There was no sky. Not really. And no clouds. Or sun, or moon. And from where he stood Myles could clearly see the ends of the island he was on. Because that was exactly what this was; an island. An island floating in space.

A dead piece of rock maybe twenty kilometres across just hanging there in the nothingness.

Myles stood and stared, feeling, in that moment, utterly lost.

Above and around him was the darkness of ‘the final frontier’, dotted with many ‘islands’ like the one he currently found himself on, most much smaller and looking even more barren (though he couldn’t be sure if that was due to the distance and poor lighting), but a few, like the one above and to the—what he had now decided was—north of him, much, much bigger.

There was a giant root dipping from the edge of the upper island which had grown around the branches of a particularly large tree on Myles’ island, creating a sort of bridge between the two. He was too far away to be sure, but the root from the upper island looked very much like the wood he was used to seeing in trees. And that upper island seemed to be brighter too. No, it was brighter, the island he was on was in the shadow of the upper one.

So that upper island had plants, sunlight, and logically, water. While the one Myles was on had rocks.

It is said that when people feel powerless or desperate they will take any action available to them simply to feel in control again. Even if said action makes little to no sense.

Myles was feeling powerless, lost, and just a little panicked. And the option readily available to him made some sense. Needless to say, he started to head for the bridge between the two islands.

Instead of climbing back down Myles decided to go through the trees, they ended a few hundred meters north anyway, and though his skills had levelled up some from the climb up (Nimble_ Lv. 1-->3/500, Climbing_ Lv. 1-->5/25, Tough Cookie_ Lv. 1-->2/500 and Regeneration_ 6-->7/99) it couldn’t hurt to level them up some more.

Going forward instead of up was easier and Myles made good time. About a minute in he got a pleasant surprise.

Ding!

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [Physical Exercise].

Physical Exercise_ Lv. 1/250

Type: (passive)

Increases the benefits attainable from physical exercise per skill level.

Would you like to slot in this skill?

«Yes» || «No»

Myles paused, going over the skill information again. What exactly did this mean? That he could become superhuman from regular exercise? And this stacked on top of [Nimble] and [Tough Cookie] and who knows what else he might get in the future? What would pro athletes be able to accomplish if they had this?

Myles slotted in the skill and found himself wondering, for the first since he’d first woken up in this place, just what exactly this system was and how he’d come to be in possession of it. He shook the thought away, there were no answers to be found here. The most important thing right now was to get to that upper island where, with any luck, he would find people willing and able to help him. And if he didn’t, then well... he’d worry about that when it happened.

Myles started to move again then froze. He felt watched. A careful scan of his surroundings revealed nothing but the immobile, skeletal branches he was becoming familiar with. This high up in the trees, the lighting was better, meaning fewer shadows, not to mention grey, leafless branches weren’t exactly great for concealment either. If there was anything here besides him, he would spot it relatively easily. After all he himself glowed like a beacon despite wearing dull colours.

It must have just been his imagi—

Ding!

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [8TH Sense].

8TH Sense_ Lv. 1/50

Type: (passive)

Feel the presence and intent of all life around you with more clarity and at greater range per skill level.

Would you like to slot in this skill?

«Yes» || «No»

‘Shit,’ Myles thought, even as he slotted in the skill. Which was probably the only thing that saved his life.

Sometimes, with humans, a scare is just frightening or perhaps vague enough to cause our muscles lock up; fight and flight instincts locked in a battle for dominance. While, on the other end of the spectrum, the scare is so great that we lock up because we know we have no options as neither fighting nor fleeing will save us. But there is a middle ground, a sweet spot where the conditions are just right, causing the scale to either dip firmly into Fight, or as it happened in this case; Flight. So when Myles felt Certain Death barely a foot behind him, he did not freeze, he did not hesitate, he did not think; he just jumped with every bit of explosive power he could draw from his legs.

Ding!

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [Jumping].

Jumping_ Lv. 1/15

Type: (passive)

Reduces the effects of gravity on you while jumping.

Would you like to slot in this skill?

«Yes» || «No»

Even as he missed the branch he’d aimed for, slipping and falling and barely catching himself on a lower branch, Myles thought ‘yes’. More skills were always good.

Ding!

Congratulations! The skills [Climbing] and [Jumping] have merged to create the skill [Parkour].

Parkour_ Lv. 1/50

Type: (passive)

Increases your ability to traverse any environment in the fastest and most efficient way possible.

Would you like to slot in this skill?

«Yes» || «No»

“Yes, damn it. Yes,” Myles screamed, letting go and dropping to a lower, thicker bough as [8TH Sense] and a quiet thump the pounding of his heart in his ears almost drowned out, told him Certain Death just landed above him.

Ding!

Congratulations! [8TH Sense] has levelled up.

