These past few weeks had gone by in a blur of action. There had been many downs, a few ups, and a lot of confusion. This world was immensely different from earth. There were so many things that shouldn't be possible that were simply everyday fixtures here.

We had taken to calling the planet Malum. According to Alexis, it was the Latin word for evil. She still wasn't getting used to this area, and her unwillingness to properly communicate made things harder.

Nonetheless, we took as many ups as I could. Focusing on the negatives would gradually drive us insane.

We both still had a chance to live even though the conditions were despicable and tore at me inside. I could only hope to atone for my error when I returned.

If I returned, after all, I wasn't going to force myself on Alexis. Pragmatic I might be but evil I am not.

The only real upside would be that I wouldn't have to tell her. That thought filled me with a sense of guilt, but I didn't want to see her look because of something I did. Thankfully this whole situation was so absurd that even if I told her she wouldn't believe me.

Anna was a very understanding person willing to give others the benefit of the doubt, but she would not be able to believe this no one.

If anyone actually believed this story, then either they were crazy or they had experienced something similar. Neither was a good option and that wasn't something I wanted to consider with Anna.

Like I said we look at the ups, continuous contemplation on the negative was how soldiers went crazy.

I was stranded on a planet in a seemingly completely different universe, the fact that I wasn't shitting my innards or been mauled by a vicious alien beast was victory enough for me.

You would think that being on a new planet would mean diseases but that wasn't the case here. Our new bodies were powerful and efficient.

It took days for us to begin to feel hunger, our bodies were healthier than they had ever been back on earth. We could even easily outpace super athletes.

Though given the wildlife in this area that didn't change our position in the food chain at all.

In these weeks we had managed to find food fairly quickly, the only minor problem had been identifying which ones we would risk eating. Our titles had been invaluable in that aspect. Alexis had been able to find edible food sources through her "winds". Though there were times where seemingly at random it was weaker and less precise or even flat out didn't work.

I had a feeling she knew why it was happening, but she couldn't tell me, so I didn’t bother to ask. I had discovered that my probability ability worked based on the knowledge available to me. However, if I wanted more precise probabilities that came from information I didn't have then my head would split open in pain.

So, getting food hadn’t taken us long at all, in fact, the food here had been abundant. The mountain was sparsely decorated with massive trees that bore fruit. Every once in a while, the fruits would fall to the ground and we'd harvest them.

They were simply the most delicious things I had ever tasted. They melted like butter on a hot pan and tasted like the holy child of an apple and a lychee fruit.

Simply divine.

Though we had spent the next day worrying over our potential deaths via poisoning, yet it never arrived. In fact, nothing had happened not even uncomfortable bowel movements.

They’ve been our main source of food for the past couple of weeks. They were abundant enough that we didn't have to worry about running out soon. We did find several mushrooms and roots that could possibly be edible, but we didn’t take our chances with those.

Even with our abilities, we didn't know for certain whether we would die or live.

Alexis's abilities were vague and really only pointed in the direction of edible things and the probabilities given to me by my powers were too high for my liking. There was a 10% chance that we could die from eating them. Even with the more active version facet of my ability it still hovered at around 5%. That was too high since we'd agreed not to eat anything with above a 3% chance of dying.

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Locating a water source had been easy as well though it wasn't easy to get to. It was located 11 miles away from our base. Not the worst but given we didn't fully know what sort of creatures inhabited this area it was still unfortunate.

We hadn't run into any predators yet when going to get water, but the herbivores were aggressive as it was. I wasn't looking forward to meeting the carnivores.

All these factors along with the shelter gained from the temple had made physically surviving easier than expected.

Though it hadn't helped on the mental side of things. Eventually, once the shock left our system the withheld emotions came down. I'd heard Alexis crying and praying herself to sleep. Given that she was in a separate room than I was, it was almost impressive how loudly she cried.

In the mornings she would usually have bags under her eyes and tear marks streaking down her. She knew that I knew but she didn't care.

The nature of her title wasn't helping at all. She was often very reluctant to use it unless we needed it.

While I was taking it a bit better, I still longed for home. I didn't expect her to be used to having things ripped from her. No one should be used to having that experience but unfortunately, she was going through it.

I wanted to help but I knew how vital it was that she come around on her own terms.

I sympathized with her plight but that didn't make me any less exasperated at the issues it caused. Even as the weeks passed, we barely engaged in any form of communication other than what was necessary.

The fact that the ultimatum was still on both our minds didn't make it any easier. For now, neither of us had broached the topic but I could tell how much it worried her. Any sudden movements from me would earn a flinch of terror from her and she would quickly retreat.

