《The Scientific Method》


 Prologue

    Singhua University, Mainland China Theoretical Science class 1-A, as the class quieted as the guest instructor from the University of FarDetsh, Germany. The number one leading in Plasmatic Engineering.  The new form of matter was discovered by accident, which started a new energy production chain and research. This discovery prevented the energy crisis in the early 21st century as the west was trying to show dominance over its enemies. Germany took the initiative to solve the crisis. It led the charge for more ways to distribute the knowledge worldwide, making Germany the number one country in eastern Europe. He is a tall white man with broad shoulders, sharp eyebrows shaded in light black, dark calculative eyes that seem to assess the room in a mere microsecond, and faint streaks of gray in his jet black hair slightly showing his age.


    While dressed in a formal name-brand suit matching tie while showing his age through his hair, it could be mistaken for a genetic inheritance for the grayness. The young woman in the class couldn''t help but blush when he swept his warm eyes that seemed to hold a little bit of calculativeness over the young student in the class. He turned to the podium and set down his briefcase, and took a brief break before starting with a deep voice that seems to memorize and draw you in just like his dark eyes. "Good evening, everyone. My name is Chu Crawford. My Chinese may not be fluent, but I will do my best to convey the meaning of my instructions today."


    As Crawford finished his sentence, the class was stunned into a daze as if comforted by his deep voice.  A few seats away from the podium, A round blob shoved a short, thin man with wavy brown hair that would look like he would break like a porcelain doll if any more weight were behind the shove. "Hey, Tu Yuan, didn''t he speak fluent Chinese right now? Even better than the way that most people speak?"  Tu Yuan shoved back, or at least he tried, as his twig arm just went into the rolls of meat, then gently bounced back out. Displeased, Tu Yuan gave a glare before lowly muttering, " brother Bao I''m trying to learn, we can discuss his fluency later, and did you get bigger? I swear my arm went in farther this time." Bao Lingzhu or otherwise known as brother Bao, just grunted, causing his waves of meat to shake in displeasure as they turned back their attention to the podium.


    As the class returned from shock, Professor Crawford Continued his instruction by turning down the lights in the auditorium and turning on a projector to the board behind him. The panel lit up and behind him was a galaxy. "Now, who can name this Galaxy?" Crawford said as he eyed the class. A woman in the front with a bob cut and glasses raised her hand "yes?  Miss?" Crawford flashed a smile of acknowledgment. "  Wu Lee, isn''t that our galaxy Professor Crawford?" Wu Lee said in a somewhat childish voice. Professor Crawford just smiled and looked around for anybody else as they all thought the same thing as they have seen this picture before many times on the internet while researching plasma projects.


    "Close, but no, this is our sister Galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest galaxy and is set to collide with us in some fifty billion years or so." Crawford explained carefully and pressed the arrow key on the remote for the next slide, "and now class, what star is this?" Crawford said, then he hit the button again, and it showed a planet. A blue marbled with a hint of green and brown and some flow of white. The earth, the planet which they inhabit. Their home for the next who knows how many years until they take the next step into interplanetary travel.


    "Our civilization according to the Kardashev Scale is not even a Type 1 which is where we can store and use the energy of the planet we inhabit to fuel our lives, our daily hood; a Type 2 civilization can use and harness their solar system into forms of energy into ways we can''t even imagine, it could be terraforming moons, new energy transmissions forms." As Professor Crawford changes the slide back to the Sun." Even harness our Sun in which proficiency is currently only theorized by Dr. Dyson," Professor Crawford Switches back to the Andromeda Galaxy slide.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.    "Type 3 gets even more unfathomable.  To harness our galaxy, did you know we currently have no pictures of our galaxy because we have no ability to leave it and take a picture from outside, and we obviously can''t take a photo within it shows how massive the universe is outside our little well." Crawford finishes his explanation to the class as they sit in silence and think of the possibility of the future. There is also the sadness of how they will not see it. Then a student in the back raises a slim arm that can be barely noticed by the light reflected off the board.


    "Yes, you sir, a question?" Crawford looks too, "Tu Yuan, Professor, is there higher classes of civilization than the ones mentioned?" Tu Yuan says clearly in a clear voice, not too loud or light, just enough to be heard from across the room. "There is." Crawford says before continuing, "But remember this is all hypothetical and regards energy consumption on a cosmic scale type 4 and 5 works off the universe and multiverse how they do so is entirely unknown, and we probably won''t know until we reach that point. If we even reach the mark."


    " Every civilization will have a point of needing to bridge the gap of going to from different stages of advancement. As we are at zero, we are reaching that point of needing to advance to type 1 hence the energy crisis in the early 2000s. That''s just a forwarning and a drive to improve our advancement further. Does that answer your question, Tu Yuan?" Professor Crawford flashed a gentlemanly smile while finishing his explanation. "Yes, thank you, Professor," Tu Yuan said while jotting down notes as if a flash of inspiration hit him.


    "Any more questions? No? Ok, that will conclude my lecture on planetary civilizations. I will be on campus in the Plasmatic Energy Lab helping perform experiments; please stop by if anyone has questions. Class dismissed; thanks for listening." Professor Crawford says while turning off the projector and turning on the lights, collecting his articles, and heading out the door. As students rushed out, trying to get to the bus stops first. Tu Yuan and Brother Bao decided to go to the school cafeteria for their lunch before going to the dorms to rest until evening classes.


    As they grabbed their lunch trays and settled down at a remote table near the windows where the Sun was shining in through, "So Tu Yuan that Professor from Germany weird how he spoke so fluently ya?." Brother Bao brought up a good conversation topic right before digging into his food, causing his meat rolls to flow like ocean currents on a stormy day. "you''re still on that? Didn''t you pay attention to the lecture? Who Cares if he speaks it or not did you not pay attention to the facial futures he was obviously Chinese. Now slow down before you ch-".


    As Tu Yuan was about to finish his sentence, there was a white flash dyeing his vision, blinding him, followed by a sound wave from an explosion that shattered the windows throwing glass and cement shards into his body turning him into a pincushion instantly killing Yu Tuan the ceiling collapsed cement. Rebar came down in chunks killing students crushing them to the point of separating body and limb. Poor fatty BaoBao was ground into meat paste, splattering blood onto nearby students, the farthest away by five meters; panic then ensued, and screams echoed across the campus.


    Students, Teachers, and Staff all fled in fear from ground zero from there in the air from far away it can be seen as flowing cyan flashlight shining brightly into the sky, turning the once blue sky dark all fading into a stormy cloud covering that seems like it would last forever.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 1 )

    " Ze Shou" "OI! "ZE!" " SHOU!" Ze Shou, who was startled out of his daydreaming by his loud classmate. " What, Tang Young? Man, I was just getting to the good part." Tang Young can be considered Ze Shou''s one and only friend and his deskmate from high school with his orange eyes, dirty blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, and a smile that carried a bit of sunshine. Tang Young''s somewhat tall statue, standing at 185 cm, with a lean body with suntan lines from outdoor activities he participated in, from a soccer club to the triathlon club. Ze Shou, who took a look at Tang Young. Spotted a perverted look in the other''s eye as Tang Young squinted his orange eyes and started to show a goofy grin thinking something dirty from the remarks Ze Shou just made.


    "What were you just about to put it in? Who was it? The class flower, Ne Yan? Or the schools Male God Go Fung?" Tang Young, while flashing his usually goofy smile. Anyone who said this aloud would be looked at as weird by anyone if they heard the nonsense coming from this guy''s mouth. Ze Shou, who just looked at him with his usual deadpan expression, didn''t even recognize the name mentioned and was distracted again from the conversation, completely derailing the tempo Tang Young was trying to establish with his usual nonsense.


    Tang Young''s smile stiffened as he gave a hollow laugh, grabbed his bag, and pulled on Ze Shous'' clothes, trying to pull him out of his daze and seat. " Come on, my slow and zombified friend; the day is sunny. Also, practice is canceled today. How about we grab ice cream by the river while we walk on our way home, hmm?"  Tang Young tried to Please his lethargic and Zombiefied friend to go on a walk with him, so he doesn''t get on the bus again and end up in a different city because of his daydreaming like the last time.


    Ze Shou, the culprit of people''s worries, claimed he was daydreaming and accidentally fell asleep on the bus and forgot to set the alarm. His parents ended up at Tang Young''s house crying because they couldn''t find Ze Zhou until they got a call from him at Tou Ba City, a two-hour drive from their city,  Long Hei City. Since then, Ze Shou''s Parents asked Tang Young to watch their brain-dead son and promptly bribe Tang Young with frozen sweets every time he drops Ze Shou off at his home.


    As Ze Shou stood up, Tang Young, who was leaning in close, couldn''t help express as he looked at Ze Shou, " did you get prettier? Are you sure you''re a guy? Here pull down your pants and let me check hehehe" Tang Young, who suddenly got sticky fingers bending down towards Ze Shou''s waistband, was promptly smacked on the head with a biology textbook with a loud "THWACK." " let''s go. " Ze Shou said, leaving his monkey friend who was shedding Crocodile tears and covering his head with both hands.


    Tang Young couldn''t help but admire that short, slim figure with ear-length dark black hair like onyx and purple eyes like amethyst, thin lips with a tinge of red showing he has blood flowing through his pale jade white body, he looked fragile like a Porcalean doll teetering on the edge of the shelf just a little push would break him to pieces drawing those who looked at him wanting to give the small doll their love and protection or just stuff him in a titanium box where nothing can hurt him not even the Sun.


    Tang Young couldn''t help the dark thoughts swirl in his mind turning his emotions chaotic. But knowing his fragile zombie friend, romanticism is the farthest thing from his mind right now. Tang Young putting an end to his crying act and returned to his usual happy expression grabbing his bag that fell to the floor chasing his zombie friend, but he didn''t have to go fast as his friend was walking very slow almost near a snail''s pace "... come on slowpoke," Tang Young said, putting a little pressure on the small back of Ze Shou pushing them outside the school.


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    Leaving Campus and walking a windy path towards the river, the two young men arrived at the ice cream stall ordered some ice cream from the stall. The two young men in high school uniforms sat down near a river close to the ice cream booth. Ze Shou and Tang Young, sitting in their usual spot looking West over the river. Seeing the Sun getting tired and starting to tip off the curve of the planet. Tang Young couldn''t help but ask his zombie friend next to him. The question he asks every time he sees this view. "Ze Shou. What are you always daydreaming about?" waiting to hear the answer he anticipated the most. In a voice that seems so melancholy and sweet, full of sadness and also full of some hope, Ze Shou turns to Tang Young with a slight smile where the Sun perfectly covers his face and highlights his dimples, one in darkness and one in the light.  "life."


    Ze Shou says the same answer whenever anyone asks him. When they ask for more reason for Ze Shous'' thoughts, he just gives a slight smile without any explanation turning his head away going back to his daze to ponder forever on the meaning of that one word that seems to haunt people for their entire lives. Some come up with possible answers. Some do not. The solution you want it to be can only be decided on when it''s right under your nose and just on the tip of your tongue.


    Tang Young couldn''t help smile back, enjoying the peacefulness.  Sometimes there doesn''t need to be an answer to a question. Just let it ponder forever. Tang Young couldn''t help but wonder if that was the answer to his own "life''s Question."  But then again, he couldn''t help but ask for more even now, what the answer was. Maybe this action was because his taciturn friends'' voice was beautiful and reassuring, or he wanted to know more. Tang Young just couldn''t calm the swirling thoughts stirring in his head as if he didn''t ask now; he would never know what his zombie friend was thinking.


