"CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST TRIAL."

              "Cool, where's my dragon?" Paula asked.

              "YOU MUST PASS ALL 10 TRIALS TO RECEIVE A WISH."

              "What? How come nobody told me?"

              "That's literally what Ned said at the beginning," I responded annoyed, "don't you remember him also saying there'd be a trial every 2 days and infinite attempts?"

              "Do I look like I'm good at listening?"

              "FOR COMPLETING THE FIRST TRIAL, YOU GET A COMPLEMENTARY MINI PRIZE."

              "Oh cool what's that?" Melanie asked.

              "YOU GET THIS HARPOON GUN TO HELP YOU CATCH BIGGER FISH."

              Suddenly in front of us, out popped from the ground a podium with a single harpoon gun on it.

              "Neat! I can use this on Xavshit if we ever run out of food!"

              "You better not!" I said running up and grabbing the gun before Paula had a chance to grab it herself.

              "NOW PLEASE LEAVE BEFORE THIS CAVE COLLAPSES AS THE NEXT TRIAL GETS SET UP."

              "What, like Indian…"

              "THAT'S FOR SURE COPYRIGHTED SO I WILL INTERRUPT YOU AND HAVE A LARGE CHUNK OF THE CEILING COLLAPSE IN FRONT OF YOU TO SHOW YOU THE THREAT."

              Just as Ned finished, exactly what he said happened as the room we were in began shaking violently and a large limestone block of the ceiling fell right in front of us. Hurriedly, we ran back out the tunnel and back to entrance part of the cave. When we arrived behind the first wall with the first screen on the podium, the wall leading to the tunnel suddenly closed inward.

              "THANK YOU FOR PLAYING, COME BACK AGAIN IN 2 DAYS FOR TRIAL 2."

              "Jeez what a crazy day, did you guys think when you got here that you would be… guys?"

              However, as I looked around, I noticed Paula was not paying much attention to me as she had gotten out her Gameboy and begun playing Pokemon again. As well, lying on her back next to me, appeared an unconscious Melanie who seemed to have exhausted all of her stamina running across the tunnel.

              "Well, at least you're with me on the craziness right Fiona? I'm sure this definitely isn't what you expected when you got here am I right?"

              Fiona however, just looked at me with a cold expression.

              "Wayne Gretzky."

              "What?"

              "The Great One."

              "I'm sorry Fiona but I don't exactly know what you're talking…"

              "Filthy casual."

              And with that, Fiona simply walked out of the cave and began heading back to our tents. Following close behind her was Paula who did not seem to shift her eyes one bit from her gaming device. Sighing and being careful as to not scratch her with the harpoon gun, I put Melanie on my back and followed them as well.

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              "How… how the hell did you catch that?" I said looking at two girls who were approaching me while I was sitting down next to our usual campfire spot. 16 marks were now present on the rock.

              "What? Nobody cares about that?"

              Speaking to my right was a red haired android who had decided to take a swig of maple syrup to discuss a topic that she deemed to be of utmost important.

              "Just remember that in the NHL there are 6 players on each side. Well, unless someone gets a penalty and gets taken into the penalty box. Oh, and there are 7 Canadian hockey franchises. Honestly the greatest franchises in history. Yankees can suck it. Oh well, except I guess the Toronto Raptors in 2019 who also won the NBA championship. Imagine that! A Canadian team winning at basketball hahahahaha."

              "I saw it swimming nearby and nailed it with the harpoon gun!" Melanie said as she and Paula sat back down to our campsite having gone on a fishing expedition in the morning. In her hand, almost half her size, Melanie was holding a swordfish with a visible harpoon mark in it.

              "Whatcha think? Pretty good for a survival extraordinaire right?"

              "Hey I'm talking to you right now about matters of great importance Xavier!" Fiona shouted at me annoyed.

              "Woah what's up with her?" Paula asked, "total personality change for toots. I like it."

              "What?"

              Unfortunately for Paula, her timing was a little off as it appeared that Fiona's maple syrup effect had worn off and she changed back to her usual deadpan expression.

              "Just now Fiona," Paula said, "you were totally just talking superfast about some stuff passionately. I like that in a girl you know."

              "No."

              "…"

              "…"

              "Nevermind…"

              Whelp, nothing else too interesting really happened that day. Apparently Melanie had learned how to use a harpoon gun from watching fishing documentaries or something. Quite useful I must say, and made me wonder if we'd be getting one of these mini prizes after each completed cave trial. At this time, I had decided to stop thinking logically about everything, no point, just going to see how everything falls into place.

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