"I need somewhere to hide." Zephyr's eyes scanned the surroundings as he blitzed through the forest.
Fshhk!—
Fshhk! Fshhk! Fshhk!
The sound of the Skarnids tearing through the bushes a short while after him was heard in quick succession. They scuttled in pursuit, hot on his tail.
They were fast.
If it were any other recruit, they'd have caught up with them a long time ago, but Zephyr was not just any other recruit. He was nano enhanced, and not holding anything back.
Ever since the transformation, he'd never felt the burn of exerting himself during any physical exercise, be it the early morning runs or during a practice spar with other recruits and even the one time with Lance Gage— he had sparred against the large soldier the previous day in preparation for the test.
He had actually never pushed himself to the limit... the real limit of his body. So, he didn't even know what he was capable of... until now.
Zephyr's chest burned as he tore through the dim forest, steadily widening the distance between him and the Skarnids hot on his tail.
The darkness of the forest didn't seem to hold him back. His reaction time was spot on to adapt to any obstacle in his way. His whole body— speed, agility, endurance, acuity— felt in sync. He was like a machine running with every part tuned to perfection. And this was all while still splitting focus to maintain the Mana Barrier spell.
'This is already more than three times a normal person's speed,' Zephyr thought.
"My stats have improved again."
He wondered how he compared to his peers in physical stats... or even someone like Lance Gage.
Was he being too overambitious? Who knew.
But what he did know was that this was now obvious. Extremely obvious. It was unnatural.
The average unawakened human in their world could run at a speed of 25 km per hour or about 15.5 miles per hour, sprinting. A healthy, fit youth could do maybe 30. So Zephyr with a stat point of 3 in speed could do 90 km per hour at full tilt, previously. But he'd never done that before, always wary of others to fully exert himself.
Now, he was fully exerting, and it seemed like he had even moved past 3 points in speed.
He'd been on full tilt till his chest burned for about a minute and a half now, widening the distance between him and the Skarnids with every step.
In the midst of the danger, Zephyr grinned. For the first time in his life, he felt unique... felt...superhuman.
"I wonder what the examiner watching me from somewhere right now is thinki—"
Whosshh!!
Zephyr jumped over a small ravine that suddenly popped out of nowhere ahead of him. The dim surroundings masked its presence until the last moment, but his quick reflexes came to the rescue. His legs flailed about wildly, trying to stabilize his abrupt leap into the air. He could see the other side a few moments after he leaped, so he knew the ravine wasn't too wide. He was going to reach it, but he'd lost his balance.
"This is gonna hurrrtttt!!" Zephyr braced for impact as his body tilted forward. He held his head and squeezed in to protect his vitals.
Thud!! Thud!! Skrrrttt!!
"Oooff!!!" Zephyr grunted as he tumbled and slid to a stop on the other side.
"Oww." He hissed as he slowly unfolded himself from his tucked posture.
He had most likely broken a rib or two with that crash. Considering the fact that he was likely pushing a hundred and twelve kilometers an hour or seventy miles an hour speeds at his peak, a broken rib or two was minor.
"Mmm." Zephyr let out a sharp grunt as his side flared standing up. He held the rib, walking back to get a closer look at the ravine.
He walked right up to the edge, the wind from the fissure tussling his hair about. It was pitch black. He couldn't see anything at all. He took a few steps back subconsciously. He hadn't felt any fear while he was in the air; only the will to reach the other side pervaded his mind. So he hadn't even noticed what was below, but seeing it now, he realized how close he had come to death assuming anything had gone slightly wrong.
If it was looked at from the right angle, the ravine would only look like a very wide black path in the dim surroundings. It wasn't until you got close to the edge before you'd notice it was a ravine.
He was just about to look around for anything he could throw to gauge the depth of the gorge since he couldn't see anything, when the screech of the chasing Skarnids echoed from the other side.
"Skrrrrreeeee!!!" They all skidded to a stop on their small bipedal legs, their gaze locked onto Zephyr who could very barely make out their figures at the edge of the other side of the ravine.
He squinted his eyes, noticing silhouettes bounding back and forth on the other edge like dogs eager for a treat. They were restless.
Zephyr snorted, continuing to look around for a stone or stick to toss into the ravine.
As he moved, he heard the restless Skarnids move along the other side too.
He stopped, ears perking up to listen since he could barely see the other side.
"Huh? Can they see me from there?" he muttered in surprise.
He waited to gauge where they were based on the sound coming towards him.
"They're mostly right opposite me."
He moved again.
He heard them move in response.
He sprinted down one side.
They sprinted down the opposite side in tandem.
"They can see in the dark?!" he nearly yelled.
"We were never told anything like this in our classes."
And this was not the only information gap. They also weren't informed of the dark environment. For something so important there was no way it skipped their minds.
"They're using this to test our adaptability..." he concluded, hissing in annoyance.
"I won't be surprised if a lot of people have already been eliminated." He wondered if anyone would even make it till the deadline tomorrow. Jungle survival skills weren't part of the skills they were taught, so even Zephyr was already pondering how he was going to pass through the night here.
Sigh...
"The main thing I should focus on for now is how to kill more Skarnids. I can leave those troubles for later." He turned his gaze to the rabid beasts screeching on the other side.
"First. I need to figure out how far they can see."