How much time had gone? How much time was left? How many more hours until it ended?
The fit of questions that spiralled in Paxton's head as he sat cross-legged, his senses pricking him awake, was disorienting.
The constant reminder that he was being chased by Glitches and the growing, biting cold that constantly pinched his skin served as an alarm clock, keeping him awake on his feet.
But what could he do? He was trapped, and beyond that, he was being hunted.
How does he turn the table around and kill that many Glitches when all he had been doing so far was escaping them.
They lay at the foot of the Tree, most gone, leaving only one which remained. Serving as a watchdog for the others, awaiting the fall of their prey.
It was currently resting on the bark of the tree, its head lowered to the snowy field.
His gaze slowly flicked as he watched it carefully, his thoughts reeling in while the biting cold pricked at his skin.
'This is shitty. The environment isn't favorable and the Glitches are beyond my level…'
It didn't make sense! How was he supposed to defeat these things with merely a dagger?
His gaze flickered for a moment as he pulled the dagger out of the sheath.
'It went through the Glitches eye with ease at the time no? Wasn't that too easy?'
Flashes of memories of how it pierced into the tree played in his head, his gaze slowly drifting to the surface of the tree.
He touched it, caressing the hard pointy bark while the canopy of the tree wavered with the cold wind.
A thought crossed his mind as his gaze drifted upwards.
'Every game has a way for their player to win despite the odds.'
What were his odds? Well, for starters, these Glitches were beyond his realm of fighting when they appeared together.
He wasn't granted the Server System yet so he couldn't utilize the inhumane skills that would have otherwise aided him.
But he did have something that separated him from the others, the Pixel Syndrome.
'...the more I think about it, the more I find myself curious about it.'
The Pixel Syndrome was the leading cause of death in the past, as those who were inflicted with it passed away after experiencing severe pain.
But oftentimes people fought that pain and resisted the disease, and therefore cured it from their system.
Or at least that was what was stipulated at the time.
'It wasn't actually cured but made recessive, ready to appear dominant once again in another individual. It was a disease passed down from generation to generation…'
Until now, it appeared dominant within him.
Most of its advantages were applied during Glitch incidents, especially when a player inflicted challenges as a Glitch.
Their abilities are further enhanced, increased physical prowess and even Pixel Energy.
It was a disease that was difficult to understand but was accepted with relative ease. Both its advantages and disadvantages.
'Though, I am yet to find my disadvantage.'
He shook his head, erasing all thoughts as he stood up slowly on the branch, placing his hand on the tree.
A sigh escaped his lips as he looked up once again, sighting another branch.
'It's just one of them and it's resting right now. Perhaps I can hunt this one.'
Self-defence and Attack were a split line apart by who made the initiative.
An attack is when an individual takes the initiative, and self-defence is the opposite.
They don't take the initiative but rather defend against the initiative.
'So far, I have done nothing but run, but there should be a way.'
With a sigh, he lowered his figure and lunged into the air, quickly stabbing his dagger into the tree and anchoring himself against it.
The branch wasn't as far as the former and his hand easily grabbed onto it.
With a sudden and light collision, he was able to climb higher, pulling himself over to the top.
He groaned lightly as he checked below, nodding quietly as he confirmed it remained in the same position.
Another factor helped him in this condition and that was his knowledge of Glitches.
Though vague and unresponsive since a moment ago, he could finally tell the name of the Glitch, its Rank and tier, though he wasn't sure.
'Though knowing the name isn't exactly helpful.'
He looked up at another branch, and lunged once again, repeating the same procedure with steady steps.
It was interesting how each step he made was crafted carefully and didn't seem to wake the Glitch in any form.
Perhaps he was too far away for it to grow alert from his constant movement, or it just couldn't hear him, it remained still.
After a few minutes, what looked to be the fifth branch, he seemed satisfied with the height. He cast a glance down, attempting to calculate the distance between the Glitch and himself.
'I can't calculate it per se, but I can at least confirm that this distance should be good enough.'
He sat at the edge of the tree branch, just over the Glitch, his dagger held firmly in his hand as he stared at it.
'Alright. This is for the constant chase, you son of a bitch!'
Without thinking twice, he tipped over at the edge and descended to the ground, his arms tightly placed together.
The wind twirled around his figure, whistling in his ears and blurring his vision, but within seconds, he had covered more than half the distance between them.
It was at that moment, when he passed the first branch, just a few inches away that the Glitch's ears suddenly perked up. Its head arose and its three pairs of crimson eyes glanced up at him.
But by the time it had realized what was going on, Paxton had collided against the back of the monster, his dagger quickly piercing through the back of the monster's throat.
The spines on the back of the Glitch pierced through the side of his abdomen, a wretched tight pain exploding within his body.
He groaned as the Glitch suddenly jumped to its feet, crashing against the hard bark of the tree, a blood-driven cry threatening to escape.
He endured the pain and gripped its snout shut, pushing the dagger further into its skin.
The Glitch groaned in pain, blood splattering from the corners of its mouth and erupting from the stab wound like a fountain.
It staggered and slammed itself against the tree once more, attempting to get the human off its back.
But with its constant trial, its energy expended and soon, it collapsed on the snow, a light thud erupting in the air. The snow absorbed most of the shock of the fall, its white copper tinted by murky black blood, oozing out from its wounds.
Paxton remained fixed on the creature's back, his breathing heavy. A cold shiver ran through his body, eluded by pain from the puncture wounds and cuts.
For a moment, he fell into a world of pain, his senses blurred by its intensity.
He remained still on the creature's back not because he couldn't move, but mostly because enduring any more pain could easily knock him out.
But even with his cloudy judgment, he slowly and painfully pulled away from the dead Glitch, the silence filled with his stifled groans as he did so.
Murky sounds echoed in the air from the spikes pulling out from the side of his stomach, dried black blood etched on his shirt.
This occurred between seconds to a minute, until he was free, falling onto the snowy field, a stifled groan escaping his lips.
'Shit, am I going to die like this?'
The cold wind was slowly growing, frost biting at his skin and his wounds. Blood dribbled down from it, freezing slowly from the snow and ice.
Yet, the pain seemed to only exacerbate.
Paxton sighed, his gaze flickering about as his thoughts reeled in.
'This is troublesome. The wounds are severe and even more, so is my condition.
The cold is unnaturally freezing and the pain is getting unbearable.'
How will he survive?
His thoughts were arranged in order, the line of events that had occurred playing out in his head like a projector. His body seemed to instinctively refuse to die, searching for ways out of every dire situation.
'There must be something I'm missing. Anything….there has to be! Perhaps a rule? A hole in the rules I can make use of?'
Nothing came to mind, nothing but the ever-decreasing cold and exploding pain.
His gaze drifted to the Glitch, a frown forming on his face.
'Players obtain something they call Pixel Energy by absorbing the Pixel Core from Glitches.'
His head spun with an idea, a rather rash one but what had he done so far that wasn't?
He suddenly reached out for the dead Glitch, his body moving with the last bit of energy he could muster.
He turned over the creature, reaching for its underbelly and stabbing his dagger into it.
'What happens when a challenger does the same?'
Pixel Energy was the form of Mana they made use of in their world.
It enabled them to transform into their characters and make use of both Character and Non-Character skills.
It was highly rare, as it was found in special places and determined the range of capabilities of Players.
It was stored in the Pixel Hall, found in the bottom abdomen, usually opened immediately after the Test Of Humanity.
But he didn't have one, and that brought him to his conclusion.
'I'm going to eat it.'