The stone-plant monstrosity’s six heads towered above me – each a grotesque fusion of stone and twisting vegetation. Those massive jaws alone were going to tear me in half.

  "Any suggestions ideas," I whispered inwardly, trying to ignore the heat radiating from my injured side.

  "A few," Azure answered. "None that I think will work well. It looks like the creature has combined both earth and wood essences, which would classify it as one of Elder Molric's most...ambitious experiments."

  "Ambitious is a nice way to describe it," I said, watching the creature's six heads bob back and forth as it hunted. "Do you have any idea of its strength?"

  "Yes, it appears to be fluctuating between Rank 1 and Rank 2 energies."

  Rank 1 and Rank 2 - that means it is a pseudo-rank 2. Or, as some people would call it, a half-step into the second rank.

  There was a huge difference between a pseudo-rank 2 and a true rank 2 - the difference between a pond and an ocean - both contain water, but only one could flood continents.

  "I don't know if we can defeat it," Azure stated in a worried tone. "But I think we can live long enough."

  I nodded slightly as I continued to watch the creature. "Yes."

  The vine around my neck tightened slightly - a warning that one of the heads had stopped moving.

  I did not have time to wait to find out what would happen next. As soon as the head lunged forward, jaws open and large enough to swallow me whole, I activated Blink Step. The world blurred as I teleported, and I left the protective plant cocoon to be smashed in my place.

  My landing was awkward. The previous injury had cracked several ribs, and the teleportation caused fresh pains throughout my chest. I stumbled as I struggled to remain upright as I materialized behind one of the metallic trees.

  The monster's heads rapidly changed direction toward my new location. Two of the heads opened their mouths, and I saw the glow of something deep in the backs of their throats.

  "Run!" Azure warned, unnecessarily - I was already sprinting sideways as beams of intense red sun energy cut through the air where I'd been a moment ago. The metallic tree I'd hidden behind melted, and liquid metal dripped to the ground with a hiss.

  Right. I definitely don’t want to get hit by that.

  I activated the Vine Whip rune, and called upon three vines while the one around my neck maintained its protective positioning. The vines sprang from the ground, attacked the monster with various patterns, but something felt... off. The vines moved slowly, as if they were being fought off by something invisible.

  "The ambient energy is hindering your ability to control the vines," Azure noted. "We're going to need more power to control them as effectively as we normally do."

  Oh, that explained it. I could feel it now - every plant I attempted to manipulate required significantly more power than usual. The earth essence in everything was causing a lot of difficulty with my manipulation of wood.

  The creature didn't give me the opportunity to alter my plans. Its stone legs pounded the ground as it charged, and the monster moved with unbelievable speed for something of its size. All six of the creature's heads struck at the same time, cutting off possible escape routes.

  I managed to dodge five of them using a combination of Blink Step and desperate dodging. The sixth one clipped me with a glancing blow, and I tumbled across the ground. My vines tried to soften the fall, but they were still operating at a slower pace than normal.

  The familiar heat of the vine around my neck helped me regain my footing as I rolled back to my feet. It was tight, ready to act, but I could tell it was fighting against the same hindrance that was slowing down my other methods.

  "We need to try something else," I groaned, clutching my broken ribs. "Directly controlling it is consuming too much energy."

  "Maybe..." Azure's voice sounded like he was doing some fast calculations. "The Explosive Seed rune? The density of the environment may actually augment its effects."

  Worth a shot.

  I directed my energy through my Fundamental Rune into the seed pattern on my finger, creating three explosive seeds. The process felt different in this area, the seeds were more dense than normal, I wasn't sure what effect that would have, if any.

  The monster's heads were already turning to attack again. I launched my vines to fire the seeds in three separate locations: one at the monster's legs, one at the base of its neck, and one into the air above it.

  "Now!" I detonated all three seeds simultaneously.

  The blasts were far more powerful than I'd anticipated. The explosion from each seed stunned the monster, and the concentrated force actually knocked it off balance. The destruction radiated outward, carving through stone and destroying the plant portion of the monster's hybrid body.

  "Good job, Master," Azure approved in a pleased tone.

  "It seems Elder Molric's other experiments are not nearly as clever," I gestured to the vine still protecting me. "But, I suppose, this one makes up for it in sheer power."