    "What about it?" Tang Young blurted out, realizing his blunder. He looked over to his friend again. This time instead of silence, Tang Young received a shocking blow. Ze Shou receiving a follow-up question in his mind went into a tornado as his thoughts couldn''t decide an answer to give, but one seemed to come out of the storm that seemed to be the best thing to say to his one and only friend who pays such care to him even if he''s a little slow.


    Ze Shou purses his mouth before opening it, giving probably the longest sentence he ever said in a while. " Well, life seems strange were here but nowhere else, but we really can''t be sure that we''re here. We look a little fake." Ze Shou said while tilting his head in a manner wondering if his words came out right, portraying his thoughts correctly, "do you understand what I mean?" Ze Shou finished with an inquisitive glance.


    Tang Young, shocked and silly, still heard his zombie friends'' words, but he couldn''t understand them. Thinking of what he said made no sense whatsoever, but I support you kind of look in his eyes. Looking at Ze Shous'' face, Tang Young put on a look of understanding and just nodded while patting Ze Shou''s Shoulder like any other good brother. To the forever slow Ze Shou, Tang Young just looked like a happy-go, lucky friend.


    Looking at the time, they realized it was getting late, and both turned to go home. Suddenly Tang Young turned a corner as if absent-minded, looking to his left as if someone was there. Ze Shou, who heard an extra pair of footsteps disappear and what replaced his friend, was what seemed to be a woman in her early twenties with shoulder-length straight dark hair, red glasses, a gray suit, with a knee-length skirt a little taller than Ze Shou, who was about 178Cm tall. Carrying a clipboard with a name tag with the letter printed on it ADA.


    In a voice that seems to but a little ice-cold but carries some trace of feminity. "Hello, Ze Shou. My name is ADA. I''m here on behalf of the Bureau to relieve you of your vacation; please hold steady as we are moving," she said with a somewhat forced smile, then things swayed and turned, then flipped inside out then inverted before going all white.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 2 )

    In the white space lay, Ze Shou whos recovering from his experience of "travel" while ADA calmly observes him. After what seems to be a few minutes, black lines start to appear on ADA''s forehead as if she''s looking into something in-depth while looking at Ze Shou, who still hasn''t gotten up. As if Fed up with something internally, she slowly walks over to where Ze Shou is and taps her clipboard in an odd pattern kind of way.


    ADA looks down, speaking in her cold tone that seems to be filled with a bit of uncertainty " nausea from a jump but you should already be used to this" she flicks her finger and a drop of red flies out of her finger into Ze Shou''s forehead. Ze Shou instantly recovers and sits up and looks towards the woman named ADA while ADA looks disappointed, muttering under her breath, "he should know how to handle this already." Seeing Ze Shou inquisitive look and his young but deadpan face ADA can''t help but be surprised that Ze Shou can remain calm in this situation despite his data loss.


    "I''m guessing you have questions well shoot," ADA says as if giving up on something. While maintaining his calm outside inside, Ze Shou''s head was world war III, with all sides fighting each other trying to get their question out and claiming their question was the most superior. After what seems to be an hour or so, ADA finally remembers something key about Ze Shou.


    He tends to overthink things to the end and miss things closest to him. ADA nods to herself as if solving the issue before giving a lifeline to Ze Shou. "Ze Shou calm down ill explain everything from the beginning since you are having difficulty with your questions, here take a seat," ADA says to Ze Shou, who had smoke billowing from his ears and fire leaving his nose.


    ADA waves her clipboard, and then the white room changes to a study with shelves lined with books in different languages with some that even Ze Shou cant also Identify, two chairs and a table centered in the room on a beautiful carpet with lit stone fireplace just far enough away to provide the right amount of heat.


    On the table, it was filled with two glasses, and plates with intricate red and white flower designs. Are set on the table. ADA stands at the table, and her hand points to the left chair inviting him to sit, Ze Shou takes his seat, and the chair automatically moves to the table at a perfect distance not to close, not too far. ADA sits across from him while setting down her clipboard. Ze Shou noticed there''s nothing on it and can''t help but wonder why she carries it then.


    "What would you like to drink? Whiskey as always?" ADA ask just in case since she''s not sure if he''ll want his past self favorite liquor ." Tea is fine, black is preferable." Ze Shou says his request then ADA flicks her wrist, and black Earl Gray Tea appears in his cup and some crumpets to snack on is on the tray while on ADA''s side a bottle of whiskey is there and her glass fills itself with a solid cube of ice


    "Glenavon Special Liqueur used to be your favorite, no one knows how old it is, and also no one knows where you got it you just showed up one day with it and asked me to save its compound so you can drink it every day" ADA Says as she picks up the glass to smell the aroma before putting it back down.


    She laughs as if remembering something nostalgic before returning to her average ice-cold queen looks. "Let''s get started, shall we? We''ll go in order who I am, who you are, what happened to you, and why are you here. If you have questions, ask me when I finish otherwise you''ll never say them" ADA says before picking up her glass of whiskey smelling it one last time before starting to talk to Ze Shou Again who was quietly sipping his tea secretly marveled about how no matter how much he drinks it''s still full.


    "So to start, I am ADA or otherwise known as Artifical Dimensional Assistant. I am a helper made by you, Ze Shou, to guide you in your missions. Thought as far as you can currently understand with your current memory is sort of like an AI or artificial intelligence that was being developed in your last world you were currently staying in," ADA says while watching Ze Shou''s Reaction before continuing. "Ze Shou, my designer, is from a type of civilization who can transverse multiple universes when doing so you either evaluate worlds, destroy worlds or save worlds, there are other cases though but meeting those are rare and handled by subordinates." ADA pauses before continuing after smelling her glass of whiskey.


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    "And for why you can''t remember anything is a common phenomenon that we haven''t been able to solve despite our efforts though cases like your are rare usually its more common for those who do not want to return the space are often people who have lived over a few million years. Your age just hit 18,000 so relatively young since we can''t recover your lost memories; you still have your habits, so just think of this as a new outlook on life" ADA finishes letting Ze Shou process this relatively Large amount of information.


    This time Ze Shou Didn''t take as long to decide and focused on a few questions; he put down his always cup of warm tea and looked at ADA Seriously. ADA couldn''t help but smile at the man thinking how he''s still got that look in the eyes when he''s settled on something. " ADA, I have a couple of questions, what happened to my last world, who do I work for, and will I explore the multiverse as a mission goes as you said?" ADA smiled slightly before grabbing her clipboard tapping a few times before the light in the room dimmed a blue marble-like world that looks lifelike was floating above them.


    "This was your last world ELDV-233.omitted or Earth-Like Dimension designated Vacation, an earth-like because Ze Shou your civilizations earth disappeared nearly at the beginning of the start of the universe, so your kind advanced quickly and then became a multiverse existence and for the of your home planet never had another planet named earth hence the name."


    ADAs smile faded before continuing "this planet was approximately 233 universes away from your last expedition, and since this number is infinite we just stopped counting." as she shakes her head before continuing "so when you disappeared, the original Ze Shou of that universe who was compressed into data and stored into a black hole took your place, and the people who were around you just had their memories rewritten as if nothing ever happened they all lived a happy life and had many children"


    ADA smiled as if trying to comfort Ze Shou "now who do you work for well? Its called the Bureau of Multiverse Handlers cheesy name I know but nothing we could do about it. And your job is goto different universes evaluate the civilization. The universe will give the civilization a trial; it can come in many forms. you oversee as an evaluator, and I will calculate the amount of energy this civilization produces if sufficient we will help them survive the trail if not enough, their destruction will output more energy."


    ADA says with a cold face, "sometimes universes will request aid that''s where destroyers and saviors come in. Destroyers help the civilization to fail by causing damage or complicating the challenge by many folds. saviors, on the other hand, will lead the civilization in the right direction to pass the trail into advancement or to wipe the board clean and start over." "Both have uses, and there''s a task that will be included between main missions you''ll see."


    "I see that''s fine then so what now" Ze Shou showing that he''s still a man of few words confirmed everything that was explained in his mind and his only answer was. Nothing I can do about it might as well get a job. "alright then let''s get started with rehabilitation than" as ADA said this she stood up and was instantly wearing work out clothes with Mixed Martial Arts gloves on with hair tied up and her glasses nowhere to be seen and the cozy room disappeared and what replaced it was the white space where they first arrived. Ze Shou couldn''t help but think that ADA suddenly got scary and way too over-enthusiastic.


    ADA turned to Ze Shou and smiled a not so very smile " were going to be working for a while first is your "Power" retrain, body enhancement, fighting, tactics, command, and control, acting, the list goes on when I''m done with you you''ll become a new man hehehe" Ze Shou learned to fear as his first lesson.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 3 )

    "ARGHH! No, no, no, no ADA I''m sorry ill do it right this time, so ple- AGHH" as the once-quiet Ze Shou was tossed again by the ruthless ADA. He could only wonder what he did before his memory was erased. What made ADA build up a lot of stress and can now finally relive it on the person who caused such a thing.


    To Ze Zhou it only feels like it been a month since they started combative training first per ADA recommendation and since he had a somewhat immortal body all he felt was a pain, but wounds never stayed on Ze Zhou''s body maintaining his handsome looks but is still in hand to hand combat faze where Ze Zhou''s only goal is to make here move here other hand and knock her off her feet so far its been unsuccessful.


    "Again! this time use your brain to analyze my weak spots think of how you can hurt me!" ADA said, trying to provide some insight on how to get an advantage against an impossibly strong opponent. Hearing this, Ze Shou charged in a low stance with a speed that leaves afterimages. Ze Shou goes for her right foot with a low roundhouse faint while a straight punch came up next, flying towards her head.


    ADA calm as always throws out her knee her foot, never leaving the ground as promised to break his tibia while also moving her hips forward into Ze Shou''s straight punch, making him miss. ADA grabs Ze Shou''s arm in reverse grip flinging him over her shoulder before he can scream his right shoulder was dislocated, three ribs broke, the right tibia was broken, and a multitude of other minor wounds in a matter of a second. Ze Shou was really wondering why he created such a strong AI that can hold a deep grudge.


    As Ze Shou was scanning ADA''s body for weak points, he seemed to see a highlight of data in red that flowed across ADA''s body. Taken by surprise by the newfound sight ADA jumped forward suddenly her right fist flying forward at speeds that seem to exceed sub-sonic, but to Ze Shou it appeared to go ahead slowly almost like a slow pace the world soon turned into a blur of red lines and black contrast numbers and characters flowing around him.


    Ze Shou saw two points highlight in blue on two points on ADA''s body, one on her right shoulder and one on her left knee. Ze Shou pushed out his palm into ADA''s shoulder, slipping into her guard while swinging his left foot into her knee, dislocating it with what seemed like a wet pop. Following up from the kick Ze Shou swept his foot behind ADA''s rear foot sweeping her off her center of balance, throwing her into the ground.


    ADA, while recuperating on the ground, hearing bones pop back into place with wet pops and clicks, not seemed to mind at all at how disgusting it sounded to Ze Shou even though he had many more times of injuries that recuperated in the same way. ADA had a bright smile on her face as she got up after her bones set and organs shifted back into their original position, she clapped with applause that seems to echo from a full stadium in the white space.


