Chapter 10: Evolution

With tears in his eyes, Sam ran. He and Kenji weren't close by any means, but the guy proved to be a nice person. Now he was dead. A worthy reward for a good deed, as they do not go unpunished.

The sadness soon passed, as he could see the backs of the rest, rushing through a long corridor, looking over their shoulders to see if the monster was not behind them. This view caused him to feel anger. A true fury. All because a man's life could be very easily saved, if only others weren't such selfish cowards. He wanted to punish them, give them a taste of what they deserved, but he couldn't.

Jordan was armed serving as the first obstacle. Not to mention the loud sound of drums, which was slowly losing its power, but was still very much present indicating the close proximity of the monster – the second obstacle. This gave no space for anything else than running.

Back in the chamber of the third trial, Sam was scared, now only sad and pissed.

'For now just run,' he told himself, focusing on taking deep breaths through his mouth, to make sure he could keep the fast pace for as long as it was possible. He was closing on others. Evan and Jordan were able to hold their speed, which pushed them to the front. Oliver was already panting heavily, unable to keep up. Mia had the same issue. They simply weren't used to physical activities.

Not much later Evan too began slowing down. That was when Sam caught up to them. The drumming could still be heard, but now only as a quiet background ambient.

„W-we n-need t-to l-look f-for arrows!" Evan gasped at him.

He didn't respond with words, only gave a short nod, which, due to them all running, passed unnoticed. Moments later Oliver was unable to continue. He had to switch to walking but didn't dare to alert others. Only Mia noticed, as she also was struggling, so she took this as an opportunity to slow down as well. She was keen enough to make sure to be in front of him so that if the monster appeared, the man could serve as her shield.

Evan and Sam followed after, with Jordan disappearing in front of them. He was following the arrows on the walls, which they didn't notice, until later, first considering the possibility of the jock getting lost with the only weapon.

Marching fast they reached up to him, sitting under the black door leading to the fourth trial. Still breathing heavily, Jordan got back on his feet. He started pushing the wing open, which slowly gave up. Evan came to help him, soon creating a gap wide enough for the people to slide through.

One by one they entered the fourth trial room.

Just like before they found themselves in dimly illuminated space due to some magical means which allowed the light to pour straight through the ceiling. Used to the phenomenon, and worried about the monster, they completely ignored it focusing on the mission.

They didn't even register that the sound of drums disappeared.

Ahead of them was instruction carved in the floor, with five pillars. On each of them laid a shining ball with something swirling inside of it.

Wasting no time the two brainiacs went to read the instructions.

„Only those who adjust to the changing environment can survive! Evolve! Hunt the hunter! Pick your weapon and kill the monster hunting you!" was engraved on the floor.

„Fuck," both of them whispered at the same time.

Then they looked at one another.

„Those balls on the pedestals… Those must be the weapons the instruction is talking about," muttered Evan, as others approached to read as well. He moved forward to check what kind of weapons he could pick from.

„What?! How can we fight that thing!" Oliver yelled, as soon as he finished checking the instruction.

Mia only shivered, but at this point, Sam had no doubt it was only an act. Something she could drop, as nobody was buying it after she tried to push the politician into the hole.

Jordan gritted his teeth, rushing to join Evan and have a chance to choose something good. Unfortunately for him, there was no way to pick anything, as the swirling things inside the balls appeared to be different types of larvae.

Having the same idea, Sam also moved to the pedestals, discovering the same thing. He glanced at others as everybody assembled. Nobody seemed afraid of the bugs, but they all were hesitant to touch the balls, quietly hoping somebody would volunteer, so the rest would at least know what they were getting themselves into.

It all changed when they once again heard the sound of drums.

„Tsk!" Oliver made up his mind, grabbing one of the balls.

As soon as his skin came in contact with the surface of the bubble, it burst, and the larva bared its teeth to bite him in the hand. „ARGH!" he groaned, jumping back instinctively, as he swung his hand trying to get the bug off, but there was nothing to get rid of. The larva disappeared.

The politician's finger began changing. They started to turn grey, then silver, only to fuse, like a metal jelly morphing into a chainsaw blade. „AAAA! Aaaa!" he panicked glaring at his hand which was changing gradually.

Others watched, disturbed by the view, until the transformation ended. The mechanism went off, fueled by the man's emotions, so the roar of the engine filled the chamber, as the chain began to move. It caused the politician to panic even more. He didn't know what was going on. He swung his hand as if he could somehow throw away the metal that was now part of his limb, but it was not going anywhere.

The rest observed his grotesque dance, which in a different situation could look funny, but now was nothing but terrifying.

And yet Sam felt nothing. He was not scared to transform. It didn't cause him any anxiety, beyond the worry if the transformation was reversible or not. The thoughts in his mind soon changed, because the volume of the drums increased.

Evan was the first to react. He touched the ball, letting the bug bite him. He grunted in pain, allowing the transformation to take place in a much calmer way than Oliver.

His was different. The right arm, which he used to touch the ball, didn't become a chainsaw. It turned into a small cannon of sorts. It looked like pulled out straight from a sci-fi movie. He tested it immediately, although the gun didn't go off for a moment, as the teenager first needed to figure out how it worked. A couple of seconds later it blasted a bolt of energy which smashed into the wall ahead, melting a bit of stone, which gleamed with bright red.

A chuckle left the boy's mouth.

The remaining three touched the last balls after they observed Evan's metamorphosis. For Sam, the sharp, needle-like teeth of the larva sunk into his fingers, but the pain was washed away by a cold sensation, spreading in his body from the bite. The bug disappeared, just when his fingers began turning metallic. They morphed, and soon he had a shield, instead of an arm.

He was unable to watch the whole transformation, as a high-pitched scream pierced his ears. It was Mia. Despite the larva biting her hand, it was her face that changed. Now she had a toothy, horrible maw, filled with ivory needles. It was horrifying. The girl panicked, touching her face she squealed, trying to prevent the transformation, but that was impossible.

Jordan changed too. Now, instead of a right arm, he had an axe with a sharp, jagged, saw-like edge.

Sam ignored the desperation of the girl, focusing on the jock. „Hey!" he shouted. „Give me that sword. You won't need it now, and I will," he said.

The blonde glanced briefly at the desperate female, but ignored her suffering, giving Sam a nod, then he approached him, and gave him the blade, hesitating at the last moment. The teenager spotted it and snatched the weapon before Jordan could change his mind.

„Hey," the jock hissed in irritation.

„What? You were going to give it to me anyway," Sam retorted.

„Tsk," the playboy snorted, before pivoting on his heel.

The noise produced by Mia was enough distraction for the group to, for a moment, forget about the drums. They didn't hear them intensifying to the alarming point, where the monster had to be very close, but this little detail reminded them about itself, when, with an incredible force, something slammed into the door to the chamber. Both wings swung open, and the creature greeted its prey with a loud wail.