Chapter -146: A Land Lined with Ruins

Johnathan guided the three young wards behind him towards the end of this very long ravine. No matter where they went, people would just be mining away merrily.

Johnathan's presence around Sarajin kept the miners from trying anything to endanger him for the time being, but those glares of theirs still came his way.

Midway through Johnathan had to detour towards his house, shoving his hand back to keep Sarajin and Justek from following.

"Be just a moment, don't try anythin' funny now." He warned, keeping his eye on them until he was halfway up the steps.

This left Ezekiel as the two's only company, and all the weird atmosphere that came with it.

Sarajin and Ezekiel glanced at each other and with a partial smile Sarajin committed to his gaze and asked, "S-So how are you doing, Ezekiel?"

Ezekiel just turned away with an uncomfortable groan. Sarajin was saddened and it was reflected by his tone, "...Are you really not going to talk to me anymore?"

Ezekiel shook his head and Sarajin tried to reach out towards his shoulder, only for Justek to grab his wrist and then shake his head to reprimand him.

"It's not worth it, Sarajin," He whispered, letting go, "His father's in his head too deep."

Sarajin had to stomach that fact with great hesitation but even so, looked at Ezekiel from behind and had a cautiously optimistic smile, "I hope when I clear things up with your dad, we can be friends."

Ezekiel crossed his arms snug against his chest and started pacing around. So, Sarajin just kept his mouth shut and looked up at the door. Johnathan came walking out with one of those curved metal tools strapped to his back, this one having a dark gray metal on it.

"Alright, got me trusty pick-axe," He remarked unenthusiastically as he came down the stairs, "Now, get moving."

They continued to march their way down the ravine through a few nasty twists and turns, including a part where there had been a rock slide.

Fortunately no one was hurt but Johnathan had to yell at a few of the miners louder than any banging the tools could cause.

Then they kept going further and further down, the sun beating down on top of them. Sarajin waved his hand at his face and then turned to Justek.

"Hey Justek, what are the Three Trials?"

Though it was hard to get his voice out, Justek seemed to be trying to answer to the best of his ability, "My books are lacking on the exact details but from what I understand, the trials are meant to test immigrants on their ability to handle the work conditions of Oreore."

"So more physical labor?" Sarajin sort of dreaded the thought.

"Yes, I'm sure that'll be the case." Justek said, nudging his glasses up.

Sarajin slumped over for a moment only to raise his fists up before his chest and look determined, "I'll have to do my best then! Maybe this'll help my body get stronger, too!"

"It's more liable to break it in two..." Justek said with a wry chuckle.

Sarajin slumped back down quickly and then remarked from the corner of his mouth, "Try to have some faith in me, will ya?"

"Not my fault your lacking physical prowess betrays any sense of faith." It was brutal, honest, but not without truth.

Sarajin felt like he would be crushed just looking at Ezekiel's chiseled body let alone what Johnathan was capable of. Just by the sheer girth of their muscles alone he could tell that the people of Oreore were in a class of their own compared to all the other Tribes.

"But if I'm going to earn Johnathan's favor..." He tightened his limber fists up by his hips, "I'm going to have to be strong in my own way!"

So after that brief flirting with determination, Sarajin looked over at Justek and wondered, "So you said something about 'immigrants' before. Are you telling me that people from other Tribes come to live here in Oreore?"

"That's roughly the idea." Justek said, uttering a little praise for Sarajin's deduction.

Sarajin raised a curious brow at this and wondered, "But...what about the War and stuff?"

"It's uncommon but there have been recordings throughout the books I've read about people from one Tribe leaving to go to another, depending on who is winning or losing at the time."

"They'd betray their own people?" Sarajin uttered in a bewildered way.

"Potentially they did, yes," Justek's tone was yet another grim reminder of what war does to people. But even he could not fully commit to this pessimistic outlook and mentioned, "But I imagine a lot of them were just trying to do what they could to survive. For some people...their lives outweigh their beliefs."

