Capítulo 5: Chapter 4: Survival
Jacob wasted no time running through the forest dodging branches and jumping over roots. 'The first thing needed in every survival situation is shelter and a fire, hopefully, I can find a good place near a river or a pond' Jacob thought inwardly strategizing on how to survive against the hosts 'Although I'm stronger than most I still haven't started cultivating which makes the hosts dangerous even for me' Jacob's worries kept his legs moving for miles hoping to come across the ideal shelter.
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Meanwhile a few miles away we can see Penelope and Charlotte running side by side looking for shelter just like Jacob. "Penny why are you zoning out this is a serious exam" Charlotte looked at her sister with concern visible in her eyes. Penelope was still in her world 'How should I get back at him? Maybe I can fake an injury and have him care for me, he protected me against those thugs so he must have a soft heart for a beauty such as myself' Penelope's revenge has become more of a desperate attempt to get attention from a lover 'And when he takes care of me with a smile on his stupid dumb handsome face I'll tease him and make him blush. It's perfect! Then he'll fawn over me like the princess I am Penelope's thoughts have turned into a rom-com anime, she's beyond saving. "PENNY!!" as Penelope is deep in her "revenge" plan she finally takes her head out of the clouds when Charlotte pulls her back from a cliff "Penny you need to pay attention! You could have died just now!" Charlotte was enraged looking at the shocked Penelope "What could you have been thinking about so deeply that you almost walked off a cliff!" Charlotte's anger died down as she has never seen her sister so distressed "A boy" is all Charlotte heard before she heard glass breaking in her mind 'My perfect little sister almost died because she was thinking of a boy..? So it's his fault...' a large amount of bloodlust could be felt in the air as the two deranged sisters somehow came to the same conclusion that this was Jacob's responsibility to fix
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Not knowing about the coming calamity that will befall him Jacob has found the perfect shelter in a large tree in the middle of a large island in the middle of a large lake. 'Perfect' Jacob seemed a little overly cautious when choosing his shelter 'Now I can laze around in this tree for a week' as he said that he pulled a cigarette from his bag and lit it with a stone like some gangster neanderthal. All Jacob wanted through his 11 years of training was a week just like this one where he could just relax like he was on a beach not wanting to be disturbed.
"Maybe I can build a chair a drink from a coconut as I look at the lake" Jacob was treating this deadly test as some sort of vacation! In the surveillance room, all the instructors and the examiner looked at Jacob with blank faces thinking 'THIS ISN'T A BEACH RESORT YOU STUPID TALENTED ASSHOLE' all the people there had to take a test similar to this when they were registering and many almost died, it was just that dangerous here! Many of them looked dejected and the rest just copied Jacob leaning back on a sofa and lighting a cigarette with dead eyes thinking about how they should recover from the blatant slap to the face they just received.
After the first hour passed the examiner announced the release of the hosts into the forest "All 200 hosts are now being released, good luck~" he said in a teasing tone out of spite thinking back to the scene of Jacob smoking without a care in the world. Jacob however just shrugged and continued making his beach chair, he was serious about that.
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After another hour passed many fights broke out between hosts and examinees with over 6 examinees dying in the first hour. "The hosts seem overly aggressive and are attacking in large groups of at least 10. This seems hard even for cultivators in the Draco stage" one of the instructors pointed out. There could be seen more than a few worried faces and for good reason 'forget a week, all the participants may be dead within a day!' was what went through each instructor's head.
"Maybe we should stop the testing and find another way to test them? We can't have everyone dying or the clans and families are going to literally rip us in two" the instructor from bladesong academy said with fear in her eyes "How are they able to find the students so fast? It's not like the hosts have incredible tracking skills, it shouldn't be possible for them to find the examinees so easily" one of the researchers stated after carefully analyzing the host's movements "There's something wrong here.." the researcher's worries became a worry for everyone when they heard the words coming from his mouth.
"It's 'them'" Scarlett said in the back of the room making everyone shiver knowing what she was talking about "Impossible! This facility is one of the most secure in the entirety of the colonies! How could 'they' have infiltrated?" the examiner stated with confidence in his voice "There's no need to worry about all this, the examinees were just stupid enough to fight the hosts without grasping the situation," he said looking at the screen in amusement watching the examinees struggle and die after a failed ambush "See they're just too full of themselves and think they can take on multiple hosts at a time."
his amusement was a bit disturbing to the faculty except for Charles who was also amused to almost a perverted level. Scarlett just watched 'The destruction of colony X should have woken them up. If they can destroy a whole colony then they can infiltrate this 'secure' facility' she thinks rolling her eyes at their stupidity and naïvety 'I guess I'll watch for a little while longer since that young man is there. He'll soon realize something is up with full confidence Scarlett relaxes in her seat continuing to smoke her cigar.
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"Penny we've got to get out of here!" a distressed Charlotte could be heard yelling as she fends off an attack from one of the hosts surrounding them. The hosts can come from any species as long as the parasite has infested their body, humans, dogs, even large animals like elephants could become hosts. They all "evolve" into what can only be described as an eldritch creature with tentacles all over their backs and claws sharp enough to cut through steel like butter, their face that seemed to have twisted into a circular mouth with dozens of rows of teeth and no eyes.
They were as strong as an elephant, fast as a cheetah, and can regrow lost limbs at a terrifying rate. The only way to kill such atrocities is to cut off the part that houses the parasite which could be anywhere like the legs, arms, brain, and heart. This is what made hosts even more terrifying, you never know exactly how to kill it! "I know that Charlotte! Do you think I want to be here!!" Penelope yelled back in frustration while trying to cleave a host with her glaive, an interesting choice for a small girl. "I don't want your sarcasm right now!" Charlotte roared in anger fending off another attack by smashing her warhammer into a host's face effectively detaching the host's head which regenerated the next second. The girls were fighting for their lives in the middle of the forest where they know no help will come for them.
"THERE'S AN OPENING!!" Penelope yelled at the top of her lungs making sure Charlotte could hear her "RUN FOR IT!!" Charlotte yelled back bolting towards the opening in the encirclement. Penelope followed close behind swinging her glaive wildly behind her trying to fend off the hosts. "Charlotte they're gaining on us!" Charlotte looked back to see the hosts running wildly on all fours trying to catch their prey. The two girls were terrified looking at the frenzied hosts trying to think how to get out of the situation at a rapid speed "I see a lake!" Charlotte yelled as she made a beeline for the lake. Hosts couldn't swim making a lake the perfect escape, as long as they could enter the lake the hosts wouldn't be able to follow "There's an island on the lake! We can take refuge there!" The girls sprinted as hard as they can toward the water
"FUCK!!!" Charlotte heard Penelope curse loudly and turned to see a large gash on her leg and host over her with its mouth wide open and with a long wiggling worm coming out of it slowly. "FUCK! PENNYYYYYYY!!!" Charlotte couldn't stand to see her sister become a disgusting host and rushed toward her forgetting about escape. Charlotte ran towards the host when she heard the sound of something passing by her head as fast as a bullet creating ripples in the air. *BANG* a loud bang could be heard when the object collided with the host sending it flying into a nearby tree. Charlotte could finally make out the object as a double-headed axe and she could see the host pinned onto the tree. "You guys scream too loudly, I dropped my cigarette because of you guys" a nonchalant deep voice could be heard all around the hosts and the girls, they couldn't pinpoint the exact location and could only wait until the voice revealed itself.
Charlotte and Penelope could only hear the screeches of hosts as they disappeared into the forest with multiple *CRACKS* and the sound of cleaving meat until all the hosts disappeared just like that with only Penelope, Charlotte, and the last struggling host still pinned to a tree left in the open. The girls were shocked and couldn't understand what they just witnessed, they couldn't see them but the lack of screeching led them to believe that the hosts were dead "A thank you seems to be in order" the deep melodic voice could be heard near the lake where a man lay with his bare chest on a makeshift chair facing away from them with a coconut in his hands and hosts littered around him shriveled up indicating that the parasite was dead.
"IT'S YOU!!" Penelope yelled noticing that it was the same boy that was tormenting her in her head "You know him?" Charlotte asked with her mouth still open from shock "Yeah! He's the boy I was talking about" Charlotte could hear thunder in her ears after Penelope's confession "You've been talking about me? How flattering" Jacob stated faking his embarrassment "You could've just told me you were into me, I would've given you my number," Jacob said jokingly "REALLY?!" Penelope didn't seem to have heard Jacob's sarcasm and truly thought he was serious!
'So he wasn't ignoring me! He's playing hard to get, of course!' Penelope stated in her mind as if that was the only possible explanation because no one could ignore such a beauty. Jacob just looked at her with a brow lifted after hearing her enthusiasm 'what a weird girl' Jacob noted her peculiarity in his head. Charlotte however just stared at Jacob with both admiration and resentment at the same time 'This is the guy? He's handsome and extraordinarily strong...that's not enough for my Penny though! I'll have to divert his attention away from her' Charlotte was lost in her misunderstanding while Jacob walked over to her with a smile on his face grabbing her hand pulling her toward him 'WHAT?!' she was about to scream in outrage before Jacob pulled her into his chest saving her from the host that was about to slash her neck. He then grabbed the host by the neck throwing it in a judo throw and cleaving its head off with his axe forcing it to shrivel almost immediately "Be careful, they'll take every opportunity to try and eat you up" he said in a playful tone seemingly referring to something other to the host. 'Not as dangerous as I thought' Jacob stared at the host's bodies thinking his worries about them being dangerous were baseless.
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Status de energia semanal
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