Day 7

Eating that apple made us realize how weak we actually are, and the only way we could hope to bypass those demons was to go through the gates ourselves.

We were too weak to open the gates, so we decided to get stronger.

Me and Ice started doing something that we would never imagine doing in these days of the apocalypse: training.

Me and my friend would start by walking around the lake because even walking was excruciating. We would pass out from training, then regain consciousness and continue. When we felt that we could move normally without any difficulty, that's when we started doing pushups, squats, and crunches. It felt as if we weighed more than a ton. The time that was passing felt like days, weeks, and months were going by. That's when we realized that the time that passes on this Earth now is way different than it used to be.

After training for a long time, we decided to do a small sparring match to see if our bodies were ready. I stood at one end of the lake, and Ice stood on the other end. Before we would start, the two demons that were keeping the gate flew down in order to watch us.

Demon gatekeepers: "Now this will be interesting to see," they said in sync with a cynical laugh.

"LETS GIVE IT ALL WE'VE GOT!" I exclaimed to Ice. With lamentable flames shining in his eyes, he smiled and nodded.

Both of us started preparing ourselves as we charged our inner strength and powers to the point where the lake started rumbling and shaking. You could see water ripples appearing all across the lake as if there was an earthquake.

We jumped as both sides of the lake caved in where we were standing a moment ago from the sheer strength of our legs. We flew close to each other and started throwing punches. Both of us were so focused that every punch we threw at each other we evaded, and every time we would evade one of the punches, the shockwave from the punch would push the water from the lake to one side or the other. Dodging all of the punches that Ice threw at me, I managed to grab his leg as I used the cursed arm to punch the air behind me. It propped us so far that I managed to throw Ice with my entire strength right into the lake.

The impact was so huge that the entire lake was lifted by the impact. I was looking downward with a smile as the water from the lake was falling down. The lake started glowing in white and dark-looking colors, and fireballs started coming out of the lake at me. I was surprised at the number of fireballs because I was completely surrounded. I got into a guard position to protect myself from the attack. When the fireballs started hitting me, they created a smokescreen around me so I couldn't see well. I was trying to sense where Ice could be, and before I could realize it, he appeared behind me with his fist burning with lamentable flames. He hit me with all his strength while using every bit of fire that he could. He released all of his power with this punch. I flew so fast that my back started burning from the air friction; I was flying right into the direction of the demon gatekeepers. When they saw me flying towards them faster than the speed of sound, they jumped and flew into the air to avoid colliding with me. I hit the ground so hard that my body from the punch dug right into an underground cave.

With my shirt all ripped, I stood up and smiled to myself as I said, "We have become stronger."

I jumped out of the cave from the same direction I came from, and as I landed next to the lake, I saw my friend smiling with sweat dripping down his face. I approached him, and we fistbumped each other. I was standing with my shirt ripped to the threads while having burn marks on my back and on my stomach from the punch, whereas my friend had blood dripping down his head. Both of us started laughing as we sat down, exhausted from the fight.

I said, "This was one hell of a fight. Ice, you are insanely strong."

Ice laughed and said, "You are strong yourself; I can't believe that you took my strongest attack and you could still stand."

As we were sitting next to each other, the demon gatekeepers flew down next to us and said:

"We knew that there was something special about you guys; why don't you try opening the gate now?"

We nodded to the demons while smiling, and we helped each other stand up. We got in front of those gates as the demon gatekeepers were watching from the sides. I looked at my friend Ice and nodded to signal that I was ready; he did the same.

Both of us placed our hands on one part of the gate, and we pushed as hard as we could. When we were pushing the gate, we started hearing metal shrieking as the gates opened fully.

As we got to the other side of the gate, we were overwhelmed by joy because we had succeeded in opening the first gate. The demon gatekeepers congratulated us, and they explained to us that each of the gates is a trial, and the trials were set by none other than Belial himself.

The demons warned us for the second trial to be extremely careful of our surroundings.

We nodded and thanked the demon gatekeepers as we started going in the direction of the second gate while the first one closed. We thought to ourselves what the second trial could be.

Both of us smiled and looked forward because, far in the distance, we could see the second gate.

Filled with strength, we marched forward, leaving our past behind. Seeking the real truth was our goal, and the second gate will get us closer to uncovering the truths about this apocalypse.

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