Ready to accept his fate, he closed his eyes as he couldn't bear the sight of his own demise. But was he actually going to meet his demise?
Yohan: Hk-- huh?
Yohan had expected the worst. For his head to be crushed. For his insides to be pressed and forced out of his mouth. For his ribcage to be shattered. For his life to be extinguished. However, none of that came to be.
Yohan was panicking earlier ago, to the point of wetting his pants. He knew that it was over for him. So what the hell happened?
Yohan: Woah!
Having concluded that he'd be crushed to death by that giants finger, that was the first thing he looked at when he opened his eyes again. And to his suprise, there it was. Right below his feet.
He should've realized it when he noticed a change in his balance and the weight on his arm being lightened.
Yohan: The hell is going on!?
That finger was supposed to crush him to death, so why didn't it? Was it being... merciful?
Yohan: The hell...
He turned his gaze towards the giants eyes again. It simply stared at him, nothing else. Yohan couldn't tell what its intentions were, but at the least, he realized something.
He could climb back up.
This whole time, he had been dangling at the edge of the cliff. As proven before through his athletic feats, he had the strength needed to pull himself up. However, with one arm missing, such a feat became nigh impossible for him.
Luckily for him, things had become hopeful for once.
Looking at the finger below him, he realized that he could use it as a foothold and bring himself upwards.
Once again, he had a chance to survive.
Drip... Drip...
Yohan: Once again...
Tears had unexpectedly rolled down his eyes when he realized that he could survive. He had been back and forth with life and death in this hour without a break. Each moment, he believed he would die, and each moment that followed, he would find a way to survive. However, he had finally reached rock bottom despite wanting to live.
He had no options at all, but that was because it wasn't through his own hands that he was still alive. Rather, it was through that giants finger. So, he had to take this chance with his only hand and try his best to make it back to the cliff.
Yohan: Here goes.
Unexpectedly, instead of pulling himself up further, he had let go of the cliff edge. This would've been game over for him if it weren't for that giants help. Yohan knew what he was doing and had already come up with a plan. And because of that plan, him letting go was a necessity.
Even with the help of the giant, climbing up the cliff wouldn't be easy. However, if the giant had raised his finger a bit higher, then there wouldn't be any problems. So, he had no choice but to improvise.
With immediate effect, he bent his knees like a compressed spring and proceeded to jump, similar to a spring as we. He had jumped with all his might, but it seemed pointless. It's not like he was some kangaroo who could jump to the most extreme of heights. Nevertheless, it was all a part of his plan.
Yohan: Hrk!
Having jumped high enough that his head was above the cliff edge, he proceeded to stretch his hand out and plunge it into the ground. In comparison to the previous time his hand held onto the cliff, it was now further from the edge than before. Yohan could literally place his shoulder onto the cliff edge. He was actually able to climb up.
Yohan: Hrk! Gah!
However, he couldn't bring himself up yet. It would've only been a matter of pulling hard if he had something to grab onto like a pole. Unfortunately, there was nothing of the like in sight.
So, unfortunately, there was only one thing he could hold onto.
Yohan: Gah! Hrrrk!
With the determination to make his way up, Yohan sunk his five fingers into the ground and began to pull himself.
When he started to overexert himself, he began crying. Tears escaped out of his eyes out. He had pushed his body to more than he could handle. He could feel his chest scrape against the cliff. He could feel his muscles tense up and stretch, almost as if they'd tear at any moment. His nails were dug deep into the ground and likely to separate from his fingers if he dug them any deeper.
Nevertheless, they were all a small price to pay for survival.
Yohan: Gah!
He had to do whatever to make it back alive.
Yohan: Hrk.
Even if he tore his nails off, even if he crushed his ribs, even if he were to destroy his whole body.
Yohan: Graaaaaaaaaaaaah!
He had to survive, no matter what.
Yohan: Aaaaaaaaaaah!
He had anchored his hand deep into the ground and continued to pull himself up. With all his strength, he pulled anx pulled relentlessly. Eventually, he began moving towards the top. Slowly but surely.
His shoulders and head were above. Then his torso and then his feet. Finally, every part of him was above of him was back on the ground. Well, all except for one.
Yohan: Hah! Hah...
He then used his one arm to feel the rest of his body. He couldn't believe it. He had survived yet again.
A miracle was what it was. And he couldn't dismiss it as anything else.
He then looked at the giant by peering over the cliff edge. Its red eyes were still trained on him, but that was all it did. It had been the one to deliver mercy to him, but Yohan got a strange feeling from it.
He looked at what remained of the white monster who attacked him before and was relieved to see it dead. Though, why did the giant kill the monster and leave him alone?
It was able to crush the monster to death with the clench of its fist, so why did it leave him alone? It could've easily squashed him like an ant...
Yohan: Shit...
As he looked at the giant, and the giant looked back at him, it slowly backed away from him as if to pay him no mind. It walked away as if nothing had happened. It was like Yohan was nothing to it.
That's right. He was nothing. He was just an ant compared to this giant. As a matter of fact, he was like that in comparison to all those monsters that attacked him. Well, except for... It just so happened that he wasn't worth its time. After all, what would be the point in stomping every bit of vermin you come across?