"...Mmmm." It was just another thing to pile onto Sarajin's ever-growing train of thought.

"Alright, 'ere we are." Johnathan firmly announced.

Sure enough they had finally found the end of the ravine. But beyond this land lay a much more barren, stony world with cracked, arid ground and the only visible things being some pillars sticking out of the ground and devastated stone buildings. But they were very spaced out, with nothing in-between them.

"'Ere's where you'll begin yer first trial, boy," Johnathan made sure Sarajin was next to him looking out the same way he was before continuing, "Out there is a special mining spot known as the Curious Caverns."

He brandished his finger towards the horizon, "You're gonna make yer way to it before the sun sets."

"Out there?" Sarajin leaned out and squinted his eyes, "Which one of those places do I go to?"

"Well that's for ya to figure out, ain't it?" Johnathan scoffed and told him, "Surely someone fit for mining can piece together proper mining spots, ya?"

Sarajin tried to put on a brave face then craned his head back up towards the sun. It was alright straight overhead so he had a few hours left before it'd go down all the way.

"I can do that!" He proclaimed.

"Oh really?" Johnathan replied, a little bothered by his confidence, "It should go without sayin' ya aren't allowed to fly to where ya need to go. And no using the wind to help against the heat."

Sarajin flinched and then remarked, "T-That's fine! My legs'll make it there!"

"You shouldn't worry about your legs," Justek remarked, "Because-"

"Aye!" Johnathan barked, "None of that advice givin', boy! He's gonna hafta tough out these trials on his own."

Justek glared back for a moment before closing his eyes and shaking his hand up beside his face, "Fine, I suppose I'll keep my mouth shut then."

Sarajin turned around and uttered "Huh?!" because giving up is not something Justek would do that easily.

"You're the one who was dead set on doing this, Sarajin," Justek smirked, "So...good luck, I suppose."

Sarajin curled the side of his lips up in a pout and then faced Johnathan once more, "What was Justek going to say anyways? He was talking about my body, so..."

While he still had this opportunity to prepare he took one last glance at the lands beyond and noticed how wavy the air was. It reminded him of Aquamoria's shores, though not as bad.

"What's wrong, gettin' cold feet?" Johnathan prodded him.

"Uhhh..." Sarajin slowly looked Johnathan in the eye and asked him, "Do you have anything to drink?"

"Hmph..." Johnathan scoffed and then reached into his right pocket, pulling out a round metal container only as big as Sarajin's hands combined, "This is all you'll be gettin', a canteen of milk straight from an Argent Heaver's teat."

Sarajin took this 'canteen' and popped the lid off. He was immediately greeted by this strong odor that made him cough a couple times.

"Ugh, that's bitter...!" He forced the lid back on and then put it into his pocket, where it barely fit in.

Johnathan fluttered his fingers out from his arms and remarked dismissively, "Well, go on then. Yer burning daylight 'ere, boy!"

"So I just have to find the Curious Caverns?" Sarajin said, facing the lands beyond.

"Aye. We'll be there waitin' for ya but if ya don't show up well..." Johnathan lightly kicked Sarajin in the back to push him towards the wastelands, "Good luck survivin' the night fall, ha ha ha!"

Sarajin rubbed his back and took one last look behind him. He then let out a sigh and started to venture out into the unknown lands beyond Oreore.

The sun was beating down harder than before but he was hoping his time in Aquamoria would help him survive it.

But whereas the sea breeze helped refresh him, he had none of those benefits this far as long as he played things by Johnathan's rules.

The only way to counteract the heat was to drink from that bitter milk, and he only had so much to go through before he'd be parched.

"Ok think, I'm looking for a mining spot. They mine rocks and metal..." He hung on that point with an agape mouth as he looked at his surroundings, "Which is what everything is made of around here! Oh...great."

