I thought about starting the 1st exercise and took a step forward. The glass like tile appeared under me feet. I took a closer look and noticed something odd this time. It was not solid but actually liquid, moreover it was such a weird liquid that acted as if it was metal. 'This is a dream but it's still weird to see that kind of liquid' I though and searched for the next tile.
When I focused, more tiles became visible. I was able to make good progress but still got stuck on 24th tile. The difficulty increased with each tile. I could still find the next tile but my progress was slowing down. I could see that the dark figure was already twice as far as me, this was not comforting at all. 'Even with my new senses, I'm not able to do the same stuff as this thing. What type of strength does this thing posses?' I thought.
I didn't think about competing anymore, it would be pointless. I simply focused on my own path and tried to find as many tiles as I could. When the dark figure finished, I was on 41st tile. It was a good progress from original 5 but I still had loads to improve. The exercise after the 30th tile got a bit more difficult still. Not only the tiles were less visible but would also appear and disappear. There were also couple of tiles appearing at the same time and I had to choose which way to go. This was the reason I couldn't make it past the 41st tile. I didn't have enough time to do it.
I wasn't discouraged. I knew I would have more tries and sooner or later, I would be able to complete that path. I thought about starting the next exercise and a metallic basin appeared in front of me. This time, I could see much more. The metal was also a sort of liquid. It was the same as the one I saw while inspecting the tiles in the 1st exercise. There was one difference though. Besides the obvious element of being much more visible, it was also much more dense. 'It seems that the more dense this liquid becomes, the more visible it gets. This liquid also seems to take the properties of metal when it is in this dense state. I wonder what would be the next stage if this were to be even denser' I thought as I started to shove my hands in and out.
I was able to figure out one more thing. The gravel like thing inside the basin, was not crushed rock or stones. It was something else completely. It wasn't wood either. It looked like some kind of living creatures, moving very slowly inside the basin. I wasn't able to figure out what those things could possibly be, if they were things indeed.
I gave that thought a rest and continued my exercise. My hands again started to bleed after about 10 minutes and I knew the next few minutes would be even more painful. I decided to continue anyway. 'I will just die at the end of it and will be healed with properly working hands' I thought. I was not going to repeat this exercise often. Maybe 5 out of 20 cycles, I would attempt to do this exercise. I wanted to conserve my energy and besides it was really painful. I figured that if my hands get used to this torture, I could practice that exercise more in the future but that was in the future.
After I died, I waited for the dark figure to finish with that exercise and started the next one. My plan didn't change with the 3rd exercise either. I used both my legs to kick one pole and get used to the sturdiness. I also wanted to train the toughness of my legs fist before trying to break it at my full strength. The exercise went quite uneventful and I wasn't able to break even one pole. I also got an answer to my own question, the poles were made from the same liquid as the other things like basin or the tiles. 'It is compacted so much that I don't think I can call it a liquid anymore, it is a solid object now' I thought.
The liquid was quite universal, not only it could behave like water and create a tile that seemed solid but was actually a liquid. When I check it over, I could see the tiny movements that resembled those of water. If it was more dense and packed, it could create something like a metal that was visible and very sturdy I assumed. When it was packed so densely that it became a solid, it was unbearably hard and changed colour a bit, to look like wood.
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This material was weird but fascinating. 'How did the material come to exist in my dreams though? It seems real and it surely is breakable, the dark figure is able to do it. The question is: Is it real or is it just my imagination?' I thought. I spaced out like this for a while and finally came back to reality or rather the dream. I thought about starting the 4th exercise and the images started to pop up in front of me.
My plan was different this time. I would try to remember more objects and see how many of them I would be able to track till the end. As the objects appeared I committed them to my memory. Then the objects started to change positions, faster and faster. When the exercise finished, I was able to remember the position of exactly 23 objects. A huge improvement compared to the previous attempts.
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The cycle started to repeat but I took a break. I had to conserve my energy and do those exercises gradually. When my body got used to them and expanded less energy, I would be able to go through all 20 cycles. Every other cycle, I would take a break until my dream finished. When it did, I woke up in my bed and felt hunger but I could move normally, instead of barely staying alive.
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