From his vantage point on the tree John saw the forest canopy part way. It looked like a massive creature was causing it to move like a wave over a surface of green. John leaped off the tree and prepared to run away but he’d reacted too late. An elephant twenty feet tall looked at John while tearing out a tree with its trunk. Four ivory tusks aimed at John as he slowly backed away. The elephant trumpeted, its eyes turning blood red as it began to make its charge. Observing the tilt of its neck, the tensing of its muscles, John timed his jump perfectly to escape from the elephant’s charge. The animal was too big and too fast but John managed to dodge each of its three charges. This rogue tusker could rip John in two like it was nothing. John knew that even the slightest misstep would result in a horrible death. Death was something the holocube had taught him when he was a year old. He knew that he didn’t want to die.

John felt that escape at this moment was not an option. The layout of the land was more advantageous to the elephant’s large stamina pool than John’s relatively meager one. He had to injure it somehow and then run away. John grabbed a thick branch and wrapped his aura around it, while the elephant turned to make its fourth charge. The branch seemed to transform into a blue blade of light. It was as long as John was tall. He finally had a weapon that could harm it. His aura blade may not have been thick but it was long and sharp, like a needle.

When the elephant was six feet away John leaped off the ground, grabbed one of the elephant’s lower tusks with his free hand, pulled himself up and then jumped onto the elephant’s head. He’d practiced moves like this many times but it was different when your handholds and surfaces were a living creature that was always moving. The elephant tried to shake John off but to no avail. John’s feet needed only the slightest touch to maintain his balance. He crawled forward and stabbed his aura blade into the elephant’s eye. The elephant panicked, and set on a collision with a thick tree hoping to smash John to paste. John jumped off the elephant before this could happen, rolling away on the forest floor to soften the momentum of his landing. The elephant crashed into the tree and stood disoriented for a while. John took this opportunity to run.

John ran back to his cave and gazed out warily. The elephant had long since given up pursuit. He breathed in deeply, feeling relief seep into his body. He needed to do something so that wild animals and monsters wouldn’t find his home. He’d be a sitting duck if they came after him here. With the barrier gone, the cave was too perilous. He could even be killed by some scary creature while he slept, before he realized what was happening. John walked out once more, this time searching for branches and rocks to hide the cave’s entrance.

“Holocube,” said John, after he’d finished camouflaging the entrance way. He hadn’t had time to fully digest the near death experience he’d just had.

“Yes John,” said the holocube.

“You didn’t truly tell me how scary the outside world is,” John said with a sigh.

“It was not my intention to keep things from you,” said the holocube in its usual low monotone.

“Starting from today, place more emphasis on combat training.” If he’d been able to form a thicker aura blade the elephant would have died from John’s attack.

“Your command is within mission parameters. I’ll prepare a more rigorous combat training regime from now on,” said the holocube.

John had learned the aura blade earlier because he thought it looked nice. He’d learned acrobatics because the antics of the performers in the training display had made him laugh. He’d never thought that any of these things would ever have a practical use. Oh how wrong he was.

For the next few months John gave his all to physical training. He battled against holographic opponents of various sizes, each with their own personality and style of combat. One day he’d be fighting a giant ape that threw rocks at him, and wrestled when he came within range. Another time he’d be battling an agile elf who was able to dodge most of his attacks and counter attack with great speed. He even had to battle strange creatures like floating amoeba. This creature could only be destroyed by detonating his aura from within it. John had to be swallowed whole and manipulate his aura very intricately to make it explode without harming himself. The holocube warned him whenever his aura became too dangerous and the match immediately ended.

John learned to manipulate even more sophisticated aura circuits within his body, increasing his speed, strength, stamina and agility. A single cleave of his aura wrapped tree branch could now cut more than ten feet of solid rock. It felt good to see himself improve to such an extent. He knew he was making great progress. He knew from the holocube’s videos that he was much stronger than the average child. The holocube had shown him child warriors of various different races but John felt like he could take them on.

John learned about art and culture during the short rest breaks he allowed himself. The cube had classified art and culture as essential life skills as well. The holodramas he watched helped maintain his sanity. He was aware of his loneliness, and how it was shaping his mind. He’d often talk to the holocube. Though its replies were always the same, and its voice never changed pitch it felt good to talk to something that responded. He’d also talk to characters in the holodramas he watched, imagining what their replies would be. He’d sing and dance along with their songs. He’d cry when they cried and laugh when they laughed. It made him feel good inside to do these things.

Winter set in and John began feeling the chill, now that the cave was open to the elements He insulated the cave as best he could while learning how to use aura to maintain body temperature. He trained even more vigorously. It helped keep him warm. Seeing as it was the height of winter there were probably no predators nearby, John thought. The outside would be safe for a while. The creatures that weren’t hibernating would have moved somewhere warmer. At long last, he decided to journey outside the cave. He picked up a thick branch and covered it with purple aura energy.

John walked down the hill, caution in his every step. It was snowing. John felt the snow melt against his naked flesh and sighed. This feeling was irritating. He would have to make himself some clothes. As providence would have it John spotted a deer in the distance, walking between two trees. What was it doing all the way out here? Was it lost? Perhaps it had walked in the wrong direction from its herd and gotten lost. It was alone, just like he was. John felt a moment of sympathy for the animal...Only a moment. His utilitarian nature soon took over. Its hide would be perfect for clothing.

John crept towards the unaware deer, as silent as a ghost, stopping his breathing with a special technique, and hiding his aura. John’s feet barely touched the ground as he moved closer and closer to his target. With a loud whoop that startled and froze the deer for a second John ran towards the animal and beheaded it with a single strike from his aura blade. Afterimages of purple still stayed in the air as the deer’s head fell onto the forest floor. John quickly cut the hide off the deer, grabbed the head and ran back to his cave. The head would be used to make brain solution to cure the hide. It was a pity that he did not eat. The rest of the animal would be wasted.

John laughed. He would be naked no longer. Clothing was the perquisite of civilization and John, though all alone, was still a civilized person. The holocube had taught him some of the culture and science of the Astari, their songs and poetry, their mathematics and philosophy. He was a refined person and no savage. He was the lone master of this planet.

Just then John had a roar reverberate through the cave. He ran out, tree branch in hand. The roar was still echoing through the hills. It was like the low rumble of thunder. John saw in the horizon two gigantic beasts fighting with each other, tall and wide as a mountain. His little hill would come up to their stomachs. One of the creatures was a dinosaur, its sharp teeth gleaming with the setting sun. The other creature was a blue octopus floating in the air, its tentacles destroying the woodland with each sweep. Whorls of electricity circulated around its body. These two were the true masters of the planet. So what if he was civilized? He was just an insignificant ant in comparison. Gone were his dreams of building a house and machinery to help with his daily tasks. They’d just be destroyed if he couldn’t protect them.

John watched as rivulets of blood gushed out from the dinosaur’s maw. It was done for. The octopus squeezed the life out of the dinosaur, the sound of its bones cracking like thunder. John shivered as he went back into his cave. If he was up against the octopus or dinosaur even escape would be impossible. He had to train more. He’d also have to make some more sophisticated weaponry, he thought, gazing at the tree branch in his hand.