Chapter 3

…

Jason chose to lie on the ground and rest, allowing the snow to fall and melt on his face, melting against the heat of his skin.

In less than five minutes, he had abandoned the idea of rest in favour of doing something 'efficient'.

His first hour in Naraka was spent bashing rocks together in order to craft something that could pass for a knife. The repetitive task was enough to keep his mind quiet.

At least for a little bit.

I just have to keep it together for a little bit.

With his sharpened rock, Jason severed a leg from the swine-man as rations.

With the exception of the nauseating black blood, the meat looked perfectly fine to eat.

Even if it’s poison, it’s all I have right now. Hopefully I can at least find something to cook it with. If I'm going to survive out here, I'll need the food.

The following hour was spent foraging.

Jason, despite his lack of familiarity with Naraka, made every effort to discover anything at least half functional.

By some miracle, there were some plants nearby that grew long and were fibrous – great for making rope.

The odour was sticky and sap-like. He ripped them from their roots and mangled them with his hands. This’ll work fine; I got lucky.

Although the procedure was brief, the resin had left his hands dry and numb by the end. Jason finished with roughly seven feet of rope.

After failing to find a high and sturdy tree branch, he decided to change his strategy.

I can make a meteor hammer.

When Mom brought me to the temple near where Grandma lived as a kid, even though we only went to pray and pay respects, I remember watching the monks do a bunch of cool tricks with a weight on a string.

I learnt from asking that they’re called Meteor hammers, and I was completely obsessed. To me, they were the coolest thing ever.

For months afterward, to Mom’s irritation, I’d hit myself in the face with a makeshift hammer I had crafted from some loose string and a plastic bottle, trying to imitate what I saw the monks do.

I wasn't very good.

In fact, I sucked. But over the years, I’ve got the hang of it. It should at least be a serviceable weapon out here, or at least a simple one.

…

Finding the rock he had thrown into the pig’s head lodged in its skull, Jason reached into the eye cavity, recoiling at the feeling of blood and bone coating and scratching his hand.

The feeling was that of pumpkin guts, but it smelt distinctly of fish.

After fishing it out and rolling it on the ground desperately to remove as much of the blackened blood as possible, Jason tightly wrapped it in twine.

For a moment, his spirits improved.

Hell yeah. meteor hammer.

Jason decided to use the dead swine-man as a target.

Consider it payback.

The test swing was successful; rocketing out of Jason's hand and into the stomach of the pig, the blunt stone lodged itself deep into its stomach. Tearing the stone out of the flesh, a smile grew on the corner of Jason’s mouth.

Maybe I'll be alright out here.

After a while of mumbling while walking around the pig corpse, trying to decide whether to leave or not, the wind around him picked up just subtly, towards the east.

Taking a breath, Jason looked one more time into the empty socket of the swine-man before walking away.

…

As Jason slugged through the white canopy, his mind was quiet enough to allow him to think about home for the first time since arriving in Naraka.

I can’t lie, it's nice to be away from real life for a bit. I don't really want to deal with everything when I get back.

…

About a week before the finals, Jason had been called into the office of Scott Takada, the most famous sports recruiter in the country, on recommendation from his coach.

Takada’s office was dingy. His orange hair and clearly fake jewellery put Jason off immediately.

“Well, kid, you have solid records. I’d dare to say spotless, even. But I have to say, it's looking bad for you going into the pro leagues.”

Jason couldn't be bothered to fake a smile for Takeda.

“What the hell are you talking about? My physical stats are on par with the greats, my technical play is immaculate, and on top of all that, I have the most points scored for the season out of any rookie in the whole league. Not to blow myself too much, but I'm a first draft pick for sure!”

Takeda tapped his cigarette off onto his table.

“Look, kid, if I'm being honest, I agree with you. You’re a damn solid player, a big tuna. But you swim without a school. And you’re going to be up against sharks in the water. When sharks smell a lone tuna, they'll eat you alive. You're not a team player, kid.”

