Looking intently at the hand and praying it would stay attached to the tree, John gently started lifting it. And, just as he had hoped, it stayed perfectly attached. Too attached, even. After using all his strength and lifting himself entirely by his arm, he still remained firmly in place.

‘Yes! Now I can swing Larang as fast as I want as long as I stay on the ground! I’ll be an easy target to hit, so I’ll have to practice activating and deactivating it… Along with a bunch of other stuff…’

The road to mastery would be long, but since it was all to make him stronger, John didn’t mind it one bit. Training for combat was one of his favorite pastimes!

The fact that the wood didn’t break under his weight must mean that the essence spread out like roots to get a better grip. If he had only been attached to the surface, he would have fallen off. Glue would never hold that much weight.

‘Okay, let’s see if it makes my armor stronger as well!’

He retrieved the shortsword to test the armor’s capabilities, choosing to cut into the thick fabric on his arm. First, he tried it without the essence infused, and it went through rather easily. Then, he used some of the gaseous essence like he normally would. The sword did manage to pierce through, but he had to use some force this time.

Finally, it was time to test the solid essence. he infused it carefully into the armor, and could instantly feel the fabric stiffen and harden. It did make it harder to move, but not as much as infusing the essence directly into his body.

This time, the sword stopped, no matter how much he tried to push it through. The result surprised him, even if he hadn’t used any essence in his muscles. It was just a simple fabric, and it shouldn’t be capable of such damage protection.

‘... Do I force it through with essence? Nah, this is good enough.’

He considered testing the solid essence for increasing strength as well, but he knew he would never use it due to the slow activation and stiffness in his body. But testing the infusion of liquid and solid essence in his weapons would have to be done.

‘Ah, let’s wait with that for tomorrow… It’s been a long day already.’

The surroundings had started to darken, clearly showing signs of the night descending. John still had no idea how the light had managed to reach the surface, but it did. He just needed to think about survival, finding everything else to not be very important at the moment.

‘Well, okay, I’m still worried about Serah… With some luck, we might be on the same continent, but… It’s not likely.’

His last thoughts as the hard and uneven tree chair lulled him to sleep were of her. Some things just never changed.

A week passed in the forest, and John was still in the same base. Now it was much larger, with nicely carved chairs and tables, and even a makeshift bed filled with large leaves and shredded bark. He had not fought much, but three of the monkeys had gotten too close during his training sessions, forcing him to take action.

None of them gave him enchantments, but they did provide fresh meat and growth to his essence. They also provided enough essence to fill his core exactly how he wanted it: twenty percent each for gaseous and solid essence and sixty percent for liquid essence, which he had used the most during his training.

At this point, he felt confident in his usage of the new forms of essence. He wouldn’t be caught off guard and unable to use it, at least, which had been his initial fear. The control of liquid essence still caused some issues at times, but he had improved in all aspects.

‘Now I think I’m ready to find some other bastards to hunt. These monkeys are no longer a challenge. I might even be on par with some aspecters at this point… Well, maybe that’s optimistic. But the weight shifting and power increase should give me an advantage, so in an ambush, I might be able to win.’

Even with all his training, John still feared the red demon he had seen on the ground. He might be able to chop a tree in half now, but it would take a lot of effort and essence. Doing it casually was out of the question.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘At least I’ve got a good understanding of essence now. If I infuse liquid essence in Larang and imagine it spreading from the edge, it becomes a lot sharper. And if I use solid essence, it becomes much harder. That would work best with the shield.’

It seemed that the different forms of essence had no clear effect on enchantments. He had tried changing his weight while infusing the armor with all the different types, but it always ended the same way.

Once again, he crawled out of his hiding spot, ready to find new enemies. He was tired of fighting monkeys, to the point where he would rather just escape if they attacked him. He still wondered what would have happened if he had followed that first monkey.

‘Surely it was an ambush! He summoned his friends so quickly when I refused to join him…’

The forest was dense as ever, letting him see only twenty meters in any one direction. The leaves at his height didn’t help, either, but it was a perfect spot to avoid the dangers of the ground.

Looking at the view in the sky, he decided to travel toward the main part of the continent. If he stayed the course, it would be easier to remember the way back. He was not sure he could recognize the area otherwise.

He jumped between the trees, keeping his weight light and using his liquid essence to sprint. If he ran like he normally would, he would overshoot his target, so he needed to be careful about the power he applied to his feet.

‘I swear this forest has gotten denser, and the trees feel a lot taller. Every day that’s passed, I’ve sensed this gradual change. Is it related to what Sage Full Blue said about something strange going on?’

After a few minutes of running, he stopped to listen to the forest. The leaves rustled gently in the wind, but there was no sound of anything living in the area. Nor any smells or tracks he could use.

‘Do I have to go down to the ground? I feel confident in escaping, but… Well, I guess it’s fine.’

Ever since he got here he had stayed in the treetops, too wary of the creatures living on the ground. But it made sense that only monkeys would live in the treetops. It wasn’t the easiest place to reach—especially not for beasts on four legs.

John summoned his trusty little sword before jumping down from the tree. Using the sword as a brake, he stabbed it into the tree to control his descent. He would be fine without slowing down as well, but the impact might waste some essence.

His feet landed on the ground with a soft thud, creating marks in the soft soil. The more he descended, the darker his surroundings became, and the smells changed completely. Now, there was a slight scent of moss and wet dirt, with a hint of iron and soot.

‘Okay, It’s been a while since I’ve used my tracking skills. Let’s hope they’re not completely rusty.’

He headed in the same direction he had been running in earlier, only slower and more on guard now. Dangers could be lurking around every corner on the ground, so he was very wary.

‘Tracks! But they’re too large; they’ve got to belong to a demon!’

He could see that they weren’t fresh, but the sight still made him nervous. The tracks were much like those of the bargs, only way larger, with claws digging deep into the dirt.

‘Could it be a demon barg? One that managed to gather enough essence to evolve? In that case, it should be one of the weaker demons, then…’

The thought of hunting a demon filled him with both fear and excitement. It sounded extremely stupid, but if there was one demon he would be able to beat, it would have to be a barg. The thought of growing his core also tempted him, considering it would have way more essence than a monster barg.

‘Fine, I’m convinced… Let’s follow these nice tracks quietly.’

Following the tracks was simple, but he might need to be quick if he wanted to catch up. The best scenario might be encountering it while it was resting, and in that case, his speed didn’t matter much.

‘Judging by the tracks, it seems to be moving slowly, so I think moving quietly is fine. I hope I don’t smell. But there haven’t been any opportunities for a bath…’

The barg might be able to smell him approaching, and that would be a problem. He decided to stay alert around every corner in case it set up an ambush, even if he doubted it would be clever enough to do so.

Five minutes of tracking later, the tracks started getting very fresh. And John started getting very nervous. The forest was a lot quieter down by the ground since the leaves were all up on the tops, so the wind had nothing to rustle.

Taking a deep breath, he started preparing an air blast in his left arm, just in case. The forest started feeling warmer, and he could only assume it was due to a nearby beast.

A loud sniffing noise was suddenly heard from his front, followed by the sound of something large starting to move. Slow growling and heavy feet hitting the ground let John know the fight was about to start.

‘Bring it, mutt!’

A massive shadow loomed through the trees, far larger than John had anticipated. This would certainly be his toughest challenge yet.