Chapter 15: I'm Not
He coughed out so much blood that it had formed a puddle beneath him, his palms painted, his eyes blurry with dampness but he could make out Daragura's feet a few inches from him.
“Why am I worthy, Worthy of what??” He tried and tried but he could barely form a cohesive thought through the persistent pain, his HP rose.
\[HP : 100/100\]
He was being healed after every hit right now but what happens when Daragura stops healing him, Every contact brought him to an inch of his life so he definitely wouldn't survive. He needed to think of a reason why he was worthy before this Being decided he wasn't and he needed to think of it fast.
In the middle of his thoughts another attack hit sending him crashing through a row of statues like a flesh made wrecking ball, Again, The pain was unbearable, his bones stuck out of his flesh, blood streaked like tears down his eyes and his tortured screams grew louder until the pain began to dull and his Health points began to climb till he was back at Hundred, he stumbled to his feet and his eyes immediately locked on Daragura as he slowly walked towards him, his echoing steps like a countdown to another near death experience. He searched his mind for anything that could help with this scenario, Worthy normally meant someone with a pure mind and a heart of gold and as much as he would have liked to flatter himself and say he had those qualities, it would be a lie but he couldn't say that, admitting to his own incompetence would probably earn him an unrejectable invitation to the other side—His best bet was to stall until the timer on this scenerio ran out, if there even was a timer, he honestly doubt there was but he really didn't have any more options.
Daragura got to him, his massive form casting a dark shadow over Rylan as he asked the dreaded question.
“Why….Are….You…. Worthy?” Fist already raised and ready to attack, Rylan took a deep breath, calmed his frantic nerves and with a look he hoped would make his next words believable.
“I'm a good perso—” before he could complete his sentence Daragura's fist came down but missed him and slammed into the ground, that hadn't before, Why now?, had he gotten lucky, Had he—The impact felt different, the strength behind it was restrained but still sent an unbearable jolt of pain through him, forcing out all the air he had in his lungs and sending him crashing through a Statue.
\[-20 HP\]
\[HP : 80/100\]
On his knees trying his physical best to breath as he realizes that the clock had began ticking, the next time his Health points gets to 1 was going to be the actual end.
Daragura walks up to where he's crunched on the ground, the shattered remains of the statues around him turning to pebbles as he steps on them and crushes them beneath his feet, Without warning he grabs unto Rylan's hair and pulls him up by his hair, bringing him to eye level, The glow of his eyes so intense that Rylan is unable to even look. Eyes shut tightly, the sharp pain of Daragura's grip on his hair overpowering all other senses.
“Rylan Cross, Why are you Worthy?”
He didn't know, He wanted to scream, he had no idea what the answer to this question was, Was he worthy, he didn't know, what happens If he isn't, does he get killed, does he get to leave?
What happens if he is, was there a prize or was this just a sick test that ended when his HP hit zero.
Why are you worthy? not, Are you worthy?
Why was it worded that way and if it was asking why? Does that mean it was a question of why were you chosen and not why should you be chosen, something clicked.
“Confirmation, This scenario, whatever it is, was a two step process, the first step being the invitation, access into this domain must mean I was seen as worthy so then this, The second process must be confirmation, the fact that this is it's domain meant that it already knows why I am worthy, so the question “why are you worthy.” was to make sure I know why I was chosen, After all a child who doesn't know why he's getting a gift will always abuse it.” A rough tug pulled him out of his thoughts and brought him back to reality as Daragura threw him down to the marble floor, He skipped like a pebble on a lake, only stopping when he landed on the first step of the thrones altar.
\[HP : 60/100\]
It hurt, but he was still alive, He tried his possible best to breath, watching as Daragura took step after step towards him, Rylan stood to his feet and dusted himself off.
“Fuck.” Rylan Cursed his trembling legs, he had faced death too many times in such a short span of time but he knew what his answer was, Him being worthy was as important to the deity as it was to him, he had noticed the frustrated look growing every time it had to repeat that question and now the look wasn't even frustrated anymore, it was just plain, he had noticed it from the last to attacks, there was no fire anymore, it now had as much drive as someone trying to check a list, it had given up and now just wanted to get this over with.
“Why are you worthy?” The question wasn't shouted this time, it was asked with indifference, He was right, it had given up on him, he remembered the relief in it's eyes when he had survived the very first attack but as he stood mere inches away from it, it's glowing eyes staring emotionlessly at him the words rolled right off his tongue.
“I'm Not.”