Pain was not the first thing he felt when he regained consciousness… it was emptiness.
A strange inner emptiness, as if his body had been drained of something deeper than just energy or physical strength. His bones were still screaming from the previous blow, and his injured arm barely responded, but that was not what occupied him now. What was clear in his mind, without any doubt, was only one truth:
Escape was no longer an option… and hesitation was no longer possible.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked at the silent spaces around him. This world was not only hostile… it was strange, broken, and merciless to those who did not understand it. If he wanted to survive, he did not need to become stronger… but to become smarter inside this madness.
"More data = more adaptation."
The system's voice came calm and direct, as if stating a law that could not be argued.
Ares clenched his teeth and forced his body to stand despite the clear protest of his muscles. He was not ready… but he did not need to be.
This time, he did not head toward the creature randomly.
He returned to it… like someone entering a lesson he knows he will learn the hard way.
The first confrontation did not last long.
He did not try to overpower it, and he did not rush with force as before. He focused on one thing only: observation, then imitation. He tried to repeat the same movements he saw, the same angles, the same flow the creature used to guide its energy.
But his body… did not understand.
When he tried to let the energy "flow," he lost control of it completely. It did not respond, but gathered for a moment inside unstable paths, then exploded chaotically inside his own body.
The pain was internal this time… sharp and spreading, as if his veins themselves were tearing from the inside.
He retreated immediately, his breathing unstable, his eyes narrowing as he tried to understand what happened.
"Error: imitation without structural understanding."
"Result: energy backlash."
He did not comment.
He returned.
In the second confrontation, he changed his method completely.
He abandoned trying to use energy directly and focused only on his body. His steps became heavier but more stable, his strikes simpler but calculated. He relied on pure combat experience, on timing, on reading movement, on fighting as if he had returned to zero.
For a few moments… it worked.
He dodged, approached, and struck.
But that success was shallow.
The creature was not much faster than him… but it was "earlier." Every movement from Ares was correct by itself, but delayed by a small fraction of a second… a fraction that was enough to shift the balance of the fight.
The creature's claw broke through his defense and tore his side with a deep wound, making blood flow faster than he expected.
He retreated again, this time with heavier steps, but he did not fall.
"Improvement in movement decision: +12%."
"Failure in timing: -31%."
He pressed his wound with his hand, his eyes never leaving his opponent.
He was starting to understand… but understanding alone was not enough.
The third confrontation was different.
He no longer tried to be like the creature… but to get closer to it in his own way.
When he moved this time, there was something new in his style. His body led, but the energy… was no longer completely absent. He did not try to control it, but guided it in a simple way, small and light pushes, barely noticeable, but enough to change an angle or speed up a movement.
He rushed, circled around the creature, and delivered a clean strike that hit its target.
For a moment… it worked.
A very short moment.
Because the cost came immediately after.
His body could not handle this new balance yet. The overlap between physical movement and energy guidance created unstable internal pressure, which opened a gap in his defense, and the creature used it immediately.
A direct strike this time knocked him to the ground violently, making his vision blur for a moment.
He did not scream.
But the pain was too deep to ignore.
"Partial success: primitive integration between body and energy."
"Failure: instability in execution structure."
When he stood up for the fourth time… he was not the same.
His movements became slower… but his eyes were calmer.
This time, he did not wait.
He initiated.
He relied on the system's analysis, on all the data he had gathered, and tried to move before the action instead of reacting to it. His body moved based on prediction… not reaction.
At first… it seemed to work.
He dodged one strike, then another, and got closer than in all previous attempts.
But…
The prediction was not complete.
A small error in calculation… a slight difference in timing…
And that was enough.
This time, the creature's strike was not just a hit… but a full impact. It hit his body with force that threw him several meters before he crashed into the ground violently, the air forced out of his chest harshly, as if his lungs refused to work for a moment.
He could not stand up immediately.
His body… had reached its limit.
"Critical failure."
"Danger level: high."
Time passed… without fighting.
An hour… or more.
He was lying there, barely conscious, while his body tried to gather what remained of itself.
Then…
"Analysis complete."
He opened his eyes slowly.
"Result: the creature relies mainly on internal spiritual energy."
"External energy: only a supporting factor."
"Conclusion: the creature is not affected by the chaotic structure of the world."
The system paused for a fraction of a second, then continued:
"Transferring analysis and patterns to host mind."
And in that moment…
What happened was not just "understanding."
It was an invasion.
Information flowed into his mind intensely, not as thoughts… but as experience. A feeling of movement, of flow, of balance, as if he had practiced this style hundreds of times before. He was not learning… he was remembering something he had never lived.
His body trembled for a moment, not from pain… but from pressure.
As if something was being reshaped inside him.
Neural cells being rewired. New pathways opening. Old mistakes being corrected.
Then… silence.
When he opened his eyes after that, the world was the same… but he no longer saw it in the same way.
His breathing became calmer.
His sense of energy… changed.
It was no longer something he tried to grab… but something that moved with him.
He stood up slowly, despite the injuries that had not disappeared, and looked at his hand for a few seconds.
Then he closed it.
Calmly.
A strange feeling passed through him… simple, but deep.
Before… he borrowed power.
Now…
He had started to control it.