So if the ground wasn't going to be any help he had to rely on the very few sights in the area. He started off moving towards the closest landmark on his right, a diagonal pillar wedged into the ground that was covered in a thin layer of dust.

There was some rock laid out in a large pile behind it, and it seemed to have the same color as the pillar did. Was this all part of one building at some point?

Sarajin briefly examined the area, using his hand to dust off the pillar some, but all he saw were these unreadable etchings on the side.

"Not a cavern..." Even he could figure that much out.

So he returned to where he had been and, using Oreore as a landmark, continued walking straight ahead.

He started feeling the first signs of fatigue when the sun was beginning to curve down towards the horizon. Thus he took a small sip from the canteen. His cheeks puffed and he felt his stomach wretch, but he forced the milk down and for the time being, kept himself hydrated.

He wandered off the beaten path to another of those fallen structures. This one had two pillars laying on top of one another but the remains of the building had a little more to it. In fact, with just a little effort to push some rocks aside, Sarajin found a staircase leading underground.

He inferred from the word "cavern" that "cave" had something to do with it. And a cave was a hole buried in rock.

"Maybe this is it?" Unsure though he may be he had to check every hole he could find to be certain.

He cautiously walked down the steps and got tangled up in some web. He brushed it off his face and wandered into complete and utter darkness.

His heart froze up and his legs started to step back towards the staircase. But he tripped over a raised stone tile and fell on his butt. When he did he heard some tiny feet shuffling through the area.

His eyes bulged and he picked himself up and turned around, barreling out this underground area until he was many feet away from the site.

He then bent over with his hands on his knees and panted, forcing another drink of that milk down his throat.

He kept going onward. Oreore was barely a speck in the distance behind him. Soon he'd have to rely on his own memory to let him retrace his steps.

His feet started to ache sometime after that. The ground was so dry and cracked that soon his feet were going to be dry and cracked too.

He paused for a long while debating over whether he should wet his feet with the milk or save it for drinking. He sat down on the broken steps of an old building and thought this over, getting a little shade thanks to a nearby column.

The bottom of his feet were dusty but they didn't seem too dry...yet. But putting any pressure on them with his thumb did lead to him gasping out in pain a couple times.

The sun was still pretty high up, so he forced himself to take a few minutes break, and took another sip of milk.

He rattled the canteen around and knew it was starting to get low. Maybe he was a little over halfway through it, and the Curious Caverns were nowhere in sight.

So he couldn't waste this milk on his feet. But during this break he thought of a better idea. He took his hands up to his mouth and spit in them, lightly rubbing the spit around between his palms, and then applying them onto his feet.

He had to keep moving right then though, cause the sun wasn't going to let him get away with that for long.

There were more of those fallen buildings out this way than there were at the start, but now there were a couple buildings that, while broken, old and abandoned, did seem able to be entered.

And their doorways did technically qualify as "holes bored into stone" that Sarajin had prescribed a cavern to. So he started wandering off the beaten path to check a couple of them out.

There was sunlight in these buildings either cause of the multiple windows or parts of the ceiling being caved in. Every time he entered one of these buildings he shouted "Johnathan?!" or "Justek?!" thinking they'd answer.

But it's not that they wouldn't. They just weren't here. All Sarajin found were these empty metal boxes with supposedly gems on them, or these large stone slabs with hundreds of unreadable characters etched into them.

These slabs also came with pictures showing people with mining tools and how they must have lived about their daily lives. But was it fact, or fiction?

There was no time to waste standing around to find out. He kept going on his way, wetting his feet with saliva and then using a sip of milk to replenish himself.

Nothing he could do for his poor, poor legs though. They were suffering the brunt of this trial, throbbing and aching up and down and all around.

He sometimes had to grit his teeth just to get through a couple more steps and earn a reprieve, only for the pain to act up again.

His body had been sweating for a while, and now he could feel puddles of it forming in the pits of his shirt.

How long had it been since he left? Only the sun could tell him at this point and quite frankly it spewed nothing but hot air.

