Because of his condition, he planned on doing his workout regimen in small steps.
As such, it was 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats and after an hour, he would make it to 200.
But for the run.
Ferris suddenly felt like running the full 100 kilometers in one go.
Without thinking, he bolted with everything he had. Why is it coming straight for me?! A hint of panic surged through him as he glanced back and saw the figure gaining ground.
It's not dragon level at least… It might be a demon… But it's still a demon-level aberrant!
After 5 minutes of straight sprinting, his body began to break down slowly.
His essence powering his body, his perfect technique of running taught to him by his teacher.
It wasn't enough!
Ferris knew his body well. He had his limits, his breaking point. For him to fall now, all it would take was one push to throw him off.
But with the impending doom approaching, Ferris found it hard to focus on maintaining his perfect rhythm.
As every minute passed, the steps became louder and more imposing. He could literally feel how far it was from the shock alone.
Turning around, he could see the imposing monster.
Was it a dinosaur disguised as a mountain? Or a mountain disguised as a dinosaur?
From the looks of it, the aberrant stood tall on two massive legs, each step cracking the earth beneath it and a thick, muscular tail extended from its back, its length easily dwarfed its own towering height.
Its scales resembled scorched rock, while a red seething aura emitted from its body like heat radiating from a burning charcoal.
Ignoring its comically short arms, it was as if the devil himself sculpted the aberrant into such a monstrous figure.
50 meters? No, 60!
Ferris chuckled internally. I can't even see where its eyes are… does it even see me?
Ah… He had an epiphany.
Maybe I should've run to the side instead of running along its path.
Unfortunately, at that fleeting moment, his body eventually gave out under the extreme stresses.
Slip.
Crash.
It was due to a failure in sticking the landing that Ferris's ankle broke and caused him to fall on his shoulders.
Damn… Ferris looked at the monster which was looming so close to him.
Eventually, it was close enough that he could see its eyes.
Ah… There would've been no point in running away from its path.
That bastard is looking right at me.
All of a sudden, the essence around him began moving towards the aberrant as if it was being sucked into a vacuum.
Ferris raised his brows. It was similar to dragon's breath that the dragons of his old world used.
They didn't breathe fire but rather, they breathed out pure destructive essence that obliterates everything in its path.
This aberrant had a similar mechanism. But unlike the elegance of a dragon, it twisted its entire body grotesquely before unleashing it. Its jaw split open into multiple segments, peeling back to reveal a revolting tunnel of flesh and spiraling teeth that coiled inward like the maw of a giant leech with each layer twitching and flexing in a manner very sickening.
"Seriously, you could just stomp me…" he said to the monster.
A beast that used all of its strength to hunt a mere rabbit.
It was a funny scenario indeed.
A crimson orb gathered in front of its mouth as the essence kept pouring in endlessly to fuel its own dragon breath.
Even the air was being sucked around him, prompting him to laugh as he had a thought about the aberrant smelling his smelly state and knocking itself out.
This must be how they felt, facing against Jörmungandr, Ferris wondered helplessly.
Standing against an unstoppable being that was backed by a prophecy.
Damn, I didn't even fulfill Ferris's—no… my dream. I didn't even get to become a hero.
I'm going to die again, because I didn't try hard enough…
I'm going to die again because I lacked the talent needed.
Even with my past memories, I could only go so far in half a month.
This must be my limit…
. . .
As the orb grew large enough, the aberrant hunched its back as it blasted a ray of pure destruction towards him.
Regardless of his weakness, Ferris still tried to block the incoming ray by simply covering his head.
Boom!
The only sound that reached his ears was the unrelenting roar of thunder, crashing over and over without end.
His skin burned as if he was inside an oven.
But what was strange was, he was surprisingly still alive.
He opened his eyes to see a metallic wall in front of him.
"A wall?" He questioned what he was seeing, but he quickly realized that it wasn't a wall.
But a shield!
Ferris lifted his head higher, his gaze climbing past the towering shield.
There—a colossal robotic arm braced behind it. His eyes followed the curve of its armor, taking in the stark white scheme that was finished like the fresh paint job of a sportscar.
Ferris's eyes landed on its head.
A single, glowing red eye was swiveling around left and right.
That's!
Prodigy Prince.
S-Class Hero – Rank 10.
Unnamed blessing.
A booming speaker emerged from the massive mech.
"Why're you here? Did you not receive the evacuation orders?"
The thunderous noises ceased as the heat finally disappeared.
"Stay put."
The mecha stood up, its shield that it used to protect Ferris raised from the ground, leaving a large crater.
Although it was incomparably smaller than the aberrant, it felt even bigger due to it being right in front of him.
A golem? Ferris's expression was momentarily out of reality because of the sudden appearance of his savior.
No...
Compared to Firefly's transformation, this was a true mech!
The aberrant stood still as it watched the sudden appearance of the big metal human that stood in opposition towards it.
For the aberrant, it felt as if it was being mocked!
A booming roar engulfed the entire plain, causing every blade of leaf to tremble away.
But Prodigy Prince was unfazed as he grabbed a large rifle on his mech's waist.
It was as large as a school bus!
He did not waste a single second as he immediately aimed the gun and fired his own version of dragon breath.
Essence? Such power! Ferris ducked and covered his ears. The beam of light fired created a loud thunderous sound.
The beam hit square on the aberrant's face, however, it didn't move an inch.
But it did create a smoke screen which blocked its sight.
Taking his chance, Prodigy Prince pushed the throttle on his mech all the way to the max.
A large burst of flames erupted from its backpack and under his feet as it flew towards the monster.
The mech then pulled out a cylindrical-shaped tool from its backpack which ignited into a stream of pure essence.
Sword essence?
Gosh.
Ferris's original instinct kicked in and he couldn't help but blush. That's so damn cool...
As Prodigy Prince flew closer, he prepared to strike the aberrant's neck clean off.
However.
"The tail!" Ferris couldn't help but shout his warning.
Before Prodigy Prince knew it, the mech was already shrugged away from the sudden tail sweep.
But as expected, an S-class hero wouldn't fall so easily.
"My ping is high y'know? I was lagging!" Prodigy Prince reasoned to the unreasonable aberrant.
Ferris listened at the excuse, but he was sure of one thing.
It was that Prodigy Prince wasn't inside the mech.
I can't believe he'll use his Wi-Fi as an excuse...
"Don't underestimate me!"
Ferris watched as the two monsters clash, each of their beams and attacks shook the air and ground around them—but it was clear who held the upper hand.
The aberrant was massive, its strength overwhelming and brutal but it was slow.
In contrast, the Prodigy Prince's mech danced around it gracefully. It lacked the raw firepower to match the aberrant blow for blow, but in terms of speed and precision, it was operating on a whole different level.