The first few months were hellish.
I had no idea where I was running, how I was running. To make sure I didn't kill myself while such a crazy target ahead of myself was already tough. And to make matters worse, every time I stopped circulating the Cataclysm through my channels or slowed down while running, Eugene would somehow pop up behind me, ready to blow my body away.
It was hellish. Truly so.
But that slowly changed as I got used to the circulation. But running was still a pain.
I had no idea about the direction I was going in. The previous chance of being here had made me realize that things like up and down and front and back didn't really exist in a place that was completely empty.
But now that I was tasked with running laps around it, it became clear that there was a direction.
To make matters worse, once again, Eugene would pop in every other week and tell me that I have made no progress toward a single lap yet.
I was starting to lose my mind.
Every second was filled with exhaustion. Used to it as I got, the risk of messing up and dying became higher, and it still required immense mental focus. That coupled with extreme thirst and hunger while running at max speed without taking any breaks was truly difficult.
I had to get things smoothened out in some manner, or I would never finish it.
It might be wrong to think of solutions to physical training, but it was solutions that made it more effective. I was certain that's what Eugene expected of me too.
"Week 6, you have made zero progress."
"How… are you… always… finding me…"
Eugene smirked at my words, my max speed was something he could match while lying down.
"My senses can feel everything in this place. The entire area."
A place that I would take ten years to just run a lap around was completely under his command.
Just what insane bullshit was this?
"Hah, I really speak too much. Don't slack off or I'll kill you! Ciao!"
That was a gruesome way of saying goodbye, but I had gotten used to that too.
Heaving every breath, I thought of how I had been running all this time. My muscles were already screaming from exhaustion and the immense pressure that Cataclysm lopped on to it was just making things worse.
I could understand how he was trying to make easier for me eventually—
I stopped.
Easier…
He had just left me with a hint. That bastard. If I couldn't tell left from right in this place, I just had to make it.
"Cataclysm…"
If I tear into the spot I had been running along on already, I would be, theoretically, able to map this place out.
A smile bloomed on my face at the newfound discovery when.
"You stopped."
A chilling voice rang in my ears.
I put my guard up in front of me in the very instant I heard the voice, but that barely mattered. Eugene Hall was in front of me once again. His hands stretched out as he punched me on the chest.
I filled my hands with Cataclysm and even created some shields at the nick of time, but with using nothing other than his physical strength, he tore through everything and landed his punch on my hands.
"AACK!"
My hands twisted inward, the bones breaking apart into bits and pieces. The punch bulldozed through my arms and broke a rib too. I shot behind from the force and rolled on the ground.
Eugene immediately appeared where I stood and stomped his feet down on my chest.
"Get up and run if you want to stop being beaten."
I spat out blood while Eugene continued stomping down at me. Rolling over to the side, I tried to put my hands on the ground and stand up, but my broken bones couldn't support it.
"And don't forget to keep the cataclysm up."
Eugene kicked me in the stomach and sent me rolling away again.
I pushed the ground with my head and kicked my feet to stand up, black blood spilling out of every orifice on my body.
Taps resounded as I started running again, my balance extremely wrecked.
Eugene stopped, though.
He didn't come after me again once I started running.
"You only need your legs to run anyway."
Fear was creeping up my back. I quickly started merging all the three energies in my body and circulated them. The bones in my hands had been completely shattered, which made much tougher.
A small explosion rang as one of my fingers blew up.
"Keep running. It doesn't matter."
I couldn't complain either.
Even if all this killed me, that guy would kill me first.
"And don't even think of committing suicide. A demon lord is practically immortal until they are dead. Old age or wounds, lack of sleep or food, all of it will heal up, all you need to live is guts."
I ran and ran. Another of my fingers blew up as I tried my best to stabilize myself.
.
.
.
It took another week before I could get over the unending pain and run like I was before.
"And you've made 0 progress again today. Good going, kid. At this rate you can be sure that everyone will die. At least you'll die before them all."
Fuck fuck fuck…
But I had… already made a plan.
I wasn't going to be held back for long.
With the energy that was circulating around my body, I started leaving a trail in the space itself. Ending just a small amount of the place so that I could keep tracking it. Using mana or ki would have been better, but it was impossible to keep up while circulating Cataclysm.
Just like this, I had to trail the entire place. And then I could do it as many times as needed.
"Hm…" Eugene hummed. "I guess it's not zero progress anymore."
This chapt𝒆r is updated by free(w)ebnovel(.)com