"Oh, you're kidding me!" Ichigo groaned, before leaping onto the pillar in front of him. We quickly prepared to do so as well.
"You go first, kid!" Jim shouted. "I'll take last!"
"No, I have movement abilities - you go first!"
"Alright, fine!"
"Hey! What's going on back there?!" Furuwa snapped at us from across the room.
"There's sawblades coming for our asses! Again!" Ichigo shot back, before leaping to the next pillar. Somehow, he made it. Whether it was luck or just pure skill, I had no idea. Probably the former, though.
Jim immediately followed, jumping onto the pillar that Ichigo had just gotten off of. The sawblades were nearly on me.
"Hurry up!" I shouted as the razor-sharp wheels of death drew closer to my head.
"We're trying our best here!" Ichigo yelled as he leaped onto the up-down pillar as it was still going up.
This was a dangerous move - and the fact that he was unable to land on top of the pillar proved that. Instead, he hung on the ledge of the pillar, but his STR stat was a lot higher than Furuwa's, so he climbed up relatively easily. Right before his head got crushed by the elevating pillar, Ichigo jumped once again. His luck seemed to be on point today. Somehow, he landed on the next pillar perfectly.
Of course, by this time, Furuwa was already nearing the end of the chasm, far ahead of the rest of us. There wouldn't be any risk of Ichigo crashing into Furuwa. However, the same couldn't be said for the spinning sawblades and me.
The moment Jim jumped onto the next pillar, I followed him, one column behind. He then leaped onto the up-down pillar before quickly jumping off again onto the next platform below. It happened in one swift motion, and I couldn't help but admire his ability to quickly calculate and predict the locations of the pillars to time his jumps.
After a brief pause, I jumped onto the platform Jim had just left. However, right now, the up-down pillar was too high for me to jump on. The sawblades were closing in on me from behind - there was no time. Therefore, I decided to risk it after getting a brief glance at the next pillar, after this one.
I launched off the pillar I was currently on before the sawblades could turn me into minced meat. However, I was nowhere near high enough to grab the ledge of the pillar in front of me - but that was fine. I never planned on doing so anyway.
[Warning. Time remaining: 45 seconds.]
Right when we first saw this test, I had already evaluated these pillars to be thinner than the metal crates that had been dropped on me in the previous trial. Therefore...
'Vanishing Clouds.'
I dashed straight through the pillar, phasing through the solid object. However, the dash was not long enough to bring me all the way to the next pillar. But that was fine. I had accounted for this in my calculations as well.
I had purposely timed my 'Vanishing Clouds' a tiny bit before I really needed to since it always dashed a fixed distance. Because of the short delay I enacted, when my phasing ability wore off, I was right on the other side of the pillar. This meant I was able to launch myself off the back of the column, using it as a foothold to give myself a burst of momentum which then allowed me to reach the next platform.
The motion I just performed was perfectly planned and executed - that was the only reason I was still alive.
Past this point, things got easier. More pillars rose up from the ground, allowing for multiple paths. I quickly caught up to the others using my exceptionally high AGI stat, surpassing Jim and Ichigo, and closing in on Furuwa.
We had long thrown the sawblades behind. They were still coming towards us, but as long as none of us made a huge blunder, we should be fin-
Suddenly, I heard a yelp coming from in front of me - it was Furuwa.
By this time, my Vanishing Clouds was back up again, so I immediately cast it and dashed forward to see what happened. My eyes widened.
Furuwa was falling.
[Warning. Time remaining: 15 seconds.]
Without really thinking, I dove downwards and caught her hand right before she fell, with my other hand on the ledge of the pillar.
"I-Igarashi-kun?"
I couldn't respond, mainly because I was too busy gritting my teeth as sweat formed on my forehead. Supporting myself would be no problem at all with my high STR stat, but if I had to carry Furuwa's weight with one arm's strength as well...
I could feel my fingers slipping.
"Ngh!"
Cursing, I cried out in agony as I used all my strength to heave Furuwa upwards.
"Ah!"
She landed back on the pillar after performing an impressive reverse backflip in mid-air.
"Jump onto another platform! I can't hold on for much longer!" I yelled, and Furuwa quickly obeyed, jumping to a platform ahead.
Groaning, I pulled myself back up onto the pillar. My arms were now completely out of strength. Ichigo and Jim had both surpassed us thanks to this minor mishap, but luckily, the sawblades were still a distance away, and we were about to reach the end.
[10 seconds.]
Furuwa had already left, so I jumped onto the pillar she had just been on.
[9.]
Jim made it to the safe zone, almost effortlessly - and still with time to spare. He didn't even look like he broke a sweat.
[8.]
I continued following Furuwa, taking the same pillars she was taking. I didn't bother trying to surpass her, since the sawblades were still a while back. I was extremely tired - my arm muscles felt like I had pulled them, resulting in a muscle strain. It hurt a lot, but I didn't have time to rest right now. The best alternative was to just take it easy and follow Furuwa. As easy as jumping from narrow pillar to narrow pillar can be, anyway.
[7.]
I glanced backward. The sawblades had picked up their pace. Just like during the Trial of the Sprinter.
[6.]
Ichigo also made it to the safe zone now, though, unlike Jim, it was luck that helped him.
[5.]
Furuwa made it as well, and I jumped onto the last pillar. Just one last stride, and we will have completed this trial.
[4.]
I landed on the final platform and prepared to jump towards the safe zone with one last stride.
But then, all of a sudden, the pillar beneath my feet vanished. It dematerialized, and the solid stone I had been standing on turned to nothingness.
I gasped in shock as I fell towards the green acid below.
[3.]
"Igarashi-kun!" Furuwa yelled, attempting to catch my hand the same way I had done for her. Unfortunately... her reaction speeds were a bit too slow. I reached, but couldn't find her hand.
[2.]
The sawblades were closing in now too, their speed doubled compared to before.
But I've made it this far. I wasn't about to go down so close to the finish line.
[1.]
'Vanishing... Clouds!'
I dashed upwards in mid-air, boosting myself upwards before the acid could touch me. The dash brought me up just enough to grab Furuwa's hand. With hope in her eyes, she pulled me upwards with all her strength. Ichigo and Jim helped her out, and together, the three heaved me back up from the jaws of death.
[0.]
I collapsed onto the ground after being pulled up, right as the doors to the safe zone closed and the sawblades slammed into it. However, the door held firm. I let out a deep breath. I had made it.
"Jesus, Igarashi... stop playing with death like that," Ichigo panted, having used all his remaining strength to save me.
"It's not like... I want to... " I replied, breathing heavily.
Furuwa looked at me, but when I met her gaze, she turned her head.
"...?"
"Nothing you have to say to me?" she asked, folding her arms.
"What?"
"Hello? I saved your life. Not a word of gratitude?"
Uh... yeah, thanks? But I saved yours too, earlier," I muttered in response.
"Great. So we're even," she said, walking away to the other end of the room before sitting down to rest. But before she did, she whispered in a nearly inaudible voice.
"Thank you... too."
Ichigo probably didn't hear it, but I did. By the knowing smirk on Jim's face as he leaned against the wall, he probably did too.
Still, what a surprise. Furuwa, saying 'thank you'? Never thought I would be able to hear that in my lifetime.
As an aside, my right arm, which had been the same one that got pulled earlier, now hurt even more after they used it to drag me up. Luckily, it was just the muscle, not the bones - my shoulder wasn't dislocated anything. With a bit of rest, it should get better on its own. That said, it still hurt like hell.
But I was alive. And that's all that mattered.
Nevertheless... hopefully, there weren't any more trials.