A crimson-haired young boy leapt backward, following up with another swift jump. His hair, streaked with barely noticeable threads of silver, fluttering in the wind.
Landing lightly on the head of a monstrous creature, he sprang with feline grace onto a nearby black-brown boulder.
The air hung thick with the stench of rot; decaying wood, decomposing grass, and the sickly sweetness of spoiled meat. The environment mirrored the smell, filled with sickly looking rotting trees, decaying grasses and leaves, and half eaten, rotten animal corpses strewn here and there.
The abomination turned its gaze to him. Atop the boulder, Kallen found himself at eye level with the creature.
_'Do I really go for it and win?'_ he mused. _'I know this isn't real. It feels too real and yet, not, just like Divine Odyssey.'_
_'These kids won't be able to tell the difference, not after everything they've endured.'_
_'Although everything is mirrored to perfection, down to our stats, it still feels a little... synthetic. With the level of technological advancement in this world, I'm certain there are simulations that feel a million and one percent natural, more organic.'_
_'That begs the question... was this done on purpose? Are we meant to figure it out? But with the kind of trauma that white room caused, it should be practically impossible for any of us to do so.'_
Kallen launched himself off the rock. As he landed on the floor, he rolled forward to absorb the impact, and sprang to his feet.
A split second later, the abomination's massive hand slammed into the boulder, causing fine crack lines to appear on it's surface.
This creature was different from the others. While no less monstrous, it lacked the grotesque asymmetry of its kin. Four arms protruded from its body—two long ones from its shoulders and a short pair just beneath its armpits, sprouting from the top of its ribs. Its skin, was colored a rotten black-brown, camouflaging it against the decaying landscape.
Two bones jutted from its skull, curving forward to form bull-like horns, their surfaces as white as bleached bone. Twin braids, also white, cascaded down the back of its head, nearly brushing the ground.
It stood hunched, its posture reminiscent of an ape save for it's extra features, with it's first set of arms; the ones jetting from it's shoulder, being unnaturally long, accompanied with short, powerful legs.
The abomination, realizing it had missed, charged at Kallen again. But Kallen slipped agilely out of the path of its four swinging arms.
_'How I respond to this will be interpreted in different ways,'_
He thought, even while his body flowed with fluid ease.
_'I've been careful, making it seem like I'm surviving by pure luck while still trying to figure out how to kill this thing. But they'll catch onto the act soon if I continue . I need to make a decision.'_
_'If I fail to kill it and end up dying instead, they'll dismiss me completely. Any respect I still have because of my intelligence and battle prowess will vanish. I'll be branded a waste—a timid heir who'll only lead the family in name. That's not optimal. It would ruin my cards.'_
_'If I defeat it but don't kill it, that sends them two messages: First, I've not completely lost myself to the trauma like the others, and I can still make rational decisions. This will solidify their assumption of me having higher mental resilience compared to others.
'Second, I'm too focused on myself—too absorbed in proving my worth to the family and to Luiz. Considering how much I train, they'll think I'm just an intelligent fool, desperate to improve my dynamis roots and increase my dynisis.'_
_'But that fool is exactly what they want. As it would be easy to manipulate my feelings with promises and rewards of solutions to a better core... Ah! This thought is really frustrating.'_
_'If I do kill it, that shows my mental resilience isn't as strong as they'd hoped. It would mean I'm only as good as the best of this generation—not better, as they previously assumed. It also suggests my will is weak, that I've given up on improvement and am no longer hoping for a better core.'_
_'While to them, that might still make me a useful pawn, it's not the ideal one. They'll see me as someone who makes compromises when the cards are against him, and while that often favors them, it also means if I become Patriarch, I might make compromises with our enemies. That would force them to use additional force to keep me in line.'_
His crimson eyes flashed, deepening to a shade akin to a sea of blood.
_'Well they can make their plans and continue with their games, while I play mine. It's just bad my ball happens to fall on their court, this time. Every decision I make now, leaves me open to their game. Not bad...'_
A small smile made its way to his lips. He had made his decision.
This time, Kallen took the initiative, dashing toward the abomination with his face masked by desperation.
The creature responded in kind, charging at him with wild abandon, its long tongue dripping with thick saliva.
As they closed the distance, the abomination swung one of its elongated arms straight for his head. Kallen's jaw tightened for a split second—then a sudden, eerie calm washed over him, something the observers took note of.
Lowering his body slightly, he used his left hand to deflect the strike, guiding the blow at a slight angle over his head. At the same moment, his right elbow shot forward, slamming into the creature's throat. The impact, amplified by the abomination's own forward momentum, caused its bulging eyes to widen further as it released a sharp, pained gasp.
Kallen wasted no time retreating, putting distance between them as the creature clutched its throat, gurgling and frothing at the mouth.
A searing pain shot up his right arm, numbing it instantly. His elbow and shoulder throbbed with such intensity that, for a moment, he feared they might pop from their sockets.
His sharp gaze darted around, scanning for anything he could use. Then he spotted it—the powerful leg bone of a half-eaten, rotting deer carcass.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward it, gripping the bone with all his might and yanking it free.
What followed was a long, drawn-out fight—grueling yet mesmerizing. The observers in the dim chamber couldn't tear their eyes away from the screen.
By now, every other fight had concluded, with participants either passing or failing, leaving Kallen as the sole remaining focus.
Since he had no intention of killing the abomination, Kallen had taken the slow, methodical route—wearing it down completely, while ensuring he suffered minimal harm. Every move was calculated, avoiding overexertion, and unnecessary pain.
Now, the abomination lay on the floor, shivering uncontrollably. At this point, it truly looked like an abomination—its body covered in grotesque, swollen bumps, each resembling blisters on the verge of bursting.
Its face had taken the worst of it; its temple, battered and swollen beyond recognition.
Kallen exhaled sharply, then studied the creature for a moment. Knowing he was being watched, he nodded with a satisfied smile, as if admiring his own handiwork.