Normally, skipping a night's sleep wouldn't be too bad. He had done as much as a mundane, and with his new Tower infused and rebuilt body, it should have been easier. A couple of cups of coffee, or one good fight, and he would be right as rain to keep going. At least for another twelve hours.
Problem was, he neither had kopi or had a usual night. It wasn't as though he was running deliveries all night long or - on one of the few occassions he had managed to borrow a vehicle - driven drunk socialites home. No, the reason he was tired was because he'd spent the whole evening the day before fighting for his life.
Even for a Climber, that was a bit much.
It was why his feet was dragging a little, his mind a little foggy. Twice, he'd nearly missed the attacks before they launched, forcing him to scramble at the last moment to defend himself. He'd picked up even more light wounds, much to his chagrin but nothing that would slow him down further.
Once he exited the ruins, Arthur knew the attacks were going to come faster than ever. Still, he wanted to put some distance between himself and the haunted location, so he kept pushing. Dangling the prospect of a rest just fifteen minutes later.
Of course, like all good hiking leaders, that fifteen minutes was always just around the corner.
The next clearing, the next pond, the next place to rest.
That was, until he nearly stumbled right into the middle of a wong mama nest, the oversized red ants with the massive pincers forcing him to scramble and run for a good ten minutes before they managed to scatter sufficiently. He still kept jogging for a bit, the last adrenaline jolt giving him a ninth wind.
Till, coming to a clear pond, one that was empty and - after prodding with his spear butt carefully - shallow enough to lack any nasty surprises, he flopped down beside the water. He quickly washed his face and skin, refilled his second water bottle after dumping its contents into his main one and waited.
He would drink once he was certain his skin wasn't reacting to the water. Never know what might be contained, though thankfully poisoned resources like this were rare. At least, more than normal. You could still get sick drinking stagnant water and - if you were really unlucky - pick up a few parasites. But the other side of having a Tower remade body was that most of those things ended in a few hours rather than days.
Even so, no reason not to be careful.
Instead, he rested, backpack set aside, breathing slowing. He eyed the surroundings, debating if it was worth catching a nap here or the danger of lounging beside the only water source too great. Eventually, he decided on the second. Better to find a place a short distance away, but he did need a nap.
Fifteen minutes. Maybe half an hour. Just enough to wake him up, drive away the cobwebs in his brain.
In the meantime, he could cultivate some energy into his dantian while waiting for his skin to react. He should have enough energy and attention to spare, and every inch of power was necessary.
***
Waking up from his nap, rolling out from under the log after checking for lurking monsters, Arthur felt a lot better. He grimaced, moments later when he realised his cat nap had lasted longer than he initially wanted. Hard to tell just with the sun positioning of course, but at a guess from the angle shown, he had slept for at least an hour. Maybe an hour and a half.
Obviously, his body had needed it.
Another grimace, a shake of the head and then Arthur began walking, heading in the direction the set of stones he had laid out before he went to bed indicated. Never know what might happen and what he'd forget, especially being as tired as he was.
He made it three steps out of the small clearing he had been in when they cat jumped at him. Reacting purely on instinct, Arthur dodged low, stuck his hand out and grabbed it by the neck and spun, slamming the creature into the side of a nearby tree. The impact shocked the creature, causing feet that had begun to close to flinch open. Another throw, almost directly upward had the cat flailing little limbs as the kuching hitam attempted to gather itself, only for gravity and an empowere thrust caught it in the head.
A final twist of the spear head dropped the creature to the ground, the only damage some small scratches on the grabbing arm.
"Damn ambush predators," Arthur grumbled.
Bending down low, he quickly cut the creature open and extracted the beast core, wiped it down on the dirt and grass along with his hand and then strolled away. Warily.
The rest of the day was going to be a pain and a half, but at least his head didn't feel entirely clouded. Now, all he had to do was make his way up the mountain.
Not even an hour later, as he guessed things, already looking for a place to camp with the sun beginning to set; Arthur came across one of the many cliff faces. He moved - gingerly - to the edge and grimaced, eyeing the large gap between him and the next cliff face. Over forty feet of open air between, and looking from side-to-side, he could not note any major ways across.
So.
Run and jump, or climb down over a hundred feet and then do it the other way.
Forty feet plus was an impossible jump. He was pretty sure the world record - pre-Tower- was something just over twenty feet. Quite the distance, and amazing, but he was no long jumper. He had trained a little, but the muscles and skill required was something else. He might, if he was good, have done about half of that he figured before enterring the Tower.
Now, he figured he might just by sheer strength match pre-Tower strength. He still had to cover twice that distance.
"Would a Cloud Step jump work as well?" Arthur asked the air. "Or will I be forced to have a spill?"
No answer of course. Well. Spell. Spill. Horrible rhyming sense.
"Doesn't matter, does it?" He sighed as he backed off, trying to get himself as much running space as possible. He couldn't afford the time to do this safely, so he had better hope his Cloud Step would work. First, Heavenly Sage's Mischief, pouring ever more power into him to give him more strength.
Then, tightening all the straps of his backpack, making sure everything was strapped down, he bounced a few times on his feet, trying to get everything settled. Making sure he was ready.
Ready, he sprinted forward. Feet tearing into the dirt, leaving clods of soil behind him. Arms pumping as fast as he could, pushing his body to accelerate as fast as possible till one step from the edge he leapt. Upwards and forwards as hard as he could, spinning through the air.
Epogee.
A cloud formed beneath his foot. He slammed into it, feeling it give way just a little, robbing him of a touch of momentum. He pushed, as hard as he could, felt the energy he used to form it breaking apart. Puff of air and moisture behind him, as he rose ever higher.
He had done this, on numerous platforms on the sixth floor. Bouncing back and forth between platforms, defying gravity.
Leaping to a better future.
Higher and higher, till he was in the air and falling.
Cliff face rushing to him.
Howling. "Celakaaaaaa!"