Kaiser of the New World

The next couple of hours were extremely intense, arduous and painful for Kai. While the breakthrough may have seemed instantaneous, it was far from that.

Every insight he gained came with a price. Be it a bruised rib or a new cut on his arm, Kai even thought he broke the pinky finger on his left hand when attempting to dodge Umbra's attack one time.

But there was progress, Kai could correctly anticipate six out of ten of Umbra's attacks. Sadly, this didn't mean he could dodge them all though.

Even with his slightly improved Dexterity stat, he was still too slow, too unbalanced, too inexperienced to be able to react properly to every attack. But just the fact he knew what was about to happen helped ease the mental duress he was under.

While Kai may have thought he was kind of smart back on Earth, he was far from smart in a place like this. Him calling himself smart right now would be like a toddler in a library calling itself smart after reading all the easy picture books.

To successfully watch the soul of his opponent, their actual body and his surroundings all at once was stressful and torturously hard. Kai's brain hurt and he was a but dissapointed that what he was doing didn't count as a mind attack so that Strong Mind would help out. The uncommon skill was collecting dust ever since the moon incident.

But even if he couldn't dodge the attack in time, just knowing what was about happen gave him enough time to form a thought on what to do. It also gave him enough time to brace and defend himself, lessening the pain og the incoming blow. Although Kai would much rather just dodge as he was too weak to fully deflect the weight of his familair's blows.

Umbra, on the other hand, seemed to be really enjoying herself. The pitch-black wolf thought of the whole situation as one big game of tag. She seemed to be extremely happy whenever Kai managed to dodge a hit she was sure was about to connect.

That wolf has too much energy...

Even though he's only been awake about two hours, Kai already wanted to pass out. Keeping the telepathic link open the whole time, focusing on anticipating someone's moves through their soul and just the atmosphere of The Dome all made Kai just want to curl up in a ball and return back to sleep.

He probably would have, if he was back on Earth, but just the fact he would have had to use a tree root as a pillow was enough to deter him.

For now...

Successfully managing to dodge another one of Umbra's relentless attacks, Kai slowly developed a better understanding of how souls worked.

Watching a soul while fighting was like reading someone's mind. In their soul, they knew what they were going to even before their mind knew. Their soul was their very being after all.

Meaning, if Umbra was going to attack Kai's left, there would be a sign. It was as if the soul was calling out what it was about to do in a barley audible whisper.

Though the more complex the move, the harder it was to understand. Majority of the attacks Kai had successfully dodged were just average swipes or bites, the ones he was not able to dodge were feints or attacks that gave him no room to dodge in the first place.

He was on the verge of passing out from exhaustion, his entire body was screaming out at him, he felt as if he could vomit at any moment. He was at his last straw, he couldn't do this for much longer.

But he wanted to.

Since there was no real threat in this fight, it was thrilling. No danger meant Kai could have some fun with his familiar.

It was a pleasant feeling for Kai, it reminded him of home. The memory of being so shattered while playing a game of football with your friends yet having enough energy to continue running up and down the pitch was a sort of pinpoint for Kai.

People were always said to have phenomenal results when they push themselves to the absolute limit.

Weightlifters, marathon runners, people who do triathlons, they all push their body further than it should be and they come out with incredible results.

Kai wanted to be like that.

If this world was to be anything like those in the stories he's read or movies he's watched, he wanted to be able to stand on his own two feet.

Power would be everything in a place like this, those like Aldred and The Ever-changing made that perfectly clear.

Kai wanted to be strong, to be able to defend himself, to be able to defend those close to him. That, was his goal.

Grinning, Kai let out a slightly mad laugh as he continued to engage with Umbra. Dodging under a swipe that was aimed for his head with thanks to Umbra's soul giving it away, Kai thrust Life Eater upwards, only grazing off of Umbra's sleek fur as he didn't really want to hurt her.

Umbra growled playfully as she landed back on the ground gracefully, taking a low stance to get ready for her next attack.

Suddenly, something changed.

Kai blacked out for a moment, but while he was blacked out he saw Umbra rushing at him. He attempted to dodge, but the wolf's attack was a feint for what she truly wanted to do.

She ended up just charging straight into his legs, knocking him onto the ground playfully.

When Kai came to, he thought he would be lying on the ground, writhing in pain...

Only he wasn't.

Umbra pounced out of her low stance, running right at Kai. His familiar was about to jump and try to claw his should-

Wait...

The attack never came, much to Kai's surprise. Instead, Umbra just continued to barrel straight at him while smiling mischievously.

Kai simply just took a step to the side.

Umbra missed and turned around curiously, wondering how her attack failed.

Kai remained still, his eyes wide in shock. He could not stop the crazy grin from growing on his face.

Did I just?

Unless it was just a lucky hallucination from all the fatigue, Kai had just caught a glimpse of the future through Umbra's soul. What the wolf wanted to do was conveyed to him through a mental image, and his furry familiar had no idea she had even done it.

On a high, Kai got into what he thought was a defensive position and order Umbra to attack again.

Concentrating heavily on the pitch-black wolf's soul, Kai tried to copy what he had just done.

Sadly, it ended in failure.

Umbra managed to hit him this time, even his soul sensing couldn't help him dodge.

Finally, after spending way too long playin- duelling with his familiar, Kai called it quits and collapsed onto the ground.

Umbra trotted over and lied down beside him, to which Kai promptly wrapped his arms around her furry body and used her head as a pillow.

"Good girl, Umbra."

Umbra let out a low whine in response, making Kai smile slightly.

All his worries seemed to wash away in the moment, every bit of anxiety he had been feeling didn't matter for now. He was too tired to think, too tired to care.

And like that, in the soft embrace of his familiar, Kai fell asleep.

It was the first time he slept properly in months.

******

The loud splashing of water as it fell from the waterfall into the small pond below echoed through the small valley near the edge of The Dome.

The water was crystal clear and refreshing to drink if anyone wanted to. Small moon fish swam in the depths of the pond, keeping to themselves.

It was a beautiful day under the artificial sun. It would have been perfect, if not for the looming threat of death and the fact Kai was absolutely freezing.

Sitting under the waterfall, Kai gritted his teeth at the cold as the clear, blue liquid fell all over him.

It crashed onto his head, then continued down the rest of his body without delay. His clothes were soaked and the minor cold resistance offered by his tunic offered some much needed protection.

It's for the greater good, this will work. It's for the greater good, this will work. It's for the greater good, this better work.

The idea was simple, in theory. Since his Mana pool had increased tenfold, it should be much easier to swap his stats around.

In theory, that is.

As for the waterfall?

In all the movies, when they try and do something like this they're always under a waterfall. It probably helps with getting into the right state of mind, but Kai was just cold.

He wasn't going to move though, he's in too deep to back out now.

Taking a deep breath, Kai closed his eyes and tried to sense his soul without looking into his reflection in the water. His mastery over souls had grown ever so slightly since he last attempted this.

From telling where someone or something is by their soul, to being able to predict movements at the last second by watching their soul to even downright catching a glimpse of the future.

And one of the main points of it all.

Manipulating his stats.

If Kai could successfully manage a breakthrough in changing his stats himself and sensing his soul without actually seeing it, he could effectively become a walking...

Well, anything.

Need raw power? Stack everything into strength. Need more Mana? You know what to do. If he gets proficient enough to change his stats on the fly, who knows the possibilities.

Another thing was that he might be able to reach a breakthrough in either Soul Sight or Soulcery and upgrade either or both skills, but that was doubtful. He had only just upgraded his first skill after all, and he found out he has semi-precognitive abilities.

There has to be a drought of being able to learn or unlock anything at some point after such good outcomes in recent days.

So now, after taking a break for a few days, it was finally time for fate to let him have a successful meditation session.