🕋 Buc - The Last Gate

"Write the end of a possible book."   

I entered the fifth and last Japanese-style gate.

    I glanced around the empty room, wondering what I was supposed to do; it was too dark inside. I could touch the ceiling with my head and wander a bit to both sides. This time, instead of a vast world and thousands of characters watching every move, there was nothing there—No torches nor music, no connection nor any animal. All around me was covered with volcano stone stretching out forward slowly. A couple of seconds later, the hallway-like room recently created stopped. A door-like thing emerged from the wall.

    In front of me was a wooden plank attached to the surface; however, it had no handle. I knock it and back up a few steps to wait. Suddenly, I observed two small aluminum signs appearing from the ground. The left one reads: Welcome to Arena Fournos. At the right of it was the other, higher in altitude but with nothing written on it. I stood there for more seconds until I got closer to pay attention to the small glowing text that emerged. It was the riddle: 

The flower doesn't think.

The camel resists.

The rock awaits.

The winner combines all of them.

    As always, I read it out loud, a melody confirmed my access to what I thought was a dungeon, and the door-like thing burned to ashes. The path opened. I closed my eyes and got into.

    I was in the middle of a stadium-shaped building standing in a squared block of wood. I immediately did a full diagnostic of the area and found out thirty holes scattered all over the place. Also, one statue was located in each of the four corners. When I did my first step out of the block, a colossal floating clock arose on top of my head, showing the number 1,200 counting down. "Oh perfect, I got twenty minutes to accomplish this test," I said. 

The floor was covered with the same aluminum as the previous signs, and the walls were dark as the night. I knew Mika and Orin were behind me and working together this time, so I did not waste time and started moving.

Halfway to the first statue, I noticed my battery was running out faster than ever. I started sweating like never before. I had my hoodie on, but it was not that hot to make me sweat; I thought about that fact before entering the arena. 

    However, I kept my way focused on running faster. I was almost to the first statue when my pocket vibrated. I froze. "Low battery, please charge." I heard the news over my left earbud. I took my telephone out of its cover; it had fifteen percent of the battery. I did not know what had happened; my charge was almost full before entering the gate.  

"Something is wrong with this challenge, I will die if I keep this pace." Quickly afterward, a hot breeze hit me; its odor was similar to coat. Stuck and scared, I got out of my bag my Greek dictionary and looked for the arena's name. I remained paralyzed for a second when I discovered Fournos meant The Oven. "That is why I am dying here," Unsure of what to do next. I glanced back up at the riddle on my phone. 

    "The winner combines all of them..." I whispered. "Should I get back, grab the sign at carrying it with me? No, there is no escape from this place. Should I reach the last statues? No, the riddle does not mention any physical object, and I have no opportunity to get there."  

    For a while, I thought about everything surrounding me, every material, holes, and the clock, but no, they were all distractions. 

    The response was where I had begun—the diamond box. I got back, get on it, and awaited there until the timer ended.

Onward...