Chapter 169: Restricted Ground
Alex had already decided he would not spend the Proving running because staying on the back foot for an unknown length of time while Zara remained missing was a losing position
He needed answers more than he needed safety.
Thud!
The instant his boots touched solid ground he pushed off hard and cut straight toward the origin of the last poison projectile.
Swish!
Smoke still clung to the areas the circular projectile had detonated.
He moved through the forest without slowing, eyes scanning every trunk and shadow for the next threat.
Swish! Swish!
The earlier rot on his arm and neck still pulsed faintly, but he forced the pain into the background.
’I should use my skills now that I have a little breathing room, it’s better to use up my mana now than to lose with it all left unused.’
The immediate area felt clear so Alex decided now was the best time to trigger the skill.
"[Shadow Vision]"
His mana surged and the Shadow Element moved from his Mana Heart to his eyes smoothly.
The forest opened to him, every leaf, every shift of bark, every faint movement within the skill’s range stood out in sharp relief.
Outside that range the natural darkness remained, but Adaptation smoothed the transition so his eyes never struggled.
The skill painted the undergrowth in layers of detail that ordinary sight could never match.
Two shapes resolved inside the vision.
One clung to a higher branch with a cluster of bone darts ready while the other dropped toward him, bone daggers already extended.
’They look similar to goblins, but I don’t think they goblins, goblins would be slower, these move like they were born in the canopy and the way they use the trees is too natural.’
’That colour on his dart... isn’t that the same colour!’
The dagger user closed first with its blades aimed at his face.
Alex stepped aside and its weapons cut empty air.
Whoosh!
’His darts have the same kind of poison coated onto them, no way I am letting you hit me with one of those!’
He did not waste the opening on a counter attack, instead he accelerated past the attacker and locked onto the dart thrower higher up.
Speed was the only language these creatures seemed to understand, so he answered in the same tongue.
The first creature tried to stop its momentum and turn back towards where Alex was moving but that was all the time it received.
In an instant, Alex’s Viper’s Spine lengthened in a single smooth extension.
Shhh-clack!
The cascading teeth locked into a rigid edge and passed through the creature’s neck before it could recover its stance.
Shhhk!
Black blood sprayed across the leaves.
BURST!
Its body collapsed while still clutching the dagger in its hand.
Thud!
A new circular object came spinning from the side.
Swish!
Alex did not try to intercept it this time.
He simply shifted position because he had anticipated the attack beforehand and was already prepared.
In that brief window his Adaptation Aspect flared hard, Alex read the trajectory and the swelling of the projectile at the same time.
Mana flooded his legs and core, and then he vanished in a tight spiral of wind and shadow just as the object began to swell.
Swish!
The poison cloud erupted behind him.
BURST!
Alex was already elsewhere, he appeared directly in front of the dart thrower.
"Hey there!" His kick drove into the side of its stomach with enough force to crack its bone.
BAM! CRACK!
The creature’s whole body snapped sideways, yet it still managed to use the momentum to twist free and create space.
Bone darts left its fingers in a rapid fan, each one aimed at Alex with practiced precision.
SUI! SUI! SUI!
Alex did not let the distance hold much longer, his Viper’s Spine flashed once.
SLASH!
And the blade cut a clean line through both of the creature’s limbs.
Shlick! Shlick!
Thunk! Thunk!
"GHA—!"
Then it through his chest in one smooth follow up motion.
Slicck!
Black liquid erupted from the wound.
BURST!
Its body staggered and then it dropped with its darts scattering uselessly across the bark.
Thwack!
Alex registered more movement at the edge of his senses.
More of the same creatures were closing in, they were probably drawn by blood and noise.
’I need to heal quickly!’
Their footsteps were light but numerous and he counted at least six distinct signatures approaching from different angles.
Alex pulled a healing potion from his belt and drained it in one swallow, its heat spread through the damaged tissue as his rotting flesh sealed and fresh skin replaced the blackened patches and even his scorched hair began to regrow.
"Sigh..." The pain he was feeling finally reduced and he felt a bit of relief.
Alex had ended lives before and these things did not carry the same weight because his own survival had always been the only rule that mattered, and hesitation only got people killed.
[Adapting...]
’My Adaptation is reacting to something specific, I can feel the change starting in the pathways around the Mana Heart, but I can’t figure out what, this is the first time something like this has happened.’
Alex decided he needed to first figure this thing out.
Alex turned to create some distance, he needed to understand the pressure that had been building at the edge of his awareness since the teleport.
It was subtle, like a weight pressing against the bond itself.
Alex’s muscles tensed for the next leap, but just then, a sharp hiss cut through the canopy above.
HISSS!
A massive snake dropped from the upper branches like a living spear with its mouth open and its fangs aimed at his position.
Its body was thicker than a man’s torso and longer than any natural serpent he had seen in either life.
’From above? Seriously?’
But speed was its only advantage and Alex already had more.
His mana raced along the length of Viper’s Spine.
The cascading segments glowed with contained force as the energy settled into it and then he swung it precisely in the snake’s direction while putting all weight of his body behind the motion.
A crescent of pure mana tore upward.
The snake’s eyes widened and it tried to twist behind a trunk but the slash split it cleanly from head to tail.
Shhhk!
His severed body fell and hit the forest floor with a heavy thud that shook the nearby branches.
Thud!
Alex did not stop his momentum, he pushed off the branch and moved.
More snakes poured from the surrounding trees, they were hissing in agitation, and their bodies were coiling and striking from every direction.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
He answered with the extension mechanism of Viper’s Spine, letting the blade lengthen and retract in rapid succession.
Shhh-clack! Shhh-clack! Shhh-clack!
Snakes came apart mid-strike and their pieces rained down around him in wet, twitching segments.
Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!
Alex landed on a thick lower branch and went still and his breath slowed.
His heartbeat settled and his thought sharpened.
The immediate threats were gone for the moment, but the deeper wrongness of the place remained.
[Adapting...]
[Adapting...]
[Adapting...]
’This place is wrong, the bond is starting to open again, but only a fraction at a time.’
’Something is actively throttling it.’
He weighed the facts he had.
Was this a restricted space made specially to break him?
Then there was this interference with his Shadow Bond that was slowly weakening.
And then there were these creatures that grew more aggressive the longer he stayed.
CBI involvement was the only explanation that fit every piece.
The Queen of Curses had looked at him on the Hawkilies for a reason.
’If this continues the entire Proving, then my survival becomes a numbers game that I cannot win by fighting and running forever.’
’They will keep sending more until there is nothing left in me.’
His eyes narrowed on the dark canopy above.
’Shadow Bond and Aspect first, I need to find a way out through them, then everything else can wait until I know what I’m standing in.’
’If the Bond and Aspect are the only key I have right now, then that is where I will put the pressure.’
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End of Chapter 169: Restricted Ground
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