Back to Reality

  Ken woke with a start, eyes immediately snapping to the small, dark stain on the stone floor.

  It was a faded remnant of blood from his duel, a final ghost of the violence he had committed.

  The structural integrity of his arms was restored, and the slice from the arrow fully mended.

  He stretched, reveling in the pain and exhaustion being gone.

  It was replaced by a deep, comfortable thrum of vitality.

  His decision to absorb the Ent’s energy had been reckless, but ruthlessly effective.

  All it costs is almost losing my entire sense of self.

  Not so bad.

  My Axiom may have saved my mind twice now.

  No big deal.

  He focused on his Core.

  A liquid metal ball made of jet streams of power, twisting and flowing endlessly.

  The new control allowed him to dial his body’s enhanced healing down to almost zero, conserving every drop of chi for compression into his Core.

  “Alright, lesson re-learned,” he muttered to the silent rocks.

  “All of my risks are worth it.”

  He channeled his Momentum Tuning outward, pushing his awareness past the ridge.

  The signal was immediate and overwhelming: a massive, slow-moving signature was traversing the valley floor.

  It moved with a steady, rhythmic thud that vibrated through the stone.

  From his high vantage, Ken spotted the creature.

  What the hell is that?

  Covered in thick, pale grey hide, and crowned with immense, ridged horns.

  It moved with the slow, inevitable pace of a glacier, ignoring all obstacles.

  "What in the f—is that a Troll?" Ken whispered, heart pounding not from fear, but from the raw challenge.

  It's putzing around where I fought Ponytail.

  Its massive nose occasionally lifted, sampling the air.

  Then, Ken’s Momentum Sense gave him a double signal.

  He felt the heavy, thudding pace of the giant below.

  Moving high and fast from the south-west, came a second, smaller signal.

  It was blindingly quick, and accelerating directly toward the valley.

  Two major players are invading MY valley.

  “They must have sensed the fight… Not great.”

  He watched the Troll continue its heavy plodding stroll.

  The lighter, faster signal, however, was heading toward the high valley near the Toughness Vein.

  My bait ball!

  Hit the big boi before it leaves?

  Or check out Speedy over there?

  There was a trail of broken and fallen trees.

  A flock of birds burst into the air, escaping the freight train running through the forest.

  “...I think I’ll manage to find Big Boi later…”

  He refrained from using a focused burst of Momentum, instead compressing the chi back into his Core.

  “Good ol’ magically juiced American muscle.”

  He set a smooth, fast pace, his footing felt more secure than ever.

  His body, perfectly in balance.

  I’m just not sure what to think anymore.

  How many Ponytails have I killed?

  Frustration built as he struggled with both his hesitation, and attempting to track the elusive signature.

  A powerful, high-frequency kinetic hit, followed by silence, then another burst hundreds of yards away.

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  Its speed made predicting its path nearly impossible.

  Ken reached a dense patch of high-altitude cedar, the area he felt the most recent ping.

  Suddenly, the next flare came from back along the path he just took.

  Don't like it.

  I’m exposed.

  He channeled a small surge of Momentum to launch himself sideways into the cover of a cluster of boulders.

  Too late.

  It was silent.

  A blur of muscle dropped from the canopy directly onto Ken's back, hitting him with bone-jarring force.

  It moved with such absolute speed that Ken's Hyper-Responsive Nerves could not process the threat in time.

  Jaws locked like a vice onto Ken’s neck and shoulders, but instead of the wet snap of bone, there was a dull, metallic grind.

  Nerves exploded.

  The Fortified Structure reinforced with the Bear's Essence held.

  His bones creaked, a slow, grinding agony.

  A static shock of pure, jagged Qi shrieked through his spine, turning his vision into a static of white noise.

  His chest slammed onto the jagged rocks, shards driving at his ribs.

  The pressure only increased, vertebrae shifting, as his vision swam.

  Hot saliva dripped down his neck.

  The beast’s breath roared like a bellows—a wet, rhythmic heat that smelled of copper and rotted meat.

  The tang of old blood in the air was overwhelming.

  Kill or be killed.

  No room for thought.

  Blindly reaching behind his skull, teeth ripped and tore, sinking deeper into his flesh.

  Problem for future Ken.

  His left hand clamped onto the beasts’ thick lower jaw, the right, its muzzle.

  He rumbled, channeling, the deep soul rending pain fading away.

  Liquid metal was sent surging, his corded arms rippling.

  A savage wrench, and his attackers’ jaws opened wide in surprise.

  A sickening sharp crack echoed through the cedar grove.

  It let out a high-pitched, hissing shriek, its grip instantly failing.

  Blinded by pain and shock, the weight rolled off Ken, thrashing and tearing into the rocks.

  He rose on unsteady feet, turning on the frenzied ball of pain.

  A massive leopard, covered in dark, slate-grey fur.

  Midnight black spots dappled its thick coat.

  Its muscles rippled with raw, compressed power.

  The cat focused on a swift, fatal ambush, not on sustaining a fight.

  It was too busy screaming to recover its footing.

  Ken showed no mercy.

  He closed the distance in two blurring strides, channeling Momentum into a rapid series of low strikes.

  A shin kick to its ribs, a hard elbow to the temple, and a final crushing stomp to the head.

  The powerful, lithe body went limp.

  Ken hit his knees.

  Vision faded.

  Blood soaked the rags of his hoodie, hot and heavy against his ribs.

  Focus entirely inward, trying desperately to regulate his healing.

  His chi ramped up the processes well beyond naturally possible.

  The cold knot of panic slowly faded as he felt his jugular vein wiggle, and actively fuse back together.

  “Well…cough…Thanks Tree.”

  His blood felt alive.

  Flooded with fresh red blood cells, brought some light back to a world that was much too dark.

  The fight was short, brutal, and confirmed his survival philosophy.

  Kill everything.

  Once the bite wounds around his neck slowed enough, his pale gaze dropped, surveying the wreckage of his body.

  He ran a thumb over a slice in his canvas pants.

  The claws sliced clean through the fabric.

  My skin tho…

  Running his thumb over the shallow cuts, it felt like cured leather.

  Dense, unyielding, and disturbingly inhuman.

  I guess I haven't noticed…

  What will I eventually become?

  He mostly ignored the slashes, focusing his energy on closing the bite wound, as he knelt by the cooling corpse.

  Fast, silent, ambush killer.

  My worst enemy.

  Bastard.

  Also…

  No Beast Core… Damnit!

  A noticeably weaker enemy than the Ent.

  Yet, once again, the closest to death I have ever been.

  Though no Beast Core, the powerful cloud of chi steaming from the body pulled to him like nothing before.

  He felt himself lurching forward, fresh scabs cracking open.

  Sweet nectar of the Gods…

  It feels like… Acceleration?

  As the chi flooded his channels, Ken’s Core responded with a roar.

  His eyes snapped open, flickering with a silver light, head looking to the sky.

  It achieved its speed by infusing its very being with its chi, simultaneously moving every bit of it.

  Chi and mortal coil moving as one.

  From 0 to 100 instantly.

  His Core tore into the Affinity with a bestial ferocity.

  The energy vibrated with a predatory growl, a high-frequency roar that threatened to shake his very atoms apart.

  The chi twitched violently, tearing through his pathways.

  Accelerating faster than ever before.

  The reality of his exposed skin hit him with a gust of wind.

  The state of his shredded apparel and the silky coat of the cat started to formulate an idea.

  A smile cracked through the drying blood.

  The silver light flickered through his eyes, before dying out.

  “To think I never liked cats.”

  Off in the distance, Big Boi bellowed out his rage.