Unharmed But Frightened

The crab charged forward in an instant, its legs pounding the ground in rapid succession.

Bom-bom-bom-bom…Crack-Crack!

It broke through the treeline, snapping branches and uprooting saplings. At the same time, Master Brightflame disappeared from Lem's side.

Where did he go?

Lem tried to locate the martial elder, but he was moving too fast.

Skreee! Clack-clack!

The death-skull crab suddenly moved backwards, its ten legs retreating in a blur of motion. A moment later, it had ducked into the water in haste, its massive shell creating a splash in its wake.

The disturbance dissipated into the chaos of the fast-flowing river, returning the scene back to the ordinary calm. The only sign of what had occurred were the dents in the mud left by the crab's legs.

It was over?

Lem could not process what had happened. Barely a second after it had charged, the crab had run away. To his eye, from the brief moment of observation, it appeared unharmed, but extremely frightened.

But what had it been frightened by? 

"Keep moving."

At some point in time, Master Brightflame had reappeared at his side. Lem's simulated self wanted to ask him what he had done to scare off the crab, but the words froze in his mouth.

He nodded and continued to walk towards the river. He began scanning the surroundings for threats again.

Lem felt a pang of jealousy. How long would it take for him to gain such capabilities?

He too wanted to move like the wind and scare off giant creatures without even making a move. For a moment, he fantasized about approaching Master Brightflame in a future simulation, and seeing only respect in the martial elder's eyes.

Lem shook off the thought and began to visualize the mountain again.

He had to remember his place. Even with all of the capability in the world, he was still infected by the evil and doomed to die.

He needed to work against his fate with every ounce of effort in him. It was ridiculous to fantasize about the future when he had yet to deal with the problems of the present.

[The death-skull crab charges towards you and Master Brightflame disappears.

As you are trying to understand what happened, you see the death-skull crab retreating back into the water…

Master Brightflame tells you to continue leading the way, and you hastily oblige…]

Almost immediately after Lem had shifted his focus away, he was brought back to the current moment.

"You said that the lily would be three days away…"

It was clear from his tone that the martial elder was not in a good mood. Lem's simulated self swallowed and nodded. "Three days at the most."

"If your intuition continues to have such poor timing, you will not live to see the third day."

It sounded like a threat. Lem's simulated self nodded vigorously. Threat or not, there was nothing he could do. His mind was scrambling to find a suitable response.

"It is possible that I did not sense it quickly enough because it was never going to harm me." Lem's simulated self felt regret immediately after he spoke.

Why had he made it sound like Master Brightflame was at fault?

How was that going to help his cause?

The martial elder did not reply, and Lem's simulated self could feel his heartbeat rapidly accelerating.

"I-" He was beginning to apologize.

"Be quiet," the martial elder said.

Lem closed his mouth.

"Leave the excuses aside and focus on putting your abilities to use."