The conversation with the man didn’t last long after that short exchange. It wasn’t because I didn’t have questions for him, and I did have plenty, but he simply left after he finished talking.

  Fun.

  I thought about following him for a moment but changed my mind when I realized that there were growling sounds coming from all around me.

  It’s been a few hours since then, and I am without a shadow of a doubt covered in blood. Not all of it is mine since some of the things I’ve killed for sure had a few different colors for blood.

  Though some of it was probably from cuts and wounds I had no time to worry about right now. That thought crossed my mind as I ducked under the clawed hand of some furry two-legged monster with three eyes.

  No idea what the hell it was, but after I ducked, I rammed my spear straight into its side and a fountain of blue poured out. Ah it’s been a few kills since I saw blue. The last couple ones were all bleeding green.

  This is far from the training I expected when I got this reward. To be running through a forest on a strange planet being swarmed by monsters for hours without end. I’m pretty sure I have to take a dump, and I’m scared one of these monsters are going to scare the shit out of me…literally.

  Anyway, even if this was the intended training, shouldn’t someone be here to point out flaws? Give advice? Berate me even if I’m doing well? How is this training? I mean on one hand I get it. The book on Integration explained the extraneous effort required to integrate everything.

  That is precisely what this training is doing.

  For a moment I briefly considered the fact that I could do this back on Earth but then I realized quickly it simply wasn’t possible. Not in any of the Dungeons I had access to.

  So many monsters of so many shapes and sizes, all of which forcing me to fight them all in different ways, twisting my body this way and that. Not forgetting the fact I was in a strange forest in the dark, so I also had to pay attention to the foliage around me just as much as the monsters coming for me.

  Thankfully that passive was working wonders in helping to keep me calm and focused. I’m still confused why it didn’t do shit against Acolyte Aranda, but that’s a matter for another day.

  In the meantime, I continued to run, duck, slide, wrap around trees, dive into bushes, as I blocked, stabbed, slashed, used my skills and anything and everything I could possible do it too kill, injure, or delay everything chasing after me.

  There were some small monsters, some the size of big ass dogs, others my size and bigger. Some flew, some jumped, others crawled or dug through the earth. All of them are trying to get me.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Thankfully they never came with too many at once that I couldn’t find some way to get through, but that wasn’t to say it was a lot, and without that passive I wonder if I would be able to keep going.

  With all of the screeching, roaring, hissing, and a bunch of other sounds I can’t really describe, it would be easy for me to slip into a panicked state and lose my mind after a while.

  Especially since it was dark as shit, and sometimes I didn’t spot a monster until it was right up in my face.

  Regardless…this continued on for hours longer. I was likely better than a lot of people on Earth when it came to staying in the fight for as long as possible, but even I had limits and I was soon reaching them.

  My hands and feet were starting to feel like lead weights attached to my body. Everything was getting slightly more sluggish, and my mana levels were dangerously low, and even thinking was starting to become a chore.

  Then I heard it.

  Water.

  I thought for a second my ears were playing tricks on me, but I decided I didn’t give a damn if it was. At this point I had little choice in the matter and pushed my body that little bit more to the sound I heard.

  Fighting and clawing my way there, my desperation paid off as I finally came face to face with a small river? Or maybe this is a stream. I could jump over it to the other side, and it only looked about waist high from where I was standing.

  Not wasting any time, I jumped right in, pulled my pants down and relieved myself, doing numbers 1 and 2 right then and there.

  I didn’t have time to be ashamed about this, and I was hoping the water would wash all the evidence away. Thankfully it all came out in one fell swoop so there was no need to exert myself.

  As important as that was though, it wasn’t the best thing that happened to me in the water. The way strength poured into my body in droves was a truly exhilarating feeling. Like putting a dying fish back into the ocean and watching it spring to life.

  I jumped back out of the water and dove right back into the fray. The monsters hadn’t stopped coming for even a second and a few of them had jumped into the stream with me, but I wanted to fight outside of it.

  My muscles and the rest of my body would get strained far faster that way. I’ll only use the water as a way to regain some strength when I’m at my very last bit of strength. I think that’s the best way to get the most out of this training.

  So with a spring in my step, I continued fighting with everything I had for as long as I could before dipping into the water when I could go no further and it began anew again. From there a careful dance began as I fought, took a swim, right back to the fight over and over again.

  I almost didn’t notice when the sun creeped in the sky and forest around me lit up accordingly.

  Unfortunately, there was no time to take in scenery as the monsters didn’t for one second stop to allow me that chance, and we just kept going.

  At some point, I lost track of the passing time and while the water refreshed my stamina greatly, it didn’t cover the need for food. Even with a body that was better than that of a regular human’s I still knew hunger, and with the amount of exertion I was putting it through at the moment, it only sped up that particular counter.

  The problem was, even if I could catch a fish or something to eat, there was no time to cook it. I grimaced at the idea forming in my head of what I probably had to do.

  I pushed on as long as I could but I simply couldn’t take it anymore. I needed nutrients. Even if it wasn’t a lot, I needed something. Something for my body to burn and use as fuel so I could keep going.

  “FUCK!”

  I yelled in frustration, as I grabbed what looks like the leg…or maybe it was an arm, I don’t know, but it’s a random limb and it was close enough for me to grab and still dodge and fight, I even slapped a giant rabbit looking thing with it, before bringing it to my mouth and biting a large chunk out of it.

  I want to puke.