Kaid woke up to a jolt as lighting struck a tree not too far away from him.
He was already on his feet and sprinting before the splintered pieces of the tree hit the ground.
'South 30 second. South east 20 second. North west 17 second,' thought Kaid.
He was maintaining a steady pace at the moment while keeping track of how long before he would converge with the beasts. He was currently headed directly south, his target being 200 meters away.
'Not enough time. They'll converge on me soon. They're getting faster.'
With that new assessment Kaid changed direction, heading south west, without slowing down. He began pushing his body past it's limit as he charged through the jungle. He wouldn't be able to maintain this pace for long but if he could reach his target before the three beasts converged on him, he'd survive the initial encounter. Kaid had repeated this training session enough times to know that he'd need as much time as possible in the beginning away from the beast in order to successfully escape. His final destination was 100 kilometers away so whatever time he was able to by himself would be invaluable. That's why he'd decided to change his strategy since before he'd only been able to get about halfway before he'd get killed by the beasts.
The worst part about the whole ordeal was that the beasts also seemed to retain their memories of each successive encounter. He found that out the hard way when he tried to recreate a successful run that had garnered him a lot of distance from them only to find that they had also remember how the previous encounter had gone and were able to track him down successfully. They'd also discovered where his initial start point was so now after each reset they would immediately charge towards his predicted location. These creatures were deceptively intelligent.
Kaid tried to control his breathing as he maintained his debilitating running pace.
'Shit, I can only keep this up for 15 seconds at most. First one will be here in 11 seconds. I guess it'll have to be down the river again, let's see if I survive this time.'
Kaid had been heading towards a cliff face 300 meters from his initial start point. It overlooked a waterfall that opened up and split into two rivers heading out of the heart of the jungle. Because the source of the waterfall was the river directly west Kaid had previously tried multiple times surviving its torrent and making it down the waterfall to the diverging rivers below. However, both times were unsuccessful as currents of the river were stronger than he'd imagined. The initial shock to his body from the freezing river combined with the strong pull of the river would always leave him powerless and at the mercy of the river. The first time he ended up slamming against a boulder in the river and instantly dying. The second time he wasn't able to survive the impact as he fell from the top of the waterfall. Because of these encounters he'd decided to follow the cliff side and go down the slope on the south eastern side. However, that strategy was now killed as the beast seemed to already have an idea of his plan.
Kaid could now see the river and the surge of water causing its banks to overflow. He continued running until he reached the edge of the river before jumping in headfirst without hesitation. Although he'd already done this a few times, the shock to his body from the cold water was nonetheless still disorientating. Kaid let the currents drag him along as he tried to keep his breath, unable to fight against the unrelenting force.
'3 seconds,' thought Kaid as he assessed the situation while trying to maintain his composure as he was constantly being dragged underwater.
He didn't see the moment he hit the mouth of the waterfall, but he could feel it. A sinking feeling and a sense of weightlessness engulfed him as he started heading downwards at a rapid pace. He knew very well his survival at this crucial moment would come down to luck. The bottom of the waterfall could practically be considered a death trap as jagged rocks were sprawled all about. If he hit any of them at best he'd instantly die and at worst be severely crippled. He closed his eyes and calmed his mind as he plummeted to the depths below.
Kaid had never been a lucky person, always ending up with the short end of the stick, but maybe that was finally changing as he managed to fall directly in between two boulders safely submerging beneath the water without a scrape.
He resurfaced and started swimming with his quickly fading strength towards the diverging river on his right. Kaid was already thinking up his next course of action. He knew that it'd take the beasts a while to catch up to him now, but they eventually would before he reached his destination. In order to gain the most advantage from this circumstance he chooses to follow the river on the right and let it carry him for as long as possible.
The river would continue southward for a time before curving and start heading west. He'd let it carry him until that bend in the river occurred, at which point he'd quickly get out and continue his journey on foot. Luckily the got progressively weaker as he headed away from the heart of the jungle meaning it wouldn't be too difficult for him to get out when the time came. In the meantime, Kaid took the opportunity to recuperate some of his strength.
'Let's make this one count.'
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The river had carried him for 66 Kilometers before Kaid needed to get out. He'd managed to recover enough strength to be able to maintain a steady jog through the jungle. At his current pace he'd need around 4 hours before he'd make it to his final destination. Although this wasn't a terrible pace, he knew that he'd get overtaken by the beast in about 2-3 hours. Right now, they were probably still following the river as they tracked his path. In order to effectively track him they'd have to slow down which gave him time but not enough.
He'd need to find a few ways to delay them but that was easier said than done. Those beasts didn't track his scent or anything of that sort, instead they tracked the faint traces of his soul essence. This would prove difficult further in towards the heart of the jungle where the storm was raging but once they tracked him further down it'd get easier and their pace quickening. Until then he needed to make the best of his advantage.
As he continued his jog he noticed that the jungle was starting to thin out as the trees became less abundant and the plant life less abundant. Kaid had never been this far out of the jungle so he was pleasantly surprised by the progressive thinning which indicated that the jungle would soon end, and he'd come upon a clearing. Although it'd be a while before he reached the edge of the jungle, his pace got faster as he found it progressively easier to run through the jungle. If this kept up Kaid assessed that he might be able to make it this time.
With this newfound encouragement Kaid focused on his breathing and steeled his mind for the long run.
