It was now the beginning of the month. By the end of the month, the inter-village competitions would be held. He would be training on his own until that day came.

Tai checked his sack one more time. The wind slapped against his face as Angela glided beneath the clear blue skies. Tenma was languid as usual. It almost seemed like he did not care that he might die before he could be of any use to him.

"We're here." Tai looked below. He saw the usual green—however—everything else was unusual. The green coated the area like sheet on a bed, save the rare occurence of a hole or two.

"What is that?"

"If I told you, that'd be cheating," Tenma was obviously enjoying his confusion.

If he had to guess, the coat of leaves was an unreasonably large weed that managed to dominate trees. If that was so, the scene was awe-inspiring and chilling at the same time.

Angela elegantly dove in the air towards one of the openings. Without a word from Tenma, Tai prepared himself to jump.

As Angela paused her descent, he jumped and reached for a vine with his gloved hands. He gripped the vine and his fall was abruptly cut short, sending a tremor through his limbs. He looked below him. All he could see was darkness.

It would be difficult to find that animal Tenma tasked him to kill before the month's end.

Tai swung like a monkey from vine to vine, eventually reaching at the bottom of the many layers of weed. The sunlight dimmed with each layer till it was completely consumed.

He grabbed the nearest branch of a dead tree underneath. It snapped immediately. He slammed into the branches below, each breaking upon contact.

Tai crashed into the ground. Sharp pain stabbed his right foot as his calf bent in places where there was no joint. He bit his lips until he tasted iron, refusing to make a sound.

He rolled out of the spotlight caused by the opening above. With each roll, the pain multiplied and numbed his mind. But he held his composure. He could handle this level of pain.

He laid still in the darkness, listening for any danger. The area was silent. It was as if no living creature existed for miles on end.

Tai slowly sat up. He took a deep breath, and in one swift movement, shifted his lopsided foot in its correct position. He wrapped the foot tightly against a tiny stick that broke off while he fell.

Tai, despite hesitating, took out a vial of glowing purple liquid. This life-saving liquid was limited; he could not afford to waste it.

He sipped a bit and immediately stowed it away in his trusty sack. His broken foot immediately felt warm. It would take hours for his wrangled foot to heal

He tried to stand up. The pain intensified, but he remained unfazed. Tai slowly limped farther away from the light into the pitch darkness. His only guide at the moment was the wind. Where there was wind, there was space.

Suddenly, the wind stopped. He now had no reference of direction. He turned to see how far he was from the beam of light. It was gone.

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He...did not know what to do, but he couldn't stay where he was. He continued on, so that hopefully he will encounter something, anything.

He took one painful step, then another. A sharp object pressed against his stomach, and out of reflex, he took a step back. He waved his hand before himself. He felt a wall of sharp blades in front of him.

He retreated to the direction he came from, and in less than two steps, he encountered another spiky wall. All around and above him were the same sharp blades.

It was shortly after his discovery that he realized...the enclosure was shrinking. Tai repeatedly tried to slice the blades with his dagger. The enclosure shrunk some more. He hacked at the blades as hard as he could.

His dagger that accompanied him for so long shattered on impact, leaving him helpless. He stashed his hilt in his sack. He traced his fingers to see if any damage was done. His trusty dagger did not leave a scratch.

However, he suddenly resonated with the blade. Its surface felt familiar, like wood. It should be some kind of plant. Maybe, he could try and connect with it, and convince it to not kill him.

Now, he did not have the space to move a step. He tried to press his hands between the blades, but there was not enough space. Blades pressed from above, forcing him to crouch. It moved in on all sides. He could feel multiple punctures in his skin despite his leather armor.

The possibility of dying now felt all too real. No one was there to save him. During the last time he was alone, he would have died if Tenma did not save him. The current situation gave him a grim deja vu of his weakness.

He was tired of being weak. He was tired of being at the mercy of others.

He pushed his hand on the blade. It tore into his skin. He continued to push his hand until he reached its root. A somewhat flat surface presented itself.

Now, his palm was on the plant. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, though in the absolute darkness it made no difference. The puncture wounds on his body became deeper.

Immediately, his consciousness connected with the plant. Unsurprisingly, it possessed a consciousness. As he was to gently greet the plant, it struck at him. A blinding pain unlike anything he ever felt before assaulted his consciousness. A deep laceration on scarred his soul.

The plant continued to attack him, and he was helpless to resist. Again, and again, it attacked with deep hatred. He could retreat back to his body, but he'd be dead if he did so. He tried to coerce the creature, to comfort it, but nothing worked.

He was not going to die here. After he realized that plants could possess consciousness, he refrained from taking over their vessels, but now, he couldn't care less.

He shoved the plant's consciousness off the 'driver's seat' of its body, much to its resistance. The more he tried to push it away, the harder it fought back. However, he would not back down.

The more he fought, the more fatigued he became. He did not have much time left.

Using all the energy he had left, he pushed himself in the 'seat' with all his might.

One second. He managed to take control of the plant for one second. In that second, he made a gaping hole in the plant's trap. Afterwards, the consciousness knocked him out of the 'seat'.

Tai immediately retreated to his body and gasped for air. He crawled out of the trap in an adrenaline-powered frenzy and did not stop. He crawled for a while, then got on his feet and limped away as quickly as he could downwind.

He was incredibly tired and wounded. The serum he drank earlier stood strong in his body, coagulating the many puncture wounds and healing them. The downside was that his foot would not heal as quickly after this. Nevertheless, he was happy that he survived.

...

Tai limped, dragging his foot across the damp forest floor. One minute turned into one hour, then a few. All he could feel was the pain.

The mind-numbing darkness started to feel like home.

It felt like a reflection of his life. He was chewed up and spat out at every turn. He was always on the recieving end, but what should he do? Throw himself into battle? He wasn't Tenma.

That was not like him. He always ran away in the face of danger he couldn't handle. That was life. That was how one survived. Only fight when there was no other choice.

Tai, who was battered, bruised, and in pain, turned around. He did not even know if he truly turned around. He walked for a minute, then an hour and then a few more in the direction he lost the plant creature.

Based on his memory, he should be where he encountered that creature. The all too familiar beam of light stood afar off as a grim reminder of the suffocating darkness around.

Black streaks of serrated vines marred his view of the beam of light. The creature was back. Every fibre of his being screamed to run away, to survive. He suppressed the thought and focused on the upcoming fight. Either himself or that abominable plant would die today.