Takada sighed before leaning in to make eye contact through his glasses, but Jason didn't meet his gaze. Looking at the spindly man, Jason spat on his desk.

“Your understanding of marine biology sucks, and I'm leaving.”

Jason left the office, kicking the leg of Takeda’s pool table as he walked out.

…

Jason clasped his prized silver chain in his hand, rolling the ‘Y’ pendant around in his palm. His eyes fell dark.

I've had to do a lot of things I didn't want to in order to keep me and Yuzo fed. This is just one more bit of bullshit thrown in my way. And just like the rest of it, I'm going to blow right past it.

Snapping back to reality, Jason stepped to a cliff’s edge, causing him to sharply regain focus.

He had come to a clearing; vast snow and mountains covered the horizon, as far as the eyes could see. The smell was fresh, with a trace of pine in Jason's nose. A great swath of woods lined the basin of the mountain.

The path down was steep, bordered with boulders, and plainly intended for climbing up rather than down.

Oh, great. More walking.

However, Jason's heart skipped a beat looking further; in a clearing to the northwest, he saw a large city constructed into the slope.

Well, at least I know where I need to go. If nothing else, it'll put me a step closer to finding Yuzo.

As Jason slowly descended the mountain, his eyes started to fall heavy; the weight of the meat on his shoulders began to feel like he was carrying the whole pig.

His legs screamed at him, as if he had just played four quarters of basketball straight.

Oh. I never thought that winning would bite me in the ass.

Eventually, he made it to the bottom of the mountain without collapsing.

As he started walking into the forest, Jason heard something he hadn't expected in a million years: voices. Then the snapping of twigs.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning sped straight towards his chest.

…

Loba complained to Biji about his disagreements with Panka for what seemed like the hundredth time as they made their way through the woodland in search of the scorched.

"I'm telling you, Biji, she is COMPLETELY unreasonable. She’ll say something insane like, ‘There's no point doing jobs when there's energy to harvest and a roof over our heads,’ or ‘We don't need the gear we took off the scorched,’ and when I SYSTEMATICALLY dismantle her arguments, she just says, ‘You know what, you’re right, I never thought about it like that.’ It's INFURIATING. And another thing—”

Biji started moving faster as the red demon seethed, mainly because she didn't want to be beside him any longer.

"... That doesn't sound like a bad thing. To me it sounds like you're whining about nothing.”

Biji casually weaved through branches as they broke against her horns, wincing with each snap.

“You wouldn't get it, Biji; you’re a Raksha. Stuff like that doesn't bother you. But as an intellectual—”

Suddenly, an inch of movement. Biji’s ears perked up.

It’s about 150 feet away. That has to be it.

With the flick of her wrist, Biji’s crest flared to life with cracking blue light, her body evaporating into energy, whirring and fizzling before blasting off towards the noise.

In an instant, she had vanished from Loba’s view. Reaching out his hand, he then sighed, putting his hand to his forehead.

“It looks like I’ve got some walking to do.”

…

Biji bolted through the trees, shattering twigs and branches with startling speed.

For a brief moment, it appeared that she was about to strike something solid, but she dismissed it as her imagination as she crashed into the mountain, solidifying her body upon impact.

As she made contact, the stone from the mountain vaporised, leaving behind a steaming hole.

Odd. I know I heard SOMETHING.

Climbing out, she turned her head to look around, climbing out from the crater she had created. From behind her, a loud, high-pitched wheeze could be heard.

There we go.

Biji had seen Manuyan humans before, but this one was… different.

He was about Loba’s size, which was very large compared to the humans she had seen, with a wide build and long arms. Weirdest of all, he was able to get out of the way of her moving at top speed.

Freaky.

Attempting to greet the stranger, Biji swiftly moved in front of the man before putting her hand out to let him sniff her.

It works with Manuyan animals; it should work with humans, right?

“Hi, Human. I'm Biji. You alright?”

“...What?”