Ever since the dawn of man , desire has always been there , desire to be strong, desire to be wealthy, desire for fame , desire to be loved , desire to revenge, even to the strangest thing anyone could imagine .
Thus the gods , zakao ( god of the human ) , maina ( goddess of the sea ) and bussina ( god of the abyss ) , every twenty century keep's this custom , the 'contest of the the strong '.
A contest where more than an hundred human try to survive in the oasis of the firmament and become the last surviving five for their desire to be granted .
The firmament bring's out it habitants or rather it preys good and bad side , some use's it to their favour while others .... .
Power , wealth , fame , strength, all you can imagine could be granted if only you could survive the gods challenges , how long can you last ? , how fast can you ran , how smart can you think ? , how well can you die ? .
" You're all welcome to Elyria's crucible , a place as you all know , only the strongest , smartest can survive . Friends turns to foes on here , the most weakest could turn to the strongest , your flaws could be your death or strength" . He held his shinning sword tightly addressing the multitude Infront of him . " Illusions are used significantly, and could lure you to your doom " .
" More than a hundred desirers are here" . He continued "but only five can get what they want , the rest meet's their end " .
He kept looking at the contestants, some who were people's mom , dad , children , all willing to die for a desire he sure thought some were 'stupid' , in a realm they knew if they die their body devours in here , not even their love ones could see again .
Not that he cared anyways , beside he had been a keeper of Elyria's crucible for more than a decade now , watched people die , kill , betray even their blood families , the natural habit of humans .
" I want power " .
" Money , i need it , i must be rich " .
" My wife mustn't die " .
" I will become the most popular man in the planet " .
Their desires echoed through the realm loud , like a congregation conversing in an empty hall .
" Good morning dad " . Runo entered the room , greeting the paralyzed man on the bed.
" Morning son" . His frail voice , barely heard . Mr Williams not able to look any direction without the help of his son knew it was runo , besides no one was willing to enter their home , for the fear of contacting the illness Mr Williams had that made him paralyzed.
" Fine dad " . He picked a letter on the floor next to his dad's bed , seeing it was a letter from their house management, he tossed it to the waste bin .
It was the norms , their rent had been due for more than months now and the letter had kept coming in , a reminder that they were soon going to be out in the streets if they couldn't pay up their rents .
The young 17 years old runo had to do a after school job at a restaurant to at least afford half of his father's treatment and drugs not to talk about food , the debts they were owing , and changing of his old ragged cloths .
" Don't think about it " . Mr Williams knew his son was awkwardly silent and that could mean one thing, he was thinking.
" Am tired dad " . Runo couldn't help himself but shed tears , it was understandable for the young man , ever since he had clocked fourteen years of age , life had been unfair to both him and his dad . First it was his mother's death , then a paralyzed father who he had undoubtedly be taking care of, now he was about to be homeless .
" Son , come here " . Williams called out .
Both trying to be strong, tried to withheld their tears as deji hugged his father , seeing they couldn't hold it any longer, they teared out , letting go of the unseen pain