Tetsu understood the trees only restricted the beast’s rampage for so long. As time elapsed, the golem magnified in size, speed, and strength, and the accumulating rubble not only failed to hinder it but fueled its attributes in paradoxical escalation, exacerbating the impending threat rather than alleviating it.
“In this world, physics gets a big ‘fuck you’ in so many ways,” Tetsu remarked with a heavy sigh before emitting a high-pitched scream.
He hoped his scream would surpass those before him, attracting rescuers to his aid before they were distracted by the poultry assailant the others faced. But he soon grasped the harsh reality that no human had surpassed level seven, and the distant scream indicated an even greater threat—a higher-level beast he would have to deal with.
Tetsu faced the imminent threat of either getting pincered between the two creatures or becoming a contributor to the golem’s strength with more bodies. He lacked the luxury of worrying about the others; should the two beasts clash, it might generate an opportunity for all of them to escape amid the ensuing chaos. Survival would hinge on who seized that opportunity. After he presented the opportunity, it wasn’t his place to carry the burden of their escape.
Before the blob encased itself in a formidable golem, Tetsu had a narrow window to end the confrontation before it began. Once transformed, the creature’s defenses and offensive powers escalated to unprecedented levels, surpassing even those of a level ten or above. Yet Tetsu couldn’t shake the notion of whether individuals like Bomic or any adept manipulator might outwit these creatures, nullifying their effectiveness even after they had bolstered their formidable skills.
“Mind over body,” Tetsu muttered.
At first glance, this world appeared to be governed by strength, reminiscent of his old world, and by the rate he kept encountering formidable opponents, it might be wiser to outmaneuver them with raw attributes.
However, in both scenarios, humans ascended to the apex of the food chain due to their mental prowess rather than physical might. Yet when faced with a charging bull, mere trickery only provided a limited respite from imminent danger.
Confronted by overwhelming power, what recourse did an ant have?
Tetsu got trapped between two competing ideals, wrestling with the decision between overwhelming strength and unparalleled foresight.
Luck, a double-edged sword, possessed the potential to disrupt God’s plan or ensnare a god with a single move. In both scenarios, strength can overturn a situation's tides, or foresight can maintain control.
The sad part was Tetsu could not rely on luck in either path.
He lacked the fortune necessary to attain overwhelming strength, just as he lacked the serendipity required to devise a winning strategy. The cruel twist of fate was that luck seemed destined to disrupt both paths at some point, bringing his journey to an abrupt halt.
The insect god served as the most apt example in Tetsu’s mind. Despite its apparent lack of intelligence, it had risen to dominance through sheer force, only to meet its demise due to sheer dumb luck.
Unless he could outsmart an opponent at a moment’s notice, he and his mental acumen risked becoming side quests in the narrative of some brutish beast.
In this regard, Tetsu admired Bomic. With a predetermined path, help from the bond, and focus, the smarter he became, the faster his ascent through the ranks.
Tetsu attempted to impede the beast’s advance with a face full of charcoal shards, hoping to buy more time and space to ponder. Yet the creature continued its relentless advance, unperturbed and still aware of Tetsu’s location.
“What if the opponent possesses an artifact, skill, or even a damn blessing to circumvent such techniques?” Tetsu pondered, a frown creasing his brow.
After this thought, Tetsu empathized with individuals like Bomic, who were required to sacrifice other attributes to ascend further in their path. Tetsu comprehended the inherent trade-off, yet he harbored a distinct aversion to compromise.
Amidst the myriad of potential backlashes and conceivable counters, Tetsu didn’t even want to incline on such skills. And just like that, another technique soon joined the skills tomb, never to be touched.
Despite possessing a formidable mind and diligently honing it daily, Tetsu deemed the idea of making it his sole focus as imprudent. With a reluctant resolve, he explored alternative avenues, seeking different strategies to manipulate his adversaries.
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“Forced manipulation.” A devious smile plays on Tetsu’s lips, sending shudders through the golem and unsettling the blob concealed within.
A moment of hesitation was all Tetsu lacked to widen the distance between them. Although it wasn't significant, Tetsu continued to delay for the golem to catch up. Neither his speed increased nor the golem’s speed decreased. With his new technique, the golem stumbled, crashed, and missed Tetsu by a hair—the deliberate distance he maintained to keep the dumb golem guessing.
No new skill welcomed Tetsu because he hadn’t devised a new technique. All he did was adjust his approach to fighting.
