Survival

The ground beneath Adam was a patchwork of ruin and decay, the air thick with the stench of desolation. As he stood amidst the remnants of an obliterated world, the extremovores began to emerge from the shadows, their forms a nightmarish blend of earth's former fauna twisted into grotesque predators.

But among them, one creature stood out—a colossal spider, its body a mass of dark, chitinous armor, with limbs that gleamed like wicked scythes under the sunlight. When he looked at the spider's face, he was stunned, as if he was looking into the eyes of a demon.

The system window appeared.

Survival Test Initiated:

Objective: Survive for 10 minutes.

Reward: Return to Arc Aegis.

Adam's breath came in short, sharp gasps, the weight of survival heavy upon him. He knew the stakes; failure here was not just a setback but a plunge into oblivion. He willed his Primordial Light into existence, the golden glow offering formed a protective layer around his body and formed two long swords.

Normally, Adam would not be able to wield two long swords at once, but the ones made from his primordial light were almost weightless to him. This is another feature he had just naturally learnt about the primordial beast system.

The spider, with eyes that seemed to absorb all light, moved with a terrifying grace towards him. Its mandibles clicked, the sound like metal grinding against metal, a warning of the death it promised.

Adam felt the surge of adrenaline; he had to act fast, had to think beyond the training grounds of Arc Aegis.

He created a long spear of light, aiming for the spider's head, but the creature was swift, deflecting the attack with one of its many legs. Adam's heart sank; this was no ordinary beast. Its carapace was like armor, brushed aside his light weapons as if they were nothing.

Eight minutes remaining. The system notification pinged.

Desperation fueled his next moves. He formed his light into a barrier, hoping to keep the spider at bay. It worked momentarily, but the spider, undeterred, began to weave a web of dark, toxic threads, each strand capable of burning through steel. Adam danced back, narrowly avoiding the spider's deadly net.

"Think, Adam," he muttered to himself, his mind racing. He switched tactics, focusing his light into blinding flashes, hoping to disorient the beast. Each burst of light made the spider recoil, its many eyes blinking rapidly, but it adapted quickly, its vision adjusting to the flashes.

Five minutes remaining. The system notification pinged again

The spider, enraged, launched forward with a speed that belied its size. One of its legs caught Adam across his side, sending him sprawling into the dirt. Pain lanced through him, his vision blurring from the impact. He rolled away just in time as the spider's mandibles snapped shut where his head had been seconds before.

Adam knew he couldn't outlast or outfight the spider with brute force. He needed to evade, to survive. He summoned his light in small, concentrated bursts, creating small, sharp projectiles to harass the spider, aiming for the joints where its armor was less formidable.

But the spider was relentless, each attack more ferocious than the last. It cornered Adam against a crumbling wall, its legs forming a cage around him. He tried to form a shield of light, but his energy was waning, his body screaming in protest from the continuous exertion.

Three minutes remaining. The system pinged again.

In desperation, Adam used his light to carve through the wall behind him, creating an escape route. He slipped through just as the spider's venomous spit landed where he had been standing, the ground sizzling upon contact.

He ran, his lungs burning, his side throbbing, but the spider was not far behind, its legs drumming a deadly rhythm on the ground. Adam's mind was a whirl of survival instincts; he needed to buy time, to last until the system would pull him back.

He found himself in a small enclosure, a remnant of some long-forgotten structure. Here, he had a moment to breathe, to think. He realized the spider's weakness wasn't in its armor but in its patience. It was a predator of opportunity, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Adam decided to use this against it. He created illusions of light, mimicking his own form in different parts of the enclosure, confusing the spider. It attacked the illusions, wasting precious energy, giving Adam moments to recover.

One minute remaining. The system Pinged again.

The spider, now enraged and confused, finally pinpointed Adam's real location. It charged, its legs ready to crush him. Adam, with the last of his strength, summoned all his light into a massive, blinding explosion around him, hoping to stagger the beast.

The spider recoiled, momentarily blinded, but it was still coming, its body low to the ground, ready to leap. Adam braced for impact, his light dimming, his energy nearly spent. He had nothing left to give, his body pushed beyond its limits.

As the spider lunged, its mandibles open wide, the timer hit zero and the system pinged.

Survival Test Completed.

Returning to Arc Aegis.

Just as the spider was about to engulf Adam, his vision was consumed by a blinding light, the system's intervention pulling him back from the brink of death. When the light cleared, he was back in Arc Aegis, in a medical containment room, his body collapsing from the ordeal, his breath ragged.

Adam's mind was still on the surface, the terror of the extremovore spider etched into his memory. He had survived, but at what cost? His body ached, his mind reeling from the encounter.

As he lay there, the system displayed one final notification:

Congratulations.

Skill Unlocked: Stealth. When activated, the user will be invisible for 30 seconds.

Genetic Purity Increased by 3%.

User's current genetic purity: 13%.

Adam closed his eyes, the pain in his body a testament to his brush with death. He had not defeated the spider, but he had outlasted it, learned from it. The surface was a harsh teacher, its lessons brutal but necessary. He was no longer just an Outcast with an unknown ability; he was a soldier who had faced one of humanity's greatest fears and lived to tell the tale.

In that moment, lying on the cold, sterile floor of Arc Aegis, Adam Reed realized that his journey was far from over. Each trial, each battle, was shaping him into something more than he had ever imagined. The surface was not just a place of terror; it was where he would find his true strength, his true self. But for now, he would rest, heal, and prepare for the next chapter of his saga.

As his mind become consumed with the thoughts of what will happen going forward, he was interrupted by the clanging sound of military boots running towards the medical containment room.

That was when it clicked again in his head.

"That's right, I am not supposed to be in here. I must get out before they open the door." He thought.

But how? How was he going to escape from the room? He questioned himself, now on his feet and pacing rapidly.

That was when it occurred to him, that he had just obtained a skill that was perfect for the situation.

"Stealth!" he muttered and instantly, his body shimmered a bit, becoming completely invisible just as the soldiers opened the door and marched inside.

As he started sprinting towards the exit, he was keeping an eye on the new system window in his line of vision currently counting down from 30 seconds.

"30 Seconds is all I need!" he muttered as he dashed out of the building.