Sarajin cracked a bit of a chuckle at that but when he realized he was the only one who was around to enjoy that joke it made him depressed.

He didn't have any company besides his thoughts, so at this point to help distract him from the heat, thirst and pain he decided to try and think about his friends.

"I hope Brine's doing ok after he fell off the dock. I should've stopped by and said hello while we were getting the water."

"I haven't been to Tanglefae in a week either. Maybe I'll do that once I'm done here. Carmine wanted to have me try out something called an 'avocado'...I wonder if fruits ever get dehydrated or feel pain..."

He shook his head and then kept moving onward, looking up to find the sun was halfway between the peak of the sky and falling beyond the horizon.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "A lot has happened these past couple of days. But I think I'd take this pain in my legs over seeing that Devil again."

He sighed then again, "I wish Justek was walking with me, then at least I wouldn't be talking to myself so much."

Another one of those old buildings was off to his right many yards out. It was pretty big too, the biggest building he'd ever seen. It had multiple columns holding up the roof of the entrance and besides a couple holes, seemed like it was still standing tall after all this time.

"Maybe this is it?" He was running on empty in both liquids and optimism, but trudged towards the building regardless.

He raised his canteen and shook the last drops out of it into his mouth, and then climbed the flight of stairs towards the front entrance.

It was nice and cool inside the building, a welcome break from the harsh arid lands. The ground was cracked all over though, shifting his stance around with every step.

He was wobbly enough as is so he had to be extra careful not to lose his balance. He'd probably survive falling on his face but Justek would not let him live it down if it happened again.

"Hello?!" He shouted, "Johnathan?! Justek?!"

His voice echoed throughout the building, but didn't carry anything back. It WAS a pretty big building though, so they could just be further in.

There was a dim light throughout the building and more of those weird etchings on the walls and pillars. He also ran across what looked like a table broken in half, with three metal cups bent and rusted on the ground.

He picked up one of those cups and shook it around. Sadly, no water inside. He then dropped it with a "Clang" and continued on further inside.

He saw some sort of glow coming from his left and that drew him towards it. It was a mild shade of green and it was surrounding a giant, green metallic shell, representing a bug Sarajin had never seen before.

He didn't want to set the creature off early and so waited until he was within arm's reach to announce his presence.

"Hello?" He said softly, laying his hand on the back of the green shell.

"Hmm?" A voice, a very much human voice, responded.

Sarajin freaked out and stumbled back as the shell rose, a towering, bulky man attached to it. He was almost just as tall as Justek's dad, with a body covered in a thick, protective layer of brown metal. A thick, cedar brown cloak draped over his shoulders and covered most of his body.

His hair seemed to be receding, and all he had left were the strands above his ears and some going down the back of his neck.

His face looked like it was made of stone, tough and intimidating, especially once Sarajin caught a glimpse of a scar across his nose.

The man turned all the way around and when Sarajin felt the urge to leave, he noticed that the man was carrying a piece of green Luminode in his right hand and an open dried up looking book in his other.

It stifled his urge to run away yelling, and instead reach out to the man and apologize, "I-I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know there was anyone else in here."

The man's expression didn't change as he asked softly, "Who are you?"

"M-My name?" Sarajin was surprised just how friendly this big man came across as, "Sarajin Stratos, sir."

The man seemed to raise his brows and linger that way for a while.

"What's your name?"

Sarajin's politeness made the man close his eyes and remark, "You may call me Stonestein."

"Well Stonestein, I'm sorry for bothering you. I was trying to find a place called the Curious Caverns but I don't think this is it."

The man dragged out a nod, "It is not."

Sarajin clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and muttered, "Then...I should probably get going."

But as he turned around the man remarked firmly "Hold on" and that made Sarajin feel like the man had locked him into place with his voice.

"You are from Arc Hurricanos." The man remarked.

Sarajin looked across from his shoulders, "...I am. Did your leader tell you that?"

"I have been here, so no."

"Do you hate people from Arc Hurricanos as well?" Sarajin hesitantly asked.

"I do not. Hatred is senseless."

Sarajin continued to turn until he was face-to-face with the man. The man then put the Luminode into a slot on his chest plate, and marked the book he was reading with this thin piece of paper that had this weird, plastic sheen around it.

He then opened his eyes and wonders, "You seek the caverns. Oreore's Three Trials..."

"How'd you figure that out?" Sarajin said with a hint of awe.

"An educated observation," Stonestein replied with confidence, "Why perform the trials?"

Sarajin was well aware he was on a time limit but, it felt like this man wasn't like the other adults. He might actually listen to what he has to say.

"Well..." He did have to swallow some hesitation at first though, "It all started a few months back. Well, it's probably better to say it started a few years ago..."

Sarajin explained how he used to live his life up in Arc Hurricanos, ignorant of the rest of the world. And how the stories of a friend of his led to him coming down to the surface. Then he told him about his time in Tanglefae and Aquamoria, and how he learned about the War, and the Rot.

All this to finally culminate in the answer to Stonestein's question, "So you see, I figure if I can learn from all the Tribe's cultures, I might be able to use that knowledge to bridge the relationships between them. That way, there will be no more hatred, no more violence...No more death."

He ended it feeling somewhat dry in the mouth and melancholic, but he truly got everything off his chest and it felt so good to do so.

But the man he had been talking to was so stone-faced the only time his expression had changed was when he had to blink.

Sarajin stared up at him, and watched as the man's mouth stretched out into a big, tender smile.

"What a wonderful aspiration you have." He said sincerely.

"Y-You mean it?" Sarajin gasped in surprise.

The man slowly nodded.

Sarajin started grinning and then giggled a bit too, "T-Thank you."

He wanted to stay and chat with this man some more but he had already taken up enough of his time as is, along with his own, "I-I have to get going now though. Thanks for listening to me, Mr. Stonestein. I feel a lot lighter now!"

He started to turn again only for the big man to say "Hold" and once more Sarajin felt compelled to obey.

But there was a purpose behind it this time beyond continuing the conversation. The man had reached behind his cloak and pulled out a canteen of his own. This was colored the same as the object on his back and was a little bigger than Sarajin's own canteen.

"Take this. It is cactus juice." He forced the canteen into Sarajin's hand but try as he might, Sarajin wasn't able to force it back and was thus forced to hold it out towards him.

"I-I can't accept this! How will you-"

The man smirked and then brushed his cloak up, revealing he had four more of those canteens sloshing up on his belt.

"I am fine. You must stay hydrated." He replied.

Sarajin's mouth was agape and with one hearty bow of the head he proclaimed, "T-Thank you very much, Stonestein, sir!"

"I hope we meet again, Sarajin Stratos." He said, before returning to his dusty book.

"Yes, same here!" Sarajin bid him farewell and then carefully made his way out of the building. He popped open the canteen and drank some of that 'cactus juice'.

Whatever it came from, it was slimy but very cold, the perfect drink to get his mouth wet and help him regain his lost vigor.

He rationed his drink and then kept heading onward through the wastes. The sun was continuing to set, and it was reflected in the hue of the sky changing.

Now feeling ready to tackle anything, he fought through the pain in his legs and the sweat in his pits to keep moving forward. He was certain that he had to be getting closer at this point.

And it was that optimism that carried him towards the sight of some large, rocky hill side in the distance. Made of black rocks, it certainly stood out among all the dusty ruins he had come across up until this point.

With one burst of speed he picked up his weary legs, downed a little more cactus juice, and then ran the last stretch of the way to this mysterious hillside.

There he found a cave pointing downward into the planet. The tunnel was smoothed out and had Luminode wedged into the walls, surrounded by metal to keep it held in place.

"This has to be it!" He convinced himself thoroughly as he walked down the tunnel.