    "Congratulations, you''re finally starting to see ''The Code,''" ADA said as her smile grew and showed a perfect set of white pearly teeth that seem to reflect light because of polished they where. Ze Shou finding his sight return to normal, looked up with a confused expression on his handsome face that seemed to say, "Hey, I don''t get it, explain, am I going blind?" ADA couldn''t help but shake her head and get ready to explain.


    "'' The Code'' is the way Creators, kind can view and manipulate reality. This space, me and even you, my creator are a string of cosmic data that''s been compressed into a physical being that can be altered in any way shape or form the only limitation is creating life from the cosmic data as its too random and spontaneously explodes in galactic supernovas." ADA says while changing the space to a jungle setting as if setting up the next stage of training.


    "As my creators kind is not gods who are omnipotent or omnipresent but are close enough, your kind is merely considered fourth-dimensional beings as you go infinite ways in space in time but not create life. Though the only ones who have been confirmed to have any resemblance to creating life are the universe''s will, who have a deeper understanding of the ''The Code,'' always altering it into perfection ever-changing preventing catastrophes, the only downside is that they can''t manage anything else that happens in the universe, causing unexpected phenomenon well go over that in galactic studies later."


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    ADA finished explaining and turned back to Ze Shou, but now instead of workout clothes that were drenched in his blood. ADA was wearing a military camouflage suit that seems to help blend her into the soundings. "Well, now begin the survival evasion resistance escape training or SERE for short your goal is to survive for sixty days each day getting easier," she said a confusing sentence.


    Before Ze Shou could ask if he heard right, ADA whistled to the forest for a good minute followed by silence then a very, very loud roar that made the jungle space shake. Then came a crashing of trees, then through the darkness, two bright golden eyes showed through the foliage, eyes that seem to be the size of boulders.


    An icy chill ran through Ze Shou''s body as if sensing a great sense of foreboding worse than when he spared with ADA for who knows how long. ADA showed a faint smile that seems to shine under her camouflage, giving her a dark, sinister light. She waved her hand, leaving a few words before disappearing into the foliage. "His name is Prominence. He''s your predator; he will try to kill you; if he catches you, you''ll just be torn apart constantly until you escape. see you in sixty days!"


    As soon as ADA''s words disappeared into the wind, those golden eyeballs that were eyeing Ze Shou disappeared. Ze Shou took off through the foliage as he felt a great sense of danger around him at all times; some parts felt stronger while others were weaker. As he was running through the dense brush getting whipped by vines and bushes that had sharp thorns, he felt tired for the first time since coming to The Space.


    He hasn''t felt tired or the need to eat since coming to space, but now as if it had built up over a decade all came crushing down his body instantly felt full of fatigue his muscles screaming to stop take a break, that he left the monster far behind him in his mad dash at evasion. his lungs screamed for air protesting at the slightest movement threating to burst if he took one more step.


    But before he could appease his body, he fell flat on his face with such velocity; he slid on the mud, sliding into an above-ground root of a jungle tree. His body then started shaking uncontrollably as dark green foam flowed from his mouth. Ze Shou felt excruciating pain from his arm and legs as they jerked in odd angels breaking his bones and connected tissue. Snot, tears, and foam leaving his front orifices as he looked on in horror as if the pain from fighting ADA was just a lovely poke full of doting love from his mother.


    To make the matter worse as his body was breaking itself as if to satisfy some sadistic nature of torture, a piece of the surrounding change what used to be a tree turned into a giant tiger the size of a big rig truck. Prominence arrived before Ze Shou looking down at the convulsing young man before promptly sticking out his front paw and smashing Ze Shou''s head open like a Watermelon being thrown in front of a moving car. Prominence lifted his colossal paw and started to lick the remains of Ze Shou''s head while sitting on his hind legs.


    ADA appeared from the top of the tree falling neatly to the ground on the balls of her feet, correctly distributing the impact not disturbing the soil or leaving a trace of her presence. "Eight minutes and ten seconds distance traveled ten kilometers not bad for type one civilization body type, but you tired yourself out first, remember next time your not at your prime when your head comes back you have a ten-minute head start before Prominence comes at you again," she says reading down a list before jumping up the tress thick brush and blending in.


    Ze Shou whos head was missing heard her words but felt the pain of his head being smashed open for ten minutes till he returned to his starting state. Giving his head a shake fixing his disoriented vision, he scanned his surroundings before moving into the foliage carefully. This time as he seems to figure out the cause of his seizure was due to plant life leading him to have his head smashed open.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 4 )

    12 hours later


    After spending what seems like half a day running from Prominence and avoiding flowers that had beautiful colors but had deadly neurotoxins stored in their equally beautiful thorns. Ze Shou was panged by constant hunger and thirst. His workout clothes were drenched in saliva, blood, sweat, and some unidentifiable liquids that seem to stink more and more as they dried under the artificial sun.


    The temperature which had risen from his guess forty degrees Celcius had increased to above fifty degrees Celcius and continued to climb. His body mangled from constant ambushes from carnivorous plants, and Prominence added to mental fatigue he has been accumulating from being on the run.


    Ze Shou whos left arm was shredded to ribbons from a claw swipe from Prominence had luckily escaped by jumping into a river. As if to strike down on his successful escape, the river turned rapid and led to a kilometer drop waterfall. Nearly drowning from the rapids to fall a kilometer only to end up breaking his back on the rocks below, tearing his stomach open and having the wildlife come and eat what remained of his internal organs all while conscious feeling every single peck, scratch and tear as the wildlife ate him alive.


    Ten minutes later, he was whole again. His body ached, his clothes torn, so he decided to toss what remained of tattered clothes. Then he jumps in the river to wash off the blood and other mater that clung to his skin. Soon the crystal clear river had a patch of red and different colors mixed in as they flowed downstream.


    Ze Shou scanning his surroundings for danger can''t help but put a small part of his attention to the vast view of the green sea like forest. The one Kilometer drop waterfall spaying mist as it collides with the rocks. Creating a memorizing view, a mixture of jade and topaz swirl into the scenery before him a true masterpiece and although faint just at the middle point of the waterfall an almost circularized rainbow.


    He can''t help but take a deep breath before running out of the water and pulling together some fallen leaves, some shaped like a banana and some shaped into a heart, winding them together to make a somewhat passable skirt of leaves to cover himself.


    Ze Shou then scours the area checking for poisonous plants and edible fruits, so he can sate the hunger that''s been plaguing him for the past twelve hours. The foliage around the pooling area of the waterfall does not thicken till you walk a few hundred meters into the brush; there, more poisonous types of plants and venomous wildlife start to appear.


    Ze Shou, satisfied with his surroundings, decides to set up base here as a fall back point. He first starts by looking behind the waterfall to see if the erosion from the waterfall made a natural cave. To his luck, there is one the entrance to his best guess was about half a meter wide a meter tall just enough for him to squeeze through.


    Though inside the cave was pitch black, so exploring it would have to be put off until he can secure a light source. With his dwellings ideally located, he then proceeds to go a few meters into the forest. Looking for any available dry sticks and thatch that wouldn''t instantly kill him or put him in a state of not being able to be able to move.


    During his second trip into the forest, he heard a barely audible snap of a twig a few meters away thick in the brush behind him. He instantly took a dove in a bush that seemed to have no thorns and soft leaves covering himself as fast as possible with the leaves he gathered trying to make himself look like a part of the forest as if like a chameleon.


    Ze Shou finished his camouflage and then slowed down his breathing. His heart seems to accelerate as he felt a significant presence seem to get closer to his last location. There were no loud thumps that one would hear if a large animal were moving through the place. It was smooth and silent almost invisible like an owl swooping down on an unsuspecting rat, making no noise whatsoever disturbing nothing as it stretched out its talons to take the life before it.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Ze Shou''s heart seemed to still as the presence stopped a few meters away. His breathing halted cold sweat ran down his back as he waited for what would happen next. Muscles tensing like a rabbit getting ready to flee the moment the presence moved one step closer to his position. The presence seemed to move its head down as if examing the ground, giving it a smell before turning its head towards Ze Shou''s hidden body.


    Ready to make a break for it as Ze Shou was about to turn and dash as fast as he could, there was an animalistic roar that seemed to shake the jungle in its entirety. The presence seemed to issues a scoffing like sound before jumping into the tree coverings as the ground quaked as a new existence was approaching.


    Ze Shou felt it was much bigger but less dangerous than the presence that was about to find him. He got up and quickly collected the material he was using to cover himself and started to run to his fall back point near the waterfall. The presence seems to sense him running locked onto him and then disappeared as if never having existed.


    Confused, Ze Shou stopped running to turn around to scan for abnormalities as it was too sudden of a disappearance. After standing still and finding nothing out of place, he slowly made his way back to the fallback point. He covered himself in thick mud, smearing it on his jade white skin and onyx like hair, turning him into an unrecognizable mud-man.


    After somewhat concealing himself he tore up some moss from the bass of a tree nearby that had a brown and greenish type color, but before putting it on himself, he tore a small part off the tree and put it on his forearm to see if it contained any paralysis or poisons in it, but on the contrary, it made him feel refreshed and relaxed. Taking note of the moss, he covered himself in it while also grabbing a few patches for later use to see what other medical properties it might contain.


    Now fully camouflaged, he kept low hiding in the underbrush as an attempt to avoid detection as the two presences were excellent at tracking and stalking, waiting for the most opportune time to strike when Ze Shou''s guard was at the lowest. After walking a languid pace to avoid detection, the artificial sun was now just about to hit the horizon, turning it into a sunset, but the temperature seems to stay the same as it was midday.


    A few meters away from the clearing, Ze Shou felt all the hairs on his body stand up; his heart rate accelerate as if he was turning a marathon into a sprint cold sweat flowed from his body as a tsunami flowed from the ocean onto dry land. He threw his body to the ground as fast he could, but before he hit the ground an enormous amount of air pressure from something sweeping over his head flung his thin body like a rag doll into the nearby trees destroying them in the process while also breaking multiple bones in Ze Shou.


    Ze Shou struggled to get up, coughing up mouthful blood looking at a deep pair of crimson eyes of what seemed to be a giant cobra coiled around the tree. The Cobra, who had a mixture of a red and gold mix of scales that seem to interlock in a pattern of a rose vine that wove across its long body. The Cobra let lose another vicious howl shattering Ze Shou''s eardrums deafening him as he tried to move an arm to at least cover one of his ears.


    The Cobra seeing that its prey was still alive, tightened its body around the tree, turning it into splinters under its immense crushing pressure. The jungle tree feels into a splinter sawdust-like state while the glistening Cobra fell from its place from the tree onto the soft ground, quickly creating a snake-like crater making the ground tremor. Ze Shou''s teeth couldn''t help clatter when the Cobra landed and stretched out its hood, jaws wide open ready to strike Ze Shou and swallow him in one gulp.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 5 )

    Ze Shou panicked at the wide maw of the Cobra; he tried to force what was left of his body to dodge or at least give him the advantage to get out of the way. The Cobra slid forward slowly as if teasing his prey, letting him know that he cant live no matter what he did. The Cobra''s mouth started to leak acidic saliva that seemed to hiss after each drop hits the ground, its verticle pupils seemed to constrict as if it can''t contain its excitement anymore that it had enough smelled the delicious prey in front of it.


    Ze Shou slowed his painful breaths, stared at the Cobra''s body, blood dyed his vision, his thoughts swirled, shouting in his head saying anything from run, flee, give up, you can''t win, you''ll revive anyway. Through all the chaos, he tried to remember what he saw when he was getting thrashed about by ADA the slowness that surrounded her, the intricate figures of characters and numbers. That seemed to take over his vision the parts that seem to change, letting him prevail, allowing him to avoid pain and take a step forward to understanding himself.


