The Holder of the Challenge

Before you even think to attempt this, be sure to have at least four Objects that are used for combat. Good examples would be the crystal spear from the Holder of Strength and the breastplate from the Holder of Cowardice, but leave them at your house or wherever you keep the Objects you have gotten.

In any city, in any country, go to any sports stadium you can get yourself to, be it football, baseball, or even a cybergames stadium it wouldn't matter. When you reach the front desk, buy a ticket for an upcoming game and tell the ticket clerk that you want to rise to the challenge. If done with sincerity and determination, the clerk should print a bloodstained ticket, hand it to you, and whisper something about Caesar. If the clerk fails to do any of these, go home, call your loved ones and tell them anything you want, for you have attempted something you're deemed unworthy of and the Holder of the Challenge never forgives insolence. There will be a date printed on the ticket. It will be random but will always be in the future, never in the past. I suggest you do a tremendous amount of physical training and condition yourself mentally before the printed date.

On the day printed, hail a taxi from your home. Be sure to bring the little black ball from the Holder of the Loop, and tell the driver to drive to the unending horizon. Sit back and relax, for this will be your last chance to do so. As you drive through the city, you will notice everything go backward in time, even your taxi. Once you know, you are riding a chariot. Steel yourself, for if you fall, even the Language has no words to describe your fate. Your ride will eventually come to a halt in front of a half Colosseum. Be alert, for the driver will punch you. If you are quick enough to notice, meet his balled fist with yours and you are sure to get a grin from him. Dodge or get hit by his fist, and you are sure to be knocked out only to wake to a fate even the gods would fear. After your "driver" grins at you, you may now walk to the Colosseum unharmed.

When you enter the Colosseum, you'd think that the outside appearance of being half was just an illusion, but on close inspection, you'd notice that the other "half" is only a reflection from a huge mirror. Approach the mirror and put your palm against the palm of your reflection. Now verbalize your intention to be tested. It doesn't matter what you say or how you say it as long as your intention is clear. If you do not have any true intent of the challenge inside you, you'd see the mirror swallow your palm, slowly drawing you in for years, decades, centuries to pass and the thought of their impending fate claims insolent Seekers long before the mirror does. If you are successful, however, the mirror should crack from your palm and the crack will extend to the whole length of it. It will then shatter to pieces and you would see the other half of the Colosseum and your rival, the person whose abilities match yours or is the nearest to yours (If you are too superior or inferior to anyone you know, you would see yourself instead) and touching your palm with his/hers. A booming voice inside your head will now explain to you the secrets of the Objects you have earned in your travels and will explain to you that you will have to demonstrate to the Holder of the Challenge your worth.

You now need to visualize the four combat Objects you left behind and they will materialize in the air in front of you (note that visualizing the delete key will delete your own soul as it will make things too easy and the Holder never wants things easy; also, visualizing any other item that is not an Object you have earned will ensure that the tale of your fate beyond will be best left untold). The Objects you visualized will now go to each of your hands, both yours and your rival's. By now both of you will have been filled with bloodlust and attack each other for an indefinite amount of time until one of you falls. You WILL feel fatigue, hunger, thirst, and all other normal urges your body has had but inexplicably you will always find yourself at full strength without having to relieve these urges.

Your battle will rage on for centuries to come, never being able to end it as you are both equally matched. If you ever find any of your Objects shattered to pieces by your opponent's or vice-versa, throw that little black ball into the pieces of that Object and it will repair itself, though a more accurate term is that it would recreate itself and you'd find that little black ball back in your pocket. After what would seem like an eon of battle, the Holder will order you to stop your battle. If, at any time sooner than this, you find yourself killing your opponent or vice-versa, curse the god who created you, for your fate is that of a Seeker without Objects to be sought, an empty life until eternity, doomed for neither failure nor success but the void in between. Once the Holder commands you to stop, immediately drop your weapon and kneel like a knight would kneel to his liege. It would now be wise to brace your mind for all that fatigue. Those urges you ignored will hit you, now driving you into that thin line between sanity and insanity.

If you have kept your mind through all of these, listen to the Holder as he tells you tales of epic heroes and their journeys. Some you may recognize and some you will have not known of until now. Be wary if the Holder ever stops. You would need to ask him, "What do They aim for?" He will tell you Their tale, Their reasons, Their motives. Listen to this but pray that you do not comprehend it, for you will surely go mad. After Their tale, the Holder would call you by your full name. Lift your head but do not move away from your kneeling position. You would now see the Holder. Bask in his glorious yet threatening aura, for you have surely earned it. The Holder will string a bronze necklace with a platinum heart that resonates with your heartbeat around you. It will wrap you in a true sense of satisfaction and you will righteously feel that it belongs to you, but its beatings will stop for a moment and surely you will faint at the feeling that your own heart will stop beating. The next time you wake up, you will be in front of your house with a taxi in front of you on the exact date you left. Promptly and politely apologize to the taxi driver and tell him you feel tired because, frankly, you really are. Go back into your house and rest well knowing that your necklace will never stop beating until the moment your own heart stops.

This necklace is Object 352 of 2538. You have beaten a challenge, will you now seek more?