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Chapter 11
Ren woke to pain.
Not sharp pain—not the kind that made him scream—but the deep, grinding kind that seeped into his bones and refused to leave. Every breath scraped against his ribs. Every movement sent dull waves of agony through his small, battered body.
He lay half-buried beneath leaves and ash, the forest canopy above him swaying gently as if nothing violent had happened the night before.
But Ren knew better.
The Hobgoblin was dead.
The crater nearby proved it.
Ren forced himself upright inch by inch, teeth clenched, sweat soaking his hair despite the cool morning air. His mana pool felt unstable—like a cracked vessel barely holding together.
He activated Appraisal.
The blue panel flickered.
> Status:
Mana: 28%
Physical Condition: Injured
Warnings: Fatigue, Internal Bruising, Mana Instability
"Tch…" Ren muttered.
He wiped dried blood from his cheek and stood, wobbling slightly as the world tilted. Rest wasn't an option. Not here. Not during the test.
He had already lost time.
The forest greeted him with uneasy silence.
No birds.
No insects.
Ren's instincts screamed.
He took three careful steps—
And the pressure dropped.
The air compressed violently around him, slamming him into the ground as if the sky itself had fallen. Ren gasped, ribs screaming as he skidded across dirt and roots, barely managing to roll before a shadow blotted out the light above.
A scream tore through the air.
Sharp. Piercing.
Ren looked up.
Wings.
Massive wings, feathers edged with faint, swirling currents of pale green wind. The creature circled once overhead before diving, talons gleaming like curved knives.
"Wind… eagle?" Ren breathed.
The pressure around him intensified.
He activated Appraisal immediately.
> Wind Eagle (Territorial Variant)
Attribute: Wind
Threat Level: High
Specialty: Air Dominance
Notes: Instinctive Wind Manipulation
Ren barely rolled aside as talons slammed into the ground where his head had been a second earlier. The impact carved deep gouges into the earth, wind bursting outward like shrapnel.
The eagle shrieked and beat its wings.
Blades of compressed air screamed toward Ren.
He raised his arms instinctively, channeling Wind to deflect—but the currents collided violently, shredding his balance. The force threw him backward into a tree trunk.
Crack.
Pain exploded across his back.
Ren coughed, tasting blood.
"Damn it…"
The eagle didn't give him time.
It dove again.
Ren gritted his teeth and triggered Burst Step.
Fire erupted beneath his feet, wind stabilizing just enough to launch him sideways. He barely cleared the dive, heat scorching feathers as the eagle screeched in fury.
But Ren stumbled on landing.
The eagle's domain was the air.
Fire Spear wouldn't fly straight here.
Still—he had no choice.
"Fire Spear!"
The lance of flame twisted mid-flight, dragged off course by invisible currents. It grazed the eagle's wing, burning feathers but failing to pierce.
The creature retaliated instantly.
A sudden vacuum formed beneath Ren's feet.
The ground vanished.
Ren dropped hard, slamming shoulder-first into stone. Something cracked—he wasn't sure if it was rock or bone.
The eagle descended again, wings glowing brighter as wind wrapped around its talons.
Ren's vision swam.
Think. Think.
He forced mana into both elements—fire to disrupt, wind to destabilize.
"Tornado—Scatter!"
The spell formed poorly, unstable and weak, but it was enough. The chaotic currents clashed with the eagle's controlled air, breaking its dive and forcing it lower.
That was his chance.
Ren launched himself forward, ignoring the pain screaming through his body. He used Burst Step again—too soon, too hard.
Fire roared.
Wind shrieked.
The recoil tore at his muscles, blood spraying from reopened wounds as he collided with the eagle mid-air.
They crashed together.
Feathers burned.
Talons ripped.
Ren felt claws tear across his side, warm blood spilling freely as they plummeted.
They hit the ground in a cloud of dirt and shattered wind.
The eagle thrashed violently, wings beating weakly as fire continued to consume its feathers. Ren rolled away just in time as a final gust tore the ground apart.
Then—
Silence.
The wind died.
The eagle lay still, its massive body smoking faintly.
Ren collapsed to one knee.
He didn't cheer.
He couldn't.
His vision darkened at the edges, breath shallow and ragged. He barely noticed the mana orb drifting toward him until it touched his chest, warmth flowing slowly back into his veins.
He swallowed hard.
"I… can rest… one minute…"
The ground moved.
Ren froze.
Roots shifted.
The earth beneath him bulged unnaturally, splitting apart as thick, dark-green vines erupted upward, snapping like whips.
One wrapped around his arm instantly, thorns biting deep.
He screamed.
"Fire—!"
Flames surged—but the vines only blackened slightly, sap hissing as they regenerated almost immediately.
Ren activated Appraisal through pain and panic.
> Vine Guardian (Ambush Variant)
Attribute: Plant
Resistances: Fire
Regeneration: High
Specialty: Binding
Threat Level: Extreme (Injured State)
The vines tightened.
Ren unleashed a Tornado, forcing the creature back momentarily, but it only staggered—dazed, not defeated.
"Damn it…!"
He was outmatched.
Fire scratched.
Wind delayed.
Another vine erupted from the ground, wrapping around his leg—its tip coiling like a tail, thorns digging in as it tried to drag him back.
Ren's body screamed in protest.
He had one option.
Burst Step.
No vines.
No anchor.
Just raw propulsion.
He focused everything he had left.
"Burst Step—Overdrive."
Fire exploded.
Wind howled.
Ren launched upward violently, the recoil tearing through muscle and bone as the vine refused to let go. Blood sprayed as the tendril stretched, cracking loudly under strain.
Ren screamed as the forest dropped away beneath him.
The vine held.
For now.
The sky rushed closer.
Pain drowned thought.
And then—
Await chapter 12