    Ze Shou''s vision fluctuated from being dyed red from his blood to the red and black view of ''The Code.'' It flashed rapidly as his conscious blurred from his head trauma. Through the darkness that was enclosing in on his vision, a path lit in green characters shown on his left. Though before he could confirm what he saw through his hazy conscious. His left eye exploded to strain and returned to his bloody vision, pain ran throughout his left side of his body, making him call out in a high pitch squeal.


    The Cobra, although confused as to why the prey hurt itself it seemed to become more excited by the high pitch scream and started to move closer at a faster pace. Its tail slapped the ground in excitement, sending powerful shocks through the field, Ze Shou body rolled with pain every time the tail struck the ground.


    As the snake was less than a meter away, maw wide open ready to swallow Ze Shou. Ze Shou dashed in a half run, half limp. Trailing blood behind him as he moved to the left as the Cobra leaped at where Ze Shou was bitting the tree, that he was leaning on crushing what remained of it to mulch. Ze Shou trailing blood panting as the snake recovered from eating a tree involuntarily got more excited as its prey struggled but displeased at the same time that its target was leaking its precious, tasty blood.


    Ze Shou was moving to his fallback point as fast as he could looking over his shoulder every few steps to make sure the Cobra like creature wasn''t directly on him. Not in his best state, he couldn''t use his sense accurately enough to guess the location and speed of the Cobra chasing him so he could only move as fast as his body would allow.


    While going to the path, he set up in his mind that was full of plants that won''t slow him down or disable him. His breathing got more labored as his mind turned fuzzy each step was excruciating as he had to use his broken leg to propel himself forward, just to get the tiniest advantage of distance from the hunter. He kept telling himself forward, forward one more step, only one more step, keep moving, duck low, move left, move through the bush.


    A list of commands like a robot the simplest things to keep his mind off the impending suffering that is to come if he gets caught. Soon he could see the clearing leading to the lake and the large waterfall that sunlight that was left giving him the sight needed to his one eye that was practically blinded by the blood or the encircling darkness caused by a multitude of things that causes one to just stop and say "hey just kill me this is bullshit."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Ze Shou heard trees breaking behind him that got louder and louder, overcoming the ringing that was plaguing his ears. He put everything into his legs, what was left of his vision going black as he ran towards the little cave that he set as his fall back point, climbing jagged rocks cutting open his hand and scrapping his arms from forcing them to hold his body in between rocks so he could rise to the entrance.


    As he was rising higher and higher, he felt his climbing leg being flicked like a whip by the tongue of the Cobra, melting his skin, causing blisters and pus to exfoliate before turning black and falling off in clops of decayed skin. His voice turned hoarse as he let out probably the loudest yell of pain in his life, tears flowed from his eyes, but they seemed to be red instead of crystal clear.


    His mind was slowly turning blank from the pain his limbs turning limp he only could helplessly crawl forward sobbing and yelping as each movement ahead just caused heart-wrenching pain he crawled and crawled, teras of blood rained down his face before hitting a wall and passing out, easing him from the torture momentarily. Darkness enveloped his mind as what seemed like forever until a force woke him up making him scream again in pain, he banged his head against the wall creating another concussion promptly knocking him out again before a pressing force was put on his melted leg jolting his body making him look like he was having a seizure from the pain.


    "WAKE UP!" "you still have 58 days to go before you can move on! What''s the point of this training if you spent it sleeping? HUH?!" as a familiar voice that caused one to shiver when hearing it rang in Ze Shou''s buzzing ears. He struggled to open his remaining eye only to see ADA looking down on him in her camouflage suit with a glowstick in her hand illuminating the surroundings. "wa-" "wa-... wa-" Ze Shou tried to sound out weakly through his tore vocal cords.


    "Water? Is that what you want?" ADA said while moving to a kneeling position, leaning her head closer to Ze Shou''s face. Ze Shou could only nod the tiniest of movement that was barely noticeable; ADA sat up, took out what looked like a military-style canteen, popped open the top, and dumped the contents on the floor in front of Ze Shou''s face. All with a smile as she said, "get it your damn self; if you''re stuck in a situation like this again, do you think your enemies are going to be merciful and help you out? No! They''re going to fucking play with your body till you want to drink fucking acid so you can end your shitty, miserable life! But even then, they still won''t give you the fucking time of day! "


    The torrent of abuses hurled at Ze Shou''s ears would make anyone ears bleed, but later, Ze Shou would understand this as her way of showing that she cares and just wants him to be prepared in every scenario. "In any case, your body won''t revive anymore until your heart or brain is smashed into pieces, also to prevent cheating. I made it impossible to off yourself like a fucking loser! So get your shit together and survive, see you in a while!" ADA finished her abuse before extinguishing her glowstick and fading into the darkness.


    Plunging Ze Shou back in the dark, all he could do is wallow in pain and hope his body recovers naturally. The occasional drops of liquids stirred Ze Shou from his half-unconscious state as his body was still a mess and missing essential pieces. He could barely move his eye that was no longer entirely dyed in blood but just had dry patches in certain areas of his vision.


    Ze Shou scanned the floor that seemed to be littered with a dark type of grainy rock; the texture looked like sand but more crystallized and with fewer impurities that are usually seen with sand. Up above up, he saw stalactites that seemed to be made of the same dark crystal from the ground, except they seem to carry some hints of illumination.


    Condensation seems to soak up all the light before dropping onto the ground spreading an out a circular ripple of light before dissipating genuinely marvelous, but for Ze Shou who was dying of thirst it was torture

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 6 )

    Ze Shou could only just watch helplessly as what seemed like water to just disappear in front of him, his throat felt as dry as a dessert. His stomach pained from lack of nutrients, he felt dizzy because of blood loss, his body shaking involuntarily because of the pain that racks his body.


    He felt some kind of bugs chew on his decaying flesh they crawled on his skin while some took a liking to the gaping holes on his skin to creep in and start eating away creating a tunnel network.


    This was just unexplainable to Ze Shou as he could only just think of the cycle of pain, hunger, thirst, then the next move before the cycle repeats. This went on for hours until the bone in his left arm snapped back into place, jerking him from his least painful position to aggravating every wound again.


    Making tear open his partially healed vocal cords. Halfway through his scream, blood came out with bits of bugs and tissue from his vocal cords. Blood foamed from his mouth as he just shuddered a silent cry.


    Tears no longer flowed due to dehydration, so he just shuddered as e tried to move very carefully back to a less painful position. With both arms healed, he could now crawl, but due to his partially missing leg, he can''t move an inch without issuing a silent scream. Luckily for him, the pain overcame the need for water and food.


    Making him more clearheaded on his goals as his injuries are healing, so he started to think back. One he made it to the cave behind the waterfall, two he doesn''t know how deep he made it in, three is the water from the stalactites drinkable, four how long till his legs heal, five what to do about the snake.


    With a somewhat made-up schedule, he began to wait and let his internal injuries and leg injuries heal, but for how long that will take, he doesn''t know, then he made up his mind and decided to crawl his way to the stalactites that seemed to drip the most amount of water.


    Each pull forward was excruciating as he cried out in an unrecognizable groan as his legs dragged behind him, leaving blood trails as the wounds and blisters split open from the sharp grains of sand-like crystals. This attracted more bugs that started to eat his flesh and lay on his back with his mouth open and waited for the water.


    When the drop of water like substance fell into his mouth after what seemed like hours. It flowed down his throat with a taste like honey, clearing his jumbled head momentarily before feeling like eating a hot piece of coal smoke rose from his mouth. Ze Shou floundered around until a cooling current flowed around his body, it felt like a wild ride of ups and downs.


    An experience like jumping off an airplane into a volcano only for it to turn into a frozen tundra before nothing a genuinely wild adventure, but at least it quenched his thirst. So he set himself up and again and waited for a while till the next drop. And then experienced the same wild ride again and repeated for who knows how long until he could barely hobble on one leg.


    Now barley able to move while crawling was preferable as he could prop his missing half leg on top of his partially healed leg. When crawling around, he looked like a slug that was sprinkled with salt, it was pitifully terrifying if looked at it from a certain angle. A disfigured man covered in moss, blood, and mud. Missing an eye and half a leg crawling around like a slug to move from point A to point B was oddly indescribable.


    Crawling around Ze Shou''s hand pricked every time he dug his hands in the sand like substance though irritating the skin, no other condition was noticeable besides the slight wrinkle on Se Shou''s head occasionally. After moving every few meters moving through the cave system looking for an exit as his orientation has been skewered. He couldn''t risk using ''The Code'' as the strain might blow off his forehead, and since ADA forbids him from killing himself. He figured it will probably block him from self-terminating.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    After what crawling through the darkness and coming to a multitude of tunnels after tunnels twist and turns, up, and downs. Resting occasionally, Ze Shou started to have dark lines appearing on his forehead as he was lost hungry in pain, and a multitude of things his patience was beginning to wear thin. Still, he kept crawling forward red dots started to show on his arm. As the crystal sand started to burrow their way into his skin after he regularly used his arms to propel himself forward.


    The rash, although causing the skin to be spotty, didn''t feel irritating, so it wasn''t a problem for now. Still, for Ze Shou considering his past experience, he figured it will create a significant amount of pain in the experience to his body later. His body shuddered, and a frown formed on his face before taking a quick rest and moved forward towards a vast tunnel. Inside the tunnel had a massive incline with a mixture of stalactite and stalagmites surrounding a jagged path.


    Climbing to the top and exhausting his remaining strength Ze Shou laid on his back, and his hard-pressed expression turned funny. His amethyst eye that was dull and blotchy with blood gained a little shine as he showed a slight smile, exposing his somewhat once white teeth and little dimples. Reflected on his memorizing pupil was a nebula of colors reflected on the ceiling.


    The ceiling contained a multitude of colors that come together to form countless little stars and galaxies that seemed to swirl with the movement of his eye the sight was more breathtaking than anything Ze Shou has ever scene he felt this was true deep down in his aching breathless body. Resting there, he just stared as the swirling stars and galaxies as he recuperated.


    Turning over after getting his fill and started to crawl forward but stopped suddenly when noticed a small trident like crystal that had two stars on the outer crystal with a milky white galaxy that seemed to leak into the base of the jewel he reached out a hand grasping it putting it before his eye before it turned dark and then turned to dust.


    Ze Shou''s face turned black as he continued to crawl over a few hills before he saw the entrance to the cave it was recognizable because it still had his blood and acid marks left by the Cobra attack earlier finally arriving at his destination he decided to rest until it was light outside as it was still dark at the entrance of the cave. If he remembered correctly, Cobras was nocturnal, or at least he hoped so.


    Ze Shou sat against the wall with his eyes clothes waiting. His stomach would occasionally alert him that he was still starving, but by now, he used to the hunger pangs. His Half missing leg, although still blistered and bloody with the occasional bug popping out with its mandibles chewing on a piece of skin although painful and the sight would make anyone throw up their meals for the whole day. Ze Shou would just frown pick the bug out with a quick hiss of pain and chuck the little bastard out of him before waiting until the next fucker reared its ugly head.


    Until the pestilence got less and less in his leg, he picked one out before pinching it in half. Black like tar with a mixture of blood would leak from the exoskeleton. Ze Shou carefully put some of this tar on the back of his spotty red hand and waited for any effects, but thinking back to it if the insects like things were venomous, he would have felt something when they were eating him from the inside out.


