Chapter 3 Part 6

The first light. A bright light. The light that chased away all the shadows before the mountain and hitting Cris face. He slowly open his eyes to the blinding sight to see it was morning.

Must have doze off. Yawn. Better head out.

Stretching his body and slowly getting up Cris was looking out where he should head to first. Before he could decide on a location he heard the sound of tumbling rocks.

A few stones hit the ground in front of him, making him look up to see what the cause was for the falling rocks. Not being fully awake and aware what was going on he could barely make out something large falling down.

Immediately waking up he saw someone holding a giant axe was free falling towards Cris, aiming to cut Cris in two. Rolling back in the nick of time, the axe came crashing down only inches from where he had stood, Cris was able to dodge the surprise attack. Cris’s eyes widen, he knew this person it was the gray hoodie person from the three way standoff. Was he the sole survivor? He had his hood up making it hard to identify if he was the same one.

They stared at one another in surprise. Cris was cornered his opponent blocked the exit, he had to fight. He looked at the axe and the thought could his hatchet match to that axe crossed his mind. A savage grin came across the hooded axe man as he realized the position he was in. Cris readied his hatchet and focused on the foe in front of him. A HP bar appeared on top of him showing he had lost more than half his health. A grim smile passed over Cris’s face maybe he could win. Seeing that Cris was ready, the axe man took a battle stance and taunted. He gestured with his axe of him taking Cris head off.

Feeling somewhat unhinged by the taunt, Cris lunged forward. The axe man easily sidestepped Cris’s initial attack and brought his ax around in a wide arc. Startled that his attack failed and had a counter attack incoming, Cris ducked and slide under the ferocious attack. This was he chance he could escape, seizing the moment to make a run for it but he did not get far. A powerful force grabbed him from behind throwing him back to the ledge, the fight was not over.

Not easing up on his attack, the axe man rushed Cris with reckless abandonment with his axe overhead. Momentarily caught off guard by the savagery of his opponent, Cris instinctively raised his arm with his hatchet to block but it was not enough. In one swift strike the axe sliced off his forearm which went falling down the mountain. Blood gush forward as Cris’s face contorted in pain as he could not cry out.

Cris looked up at the monster who was readying his axe for the killing blow. He gritted his teeth and shook off any doubts and fears, he was not going to fail here. With a silent cry, he swung his chopped off arm towards the axe man, splashing his face with blood. Blinding him for a brief moment, Cris broke out in a mad dash into the mountain.

Running down the path he came from yesterday, a blinking red exclamation mark was in the corner of his eye. Taking a brief moment he looked over to see what his status and HP was after that attack. His HP bar was blinking red instead of the normal green and Cris lost almost a third of his total from the loss of his arm.

[INJURY ARM: EFFECTIVENESS RENDERED TO ZERO. ACTIONS REQUIRING BOTH HANDS NEGATED. TASKS REDUCE EFFICIENCY BY 50%.]

[BLEEDING: LOSS OF BLOOD CAUSING PERIODIC LOSS OF HP. SEEK MEDICAL AID]

No shit I am bleeding and can’t use my arm. Fucking system tell me something useful for once.

Cris was swiftly making his way down the mountain with a trail of blood behind him. The pain after losing his arm had subsided and now it just felt like it did before just strange. The only thought in his head was get into the woods and bandage himself up. He was nearing the exit, then a hooded person in a robe with a long spear jump in front of the exit from above. He ready his spear and begun to charge at Cris who happen to be running straight for the exit. Not wanting to take his chance trying to slip pass he halted his advance and started to back pedal. However the reach of the spear was barely outreach and was pushing him back. The thrusts of the spearman were relents as he did not pause in between attacks but something was slightly off before each attack. Black shadows of the spearhead appeared half a second before each attack. Noticing this Cris thought it some sort of illusion or something playing tricks on him.

That was not the case, the attacks were following a patterning that the shadows were predicting the possible locations where the next strike will come. Picking up on this fast, Cris was able to dodge all the incoming attacks. If he was not running backward one might call this graceful but he was stumbling around barely avoiding being hit.

The spearman a bit annoyed that not one of his attacks landed switched up his stance and grip to give his spear more reach. It did not pay off, the first attack overextended causing an imbalance and forcing the spearman to trip. Using the loss of momentum of the spearman attack, Cris was able to turn around look for another way to escape. He spotted a pathway to the side and was running over there. A red flash appeared below his vision and slowly shifted to his left side. Not knowing what it meant he immediately stopped. An object flash in front of him hitting the rock wall a few inches away. After a second he heard a clang of metal when the object hit the wall. It fell to the ground and in front of Cris’s feet, it was an arrow.

Looking to where the shot came from he saw someone covered in leaves on top of the ledge holding a bow stand up as he prepared to fire another shot.

Are they working together? Is that allowed?

Turning to the path where he came from, he saw the axe man slowly making his way towards him.

It’s not fair. Three verses me.

Knowing how screwed he was did not help. All he could do was take the route he was force to take and try to lose them in the mountains. The path he was on was a narrow one, leading him higher and deeper into the mountain. He could hear the footsteps of his pursuers behind him and they were close.

Cris came to an abrupt stop when he could not run anymore. A cliff was in front of him and the fall from that would be more than enough to kill him. He could hear them behind him he did not have any time left.

Is this the end? No, an elite like me will not allow it to end. Think. There has to be a way.

Getting closer to the edge to see if he could climb down Cris noticed a large wooden chest to the side. A very small narrow foot path leading to it. Given the situation that was his only hope.

Facing the mountain Cris started to side step his way to the chest. He broke out in a cold sweat not because of his pursuers but the fact he was walking on path no more than three inches. One misstep and he was a goner. On top of all tight rope walk he had to hurry or the trio will see him and it would be game over. If it could not get any worse the sudden gusts of wind almost threw him off.

Almost there.

Cris was now a few feet away, but time was almost up the footsteps were close. With no time left and only one option he had was to jump. Taking a few deep breathes and trying to measure the distance and how far he would fall if he did fail. Cris froze he couldn’t move anymore. The thought of this being the pass and fail moment hit him.

Sporadic thoughts of the events that lead him up here flashed through his mind, weakening his grip and resolve causing him to halt. The adrenaline that brought him this far was wearing off by every passing moment. Both his mind and body were giving out on him now, the moment he needed them the most.

The ridicule he had to stomach from very first moment he enter this weird city. All the people who scam him and gave him false hope of him actually making it. These thoughts were weighting him down making it nearly impossible for him to jump.

Life really does suck. But this is… a game it should be an escape from reality. Why are the results of a game going to impact my reality? What is this feeling? This pressure and burden. Is this how everyone feels when the moment of truth comes? But I am an elite. This is my moment. My time to show them, Axis and the world. This is not game over.

His body was shaking, his legs buckling but this was not the end. Using the motivation and courage Cris built up, he steadied himself and took aim and he leapt forward towards the platform. As he came closer to the ledge, his body was on a collision course with the edge. His jump fell short and now his lower half was dangling off the platform. Unable to use his other arm he was barely holding on. While hanging on he felt his fingers slipping and his body losing ground. He gritted his teeth, he did not want to die here and he thought to himself there must be a way for him to pull himself up.

His mind went blank, he used all of his encouragement for the jump he was spent he had nothing left. The only thing on his mind were the faces of the people he worked with at the restaurant and this stupid bet. Their words rang in his head if they ever found out he failed just by falling short a few inches will haunt him for the rest of his life. The thought of giving them the satisfaction of him being all talk pissed him off. That anger and rage he harbor for them was giving strength back into his grip and then he saw it. A loose vine a few inches away from his hand, it looked strong enough to hold his weight and pull him up. His lips curved into a smile he knew what he had to do. Mustering all of his strength he prepared himself for his final push. Pulling with all of his might he reached for the vine and barely grasped it. Getting a firm grip on it his body quickly fell down and now he was hanging on the side. Using the momentum of his fall he swung his body and kicked off the side giving him the force to pull himself up on the ledge. It was not a moment too soon once on the platform he quickly dove behind the chest to avoid detection from the trio who just caught up. He was now stranded with nowhere to go.