Chapter 8: Resolution
"There are times when,
I felt like life is full of nothing but hurt,
Full of depravity, escapism, jealousy, inner demons, immorality, selfishness,
Where the only people you trust,
Became the last source of more intense pain."
"There are times when I hate the change,
And yet sometimes it brings immense happiness,
In the midst of doubt,
I feel fear,
At the hands of time,
I'm like nothing but a speck of dust."
"Yet there's this one stranger, this friend, this family, this event, this magical phenomenon, this realization,
That opens millions of possibilities and millions of reasons for us...
To Smile,
And Accept,
That Life,
Truly is Worth,
The Pain."
+ + +
I felt the eyes of Missus Johansson and everyone in the class looking at me. They said to write a poem, I just wrote one.
At first, I can't describe their stares. But soon, I'll realize what it means.
+ + +
"Mrs. Felicity! I want to congratulate you and your husband for having a very intelligent son! Did you know that Ransom scored first internationally on NAT!? Which means he's the most intelligent in his age group in terms of..."
Missus Johansson is so annoying. She's always like a bee buzzing in my ears.
I can't remember much of what happened at that time. It's all a distant memory to me, like a life before this one. A reincarnation story.
All I remember and want to remember is the feeling, I can still vividly remember the warmth of my mother's hands as she caressed my head while listening to Missus Johansson.
"You don't need to push yourself too hard Ransom. Me and your Daddy are thankful enough that you're with us. You don't need to suffer anymore."
I cried and cried in her arms. I've been enduring it this whole time, the prejudice, the alienation for being different from the crowd. The pain, the physical abuse, I'll endure it all.
As long as I have my family, I'll be stronger for them.
+ + +
The burning golden light is slowly crawling its way to my home, to this cave.
It has already been 6 days since I came here. The Bear corpse has already been taken care of 2 days ago and the place is already clean besides the deer hide I've painstakingly separated.
"It's already dry."
This is good, enough for me to cover my legs every time I sleep.
'The last few days have been truly exhausting. My arms, legs, and core muscles feel like lead.'
I feel pain whenever I move my muscles but I forced my mind to ignore it. I know that I still have a long way to go considering the state of my body.
"I'm excited. Today is the day I'll f*king slaughter you all."
...
Ransom moved stealthily within the forest, sometimes climbing trees to scout for threats.
A couple of minutes later, he found the crash site. The plane crashed in a valley of trees demolishing some and leaving a trail of dirt in the process.
Ransom hides himself in a bush, his wooden spear tightly in his hands.
He couldn't see any living thing in the area.
Slowly, he inched towards what was left of the plane. All he can see are rubble and dried-up blood.
'Where are they then?'
Whoosh!
Just as he thought of that, a crude arrow whistled at his sight. The moment he saw it, his eyes became focused and he dodged to the sides.
Clack
The arrow hit the stone behind his previous position as the shaft broke.
With an intense glare, Ransom saw a goblin running back to the woods.
'There you are!' He growl at his mind and chased the goblin with his explosive speed.
When the goblin saw how fast Ransom is, it shrieked and tried to shoot him while backing.
"No, you won't!"
Without losing momentum he borrowed the inertia of his upper body as he rolled forward in one swift movement and picked a stone as big as his palm in the process. He crouched and threw the stone.
The arrow and stone launched at the same time. The stone hits the goblin straight in the chest and sent it at its butt, while the arrow missed Ransom's leg, half an inch.
'Damn it! My body still couldn't catch up with my brain. I could have done it much faster.'
All this time, he didn't do anything besides training his body, exercising his reflexes, and repeated wrist movements for throwing stones and his spear. He realized that Fleetwork Maneuver is a cheat-like ability because it not only improves his mind-body cooperation but also his accuracy and aim.
In less than 3 seconds, the gap between him and the goblin decreased to 10 meters.
The goblin was scared shit less by Ransom's action. With all difficulty, it hurriedly stood up and trudged to a nearby tree, all the while shouting "Raghru! Raghru!" In a small voice. It looks like its vocal system has been damaged by the throw.
Ransom heaved a sigh of relief for it would have been disastrous if it called for reinforcement. He reached the back of the goblin and stared at its small figure.
Everytime he kills goblins in games, he always thinks of them as small beings as small as infants. But now that he's this close to a real one, 'goblins are actually f*king huge.'
3 feet, that's the average height of a male goblin. When it tiptoes it can reach Ransom's chest.
He felt adrenaline rushing at the thought of fighting and killing a living being. He looked left and right and saw no other enemy. Knowing this, he swiftly stabbed the goblin in the neck.
The goblin was aware that Ransom was already behind him so it rotated and flicked the spear sideways. Unfortunately, he didn't know that Ransom's Strength and Fortitude has risen to 8 and 6 respectively, he can't redirect it so easily.
Instead of the neck, the spear was embedded at the goblin's shoulder as it shrieks.
'Not enough!' Ransom raged.
He stabbed the goblin again at its other shoulder, destroying its shoulder joints.
It tried to kick Ransom again and again and tried to free itself from the spear but the spear is too long, Ransom is too far, and its legs are too short.
Next, Ransom did a leg sweep at the goblin. It slipped and slammed into a tree. Ransom crushed the goblin's right foot with the blunt part of his spear.
It barked a silent and animalistic shriek.
'Not enough!!!' Ransom failed to control his emotion as he remembered the face of the goblin eating his mother's hand.
He broke the goblin's left foot. He smashed its ribs. He broke its leg. He smashed its chest. He jabs the goblin's obese stomach, intestines flow out.
And that's when Ransom realized that the goblin is long dead from his beating. He watched the intestines flowing out from its stomach and became dazed. His eyes are lifeless like those of a fish.
'Its blood is also red...'
That thought woke him up. Various emotions piled up in his stomach as he puked everything behind the tree, opposite the goblin's corpse, far from his sight.
He sat behind the tree and stayed there for a couple of seconds, his thoughts unknown.
Suddenly, he took a mouthful of air and breathe out in a long winding and meaningful sigh.
He stood up from his spot, took his spear, and walk deeper into the forest.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone