How To Survive A Calamity

Sometimes i even scare myself.

[Multiple incoming.]

"Woo-hoo!" I was sprinting through a dark empty passageway with wide walls and a ceiling that hoovered somewhere far above my head

Meta's synthetic voice vibrated in a deadpan manner inside my head, and a rush of adrenaline surged through my mind and body, flooding through me with sinister, dark excitement.

Just like the systems incoming warning, i could feel a wave of bloodlust directed solely at my figure from behind. My senses were sharpened and i felt the multiple presence of rabid monsters relentlessly chasing after my back at a speed i originally should be worried about.

But what the hell was this?!

Was tethering this close to death always this fun?!

'No, I'm not actually a masochist, am i?'

[That's being nice.]

I heard the snarls and growls of monsters and beasts getting closer to me from behind as an end of the passageway finally came to sight. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

The twisted expression on my face turned into a wider grin as i willed my Ether and summoned my spear, then sharply kicked off the ground and lunged forward.

"Here we go!"

I leaped through the exit and into the air as the sounds of my pursuers became closer.

The ancient passage way led into a collapsed wide chamber with a wide and massive crater in the sunken ground.

I spun through the air, nimbly landed against the slopey ground with a roll and swiftly outstretched my left arm against the rough ground.

•[Extra Skill <Partial Silver Body> has been activated]

Liquid silver flowed out of my left arm and spread into a wide puddle across the ground.

Monsters lunged out of the passage way where i came and flew throughout the air. They rapidly descended down at my position, spreading their maws open and raising their talons.

With a single thought, meters long silver thongs like spikes shot out of the puddle of molted silver against the ground which formed silver spears that elongated partly into the air.

Their sharp, hardened tips pierced above from underneath the monsters lunging at me and tore through them with a sickening sound of shredding flesh.

In a matter of seconds, the monsters which had been relentlessly chasing me had become skewers.

Their corpses suspended through long, sharp silver spikes in the air.

•[Ding! You have slain a...]

•[Ding! You have slain a...]

•[Ding! You have slain a...]

•[Ding! You have...]

The system whispered my kills into my ears and i felt a small trickle of essence run through my body.

"Fuuh..." I heaved an exhausted breath and cut off the flow of Ether for the skill.

With a small sound, the spears of silver fluidly dissolved, and the puddle retreated and vanished. At the same time the monster corpses which had been hung in the air all came crashing down together.

I stumbled backwards and fell to my backside. I was panting deeplly and my chest kept rising and falling as sweat covered my face.

"Haha..." I laughed dryly.

"I'm almost out of Ether and stamina."

I laughed at the pile of corpses before falling against my back.

"Haah... Haah.. haah..." Only the sound of my breathing could be heard in the dark embracing darkness of the ruined chamber.

Eventually, i took in a breath and said into the silence.

"How long has it been?"

Meta responded curtly.

[Seven hours.] Her synthetic voice like an overlap of vibrations was deadpan.

"I swear to your maker, Meta. You are not making this easy for me." I rolled out my tongue, and exhaled.

Seven hours of all this, and still nothing to show for it.

I groaned as i forced myself to sit up straight. I could feel more sore joints and muscle writhe in admonishment.

It's already been hours since i went on a wild hunting spree and i was finally already reaching my limit. My overwhelming stamina and Ether reserves were already dropping below average and i was beginning to feel sores and aches from my body and the wounds i had sustained all over it.

To be honest, half the entire time I was sure I had been running, juiced up on dark excitement and adrenaline.

It was like activating Immersion again and getting doped but on a smaller scale.

It till left me feeling drained and exhausted though.

Heck, I've even lost count on the amounts of points I had gathered overtime.

"Meta, at least tell me how my progress is looking. I'm a pretty optimistic guy, i know, but blindly doing this consistently can be draining and disheartening you know. Imagine reading your ass of every morning amd night for a school exam without knowing if you'll just be stuck behind a desk job once you graduate...or something. Don't mind the analogy, I'm depressed."

[It often take a considerable boost of energy to push forward a breakthrough. Like a sudden massive intake at once. I'm afraid what you are currently experiencing right now, at the moment, is a bottleneck. And there might be a few reasons for that as well.] Meta said.

I frowned and looked up.

"Why am i just hearing about this now, and what do you mean?"

[This is something you should have already realised, or will, one way or the other, at some point. The signs are already clear and obvious. You've constantly put your body under repeated stress, that even if it may not show physically, you're already worn out. As a result, every energy you accumulate towards the next level up or breakthrough over flows from both your body and core, causing you to remain in an uncertain state with no apparent progress. In other words — a bottleneck.]

"What are you talking about?" Meta's unexpectedly, disturbing words almost made me jump in place.

'Yo, yo, yo. You're kidding, right?'

What the hell does it mean i should have noticed it?

Meta's words were all sounding like an I'll sounding joke to me. I was a bit confused and quite unsure how to respond to them.

[Negative. Unfortunately, this isn't a joke...] Meta said and her voice paused.

Then she continued.

[At this rate you the host, Victor Bright, will never breakthrough to the next rank.]