The doors of death creaked slightly open, but that's all it took to arouse Indra's intent to live. That's all it took to slam the door shut once again.

If only it were as simple as letting those powerful jaws surround him, as easy as letting those enormous fangs sink into him. Sadly it was not. Indra no longer desired death. Genesis, no longer desired death. There would be none here today.

Indra could feel the new abilities that lay dormant within him, he just needed to bring them out.

Anger overtook the Razorfang, its enormous jaws were wide and his fangs bared, he would feast today, first on this tiny creature and then on the real prize he had already claimed. The Razorfang hissed and lashed out, expecting his bladelike teeth to meet flesh but they were met with nothing but air and confusion.

Next to its head was the tiny human, who should be in its mouth, he should be dead, the serpent didn't understand what had happened, only that it was angry and that its prey had somehow evaded it.

'Impossible, my speed is unparalleled, even the Tempest Eagle couldn't dodge my attacks. What is going on?' mused the serpent.

There was little good speed did, when Indra's movement was nearly instant.

Information flooded into his mind again and just like before, it was simply a matter of him picking out the right file. Information on wood, metal, space, time, and everything that pertained to the elements the system had said he could manipulate. Then he remembered, Elemental enlightenment.

'Could this be a part of it?'

He went from knowing nothing to suddenly understanding how to bend reality to his will. Albeit only to a small extent. Hence, he decided to do just that.

By simply using his mind, Indra closed the distance between him and a point in space that was only four meters away. In simpler terms, he moved but the snake didn't, however, it was by no means of propulsion. What was previously four meters became zero, Indra treated the portion of space that was four meters away as an anchor and pulled the space around him and everything inside which consisted of himself and some air toward it. When he looked back, it was as if a clone of himself remained in the spot he just was, like an afterimage of himself. The snake's powerful bite clamped down and went right through his clone. It snapped its jaws three more times before finally realizing it was getting nowhere.

[Genesis. Congratulations. You have taught yourself Spatial Tethering. 40 bonus points. It is now your skill.]

The system prompt that had appeared surprised Genesis. But now was not the time for contemplation, now was the time for action.

After using this ability he suddenly knew exactly how far things were from him. The snake that seemed angrier than ever was exactly four point three meters from him and closing, soon after it figured out it wasn't him, it instinctually knew where he was and lashed its body out instantly. Not only did it know how far Indra was, but it also knew precisely how long it would take it to reach him at its current speed.

' Let's use Elemental Enlightenment again.'

Indra smiled, but the expression was immediately wiped from his face, painted over with shock. The Razorfang was already upon him and this time he might not be able to dodge such an attack even with a near-instant movement technique.

'How did it move so quickly?'

It was like his mind had suddenly become a supercomputer, making calculations no normal person could ever do in such a short timeframe, he had just enough time to evade death but not injury. Once again Indra used his new technique, this time he chose a spot much further away. He used a space twenty meters away near the canopy of a large tree. Before he could activate his skill the snake's teeth closed on him but the fang only made it in about an inch before he was able to escape. This time he was more precise, only taking with him his own body and nothing more. He was lucky.

Indra appeared on a large tree branch and stumbled, almost falling off. His breaths were heavy and they came in strides. Even his vision was blurred somewhat. Using that technique took a lot out of him. He restrained himself from puking. If the snake found him he would be dead. Indra watched intently at his opponent's actions. Since he had meditated earlier his senses seemed to be under control. They were so much more acute now. He could see the other beast clearly from his perch and it seemed angrier than ever.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Something else occurred as well, it was as if he lost a part of himself using that ability, he had become distanced from something that was previously a part of him but he couldn't tell what it was. He suddenly longed for a piece of himself that no longer remained.

The snake lashed its head left then right, behind him, everywhere around him but all that remained of Indra was his afterimage. It didn't move for some time, it seemed like it was just thinking. Maybe waiting for him to make a move. After about ten minutes of inactivity, its huge body seemed to be retracting.

'Is it leaving?' Indra hoped so, this demonic beast was completely out of his class, its speed was incredible and he couldn't even imagine how to begin hurting it.

He watched the snake as it slowly coiled its body back around the giant tree that the Tempest eagle was nesting in. He could still see feathers all over, stuck in some of the foliage, a final statement by the now perished guardian. A pang of sadness washed over him but the bird was going to eat him just as the snake was. It just took a less violent approach.

The Razorfang stopped moving when its entire body was finally around the tree then suddenly it began to disappear. The colours of its body began to meld into its background. The green scales became brown and had the same texture as the bark, soon the entire body disappeared until only one part remained. Its eyes, they were red as blood and exuded an aura of pure hunger. There was one more thing about them.

They were staring right at him. Then they disappeared as well.

I'm dead.

Indra's heart nearly burst free from his chest and a round of nausea hit him like a strike from one of the most powerful masters at the monastery. He nearly fell from his perch on the tree. If the snake knew where he was then there was no escaping it again, he felt a little better, he might even be able to use his ability one more time but he had a hunch it wouldn't be enough this time. He was going to die. Then he remembered something about larger snakes, they move very slowly on land, and that gave him something he needed desperately, time.

Indra knew a lot about animals, his favourites were birds but they all fascinated him so he did a lot of research on them. Large snakes moved slowly which is why they waited and struck their prey with lightning speed. Even though this was no normal snake he assumed he had some time before it could reach him this high up without giving away its position by moving too quickly. The first thing he did was climb. He wanted to give himself as much time as he could.

The climb was surprisingly easy, his body felt extremely light and dexterous, Indra pulled himself up to the higher branches with little to no effort and he felt stronger too, he flexed his muscles and was quite impressed they were at least double the size which still wasn't much. The higher he got the thinner the branches but with this newfound lightweight body Indra easily traversed the upper reaches of the tree, he was at the top in no time.

Indra couldn't stop thinking about how his meditation had such an immediate effect on his body earlier and that was only to clear the mind of ailments. There were so many more forms of meditation he'd like to try, endless different effects they had on the body.

If his theory was correct the system accelerated these effects making them almost immediate. Amid all the different forms he practised over the years one stood out now. Zhan Zhuang, the art of cultivating boundless energy. It's known to enhance one's energy, mental clarity and internal strength, this is how he would regain the strength he lost using the so-called Spatial Tethering. That was another thing that interested him, the system had told him it was now his skill. Could he learn more? It seemed that his mind was at the limit.

Indra scolded himself, this was not the time to be thinking about all of that, not the time to overthink. This was the time to act. This was life or death.

He knew from experience that one could direct their qi throughout the body, this was a part of his martial arts training, manipulating his qi to aid in his fighting style. It seemed everything he learned had significance in the conquest system. He would take full advantage.

With one single leap Indra launched his light body into the air four meters above the tree, he was so light that he thought a small breeze may carry him away. When he came back down he channelled some of his qi into the very bottom of his left foot enabling him to land on the very tip of the tree. He focused his qi on that single point, and stood with his right foot resting on the side of his left knee, his right knee pointing outward. His arms were above his head, palms together forming an arrowhead shape pointing towards the sky.

Then he began Meditating. Although this was not the proper stance for this meditation technique if he could manipulate his qi correctly it would be fine.

Indra relaxed his body as he did so many times whilst using this technique. His mind became three things, empty, active and alert. His eyes were closed this time. Something odd occurred, now that he wasn't constantly running for his life he noticed something that he hadn't before. He could sense even the slightest movement in a five-meter radius. Every time a leaf caught the wind, Indra felt it immediately. He ignored this, allowing his meditation to continue after only twenty more seconds his body felt completely rejuvenated.

'It worked!'