The floor cracked, and revealed something within.
I jumped back—and a dark blur appeared, cutting through the wind—and I cut it down in the same movement.
What is that? I glanced over at it, and it was clear,
A tree root... and it's sharpened as well. Can it manipulate the trees here...?
My arms trembled as I held the blade out in front of me.
Is everything here in her control...
Can I even win this!?
A shadow appeared on my face,
I stepped to my left, and right when it passed by—I had cut through the stump.
I looked down at my feet, and the sharp part had disappeared—and the first blood got drawn.
Behind me the root had launched into the tree behind me.
I was lucky—I didn't see it at all...
'Tjer—don't be afraid to use your essence.'
'I was on the verge of asking for help'
'Look around you, and find the truth.'
Find the truth? What could he mean by that...
I looked around, and saw it.
Everything here was essence—the essence of a beast.
Even they have something they exist for...
But something else became clear to me,
The woman in front of me didn't have a core.
Why can it still manipulate essence like its own?
What is this woman... it is a beast, right? I continued looking around while I evaded the few attacks that came at me.
The attacks are slower than the birds from yesterday, but I need to watch out—I can't move like I did yesterday.
I had realized it before.
While my essence had become stable, it was significantly weaker.
There was no way that I could beat one of those birds anymore.
"Hmm..."
What is that? Is something hidden there?
There was a bundle of essence behind all the trees ahead of me.
It was at least 25 meters away.
I can make it. My eyes trembled as I looked at it, but I had no other choice than to reach it.
Essence coursed through me, and I dashed forward.
"NOOO!" It knew my target, and I knew it was the right target.
I evaded the head on sharpened attack,
At the same time a blunt root came at me.
I wedged my blade between us, and diverted myself away.
"Kuhh."
I was too slow.
The attack was able to hit me right on my ribs.
I landed on the solid dirt floor,
I wasn't able to crouch before another shadow encroached upon me.
Dirt flew left of me, as I rolled away.
But there was no sound alongside it, I clenched my blade and deflected the bended root into the ground.
It can even do that?!
I looked at the strange bend the trunk had made.
While my arms trembled a slight grin shone on my face,
Something is there—and she doesn't want me to find it.
It was the key to this fight—the deciding factor.
I continued my rush, and evaded the attacks that came at me—even the follow ups.
But with each step I took—the closer I got.
The further it looked.
Each attack had sped up—more relentless than the last.
It started following up with multiple attacks, leaving me no space to breathe.
I evaded the first.
The second,
Even the third.
Until it branched off.
A sharpened branch broke off a trunk the second I left my footing.
I was too late.
It punctured through stomach, blood streamed down the branch, feeding the dirt underneath my hanging shadow.
The branch retracted out of my wound, leaving me air bound before my body hit the ground.
I lay on the ground, sprawling about, unable to breath.
The impact made it feel like someone put his hands on my throat—slowly choking me out.
It kept hitting my chest, in the hope that something would happen.
But nothing happened, all attacks had stopped, while I laid there choking on my own breath.
The sound of air sucking through a miniscule hole sounded, as my back tensed together leaving my slightly suspended in the air.
My breath had returned.
There were two things that went through my mind,
Why did not finish me?
Seven meters... That was all I had won.
I was still unable to see the place I wished to reach.
But I had no other choice—that was the thought that won over all else.
I lifted my body back up, still wearing the hole in my body.
I hobbled, dizzy by the loss of the—already solid—blood.
I was still stuck in the middle of the predator's cage, as I took the first step forward.
My resolve had taken shape, there was one thing left for me to do,
I will survive this.
I heard a scream from behind me,
"PLEASE... stay DOWN!" It hadn't even taken a step since I got attacked.
Multiple trunks sprouted, all suspended in the air, focused on one point—
Me.
I evaded each attack,
Every step I took was with intent—to bring me forward.
The trunks I had evaded chased after me, bending the wood entirely, while enclosing me from both sides.
I was untouchable.
Each step I took propelled me further than they did before.
I looked down, the hole was still there, but it didn't inconvenience me.
'You proved your essence—your wish to survive.'
'The paths have broadened, giving you this feeling of elevation—a high.'
A temporary feeling of elevation—a way for people to forget their lives in Kage.
'I'll end it before my time runs out!'
My foot found the ground, and I brought my other forward.
I lifted my foot up, and in the same instant it found the ground I couldn't move forward.
I saw my foot surrounded by roots from each side.
I cut through it, but it was for naught.
Shit! The trunks came from behind—passed me, while gathering in front.
I continued striking right past my ankle,
But each cut got recovered in the same instance—strengthening the same spot—it was an unending cycle.
It was futile—a fleeting dream.
With each strike my surrounding became darker—the trunks had encircled me. With the lock on my foot slowly reaching up.
Everything was dark, my breath was the only sound that echoed inside.
I need to continue...
I could feel another surge, one even stronger than before.
I saw it—a spot I could cut through—the weakest spot.
I tightened my grip, and took a single breath.
My blade descended.
And light warmed my face as I pulled my body forward—breaking through the hold on my leg.
My leg reached the outside, and it met the ground—I fell.
My leg had given out, but I refused to look at it.
There is nothing wrong...
I was unable to feel anything, that was all I needed to convince me.
It was finally in sight, my target.
It was a tree that stood central in this forest, one that dwarfed all other trees, with a tree hole in the midst of it.