Dario stayed close to the ground as he crept forward, silently pushing away a sharp-edged branch that was in his path. He paused for a moment, scanning the surroundings and listening carefully to make sure no beasts were sneaking up on him.

  Down on the third plateau of the Fogbreaker Boglands, everything was out to kill you. He’d learned that the hard way. The beasts here had damn good senses, too, putting his stealth skills to the test.

  He adjusted his pattern of Ki channeling around his eyes, using an effect of emanation that would block some of the ambient aura and light. It took much of his focus, but it finally allowed him to see Ki without being blinded. Just like each hue of light had a different flavor to it, requiring him to bend the strings light Ki slightly differently to create the right effect when making illusions, aura and Ki came in different flavors as well. Taking JeeJee's tips to heart, he was learning to block some of them out so that he could see the others all the more clearly.

  In this moment, he was filtering for fire Ki, vision darkening as he blocked out most other visual sources, until he spotted a small speck of red, further off and… down? He must have crept closer to the edge of the third plateau than he’d thought. After pushing himself past a bush, he found himself right at the edge of the cliff, which gave him a clear view of the thick jungle below on the fourth plateau. A flash of dark orange swished through the brush; that had to be the fire lizard he’d been tracking.

  He used his liana trick to drop slowly down, bending the light around himself to blend in with the surroundings. Once again, he filtered for the warm hues of fire Ki, allowing him to track the Reijuu from afar. Once he spotted it, he sped up to close the distance.

  The Reijuu was flicking its tongue in the air, heading for a stone outcropping that had ambient fire aura gathering around it in thick swirls of orange and red fog. He’d been following it long enough to know that it was gorging on different sources of fire Ki. This would be its largest meal yet, so hopefully that would reveal something new.

  Its target was some kind of thick, tough bulb, like a fully grown version of the Netsu Nubs he’d seen in the cave out in the wilds. It took the reptile a good while to chew through it and as it began to digest, he could see how strongly the fire Ki rushed through its veins. After a brief post-meal nap, the Reijuu set off with a purpose , moving faster than before, no longer sniffing around. Dario had to move at a jog to keep it in view.

  There was a lot more noise than they should have been making, but the other Reijuu knew to keep away from the fire lizard, which he followed all the way to the edge of the fourth plateau, far deeper into the Boglands than he’d gone before. Here, the jungle thinned out completely, revealing a rocky plane in strange formations. The stone rounded down at the bottom of the steep drop, then rolled up into a series of steep hills. This effect repeated five times, resulting in a landscape that looked like five huge waves carved out of stone before it flattened out and eventually transitioned into a jungle again. Multi-colored mists of aura hung like festive strips of cloth from the sheer tips of the waves, leading down to deeper pools in each of the valleys.

  The reptile paused only briefly before climbing down, trailing bits of fire aura as it zigzagged between jagged stones and a few dangerous-looking plants. Dario traced its path as it moved through a path of rock that was clear of the aura mists, eyes landing on an alcove that had a small flower, each petal of which had a subtly different color. Something about the complex, dense weave of Ki he could see inside of it made it feel important.

  Now that he was looking for it, he noticed more plants standing out, some nestled in alcoves in the cliffs, others growing proudly on outcroppings of stone that were dotted atop the cliff face like thin lines of water spraying up from the waves. This place could be a treasure trove, he thought, smiling.

  He moved up to the edge, grabbing his stave and forming it into a bow. The plan was just to observe the Reijuu and see what happened, but when treasure was involved, sometimes plans had to be tossed. Hana would hopefully be able to help him figure out what it did. It wouldn’t be an easy fight, but he had a clear shot from here and an entire jungle of plants behind him to provide cover.

  As the lizard surged up, moving between two dense pockets of blue fog, Dario took a deep breath and held it as he lined up his shot. Right after he loosed, something shot out of the mists and crashed into the fire lizard’s flank. His arrow sunk into a patch of dirt as a long, azure shape carried the lizard along the cliff face.

  It took him a moment to realize it was a giant snake, swirls of bright air aura twisting around its body. Fire Ki flared as the lizard struggled, but a blast of air blew the heat away, pushing holes through the fogbanks all along the length of one valley.

