The stone-plant monstrosity's six heads loomed above me, each one a unique fusion of granite and twisted vegetation. My makeshift shield of purple leaves wouldn't last more than a second against those massive jaws.

"Any suggestions?" I muttered internally, trying to ignore the burning pain in my side.

"Several," Azure replied. "Though none particularly promising. The creature appears to be a fusion of both earth and wood elements, likely one of Elder Molric's more... ambitious experiments."

"Ambitious is one word for it." I watched as the heads weaved back and forth. "Have you got a better reading on its energy levels?"

“Yes, it seems to fluctuate between Rank 1 and Rank 2."

My eyes narrowed at this information. A Pseudo Rank 2 then, or as some would say, half-step into the second rank.

The distinction was important - if this thing had been a true Rank 2, I wouldn't have even survived that first hit. The gap between a Pseudo Rank 2 and a true Rank 2 was like the difference between a pond and an ocean - both contained water, but only one could drown continents.

"Master, I…I don't know if we can beat it," Azure's tone held genuine concern.

I nodded slightly, keeping my eyes fixed on the monstrosity. "But I think we can survive long enough.”

The vine around my neck squeezed once - a warning. One of the heads had stopped moving.

I didn't wait to see what would happen next. The moment the head lunged forward, jaws wide enough to swallow me whole, I activated Blink Step. The world blurred as I teleported, leaving the protective plant cocoon to be crushed in my place.

My landing was less than graceful. The earlier hit had definitely cracked some ribs, and the teleport sent fresh waves of pain through my chest. I stumbled, barely managing to stay upright as I materialized behind one of the metallic trees.

The monster's heads snapped toward my new position with terrifying speed. Two of them opened their mouths, and I caught a glimpse of something glowing deep in their throats.

"Move!" Azure's warning was unnecessary - I was already diving to the side as beams of concentrated red sun energy carved through the air where I'd been standing. The metallic tree I'd been hiding behind literally melted, liquid metal dripping to the ground with a hiss.

Right. Note to self - don't get hit by that.

I activated the Vine Whip rune, calling forth three vines while the one around my neck maintained its protective position. The vines burst from the ground, weaving through the air in attack patterns. But something felt... wrong. The vines moved sluggishly, as if fighting against some unseen resistance.

"The ambient energy is interfering with our control," Azure observed. "We'll need more power to maintain the same level of manipulation."

That explained it. I could feel it now - every plant I tried to control required significantly more energy than normal. The earth essence infused in everything was making wood manipulation much more difficult.

The monster didn't give me time to adjust my strategy. Its stone legs crashed against the earth as it charged, moving with impossible speed for something its size. All six heads struck simultaneously, attacking from different angles to cut off potential escape routes.

I managed to avoid five of them through a combination of Blink Step and desperate dodging. The sixth caught me with a glancing blow, sending me tumbling across the ground. My vines tried to cushion the impact, but they were still moving too slowly to be fully effective.

The familiar warmth of the vine around my neck was the only thing that kept me oriented as I rolled back to my feet. It was tense, ready to react, but I could feel it struggling against the same resistance affecting my other techniques.

"We need a new approach," I gasped, pressing a hand against my injured ribs. "Direct control is taking too much energy."

"Perhaps..." Azure's tone held a note of calculation. "The Explosive Seed rune? The density of the environment might actually enhance its effects."

Worth a shot.

I channeled energy through my Fundamental Rune into the seed pattern on my finger, creating three small seeds. The process felt different here - the seeds were denser than usual, I wasn’t sure what effect, if any, that would have.

The monster's heads were already moving to attack again. I had my vines launch the seeds in different directions - one at its legs, one at the base of its neck, and one into the air above it.

"Now!"

I detonated all three seeds simultaneously.

The explosions were more powerful than I'd expected, each one releasing a concentrated blast that actually staggered the creature. Stone cracked and its own plant portions withered as the destructive force washed over its hybrid body.

