I felt a cool breeze passing through my body , it was as if I were flying . I opened my eyes to see nothing. I was falling !
"Ohh shoot, I forgot the suit! "the man said casually.
"What do you mean you forgot the suit ! Wait, you carried nothing. Were you just trying to commit suicide with me? "I cried out.
The people who were selected spread out their arms , and it produced fins under their arms, which made them fly smoothly down like birds.
He laid his hands behind his head as we were falling, saying ,"I should have brought food."
"Why you little. I shouldn't have listened to you. I'm going to die like this no,no,no. I should have known you were crazy..."
"Gimme a brake kid , you're too loud," he rubbed his ears.I closed my eyes, bracing for impact as my heart pounded.
Suddenly I stopped, opening my eyes I saw that he was grabbing me by my collar with one foot on the ground. How did he do that ?I thought. He must be about level 1000 no way beyond that.
He dropped me on the ground with a sigh, "You'll kill yourself with a heart attack soon enough if you can't chill."
"Chill, huh? I'll consider taking meditation classes.", my voice shaked along with my entire body.
"Why did you come here without the suit? Forget that you don't even have a weapon. "
His voice, its him , the man who overshadowed me." I...I...I ", I couldn't bring my words together.
He placed his hand on my head as he said,"Either way, don't worry, I'll protect you both, just try to stay behind me ok"
"Ohh Lucen, you're such a hero," the girls cried out.
I felt cold, and then it quickly turned to anger . I clenched my fist, then let it go in shame, unable to raise my hand to face him less. I looked like a child.
"..I live the world's future in you hands "
I glanced at my bruised hands.
"Bro thinks he has aura. Nicely done kid , it boring when you play with someone strong. Let's go on our own path.", he said as he walked in the filled of white amateurs flowers..
"What are you talking about? You don't even have a weapon,", I cried out.
He smacked my head like a teacher scolding a brat. ," Even an ant has better will power than you" .
I finally raised my head to see that we were in a dense forest . I hadn't expected the green I saw while falling to be trees. The lights rays burley made it throw but it only seemed to be bringing color to the ever green leaves. I hered countless sounds of different animals . But I knew better , I knew that we were right in the masters den .
As I was processing this , a monster came in front of me, ready to strike, giving me no time to react. I gasped as it disappeared, turning to dust.
"Rule no 1! This is the survival of the featest only the strong survive only the quick to think can beat the complex game of life"
"Wo...w how'd yo-", another monster behind me was turned to dust .
"Rule no 2! Always be aware of your saroundings, only a full trust his own shadow "
I lay back, shocked by what I had seen. I hered footsteps of a monster approaching. It was fast ." Rule no 3 everything has a weakness , no matters how much armor you were you can never hide it , you can fool , fools , but not the wise"
I looked at it , a goblin with armor and a sword . What could be it weakness, I thought trying to recall the book I read about monsters , as it got closer, closer,closer...
Ahhhh! I see it. It was like a small spark in its dark figure. It raised it sword to strike, I ducked and punched it at its jow. It turned to dust . I gazed at my hand in owe.
The man grabbed my fist." You don't always need a weapon. All you need is this..."He touched my head.
"This..."He touched my racing heart.
"And this.."He tightened his grip on my fist.
I took him for granted, and I bowed down." Thank you very much sir , I..I I don't know how to thank you for such kindness "tears stinged my eyes as I remembered how I was close to giving up but he gave me hope.
"The names Kaien, try to survive for now kid", he smiled , not one of his casual smiles, but more warm...real.
Evergreen leaves fell as a smooth breeze passed through them, and branches also shook in response. A few goblin heads also fell as they turned to ash.
"That makes 50! I actually did it , I wonder how high my level has gone!"I couldn't control my excitement. I took the goblins dagger looking at giddy reflection.
"I could be in the required level, no, maybe more!", I suddenly saw that I was not the only one in the daggers reflection.
Blood splashed on the white amateur flowers ." You forgot Rule number two, kid."
Kaein was bleeding out with multiple black rods impaled from his back. My smile vanished, and my heart dropped. I tried to reach out to him as he kneeled, but he revolted,
"Don't act stupid, run, kid! You can't beat it , speak help from the others. ", he dropped to his knees .
I glanced at the gorilla sized monster, which was covered in green spikes, staring at us calmly. I was drenched in sweat as I came to realize that he was right.
I turned tail , thinking of how much of a fool I was to let my guard down. How much of a fool I was to think I could actually compete with them.
