Tired, hungry, and healing from minor injuries, the three blood mutants groaned with disgust after they learned that they were still training. Even though they had consumed the leftover blood from the Ethisians, it still wasn’t enough to satisfy their lusts, urging them into asking for more.
"At least let us replenish our lost energy," Jim asked, hoping that Grim would have a drop of decency and pity in him. "We’re exhausted. What good is an exhausted soldier to you?" He asked as he applied the basic knowledge he acquired during his service in ArkVille’s Military a couple of years ago.
"You make a compelling point, Jim," Grim answered as he moved forward. "However, this training will be like a real scenario. Soldiers don’t stop during a battle to eat or rest. You either push yourself beyond your limits and win, or you die. Now you three, get up."
With no choice left, Ace, Cherry, and Jim followed Grim’s instructions and stood next to each other. The black-scaled Granian then walked to Cherry first, his gaze fixated on her grouchy face.
"You have a problem with consuming too much blood. You let your emotions get the best of you and in the end, make hasty decisions. As your brother warns, if you over-rely on that form and keep feeding it, you’ll become a blood addict." With that said, Grim walked over to Ace and stared him dead in his eyes.
"You take too long to move. You lose too much time and energy planning your moves. You also have a poor sense of fighting skills. Your power’s predominant in your mental capacity. Try crafting new skills and weapons which aren’t blood spikes."
"And lastly you," Grim referred to Jim was standing before him. "You make things more complicated than they already are. Don’t hesitate to kill, unless you want to be killed. Don’t be afraid to let loose once in a while. The one thing I’ve noticed in the three of you is your lack of fighting. Your moves are too basic and predictable. Only the clones we sent at you were foolish enough to fall for them.
"You also have problems with keeping your forms for as long as you need. Your symbiotes were given for a reason, use them. And as for you, Ace. You’re equipped with a highly intelligent system. Seeing the way you handle yourself shows you have yet to unlock the basic settings in your system. Focus on doing so, instead of wasting your time with keeping yourself free from consuming blood."
"So what now." Jim asked, having gotten fed up of Grim’s taunts. "What do you want us three to do? Are we going to fight more Ethisians next?"
"The three of you are going to be separated into different biomes that’ll push you to work on your weakness," Grim answered as the simulation chamber started to change. The three blood mutants were separated by three thick walls which widened from each other. Meanwhile, a platform grew from where Grim and Skyler stood, allowing them to see the Blood mutants easily.
[Triple Biome Simulation Commenced.]
From the ridiculously high ceiling of the training facility fell twelve black pods, the ones similar to what the Ethisians dropped in. Four fell on Cherry’s side, four on Aces’, and the last four on Jim’s.
"After analyzing your current strengths," Grim said to the three humans, "I’ve taken the liberty to create another assessment test. This time, you three will have to deal with your problems on your own without teamwork. The creatures we’ve sent your way have been designed to go straight for the kill. If you dare hesitate for a moment, you will die. No one will come to save you."
"We know you’re lying." Cherry bluffed. "If we die, you’ll have to go back to Earth and look for someone else that’s suitable with the blood genes we have. That will be a major setback for you and your kind, won’t it?"
Thinking she made a point, Cherry smirked at Grim proudly, only to get humbled. "Do you think we’re that stupid? We’re currently growing replacement clones if anything bad ever happens to you three. Don’t count yourself special. There are others that’ll happily take your position.
"With that said, you three may begin, NOW!!"
With a large, hard wall stretching to both sides of the simulation chamber, Jim was trapped in his own training scenario which was still the same red dust biome with pink skies. Looking ahead of him, he saw the black pods finally open up, and out came four monstrous creatures the size of small horses.
Their arms were long and bony, their claws thin and sharp, their legs long and double-jointed, and their bodies were extremely thin yet long. Their backs were hunched with little redbones sticking out from the thick, dense layers of skin wrapped around them. Their heads were shaped like onions, their eyes white but empty, and their mouths were sucked into their jaws with short but curved teeth in them.
Jim’s body froze as he went into a quick state of paralysis, having heard the creature’s roar. Their screams sounded like the sounds of terrified victims boosted by heavy bellows. The four creatures, standing on their four limbs, slowly rose up on their hindlegs as their hands stretched to the bottom of their feet.
"Shape shifters?" Jim wondered as he struggled to move from where he was. Although the creatures were a good distance away from him, he couldn’t move. His fear, which seemed irrational at the moment, made him think that if he moved, he’d get slaughtered by their long claws, even though he had a form that was more terrifying than theirs.
’Move, Jim...’ he urged himself as the four beasts limped towards him. Their eyes remained fixated on his with them blinking for a second. Their screams and roars got louder and more violent, making Jim quake even more. ’Damn it, Jim. Grim was right. You overthink things. These things will kill you if you don’t kill them first. Don’t overthink it, just do."
As the beasts got closer, Jim’s hands and legs started to bleed and transformed into their blood-mutant forms. The man’s fear, although still present, pushed him to take action and end the beasts before they got the chance to. His plan was to use long-range attacks aimed at their heads to put them out of commission for good.
’Let’s see if this will work.’ With a blood spear forming in his hand, Jim took in a deep breath and threw it as fast as he could towards the beasts.
The blood spear immediately went through one of the beast’s head, leaving a gaping wound in its head. Jim, at first, was pleased to see that his move worked, but that pleasure turned to fear as he watch the wound patch back up in an instant, healing much faster than the Ethisians.
’Wild regeneration!!’ he grew even more worried. ’These things regenerate too fast. My spears will have no effect on them.’ In one more attempt, Jim threw yet another blood spear, however, the beast he threw it at grabbed the spike which penetrated into its arm. The beast looked at the spike, then at Jim, as it roared in excruciating pain.
Its scream pierced Jim’s ears, causing them to bleed out a little. The remaining three started to run on all their limbs, gaining speed with each passing second and narrowing the gap between themselves and the man.
"They feel pain. Good," Jim hyped himself up as he coated more parts so of his body with blood. "If that’s the case, I’ll have to slice their limbs off first to make them immobile. Looks like they’re the type that only die once their heads are off!!"
With Jim on the right of the simulation chamber, Ace in the middle, and Cherry on the left side, Grim and Skyler were able to notice what was going on on each side. While Jim was facing the screaming beasts, Cherry was running towards the black pods, not wanting to see what would jump out from them to kill her.
She figured that if she’d kill the creatures first, she’d not have to worry about them killing her as Grim had said.
"This just shows to prove my point." Grim said to Skyler who was watching with disgust and fear all over her. The sight of the creatures Jim was battling was so horrendous that it made her wonder just how many the Granians had. "Your female friend doesn’t think before she fights. She’s too irrational and doesn’t plan ahead. Now she’s going to suffer for it." Thıs content belongs to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝※𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖※𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Suffer for it?" Skyler jumped to her feet while keeping her distance. "What do you mean by that? Are you going to kill her?"
"Your friend over relies on her blood mutant form which will make her a blood addict. What better way to train her out of it, than to show her what it’s like to battle one."