  As if to demonstrate that point, the monster quickly recovered from its wounds and began to reform. The damaged areas started to repair themselves, and the stones began to solidify back into place. Fresh vegetation began to grow to replace the destroyed areas.

  "That's cheating," I complained.

  I generated additional seeds. However, this time I used my vines to plant them in a wide arc surrounding the monster. If I couldn't hurt it directly, perhaps I could limit its mobility.

  The creature sensed what I was planning to do. Four of the monster's heads turned to track the seeds while the remaining two continued to watch me. It took one step forward...and stopped.

  Something was wrong. Its gaze was no longer focused on me, and its actions had become almost tentative.

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  The vine around my neck stiffened suddenly.

  "Master," Azure warned, panic creeping into his voice, "the energy readings are changing. I believe it's about to-"

  The monster's body disintegrated.

  Not from my seeds, those were still inactive. No, the creature's entire form simply erupted, and chunks of stone and distorted vegetation shot outward in every direction.

  The shockwave from the explosion slammed into me and I was sent tumbling backward through the air.

  Fortunately, I was able to prepare for this. I managed to activate the Aegis Mark on my back just before it me, and it absorbed most of the impact as I crashed through several trees. However, it didn't completely absorb the impact. I could feel the cracking of my ribs as I fell, and branches ripped at my skin as I flew past.

  I landed flat on my back, blood oozing from a dozen cuts, and my chest burned with each breath. The vine around my neck remained with me, although I could feel it trembling slightly from the impact.

  "That," I coughed, "was unexpected."

  "Look, Master," Azure warned, "something is rising from the debris."

  I tried to push myself up to my elbows, but a wave of pain shot through my torso. The vine immediately wrapped itself around my shoulders to support me and tapped at the Woodweave Seal on my chest.

  Following its cue, I directed energy into the healing rune. Wooden fibers spread across my skin, forming patches over my worst injuries.

  They won't fix all the damage, but at least they'll keep me alive long enough to avoid bleeding out. The broken ribs will have to wait; I'll need to conserve energy for whatever is forming from the monster's remains.

  I forced myself up to my feet, gazing back at the site where the creature had been.

  The pieces of debris were... moving. Not merely twitching or settling, but actually flowing back together like mercury. However, they were not recombining into the six-headed creature.

  No, this was something new. Something worse.

  The fragments began to merge and transform, assuming a more humanoid form. Stone flowed like water, and plants formed intricate designs.

  Within seconds, a figure stood in the place where the monster had been - roughly human-size yet constructed entirely of perfectly integrated stone and vegetation.

  The surface of the figure rippled continuously, with stone transforming into plant, and vice versa, in an infinite cycle. When the figure opened its eyes, they glowed with the same crimson light as before, and displayed an unnerving intelligence.

  "Isn't it fascinating?" The figure spoke in Elder Molric's voice, although its mouth didn't move. "One of my most successful fusion experiments. The ability to transition between forms and maintain energy production... fantastic!"

  I stumbled to my feet, trying not to reveal how much the last crash had hurt. "Why can't you just give me a written exam?"

  The creature - or Elder Molric, or whatever it was - laughed. The laughter appeared to emanate from all directions at once. “Now, where would the fun be in that? This is so much more interesting.”

  "For you, probably,” I grumbled, checking my remaining energy reserves.

  I had around half my red sun energy left, plus the four absorption stones. Things weren’t looking too great.

  “Oh, stop complaining,” the hybrid replied.

  With a fluid motion, the being moved with incredible agility, its feet only lightly touching the ground. "This is much more enjoyable... Now..." The creature raised its arm, and I watched in terror as its limb morphed into a blade of living stone surrounded by thorns.

  "Let's see how you fare with this form."

  It charged.

  At one moment it was 20 meters away; the next, it was right in front of me, stone blade swinging for my neck. Pure reaction made me duck, and I felt the rush of air from its passage brush against my hair.

  I activated Blink Step, hoping to create some distance between us. However, as soon as I materialized, it was already there, swinging another strike that I barely managed to deflect with a hastily created vine shield.

  The blade sliced through my vine defense as if it hadn't existed at all. Only the vine around my neck pulling me backward prevented it from slicing me in half.