And the pay-off for all his endurance would be triumph in the end, for after one last half mile of walking he found none other than Johnathan, Ezekiel and Justek waiting for him inside.

Johnathan was sitting atop a bumpy yellow geode and cracked a smirk as he saw Sarajin panting his way towards the finish line.

"Hmph, so you managed to get 'ere after all," He stood up and crossed his arms up to his chest as Sarajin stopped a few feet in front of him, "You passed the first part of the trial."

"T-Thank..." Sarajin paused and with widened eyes looked up and said, "F-F-First part?"

"Of course ya daft boy, ya think ya came all this way out 'ere for a walk? Nah..." Johnathan reached over his back and lugged his curved tool over it, slamming the top of it down between himself and Sarajin, "Yer gonna mine now."

"Haaaa...?" Sarajin took one gasp of air and then reached down to drink from his canteen.

"You gonna gripe to me about it boy? Any man, nay, any child worth his salt can still mine rocks after TWO walks back and forth from here to Oreore."

Johnathan loosened his grip and the tool still stood up, "So, I want ya to bring me about five different types of stones."

Sarajin looked into the caverns and found that it went on for quite a while, the walls built out of various stones, too many to describe.

"That...doesn't sound too bad." Was probably something he should've kept to his head to prevent Johnathan having a chuckle at his expense.

"Oh is it now?" He then backed away, gesturing at his pick-axe, "Then have at it."

Sarajin's legs were aching but his arms were pretty well-off all things considered. He gripped the handle of the pick-axe in both hands and began to lift.

...And that's when he remembered just how heavy these things were.

"Ghhh...!" He grunted with all his might just to lift the pick-axe one inch off the ground.

Johnathan smirked and that made Sarajin steel his gaze and keep trying. He went behind the pick-axe and used leverage to drag it along the ground towards the nearby wall.

"Oh?" Johnathan remarked in a humored tone, "Ya got it that far, now how are ya gonna swing it?"

Sarajin caught his breath and then grit his teeth, tugging at the pick-axe with all his might. But no matter how much his bones cracked under the pressure he couldn't get the pick-axe more than a couple inches off the ground.

"Ha...! Ha...!" He gasped in exhaustion.

"Awwww," Johnathan taunted him, "What's wrong? Yer arms ain't good enough for this type of labor? Ha ha!"

Sarajin winced in pain, his muscles were throbbing all over, but he was telling himself he could do this. Yelling it over and over in his head, hoping to drown out Johnathan's attempts to prove him wrong.

Johnathan took a couple steps towards him and remarked, "Ya can still back out anytime. Just go out the cave and flap yer wings home, boy."

"He's right, Sarajin," Justek commented as he leaned against the wall nearby, "Without metal, you can't break any of these rocks off."

Justek tilted his head back and then smirked, briefly winking his way. Sarajin's eyes sagged and as he took a break to drink some more cactus juice he tried to think of what he could do.

"There has to be some way to break the rocks off, think, think...!" He rubbed the canteen as he thought it through some more, starting vigorously until slowing down, really digging his fingertips into the canteen's smooth and metallic surface.

"Wait...!" He got a flash of inspiration and upon widening his eyes he bent down and rubbed the side of Johnathan's pickaxe...Smooth, and metallic.

He then stared back and forth at the pickaxe and his canteen and got an idea.

He laid the canteen flat on the ground and Johnathan remarked, "What's this now?"

Sarajin then grabbed the pickaxe's handle in both hands and took a deep breath, "Sorry about this Mr. Stonestein, but...!"

He grunted and with all his might, was able to lift the pickaxe just high enough over the canteen before hammering it right down on top of it.

A sharp crunching sound filled the cavern, causing Ezekiel to flinch and remark, "P-Pop, what's he doin'?!"

"..." Johnathan was silent, watching as Sarajin struggled to lift the pickaxe once more and drop it atop the canteen's other half.