"Even an ant has better will power than you,"
For a second, I froze, my heart wanted to burst out of my ribs and turn tail ,but my mind...my body turned back . Adrenaline swarmed all over my body spiking up all my senses. If I could use this in my advantage I can...
I threw the goblin dagger I had been carrying directly into its eye. I grabbed Kaien by the shoulder, ready to run. I berley even flinched
Suddenly, I felt dizzy as I inhaled an awful smell. I vomited blood , the monster was producing a poisonous gas . As it dismounted from the tree, I thought if my death would be honored or just be forgotten as a fool who couldn't Obey his higher chi.
"You know I never told you to stay this far behind,"a calm yet cold voice said.
That voice ! A shield appeared to block the monsters punch. As if thinking the same thing, we both gazed up towards the voice , but there was no one there.
"What are you staring at? Is there something on that tree."he said this standing on the monsters head elegantly with one foot.
The monster swinged its arm swiftly towards him ,but to its surprise, it was still fixed on the shield separate from the rest of his body. As it dropped on the ground, he said,
"Your skins pretty strong"
"Hey, now don't have fun in you own", his 3 teammates stood next to me .
For a moment, his purple eyes were fixated upon me , I couldn't tell what his expression was at that moment because of the mask.
"The rest of the squad should be back at base by now. Let me dance a bit, ok guys? "
The monsters hand healed almost instantaneously, and spikes swarmed towards us like a bunch of bees. They turned to dust as fast as they came.
He vanished into the trees, dodging the spikes as they got faster. He decapitated both it hands , but they regenerated into tanticles with spikes.
They sliced the branches without effort. Lucen was in a tough situation, but he still moved elegantly evading it attacks. He suddenly appeared behind the monster.
"Thanks for the dance,"
It turned towards him, but it's head disobeyed his command. It turned upwards then downwards. It had been decapitated.
"He really likes to show of even without that many huns ", one of the men sighed.
"Ohh Lucen !!"The two girls were shaking at their feet.
Why are they so calm ? How...no when? He made it look easy .
I bowed my head to avoid eye contact with him as he drew closer. How pathetic I was, I couldn't even scratch it with the goblin dagger.
I tensed up. I hered a small growl as it was of a dog.
Something splashed on my face, I wiped and gazed at it, and to my surprise, it was blood . I looked at Lucen in horror.
"Ru...n", he coughed blood as a result of being impaled by a huge spike.
"Ahhhhh! Lu ..Lu...Lucen!"
The girls grabbed each other as they processed the scene. With tears in their eyes, they turned tail and ran.
As they did so, they were chopped into ice cubes. The other man in anger ran towards the huge gorilla like monster, which had miraculously survived and got stronger, seemingly by bonding with the trees .
The man's head was wiped clean of. Kaein was bleeding out kneeling in one knee, Lucen was in the same situation. Somehow, I'm still alive , though I'm the weakest out of all of them. Somehow, Lucen couldn't kill the monster.
Run, they say. That is the obvious thing to do . Although poisoned, I can still make it to base thanks to the shield. I smiled as I thought, Kaein was right that in this world, it's the survival of the fittest.
During the fight, I saw it weakness under those spikes. It really tried to hide it , but then again, even if I informed Lucen what good would he do. Die today as a warrior or run like a coward for another tomorrow. The answer was simple, right, mom?
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I was calm yet also tired , I really should consider those meditation classes. I thought as I approached the monster.
Kaien smiled
Lucen gasped in shock
My slow movement turned to a slow run then faster and faster as I bent downwards to avoid the gas. I probably wont survive this, but i owe it to them to also do my part. I dodged the spikes and climbed on them to elevate myself towards the monster.
Somehow, things seemed slower it glanced into my eyes before. .. I impaled it next to it liver. I felt it heartbeat as I went deeper. It cried out and let out spikes laced with poison as a defense mechanism.
They impaled me, my grip losend , I felt myself losing consciousness.
Shit this is it , no not yet , i rememberer all the training, the failure and the rules of surviving in this cruel world. A world where only the strong survive
"Zoro I couldn't help but go easy on him"
I screamed out, tightening my grip and pulling the sword even deeper. Then, with both hands, I pulled it downwards, cutting it in half.
"That was fast," Lucen said in owe before losing consciousness.
"Now look whose showing of , good job ki..d",Kaein fell asleep.
The amateur flowers were painted red with blood. Surprisingly, it did not turn into ash . I looked up tiredly at the ever green leaves. Did I make you proud, mom? I thought as I closed my eyes.