Jade could feel his strength fading.
The vine that had pierced his back continued to pulse slowly, each pulse drawing more blood from his body. At first the draining sensation had been warm, almost burning, but now it felt cold.
Very cold.
Half of the warmth in his body had already disappeared.
Jade's skin had turned pale, and the strength in his legs felt unsteady. His fingers trembled slightly as he stood there, barely maintaining his balance.
The forest around him seemed quieter now.
Or perhaps his senses were simply growing dull.
In the distance, the observers still watched.
Some of them had already turned away, convinced the boy would die soon.
Others remained, curious to see how the situation would end.
Jade inhaled slowly.
His chest felt tight.
His heartbeat sounded loud in his ears.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
But even as his body weakened, his mind continued working.
He kept staring at the controller—the strange stem with many eyes watching him from the base of the tree.
If he was going to die…
He refused to die without trying something.
Jade narrowed his eyes.
"All plants have roots," he thought.
It was such a simple realization.
But in that moment, it became incredibly important.
The creature before him looked terrifying, with its countless vines and strange eyes. But at its core, it was still a plant.
And plants had weaknesses.
If someone wanted to destroy a plant, there were usually only a few ways to do it.
They could burn it.
They could uproot it.
Or they could contaminate the soil it depended on.
Jade's eyes slowly shifted downward.
Toward the ground where the vine controller's roots disappeared into the soil.
"If I want to kill it…"
"I need to reach the roots."
But first, he had to free himself.
The vine piercing his back was still draining him rapidly.
He didn't have much time.
Jade's breathing became heavier as his body struggled to function.
But he forced himself to stay calm.
Slowly, painfully, he raised his arm.
His fist tightened.
Even though he was weak…
He still had Sharp Punch.
The technique he had practiced earlier.
The vine controller watched him through its many eyes.
It saw Jade raising his arm.
But it didn't react.
Or perhaps it simply didn't care.
From its perspective, Jade was already finished.
The boy had lost too much blood.
His strength was fading.
He would collapse soon.
Why bother worrying about a dying prey?
The plant's twisted bark-like surface curved again into that disturbing smile.
It continued draining him.
Jade ignored the creature's expression.
His attention focused only on the vine embedded in his back.
He positioned his body carefully.
Even though his legs felt weak, he steadied himself.
Then he struck.
His fist moved quickly.
Sharp Punch.
His knuckles collided with the vine.
CRACK.
The result shocked everyone.
The thick vine suddenly burst apart.
It split open where Jade's fist struck, its surface tearing like fragile bark.
Dark liquid splashed outward.
The broken vine fell away from Jade's body.
The observers gasped.
"He broke it!"
"How is that possible?"
The vine controller's many eyes widened slightly.
It had not expected that.
The moment the vine snapped, Jade stumbled slightly forward.
Blood dripped down his back where the thorn had been removed.
But he was finally free.
The controller reacted immediately.
Several vines shot forward like spears.
They rushed toward Jade from multiple directions.
The creature was angry now.
Jade lifted his arms again.
Even though his body was weak, his movements were still precise.
A vine stabbed toward his chest.
Jade punched it.
CRACK.
It burst apart.
Another vine came from the side.
He struck again.
CRACK.
It shattered.
More vines attacked.
Again.
And again.
Each time Jade's fist connected with them, the vines broke apart as if they were brittle sticks.
The watchers stared in disbelief.
"That shouldn't be happening."
"Those vines are incredibly tough."
But something strange was happening.
Every vine Jade destroyed released a dark liquid.
That liquid splashed onto the ground.
Slowly soaking into the soil around the controller.
At first no one noticed.
But Jade did.
The moment the liquid touched the soil, something changed.
The vine controller trembled slightly.
Its red veins flickered.
Jade's eyes narrowed.
He suddenly understood.
"When the vine absorbs blood…"
"It converts it."
The creature didn't simply drink blood.
It transformed it.
The blood became a strange toxic substance inside its body.
Normally, that poison strengthened the plant.
But now something unusual was happening.
When the vines burst, the poison spilled onto the ground.
And that poison was being absorbed back through the roots.
But the poison outside the body was different.
It was contaminating the soil.
And the vine controller was absorbing it directly.
The creature began trembling more violently.