I understood her worry but that didn't make it any less insulting.

That was why we slept in separate rooms even though it would be smarter to sleep in the same room.

Speaking of rooms, the temple that we inhabited was an array of various rooms. It was a maze of bizarre hallways, chambers, caverns, and various other things. They all looked so similar yet so different. It dug deep into the mountain and into the ground.

If that wasn't confusing enough, I was almost certain that it was constantly shifting. I couldn't confirm that fact however not even with my title.

The ability gave me no probabilities when I tried to use it on anything relating to the temple.

I had gotten lost several times in there when we first took up camp in it. It had taken me hours to finally find the entrance again.

We’d started to map it out with some bark and makeshift dye from some flowers but after the library, it couldn't be mapped out. The hallways were always wrong, and the rooms weren't where they were supposed to be.

I was also nearly certain of the fact that this temple was haunted in some way shape or form. Several rooms contained pulsating and shifting symbols that glowed with the same purple energy as the ball.

Which meant several rooms had up to a hundred different symbols shifting and messing with space in some form.

That combined with blank spots in our memories and whispering voices made us highly unwilling to explore further.

So, we both agreed not to go to any of the rooms beyond the library.

Which meant that over half the temple had become no-go zones.

The library itself was a whole issue in and of itself. The only reason it wasn't also forbidden is because it was where we discovered the existence of qi.

The library was massive and had a staircase that spiraled up so far that we couldn't see the top. We guessed that it probably reached the top of the mountain. All that space was filled with rows upon rows of books.

We'd tried to read them, but they were in a completely foreign language. We hadn't found any patterns in the language not that we'd tried all that long. We decided against deciphering it when both our noses started bleeding.

The walls of the bottom floor had been filled with broken crystal balls. Apart from one, it had seemed to contain a faint purple light in it.

We'd been reluctant to touch it since as we walked closer it seemed to be moving further away. The ball had been warping space but for some reason, Alexis decided to touch it regardless.

That was when the knowledge of qi had been shoved in her mind.

I vaguely remembered it being mentioned in Asian and eastern mythology and stories, but its existence had been a surprise. It was another link to humans and this time to earth as well.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been complete knowledge as the only thing we were informed of was that it existed and could be absorbed by living beings to strengthen themselves

We'd tried to do that by meditating but so far, we'd made no progress. Well, I'd made no progress, Alexis on the other hand could already sense qi though not directly. She sensed the qi through her winds but so far hadn't made much progress apart from that.

Over these weeks of discovery and adaptation, we had also made progress with our abilities. Even though Alexis actively tries not to use her powers it was hard when they were passive abilities.

Even without the "winds" speaking to her she had a rather uncanny ability to tell what was going to happen next. She would probably develop more abilities once she accepted her titles but for now, that was all she could do.

It was just odd to me how she was willing to dive deeply into qi yet was so revolted by her title. It was one of the few advantages we had, we needed to exploit them.

On the other hand, would say I had much more success in those aspects. While passively my powers were not as great as her actively, I'd say they rivaled hers.

I'd been decent at math when I was younger but now, I was phenomenal. Passively I was just better with numbers. I knew exactly how long it took to get from one area to another, I knew exactly how many different plants we'd seen. I could estimate the lengths of objects and distances by glancing at them. I now knew that a day here was approximately 72 hours in earth time. Not supremely useful but if I still had my PGM Hecate III anti-material sniper rifle then I could do some serious damage.

I could use that aspect "actively" and it would be more powerful but after several minutes I would have severe migraines and my vision would start to blur.

It was interesting working with my title, but I often caught myself starting to think this was fake. Infact, a small part of me still couldn't believe this was real but no dream could ever be this realistic.

But now here we are, it's been 4 weeks since we arrived here and we're still alive. Today I decided that it was time to map the outside terrain. Alexis had decided she wouldn't be joining me in my little escapade.

I had some weird paper allegory made from the shining grass and some homemade dye as ink. A makeshift back and clothing all also made of the same shining grass and a spear made from fallen branches and sharpened stone.

The spear was made by me so I couldn't help but be a little proud. It looked very shoddy, but the strength of the materials held it together.

I wasn't expecting to encounter danger but i'd rather be safe than sorry.

You know the thing about power is that it makes you relax. Even with my training, I started to become less cautious and began falling back on my title to do the nitty-gritty work for me.

Which is dumb when you realize that this world is used to abilities.

That is why I honestly shouldn't have been surprised when during my efforts to map out the area I came face to face with an apex Predator.

My powers had given me no indication of it being there but now here it was.