Taking a break, Cale took a moment to process every action he took thus far.
From spotting the dangling eye, to streaking towards the source whilst getting hit by small bombs on the way took a toll.
Surprisingly enough, Cale realized one more thing he found lying around in his arsenal.
Stamina, he had a crap ton of it.
His speed had stubbornly stayed consistent throughout the entire duration of the 6 mile run that lasted a staggering 23 minutes.
It was obvious, his body had changed drastically, shedding its old shell and renewing into something more.
Something that stood a fighting chance.
'No, that's not it'
Upon reflection, he realized that the buff was temporary, reason being.
"The environment..."
It favored him more, the colder his body got, the stronger it likely got.
And the opposite was likely to be as true.
In other words, in the next two weeks that are to pass.
Cale would be at his peak performance almost consistently.
'Is it because of my body? The dagger? Or the coat?'
"Maybe all the above...."
Despite his previous remarks, the weapons at the disposal fit him perfectly.
Almost too perfectly.
"Is it fate?"
He doubted it, while at the end of the day, it was his decision to take the coat that unbeknownst to him also held a powerful dagger. It still left a sour taste in his mouth.
"Whatever, that can be left to its own devices for now"
What mattered now was that he had a way to kill and endure.
Thinking any further would not get him anywhere, dying made him lose too much precious information in the process.
'No need to rush, I'll eventually find out'
A baby that knows nothing always takes its steps while wobbling.
Filleting his attention back to his kill, he pondered whether to also kill the one who fell or not.
Leaving it be would undoubtedly kick him where it truly hurt, nothing could be done, he thought.
Clicking his tongue in frustration, he ruffled a hand at his crown.
"No, even if I chase her, with this headache...There's no way I'm coming out unscathed"
Just because he got a little boost in strength did not suddenly mean he would grow complacent with his caution.
Cale would exert it whenever he could. First, steadily killing those that are after him, since surprisingly.
Monsters were very easy to kill off.
No remorse or guilt surged within him when killing those creatures.
'Good'
Very good in fact. If Cale had felt anything from killing them, this whole thing would have turned a hundred times harder than before.
Although he wouldn't go around slaughtering every single one of them, racking up in kills would allow for adaptation to happen quicker.
His train of thought stopped, took a brief coffee break and returned to business.
"Where can I go though?"
Cale's mind landed on the most important question of them all.
Where the hell do you begin to find a safe place in a Battle Royale mixed with Survival?
Going back to the center where he ate snow was out of the question, finding and trying to live in a cave was also not a smart idea....Leaving only one more idea left.
Sneaking a glance up, he propped his chin on his hand.
"The trees?"
Knowing how to climb, it seemed easy to say and do for him.
"Let's try and get to a big one"
Uttering those words lower than his steamy breath. He began moving, searching for a good spot to survive the night and maybe even plunder a few resources.
Behind him, the cliff with the body of an incinerated corpse faded as distance bid it a farewell.
In its absence.
Step
A new figure appeared. Spaded tail swooshing left and right as a filthy mess made its way to the light on all fours.
"Oh? Already croaked?"
With an angelic voice, she soothed the tense surroundings.
[Umg!]
The sludge-like creature fell, unable to support the weight of its master.
"Hmmm~"
She cutely tilted her head, pinkish skin stretched as her lips drew into a curve.
[P-Please....]
Under her clean bare feet, the filth under her pleaded.
"Hmmmmm~"
Tapping on the heel of her foot onto the filth, her succulent lavender eyes were briefly revealed under the harsh banter of blowing wind.
She pondered hard on what to do.
Whether to kill this filth now and kill off all of its resistance so she could use the body as she pleased or to just kill it.
But instead, when attempting to use her insight.
"You..."
Her eyebrows knit and contorted the surrounding skin.
Finally, she asked what was on her mind.
"You aren't alive, are you?"
The filth below her feet shivered with the mere utterings it was forced to hear.
"So..."
Grab!
"What exactly are you?"
Grabbing it by the throat, she forced it to look into her eyes.
It tried to resist, but it was futile.
No one could resist the desires she forces out.