    So then he started to capture them and chew on them to sate his hunger. The first one he threw in his mouth made him gag so hard he reopened his wounds on his shot vocal cords, making him throw up more pieces of tissue and black blood.


    Ze Shou reeled and squirmed yelling at himself for doing something stupid, but to anyone saw his one-man performance, they would see a mentally ill patient eating flys straight from dogshit. With no other way to secure food, Ze Shou Hardened his already damaged heart and waited for another bug to pop out his leg before throwing it in his mouth coming down a few times before promptly swallowing, a genuinely shitty taste.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 7 )

    Ze Shou ate the nasty ass bugs one after the other until his wound infected leg was clear of them. The sun started to shine through the ruined cave entrance. It was a sign for Ze Shou to start moving again. He crawled towards the cave entrance before poking his head outside, checking his surroundings for any sign of danger.


    Before beginning his climb down the rocky path that led down to the clearing next to the nay of water. From his position, he can see an area of carnage that was left behind by the Cobra as it chased him. Big patches of missing vegetation as well as long-winded trenches, broken trees, and shattered rocks. Ze Shou had a weird look on his face; his lips had turned into a half pucker, half slant, one of his eyebrows rose.


    After he moved his eye around the scene of carnage before continuing to climb down, once on the ground, he went to one of the broken rock sites looking for a somewhat sharp stone. As he planned to carve himself a wooden crutch so he can gain back some mobility in case he had to run from the snake again. But then again, on the other hand, wouldn''t it be easier for him to let the Cobra come and kill him? So he can walk without any restraints. But thinking back to the venoms of the Cobra and the pain he felt from his leg.


    His body involuntarily suffered as he slapped himself upside the head a few times before shaking and pointing his head straight up in the air before shaking a few times. Displaying a feeling of self-loathing, with a mix of soundless crazy laughter intermittently. Although temporary mute, anyone could hardly guess what was going through the poor man''s head if they came up to this scene. After his little fit of craziness, he found his stone that was a bit oversized for his hand.


    Then moved towards the trench line, then to the rows of broken trees that got denser as you followed the snake trail here, he would look for a decent-sized stick that was up to his armpit that had proper thickness. After going from tree to tree and what had seemed to have been hours, the temperature had risen to the point it was immeasurable, and his body had become severely dehydrated again. His lips began to crack, and his body no longer sweated, Ze Shou took a rest under a palm look-alike tree for a while before looking for his perfectly sized stick.


    Half an hour later, he found one that was a little too tall but manageable with some trimming with the rock. Ze Shou took his branch and rock under the look-alike tree before starting to carve. First, he got rid of any side branches, making it look like a walking stick before taking his rock knife wannabe and began to move in a saw-like motion on the left from the center of the branch. After sawing into the branch about 15cm, he started the same movement on the opposite side, intending on creating a ''v'' shape into the branch.


    After connecting the two cuts, he removed the ''v'' wedge before he placed his still sharp rock and slowly moved it in an upward motion, cutting uneven thin pieces of green like wood. This motion was slow but steady, slowly making a smooth curve from the base to the top. After a few hours by switching between working and resting, he had a crudely made crutch that fit perfectly under his arm. He can now hobble around the area in an unsteady manner as the crutches were imperfect. Now finished with his extra leg, he can now solve his dehydration problem that sprung up again.


    As an excellent stimulus to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted, he remembered the tortures of the cave and rollercoaster water. If you were stalking him like a predator, you''d see Ze Shou look up from his work to look at the waterfall with his amethyst eye only to shudder, shake his head, only to shiver for a few more times before going back to his work. After his fits of seizures, he washed his body in the basin of water that polled near the waterfall, taking a few sips of the water that didn''t fill his thirst; he went to restore his camouflage. Finding the moss that seemed to carry healing properties, he took a few handfuls before smashing them in a split rock that had a sizable hole next he used his mouth to hold water as he wanted to mix it with the mushed moss turning it into a paste-like substance before rubbing it on his leg.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Ze Shou let it sit for a few minutes before washing it off; the effects were noticeable as his blisters swelling were slightly reduced, and the pain numbed a little. With excellent results, he continued on his original plan of stockpiling resources in the cave as it became his home for the time being going around, making multiple attempts at leave weaving before he had a sizable basket the sun reached the highest point in the sky.


    Succeeding being in the cave so long, he had lost his sense of time and now had no idea what day it was, but from what ADA said to him earlier in his broken state, it should have been day fifty-eight. When he regained his conscious, he didn''t know how long he was muddled so he could only continue his tort-..training under the benevolence of that terrifying bitc-... assistant ADA. After perfecting the art of making shitty baskets with parts that had torn leaves, dead leaves, and gaps between weavings, he made a few of them before scavenging in the local area for any edible food that won''t paralyze him or make him foam from his eyehole.


    The following included collecting a few baskets, he then proceeded to move them towards the cave as he climbed up and down, moving baskets after the fourth trip. Ze Shou went to look for gourds to store water as he might not need to leave his cold dark home in case of emergency, mostly in the affairs of giant cat attack or acidic cobra that was hungry and came looking for him. Walking a few meters near the outside of the area that started to becomes a thick jungle, he saw white green gourds hanging off a violet spire-like plant.


    Finding his target, he moved towards the gourd and reached out. Only for it to reach out at him and with teeth, the gourd he was reaching for split into four sections with rows of teeth. White cream like juices leaked from its mouth as it snapped at Ze Shou. Ze Shou, who was not use to his third leg, quickly fell over but also used his crutch to wack the plant. This seemed to easily infuriate it as it screeched and honked at the plants next to it. This caused a chain reaction, all splitting and showing some charming rows of sharp teeth.


    As Ze Shou realized, he let his guard down too easily choose to run out of the monster plant area while scanning the ground to place his crutch for balance. He noticed detached gourds on the ground that didn''t seem to react as he kicked them while running. He bent down, dodging a ravenous gourd plant picking up its not active brethren and continued to hobble out of their attack range, securing a pair of gourds that were linked together by a vine that had emerald-black color tiger pattern.


    An odd combination of colors while blending into the landscape of green and shades of black, the gourds stood out in particular. As if it was supposed to attract any unsuspecting prey that was curious enough to go near the carnivorous plant. For the inferior little beings having no clue, they were walking into a honeypot trap that would soon take their lives in one swift motion.


    If viewed from a lighter perspective, it can be said that their death was quick and painless as they had their head or vital areas grasped like a praying mantis lashing out with its apical claws seizing their dinner and quickly removing any signs of life all in one swift motion. Ze Shou was now having an idea of using the dead carnivorous plant as a storage for water. He moved back to the clearing to work on the gourd.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 8 )

    Ze Shou reached the clearing going to the stream near the basin of the waterfall to at least quenching his thirst. He had trouble sating his thirst recently as he can only at least get by with the motion of drinking fluid. To him, at the time, he could at least trick his brain that he''s drinking water. This will, at least in some hope, solve his thirst problem for the time being. Now having solved his body issue temporarily, he moved to collect to his carving rock and stepped to the shade under the tree.


    Settling down, giving his surroundings a good look over for any changes or stalking predators, he took his carving stone and cut the vine from the two grouds and set it aside. Next, he started a carving motion at a forty-five-degree angle, slowly cutting into the stem. White fluid dribbled out as he cut more in-depth into the stem. Carefully avoiding the liquid, he continued to saw through the gourd till he was able to pull the stem top off.


    Thinking its better to drain the fluid inside, he moved back over to the river, grabbing two fist-sized rocks and placing them parallel into the river water that had some current. The water level only rose to his dirt-covered feet. Next, he put the gourd stem downstream while the two fist-sized rocks pinched the base. White fluid flowed from the open top and now contaminated the riverway. He then hobbled back to his working spot then continued to process the other gourd.


    While keeping the same mannerism as before, he placed the other gourd in the lake, letting the gourd drain. Ze Shou moved towards the tree line to make more baskets to collect food for storage after that, collected the gourds from the river. He then looked for dark stones that would collect and retain heat to let the gours dry at a rapid pace. Ze Shou found a rather thin slab about the half the size of his palm in the river.


    While walking around the area, he let the stone dry in the sun before placing the gourd on top with the base facing the black stone. Watching the gourd making sure it doesn''t cook for a while before switching it out with the other gourd. He checked the dried gourd for any residue fluid that retained in the gourd before moving it to the shade before moving back to watch the other gourd dry.


    After a while, he picked up the dried gourd and moved back to the shade and prepared to hollow to out, checking the inside of the gourd. Inside he found a sponge type of white foam and white rows of teeth. Sticking his finger into the inside of the gourd, he felt the walls where the teeth were held in place where hard and could be scraped off. Ze Shou then pressed on the teeth the bards on teeth and felt a slight burn as it left a small cut on his finger after he lightly touched on it.


    The teeth did move slightly, so it was removable, after being cut by the teeth Ze Shou took some moss paste and put it on the cut in case the tooth carried a venom sac as he started to figure anything in the forest that could move had venom or had acid-like mucous membranes. After not seeing any reaction, he was assured he could use the gourd for water-storing purposes and started to look for a smaller sharp rock as his current carving rock was too big to fit in the gourd. His plan didn''t include to make the hole bigger and lessen the water carrying capacity, so he started to search the cobra wreaking area, and after a few hours of digging and turning over stones, Ze Sho found a ''J'' shaped rock that was precisely what he was looking for.


    Ze Shou moved to his working area and first started to dig out the foam-like substance. The odd thing was when dug out and exposed to air; it began to exfoliate like the pappus of a dandelion and float away. After being caught by sight for a minute, Ze Shou continued his processing after clearing the foam he then started to dig his candy cane-shaped rock at the base of the gourd.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Digging where you expect the gums to hold teeth would be but not digging too deep to dig out of the gourd. But not even using to much strength, he broke through the other side, leaving a ''~'' hole now wasting one gourd he began the same process on the other gourd and the result. The same, he concluded that maybe the gourds wetting and drying process ruined the skin, causing them to be flimsy and brittle in some areas, although he was careful with the other gourd with his carving.


    He still cut through it, now destroyed the only gourds he had, he now had to travel back into the forest to get new gourds. He made sure he camouflage was reset and began to make his way slowly to where the carnivorous plants resided. After traveling what seemed like a few kilometers from the waterfall, he found the gourd plants that were playing idly still. This time he crawled slowly on his belly to where a few fresh dead gourd plants where. Collecting a row of gourds that was attached to a vine and when he reached out towards a fifth. The fifth one released a last screech before dying, alerting all the idle gourds in the surroundings.


    Ze Shou startled got up to run. His leg caught on a dead vine; he used his carving knife to hack the vine midway through before dodging a hungry gourd plant. Before continuing to chop at the vine, finally free, he got up to hobble run, avoiding hungry gourd plants and stray vine whips. Leaving their attack range before slowing his pace and moving back to his hideout area once again, he threw his gourds to the ground laying down panting.


    His thirst came back stronger than ever, and hunger levels were on the rise; his pain threshold was slowly starting to collapse. The loneliness feelings and morbidness settling in with the intense amount of stress, Ze Shou was currently under. The loneliness was even more significant, but somewhere deep down, there was a small ember of madness raging for him to continue for him to keep pushing forward that it was only getting more exciting.