With these efforts he had flattened the canteen out. He then slid it out from under the pickaxe and, while gasping tiredly, took the flattened metal and started curling it up.

It was resistant but eventually, he had managed to get it in a somewhat tight, cone-like shape with a nice point at the end.

"T-There...!" He shouted with a bit of pride in his voice.

Now with his makeshift tool at the ready he bent down in front of the wall and started picking away at it. Though it didn't damage the stone as well as a pick-axe could he still was able to chip it apart little by little until one stone was dislodged from it.

This stone was surrounded by a gravely black surface and had a faint, blue light pulsing out of a gem in the center.

"That's...one." The consequence of his decision was that he no longer had any hydration to help his tongue.

But that was fine. All he needed was four more of these and he'd be done.

He kept going further into the cavern, tucking the stone into his pocket for reference. He got two more unique looking stones, one with an amethyst coating and another that seemed to have liquid jiggling around inside of it.

When he got to the fourth stone he found the rock was tougher to chip away it, causing his little pick to crinkled inward.

But he kept going on and eventually dislodged another stone. This one changed colors depending on what it was held up to. So in the palm of his hand, it was the color of his skin, which was presently a pinkish red.

For the final stone, he started moving back towards the entrance but went to the opposite side. He didn't want to get TOO deep into the caverns and get lost.

The final stone was black and gold, and felt pretty heavy for the size he chipped off, barely bigger than his palm. But the weight didn't matter now.

Tired, sweating and with skin red on his feet and palms, he returned to Johnathan and presented the five different types of stones atop his palms.

"H-Here you go! Just as you asked!"

Johnathan plucked the stones out of his hands and looked them over individually. It was a tense filled minute where Sarajin was left gritting his teeth out of anticipation for what he would say next.

Closing his eyes and grumbling, the man put the stones in his pockets and crossed his arms, "Hmph, somehow, ya managed to pass the first trial."

Sarajin grinned, lacking the energy to really shout out in excitement at this point.

Johnathan glared at him and remarked, "Don't be stretchin' yer gums in joy now."

He raised a finger, "Ya just managed to scratch by on one of three trials. Tomorrow mornin' though, ya'd better be ready to suffer through the other two."

"For now...Ya better just fly on home and get some rest." It was the kindest gesture Johnathan had tossed since the aggression between them had started, and Sarajin was more than happy to take it.

He nodded a couple times and then the four of them made their way out of the Curious Caverns. Along the way though, Sarajin walked on up beside Justek and said, "Hey...!"

Justek glanced aside and listened to Sarajin say, "Thanks for giving me that hint."

"Huh?" Justek replied nonchalantly, "What hint?"

"You know, when you said I needed metal to break the rock. It's what inspired me to turn the canteen into a small pick!" Sarajin exclaimed.

"Hmph...!" Justek closed his eyes and shrugged, "Haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about."

Sarajin fluttered his eyelashes and then the two of them exitted the cavern. Johnathen turned around and remarked, "Alright you, Justek right? I'll give ya a ride back to Oreore, but from there yer on yer own."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Before he took the offer up he looked back at Sarajin and remarked, "So, I'll meet you back at the ravine tomorrow morning, correct?"

"I-I guess so...?" Sarajin was really just too tired to think straight by now.

"Alright, ya better not chicken out now, boy, y'hear me?" Johnathan remarked.

"Yep! The other two trials are going to be a doozy!" Ezekiel exclaimed.

"I'll be there, I promise." Vowed Sarajin.

"Hmm, we'll see." Johnathan raised his brows in intrigue and then with a swift rise of the hand raised part of the ground below his, Ezekiel and Justek's feet, using it to carry them all across the waste lands at blistering speed.

Sarajin then caught his breath and despite being sore all over, managed to summon up enough strength to propel himself into the air and begin his flight back home.

This was the first step towards his goals, and come what may, he would power through whatever Johnathan had in store for him tomorrow...

Next Time: The March of the Giants