The winds on the middle, barren, rocky layer of the mountain blew stronger, faster, and colder. The loose rocks and pebbles flipped and rolled over, making it sound as if someone were sliding on the mountain path. The rocks became so cold and almost icy to the touch that it became slippery to walk on them.
The four Blood Mutants, sleeping under one of the rocks, were fast asleep while waiting for the sun to rise. To be more clear, only the female Blood Mutants were asleep. Ace, still shirtless and exhausting himself to reach new heights of power, was fighting his blood clones, which were controlled by Jim.
After being yelled at, Jim offered to control the clones as a way for him to increase his blood control skills and for Ace to learn new fighting styles. As the night advanced, the two males kept going at each other, pushing themselves beyond their limits. Ace had gotten injured a couple of times but always managed to destroy the clones with ease. Jim, on the other hand, was finding it quite challenging to compete with Ace’s movements.
The younger Blood Mutant was moving much faster, dodging quicker, and hitting back with more energy, swiftness, and finesse in his attacks. It got to the point that Jim started to extend his own body beyond his limits. No matter how much he tried, he started to notice the difference between him and Ace.
Before, Jim was certain he would easily beat the younger Blood Mutant. However, judging by his improvements, he understood the difference between both of them and saw where he needed to improve if he wanted to catch up, let alone keep up.
"I’m tired," he said, exhausted and panting for his breath. "Please, I want to catch my breath. Time out." Jim lost control of the blood clones and let them turn back into puddles while he lay flat on the cold ground. His hot, sweaty body came down a little, his breathing slowly lessening in terms of intensity.
Meanwhile, Ace remained standing, his back facing Jim. The symbiote on his back seemed as if it wanted to leave, for its details were now more defined. The more Jim looked at it, the more he felt as though the ’thing’ was trying to leave, for Ace was pushing it beyond its own limits.
As for Ace, he remained standing still and breathing casually, his eyes pulsating a red glow as he looked off in the distance. His arms, now more bulged and cut, were exhausted, having been swung and used to punch repeatedly. His legs shook, his chest pained, and his back grew sore not just from his intense movements but also from his symbiote. "I’m going to sleep now." He whispered and walked past Jim while wearing his cold shirt. As soon as he lay down in the cave, he shut his eyes and went to sleep almost immediately, showing just how exhausted he was. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
Meanwhile, Jim got back on his feet and started examining his own symbiote. Different from Ace’s, his seemed more dormant and less detailed/vicious. Ace’s own would glow and pulsate the more he trained, while he didn’t even make any movements.
’What exactly are they trying to prove by giving us different symbiotes?’ he wondered, trying to connect the dots. ’Maybe it’s because they want him to grow stronger faster. But his sister has the same one, so why doesn’t she show any signs of aggression and improvement like him?’
In all his questioning, Jim couldn’t quite get an answer for himself, so he instead went back to keeping watch. While the others slept, he’d occasionally play around with the blood puddles, hoping that doing so would increase his blood control skills.
"Okay, everyone." Jim yawned sheepishly while peering into the cave. His eyes, heavy and blurry, barely made out what was in the cave, and he wasn’t able to see what, who, or ’where’ he was touching. "It’s time for us to..."
"Touch me there again and you’ll lose that hand." Anya angrily hissed at Jim, threatening to severely injure him for his ’groping.’ Unknown to her, the golden Mutant had been up much longer than all of them and unfortunately was starting to suffer the consequences.
"I’m sorry," he apologized, not even realizing he was slapped. "I’m just exhausted. We need to get going. The winds are not as heavy as they were last night."
"Perfect!!!" Cherry yawned loudly and quickly left the cave. With much strength in each step, she jumped, stretched, and loosened her stiff body, preparing herself for another day of walking ahead of her.
"Ace," Jim called but got no response. "Ace, it’s time to...."
"He’s already here," Anya called out. "You’re the only one left in the cave, weirdo."
"Oh good then." Jim yawned once more before picking himself up and prepared to lead. "Today let’s try and cover more ground. I believe we only have one more layer of the mountain to climb and according to One Horn, it’s supposed to be the hardest, shortest, but also coldest and most dangerous."
"You’re not making any sense, Jim." Cherry pointed out that Jim wasn’t even looking at them while speaking. His eyes were so heavy that he couldn’t quite clearly see the Mutants.
"Maybe someone else should lead."
"Good idea." Anya agreed. At that moment, Ace walked over to him, held his shoulder, and looked into his sagging eyes. Without saying anything, the two men were able to communicate and decide who would lead.
"Let’s get going. For the sake of our tired friend here, we’ll walk for two hours and let him rest for an hour. Is that reasonable?"
"Reasonable enough." Cherry and Anya agreed. Before leaving, Ace used the black blood puddle and created two clones which were made to help Jim stand. He barely had a wink of sleep afterward, so this was the least Ace could do.