  "Too slow!" Elder Molric's voice echoed as the creature launched its assault. Its free hand transformed into a mass of writhing vines that shot towards me like spears.

  I managed to dodge the initial strikes, but there were too many of them. Several vines ensnared my legs, while others entwined my arms, pinning me in place as the stone blade closed in for the kill.

  Time seemed to slow. I could see the blade's edge flashing as it descended toward my throat, and I could feel the vines constricting their hold to prevent my escape. The vine around my neck strained desperately to assist, but it was caught in the web of attacking tendrils.

  In that suspended moment, as certain death loomed closer with each passing instant, I frantically sought to summon any final reserve of power. My four vines moved to block the attack, but they were too slow, too feeble against the crushing onslaught heading my way.

  The blade was within an inch of my throat when reality... imploded.

  In an instant, the forest melted away, colors bleeding into one another until all that remained was a swirling vortex of red light; I felt like I was falling upward or perhaps falling downward – in whichever plane I now existed, direction lost all meaning.

  Then, with a sudden shock that caused my teeth to clatter, I found myself back in Elder Molric's lab. The familiar walls looked almost impossibly normal after the nightmare forest I'd just escaped from.

  I knelt on the ground, catching my breath, and saw that my body was covered in very real cuts and bruises from the fight. The vine still wrapped tightly around my neck was coiled and prepared to defend against threats that were no longer present.

  “Ah!” Elder Molric’s cheerful voice caught my attention. The real elder stood before me, looking exactly as he had before the trial had begun. “That was fun! You used all of the runes during the battle. The Explosive Seeds provided range, the Vine Whip allowed for control, the Blink Step allowed for dodging, the Aegis Mark provided defensive protection and the Woodweave Seal even worked. Just as I wanted to see!”

  I tried to open my mouth to speak but all that came out was a weak cough. My throat was rough, like I had been gargling sand.

  “Oh, stop being so dramatic,” Elder Molric dismissedly waved his hand. “You are still alive aren’t you? And you also managed to make my construct switch to its second form! Most Rank 1 initiates would be lucky to accomplish half of what you achieved.”

  Elder Molric reached into his robes and retrieved a small crystal vial filled with what appeared to be liquid stone. “This is your earth essence. Try to not waste it. This batch was difficult to refine.”

  I looked at the vial, then back at him, my mind on something else. “Would you really have killed me if I lost?”

  The vine wound itself around my torso and one arm to carefully lift me up. I swayed a bit, but the vine held me upright.

  “Kill you?” Elder Molric looked actually offended. “Of course not! I was careful the whole time. You were never in any real danger.” A faint smile crossed his face. “At least, not of dying anyway.”

  “But you said you would experiment on my dead body….”

  “I would never do such a thing to my student’s corpse!” Elder Molric sounded almost hurt by the idea. “Even I have some limits. I simply needed you to believe it — to fight with all of your might.” For an instant, his expression turned serious. “One doesn't give away resources easily. Resources must be earned.”

  I studied his face, attempting to reconcile this somewhat rational version of the elder with his usual maniacal behavior. “So, all of that nonsense about using my body for research….”

  “Motivation!” He grinned broadly. “And besides, it has been a while since someone has truly appreciated my work.” Elder Molric laughed once again. “Research alone made this worth it.”

  I took the vial before he changed his mind and tried not to think too much about what type of research he was referring to.

  I walked, limping, towards the door, holding onto my hard-earned prize. The vine continued to assess my injuries, lightly tapping each cut and bruise with the end of its tendrils. A tap near my ribcage caused me to wince – definitely broken.

  “I’m fine,” I mumbled.

  The vine's tip brushed across my cheek — its way of telling me I was lying. It knew how hard that hit had been.

  “Fine isn't exactly true, but I’m still alive,” I managed a weak smile. “Thanks to you, buddy”

  In response, the vine gave a soft squeeze to my arm and then tugged me toward the door.

  Right, better to leave now before the elder comes up with another “test."

  As we left, I made a mental note: next time I want to take something from Elder Molric, I'll write a written request. Preferably delivered from a very safe distance. Maybe by some sort of magical messenger pigeon that has a better chance surviving the elder’s craziness.

  The gentle pressure of the vine around my arm suggested that it agreed with this plan.