8TH Sense_ Lv. 1-->2/50

Myles ran and jumped and dove and swung. He gave himself completely to his skills, depending on them to help him maintain that bare foot of space between him and whatever was behind him. He kept heading north, for the end of the trees; the hope that the creature after him would be much slower on the ground burning in him fiercely. Honestly, it was a good thing the creature wasn’t particularly fast, because Myles had no illusions that he would be very dead already if it had been.

Myles ran two steps up a trunk and springboarded off, somersaulting (since when could he do that?) over the animal behind him. The animal didn’t stop in time, causing it to slam into the trunk, dazing it, and Myles was able to get his first look at the thing.

It was some sort of stick insect; long, spindly legs, bamboo-like body, and with the greyish colouration abundant here. Only it was much, much bigger than Myles thought any insect had a right to be.

Before the insect could get its bearing again, Myles leapt off that branch, pulled a few moves that would have had him whistling in appreciation not even an hour ago, almost slipped and fell to his death, then continued running in what he really hoped was north.

The insect rallied quickly, resuming the chase with extreme prejudice.

What must have only been a few minutes later, but felt like forever to Myles, the end came into sight, and despite his lungs feeling like they were a second from collapse and his throat burning with every breath he took, Myles put on an extra burst of speed.

Ding!

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skills [Rush] and [Fleetfooted].

Fleetfooted_ Lv. 1/25

Type: (passive)

Sprint/dash/run etc. with more ease per skill level.

Would you like to slot in this skill?

«Yes» || «No»

Rush_ Lv. 1/25

Type: (active)

Boosts movement speed and reaction time by 5% per level.

Warning: use of this skill causes you to fatigue faster.

Would you like to slot in this skill?

«Yes» || «No»

Where were you two five minutes ago? Myles would have yelled if he could breathe.

He slotted in both skills and his legs instantly felt lighter. Not by much though. He probably wouldn’t even have noticed if he wasn’t so tired. That was no doubt [Fleetfooted] at work, since [Rush] was an active skill and the last thing he wanted to do right now was use a skill that made him tire faster.

Turns out [Fleetfooted] was just what the doctor ordered, as with it Myles was able to push himself even more, slowly increasing the distance between himself and the stick bug inch by inch. But it wouldn’t be enough.

The end loomed, and Myles realised that he had miscalculated. He should have been going north and down, so that by the time he got to this point he would have been close to the ground if not already on it. Instead, he found himself approaching the end of the trees almost two storeys from the very rocky ground.

This was going to hurt.

Myles tried his best to correct his error by switching to the lower branches as much as he could. But it was too little and much too late.

When he leapt off the final branch, the temptation to close his eyes was near overwhelming, but Myles fought it off successfully. This was not a leap to his death thank you very much, it was a desperate bid for survival.

The [Parkour] skill saved his life, or at least saved him from very nasty injuries, which out here might as well be one and the same. It made him loosen his knees, correct his posture for better shock absorption, and, when he landed, it and [Nimble] helped him roll just right to properly disperse the shock of hitting the ground from that height. But they did not save him from slamming into a boulder near him, the force of which dislocated his right shoulder and knocked him out.

*****

Myles woke in pain. His right shoulder was by far the worst but it sure as hell was not the only part of him that was protesting consciousness, and Myles gratefully let the pain pull him under again.

The second time he woke up, he was still in pain. It was quite possibly worse now than it had been before, but, unfortunately, his head was clearer this go around and it appeared there would be no hiding in unconsciousness anymore.

“[Healing Coma] would be perfect right about now.” Myles groaned. But that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, the skill still had over six days left to go.

Myles groaned again. Everywhere was pain. His feet, his ankles, his calves, knees, thighs, back, even his eyeballs hurt. Then there were all the bumps and scrapes he’d shrugged off while under the influence of adrenaline that were coming back to bite him in the ass now. And God he was thirsty.

A thought squirmed at the back of his mind, drawing his attention to it. He was forgetting something, he realised. Something important. Oh, right. ‘Where did the giant stick bug go?’

Myles scanned the trees, but saw nothing. No surprise there. The damn thing blended perfectly into its surroundings, it could be watching him this very instant and he wouldn’t know until it came close enough for [8TH Sense] to alert him.

Well, no sense risking it. Myles didn’t know why the stick bug hadn’t eaten him while he was passed out and defenceless but he wasn’t going to look this particular gift horse in the mouth.

Standing up was slow and arduous, pain flaring from every part of him he put even the tiniest pressure on. But none as bad as his shoulder. He poked it and winced. Swollen, tender, dislocated. He needed to fix that, but he had not a clue how to go about it.

On his feet again, Myles went around the boulder he’d crashed into and stared at his goal once more. The bridge seeming much taller now that he wasn’t staring at it from the top of a tree.

With a final breath through parched throat and cradling his right arm to his chest, Myles stumbled towards what he really hoped was salvation.