Thick-tailed water Tiger

"Ha! I still have a long way to go, huh?", Travis said as he looked at his watch on his left hand and tapped it opening the menu for the fifth time.

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<<Ceremonial menu>>

[Participant name: Travis Tale]

[Participants position: 20th]

[Participants' health: 100% (Participants will be eliminated if their health falls below 30%) ]

[Location: Royal Woods]

<<Mission>>

[Description: Your mission is to capture the flag at the centre of this space. First-person to reach the flag, and make contact with it wins the trails. The rest of the positions will be determined by the position of the participants. (That is the second person closest to the flag takes the second place and so on...)]

[Target: Flag]

[Target location: The Mad Terrain]

[Distance between target and participant: 8 kilometres]

_______________

"So, I am the twentieth huh? I wonder what is happening to Jim.", Travis muttered to himself as his eyes darted around. He didn't want to be attacked by beasts whilst having a short break.

Even though Dimensional space rifts didn't have a lot of strong living beings, they do contain some strong beasts. Space rifts are like extra spaces between Alternate dimensions. Humans discovered it when they tried to infiltrate the Cursed dimension but failed.

They learnt all this in school. That's why Travis always said that every subject was important. He knew there would be a day when he would need all this information.

*Swish~~*

Travis heard the sound of a falling waterfall.

'Hm, I should take my break at the waterfall. And also, according to my calculations, the waterfall leads to the Mad terrain. Maybe, I can Ride the currents to my destination without much to do.', Travis thought as he started running towards the sound of the waterfall.

******

"Hmmm, So, this is the waterfall? Not bad. I can ride the current", Travis thought meaningfully as he looked at the raging waterfalls in front of him.

The waterfall was a long line of rapid drops of water descending from the heavily rocked surface dropping aggressively like an army going to war. Travis stood up from his hiding spot and then started to move towards the waterfall, per his calculations, he knew that the current of the waterfall was faster than him moving on the ground so why not use the waterfall to travel? At least with that, He won't have to worry too much about getting tired.

However, Travis rapidly stopped his footsteps and quickly, rushed back to his former hiding position.

"Hmm, Isn't that a ?...", Travis mumbled to himself as he looked at the beast standing by the waterfall.

It was a large amphibian. It had four arms and six legs, with a long, strong tail. Its ears are quite long and its hearing is amazing. Its skin is thin but strong. It's covered in a very thick layer of mucous.

It has four eyes which sit far in their sockets and can often make them appear to be slick. Their eyesight is great at distances. Its wide mouths and narrow noses often make it appear to be upset, but looks can be deceiving.

Travis remembered seeing this beast somewhere on the internet. It seems like luck was with him today.

The amphibian he was looking at currently was called The Thick-tailed water tiger. Even though they looked menacing, they were usually friendly to humans. Their skin colours are mostly dark brown, dark silver and dark red, which tend to become lighter as they age.

The males are usually braver than their female counterparts and their colours are lighter. The females, however, are usually stronger.

"It seems that the one here is a male. This will be easier. I will get a free ride, Hehehe!", Travis smiled as he thought about the idea of riding on a Thick tailed water tiger. He knew it was dangerous but that was the only way to reach his destination.

Travis then open his menu one last time to check his status before making his move.

________________________________

<<Ceremonial menu>>

[Participant name: Travis Tale]

[Participants position: 30th]

[Participants' health: 100% (Participants will be eliminated if their health falls below 30%) ]

[Location: Royal Woods]

[Mission end timer: 00:00 (Mission end timer will start within five minutes)]

<<Mission>>

[Description: Your mission is to capture the flag at the centre of this space. First-person to reach the flag, and make contact with it wins the trails. The rest of the positions will be determined by the position of the participants. (That is the second person closest to the flag takes the second place and so on...)]

[Target: Flag]

[Target location: The Mad Terrain]

[Distance between target and participant: 7.9 kilometres]

_______________

"So, I am starting to fall back huh? I am on the 30th now. With the distance between us, there is o way I can surpass even the 29th person. So, you are my last hope huh?", Travis smiled as he looked at the Thick tailed water tiger from his hideout.

********

"Hey, Travis...", a voice entered Travis's ear as he was fully focused on devising a plan to tame the Thick tailed water tiger.

The voice was so close that it scared the crap out of Travis. So, a shout was the first reaction from Travis, thinking he was captured by his enemy.

"AH~~!", Travis shouted but the sound was quickly interrupted by a hand that covered his mouth.

The thick-tailed water tiger merely raised her head, inspected its surroundings and continued to drink from the water.

"Sigh, we were lucky it didn't notice us!", The voice came again. However, Travis recognized this voice. It was the voice of his best friend, Jim!

"Are you okay?", Jim asked Travis.

"I am okay. But you really scared the crap out of me.", Travis said to Jim with a smile.

"How did you find me? And also, how did you approach me without making a single sound?", Travis asked Jim confusedly. Travis was naturally smart and so he picked a hideout where there were a lot of broken branches and sticks on the floor.

He didn't expect, someone to be able to bypass him without making a single sound.

"Hmm, I didn't find you. In fact, I woke up in the Ruin forest opposite this forest. I came here to rest for a moment from travelling this long, that was when I saw you getting out of your hide out. So I came here making sure not to make any noise to prevent the Thick-tailed water tiger", Jim replied almost in a whisper.

"Hmm, I see. Can I see your stats?", Travis said.

"Hmm, why?", Jim asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, I want to know if we were given the same information.", Travis said.

"Hm, okay.", Jim then let out a sigh of relief and tapped his watch.

<<Ceremonial menu>>

[Participant name: Jim Hale]

[Participants position: 31st]

[Participants' health: 100% (Participants will be eliminated if their health falls below 30%) ]

[Location: Royal Woods]

[Mission end timer: 00:00 (Mission end timer will start within five minutes)]

<<Mission>>

[Description: Your mission is to capture the flag at the centre of this space. First-person to reach the flag, and make contact with it wins the trails. The rest of the positions will be determined by the position of the participants. (That is the second person closest to the flag takes the second place and so on...)]

[Target: Flag]

[Target location: The Mad Terrain]

[Distance between target and participant: 7.9 kilometres]

_______________

"Hm, it seems that we were given the same information.", Travis said after comparing the information given to them.

"Hmm", Jim just nodded his head.

'I wonder how Jim was able to travel all this while and still has 100% health. That shouldn't be possible. He is hiding something from me. Forget it. He has been my friend since childhood. There is no way he will hurt me.', Travis thought as he looked at Jim.

"Okay, let's do this. Let's tame the beast and get a free ride!", Travis said with confidence. With Jim here, he had more confidence.