Ch 5 – Hopes of Survival

Sunlight peeked through the horizon and clouds in the far distance, dying the heavens a warm orange glow as the sun is starting to rise. Birds flew out of their nests from the dense trees, flapping their wings majestically and casting dim shadows on the leafy roof of the forest. In a certain part of the forest, there was a large clearing where a ginormous lake can be seen. Its water was crystal clear and reflected the sky and clouds, bringing a sense of natural beauty to the place.

The forest breathed and teemed with life. Deer, foxes, birds; animals of all kinds and sizes walked toward the lake to drink some water. Each of them was friendly with one another, giving a harmonious aura to the quiet forest.

Unfortunately, that silence was broken when a loud pop resounded throughout the area. The animals looked up to the sky sharply, and they saw a large shadow fall down into the middle of the lake. The shadow caused splashes and ripples to appear from the lake, alerting the animals and causing them to run away in fear.

"HA!" a hand poked through from the surface of the lake, and a head appeared next. It was Kaleido!

He took in a deep breath while his hands fluttered around the place. He suddenly appeared in this lake out of nowhere, and he was shocked by this sudden change of pace. But with his accelerated thinking, he regained his calm and stopped flailing around, waving his arms and legs in motion to swim towards land.

Splash, he finally arrived at the grassy periphery of the lake. He was soaking wet, his everything, ranging from his bag to clothes, body, and hair; they were wet. But he couldn't care less about them at the moment as he stared at his hand with bewilderment.

He stood up with a grunt, the feeling of the grass felt so real at the moment. The soft gusts of wind that brushed against his body were refreshing and cold. The way his wet clothes stuck to his body, it was so uncomfortable. "This… is this the afterlife?"

No. Deep inside him, he knew this wasn't the afterlife. He can clearly sense the passage of time, and the fabrics of space; all of his senses told him he was back in the same lake from back then when he appeared randomly in this world. He grabbed his body and head in disbelief, unable to process the fact that he somehow appeared here.

"Calm down, everything should have a rational reasoning behind everything, including how I appeared here in the first place," he muttered to himself, trying to calm himself down. He decided to first remove his clothes to lessen the risk of him getting sick, and discarded his bag to the ground.

While he was removing his clothes, flashbacks of the recent events rapidly appeared in his mind at crystal clear quality. Ignoring the obvious question of how he has such vivid memories, he instead focused on the moment just before disaster struck.

It was a joyous occasion for him, it was like setting a world record if you will, well it was setting a world record. In the awakening ceremony, he not only surpassed the aforementioned maximum of 50 steps but did the double of it. In any case, he knew that taking more than 50 steps was dumb and would incur some risk, but it was a necessary risk for him. What he didn't expect in that case was when the pressure on his body was so meager even after 50 steps, that a scary feeling welled up within him.

'If I stopped here, then I might become a genius amongst geniuses, but would that instead damage my potential? Shouldn't I walk to my theoretical maximum? Wouldn't stopping here now possibly damage my future prospects?'

With those thoughts in mind, he decided to walk further. The more he walked, the more risk he took on himself for his future potential. But the further he walked, the deeper the feeling of fear welled up within him. He already took 100 steps, and he still felt like he could still walk further ahead!

At that moment, he knew that this was the maximum amount of risk he could possibly take. He already has done an unimaginable achievement, meaning his potential should be more than enough, right? Unfortunately for him and his lack of knowledge, 100 steps is way beyond what a genius amongst geniuses could possibly do. He was not just a genius anymore… he was a monster.

'That probably prompted the mysterious guy who came flying forward from before to do something malicious to me after finding out about my absurd potential and talent. Maybe he was trying to nip me in the bud before I outgrow him or something like that.' Kaleido thought with the limited info he could gather, unfortunately, the truth was crueler.

The old guy was the Jie Clan leader, he of course knew more than the common folk. He has knowledge of the ten extreme physiques, and what they meant. He of course wouldn't kill such a valuable person, he would instead want to enslave Kaleido and create a powerful pawn to use!

Of course, there wasn't a Gu that can enslave a human, but there were other methods to do so using Qi path and other paths currently mainstream in the world of Gu. Gu Masters use, refine, and nurture Gu. They embark on the path of comprehending the Great Dao, and of course, that includes allowing multiple paths to enslave humans. Though of course, those methods are extremely crude and boorish.

But those methods were more than enough to enslave a Rank 1 Gu Master like Kaleido. Unfortunately for Jie Clan's clan leader, an unexpected outcome happened, and not only did Kaleido cause a grand explosion to occur, but he also escaped at the very last moment.

After a while, Kaleido stares at his naked body with a wry smile. The only shred of dignity he has left was his underwear which was also soaking wet, leaving him to suffer in an uncomfortable manner. But he was a teen who meditated for years, he quickly got over his current appearance and instead looked at the more pressing matters.

'My survival is now a dangerous problem. This is indeed a world where magical powers exist, and they exist in the forms of Gu Worms and Gu Masters. And with the way the Jie Clan village was, it seems like humans here are focused on bloodlines and all that useless bloodline bullcrap. Fuck, I'm not a part of any bloodline here, so I would have a hard time living in other human settlements if that's the case. Not only that but there's a bigger problem here.' Kaleido stared at the trees in the distance. On the branches of those trees, fruits, foreign fruits, in particular, entered his vision.

