11 Scared?

"Shit-"

With the sudden change of plans, he forced his mind to race so as to escape this current predicament.

Soon, the sound of beasts stomping on the wet soil grew louder, along with the deafening roars that escaped their saliva filled mouths.

Having no other option, Caedes quickly sat on the soil with a tree supporting his back. Closing his eyes, he fully concentrated on his body and tried to command the tentacles behind his back.

Yes-Tentacles. When the boy had bonded with Sara previously, he had already found some peculiarities. Seeing that the horde of beasts were after him, though, this became a matter of utmost importance.

He knew that the tentacles on his back had just formed, making it hard for Caedes to control. In fact, he couldn't even feel his tentacles.

It was just a matter of time before the boy could see the beasts sprinting towards him with full speed but no matter how hard Caedes tried, he couldn't bring them to sprout.

He didn't even expect much from these tentacles of his, just that they could appear on his back so that he could try his best and blend in with them.

With each second, the boy's muscles tensed further. What should he do… Should he run? Should he hide? Should he fight with everything he got or should he just surrender his life to them!

Caedes started to feel overwhelmed- He was not used to this. There was only one thing he knew. He wouldn't be able to leave this place unscathed.

Listening to his prayers, the tentacles burst out of his body, spraying quite a bit of blood around the place. 

"Urghh" Grunting in pain, he walked towards a bush and crouched down to take cover while also painting himself with the soil around to further camouflage his features.

These beasts resembled the mammoths of old times.

They had huge and thick legs with a skin so tough that even Caedes' would have a problem penetrating it.

The boy looked at those elongated ears that hung on their head like skinned meat in a butcher's shop and those long white tusks which made one shiver in fear.

He covered his nose with a hand as their putrid smell lingered around the place. Not daring to move a single each, Caedes stayed still while controlling his breath. 

The beasts acted peculiar, instead of acting cautiously or trying to find prey; these mammals instead ran ahead, without even checking their surroundings.

Caedes looked at those fearful white eyes and that short wagging tail, which was all he needed to know that something was wrong, to make even such a wild animal run…

To Caedes' infortune; his suspicions became true when a thundering sound was heard with everything around the boy breaking apart.

The wet soil split in two as numerous cracks appeared all over the surface, trees fell over the place while the beasts didn't mind that and kept running.

This was enough for Caedes to process everything and take action, without even bothering to hide anymore, he sprinted towards the fleeting mammals while cursing his luck.

He had once again been caught between two parties without even doing anything, however Caedes knew that it would be difficult to catch up with the beasts and lifted his hand towards one of the closest while trying to absorb its blood, even though he knew it should not be possible.

Feeling quite surprised, however, when the beast burst into a pool of blood, he quickly absorbed its blood.

Caedes did this only because he thought that if he consumed more blood, he would get stronger and to his luck, he did indeed feel as though his thought process got faster.

Repeating this process, he slowly neared those wild mammals when one of them charged towards him with bloodshot eyes and kicked him on the chest, making him crash backwards, on a tree in the surroundings.

Life flashed across his eyes, he was now pinned on a tree with no idea how to survive against a creature that alone made the whole pack of mammoths run away in fear.

Using the last bit of strength inside him, Caedes pushed himself outwards.

"Aaahh" The boy groaned in pain, lifting himself up with the support of his hands.

He pulled himself together and tried to gather mana but found himself feeling dizzy instead. He didn't know that there was a limit to how much mana a human body could hold, especially when this was just his second time.

After all, if using mana was so easy… Wouldn't everyone be geniuses now? Mana is the fuel required to run a skill or gift and being able to see and let it be absorbed into your body already means having higher mana regeneration.

Feeling hot liquid escape his bloodshot eyes, the boy used his hands to wipe off the blood that his eyes let out.

"Roarrr"

A huge beetle came into Caedes' view. Its skin was smooth, with orange colour covering its body and a few black spots on the surface.

With a pair of specially hardened forewings that served as a protective measure for the two wings that it used to fly and its three pairs of legs that swayed in the air, the insect covered the distance between the boy and it rapidly.

Its antenna fluttered as the beetle's deep black eyes gazed at Caedes with contempt and boredom. Wind left the beetle's nostrils, turning into a few dozen metre tall tornadoes that blew in his direction.

The boy at first believed that he could deal with the tornado by blasting a few of the condensed mana balls he had learnt to control; however , to his surprise, the tornado just absorbed everything Caedes threw at him.

It seemed to have endless hunger, not even the soil, trees or the bushes around the place were spared by it.

Turning around, he sped at full speed; trying to leave behind the tornado but as if having a mind of its own… The tornado followed his figure.

Caedes, though, did not want to get captured by the insect and thus tried everything he could. Zig-zagging through the path, forming objects and releasing them towards it, hiding behind a bush or a tree, everything failed in front of this mighty tornado.

In fact, the only reason the boy didn't lose hope was because he could see it dispersing slowly, even if just by a little.

The beetle that had long forgotten about even the boy's presence, suddenly turned his thick neck towards him. Surprised. After all, in its eyes, the boy in front of him was weaker than the other contestants due to his size and seeing that the being behind him actually survived made it feel curious about him.

The gigantic insect walked towards the boy to study him as he had just finished subduing the tornado and fell on his butt, looking at the now barren place that had long stopped looking like a forest.

His breath ragged, he glanced at the fleeting figure of the beetle which turned around, intertwining its curious eyes with his. Feeling dread, Caedes hurriedly stood up and limped away from the insect that walked towards him slowly.

He could feel that his left leg was injured but he still tried to drag it against the soil in a desperate attempt to escape it, if this didn't work… Caedes had no choice but to try to consume the insect's blood even though he knew he had already consumed more than a safe amount of it.

An idea struck his mind, what if he used the strength of his tentacles and lifted himself up while walking with their help? Just like how Sara used her tentacles instead of her legs to walk around her house, this way he can walk faster and he won't even have to worry about worsening his leg's injury.

Commanding his tentacles to do so, he applied pressure on them and tried to lift himself up.

Although not properly, the boy was able to lift himself up with the help of his tentacles and continued to sprint awkwardly.

Feeling challenged, the beetle flapped open its wings and flew into the sky, releasing a peculiar sound as it gained speed and chased the boy rapidly.

Caedes expected this and thus started leaping long jumps while keeping a steady pace, he could feel his heart race fast, his eyes burning, his hearing almost gone but he still ran forward.

The boy couldn't describe the feeling he felt but if he could explain it in words then he would most likely say it was frustration, frustration of being weak, powerless, not even owning his freedom…

He had long lost track of time and just kept on racing forward, not wanting to once again give someone else a leash to his life and live listening to them.

He felt as though he was a volcano wanting to explode yet there was something inside him that made his emotions purposely suppress…

The boy wanted to scream his lungs out, questioning the one who gave birth to him, about the reason for giving him life. He didn't want such a life, a life where the boy lived on but still felt empty on the inside.

The beetle finally caught up to Caedes using a pair of its hindlegs, it lifted the boy up with excitement and landed near one of the trees which was still standing.

It pinned the boy down using one of its hindlegs and growled at Caedes in anger for making it chase the boy so much. Complaining that he should have just given up and offered himself right at the start.

Caedes didn't even hear or notice that he had been caught, it seemed as though the boy was lost in his own world. It was then that he suddenly felt a flash of…

***

 A/N: I'll drop another chapter today if we reach 15k! Support me by sharing this book to others and giving me power stones. If you have any doubts, I'm always open to comments.

Yours truly,

Beer~ yes, shushh.