Limitless by John Gold (best e reader for android txt) 📕

through the forest in just three days. Once, right at the end, I have to stop. The baseless loathing for everything around me just about costs me my life, so I create a pool of warm water and cover it with a granite shield after killing the assailant. The pool isn’t a trick for concealing my emotions; it’s more a way to control them.

I walk using synesthesia for all three days. That saves me from hundreds of attacks that might otherwise have been deadly, as the enemy isn’t always visible in the endless forest. Sometimes, wooden spears fly out of the ground; other times, branches fall down from above me. Still, it’s one of the easier trials.

After beating an enormous chimeric snake for the finale, I step out into the city of Zhako. None of the human streets in its seventh district offer any sign of my parents, either. When I ask people about them, the answer I always get is that nobody with their names has ever been there.

Current location: House of Sadness.

The Swamp of Endless Moonlight greets me like a long-lost son. That is, it does its best to drown me, though I’m able to pull myself out every time. One problem is that my spell for walking on water doesn’t work here. The water is too thick, almost jelly-like, and made out of thousands of dead microorganisms.

There are only semi-spirit beings in this location. The ghostly trees and spirits of deer are rarest, while the animals have something down inside them that looks like jellyfish. They’re easy to see because of the transparent bodies the deer have. The jellyfish beat like hearts, lending an eerie feel to everything around me. They could be symbiotes that let the spirits interact with the physical world. Regardless, the deer just nibble on the ghostly grass and dash off whenever I get close.

The darkness in the swamps has a silvery glimmer to it, and I can feel a glowing goo squelching noiselessly underfoot. Not a single aggressive creature comes after me. On the other hand, the sadness is so oppressive that I feel more and more like drowning myself with each step I take. After a week of walking through the swamps, I’ve stopped four times to learn how to remain completely apathetic. There are a few occasions when I come to on the edge of the harmless path, not sure how I got there.

There are small islands scattered around the swamps. Most of them are traps, however, surrounded by impassable marshes. I see Azami three times. As soon as I catch a glimpse of him, he disappears into a portal, and he looks different all three times—a young fawn, then an adult buck, and finally, an entire herd. I look to see where he came from the last time, and that turns out to be the way out of the trial zone.

The city of Maadir is more of the same—nobody has seen or heard of my parents. I duck into the shroud to start the next trial.

Current location: House of Regret

 

There’s just water all around, and I’ve already burned through half of my oxygen when I notice that there isn’t any dry land anywhere. I swim up and up until I find a small pocket of air. If anyone asks me what to call this trial, I’m just going to tell them that it’s endless water.

The water pressure doesn’t do damage, though my oxygen is constantly being depleted. I end up having to relearn how to dolphin-kick. I’m supposed to be swimming upward, but it gets harder and harder—regret and doubt beat down on me. Why am I still swimming? Am I worthy of my parents? I’ve killed so many people. I ruined Kirk’s life. Do I have any right to happiness?

When I get to the pockets of regret-laced air, I make sensory deprivation chambers and stay there until the regret leaves. It’s here I realize what a terrible gift I’m learning how to use. But if it’s the price of happiness, I’m prepared to pay it.

There aren’t any enemies—no people, animals, or plants. Really, there’s nothing. For five whole days, all without leaving my capsule, I swim and swim until I get to the border of the city of Izhev.

Logout

 

∞ ∞ ∞

Claude is still pouring enormous quantities of vitamins into me. It’s his job to keep an eye on the numbers my med capsule is spitting out, adjusting my physical therapy, diet, and workload as needed. Given my tendency toward self-destruction, I’m surprised I’ve lived twenty-one years. It’s Claude who’s been able to help me get through this ordeal without going crazy.

“There are dozens of micronutrients in the human body. Having too little or too much of any of them can make a person go crazy, losing their spatial orientation, clouding their consciousness, and leading to short-term memory loss. And those are just the less-serious things that could go wrong.”

“Why can’t the med capsule adjust them?”

“That only happens in emergencies—using dietary tools is much more effective. Physical activity stimulates metabolism, and that’s why I make you take vitamins right after you swim.”

“And you can’t just dump it into my body somehow? Or let me take everything right at once? Having that taste in my mouth all the time is starting to make me sick.”

“Ribonz, you’re a smart guy. What do you think would happen if your body had too many micronutrients?”

“It would backfire. The worse the balance is, the stronger the symptoms would appear: hyperactivity in certain areas of the brain, mood swings, outbursts of anger, cruelty, hatred. You use vitamins and my diet to correct my micronutrient balance.”

Claude is surprised to hear me list potential problems. What else would you expect from someone who’s spent their whole life taking care of their aches and pains?

After this conversation, Claude starts doing his best to explain the ‘why’ behind everything he does. I, in turn, try to master all the new information he’s giving me about neurophysiology.

∞ ∞ ∞

Login

 

Scouring Izhev doesn’t lead to anything.