CHAPTER 35: High From A Pill

Then from out of nowhere Alex began laughing. "Hahaha, if I can't remember what I was saying then it probably wasn't important." Alex then laughed uproariously once again.

He then looked back at the beast and chortled.

'That look, it wants to kill me.' Strangely, despite the serious situation and his potential death, Alex felt like breaking out into giggles.

This immediately raised alarm bells, and caused Alex to recall that he had been worried about something moments ago, but his slowly moving brain just couldn't figure out what was wrong.

'Something's wrong with me.' thought Alex passively as he twirled on the sand. 'I can tell that how I'm acting isn't normal.'

A smile then slowly spread across his face, and he shouted up into the darkness above him. "But who cares, I love the happiness and how it's making me feel!"

This was the fear that Alex had harbored about taking the pill. The diom would give him the Hani that he needed to fight, but because of the feelings of happiness and contentment that came with it, he knew he might not be in the state to fight. He would be sloppy and uncoordinated which would almost definitely lead to his death.

But in the end, he had to take the gamble to give himself even the slightest chance of survival.

Alex had been right to be worried.

He had never taken diom before when he had been as exhausted, and drained of his Hani as he had this time.

Because of that, Alex didn't know that the effect of the pill would be greatly enhanced, since the Hani in his body was almost empty, and with no Hani, and Alex being exhausted, the pill had nothing to restrict its effects.

The euphoric feelings he knew he would have were stronger than anything he had experienced before after taking the diom pill, and he hadn't been prepared for that.

'The darkness is dancing,' thought Alex ecstatically as he stared at the black void up in the air. 'It's so beautiful and mysterious.'

As Alex stared at the black void that had receded, he felt that he was being more and more drawn toward it with every second he spent looking at it.

'I wish I could be one with it, forever trapped in its chilling embrace.' With a crazed laugh, Alex began taking a few steps back. 'I should thank Don Enzo next time I see him for being a god sent and introducing me to such a miraculous pill.'

Alex abruptly stopped moving backwards and raised a hand to his chin.

"Ohhh, I remember what I was forgetting." Alex turned around in a circle with a wide smile on his face. "The past me thought that the diom would make me act funny."

Alex held his arms out wide and sighed contentedly, with a look of pure bliss on his face. "But I don't know what the wet blanket was worried about, I feel better than I've ever felt, wonderful even."

"In fact, wonderful doesn't begin to describe my emotions right now, I feel..." Alex stopped spinning then turned and smiled brightly before bowing his head at the snarling beast. "Magical."

Alex raised his head up and took a whiff of the air.

'Everything smells so much better now.' He turned and looked at the enraged beast. 'Even that oversized wolf smells a lot more tolerable, almost like mint.'

*GRRRR*

Dust billowed and swirled in the air as the growling beast took a heavy step forward.

Its spiky tail swished around in the sand and kicked up even more dust.

"Alex...going...fight?"

The grating voice suddenly spoke, then after a few seconds it spoke again.

"If...beast...die, Alex...go...free."

The door's words piqued Alex's interest, and for a moment the euphoric feeling dimmed.

"How do I..." Alex shook his head to clear it, then turned back to the door, "know you'll let me leave?"

The pill began taking effect again, and the happy smile reappeared on Alex's face.

At the back of his mind Alex heard the voice respond.

"The...deal...was, if...win...go...free." The flow of the red ooze from the door increased. "Can...not...break...deal, or...I...die."

'What's that door talking about?' Thought Alex irritatedly, an ugly frown then spread across his face. 'All this talk of dying is spoiling my good mood and making me feel...huh, wait what?'

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye Alex saw a brightly glistening object a few meters from his head.

Alex's head turned slightly and through the drug haze he saw the beast had disappeared from where it had been before and was now swinging one of its deadly one-meter-long paws at his head.

Because of the delirious state brought about by the pill, Alex noticed the claws too late, and by the time his sluggish brain registered what was going on, he was seconds away from death.

As Alex gazed into the burning, white eyes of the beast, they held an unsettling glint of an impending victory.

*SWIPE*

*BOOM*

Once again, the sound of a great impact resounded around the sandy battlefield, and the black dust swirled up and reduced the visibility.

"You...survived." The shocked voice of the door echoed around the space. "Thought...you...off...guard."

The dust settled and Alex's face reappeared, and surprisingly, it wasn't penetrated by the beast's claws.

Alex was crouching with one knee on the ground with his hands crossed in front of his body, holding back the beast's paw.

Alex in his current state could not have managed to block the beast's claws, but all his years of training had come to good use. Even though his mind didn't have time to react and respond to the beast's attack, his body hadn't had the same problem.

A look of surprise flashed across the beast's face, which changed to one of rage. As a result it increased the force it was using to crush Alex.

From up in the air, it looked like Alex would be inevitably crushed.

I mean, imagine a colossal monstrosity that towered five meters in the air struggling with a two meter tall human, just based on the height difference, it would be inconceivable for the human to withstand the force exerted by the monster.

But surprisingly, Alex stood his ground, refusing to yield, despite the immense force exerted by the beast.

With deliberate determination, he maneuvered his hands until he grasped two of the beast's deadly claws.

"YAAAH!" With a mighty cry that echoed through the sandy battlefield, Alex propelled the beast backward.

*BANG*

The creature crashed to the ground, creating a swirling cloud of dust as it tumbled away. After a few meters, it staggered to its feet, shaking its head in an attempt to clear the daze.

Alex stood hunched over, breathing hard. 'I... almost died.' The realization of how close he had been to losing his life was slowly sinking in. 'If not for my reflexes I would be dead right now.'

Alex's senses had snapped back just in the nick of time, milliseconds before the beast's deadly claws would have pierced him. In that split second, he instinctively channeled his Hani and activated the Hani Shift Stance, directing it to one of his arms.

With his right arm now bearing the brunt of the devastating blow, Alex managed to avoid receiving any severe injuries.

Alex wiped a bead of sweat on his brow and straightened up. 'I feel more clear headed now, but I don't know how long it will last.'

The excitement and fear had defused the effects of the pill Alex had taken, which led to his current sober state.

Alex suddenly felt a throbbing in his right arm.

He then ripped his shirt sleeve and saw a red bruise at the point of impact. 'Shit! My arm feels slightly numb, that blow must have packed a crazy amount of force.'

He looked at the bruise for a few more moments before he swung his arm around in a circle.

"Now..." Said Alex, as he looked back up and stared at the beast. "I have to make use of this opportunity."

The beast finally seemed to gather itself, then its and Alex's eyes met.

At that moment everything seemed to become more vivid to Alex.

He could feel the change in the atmosphere and taste the dust that had been kicked up into the air.

Feel the black sand beneath his feet shift as he lowered his center of gravity.

And see every single muscle of the beast' bunch up as it prepared to launch an assault on him.

He could also sense his Hani better than he ever had since he entered The Senseless Coast.

Alex swallowed, took a deep breath, then stared deep into the beast's white eyes.

*BOOM*

Suddenly, at almost the same time, Alex and the beast ran at each other so fast that they left sonic booms behind.

Alex pulled back his arm and once again activated the Hani Shift Stance, this time on his fist instead of his arm.

In split seconds they reached each other, and Alex swung his strengthened fist at the beast.

"Let's do this!"