My skin tingled with fear as I neared the cobblestone dome.

“Endure,” I repeated.

I wasn’t the same person as before. I was stronger than before and capable of standing up to anything The Matron threw my way.

My eyes shone with resolve as my violet dirt particles spurred me forward. The vibrations echoing through my body fended off the heightened gravity in the area and allowed me to stand before the cobblestone dome once again.

Creak.

I quickly climbed atop the cobblestones and stood before a large door made of an unknown woody material. The door creaked as I used my whole body to move it mere inches.

The shivers running down my skin turned into a gut-twisting feeling as I faced the bloodlust seeping out from the cobblestone dome. Pure evil and malice tiptoed across my skin and danced around my neck, causing my breathing to rush.

“Endure, Louie. This is for them.”

With a grunt, I opened the door wide enough to slip inside. As I entered, the feeling from before suddenly vanished, like it had all been a fever dream, which only scared me more. I took a deep breath to steady myself and walked into the cobblestone hall.

"Wow," I whispered.

The luminance from the violet mist filtered in from the open roof of the cobblestone dome, letting me see the worn indents and broken lines that traced along the cobblestone interior. All the lines arced to a point at the center of the room.

“That can’t be it.” I blinked my eyes, but the sight remained the same.

Ahead of me, placed upon an altar of the same cobblestone material, was a simple, almond-looking seed the size of which could get stuck inside a giant's teeth. The seed's top was open, with a single root growing and wrapping down along the altar and towards a spot bathed in dried blood.

Huff, huff, huff.

I inched closer to the extended root, noticing that the gravity in the area multiplied with each step. As I walked, I increased the defending vibrations in my body, drawing closer to the root like a lulled animal.

Suddenly, my steps stopped.

“What am I doing?” My eyes blinked with clarity as the violet earth core inside me let out a cleansing pulse that forced me to cough up a clump of red particles, enabling my sight to return to normal. With my true sight returned to me, I watched the root wriggle and expel more red particles into the air, filling the inside of the cobblestone dome with them. I covered my mouth and nose, but a reassuring pulse from my violet earth core countered the red particles that moved into my body.

"Did the red particles make me move forward? That was too close."

Wary of getting closer to the root, I detoured around to the back of the altar, watching the red particles as they sizzled against the cobblestone and wore it down. After some time, the red particles had ruined most of the lines and edges of the cobblestone.

“That’s it; now I’ve got a clear path to it.”

My steps drew me closer to the seed on the altar, but as I grew near, so did the gravity that pressed against me. Eventually, it got to the point where my vibrations, even at maximum strength, couldn’t push me farther.

I was about a meter away when my hand extended forward, millimetres at a time, and just as I was nearly within reach, the edge of my nail hit a wall of pure gravitational force.

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This gravitational force was so strong that it shaved the edge of my nail to a fine powder and ground that powder into nonexistence.

My eyes dilated as I hurried away from the altar, panting from having exerted nearly all my strength, just trying to grow close to the altar’s seed to investigate.

“How is it withstanding a gravity like that?” I wondered aloud, looking at the seed in the middle and the cobblestones beneath my feet. They didn’t seem that hard, but when I lightly kicked the cobblestones, my foot immediately felt a strong resistance.

My plan of killing The Matron took a detour, not only because I couldn’t sense a woman anywhere but also because I couldn’t even get near the apparent item of importance here: the large seed on the altar.

I scratched my head as I looked around the dome. I was expecting to get here and defeat the bad guy, and then... well, I hadn't thought that far ahead.

I was trying to take things step by step.

It was barren inside the cobblestone dome, and other than the seed, the cobblestone, and the red particles floating around inside it, the only thing left was the root.

My eyes lingered on the root and the dried blood nearby as a thought occurred to me. The root was obviously linked to the seed, and if the blood was from people... What if I just cut off the root? Would it regrow? My guess was that even if it did regrow, it would take time to do so in gravity this strong. Or, at the very least, it would take energy that might starve the seed if I kept cutting it off. Or rather, karate chopping it off since I had lost my only sword.

“Cut your problems by the root,” I murmured to myself in memory of the most fantastic gardener ever, Grandma Sylvie. She used to say that when I came to her as a kid, crying from the mean bullies at school. It was an odd saying to speak to a child.

“Well, I guess I remember it well now.” I cautiously walked over to a point near the root where I could unleash my full strength while being unhindered by the gravity in the area the least.

Maximum power value.

I gathered as many vibrations in my arm as it could handle without bursting and raised it high into the air. With a shout that let out every worry, every piece of anger at the being that had started this all, I slammed my karate hand deep into the root.

“BIG THUMP—”

SCREECH!!!

My climactic shout was interrupted by a scream that bounced off the dome walls and vibrated my body to the core. The root below me violently squirmed, and I noted the clear, violet chop mark deeply embedded into it. Even at my maximum vibrational power, I couldn’t chop through the tough root fibres, even with the help of the crushing gravity.

“Shit.”

My instincts warned me as the red particles in the area flocked towards the root, and before they could potentially pounce on my life, I sprinted out of the cobblestone dome.

SCREECH!!!

The screaming didn’t stop; even when I had run into the distance with the cobblestone dome far behind me, it still resounded intensely in the area.

Snarl!

As a bramble dog with insane eyes lunged for me, I ducked out of the way. I was about to flee again when another bramble dog passed overhead, targeting the other bramble dog. The two bramble dogs fought against each other as they ripped viny flesh off each other in a frenzy.

Pulse.

My body reacted as the corner of my vision spotted a swooping bramble bat bite towards me, and I punched it into a paste that littered the reddened ground. I hurried away from the spot as the bats dive-bombed me, and the bramble dogs, without regard for their life.

Before, the bats might have hesitated and flown around, waiting for an opportunity to attack. But not now, not when the root’s screams caused a frenzy in the bramble beasts.

I continued running, hoping to find the trail I had left behind towards the violet pool cave. The violet mist may have been sparse there, but it was also the area that held the least bramble beasts.

As I ran, I looked back toward the cobblestone dome. I couldn’t help but think that I might’ve stirred up the hornet’s nest instead of saving anyone.

*****

Abby watched as Gou Hui relished the fear he had caused them all.

She shivered at the thought of her brother or mother mutating into one of those bramble beasts that Gou Jia controlled. If even one of the brothers died…

“Yes, that’s it. That’s the despair seeping into you. What did you think you could do? Kill us off and then flee back to the mountains?” Gou Hui heinously cackled.

“Maybe as a bramble beast!”

Amidst the height of Gou Hui’s laughter, a vibration travelled throughout the sect, followed by a scream that caused Abby to hug her ears in defence.

SCREECH!!!

The scream rocked Abby’s body and caused something within her to resonate. Then, a mouthful of darkened blood was released from her lips.

When Abby looked up, she saw splotches of similar blood being coughed up from everyone, the three Gou brothers included.

“The Matron!” With a scared look, Gou Da snatched up Gou Hui and Gou Jia in his arms and disappeared with the flying strength of a Gateway Foundation Cultivator.

Everything happened so suddenly that Abby didn’t know how to react. She didn't understand what or who The Matron was, but whatever the case, it had saved her and the rest of them from their deaths.