I floated above the wasteland, feeling the energy pulsing steadily within me…
But I wasn't done with testing the limits of my newly awakened powers…
One day, while flying, a sudden thought crossed my mind…
"How fast can I really fly?!" I muttered with a grin tugging at my lips. The thought was electric. The excitement sent a thrill down my spine. "Let's find out..."
I tilted my body forward, easing into motion. As I picked up speed, the wind began to rush past me, cool against my skin. It felt smooth and effortless. The energy inside me responded perfectly to my commands…
"This is too easy…" I said with a laugh. "Faster…"
I pushed harder, leaning forward and letting the energy surge through me. The ground below blurred. The sound of the wind grew louder, almost deafening, and my body felt like it was slicing through the air itself…
The roar deepened, becoming a low, metallic hum as I approached the sound barrier. My heart pounded in anticipation, the adrenaline rush fueling my need for more…
Then it happened… A thunderous boom echoed around me as I broke through the sound barrier. The shockwave rippled outward, shaking the ground below...
"Alright…" I said, grinning wildly. "That's one barrier down. Let's see how far we can push this…."
I leaned forward again, pushing the energy harder. The wind around me grew violent, the hum becoming a high-pitched scream. My body felt weightless, and the pull of gravity felt irrelevant against the power that coursed through me. The ground below became harder to see. Everything around me became blurry...
I was accelerating two times the speed of sound, then three times, then four… I kept pushing myself beyond the limits…
The air around me began to warp, faint distortions rippling outward as I reached speeds that no living thing should be capable of. The stars above seemed to stretch, their light smearing across the night sky like streaks of paint…
Then I hit 300 times the speed of sound…and everything changed…
The pressure and energy created by my speed were too much for the planet below to endure. A massive shockwave erupted outward. It tore through the wasteland like a god's wrath. Trees were uprooted, their metallic trunks twisted and shredded into jagged fragments. Rocks disintegrated into dust, and entire sections of the ground caved in, forming massive craters. The landscape was obliterated instantly, leaving nothing but a barren, smoking void in my path...
"Holy shit!!!" I shouted, the force of my own speed making my voice tremble. "This is just insane!!! This is… this is fucking incredible!!!"
I didn't stop. The energy within me begged for more, and I couldn't resist the thrill. I pushed myself harder and faster, and the air around me became a furious cyclone of heat and light. My body felt like it was on fire, the sheer speed threatening to tear me apart…but I didn't stop… I pushed myself more…
500 times the speed of sound. 600... 700…
The world around me vanished into pure chaos. The stars above became nothing more than streaks of brilliance, their light bending as if reality itself couldn't keep up with me. The roar of the wind was no longer a sound but a feeling… A crushing force that pressed against my body as I tore through the atmosphere…
I couldn't help but laugh. "This is it!!!" I shouted, my voice lost in the void. "This is what it feels like to be untouchable! To be unstoppable!!!"
Every fibre of my being felt alive, burning with power. The rush was indescribable, a storm of adrenaline and energy. It was as if the entire universe had shrunk down to this moment… just me and the unimaginable speed ripping through the heavens…
When I hit the 700-time mark, my body started to shake violently, and I was almost thrown off balance… It was my current limit, I guess…
Eventually, I felt the energy inside me begin to waver. My body was screaming for relief, the strain of the speed taking its toll. Reluctantly, I slowed, pulling back on the energy flow until the chaos around me settled…
The descent was rapid, almost reckless. The speed I'd built up wasn't something I could stop in split seconds… It was a force that demanded release... My body sliced through the air like a missile. I could see the landscape below getting closer...
As the ground rushed toward me, I braced myself for the landing. There was no soft landing in store… this was going to be an impact for the ages…
With a deafening boom, I hit the ground at full speed… At 700 times the speed of sound. The force of my landing was cataclysmic. The earth beneath me didn't just crack… it shattered. Massive fissures radiated outward in every direction, snaking across the ground like jagged lightning. Chunks of rock and debris were launched into the air, some the size of buildings, as the sheer pressure of my landing tore through the crust….