[Ah]
Though.
Crack!
Those that resist too much, sometimes do end up in a vegetative state.
This one, being one of them.
"Let's cover our ears, ah. I don't permit you to do that"
Saying all she needed to say, she let the filth on the verge of a seizure do whatever it wanted.
She couldn't care less if it were having an existential crisis or a mind-blowing shot of pain.
Looking at it, she sighed before stepping on another one of the enslaved captives.
"Leave it be"
The new walking stool began crawling away, shadows in the dark forest squirmed at her words.
Thinking she should get a replacement, she voiced out a command.
"Find the one I just saw walking away, he'll be our new target"
Her smile faded as screams began pouring out from behind. Paying it no heed, she didn't look back and marched forward.
Even as the mad animal walked off of the cliff for freedom....
She didn't care one bit about it.
*
*
*
"In the end....I ended up in a cave"
Cale mumbled quietly as he ate the snow in his hand.
The reason for ending up here wasn't because of something dumb like not being able to climb the high trees.
It was because they were far more dangerous than previously expected.
Bird-like creatures infested almost each top, sometimes almost causing his death.
'I guess sticking low is the best plan'
Literally.
Cale didn't like it one bit, while his body was currently probably performing at its peak, even that probably had its limits.
Going without any food was borderline suicide.
'Definitely should've taken the corpse'
The only reason he didn't do so was because of the disgusting rotting smell that wafted off of it.
"Beggars can't be choosers"
Taking a mouthful of snow, he ate it in one bite.
With one click of his tongue, he threw the rest to the floor and went deeper into the cave.
Unbeknownst to him, someone.
Step
Had been following the trail of snow he kissed his boots on.
"What's this?"
Cale reached a place with jagged stone patterns, mostly resembling a cavern.
"A rail?"
Stumbling across a rail-shaped road, he stopped.
Tracing it, he found it leading toward a giant black stone.
He tapped it a few times, but seeing that it wasn't doing anything, and seemingly not that special. Cale ignored it and walked further in.
The cavern expanded to a giant open space.
'How far underground am I?'
Above hung oil lamps that brightened the entire place.
Wooden beams supported the ceiling.
An astonishing find to say the least.
Gaze fell straight ahead, as it fell, a plume of smoke touched the ceiling.
Camp, the word lingered in his mind that cleared idleness away in an instant.
'Someone's here'
Gripping the dagger, he took a soft step back, however, he soon stopped.
To—Tok!
Pebbles clattered on the floor like pieces on the board after a flail brushed them off.
Cale's eyes shifted and it took his head to shift along with it.
'When?'
The figure couldn't be seen, and perhaps that was for the better.
Streaking his vision on the entire area, a suitable hiding place could be seen further to the curved walls.
Slowly moving towards it, he looked out for any shadow or sound that could give them away.
'No luck huh?'
A tongue wanted to twist in frustration at the silence that rested in the air, barely holding itself back in case of unveiling Cale's location.
Cale lowered himself to the ground in an attempt to shy away from visibility.
'Should I leave?'
The question arose naturally, if the person still didn't know his presence, it'd be possible to escape. However, despite the option of fleeing.
Cale hesitated.
Hesitated out of both pride and logic.
'If I do that, I'd be exposed in the wild'
Going out meant having a chance to face someone like that tag team.
He doubted whether another white streak would show when in danger.
'I have to be careful....'
Death could happen at a moment's notice.
Shooting a glance at the dagger, he waited.
Now that he had a killing weapon, the game changed, not to exclude that his body was powerful enough to allow a fighting chance.
There was a shot, and he could take it right this instant.
Step!
Laborious steps grated in the air, they didn't belong to Cale.
Thud!
A soft thud followed right afterwards, ringing out sharply in the giant space.
Thinking it was weird and strange, Cale slowly made his way to the sounds.
Metal clacked and rattled.
Cale, finding the source to be in the camp, poked his head out slowly.
"....."
His face darkened at the figure groveling on the floor.
Shifting metal cracked with a monochrome gray liquid spilling.
There stood the armor donning monster.
Gasping for air and.
Dying on the floor.