  The fight was surprisingly silent, with neither beast growling or roaring. There was only the grinding sound of scales on stone and crumbling rocks tumbling down the slope as the Reijuu fought. But it didn’t take long: the snake was far bigger and it had already sunk its teeth into the lizard’s side, biting down hard. Dario gaped as the lizard struggled, then began to shrivel before it went still.

  Instead of eating it, the snake spat its body out and slithered back to the deep pockets of air aura. Dario couldn’t tell how it was sticking to the sheer cliffside, but it didn’t seem to have any trouble with it. When it passed below his arrow, its head suddenly shot up and a long, blue tongue flicked out of its mouth.

  A stiff breeze rustled his hair as the snake moved its head and flicked its tongue, swaying, searching. He kept himself cloaked as he took a step back, but then something changed and the serpent turned to him sharply.

  “Crap,” he muttered, carefully drawing an arrow. The Reijuu shot suddenly down toward the round curve of the valley's half-moon shape, too fast to hit. He cursed, leaning forward, waiting until it came up the cliff so he’d have a straight shot down, then he loosed. Light Ki surged through his arms and shoulder as one arrow flashed after the other. But then his eyes widened as his arrows were either blown aside by blasts of air, or plinked uselessly off the serpent’s deep blue scales.

  He scattered a handful of seeds where he stood, hurriedly pushing out a huge wave of plant Ki so that vines and flowers surged up as he ran, forming a wall of thorns and bark with paralytic spores hidden in between.

  The serpent shot up the cliff face, rearing up before the wall of vines. A flicker of cold fear passed through him as he realized how large it was. Its underside didn’t gleam blue like he’d expected, but showed a rough, fibrous hide the color of young leaves. For a heartbeat he thought it was covered in moss, but then he saw the movement. The serpent’s green belly writhed with dozens of small, twitching limbs that dug into the cliff. Not feet, he realized, but roots.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  He pushed Ki into his eyes to reveal different hues of blue air Ki mixing in with green at the bottom. It used two elements, just like he did, and one of them was nature. A low hiss rippled from its throat, and he felt the pulse of plant Ki being siphoned away. As he watched his proud vines withering away, he knew he couldn’t fight it without thorough preparation. Not with his best weapons taken away. So he ran.

  He glanced over his shoulder to see the vines and flowers blown apart and then a thunderclap of air slammed into him. Branches smacked him in the face as he flew, crashing down in a rough tumble. He pushed himself on, spitting out a mouthful of leaves as he sprinted through the forest.

  The wind howled behind him. Another wave of compressed air smashed through the undergrowth, branches cracking where it passed. He dodged left, but the blast clipped him on his side, sending him sprawling to the ground. He rolled, coming up on one knee and twisting his head as he pushed out his light Ki. The serpent had nearly closed the distance but stopped as a bright flare of light blossomed in front of its face. Then, the air shimmered before three illusory doubles of Dario bolted in different directions through the misty jungle.

  He ran on, invisible, his stealthy shoes covering most of the sound he made. The distance grew as the serpent hesitated, before its tongue flicked out again, a long blur of blue. Air pulled at him, coming from ahead of him now, before he heard the huge Reijuu moving again, slithering over the underbrush.

  The real Dario pushed harder, leaping a fallen trunk and hitting the ground running. He focused, bending the light so that he could see over his shoulder without having to turn his head all the way. There was no time to slow down.

  A flicker of motion had him ducking his head as a blade of air screamed past him, cutting a thick groove where it slammed into a tree trunk. “Damn it,” he hissed, seeing the cliff face that would lead up to the third plateau coming up ahead. How was he going to climb up that thing without being torn apart?

  The serpent seemed to fly as it writhed through the bush, moving far faster than a creature that size should have any right to. He leapt behind a boulder as it sent out more blades of air, sprinting on and diving through a small hole in a thick web of lianas and vines. He paused to send out tendrils of plant Ki, thickening and strengthening the green ropes, hoping to slow it down.

  He reached for his artefacts as he ran up to the cliff wall, pulling himself up on the liana he’d left hanging as his legs scrambled up the wall. He made it up a third of the way before an explosion of air cleared the web of vines he’d left behind, the huge snake pushing on through.

  He sent out another flash of light which stopped it in its tracks for a moment as it closed its serpentine eyes. Once again, he felt the air tugging at him as its tongue flicked out, so he tossed out his two only air artefacts, creating blasts of air in the opposite direction, hoping to throw off the flow. They were intended to blast spores at his enemies, but he’d be a far too easy target up this cliff.