    Ze Shou''s erratic breathing slowly calmed he propped himself up before looking towards the sun. Seeing that he still has plenty of daylight left to process the gourds, he heads to the shade and begins to work. This time he doesn''t let them sit on water for too long and drys them on the rock partially before air drying the effect this time is much more noticeable. After processing the four gourds, he makes small holes near the top big enough for the vine; the gourds were connected too to slip through. Making them long enough to tie into a belt now secured a water storage a somewhat food storage, he moves towards the cave to check on his supplies.


    Once in the cave, he goes to where he moved his baskets only to finds ribbons of shredded leaves. Four ruby-like hyenas were eating the berries and leaves of the remnant baskets. Ze Shou turns to run only to hear pairs feet running at a breakneck pace. Ze Shou only feels searing hot pain come from his shoulder as the first hyena-like being bites into him the other beings yelp in a laughing manner. Ze Shou drops one crutch to reach for his carving rock while using the other to steady himself from the momentum from the hyena, suddenly pouncing on him with its massive weight.


    Ze Shou tries to throw himself against the wall while stabbing repeatably into the hyena that''s bitting into him. While dark red liquid flows onto his carving rock, almost making him lose his grip, his head feels light, and his vision starts to tunnel from the blood loss. Still, his eyes never leave the other three ruby hyenas that yelp in laughter as the trio bounce back in forth at him. While their mouths foam with a black substance, their eyes show the same redness as their skin as they dart frantically over Ze Shou''s body.


    Ze Shou felt the grip on his back loosen the hyena on his back must be dead by some lucky strike. Feeling crazy feeling bloom through his body, he grabs his bloody knife tightly before ditching the supporting crutch. He jumps eye wide open, bloodshot with the biggest grin on his face at the nearest hyena laughing madly while getting bitten on all sides he stabs repeatable into the hyenas until there''s no more sound echoing into the cave.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 9 )

    Ze Shou could feel his body recover,  the teeth marks around his skull slowly closing. Brain matter forming in their proper place, and he could also slowly start to feel movement in his disjointed limbs. Once he got full action from his limbs, he pushed himself off the sand crystals and scanned the area. Not seeing or sensing any threats to him, he moved his attention to the dead ruby hyenas that killed him. Ze Shous total kills numbered three with a blood trail leading deeper into the cave system.


    Assuming the other hyena was injured, and he was currently safe, he examined the body for any useful material. Ze Shou started with the head; he studied the eyes, his finger sunk in them, and the redness seems to be tapetum. That''s what seemed to make them shine; next, Ze Shou ran his hand through what seemed like fur, his hand didn''t sink in and seemed to bump when he went over different creases of the ruby-like skin.


    After that, Ze Shou looked around for his carving rock, going around the area he found the rock sticking out of one corpse. As he pulled out his carving rock blood sprayed out from the slit, then the bugs followed. Ze Shou tried to catch them and then stuff them in his gourds upon pulling out his line of flasks he saw that one had a deep gash that cut through it. Another one had two punctures of teeth marks, and the others were in a somewhat good condition besides some scrapes from claws and teeth.


    Ze Shou plucked off the gourd and tossed it, landing softly in the sand crystals as it can''t be fixed, so he pushed the bugs into the one with teeth marks as it couldn''t store water any longer and the bugs were too big for the holes.  Ze Shou collected decent-sized insects and stuffed them into the gourd he plugged the top with his thumb while he looked for a clustered crystal sand that could cork the hole. He started his search combing his other hand through the fine sand coming up with only loose grain and no clumps.


    Ze Shous finger felt tinges of pain as the bugs tried to crawl their way out through his flesh. The insects'' mandibles were only sharp enough to cut through soft tissue, so while annoying to him, he wasn''t in any danger yet. After going back and forth, combing through the crystals, he took a break to take another look around the cave. Upon scanning the floor of the cave, he noticed the black stalagmites. He walked over to the closest one and pushed at the pointed tip with his index finger. Applying more pressure to the dark spike tip, with no signs of breaking, he lets off.


    Ze Shou puts his carving rock to his hand-winding back his arm he smashes at the top of the formed rock causing a delicate line to run through the base of the stalagmite tip. He then presses his finger on the tip of the stalagmite; this time, it breaks loose and falls to the ground. Ze Shou picks it up and fits it to the gourd, but the base of the tip was too long and impeded his movements, so he tried again with the surrounding stalagmites to find the remaining gourd caps.


    After fitting his gourds with caps, he went back to inspecting the dead hyena, due to his distraction, more bugs have infested the corpses. The bugs started to consume the untouched ones at a visible pace to the point of showing bones with bits of meat and leftover tendons that were too hard for them to chew through. Ze Shou pried open the dead hyena mouth with his carving rock to inspect the teeth as he found them sharp and useful while also painful. Prying open, the dead beast maw bugs swarmed out, and onto his carving knife, Ze Shou no longer showed a look of disgust as he calmly sorted through the bugs throwing them into his gourd.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Checking the dead hyenas'' canine teeth and premolar teeth for looseness and sharpness by skimming his carving rock against them. Satisfied by the mark left by the teeth, he removed his carving rock from the jaw ad moved to the claws. The claws had more sharpness and were easy to break off with a little pressure, not sure of their durability but assured of their sharpness. He decided to keep the claws and wait for the bugs to eat the gums and flesh of the heads of the dead hyena. Ze Shou, while waiting for the corpses to be picked clean, looked around for the hallucinogenic water.


    After going a few hundred meters into the nearby tunnels and finding no trace of water, he guessed he has to make a journey deeper into the system where it was more likely to condense. When Ze Shou turned around towards the back of the cave, leaving marks on the side of the cave for fun and a way to track the route, he arrived at the entrance. The corpses entirely consumed except for a few pieces of meat and tendon; they were perfect skeletons. Ze Shou lifted the skeleton head and used his carving rock to knock out his desired teeth after setting them aside with the claws he went to move outside to gather his resources again, and possible dig holes on the outside as the cave was compromised.


    Once outside, he felt blistering heat attack his skin, his previously jade white ski started to show patches of red. His forehead started sweating; he looked around the sky, noticing it had turned a dark brown with clouds that hovered barely above the trees. Ze Shou started his climb down the rocky terrain, but the rocks seemed to be hot as they burned his skin every time he pressed a body part against them. Ze Shou now speeding up his descending pace to reach the basin quickly as he felt a foreboding sensation prick the back of his head. The hair on his arms raised, his heart got a sudden boost of adrenaline, his breath quickened as he scanned his soundings, not feelings any eyes locked onto him. He moved quickly to make a basket to grab other foodstuffs for later.


    Making his basket, the dark brown clouds slowly got closer, and the temperature raised even more. He moved his hands quickly, but his tense nerves caused him to tear leaves, slowing his progress down to the point of needing to start over. Ze Shou got up to look for more fallen leaves to weave with, but his sense soon kicked up another notch as he sensed multiple presences heading his way.


    None of them were targeting him, but they all ran in the same direction as if fleeing. Ze Shou turned to run abandoning the barley made basket and headed back towards his cave, almost halfway to the climbing rocks. The area the tree line behind him sharted to be shattered into fragments by larger animals ranging from woolly mammoths to his beloved giant red cobra with a giant ever-changing multicolored tiger only to be right behind him.


    The other large animals seemed to ignore him, but his two animals locked on to Ze Shou fleeing figure. The cobra slithered towards Ze Shou but was knocked into the basin by Prominence making boiling water splash into the air forming a rainbow with the residual droplets. The cobra flailed about as its leathery skin blistered in the boiling water. It lashed out; its maw snapping at the air as it tried to snap at whatever that was attacking him. In its panicked state, the cobra couldn''t differentiate between a predator attacking and a natural phenomena. While the cobra was panicked and struggling, the boiling basin prominence was continuing his chase back onto Ze Shou.


    Ze Shou, now sensing a deadly focus on his back again, focused his attention and calmed himself. He allowed his body to run from cover to cover while his mind focused on trying to see ''The Code.''  His vision fluctuated from the ordinary scenery to ever-changing lines of number and characters or red and black. As his vision almost went entirely into ''The Code,'' his body took a sudden dive into the dirt, throwing him out of the zone filling his face with soil, then his body rolled to the right to through a group of brushes.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 10 )

    His whole body racked with pain as he rolled over jagged rocked and pointed branches but quickly numbed by a burst of adrenaline. A tremor ran through the ground as Prominence pronounced at Ze Shous last position and overshot Ze Shou, who ducked and rolled before running with renewed spirit. Ze Shou now running again with Prominence causing carnage behind him; the ground shook as the big cat swiped at the towering trees.


    Splinters whizzed by Ze Shou, who was focusing on getting back to see ''The Code,'' the white trails following the shards of splintered wood was easily distracting for others. Still, for Ze Shou, his mind was solely focused on survival. ''The Code'' fluctuating before dyeing his vision changing the world from what people would generally describe as a plant, dirt, sky. Ze Shou could see lines of numbers and letters ever-changing flying off from certain places and even occupying space.


    Now achieving his goal, pain coursed through his head after a few moments of attaining the ''The Code'' Ze Shou quickly looked around or a path that would highlight the route to his survival scanning the ground. His body turned rigid as his amethyst eyes looked at the numerous gibberish of letters that littered the ground black instead of the feeling of safety; he usually got the only sense he got was death. Certain death if he continued running from cover to cover towards the safety of the cave.


    He was at a complete loss,  his mind spun as the danger behind him was coming closer, and the time to see ''The Code'' was coming to a close. Ze Shou trying to find a solution fast as he then scanned the soundings next and his salvation was...the cobra currently boiling alive? In Ze Shous vision, the cobra was highlighted in gold shining like the sun high in the afternoon before it turned into a red blob that was ever closer like the current spaces sun.


    Now that salvation was found, Ze Shou ran with renewed vigor; adrenaline burst threw him as his heart felt like it would pop like an overinflated balloon. His body pumped everything it could to run over to thrashing snake boiling in the basin. The cobra now lost its glistening red scales now had a deep-fried brown too it with blood-red popped blisters with chunks of flesh missing. Ze Shou charging toward the basin of boiling water was a few tens of meters away with Prominence right behind him. With the new sound of carnage, the frenzied cobra locked on to the sounds with what''s left of its half-melted face. It issued a thundering roar before its throat exploded due to excess pressure further infuriating it.


    Blood now flowing like a fountain where the spine connects to the head of the cobra flailed it mangled body madly at the two subjects approaching it in its wounded state. Ze Shou, now less than ten meters, felt his body itch to jump to the dirt did so as his body slid a few meters.  Prominence flying over his body landing at the raging cobra, the two monsters now both boiling in the basin that had a good amount of water left were now focused on each other. Ze Shou sprung up and ran towards the cave; once he reached the base of where the waterfall would be, he started to climb the rocky path towards his cave, ignoring the monstrous roars behind him.


    The rock spikes were emitting steam as Ze Shou climbed, he chose rocks that emitted the least to avoid the least amount of burns, but the pain was no less excruciating. His hands blistered as he moved; the skin on his back now had blisters as the sun''s light greatly intensified. Now less than a meter from the cave, a roar was heard from behind him. He looked back only to see a bloody Prominence missing half a face with an angry eye clawing the rocks madly towards Ze Shou.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Ze Shou, now faced with his angry predator friend, started climbing even faster, no longer choosey with climbing rocks. His climbing speed significantly increased, and in a moment he was on even ground and dashing towards the hole. Looking over his shoulder, he could see Prominence reaching the crest and climbing over, Prominence racing over to Ze Shou. Ze Shou now at the entrance of the cave dove through the hole prominence right behind slammed at the entrance roaring madly with its half-melted face with one arm in clawing wildly at Ze Shou.


