”So I should use my environment.” He muttered as he wondered how best to use the environment.
Then he began the second run but this time with a spear he fashioned from a tree branch around his clearing. He went in the left direction this time. The trees had ignored him when he was sitting down at the entrance. But when he moved 19 meters in, he began to notice the odd gazes. Then it became more and all of a sudden, multiple gazes fixed on him. All the trees in the surroundings were watching him.
This became the signal and the vines attacked. Their sneak attacks couldn’t escape his perception so he dodged them easily. He was like the wind, slippery and deft. He escaped from their sinewy grasp time and time again. His stick spear came in handy in tricky situations where he would have to expend more energy or lose his form if he were to dodge. He would knock the attacks aside just like he learned in the blocking challenge.
But they didn’t give up. Instead, they upped the difficulty. Next came the tree roots. Numerous roots, thick and thin, long and short, tried to ambush him or trip him. He prevailed against them by hopping and jumping gracefully from one spot to another. His feet created small blasts of force each time he stepped on them.
The blast was so powerful that it propelled him forward and shredded the barks of the roots and trunks. They tried to block his path or make him go higher but he slid beneath the barricade and kept low to the ground so that the tree branches couldn’t reach him. The exploding seeds were then released at him. The spear in his hands twirled into a blur that blocked the ones that he couldn’t dodge.
“Is that all you’ve got?” He laughed and taunted. He knew it was a bad idea but he was just fearless. What’s the worst thing that can happen? It is just a challenge. He would fail at most and have to restart.
But then the forest became serious. He could feel a sinister change in the atmosphere. He didn’t have to wait long before he could hear the droning buzz. His face fell.
“I’m screwed big time.” Years of experience made him identify the new enemy before he sighted them and he picked up more speed but they were catching up to him.
The sight of the pursuing cloud of giant blood wasp and the increase in his knowledge about what he would be facing did not cheer him up. He did not plan to win this round, he aimed to make the forest bring out more of its trump card but this was too much. Still, he ran.
Blood wasps are like giant mosquitoes in that they also feed on blood. But Blood wasps have a stinger meant to paralyze their prey. The venom in the stinger will also break down the body into a blood bag which the blood wasps will slurp with their surprisingly delicate proboscis. Blood wasps have bigger wings than mosquitoes. They are also red in color while giant mosquitoes are black.
It became a chase much like that of a cat and mouse. He tried to thin down their numbers using the surrounding trees as obstacles. The tree blockades were a nuisance to him as much as they were to the blood wasp. So his plan worked for a while but then the forest withdrew most of its attempt to stop him and used only the vines occasionally. The reduction in the efforts of the tree also gave more room to maneuver which he took advantage of to lose the bugs. The wasps were fast but they had a problem making sharp turns. As long as he swerved and changed directions quickly, they wouldn’t be able to touch him. He used the trunks of trees as a foothold as he zig-zagged through the forest.
All was well until he sensed a sudden attack from his front. A fast-moving object was upon him the moment he sensed it. His hand sprung like a spring and the spear followed in intercepting the attack. The coiling dragon technique had always been primed for moments like this. He tried to deflect the attack but its force was too much for that. The stick spear in his hand bent and Soverick made the split second to go along with the force, Instead of facing the attack after the spear broke.
So he went along with it and was pushed to the side. The attack bolted past him, missing his torso just slightly. He survived the sneak attack by what looked like a titan frog. But he lost his arm to it. That projectile was its tongue. It was strong and fast enough to pierce through his body if it had hit him.
He looked at the stump of his other arm and sighed. He didn’t have hopes of thwarting another attack of that Caliber without his arm or his spear. The attack was just too fast. His perception and reaction had been superb but it had only let him dodge most of the attack not block it, and that was with something to redirect the force. He couldn’t stop either to get another stick spear or he would be overwhelmed by the wasps.
The titan frog is a colossal frog 20 meters in height and 35 meters in length. It will look like a huge rock when it isn’t moving but becomes terrifying once it springs into action. The lashing tongue isn’t its only attacking ability but it is convenient and swift.
Just like he feared the attack came again. The tongue flashed like a bolt of lightning but didn’t aim at him. It struck the cloud of wasps chasing him. It pierced through multiple wasps and strung them together like a kebab which the titan frog withdrew into its mouth in a similarly swift manner.
Soverick was surprised that the titan frog was just content with attacking the wasps. It ignored soverick and continued preying on the bugs. Soverick shrugged and focused on escaping but then another crimson bolt came at him. It was the tongue of another titan frog.
“There’s more than one?” He asked in exasperation as he tried to dodge the strike.
But it was simply impossible. He had just propelled himself using a tree trunk so he was mid-flight. It was like the frog had timed the attack for this moment of weakness. The tongue touched him and his vision blacked out.
He returned to the entrance again. He screamed in frustration. Then he calmed down and began grinning. The obstacle course was difficult enough to be challenging. The attacks just keep coming, relentless and uncanny. His only advantage will be the experience from multiple attempts. It’s just like his past challenges, difficult at first but becomes easier when he learns and adapts. Only when something is difficult to achieve will he feel the euphoria of success. He was looking forward to that euphoria.
“I’ll show you.” He said as he went about his work.
He decided to prepare well enough this time. He rubbed soil and leaves against himself to give him some camouflaging ability. He picked sticks and fashioned multiple spears which he tied to his back. He also created two shields from the barks of the trees surrounding the clearing at the entrance. He could only carry two without losing his mobility. The trees didn’t move throughout his preparation.
“So they won’t attack me no matter what I do in the safe zone. That’s good to know. Should I go forward this time?” He thought as he considered his options.
He had chosen to take a side path during his last two attempts and there had been no difference between them up until the moment when he encountered the blood wasps. He considered charging straight ahead this time to see if anything will change. So he did.
“If there’s something different, I don’t see it.” He muttered as he was being chased by the blood wasps again. Everything had gone exactly the way it happened on the left path. There were vines, roots, and exploding seeds. As if on cue, the bugs started their harassment, and the forest let up its attempt to catch him. He took things in stride and prepared for what he considered was the main event.
“I have my six spears and my two shields. So bring it.”
The forest answered him and brought it. He had just jumped when it happened. The first attack struck him impossibly fast, it was like something appeared in his peripheral vision and had appeared right in his face by the time he turned to identify what it is. Like you were chatting amicably with someone, then out of the corner of your eye, you see their hand moving to slap your face. The attack was abrupt and unexpected.