Its eyes blinked rapidly.
Its vines lashed wildly through the air.
It was growing weaker.
Jade realized the truth immediately.
"The poison is hurting it."
But he also knew something important.
"This probably won't kill it."
After all, the poison came from the creature itself.
It was part of its own body.
So it wouldn't destroy it completely.
But it would weaken it.
And right now…
Weakening it was enough.
More vines rushed toward him.
Jade punched them one after another.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
Each broken vine spilled more poison.
More liquid soaked into the soil.
The controller trembled violently now.
Its eyes burned with fury.
It tried desperately to attack Jade, but its movements were slower now.
Sluggish.
The poison-contaminated soil was weakening it rapidly.
Jade saw his opportunity.
Even though his vision was slightly blurry from blood loss, he focused carefully.
Then he noticed it.
A brief opening.
The vines hesitated for just a moment.
That moment was enough.
Jade lunged forward.
His body moved faster than the vine controller expected.
He stepped directly toward the thick stem.
His fist clenched tightly.
Sharp Punch.
His fist slammed into the stem.
THUD.
The impact shook the plant.
Its eyes widened.
Cracks appeared along its bark-like surface.
But Jade didn't stop there.
He grabbed the stem with both hands.
The surface felt rough and slightly wet from the poison spreading through it.
Jade tightened his grip.
Then he pulled.
The ground resisted for a moment.
Roots stretched beneath the soil.
But the controller was already weakened.
Without its full strength, it could not resist.
With a powerful jerk—
Jade uprooted it.
The massive plant tore free from the ground.
Dirt scattered everywhere as its roots were dragged out into the open air.
The observers gasped loudly.
"He uprooted it!"
"That's impossible!"
Jade knew the truth though.
If the creature had not been weakened…
He would never have been able to do this.
The moment the controller left the soil, everything changed.
The vines surrounding the battlefield suddenly lost their strength.
They fell to the ground.
Twitching.
Writhing weakly.
Like severed limbs.
Jade looked down at the uprooted controller.
The plant's many eyes stared at him with rage and fear.
Its roots twisted helplessly in the air.
Jade raised his fist one last time.
Sharp Punch.
His fist struck directly into the root cluster.
CRACK.
The roots shattered.
The vine controller's body jerked violently.
Then it went still.
The Divine Wrath Vine was dead.
For a few seconds, the forest became strangely quiet.
Then Jade heard a familiar voice in his mind.
The system.
"You have slain an ordinary initiate."
"Divine Wrath Vine."
"You have received data."
Jade blinked slowly.
The voice continued.
"Data Name: Vine Wrath."
"Data Type: Glyph."
"Data Rank: Initiate."
"Data Class: Ordinary."
Jade frowned slightly.
"What do you mean by data?" he asked quietly.
The system responded immediately.
"When you kill certain creatures, there is a chance to obtain their data."
"This data manifests as a non-living object linked to your body."
Jade listened carefully.
"It allows you to reproduce a portion of the creature's abilities."
The system paused.
"Would you like to summon it?"
Jade hesitated for only a moment.
Then he said,
"Summon."
Immediately, a strange sensation appeared on his arm.
Jade looked down.
A dark tattoo was forming on his skin.
The shape resembled the vine controller he had just killed.
Thin lines extended from it like creeping roots.
The image looked alive.
Then something even stranger happened.
From Jade's chest—
A vine suddenly emerged.
It pierced outward through his clothes.
But strangely…
He felt no pain.
The vine moved like a living weapon extending from his body.
It swayed slightly in the air.
Jade stared at it in surprise.
His shirt had been torn slightly where the vine emerged.
But his skin remained unharmed.
He realized something important.
"I can control it."
Jade looked at the dead vine controller lying nearby.
Then he gave a mental command.
"Pierce it."
The vine instantly responded.
It shot forward like a spear.
The sharp tip stabbed into the dead corpse.
Then Jade felt something strange again.
A faint pulling sensation.
The remaining blood inside the corpse was flowing through the vine.
Back toward him.
Jade shivered slightly.
The feeling was unsettling.
He quickly gave another command.
"Dismiss."
The vine immediately withdrew.
The tattoo on his arm faded slightly.
And the strange vine weapon disappeared.
Leaving Jade standing alone in the forest once again.