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"Don't you guys have anything better to do?!" shouted Kaid as he sprinted towards the pillar of white light a Kilometer away. He hadn't known what he was heading towards in the beginning, only knowing he needed to go south after his 3rd failed escape attempt, but now he could clearly see the destination before him. The only thing now standing in his way being the beasts following behind at an incredible pace. Because he had long ago gotten out of the jungle and was now somewhere within a barren clearing, he was able to see the beasts following right behind when they were 20 kilometers away. Within 10 minutes they'd already closed the distance by a good amount, and it'd be less than 5 minutes before they reached him.
At this point Kaid was already reaching his breaking point but was still pushing his body past it's limits. He could taste blood as his body started to breakdown, his lungs nearing collapse, his legs feeling like they were about to snap, and yet further still did he push his body. Kaid willed himself to endure and focused his mind solely on the task before him. His awareness slowly faded as his concentration heightened solely on his target. This was now a battle between his will and his body. Would he break before he reached his target, or would this be this be his first successful run?
Even though he'd dulled his awareness to combat the pain, Kaid could still feel the beasts closing in on him, their pace getting faster as the sound of their feet thundered across wilderness. Although his mind was completely composed his face twisted into a strange grimace as pain continued to hit him from all parts of his body.
'10 seconds,' thought Kaid. He was almost within grasps of the pillar of light. The beasts were almost within range to launch an attack. He knew he wouldn't be able to escape without receiving at least one of their attacks and because of this he prepared himself to receive an attack.
'3 seconds!'
He was 20 meters away from his target before he felt a searing pain in his stomach as one of the beasts launched their attack putting a hole through his stomach. Even though he'd prepared for an attack the pain still shook him, but he didn't falter. He quickly closed the distance and entered the white light before the beast could launch a second attack.
The moment he entered the light the scenery disappeared, and he was now stumbling within the familiar white world of the mind space. After regaining his balance Kaid let out a sigh of relief. His wound, and the pain he'd been feeling, were gone as his body was now back to perfect condition.
A notification quickly popped up and Kaid was horrified by what he read.
[1/8 runs completed. Restarting scenario.]
Before he could utter a single thought his consciousness faded.
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Kaid woke up to a jolt as lighting struck a tree not too far away from him.
An inhuman shout left his mouth as rage welled up inside him.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Kaid stood there for a second letting the full weight of the situation hit him. He was trapped in this world doomed to repeat this whole scenario unless he completed his escape 7 more times. Maybe he was learning to adapt or maybe it was just the madness settling in but Kaid was able to quickly calm his mind and begin devising a new escape plan.
'Just 7 more times. Nothing to it,' thought Kaid. With this false bravado he braced himself for the long journey.
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[Training summary....]
[1st run 190 hours. 10 deaths.]
[2nd run 210 hours. 4 deaths.]
[3rd run 92 hours. 12 deaths.]
[4th run 63 hours. 3 deaths.]
[5th run 55 hours. 6 deaths.]
[6th run 32 hours. 8 deaths.]
[7th run 215 hours. 0 deaths.]
[8th run 12 hours. 1 death.]
[Congratulations Tactics {LV 0} training completed.]
[Tactics {LV 1} training available.]
[Requirements met. Would you like to continue?]
Kaid sat there on the floor of the mind space looking off into the white distant. If anyone had seen him at this moment they might have thought that he'd gone crazy as his dead eyes continued to stare of into the distance. Given the experience he'd just undergone it made sense that he'd come back a little different, but it wasn't madness that was reflected in his eyes. Past the dead look in his eyes a terrifying beast lay in wait.
Kaid had undergone a slow transformation as his instincts and intuition were heightened to a monstrous degree. He was capable of things he never would have imagined possible. As he sat there he came to realize the true purpose of the Tactics training. It was there to help him hone his ability to accumulate and analyze information, accurately assess situations almost instantaneously, and gain the necessary experience to be able to make quick decisions based on his understanding of himself and the circumstance.
Although these were all things Kaid could naturally gain overtime, he knew very well that the current level of clearness in thought, and confidence, was not something he could possibly reach in such a short amount of time. Additionally, this was just the beginning, he'd only completed the introduction. From this point onward the training would only get more difficult as the challenges became more impossible.
As his attention finally reverted back to the series of notifications Kaid thought whether he should continue on with the training. He thought he'd be dissuaded by the idea, but he was surprised by his own excitement at the thought of the next challenge. He had to quell his beating heart as he further assessed his situation.
'It's been about three days in the real world, I need to focus on source energy,' thought Kaid. The Ranker assessment would take place in 2 days, so it made sense for him to continue his source training.
'System what's my status?'
[Analyzing...]
[Results.
God Candidate
STR: 177
DEX: 170
AGI: 168
STM: 169
INT: 101
WILL: 212
Additional information.
Life force: 991
Energy Source: 98
Abilities:
Absorption {3.9%}
Full Armor {5.9%}
Guard {9.3%}
Sacrifice {1.3%}
---Ascension 1.11/100---]
'Oh, it's over 100. Is that why I feel a little different,' thought Kaid.
[Correct. Cognitive abilities are now enhanced to 10 times their original.]
'Well isn't that nice,' thought Kaid slightly sarcastically. 'It only cost me a little bit of my sanity.'
[Current mental state stable.]
'That's not what I meant.'
[Ascension progress made.]
'Again? Is it for the same reason as last time?' asked kaid with a single eyebrow raised.
[Correct. Interference on ascension bridge detected.]
[Source unidentified. No hostility detected.]
Although Kaid had an idea as to what was causing the disturbance he still needed more information before he came anything conclusive. The one thing he knew was that someone or something was watching him and helping him along the way.
'I'll be switching to source energy training, but before that I need a quick break before I actually go insane.'
With that Kaid closed his eyes as his awareness faded and he returned to the real world.