    Ze Shou gasping for breath looked at the deranged big cat madly clawing at him while sporadically switching colors. The frenzied big cat roared, shaking the cave, even taking back steps from the cave and ramming the entrance with its body trying to create a wider opening. The cave rattling around, causing rocks to fall, stalagmites craking, raining dust and rocks that fell cutting Ze Shous skin.


    The next time the half-melted Prominence charged the hole cracks ran through the top of the cavern, the dust, and rocks that were falling increased exponentially and became larger rocks the size of a head fell. The stalactites hanging above cracked and pierced the ground one next to Ze Shous head, giving a beautiful laceration across his cheek, exposing the fatty bodies.


    Blood slowly ran down; Ze Shou ran to the side of the wall and hugged it with his back. Looking to his right at the hole, he saw PProminence lining up to ram again Ze Shou looked around for a weapon that can be used to fight Prominence. In case of an even he can''t escape after Prominence gets through the hole. He was looking at the shattered stalactites in the ground, hoping for a complete one the size of his arm.


    Between looking between Prominence and the stalactites, Prominence''s next charge drew his attention as the melted face blew through the small gap half its body coming with it before getting stuck. Now in range of his prey, his forearm with melting flesh, patches of fur missing replaced with blisters supported the half body prominence as the other disfigured forearm swept towards Ze Shou.


    Ze Shou ducked down and performed a frog jump, narrowly hitting his head on the bottom of sweeping paw. Rocks were pelting him as he grabbed a fallen stalactite half the size of his body with hands. Before spinning in a circle and throwing the dark stalactite into Prominence half-melted face. This seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back as the big cat didn''t expect its prey to fight back.


    The leftover hair on its body seem to bristle as sparks seem to pop off the big cat''s body seemed as if it were to ignite and explode.  Ze Shou simply grabbed another fallen stalactite and chucked it at the cat. He repeated the action grabbing every fallen piece of stalactite greater than his arm. Prominence, on the other hand, glowed dark; red sparks constantly flying off as the temperature in the cave seem to spike the big cat suddenly screamed and clawed madly at the ground.


    Ze Shou, preparing to throw another rock, stopped as he noticed that Prominence seem to be no longer focused on him instead was just clawing as if to get away from something. Ze Shou looked at the big cat tilting his head as if expecting some kind of trick, but as the walls grew redder Ze Shou. Ze Shous body reacting sent warning signals to run. Soon the red hot walls slowly started to drip red hot liquid beads onto Prominence, who had suddenly stopped moving mouth wide open. Ze Shou leaned in closer but soon saw flames erupting from the dead cat''s mouth, making him back away and start to move towards the underground passage.


    Soon the walls started to sag flowing onto the dead tiger igniting the body into a burst of flames. Ze Shou, now caught by toxic air, decided he has seen enough and moved down the underground passage. Not knowing where he was going as he looks at the ground, the path he crawled was cleaned up already. As if a magic janitor came by and swept up the bloody crystals and trail into a synchronized pattern of sand memorizing those who looked at it while also giving satisfaction for being symmetrical.

 Arc 1, Chapter 1: Vacations Over ( Part 11 )

    Ze Shou began moving down random tunnels going deeper and deeper until he reached a ridge. The ridge was surrounded by what seemed like an endless sea of stalactites and stalagmites. Between the rows near the crest, there appears to be a small circular hole just big enough for his body to crawl through. Providing that familiar feeling, the hair on Ze Shous body couldn''t help but raise his face turning pale as the blood drained from his face.


    His chest rose rapidly as his breathing quicked to the point that he kneeled over puking dark water with chunks of bugs from his nose and mouth. After vomiting for a good minute, Ze Shou shakily rose to his feet and trudged forward. He stumbled after every few steeps as his body shook with every step closer to that hole.


    Reaching the hole, Ze Shous body looked like that of a recovering heroin addict. Body shaking puke leaking out of the nostril, with dry stains of black liquid running down his mouth and onto his chest. Ze Shou started at that dark hole for a while, forcing back down the vomit that seemed to have received an eviction notice and was forced off the property.


    Ze Shou shakily got on the ground and slowly started crawling through the small entrance. Halfway through the sand began to move, pulling Ze Shou down the slope, his face could only pale as he let out a scream as the rest of his body followed him on the rockslide. Body tumbling as he rolled down the hillside deeper into the cave. His body slammed into a stalagmite smashing the rock spike to pieces creating more debris rolling down the slope.


    Ze Shou forced his arms around his head while tucking his knees. His body accelerated down the slope smashing into the spiked pillars of hardened crystals before finally sliding across the bottom of the slope to a stop. Ze Shou still curled up like a ball soon felt the impacts of falling rocks strike his back and legs. He was letting out pained hisses after so many impacts.


    After a minute of not feeling any more impacts, Ze Shou uncurled his body. Shakily getting to his feet, he did a body check moving his torso side to side, breathing in and out deeply, doing circles with his arms, and kicking his legs out. Only finding pain from the impact point and no other wounds, his body was in good condition. Next, he checked his items gourds were fine and still corked. He lost his carving rock and pieces of the red hyena, which were a shame but nothing he could do about it.


    Looking at the ground in the cave that was illuminated by a swirling nebula Ze Shou found a pointed stalactite that was broken when he slid down the slope. About the size of his arm with a pointed tip, it would do for a self-defense weapon. Ze Shou, now with a weapon, slowly started moving through the cave system, no longer keeping track of where he was going. Wandering aimlessly until he reached a room with an oppressive humidity.


    Hearing drips of water Ze Shou realized this must be where he found the hallucinogenic water. Finding a pool of water about the size of his palm Ze Shou set up his first gourd in the center of the puddle and looked for another spot. A little ways away, Ze Shou, found another puddle with a huge stalactite collum handing over it. Setting down his other gourd Ze Shou moved to the middle of the two and sat down and closed his eyes.


    Ze Shou focused his mind on seeing the ''The Code'' and slowly felt fluctuations of wind surround him his vision that was surrounded by darkness slowly shone flashes of red light before condensing into spherical balls that rotated around the cave. Ze Shou slowly reached out to the nearest ball that hovered near his body, feeling his fingers brush past something that felt like a gelatin substance. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Ze Shou circled his hand around the red sphere grasping it. The small orb now in his hand felt like a ball of puddy as it shaped to his hand. Ze Shou released the orb and moved his hand away a few centimeters before looking at the orb that stayed in the shape of his grip before moving slowly away.


    Ze Shou opened his eyes to see if the puddy orb was there, but all he saw was lines of code running against the walls and floor. Ze Shous curiosity spiked as he ran his finger against one line of code. What surprised him was that the line he touched stopped with a highlighted symbol of ''H.'' Ze Shou thought of the chemical formula for water being ''H2O1''. A light flashed as the letter ''H'' Changed to that formula.


    Ze Shou suddenly felt something watery at his finger he returned his vision to normal to find a dark patch of crystals slowly start melt and change into a puddle of water.  Ze Shou got up and checked on his gourds, finding them full he took a couple of sips before capping them with the crystal spikes. Ze Shou sat down and waited for the water to kick in his hands and back felt excruciatingly hot before turning into a numbing cold, and that was it. After waiting for what seemed like a minute, Ze Shou opened his eyes to discover a fountain pumping water out.


    Ze Shou focused on seeing ''The Code'' again, and what he saw was rather shocking. The compound of water he wrote into the red line was multiplying by absorbing the characters next to it; then, it spread to the next line. Ze Shou returned his vision to see multiple sprouts of water flowing from the ground filling the cavern. Soon from one of the caves, Ze Shou could hear a rumbling, followed by the cave shaking. Not even enough time to go back to ''The Code,'' a geyser of water flooded into the cave filling it up. Ze Shou knocked off his feet by the rushing water was thrown to the wall as the water quickly filled up the small cave.


    Ze Shou taking a deep breath before he was submerged and closed his eyes, waiting for the water to fill the cave. After the pressure lessened, Ze Shou opened his eyes to see bubbles from the geysers pushing in more water while the stalagmites seem to give off a fluorescent landscape, lighting the bottom of the cave. It would be a magical moment if Ze Shou wasn''t trapped and had access to air. Ze Shou pushed off the wall of the cave and started to swim towards one of the cave routes only to get his body pulled in a current pushing him the opposite way.


    Helpless Ze Shou floundered in the water before giving up and letting the current take him. As his body was pulled along, the current sped up, slamming Ze Shou into a wall at every turn before taking his body. Ze Shou, after being hit for the twentieth some odd time, saw a light at the end of the current. The current sped up, flinging his body closer to the light before the light blinded him, followed by a sense of weightlessness. Ze Shous eyes adjusting before he could see that he was flying before losing momentum and falling straight down into a layer of white.


    Expecting a soft landing, Ze Shou relaxed his body and braced himself by wrapping his arms around his head. Seeing the layer of white get closer, he closed his eyes and waited for impact. What was supposed to be a soft impact turned into smacking a slab as his body skidded across loose grains of sand and tumbling a couple of times before coming to a complete stop. Ze Shou wide eyes let out a breathless scream from the impact that knocked the wind out of him followed by gasping and rugged pants as he tried to recover. his mind shifting from pain to suffocation, took a long time for him to settle.


    After finally recovering his breath Ze Shou did another body check because of the sand clinging to his jade white skin. He couldn''t see any real damage, but everything else was fine. His gourds have done their jobs and kept his water sealed, but for his bug gourd, the bugs were all dead due to drowning so he could only eat them now and not let them spoil.

 Arc 1, Chapter 2: My Sadistic Assistant ( Part 1)

    Ze Shou, now sitting down in the desert, wasteland chewed on the disgusting bugs, but with a bit of the water, they ingested the taste was alleviated from throwing up to gaging. Ze Shou looked around the area looking to see the water tunnel he came out of, but all he saw was a flat plain of sand. After eating his water bugs, Ze Shou switched his vision to the code again. The rows of text all had the same characters running across.


    With no feeling of death and no highlighted target, Ze Shou switched his vision back to normal as he looked for a way to go. So he gave up closed his eyes, turned in a circle a few times before stopping opened his eyes, and followed the direction his body landed on. Meanwhile, in a room with a chair centered around revolving screens sat ADA, who had a baffled look on her face before letting out a hearty laugh.


    "Really? Ha, that''s what how you chose which way to go I can''t believe it. hahaha!" ADA said before falling off her chair and rolling on the floor a few times before getting up and straightening her clothes and sitting back in the chair. Tapping her clipboard a few times, all the screens condensed into a blue orb. ADA pulled the orb with a motion of her finger, before grabbing it and eating it. Her eyes flashed with a blue light before swaying her clipboard in the air as new screens appeared and started to float around in a clockwise motion.


    ADA sat up before selecting a screen and started to write arithmetic data followed by charts after one screen was full, she flicked it away before the data disappeared and turned into a live view of Ze Shou fighting the gourd plants. It was a video that repeated but with highlighting points of his body with either red, yellow, or green, followed by a text point. Soon Ze Shous every action was on a board constantly changing with highlighted points.


    After finishing her final board, ADA tucked her clipboard to her armpit before clapping her hands. All the boards collided into one before turning into a piece of paper that ADA attached to the clipboard. Looking through the piece of paper, ADA smiled before tapping the board a few times and waited as new screens of Ze Shou appeared.


