Soverick sensed the wind direction and velocity with his divine sense. He activated the coiling dragon technique in his arm for good measure. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
He breathed in, held in his breath, then he threw the stone at the rat. The stone sailed through the air and struck the rat as it was diving down for the kill. The stone hit the skull and cracked it before lodging itself into it.
The rat continued its downward descent but its flight path was a little off. Apart from that, there wasn’t any other visible difference or a sign to indicate if it is dead or alive. It wasn’t flapping its wings anymore but that may be because it is diving. Soverick moved from his position and he was sure that the sky rat would crash into the ground a few meters in front of him since the airborne vermin didn’t follow his movements. He released the breath he had been holding in and sighed in relief. The threat was averted. Then his face changed.
“You have got to be kidding me.” He rushed to the spot where he estimated the sky rat will land. Then he stretched his arms wide to catch it.
“You had better be dead and not pretending.” He muttered hatefully.
The sky rat fell into his arms. He gritted his teeth as he absorbed the momentum of the fall. Then he dumped the bird to the ground. It made a soft sound instead of the crash that it would have made if he had let it fall directly to the ground. That crash would have woken up the rock people.
“So distasteful and so insidious. I have to catch it instead of enjoying the pleasure of seeing it turn into flesh and gore.” He grumbled and turned away.
If the rock people were not around, he would have preferred that the animal crash into the ground. That will ensure that it is truly dead. A stone in the head might not kill them immediately because of their vitality and he would be terribly injured, if not killed outright, when he tries to catch them. He would have to start again if he is clawed to death by a near-death vicious animal that he so foolishly caught in his arms. The threat wasn’t as easy as it seemed. It was layered.
He thought of picking something from the carcass but he didn’t because of the same reason why he didn’t take anything from the blood wasps. He didn’t know what could be useful for his challenge and what would be dead weight. He just left it behind and moved on.
The ground made it so that he couldn’t move on fast enough. More of the sky rats targeted him. At first, it was just the single one that he resolved with contemptuous ease. They troubled him again and again but he took them out meticulously. He even struck them twice for good measure before catching them. Then they started coming two at a time. Things became tricky here. One small mistake and he was likely to have a hoard of them after him.
It required quick action on his part to make two accurate successive throws at them in order to take them out. The other option is to hit them simultaneously but he couldn’t guarantee a hit at all. He could do it if he had a bow and some arrows, but throwing two stones at the same time with a single hand is currently too much for him.
Throwing a single stone is already difficult with the occasional sudden gust of wind. The problem with quick throws is that he would have to use both of his hands, the right and the left, to throw stones one after the other or it will give the other one enough time to call for help.
What was more challenging was catching the two of them before they hit the ground. He tried when he could to hit them when they had some distance between them so that he could catch them one after the other with relative ease. Things were dicey but he remained calm and didn’t make any mistakes. He would visualize the scenarios and execute them perfectly.
The rest of the challenge continued like that. More sky rats continued to harass him. Their frequency of attacks increased to pressure him. A single mistake would have ruined all his work. The entire challenge forced him to be precise at all times and it pressured him with the knowledge that a single mistake will ruin him. He ran through the forest choke point but the distance was short. He could speed through the forest in minutes. This part of the obstacle course may be peaceful but he had been at it for more than 2 hours and was under pressure most of the time.
This pressure is another obstacle that must be overcome. It creates fear which will reduce the mental and physical capabilities of the challenger. Something that can be easily achieved becomes difficult if not impossible when you’re afraid of failure or under pressure to achieve success.
It might be a challenge for others but Soverick is capable of thriving under pressure. The reason he is usually expressionless and why his face has that deadpan look is because of the superiority of his mind over his body. The hormones of the body, the swirling vortex of emotions that his body is capable of and the reflex actions of his body are unable to overcome his will. Most emotions don’t affect him unless he allows it. So the emotion of fear cannot affect him or reduce his efficiency at bringing down the scummy sky rats.
“There was tension but the run was surprisingly easy. It just needed some delicate work and the ability to work in silence. Not bad but only so so.” He commented after he entered the next safe zone.
He heard that familiar notification that meant he can have peace and he plopped down. He had finished the second choke point in the third run. It wasn’t as exhilarating or as intense as the first choke point. He found it mild even though he was balanced on an edge for most of it. The second choke point was aimed at the mental aspect of a warrior which is his forte, so he wasn’t pressured as much as the previous one.
“So what’s next?”
He tried to guess what his next challenge will be by looking around his safe zone. The area beyond the safe zone is mostly blurry so could only entertain himself with what he found around him. The ground had hardened into a complete rock layer at some point. It was also scalding hot. The grasses are the ones cropping up from amongst the rock now. There are no small stones that he can throw.
“I probably won’t face something I have to throw stones at.” He said before shrugging.
He gleaned a lot of information from what he saw but it didn’t clue him to what he would be facing next.
“Only one way to find out.” He said as he stood up.
His uniform is already back on his body instead of his waist. He stepped out of the safe zone. Then he heard a high-pitched screech. He wondered what it could be for a moment before moving on. Then he heard more of them but there was still no enemy in sight. All he could see was the bare rocky ground.
“I’m I on a mountain? Could it be a rock person?” He wondered but continued moving.
Then he saw the familiar form of a sky rat in the sky. Only this time there were more than two. They were more than 50 at his lowest estimate and more were still joining them. They were also making that high-pitched screech sound.
“Now I know what that sound is all about.” He said as he began to run.
He made sure to keep the impact of his feet on the ground as little as possible. He has not forgotten that he might be standing on a rock person.
He knew that sky rats can call each other for help but he didn’t know what the exact sound is. He had never heard them call for help. Maybe he would know what to look out for if he had failed at preventing them from calling for help in the previous choke point. He would know to run immediately as soon as he left the safe zone instead of milling about.
He didn’t run for long when he came upon a cliff with a precipitous drop. He could see that the cliff was as wide as his eyes could see. There was no way down that he could see. The only way forward he observed is a series of very thin rock pillars. The pillars were like tall, wrinkled bamboo sticks that reached all the way to the depth of the cliff.
“No way.” He complained but his body was already moving.
He doubted he will be able to make it but he had no choice. So he jumped.