"Well done, Master," Azure commented, a note of approval in his voice.

"Seems unlike our friend here," I gestured to the vine still wrapped protectively around my neck, "the elder's other experiments aren't quite as intelligent." My eyes tracked the creature's movements as it regained its balance. "Though I guess this one makes up for it in raw power."

As if to prove my point, the monster recovered almost instantly, its damaged sections already beginning to regenerate. Stones shifted back into place while fresh vegetation grew to replace the destroyed parts.

"See, that's just cheating."

I created more seeds, but this time I had my vines plant them in a wide circle around the monster. If I couldn't hurt it directly, maybe I could at least control its movement.

The creature seemed to sense my intention. Four of its heads turned to track the seeds while the other two kept watch on me. It took a single step forward... then stopped.

Something was wrong. Its eyes weren't focusing on me anymore, and its movements had become almost hesitant.

The vine around my neck suddenly went rigid.

"Master," Azure's voice held an edge of alarm, "the energy readings are changing. I believe it's about to-"

The monster's body exploded.

Not from my seeds - those were still inactive. No, its entire form simply... burst apart, sending chunks of stone and twisted vegetation flying in every direction.

The blast wave hit me like a physical wall, launching me backward through the air.

This time I was better prepared. I managed to activate the Aegis Mark on my back just before impact, and the barrier absorbed most of the force as I crashed through several trees.

It wasn't enough to prevent all damage though - I felt the sharp crack of ribs giving way, and branches tore at my skin as I flew past.

I ended up flat on my back, blood trickling from a dozen cuts, my chest burning with each breath. The vine around my neck had somehow stayed with me through it all, though I could feel it trembling slightly from the impact.

"That," I wheezed, "was unexpected."

"Master, look, there’s something emerging from the remains."

I tried pushing myself up onto my elbows, but pain shot through my torso. The vine immediately wrapped around my shoulders, helping me sit up while its tip tapped urgently at the Woodweave Seal on my chest.

Taking its hint, I channeled energy into the healing rune. Wooden fibers spread across my skin, weaving into patches over the worst injuries.

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They wouldn't fully heal the damage, but at least they'd keep me from bleeding out. The cracked ribs would have to wait - I needed to save energy for whatever was forming from the monster's remains.

I pushed myself the rest of the way up, looking back toward where the creature had been.

The scattered pieces were... moving. Not just twitching or settling, but actively flowing back together like mercury. But they weren't reforming into the six-headed monster.

No, this was something new. Something worse.

The materials merged and transformed, taking on a more humanoid shape. Stone flowed like water while plants wove themselves into complex patterns.

Within seconds, a figure stood where the monster had been - roughly human-sized, but made entirely of perfectly integrated stone and vegetation.

Its surface rippled continuously, stone becoming plant becoming stone in an endless cycle. When it opened its eyes, they glowed with the same crimson light as before, but now held a disturbing intelligence.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" The thing spoke with Elder Molric's voice, though its mouth didn't move. "One of my more successful fusion experiments. The ability to shift between forms while maintaining power output... truly remarkable!"

I climbed to my feet, trying not to show how much that last impact had hurt. "You couldn't have just given me a written test?"

The creature - or Elder Molric, or whatever it was - laughed. The sound seemed to come from everywhere at once. "Where would be the fun in that? This is much more interesting.”

“For you, maybe.” I checked my remaining energy reserves. About half left, plus four absorption stones. Not great.

"Oh, stop complaining." The hybrid being moved with liquid grace, its feet barely touching the ground. "This is valuable experience! Now..." It raised one hand, and I watched in horror as the appendage transformed into a blade of living stone wrapped in thorny vines.

"Let's see how you handle this form."

It moved.

One moment it was twenty meters away, the next it was right in front of me, stone blade already swinging for my neck. Pure instinct made me duck, and I felt the wind of its passage ruffle my hair.

I activated Blink Step, trying to put some distance between us. But the moment I materialized, it was already there, launching another strike that I barely managed to deflect with a hastily grown vine shield.