The ground heaved under the force, rising and falling like waves in a storm. Instantly, a massive crater was formed. Its edges glowed faintly from the heat generated by the impact. It wasn't just a dent in the earth—it was a canyon stretching nearly a mile wide and plunging deep into the planet's surface. The air around me was thick with dust and debris, swirling in chaotic spirals as the shockwave rippled outward…
I stood at the centre of it all, my feet planted firmly on the molten ground. My chest heaved with each breath, and I felt the energy and adrenaline rush within me. The heat from the crater was intense, and the air shimmered with distortion, but I barely felt it…
"Holy… shit…" I muttered, my voice lost in the destruction around me. I looked down at my feet, at the ground that had been obliterated by my landing. Cracks continued to spread, splitting the landscape into massive fragments…
The destruction wasn't just limited to the ground… entire sections of the nearby terrain had collapsed, caving in under the sheer force of my descent…
I straightened, wiping the dust and sweat from my face as I surveyed the scene. The wind carried the scent of scorched earth, and the faint hum of residual energy crackled in the air…
"Guess I don't know my own strength…" I said dryly, my voice tinged with a mix of awe and disbelief. I couldn't help but smirk, even as I took in the sheer scale of the destruction. "That… was one hell of a landing…"
The dust began to settle, revealing the full extent of the devastation. The ground around the crater was fractured and uneven, massive chunks of earth and stone jutting out at strange angles. Whatever had once stood here was gone, reduced to rubble and ash…
I stepped to the edge of the crater. The heat radiated upward in waves, but it didn't bother me. If anything, it felt comforting…Like a reminder of what I was truly capable of…
Looking around, I couldn't help but let out a low whistle. "Well…" I said, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth. "If nothing else, I've definitely left my mark on this planet… With this two times…"
I crouched down, running my fingers along the edge of a jagged crack in the ground. The rock was hot to the touch, almost molten, and it crumbled under the lightest pressure. I stood again and took off…
It was evening. The twin moons cast their pale light over the alien world…
"I've barely scratched the surface of this world…" I muttered, clenching my fists as the energy inside me hummed faintly. "If I can move like this, I can explore everything. Every inch of this planet…"
As I accelerated, the wind screamed in my ears, my body carving through the night sky like a meteor. The twin moons above seemed to blur as I picked up speed, leaving streaks of silver and white in my wake…
The first region I explored was an endless expanse of black sand dunes. The ground shimmered faintly under the moon's light, the grains sparkling like crushed gemstones. The dunes rolled endlessly; their edges shaped by powerful winds that howled across the barren expanse…
I skimmed low over the sand, my shadow racing alongside me. Occasionally, massive creatures burst forth from beneath the surface… Serpentine behemoths with rows of jagged teeth and segmented bodies. They lunged at me with terrifying speed, but I was faster. A single punch reduced each of them to nothing more than scattered blue blood and pulverized flesh...
"This place is relentless…" I muttered, wiping the blood of the monster from my hand. "But it's nothing I can't handle."
On the second day, I discovered a vast plain covered in glowing crystals. Each shard pulsed with a rhythm, like a heartbeat, its light shifting between shades of blue, green, and violet. As I flew overhead, the crystals reacted to my presence, intensifying their glow and creating ripples of light that spread outward in mesmerizing patterns…
I landed among the crystals, running my hand over one of the jagged formations. It was cool and almost soothing, but the energy radiating from it was unmistakable…
"These aren't just rocks…" I murmured, narrowing my eyes. "There's some strange energy flowing inside of them. I can feel it..."
Before I could investigate further, a swarm of insect-like creatures emerged from the ground, their carapaces reflecting the crystals' light. They attacked in unison, their razor-sharp mandibles snapping dangerously close. I leaped into the air, striking them down one by one with a flurry of punches that sent shockwaves rippling across the plains…
The third and fourth days brought me to a region dominated by towering cliffs and molten rivers of lava. The heat was oppressive, and the air was thick with the stench of sulfur and smoke. Massive geysers erupted sporadically, spewing molten rock hundreds of feet into the air…
I easily navigated through the canyon, weaving through the jagged spires that jutted out at impossible angles. The creatures here were massive, reptilian beasts with scales as hard as steel. They prowled the edges of the molten rivers, their glowing eyes fixed on me as I passed them...
When one of them leaped from a cliff, its jaws snapping toward me, I met it head-on. My fist connected with its skull, shattering it instantly and sending its body plummeting into the molten river below…
"Is there anything on this planet that doesn't want to kill me?!" I muttered, wiping sweat from my brow as I flew higher to avoid the heat.
The fifth and sixth days took me to a forest unlike any I had seen before. This forest was bigger, at least 1000 times bigger than the one I had previously encountered and destroyed during the fight with that horde of monsters. The trees were massive, and their metallic bark shimmered faintly under the moon. Their leaves glowed faintly, casting eerie light patterns onto the forest floor…
Despite its beauty, the forest was a labyrinth of danger. Enormous, multi-limbed predators stalked the undergrowth, their glowing eyes tracking my every move. At one point, a massive arachnid-like creature lunged from the shadows, its fangs dripping with corrosive venom…
I caught it mid-air, crushing its head with a single squeeze before tossing its twitching body aside. "You'll have to do better than that…" I said coldly, stepping over its corpse.
On the final day, I ventured to the planet's frozen poles. Here, the ground was covered in a thick sheet of ice that stretched endlessly. The air was biting cold, but it didn't faze me. Massive glaciers towered in the distance, their surfaces glinting like diamonds…
I touched down briefly, marvelling at the silence that hung over the icy expanse. It was almost peaceful… Until the ground beneath me began to crack. I leaped into the air. Suddenly a colossal serpent burst through the ice, its maw large enough to swallow me whole…
I didn't hold back. My fist met its head with a deafening crack, shattering the ice beneath us and sending the serpent crashing back into the freezing depths.
By the end of the seventh day, I had seen everything this planet had to offer… Its beauty, its dangers, its unforgiving nature… I returned to the massive crater I had created days before, landing softly on its edge.
"This world…" I said, staring out at the desolation. "It's brutal, beautiful, and horrifying at the same time…."
For the first time in years, I allowed myself a faint smile. But deep down, I was still longing for a way back home…
TO BE CONTINUED