Chapter 39: Grueling
Soon after Amira reached her hands into the stone slab, an audible click could be heard.
It was as if Amira had activated some mechanism within the slab, and when Amira twisted her arms back to their original position something surreal happened.
A blinding golden light could be briefly seen flying out of the stone slab. This ball of light floated a short distance above the pillar, and then began to rapidly expand.
The golden light expanded several meters, and as Draco looked up he saw something miraculous.
The golden light appeared to have separated into three fragments, and he watched those fragments slowly form into humanoid figures.
As Draco walked closer to get a better look, he noticed that one of the fragments had also begun to move.
Belatedly, after Draco had stopped moving, he realized that this golden figure was actually him!
Or, the figure was simply copying his actions. He came to this realization after waving his hands above his head and seeing the figure mimic his actions.
Draco stood still and watched these figures for a short moment, but Amira once again twisted her arms within the stone slab.
Another click could be heard, and the golden figures flashed and converged towards the center of the spire.
"Bear with me. I'm still figuring this thing out." Amira said, lightly laughing as she held her arms within the device.
After she said this, the bright golden light shot back down towards the stone slab and disappeared into it.
Amira then twisted her arms and a familiar click was heard. This time, another stone slab began to extend from the spire.
This slab rose only a few short feet away from the first. When Draco looked at the slab's surface, he saw there was a large circular hole on it.
"Got it." Amira said, twisting her arms one last time.
After a loud click was heard, a strange orb flew out of the second stone slab.
This orb was small, and couldn't have been more than a foot long. It had a silver, metallic surface, and glowing lines curved across it.
These lines glowed with a golden light, and they all converged at a single point on the orb. This point was a golden circle that pulsated with some strange energy.
Once in the air the orb began to rapidly vibrate, only stopping after a long few seconds.
After the vibrations finished, the orb started to move.
At first the orb moved around the circular spire at a slow pace, but after circling it a few times its speed increased dramatically.
Now the orb had reached a speed so fast that it was causing wind currents atop the stone pillar.
As this was happening, Amira could be heard next to Draco.
"On your guard." was all she said.
After she said this, the orb abruptly stopped.
Once it stopped, the orb seemed to re-orientate itself. Its golden lens focused on Amira's form, and then Sada and Draco's as it identified them.
Draco was thinking, 'On guard for what?', but shortly after that thought the orb suddenly shot out a blast of golden energy.
This energy looked like some type of golden bullet, and it flew towards Amira at a blinding speed.
Draco was barely able to follow the golden bullet's trajectory, and by the time he had even realized the shot was fired it was almost at Amira's position!
The next thing Draco saw was Amira's form blur as the golden light approached it.
With a sound reminiscent of a blade slicing the air, Amira reappeared several feet away on the other side of the platform.
While Draco was stuck admiring Amira's lithe form, his eyes were alerted by a whirring sound on the platform's center.
By the time Draco looked back towards the orb, he was just barely able to catch a glimpse of the orb's golden eye looking at him.
For a split second, before the full force of what felt like a football linebacker smashed into his chest, he felt like the orb was actually looking at him with disdain.
As all those thoughts were rushing through Draco's mind, the next thing Draco realized was that he was flying through the air, dozens of meters above the water.
When Draco looked back at the top of the pillar, he briefly saw another golden flash of light.
The light seemed to be attacking Sada this time, Draco thought absentmindedly, as if he wasn't about to fall to his death.
Draco looked down, suddenly remembering the hideous abominations in the water below.
However, the water was already rapidly approaching, and before he knew it he was already plunged into the rejuvenating waters.
All of his exhaustion quickly bled away like waves, and all Draco was left with was the chilling fear that he was about to be turned into a snack.
He looked around frantically, and from the corner of his eyes he could already see shadowy figures moving towards his position from the distance.
That was all Draco needed to see to start rapidly swimming back towards the surface.
Draco broke the surface and took a deep breath, then began to swim back towards the stone pillar that was now almost 30 meters away.
Draco swam like his life was on the line— which it was. Luckily, since he wasn't too far away, he reached the bottom of the pillar without incident.
Draco pulled himself roughly out of the waters, wincing as the waters' rejuvenating effects left his body.
He craned his neck upwards and cursed to himself, 'Now I have to climb this sh*t all over again.' he thought with exasperation, already moving his hands and feet to the next foothold.
Draco's body burned like hot coals were just poured all over him. After just a few minutes of climbing his mind became blank as his body moved out the motions on its own.
Draco reached the top slowly, and he only pulled himself over the edge after what felt like an hour.
Little did he know, he was indeed climbing for almost an hour.
When he reached the top of the pillar Amira and Sada were in the middle of dodging the golden beams of light. Everything in his body ached, only the sight of Amira in tight fitting sports clothes could make him forget the pain throbbing in his muscles.
The two of them were engaged in what could only be described as an elaborate dance. Draco watched as Amira did a somersault over a beam, and Sada backflip over another one. Their rhythmic movements reminded Draco of leaves in the wind.
'How many years of training would it take to reach this point?' Draco wondered as he looked on with awe.
However, Draco's amazement was interrupted by another golden flash of light.
With the familiar weight of a sledgehammer slamming into him, Draco was thrown back, hurtling through the air at breakneck speed.
While Draco was distracted, the sphere had designated him as a target! Draco didn't even see the attack coming, for all it took was a momentary lapse in his attention for him to be taken out.
It was a bitter pill to swallow. Draco had thought he had finally achieved true strength, strength to thrive, the strength to succeed. However, now he knew the truth of it.
In truth, he was still remarkably weak! By a normal human's standards Draco was the match of any Olympic athlete, but in the realm of demi-gods and beings beyond belief, Draco was just another fish in a sea of sharks.
Although Draco was falling through the air at a rapid rate, all he could think about was the grueling climb back up the pillar.
Draco cursed in his mind as he hit the water once again, plunging into the monstrous abyss.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone