NOVEL NEXT 8. Ready to Die?!
The best trainings are explosive, effective, and scary as fuck! This one is no exception. ENJOY!
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“TIK TOK!”
The sound was deafening!
At that moment, that was ALL that Jack could hear. Floating right next to him was the most terrifying thing to ever exist.
[604 380]
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….
It was a flaming counter!
This seemed so ominous, yet all it did was show the time he had left for training, all thanks to a certain Teacher Flintlock. Chuckling, Jack inspected his surroundings.
A desolate gym, one with a big < TEMPORARY CLOSED! > sign in letters that were so bold they threatened to jump off it. And right now, he was patiently waiting.
A few minutes ago, HE had gone away…
“Wait for me, kid! I've got vacation days saved up. I’M USING THEM ALL NOW!” That was all the Training Instructor had said before rushing god knows where.
Jack felt like tearing up.
That’s why he had come here!
Super schools weren’t amazing because of the tremendous power of their students but because there were still teachers like him who dared believe in their students!
Or, in this case, dared believe in students in general, even a wretch like him. And knowing this, he suddenly felt hopeful for humanity as a whole, even if that was quite the leap.
And that’s when HE came back.
SLAM! The door exploded open, and the man stepped into the gym with the biggest grin ever. But he had merely entered when he instantly turned serious.
“Kid, before we begin… Do you want to train, or do you want to TRAIN?”
His red glowing eyes landed on his body, seemingly trying to access his breaking point. As for his meaning, it was obvious. But Jack instantly replied.
“Whatever will make me stronger.”
“Are you ready to DIE?”
“YES!”
That’s when the man grabbed a gym bag from behind him and took an entire whiteboard out of it?! It was apparently a magical container, just like Spatial Bags or Storage Rings that Jack had seen on the Internet. Then, the man scribbled.
Morning — Endurance & Reflexes
Lunch — Studying Session
Afternoon — Power Training
Evening — FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
But that wasn’t even what stood out the most. At the bottom, he added an earth-shattering postscript. *PS: This is the perfect training plan for a 24/7 continuous session.
“You mean I’ll stay here even at night?!”
“Obviously! Except if you’re not—”
Jack didn’t let him finish his sentence. He hurriedly grabbed his cell phone, composing a number in a hurry, one that soon connected to a place called < Starlight Prep School!>
At first, the poor receptionist just couldn’t understand why he absolutely needed to talk to one of their students. But once he said something about being on the verge of death, it connected. On the other side came Lilly’s worried voice.
< Brother?! What happened?! They— >
“Listen, Lilly. There’s a training boot camp at school. A spot just became available, and I HAVE to take it. Use whatever money you need from the emergency funds. I’ll be home after a week. Can you handle it?”
“GASP! A week?! I mean, YES! Don’t worry, I’m sixteen! I know how much you’ve— I’ll be fine, so do your thing! You got this! I’ll be rooting for you!”
“And remember, if anything happens—”
“I ask Auntie Lilia or Charon!”
“CALL ME!”
He reiterated several times: If something bad happened, she should call the cops first and him second, and that was ONLY if it was life-threatening; otherwise, he should definitely be first! He would always have time for her, no matter what!
With that said, the call ended, and he turned toward the Training Instructor. Come fire or rain, he would do everything needed, and the man saw it in his gaze.
“Good! That’s the spirit. But before that, LUNCH!”
“What?! Shouldn’t we start train—”
“No! Eating’s vital!”
He shook his large fist in denial as he took something out of his magical gym bag again. This time, it was a brown fruit-looking thing the size of a golf ball.
It was akin to a lychee’s weird cousin and was covered in lots of thin, flexible spines that gave it a spiky look. And from it came a sweet smell coming from its core.
Gently peeling the skin, a white jelly-like flesh appeared.
Not only did it give tropical notes, but it smelled even better than the Pumpkin Spice sugary goodness from the day before. But just as he tried scooping it up, the skin suddenly closed?!
“Ah?! So, do I just peel this faster?”
“No, not like that. Eat it whole!”
“WHAT?!”
The thing was seriously hairy AND spiky! Yet, he only stilled for an instant, grabbing it whole and shoving it down his throat. As for how it felt? One word: wrong.
Hundreds of filaments tickled his throat.
An intense heat in his gullet.
Then it exploded!
It filled his being with power. It was as if millions of ants were in his stomach, and then it all receded quickly like nothing had happened?! With it came the emptiness.
He found himself hungering for more. One wasn’t enough. Perhaps only two, or three, or a few hundred would suffice. But as the thought crossed his mind, he froze.
“What the hell was that?! What the hell is that?!”
“Just a Gripfruit. Don’t bother googling it. Brought them back from an expedition myself. All you need to know is they’re tasty and healthy… as long as you don’t eat too many.”
As for what happened when one ate too many? The man’s gaze pretty much meant, ‘Don’t ask.’ As far as Jack could guess, it was probably on the level of Cinderhorn meat.
Shudder. Then again, that was fine.
“CLAP! Now, let’s get this party started! Time to go all-out!”
The man approached a nearby gym wall, revealing a magical glowing interface. He seemed to be manipulating the glowing glyphs there with expertise, showing it wasn’t his first time.
“Normally, we never use this for freshmen. Actually, we don’t even use it for Seniors, but that bet with that Phoenix bastard brought us a LOT of latitude. GET READY!”
And then it happened…
The gym’s floor shimmered and glowed?! An ethereal serpent-looking race track rose, and he was swept off his feet and suspended in mid-air?! He was on a translucent purple step?!
“This is the rainbow road. See that glowing number above? That means it’s about to start. Steps will appear before you and disappear behind. DON’T FALL!”
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2
1
Ding!
Jack started running.
Yes, he was running in mid-air!
He rushed, every step of his lighting up the gym as they collided with the phantom road, which somehow felt more physical than asphalt, yet soft?!
But now wasn’t the time to analyze it. One foot before the other. One, two, one, two, one two, one — and he was already out of breath, his lungs on fire?!
Motherfucker! This thing, this damn thing, it wasn’t just a floating glowing road, but it also had increased gravity?! At first, it had been incredibly subtle, but it was ramping up.
Beads of sweat escaped him, and instantly— DROP!
It was as fast as terrifying!
“How is it? Feel like dying yet? Some call it Rainbow Road, but it also has another name: Royal Road. In the face of it, even Kings Fall~.”
Kings fall? It was said playfully but also meaningfully. As soon as those words escaped the man’s mouth, the gravity increased drastically, and Jack lost his footing.
He fell. Akin to a fallen angel, he crashed back on the ground. Above him, the rainbow road was still going, twisting and turning as if taunting him.
“Hehe, how is it? Fun, am I right?”
“AGAIN! Let me go again!”
Jack didn’t even wait for him to ask; he positioned himself, ready for round two. The Instructor activated it again, clearly expecting this from him. Then it began anew.
It went like this…
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!
FALL!
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!
FALL!
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!
Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!
FALL!
Every single repetition ended the same, with him on his ass! And every time the road above kept twisting, actively taunting him, he was sure by now! It was doing it on purpose!
He shakily forced himself on his feet and— BLERG!
He suddenly felt nauseous. All that training, all without pause, was insane. He was dehydrated, his lungs were killing him, and his stomach churned with disgust.
He vomited it all, everything he had eaten recently— or close. As it was the turn of the Gripfruits to come out, they didn’t. He felt them squirm inside him. He felt them latch. He felt hella bad!
It was as if he had a hairy eldritch spider crawling through him as it solidly nested itself in his belly. Only once was it back in place did it finally stop moving, and— BLERG!
Jack unsuccessfully vomited for 5 minutes straight.
Bile was the only thing that came out, an Instructor chuckling by the side as he watched his vain attempts with a knowing look as if he had been in his shoes already.
Only once Jack was done did he exclaim:
“That concludes Endurance. We’ll keep going since we started at lunchtime. Now, are you ready for reflex training? This one I’m pretty proud of!!”
“Will it change anything if I say I’m not ready?”
“Of course! We can stop it all if you—”
As Jack rose once more, the man grinned, pleased.
This was what he had been waiting for! Youngsters nowadays were far too soft because they had alternatives, unlike back then, when humanity was in survival mode!
It used to be crazy: portals brimming with monsters, unknown villains popping everywhere, no organization to protect anyone either. Nowadays, portals were case-by-case, and villains knew not to go too overboard— in general. That’s what made Jack so different: he was desperate!
“Good! Let’s start evasion training then!”
In his hands, the man had an eerily scary vest. Just seeing it was enough for Jack to guess what it would be used for. A metallic armor, with lots and lots of batteries hooked up to it!
Then, there were the sensors that layered it.
They looked like small solar panels, and he could guess what would happen if anything, absolutely anything, came to block them. Yet, he still wore it.
“Good, you look super dashing in it! Very Handsome!”
The Instructor praised, patting his back.
His large hand “just happened” to land on one of the sensors, obscuring it. Before Jack’s brain could even register the action, the vest glowed all over, and— ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
"F-F-FUCK! TH-THIS THING'S P-P-PAINFUL AS F-FUCK!"
It felt as if he was taking a bath with his favorite toaster, as if he had just dropped his balls in a power outlet, as if— he didn’t know how to express how painful it was!
“Now, now, this ‘Thing’ has a name. It’s the Super-Duper-Evasion Vest, named by yours truly. And we’ll use it in a simple game called: don’t get hit. Ready? Let’s start then!”
Jack didn’t even have time to protest that it began.
In the instructor’s hands were red balls.
And then he started throwing them all with a demonic grin. Jack suddenly felt that he was playing dodgeball from hell with a man who was more monster than human!
But, there was no time to think. DODGE! DODGE! DODGE!
He twisted his body, he bent over, and he— HIT!
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Except it was just the beginning! He had barely recovered his senses when more red balls appeared in his vision, all of them hitting him dead on and causing explosions of pain!
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Jack found himself doing the “bacon” on the floor…. for quite a while, a chuckle finally coming from his new teacher.
“Well, that’s as expected for your first time. Don’t worry. No one forgets their first time, either. Just remembering that pain in the future will make you faster, I’m sure.”
He wasn’t wrong about that! Anyone getting zapped that much would do absolutely anything in their power to avoid it! They’d—
“Enough of this. In the pod, you go!”
The man picked him up like a stray cat and threw him in one of the medipods in the back. That’s when the most satisfying healing process began.
It soothed his wounds and gave him his energy back, partially…
He was akin to a new Jack, even the Gripfruits in his belly rejoicing from the sudden energy. Okay, that last part was scary as hell. Better not to think about it. Trust the teacher.
Except that said teacher was undressing for some reason?!
“Is that what you meant by studying?!”
“Yep. Jack, watch carefully!”
That’s when he started a crazed martial dance. The man’s muscles bulged, his aura changed as it became tyrannical, and even his eyes glowed twice as much red!
He was the very picture of a martial artist on steroids! But more importantly, he was now showcasing tons of martial techniques. A mighty fist? An elusive side-step? A crazed backflip? He seemed as if he had practiced them millions of times.
‘Wait, is this all stuff I can learn?! AWESOME!’
‘With those, I can easily double my power!’
‘Perhaps even more than double?!’
Chaotic thoughts filled his mind, soon replaced by apprehension. The healing was over, which meant the training was resuming, and his body was already protesting.
Five more minutes. Just five more minutes in the medipod.
Yet, he forced himself awake, steadily standing up.
“What’s next? Power Training, right?”
“Indeed! Let’s have some fun!”
The man cackled, grabbing a bench and weights. It looked quite ordinary, yet Jack felt the hair on his body raise in apprehension. This was another bullshit device, right?
He cautiously approached a finger to the dumbbell…
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
“Yep, you guessed right! Now, just lay on that bench and pump some iron. All you need to do is go up and down. Ah, but if you slow down or let it touch your chest… zap time!”
This was madness! No, it was more torture than madness. It wasn’t as much the training tools themselves, but the fact that they were allowed in a school that was shocking!
How had they not received a lawsuit just yet?! It made no—
Actually, it made all the sense. This was the Instructor's personal “toy collection,” wasn’t it? While others had pets and hobbies, he probably had “those things.”
Never had Jack deplored being THAT lucky so much.
The luck to get an amazing teacher for this task.
The luck to use the best training gear.
‘It feels like imma die here.’
As he started pushing the weights, he felt the shadow of death watching over him, yet it was merely his nerves playing tricks on him. Thus, he kept working hard.
And every time his eyes drifted to the side…
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….
He could see the timer go down.
With every pump, it was a second less on the timer and a second less to suffer. And as he finally messed it up and got zapped: ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! Those seconds felt like an eternity!
Did he really have to endure so much of it?! At this moment, the bad omen of death almost felt sweet in comparison! But just as his thoughts were getting muddy….
NO! NO FUCKING WAY!
He hadn’t put Lilly aside to falter.
He hadn’t despaired for so long to falter.
He hadn’t crafted the most insane plan to falter, not YET!
“One. Two. One. Two. Pumping Iron. I’m just Pumping Iron. Nothing weird about that. Just gotta keep going. Even if I get sick, I won’t barf. There’s even Medipods. It’s the best!”
As he suffered, he fervently self-hypnotized himself. Pain? His arms feeling like wet spaghetti? His legs still killing him? All worthless complaints. He was LUCKY!
Countless would die to be in his shoes! Thus he kept persevering, the exercises changing a couple of times, but all with the same premise… slow down and get zapped!
And before long, all his limbs were lifeless.
“Doing good, Jack. Only through suffering can one grow!” With that comment, the Instructor grabbed him again, throwing him into the medipod.
The liquid rushed to his limbs, nourishing them.
Was this how it would be from now on?
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…
He forced himself to smile.
But then it turned genuine as a certain youngster entered the gym. The latter looked like a walking Cheetos, and his enthusiasm was so loud Jack heard it from the pods.
“Teacher! Where is he?! In the back? Gotcha!”
As he showed up, he grinned brightly.
“I heard you needed help!”
“You came running that fast?”
“Of course! Cause I know what it's like. To be in others’ shadows. To be underestimated. To be the one that no one takes seriously. And to work hard, only for no one to notice. I—”
He stopped, showing obvious hints of a rich back-story. Yet, none of them had any time for that, Jack being thrown out of the medipod again. It was time to resume.
The teacher laughed, seeing them…
“Hehe, glad you two are having fun, but enough talking. It’s time for some FIGHTING! Ah, but of course, I can’t let you two dumbasses go at it like before, so here’s what’s up.”
In one hand, he held chains engraved with Anti-Super Restrictions. Then, in the other, he had the same ZAP armor from before, but with strange boxing gloves added this time?!
“I’ll have you both fight weakened so you can fight longer.”
“With those chains, your rocks will barely tickle, but that’s enough if you aim for the sensors. As long as you hit him, he’ll get a nice little shock. No damage, but lots of pain!”
“As for you, don’t get hit. And feel free to hit him back as much as you want. After all, those gloves will mitigate any physical damage from their wearer. Cool, right!”
Hearing all this, Jack’s face fell completely. This was bullshit! He was now fighting at an incredible disadvantage. Just that armor was crazy, but even if he did reach his enemy, it’d be useless!
Seeing his despair, the teacher chuckled…
“Bah. Of course, it has to be like that. You’re the one I’m training, not him! So anyway, get ready to fight and— Oh, one last thing. Orange kid, watch your eyebrows, hehe!”
SHATTER! SHATTER! SHATTER!
That was the precise moment Jack’s hopes shattered entirely. Yet, the instructor didn’t give a damn as he chimed in: “Welp, get ready…. FIGHT!”
That’s when the nightmare began.
That segment was supposed to be a fight, right? It wasn’t!
It was one-sided torture with no end in sight. Once, he reached his opponent and bashed his face in, only for the latter to laugh, tickled by the gloves?!
As for the rest of the fight? It went like this…
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Insane, this was insane! What was he supposed to do against that?! Yet, it continued until the instructor was finally satisfied as he stopped the fight.
“Alright. Enough for today. Jack, stop hugging the floor.”
Hugging the floor? He wasn't. It was the floor hugging him as far as he could tell. And it felt painful as hell. He would have moved if he could, but he had no energy left.
He barely realized it when his new training partner left for the night. He barely realized it when he was thrown into a medipod again, later awakening to a flaming counter.
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…
What did this mean?
His fried brain tried to math it out.
604 800 - 560 517, then divide it by 60 and 60 again…
It had been a little more than 12 hours since they had started, and he already felt dead. He grimaced at how ambitious he had been with that bet.
Seven days to become stronger? Could he even survive seven days? He wanted to say yes. He wasn’t so sure anymore. It felt too much. But for now, he’d close his eyes.
For some reason, the liquid hadn’t kicked him out yet. He’d stay in it as long as he could. The pod was safe. The pod was cozy. No torture in the pod. He'd sleep here.
Darkness engulfed him. Incredible darkness. He found himself drifting through a sea of Mana. It felt peaceful, blissful, and fabulous! He could stay in here forever.
Was this what he had been searching for all this time? Ever since that day when—
That’s when it happened, interrupting his blissful floating…
[Blood Sovereign Curse Activating!]
[Blood Sovereign Curse Activating!]
[Blood Sovereign Curse Activating!]
His pod filled with blood.
Vile, sticky, corrupted. It filled his mouth, his body, and his soul. Then IT appeared, a monster of darkness, one whose evil glare was enough to annihilate the world and—
“Thank god you’re here! The torture's really over!"
“ROOOOAARRRRRRRRR….?!?”
The thing roared, only to stop. Why was the human relieved at seeing it?! Why didn't he seem to fear him this time?! Why was he approaching his arms for a hug?!
No, Jack wasn’t just approaching. Jack was totally hugging it!
The creature of darkness? It felt a thousand times better than what awaited him outside! It wasn’t as good as floating in the medipod, but it definitely beat getting zapped non-stop!
By now, the monster was so confused that it had forgotten how to roar, Jack encouraging it.
“Just do your thing. The darkness. The blood. Everything! Imma chill here for a bit...”
Sadly, that’s when it happened. As a monster and human just stood there, an electrifying gust of wind passed through them.
The wind of terror, the wind of torture, but most despairingly, the wind of TRAINING! Jack instantly knew what it was even before it appeared. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
A true tormentor. No, something worse.
A white outfit, white bandages, a black belt, and black runic tattoos. He came, and he punched. That single punch was all it took to obliterate the dragon. Then the man turned his way.
“You okay, kid? Either way, it’s time to eat! NOM-NOM-NOM!”
In his hands were Gripfruits.
Jack struggled, but it wasn’t enough. The man pushed millions of them down his throat as if fattening a pig for slaughter, and then he felt it all wriggle in his stomach.
“Please, no! Please stop! No more—”
He tried screaming.
All that came out were Gripfruits. The world turned to disgusting Gripfruits. He himself turned into a Gripfruit, and yet even now, they were still forced down his throat and— GASP! GASP!
He struggled for air.
The cold gym floor, even colder air.
He was back. He was bloody back! It had been a nightmare. Goddamn, that was one hell of a scary nightmare! As his heart beat madly, he struggled to redress himself.
He sighed in relief, steadying his shaky hands, and— NO!
Something was wrong, hella wrong!
He shivered, not even sure why. No, he was missing something. Something obvious! But that’s when it finally clicked. “Remember, four’s the limit."
Four.
Endurance. One.
Power Training. Two.
Fight with Cheetos Guy. Three!
FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
Jack hurriedly rolled to the side and— SLAM!
A mighty leg aimed at his head?! As he barely avoided it, the gym floor exploded into thousands of wooden shards?! That’s when he saw him: a man of black, and white, and red.
On his face was the most devilish smile ever...
“Did you think we’d stop just cause it’s night? Foolish!”
FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! In an empty Super School, a game of infernal tag started, a poor youngster running for his fucking life as an instructor went ham!
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! The rhythmic stomping was so powerful that it seemingly rocked Legendary-U with none to notice, or so it seemed.
A certain bat made entirely of ink just happened to be flying nearby in exploration mode. But just as it was excitingly heading toward the gym…. SLASH! BURN! WOBBLE!
A black cat pounced, ripping it into oblivion. Then, it lazily stretched, giving the nearby flame spirit and a wobbling tentacle a disdainful smile. Too slow!
Calm returned to the school, except for a youngster’s panicked screams. “I’m gonna fucking die! Stop! Stop! Time Out! What the fuck is this?!”
Sadly, they were only getting started…