    Ze Shou, covered in the sand now wandering through the barren desert, just starred ahead with the occasional look around for something. After whats feels like walking for a day, Ze Shou took a break and sat down, taking a sip of water from one of his gourds and waited ten minutes before getting up. He continued to walk in a straight line until the sunset on the horizon.


    Thinking that it might be night soon, he dug a little bit in the sand and laid in it for a few hours before finding out the sun didn''t go below sunset and started to rise higher in the sky. Ze Shou feeling the temperature of the dessert start to rise started to consume more water and take breaks more often. This pattern continued for three sunsets until he was out of the water, his body aching. Ze Shou got up and moving staggered like when he saw the sun change positions. Once in awhile, Ze Shou would use ''The Code'' for any direction as he was not use to the change of pace.


    Ze Shou stumbling dehydrated hungry as his feet left bloody footprints in the scorching sand as he made his way forward. Ze Shou knew he wouldn''t last long like this, but this place was baren. He even tried to write the formula for water in the line of code, but nothing happened, so he could only continue to push on. The fifth sun rise Ze Shou looked like a bum his lips were cracked patches of skin were sunburnt to the extreme and leaf coverings were starting to crumble away with every step. His gourds lost their moisture and soon began to collapse on themselves and turn into mold.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    His vision hazy as his legs stumbled over his feet and his body fell into the sand after a few minutes, he''d get back up, walk a couple steps and soon fall again. Lifting his head through his hazy vision, he saw a shimmering light. Ze Shou slowly rose to his feet and started towards the shining light.  A few hundred meters away, the ground began to shake as a pillar of sand began to rise. Its hight beginning at  5 meters.. then rose to10 meters...30 meters...50 meters...


    Ze Shou, a giant spike, comes from the sand. Layered with pointed spiked with dark brown skin, this thing was humongous. Ze Shou knowing nothing was easy, tried to run only to fall and watch as the giant Euphorbia like thing open its mouth, splitting like a blooming flower and start to fall towards Ze Shou. Ze Shou can only look at the massive tower fall jaws wide open ready to eat him.


    "I give... I give up... I can''t...." as Ze Shou muttered this sentence, time froze, and the area started to crumble around him slowly before it turned into a white space. Ze Shou now wearing a bodysuit and laying on the floor in perfect condition as if he never went through that hell. ADA appearing next to him wearing her secretary outfit with a clipboard in hand. "something to drink?" ADA said, peering over Ze Shous face. after staring at ADA with dull eyes for a good minute, he hoarsely said, "whiskey on the rocks..." ADA let out a slight smile before waving her clipboard and changing the scenery to the study room with a bottle of Glenavon Special Liqueur.


    Both sat down one, looking like a dead fish while one had a smile of happiness and prestige.  ADA poured two glasses and waited while Ze Shou took a sip breathed deeply and laughed "still better than bugs."  ADA smiled, " you actually lasted longer than estimated. The prediction model showed you giving up after your first encounter with Prominence. you did really well." Ze Shou finished his glass of whiskey before pouring another one. "can you explain the point of all that?" Ze Shou asked while sipping his glass. ADA simply smiled and said, " No, not until you finished the whole sixty days  you getting to twelve days is already good and ill show you why."


    ADA tapped on her clipboard, and the room darkened then one after the other screens appeared of Ze Shou every move with highlighted points with massive text scrolling on each point. " I got a good idea of where you at so it helps me more than you once you''re finished with your drink were going to start for real this time," ADA said before disappearing. Ze Shous glass fell spilling the liquor. His face ashen as he looked at where ADA disappeared, he went for the bottle before chugging the whole thing and waited.


    Soon the space warped, and he was now seated in a classroom with ADA standing at a podium. "Scare you?" ADA asked while letting out a chuckle. "Now, since you seem to have a good understanding of combative and survival were going to start with strategy, the total time of this course is 312 years 6 months and 25 days. This is going to start from the beginning of time to the current time. So let''s get started, shall we? Ze Shou began to see stars at the time needed for him to understand the whole thing thinking how twelve days felt like months years will be a lifetime.


    Seeing his unwillingness, ADA simply said, " though, of course, if you want to delay the lesson, we can throw you back to SERE training. Prominence is asking about you. He was quite upset about the rock-throwing." Ze Shou quickly shook his head as he sat up straight, ready to listen. Seeing this, ADA couldn''t help but chuckle a little at his behavior before turning to the board. "well first stat with hunting, hunting is a natural instinct developed over time that allows animals to follow a set of actions to take down prey many times larger than itself. well, go back to the prehistoric era where we''ll see a group of predators takes down larger prey than itself."


    As ADA finished this, she tapped on the podium, causing the soundings to change into a jungle environment while Ze Shou still at his desk while ADAs podium disappeared. Up above an aurora swaying in the sky with a conflux of yellow and red.

 Arc 1, Chapter 2: My Sadistic Assistant ( Part 2)

    Soon the ground started to quake as a giant lizard with two sets of little dewclaws waddled into the jungle. Ze Shou panicked and stood up from his seat at the sight of the monster his body started to shake as he prepared to run. seeing this, ADA quickly explained, " don''t worry, they can''t see us or touch us as we exist outside their timeline, so sit and watch." Ze Shou sat back down but eyed the giant carefully. ADA then continued,  "The Nanotyrannosaurus Lancensis or the Dwarf Tyrant a juvenile form the Tyrannosaurus Rex. From a date of a type zero civilization dated in the year 2018, this creature is approximated to be at least 2.4 million years old, the current land apex predator of the Mesozoic era. Though big in size, the only advantage it has its weight, its tail, and its mouth watch as its ambushed."


    Just then, a smaller version of the dinosaur the size of a horse covered in feathers appeared in front of the giant squawking angrily at it while stomping its foot to the ground repeatably. "The Velociraptor one of the smartest group hunting predators of this time approximated at seventy-five million years old," ADA said as she moved the side. The Dwarf Tyrant taking the little dinosaur as prey stomped the ground making the earth vibrate before letting out a hysterical roar shaking the trees and causing birds to flock away.


    The Velociraptor ran towards the Dwarf Tyrant, avoiding the bite before swiping at its leg, leaving a deep gash on the giant. The Velociraptor ran away before squawking at the Tyrant before leading it to a clearing with high grass. The furious Tyrant followed, letting out threatening roars. Once in the clearing, the Tyrant lost visibility of the Raptor before feeling claws dig into its back. The Tyrant roared and swayed, turning its head chomping at the sudden group of velociraptors that were clinging on to it, digging their claws in a while taking bits of flesh out with their tilted teeth.


    While the Tyrant was distracted, a new group of Raptors charged at both legs doing hit in run tactics at the tendons of the feet after ten minutes of the struggle the Tyrant collapsed before the whole pack due to blood loss and excess use of strength. The bloody Tyrant could only huff helplessly as the pack tore into its flesh and slowly closed Its eyes no longer breathing. After the gruesome scene, the scenery changed back to the classroom with highlighted pictures with an overview of the area on the board behind ADA. "now well go over why that hunt was successful and how it can be applied to warfare strategy." ADA said as she tapped on the podium


    After that, the first picture came up, and it showed the first Velcoraptor with its jaw wide open ADA pointed to this "the purpose of this one was to act as bait a challenge in the form of territory, and the first attack drew the alertness away from Dwarf Tyrant if it listened to its instinct it would only challenge the trespassing predator in the territory its familiar with. Unfortunately, they are only animals." ADA selected the next picture, an overview of the first confrontation between the bait Raptor and the Dwarf Tyrant. the scenery changed with the two figures roaring at each other. "Now, look around what do you see?" ADA said while leaning slightly forward of the podium.


    Ze Shou scanned the area and couldn''t find anything besides the two apex predators. " ill move time by half a second then." ADA tapped the podium, and the world shook very fast and stood still for three seconds before shaking again this cycle repeated. Ze Shou slowly Scanned the area, locking his gaze in five different places but had doubt written on his face. "Now, what did you see? point to it." ADA said while she watched Ze Shou point to the five places. "I saw different shades of color mixed in the scenery with slight movements, what were those?" Ze Shou said after pointing to the spots, he noticed a difference. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "Good job," ADA said while tapping the podium again, the two apex predators turned this almost invisible while the trees surrounding disappeared. At the five spots, Ze Shou pointed at where five Velociraptors watching the confrontation in waiting. "what these five groups are doing is evaluating the predator while slowly entrapping it. While the bait is expandable, the whole group moves as a collective if the bait is successful. The group would move around the target waiting to strike amid confusion, therefore, taking down the predator with numbers rather than size." ADA finished then played the whole scenario without the scenery.


    The bait lured the Tyrant, and the group followed slowly encircling the unsuspecting Tyrant while the bait disappeared the rear group took the opportunity to climb on the tail of the Tyrant enraging it while distracted by the group on the back the side groups moved in and went for the legs disabling the movement. Followed by the front group with the bait that went in and attacked the vital areas and securing the kill. One swift strategy and a feast for the hunting party, "Do you understand why it worked and how they did it?" ADA asked "en" Ze Shou nodded in affirmation as everything that happened replayed in his mind a hundred times over. Word for word, movement by movement, Ze Shou felt that his learning ability was god-like as if he was there at every angle.


    "Good! Now do it; you''ll be the Alpha of that pack, find a target, and take it down good luck!" ADA said and waved as Ze Shou turned pail and reached out while leaving a half-finished sentence before disappearing "ADA YOU BI-." ADA couldn''t help but chuckle " he still has the gall to curse me, ok ill remember that, haha." a twisted smile formed on her face as she threw out the monitoring screens of Ze Shou confronting the pack.


    Ze Shou''s arm still reached out appeared in front of a pack of Velociraptors as they eyed each other before the pack swarmed Ze Shou tearing him apart in less than half a minute. Time flowed backward and then resumed with Ze Shou appearing with his hands out. Instantly Ze Shou turned to run, but before he could leave the cave where the pack was staying, he was torn to shreds again by the swarm outside the cave. All you could hear was cawing, followed by a bloody scream, then silence.


    On the hundredth time-reversal, Ze Shou eyes were bloodshot as he stared deathly at the pack of Raptors. The nearest one charged only for Ze Shou to give a roundhouse kick to the head flinging the horse-sized bird creature to the wall Ze Shou then faced the rest of the pack and screamed with all his might before charging at the pack attacking each one using every part of his body. On the two hundredth time-reversal, he roared at the pack, his insanity like aura spread out, causing the birds to sink back and squawk weakly, lowering their heads as a sign of submissiveness to the new Alpha.


    Ze Shou hummed in satisfaction before issuing a command "follow!" He Ran out of the cave while the Velociraptors fanned out behind him. Ze Scanned the forest looking for a target to hunt with his pack before coming close to a thirty-meter tall dinosaur that was eating leaves as he stopped and crouched down the Raptors did the same circling behind him. As Ze Shou was formulating a strategy, the biggest Raptor honked and ran at Ze Shou; the rest of the pack turned and ran at Ze Shou.


    Time reversed and was back in the cave, thoroughly pissed. An insanity like aura spread out. In an instant covering the area around and inside the cave making the raptors instantly go into submission, he walked up to biggest Raptor, grabbed a boulder and smashed it into the bird''s head, and continued to smash it until the head was separated from the feathered body. Covered in blood, Ze Shou gave the command to follow. The Raptors now loss the former leader of the pack could only show submission and follow the new Alpha.