Runes flared to life around the golem as it stumbled with every step, turn, and strike by a mere inch. A subtle manipulation that capitalized on gravity, momentum, Tetsu’s foresight, and on-the-fly planning.
The overarching plan remained consistent: to train the mind, body, and soul. When it came to electing which aspect to focus on, Tetsu pursued a well-rounded skill set—for now.
As always, those with the attention span of a reel missed the completed quote. As the saying goes, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
After a heated debate in which Tetsu, as usual, found himself on the losing side, Kile concluded, “Until one faces a master with specific skills that have no counter, the master will lose in every bout. That is if a person can concentrate and reach the level of mastery.
Kile’s influence prompted Tetsu to embrace his inner explorer and become a jack, someone who wished to avoid crossing paths with a master.
Certain runes compelled the golem to expend more energy to take a step forward, while others boosted its momentum with a nudge. Both were minute differences that rendered the opponent’s body unfamiliar to themselves.
“Too slow,” snickers Tetsu.
The runes curtailed the golem’s assault, compelling it to advance with force at each step. Tetsu seized this opportunity, activating runes beneath the golem’s feet to pull it forward instead of hindering its movement. The abrupt surge in power created a crater, trapping one of its feet, while a rune on its forehead yanked Tetsu to the side, avoiding a horn.
While sliding past the golem’s body, Tetsu etched several runes, generating resource-filled bubbles for him to exploit. If the blob refocused on reclaiming the resources ensnared within the golem, its pace slowed due to the divided attention.
At every turn, the blob’s anger intensified, a flame stoked even further by Tetsu’s taunts, wide gestures if the taunts weren’t audible, and his insinuating smile.
Intelligent beasts have a weakness of losing their emotions, while the dumb ones are even easier to manipulate.
“So dumb,” Tetsu closed his mouth, acting as if he were controlling a laugh.
He did not acquire a new skill because he didn’t introduce anything novel. Tetsu only utilized the skills he possessed to a greater extent.
Snippets of his fight with the [Larva Beetle] resurface, and a frown creeps onto his face. “The heck! I’ve already used such a technique, and against a stronger, smarter opponent, no less!”
The memory squashed Tetsu’s pride and any further shenanigans. Thankfully, he has already infuriated the blob to the point where it lost all rationality and attacks like a raging bull, fixating on the red cape rather than the human.
On autopilot, Tetsu also rehearses with his first-ever target rune, which became ineffective against intellectual opponents.
The golem rams into tree trunks, shredding them to pieces and growing larger, while Tetsu uses the leftover debris to trip and obstruct its view.
“I despise every moment of this.” Tetsu’s frown deepens as he fails to recover the rest of his memory. “How many more techniques did I use during that state? Such wasted potential, which might take me forever to learn by myself.”
The ultimate state itself remained a mystery he didn’t want to delve deeper into, for it might consume his consciousness again, or worse, lead him to question reality.
As an overthinker, he already scrutinized every aspect of life once a week. He sure as hell didn’t want proof that bolstered the opposing argument. Not when Kile wasn’t there to fuel or extinguish the debate.
“To be honest, that nut job kindles the flames more than he douses them.” Tetsu smiles, regaining his composure. “Time to end this game of tag. Follow me, you big bad bully.” He pats his bum, provoking the golem.
Concerned about his destination, which he should have reached long ago, he tries to scout ahead. By luck, he spots an enormous fish, almost the size of the golem, hot on his tail, at a distance. Compared to its size, the river seemed like a bucket of water hosting a pufferfish the size of a basketball.
With little doubt, Tetsu aims for a bullseye, which is a done deal thanks to a rune on the arrowhead and another on the fish’s eye.
———<>|*|<>———
Xania follows the faint trail of light left by the arrow into the forest, keeping a close eye on the clearing for another potential attack. All of them hope that this time the arrow won’t miss.
“Eww...!” a woman closer to the fish screams in disgust.
The fish spurts out blood from its eyes, which rains down on the closest people.
“When did another attack arrive?” Hana ogled at Xania, who ogled back at her with the same doubt.
“The first attack must have been so fast that we missed the impact,” Tina concludes to silence the others so that she could think. ‘Also, its domain has obscured a lot of senses, which makes me wonder. How did they attack with such precision?’ She glances back into the forest.
———<>|*|<>———
“How the heck does such a huge fish disappear?” Tetsu gapes at the stretch of forest with no river or fish in sight. “First, the mountains vanish, and now rivers and giant fishes disappear. How many errors did you make, dude?” Tetsu scoffs at the system screen. “You had one job. One freaking job.” He lets out a pent-up sigh.
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