That's right, he wasn't alive because of something like that giant being his savior, or anything like mercy. He was simply nothing to it. Despite being an adventurer of decent strength level, his unparalleled weakness was his only saving grace.
So, really, this wasn't anything like salvation. No, it was humiliation. It was torture.
Yohan: Hrk-- This is... torture...
He was in complete pain, but that wasn't the torture he was experiencing.
Yohan: This place... it's torture...
Pushing through the tears, he tried to muster up the words he wanted to say. The pain he was feeling wasn't the true torture he was facing. No, the torture in itself was him being here.
From the moment he arrived, he was constantly in harms way. He was being plunged in and out of despair as if he were being waterboarded. He knew this would continue on, but for how long? How long could he handle it?
Rustle
Attentively listening to that sound, he turned to the direction of the sound.
Yohan: This...
In the direction he faced was the forest he came from. The place where this all began.
How the hell did he end up in this situation?
Yohan: This...
*****
Yohan ran full speed ahead with both of his legs at their utmost limits he had two arms, two feet, and one complete head. His entire body was fully unscathed.
He was in a forest. It was much similar to the forest he ended up in, except it looked normal.
Whatever could he have been running from? Whatever it was, it was too distant to see it.
He went past trees and jumped over bushes. He used his knife to cut through any vines that were in his way. He had two bags in his possession. He had a big one loosely adorned to his back and another one on his waist. They seemed to be his equipment. Items vital for his survival. He had to have been on an adventure. He had been running non-stop. For how long was unknown,but it didn't matter. He would run for however long he needed to.
Surprisingly, he ran through this forest with ease. Despite the fact that there were countless tree stumps and sinkholes that should've stopped him in his tracks. Though, this was something he had prepared for all his life.
DONT FALL THERE!!! STAY ABOVE THE SURFACE
Those were the words of his father whom he had trusted more than anyone world, even when the world itself didn't trust him. So with that, he took heed of his fathers words, and well, let's say he took it to an extreme.
Up to that very day, he had never fallen, slipped, or stumbled a single time. How he did it is beyond anyone, but nonetheless, he managed to keep consistent.
And right now, he put his skill into overdrive. Avoid any possibility of falling down while keeping his momentum the same. He couldn't fall at all. He had to make sure he didn't. After all, falling meant ending up in the place he didn't want to end up in. The one place his father urged everyone to avoid.
Even as the bushes and trees obstructed his vision, he continued on. Cutting them down, the knife in his hand swung in tandem with each step he took. He seemed to be in the clear, but he felt that he couldn't stop there, so he kept running.
Then, up ahead was a huge covering of tree leaves, which produced leaves that obstructed his path. However, he didn't have the luxury of avoiding it.
Yohan: Raaaahhh.
With one pounce, he leaped through those leaves and reached the opposite side of it. He still managed to go through it all, yet...
Yohan: Woah.
... He almost did.
As he crossed past those trees, he appeared on the other side of it. Even though he'd been through a ton of adventures and survived many traps in his, he had never come across a u trap so difficult to avoid. It was one he was sure he couldn't handle. Luckily, he grabbed onto a nearby tree branch.
Yohan: What the hell...
When he looked at what he was about to fall into, it was something too wide to be called a "hole" or a pitfall for that matter. It looked like a canyon in size, and it seemed that him falling down would mean death.
Though, it was fortunate that he managed to hold onto that branch in time. Who knows what might've happened if he didn't.
Yohan: Close one...
Relieved by the close call, he immediately took a deep breath and exhaled afterward. The stress he had been under had been deserving of a break...
Yet it was a break he couldn't take.
Yohan: Huh-- Hrk?!
He had been thrown off guard by that huge hole, and that resulted in a lapse in his judgment. It was mere luck that he managed to react in time to grab onto that branch.
Then, as he noticed it approaching, it was deemed that his lapse in judgment was one too fatal.
He had been too slow to see it, to react to it, to hear it. A force that was too fast for him to recognize hit him square into his chest, crashing into him heavily. And that force was something he couldn't underestimate.
He had been pushed back by that crash, and he was pushed back a lot.
Yohan: Gah-- Woah, huh?
Though that hole had thrown him off, it had thrown him off again. This time, he had lost his balance. He was pushed back so far that he lost his footing and fell back into that hole.
That force from whatever tore through the straps on his bags and pushed the wind out of him. That force, whether it was alive or non-living, was responsible for his demise.
DONT FALL THERE!!! STAY ABOVE THE SURFACE!!!
That piece of advice from his father was his entire creed. He had done his utmost best to keep up to it and never fall. But now, for the first time...
Yohan: Guess I couldn't keep my promise.
Thus, he fell into the one place he spent his whole life trying to avoid.
*****
This memory had returned to him. Though, it surprised him that it left him to begin with.
That memory, from recently made everything clear to him.
Yohan: This...
He realized it... and probably realized it earlier... but couldn't bear to believe it.
He fell here.
Yohan: This...
This was utterly painful.
This was utterly scary.
This utterly despair-inducing.
This was utter torture.
Rustle
Yohan: This...
Looking at the visage of the beast who caused him to feel a pain like no other, the one who brought him to the monster that chewed up his arm like a snack, he had though about his situation, about this terrible place he ended up in.
All because he fell¿ In that case...
Yohan: THIS IS HELLLLLL!!!