Sam wrestled with the resistance, but found that he was too evenly matched. He dispelled his Dao before he could waste any more energy, and cocked back his hammer. So far, the monster had been curiously quiescent, as if it were waiting for an opportunity to use its full power. After all, it was supposed to be quite powerful. That meant that it should have been using city leveling attacks, but so far, all Sam had encountered were a few claw strikes, and energy attacks.

Then he noticed something. The hole in the tree branch had already healed over. It seemed that the environment was highly beneficial to the monster, and vice versa. Its attacks were absorbed by the tree, rather than damaging it. As long as they remained on the tree, nothing would happen.

Sam sighed, and started to teleport wildly, building up speed with every one. A single footstep after every portal ensured that he could accelerate to the true limits of his E Ranked speed. Then he appeared in front of the monster, and drove his hammer into its sternum, expanding it to its maximum size.

Roots grew from the creature’s feet, tying it to the ground. It was too slow in doing so though, and Sam sent it flying. It reached out, trying to grasp onto something, but there was no time. It reached the end of the branch, and then fell. Sam teleported once more, and gathered his energy to his hammer, before letting gravity take him on a collision course with his foe.

Light bloomed around his weapon, and then was released as it struck the monster in the torso. There was a flash of incandescence, and the creature was sent hurtling down so fast that it seemed to strike the ground below almost instantly. Sam used that moment to scan the thing, wondering what he was up against.

Voidrot Guardian(Elite)

Variable Level(Mid E Rank)

The second part of the message was strange, something that he had never seen before. It likely had something to do with its connection to the wider Voidrot. As well as this, Sam had no idea what sort of bonuses or titles it had. He already knew that it was able to draw strength from its tree, but other than that, he was unsure of what sort of powers it could draw upon. All he had to focus on now was keeping it away from the corruption.

It teleported upwards, but Sam read the warping of the local Dao, and appeared near its emergence point, his hammer cocked back. The monster sent one fist hurtling forth, limned in a miasma of darkness. The hammer and fist met, and the resulting shockwave blasted both combatants backwards, Sam into the tree trunk, and the Voidrot Guardian into the open air.

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He smashed a vast hole into the soft bark, almost getting stuck in the swampy wood. Sam tried to teleport, but to his horror, he felt the Dao around him starting to change. The same Dao as the Guardian’s started to permeate the air, but at an even greater level. It was like the entire tree around him was fighting to keep him constrained.

` Sam used his physical strength to escape instead, breaking apart the trunk around him. It was far more difficult than it should have been. To some extent, the tree was as alive as the Guardian, and able to act against him.

He wrested himself free, only to see the monster back on the branch. Its body was twisted and battered, but it was already healing over at a visible pace. Damage in E Rank depended less on physical force and more on Dao energy, and the monster was able to use both its Dao and the greater Dao around it to combat Sam’s. The battle was only just starting to ramp up.

Sam tensed his body as he saw the Guardian race in, its footsteps eating up the ground with a gluttonous pace. Its immense size was just small enough for it to get the most out of both its speed and strength. In addition, it was likely being empowered by the tree beneath its feet.

Sam planted his hammer before him, expanding it to its true size. The wood beneath him groaned slightly. He used his armor’s buff a moment later, turning himself into a bulwark of defense. Then the Guardian’s fist hurtled in, surrounded by a comet of blackness. Sam clenched his jaw and empowered his hammer with his Dao. If this succeeded, he would be in great shape to knock the monster off the tree once more. That was the only way he could defeat it.

The fist planted itself in the center of his hammer’s haft, and his feet immediately began to slide. It took all he had to keep the weapon from impacting his armor, but he narrowly managed. He was still leery of using his Dao Juggernaut skill here, as if he did so and was unable to finish the fight, it would be over. Although the skill no longer reduced him to a helpless state, he would still be weakened significantly.

“Come on, you bastard!” He roared, drawing upon his will to push back. The metaphysical engine of his Mantra began to spin within him, filling him with a desire to succeed. As the momentum started to dry up, he pushed back, bringing the battle to a standstill.

The Guardian looked down at him with a puzzled expression on its face. It was hard to read, given the nature of its body, but still there. Likely, it had never been forced to deal with someone as troublesome as Sam before.

“Resistance?” It said, tilting its head. “Forbidden!”