Yes, he was indeed facing a food crisis. While there were still some snacks left in his bag, they wouldn't last him more than a day! While his water problem was solved due to the lake beside him, what good was it if he was going to starve to death?

He even subtly knew that perhaps monsters, beasts with gargantuan strength capable of killing humans in a single blow, probably lives in the forest. If Gu Worms exists, then beasts with ferocious strength also existing isn't that far off.

'In any case, if I don't die from starvation, then probably from the wild animals here. Of course, I might be able to fend them off using my sharper senses and accelerated thinking speed. But eventually, I would get tired and die. So the first order of business, I need to find shelter, maybe a cave would do. And I would probably even gather fruits while traversing the area. Hopefully, if I do find a cave, it would be near this lake so I don't have to travel that far to gather water.'

With a plan in mind, Kaleido sets off. His body moved unhindered through the dense forest full of danger obstructing his vision like sharp thorns and such. Using his spatial awareness that gives him a sort of domain where he can 'see' everything, he can find the most efficient path to move forward while avoiding any natural traps that lie ahead.

He has already discarded his textbooks and such from his bag, leaving them inside a bush near the lake, and instead used his bag to store fruits and whatever stuff he could find that either seems edible or useful like dry sticks and stones. He even luckily found some flint while passing by some glowing rocks and grabbed it for later use.

'Fuck, I'm so hungry already…' Kaleido muttered while staring at the sky dyed orange by the setting sun. Even after exploring for so long, he hasn't found any caves or a place where he can safely rest at. His stomach grumbled loudly, but it was no use, he doesn't know if the fruits he gathered were safe to eat, and he has already eaten all of his snacks.

But like fortune after misfortune, his eyes widened from shock. Right ahead, clad in darkness and leaves, he saw a cave entrance! As if his body moved on its own, he rushed forward and arrived in front of the entrance, and with just a single glance alone, he can safely say that it was a viable place to stay at.

'It's not even that far off from the lake. It's just like I hope!' Kaleido cried out inwardly.

Unable to hide his joy, he cheered loudly: "FUCKKK!"

He calmed his breathing. At that moment, a soothing feeling overwhelmed him and he fell to his knees. Shelter, he was now finally relatively safe. Even if it were to rain, he can still safely stay inside his cave and live without any problems.

Unfortunately, he was still naked and lacked any food. Realizing that fact, and as his stomach grumbled, he lets out a sigh and dropped all of the stuff inside his bag onto the ground. Organizing them into neat piles, he focused on what he can do for now and grabbed some dry sticks, along with the flint and something to scratch it on to produce sparks.

'Even if I have limited knowledge, I still played Minecraft and envisioned many scenarios of what I would do if I was stuck in this very same situation I am in right now, of course, that doesn't include the fact that Gu worms and Gu Masters exists. Due to that, I can at least start a fire relatively quickly, especially with this flint.'

Spark.

Sparks dropped to some leaves he had in his hand, and he hastily stacked firewood on top. Quickly, a warm orange flame appeared in front of him, and the cold gust of wind that entered the cave only served to increase the temperature.

'A fire, an important resource that would keep me warm and can even be used to heat meat. Sadly, all I have with me are foreign fruits that I am not familiar with.' Kaleido grabs his rumbling stomach. Hunger struck at him viciously and he can't help but sigh. He was used to being hungry, he even underwent fasting before, but those were times that he was safe. Here, being hungry meant he would either live or die!

Time passed, and his hunger only continued to grow. He can't sleep, the thoughts of being attacked by a wild beast wouldn't allow him. Due to that, he continued to suffer from hunger. At times, he stared at the fruits stacked in a neat pile beside him and salivated, but he still had enough rational reasoning to not eat them as he might die.

'If I can only go back to Jie Clan. Even if it might endanger me, it would at least be better than dying from hunger. Wait…' at that moment, memories of what happened back then resurfaced in his mind, and he stood up rapidly.

'Back then, just before he was going to reach me, my hand felt like touching "something." My instincts right now are just shouting to me that that "something" might be the reason why I was able to suddenly appear at the lake. If that's the case, I might be able to once again teleport to Jie Clan!' the flames of hope ignited within his heart at that moment, but reality once again dawned upon him.

'But how? Think, think and remember every detail that happened back then. The way my body moved, the way my mind felt, the strange sensation that engulf my entire body…' unknowingly, the black markings all over his body started to dimly glow. 'Remember that weird membrane!'

Pop, his body once again disappeared just like last time. Now left empty, the fire in the cave continued to silently burn, leaving it as one of the few hints that Kaleido has indeed been there.

AN: This chapter has 2183 words.

Hey, bro~

You looking kinda real cute with those power stones on that button of yours ;)

You mind letting me push my finger on that *flush emoji while pressing my fingers against each other like a shy little slut*.

On the topic of love, WHEN IS IT MY TURN?! BRUH, THERE'S A FUCKING COUPLE BEHIND ME IN CLASS, THEN THIS DUDE NOW ALSO HAS A BOYFRIEND! BOOHOO, I WANT TO FUCKING KILL THEM ALL!

Disclaimer: The killing part was a total joke.

(December 20, 2022 – 390th day of writing)