The following morning. Everyone who was about to have bite of the food in their plates stopped. The atmosphere was tense. Only Marx could be seen smiling.
"You know that the rest of the humans live here. Why would you want to leave? No one has left to explore the outside world for five hundred years. It is very dangerous out there," Jairus said with a concerned look.
Marx had broken to them that he was planning to leave later that day. He had told them that he was not just exploring the city but the rest of the continent.
"Old man, I know all that and that's why I am going to have an adventure," Marx replied.
"Then why don't you take some of your agemates with you? It may be safer that way," his grandmother said.
" It may be safe that way but it will not be safe for them. Also going alone will reduce casualties. I am a tough nut to crack you know..." He said casually.
" I am not letting my son go. You should have informed us earlier," his mother refuted.
" My bad. We would still be discussing whether I should go or not had I told you days before. That is why I decided to inform you about it when am ready to leave. I am all set," Marx said in the same tone.
" Don't you care about our feelings?" His father asked.
" I know how you feel but, the village is no longer fun. I want to explore the rest of the world. I promise that I will be safe," he said reassuringly.
" Silence means yes. That means that I am leaving today at noon. Thank you for your permission," he said and continued eating. Everyone looked at him with disbelief. Just how could he be that casual about leaving his family?
"You do as you wish but know we never agreed to you leaving," his mother said.
"That was exactly what I was waiting for you to say. Thankfully you granted me permission. I love you a lot for that," he said playfully.
"I..." His mother lacked words to riducule and just pointed at him with angrily.
"I see, no more disagreements," Marx said and the topic ended just like that.
They had breakfast in silence. Marx finished his food first and went to the store. He had collected more than ten bikes and had them stored there. He picked a blue bike. He then wiped off the dust and leaned it on the tree.
He went back to his room and packed three pants and several t-shirts in his backpack. He then carried it and headed outside.
"Were you not going later noon?" His mother asked when she saw him set to leave.
"After you agreed to me leaving I was struck that maybe leaving early would make me come back early," he said smiling and avoiding his mother's gaze.
He hopped on the bike and left the compound. The rest of the family stood at the main door watching him leaving. Maybe he was possesed for real... He disappered from their view and his father was left consoling his mother.
"He has grown up a lot. He surely thinks about you the most. Don't think that he ignores you," his father said his hand on her back. She raised her head and saw his proud smile. She couldn't help but smile.
***
Marx rode through the forest and headed towards the city. He finally stopped in the front part of the city as the system instructed.
[Scanning the area 500km]
Marx saw the notification. A map appeared on the screen. All buildings were mapped. The city was surprisingly 200km. He realized that he had explored very little area of the city.
[You should head on straight following the main road. It will take you up to four hours if you maintain a speed of 50km/hr]
"How do I know the speed I am moving at?"
[System automatically records everything you see. You speed will be displayed on the left part of the screen.
[Okm/hr]
Marx was realizing the straightforward nature of the system. This time he smiled knowing that everything he did would be recorded. It would be more fun years later watching his life with his family.
He started paddling and the system started calculating. After five minutes;
[10km/hr]
[15km/hr]
[20km/hr]
Marx at first maintained the speed of 20kmhr before he once again got the momentum and the speed rose.
[25km/hr]
Seeing the constant rise gave him more motivation as he paddled even faster. The speed kept rising and his excitement rose.
[Ran 500m]
Marx was excited seeing that cycling could be counted as running.
[05:58:55]
He had even forgotten about the daily exercise. It seemed that it had just started the countdown. He excitedly peddled knowing that he was going to skip running.
[55km/hr]
He decided to maintain the speed. He could tell that without the systems boost, the wind could probably wound his eyes. He rode past the buildings he had never seen before. He could also see the map that kept disappearing and appearing every now and then.
He wondered why the system was not taking away the boost and he was tempted to ask.
[System boost deactivates in ten seconds. System's kindness has been revoked
[00:00:09]
Marx pressed the brakes gradually and by the time the contdown clocked 0, he was moving at a speed he could manage on his own.
[20km/hr]
He sighed as he peddled. He could feel that he would still have to reduce his speed soon.
[Ran 1km]
When the system displayed the notification, he almost jumped off and ran on his own. It seemed that he needed to go at a speed greater so that the system would count the distance ran fairly.
He was also realizing that the system was counting faster when he was approaching his limits. He was feeling his throat dry up and it was then that it hit him.
The secret to surpass his limits was reaching his limits first. If got tired, then that was his limit. There was a theory he was about to discover. One cannot get tired twice.
If he kept a constant increase speed when still tired, he would be surpassing his limits. He paddled faster so that he could get tired faster and reach his limit. When he was at his limit, then he would have to make it his new starting point.
He paddled faster and he felt his lungs burning up. Even his muscles felt non existent. A sweat was forming on his forehead and his t-shirt was all drenched in sweat.
[35km/hr
[Distance ran 3km]
At the moment, he felt like his lungs could explode. Every breath he took was exhausted instantly. He was using his mouth to supplement for the high demand for air. Even his legs felt like they could not move again.
"This is it. My limit. It is now my starting point!"
Ignoring all the exhaustion, he started paddling faster at a slightly faster pace. He could even hear the cries from his cells but he knew that he could not stop. He was already tired and he could not get tired twice.
He felt like his legs were coming off but he could also feel that he was slowly getting used to the tiredness. He did not stop and kept paddling increasing his pace slightly.
Once he felt like he was getting used to the exhaustion, he could increase the pace.
[Distance ran 10km]
Marx saw the notification on the screen. He was now finally at his real limit. He would just maintain that speed till he got used to it.
[40km/hr]
He was now at his top speed. Now, he felt that if he tried to exceed that speed, he would just collapse. He accepted his current limit. He wanted the boosts back as soon as possible. He wanted to reach their destination faster.
He stopped at the middle of the road and started doing push-ups. The system would display his push-up count avery ten seconds. It took almost five minutes because he was not doing them fast. The same happened for the sit-ups and in twenty minutes, it was mission accomplished.
[Mission seat 1 completed. Rewards,
1;System boost_ x10.
2;[]
3;[]
Choose between box 2 and box 3]
Max smiled. There was no way there would be new rewards. He knew that the system would have to reward him to access system's features for five minutes.
Then, it would probably bring another reward as number 3. He smiled at his careful analysis and chose box number 2.
[2; Limited access to knowledge for twenty minutes.
3; Access to system's features for ten minutes]
Marx laughed at his careful analysis. He saw box number three disappear and he saw the countdown had already started. It seemed it would start immediately he saw it.
[00:19:57]
Coincidentally, he heard a scream.