she made, the glowing blue sphere expanded.
Streams of water started to float and lift toward the ball, as if the water itself was connected to her.
Kendra's magic, rooted in her bond with aquatic forces, drew in nearby water to harness its power.
This magic gave her control over water, but her physical and emotional strength limited its effectiveness.
Seeing that Kendra was willing to help, Canyon and even Brunella herself jumped off the cliff and stood at the side with her.
(I feel weak, and it hurts. But I don't want to fail to save him.)
Although most of the group, except Joshilyn, engaged in battle, even with their flawed magic, Toivo, on the other hand, examined each movement Asahi made. He looked down at his palms and muttered to himself.
"I didn't expect this battle. I just wanted Asahi to throw the chair and show them the view of Linuxinia. But..." Toivo pressed his hand to his forehead, exhaled sharply, and looked back at Asahi as he and the others circled the giant rock golem in the distance.
"It seems that an Ancient Golem was lingering around here. Surprising that those things still exist."
Though uncertain, Toivo thought back to Asahi's past actions and the efforts he had made to reach this point. Deciding to follow Asahi, he observed from a distance to see whether Asahi might actually find a way to defeat the monster.
Disappointment grew within him as he saw Asahi repeatedly throwing his fists at the hardened rock surface, breaking his skin and bones. His irritation got to the point where he had to call the young man out for his own mistakes, shouting.
"Idiot! You know well not to use your hands against this type of beast. Not even a brute like me, or the strongest one in the world, would ever think of doing that! Do you want yourself killed?!"
Asahi, still bruised beyond compare, dodged each of the complex and lengthy swings the golem did before finally approaching a safe point, in which he could hear and see Toivo's presence as clear as day.
When he heard loud sounds of sparkles and rushing water in the distance, Asahi scratched his head and shouted back at the man.
"What?!"
Toivo sprinted down the mountain, frustration burning as he grabbed Asahi by the neck and tossed him into the dirt, shouting as sweat slid down his face.
"You have no idea what you were getting yourself into. Do you know anything about what the gigantic golem is?"
"Hey!"
Just as Kendra's fists neared the golem, the water she had gathered from her weakening magic collapsed, drenching everything in a sudden downpour. Thrown off balance, she fell onto the solid ground.
Toivo looked up in time to see the water rushing at him, forcing him away from the battleground.
Not only had Toivo been caught up by the storm of water, but Joshilyn, Canyon, Brunella, and the others were swept away into safety.
After taking a brutal hit from the golem, Asahi lifted himself and rubbed his eyes. Immediately, he saw tiny pebbles among the dried, brown earth, bouncing back and forth like balls.
His throat tightened in panic.
His eyes shuffled back and forth, trying to find where everyone had gone.
Then, from a distance, he heard voices scream out to him.
"Asahi, GET OUT OF THERE!"
"LOOK DOWN!"
"RUN!"
Terror thundered down to him as he noticed the ground beneath them splitting open. (Aaaaaah!)
With a loud crash, Asahi fell into the crack in the earth. The ground opened up like a giant crevasse, revealing a river rushing far below. Asahi tumbled down, flailing for a hold.
Above, screams that sounded like they came from a girl echoed over the collapsing rock.
The aqua-haired girl, scrambling to keep her balance on the edge, screamed for her life. Kendra rushed just behind Asahi, reaching toward him.
"HELP!" She screamed.
Before her words reached his ears, Asahi and Kendra felt themselves being dragged into the strong current of the collapsing rock. As he continued to sink, the sounds of the collapsing river grew louder, echoing across every underground wall.
Even as the sun's beams faded, rocks smashed into his face, and the cries of the people above him followed his descent, Asahi still maintained to keep himself alive.
As the ground faded away above him, Asahi saw a massive boulder fall toward him. It crashed against his face, and his consciousness slipped away into darkness.
. . .
When Asahi regained consciousness, darkness surrounded him, and he heard water flowing nearby. He tried to stand, but his limbs felt numb and unresponsive, as if tightly bound in thick layers of cloth.
"Where am I?" he thought to himself as the feeling of pain in his stomach and body crept back to him.
Suddenly, a voice —a ceremonial-sounding, creepy, and eerie voice —shouted out to Asahi from the darkness.
"No. Could it be? That the Ruler of Hope returned?"
Asahi turned his head towards the voice and saw a shadowy figure standing over him, wearing a brown robe and a mask inscribed with a grotesque S mark.
He was wearing a black collar around his neck, and in his right hand, he held a strange-looking long dagger.
"Yes." He screamed with exaggerated happiness. "The Adtraic. They returned! He fell from the heavens here to greet us all!"
"Huh?" Asahi replied with a raised eyebrow. "Are you referring to me?!"
"Why yes."
The man shook his head, his voice shaking.
"It is prophesied by our lord Alaunus that soon the original rulers of this world will return! This is the Adtraic Cult's wish!
Their belief is rooted in ancient prophecies that speak of an era when beings like you, Asahi, will restore balance and guide us out of the darkness.
As the Ruler of Hope, you signify the dawning of a new age, an age where our people will no longer live in the shadows, oppressed and forgotten."
As the man stood, staring at Asahi, a flash of lightning lit up the rocky, dark room. In the sudden light, he saw several others in similar clothes, standing menacingly before ruined ancient stone structures. The sight made him gasp.
"Wait a minute." He mumbled as his head moved back and forth.
"T... These are edifices... from my old era. I... I could have sworn that all of these were destroyed."
As Asahi remembered his world's destruction—fire and falling earth—the man laughed.
"Ahaha! You must excuse me for laughing so loudly."
The masked individual said as the others bowed to Asahi.
"We thought the sky had disappeared into complete darkness, that our world had been banished from the heavens, never to see light again. But then..."
He leaned over to Asahi with a strangulating and obsessive force and pressed his wooden mask against his skin, whispering with his croaky voice.
"You… YOU returned! You fell from the sky to greet us all! You allowed light to enter our world once more. Our lovely, lovely Asahi. I knew it."
Confused and surprised by this discovery, Asahi stared at the masked man and noticed several markings in an ancient language inscribed on his mask.
[The Second Incarnation will live on!]
[We will no longer live in the shadows!]
After he observed the markings, Asahi stepped back. If he were to make a single wrong move, any of these strange people would become hostile and suspicious.
But there was another thought that came into his mind as he stared into the seemingly endless sets of structures expanding deep in this colossal, open, underground expanse.
The air was dense and moist, carrying the faint scent of minerals and earth. The soft echo of dripping water resonated through the cavern, creating a haunting melody that amplified the desolation of this place.
Flickering shadows were cast by the dim light reflecting off jagged stalactites. The architecture bore the remnants of an ancient civilization, with columns and arches that seemed sculpted by hands long forgotten.
Intricate carvings adorned the stone walls, telling stories of a bygone era, their meanings now lost to time.
A thought so provoking he couldn't bear to ignore it any longer.
(Did the old world not get destroyed?)