The blade carved through my defense like it wasn't even there. Only the vine around my neck yanking me backward saved me from being cut in half.

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

I managed to dodge the first few strikes, but there were too many. Several vines wrapped around my legs while others caught my arms, holding me in place as the stone blade came in for the kill.

Time seemed to slow down. I could see the blade's edge gleaming as it approached my throat, could feel the vines tightening their grip to prevent escape. The vine around my neck was trying desperately to help, but it was caught up in the mass of attacking tendrils.

In that frozen moment, as death approached with certainty, I reached desperately for any last reserves of power. My four vines moved to intercept, but they were too slow, too weak against the overwhelming force bearing down on me.

The blade was less than an inch from my throat when reality... shattered.

The forest dissolved like a painting in rain, colors running together until nothing remained but swirling patterns of crimson light. I felt a sensation of falling, or maybe rising - direction had no meaning in whatever space I was passing through.

Then, with a jolt that made my teeth rattle, I found myself back in Elder Molric's laboratory. The familiar walls looked almost painfully normal after the nightmare forest I'd just escaped from.

I was on my knees, gasping for breath, my body covered in very real cuts and bruises from the fight. The vine around my neck was still tense, ready to defend against threats that were no longer there.

"Well!" Elder Molric's cheerful voice made me look up. The real elder stood before me, looking exactly as he had before the test began. "That was quite entertaining! You used every rune in combat - the Explosive Seeds for range, Vine Whip for control, Blink Step to dodge, Aegis Mark for defense, even the Woodweave Seal. Exactly what I wanted to see!"

I opened my mouth to respond, but all that came out was a weak cough. My throat felt like I'd been gargling sand.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," the elder waved dismissively. "You're still alive, aren't you? And you even managed to force my construct to use its second form! That's better than most rank 1 initiates could hope to achieve."

He reached into his robes and pulled out a small crystal vial filled with what looked like liquified stone. "Here's your earth essence. Try not to waste it - this batch was particularly troublesome to refine."

I stared at the vial, then back at him. "Would you really have killed me if I'd failed?"

The vine chose that moment to help me up, winding around my torso and arm to carefully pull me to my feet. I swayed slightly, but its steady grip kept me standing.

"Kill you?" Elder Molric looked genuinely offended. "Of course not! I was careful the entire time. You were never in any real danger." A slight smile crossed his face. "Well, not of death, anyway."

"But you said you'd experiment on my corpse..."

"I would never experiment on my student's corpse!" He actually seemed hurt by the suggestion. "Even I have some boundaries. I just needed you to believe it - to fight with everything you had." His expression turned serious for a moment. "Resources aren’t meant to be handed over freely. They need to be earned."

I studied his face, trying to reconcile this almost reasonable version with the usually manic elder. "So, all that about using my body for research..."

"Motivation!" He beamed. "Besides, it's been quite entertaining having you around. Do you know how long it's been since anyone's properly appreciated my work?" He caught himself, coughing slightly. "The research data alone made this worth it.”

I grabbed the vial before he could change his mind, trying not to think too hard about what kind of "research" he had in mind.

As I limped toward the door, clutching my hard-won prize, the vine kept checking my injuries, its tip brushing over the worst cuts and bruises. A light tap on my ribs made me wince - definitely broken.

"I'm fine," I muttered.

The vine's tip flicked against my cheek - its way of calling me out on obvious lies. It had seen exactly how hard that thing had hit me.

"Okay, not fine. But alive." I managed a weak smile. "Thanks to you."

It squeezed my arm gently in response, then tugged insistently toward the door.

Right. We should probably get out of here before the elder came up with any more "tests."

As we left, I made a mental note: next time I needed something from Elder Molric, I was bringing a written request. Preferably delivered from a safe distance.

Maybe by messenger pigeon.

The vine's gentle squeeze around my arm suggested it approved of that plan.