The vine tightened.
It wasn't a slow squeeze; it was a hydraulic crush. An Zhe's windpipe ground against his spine. The forest blurred into a suffocating smear of green and black as oxygen starvation set in.
He clawed at the muscle-like root, but it was hard as iron.
I'm going to die, the thought flashed, stark and terrifying. I escaped the camp just to be fertilizer.
Black spots danced in his vision. Above him, the yellow eyes of the beast in the tree widened, anticipating the snap of his neck.
He needed a weapon. He had none. So he had to make one.
Desperation overruled pain. An Zhe forced his jaw open against the crushing pressure and jammed his own hand into his mouth. He didn't hesitate. He clamped down, his teeth sinking deep into the fleshy web between his thumb and forefinger.
Crunch.
Watching from the shadows, Ray flinched, his brow furrowing. To him, it looked like the boy had snapped, gone mad from the fear.
An Zhe bit harder.
Pain exploded in his hand, sharp and grounding, eclipsing the agony in his throat. The copper tang of iron flooded his mouth. He yanked his hand free, tearing the skin.
Thick, crimson droplets fell from the wound. Gravity tried to claim them, pulling them toward the dark earth below.
An Zhe ignored the encroaching darkness. He extended his trembling, bleeding hand toward the falling drops.
Rise.
The laws of physics stuttered.
The blood didn't hit the dirt. It stopped in mid air. It shivered, then reversed course, floating upward like crimson rain.
A few yards away, the confusion on Ray's face melted. A cold, calculating smile curled his lips.
The floating blood reached An Zhe's open palm. It didn't splash; it coalesced. The liquid hissed, snapping into a rigid, crystallized structure. It elongated, sharpened, and hardened until An Zhe was gripping a jagged shank made entirely of his own vitals.
He didn't waste a second.
An Zhe slashed upward.
Shing.
The blood-blade was brittle, but it was razor-sharp. It bit into the magical vine, sawing frantically.
With a wet snap, the muscle severed.
Air rushed into his lungs with a violent gasp. An Zhe plummeted.
He hit the forest floor hard, rolling instinctively to cover his head. He lay there for a second, coughing, greedily sucking in the damp air as his bruised throat screamed in protest.
Not safe yet.
An Zhe scrambled to his knees, his vision swimming. He looked up.
The massive tree loomed over him. High in the branches, the beast roared,, a sound of frustration. The severed vine thrashed like a wounded snake.
Rage flared in An Zhe's chest. He tightened his grip on the blood-knife, ready to fight.
"Impressive," a voice drawled.
An Zhe whipped his head around.
Ray was standing there. But he wasn't just watching anymore.
In a blur of motion that An Zhe's eyes couldn't even track, Ray stepped forward and snatched the blood-knife right out of An Zhe's hand.
"Hey!" An Zhe rasped, staggering back.
Ray held the crimson weapon up to the moonlight, inspecting it with the curiosity of a jeweler examining a diamond.
"Solidified plasma," Ray muttered. "Structure held together by... willpower? No, resonance."
But the weapon rejected him.
Without An Zhe's connection, the structure destabilized. The sharp edge lost its form, melting back into liquid red that dripped through Ray's fingers and splattered uselessly onto the grass.
Ray looked at his stained hand, then back at An Zhe. "So, It only works for you."
"You... you watched," An Zhe croaked, his voice a broken wreck. "You let it grab me."
"I needed to see what you were," Ray said simply.
Above them, the leaves rustled violently. The beast was coming down.
Ray didn't look up. He moved.
It wasn't a run; it was a vanish. One moment Ray was standing five feet away, and the next, he was directly in front of An Zhe.
An Zhe didn't even have time to flinch. Ray grabbed him by the collar of his tattered shirt and lifted him off the ground as easily as if he were a ragdoll.
"Test is over," Ray muttered. "We're leaving."
"What the fu-"
Before An Zhe could finish, the world blurred. Ray launched them both forward, moving with a speed that defied human limits, disappearing into the dense, dark heart of the forest before the monster could take its first step.