  The snake’s huge head swayed from left to right, tongue blurring, but it didn’t move. Dario scrambled, arms burning with light Ki as he heaved himself up as fast he could, feet kicking at the wall. His artefacts ran out and the snake surged forward, pausing at the bottom of the cliff. Air aura began to gather around it. He cursed, he was nearly out, just a bit more-

  A wall of air blades blasted up from the Reijuu in a wide cone, and Dario only barely managed to activate his bubble shield. He was pushed up, riding the wave of air, but then his bubble burst and he cried out in pain as something cut into the back of his arm.

  “Gaah!” He hurtled through the air, blood spraying as he flew up and up, over the forest canopy of the third plateau. In that weightless moment at the apex of his flight, he could tell that he was going to come down hard in a clearing.

  “Fuckfuckfuck,” he hissed as he grabbed desperately for pouches, until he got the right one, chucking the whole thing down in front of him while feeding it plant Ki. That pouch exploded into fluffy white plants an instant before he crashed down on it. It probably saved his life, but he still came down hard.

  He scrambled back despite the pain and his swimming vision, eyes scanning for movement at the edge of the plateau. Wheezing as he gasped for breath, he stumbled through the forest. Still no movement. That was good. But he was wounded, bleeding and dazed. It wouldn’t take long for more beasts to come after him. Too dangerous to sit still and bandage his wound.

  A loud growl sounded from deeper in the jungle, followed by wood cracking, so on a wild gamble, he headed for the source of the sound. When he broke through the bushes and spotted the bronze-haired noble from before sitting on top of another beast corpse, he let out a breath.

  “Hi again,” he said as he limped into the small clearing. “Mind giving me a hand real quick? I need to get some bandages on this.” He gestured with his head to his right arm, which was cut up along the back side.

  “Oof,” the noble said as he gave it a look. “That has got to hurt. But you’re in luck, I happen to be a healer.” He paused, then, eyes widening. “Wait. It’s you! From the gala! Dario, was it?”

  “Right. I’m really bad with names, sorry. Something with a K…?”

  “Karada, of the Taira clan. You made quite the impression, let me tell you,” the man said, laughing. “I’ve been to plenty of galas but I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  Dario gave an embarrassed smile. “Glad it made you laugh at least. I won’t be making a mistake like that again any time soon. But, uhh, the bandage?”

  “Right. Of course. I can do better than a bandage, if you’ll let me. I could close that wound right up so that all you need are a couple of good healing pills.”

  “You can do that? Using flesh Ki or whatever to close wounds?”

  Karada nodded. “The Taira clan are known for their skill with healing. Well, that and keeping the peace. But I can only help you if you allow my influence over your flesh.”

  Dario let out a pained grunt as he peeled a piece of bloody sleeve away. “Yes. Definitely yes. Go right ahead.”

  He sat down and Karada kneeled by his back, holding his hands over the wound. “You’ll feel some pressure, just let it in. It’ll sting a bit.”

  Just as the young man said, he felt something tugging and pushing at his arm and there was a clear sense that he could fight it if he wanted to. Instead, he withdrew his influence, letting go of all the Ki and aura in that area with his mind. Then, he felt something begin to move, watching as Karada worked.

  Apparently, having control over flesh Ki allowed him to influence Dario’s muscles and skin, slowly knitting it back together. There were multiple hues of the Ki combined in a complex weave, which reminded him of the complexity of weaving illusions. He was about to ask about it, but Karada was first to speak up.

  “Went in too deep? The Boglands can be dangerous.”

  “Yeah. I went all the way to the fifth plateau, but then I ran into this big blue snake-”

  “The Galevine Serpent?” Karada broke in, clearly amazed. “You’re lucky to be alive. Or highly skilled. Perhaps a bit of both. That is probably the single most dangerous Reijuu in the Boglands. Known to be extremely aggressive, though it doesn’t usually ever come up this high.”

  “You know about it? Does it have any weaknesses?”

  The nobleman laughed. “Nope. None that I’m aware of. My best advice is to stay far away from it.”

  Dario nodded, though that was not at all his intention. If it was just about getting payback, he might just leave it be, but that beast was protecting a bunch of natural treasures, some of which he might need. There was a reason the fire lizard had risked its life rushing for that flower, and he'd bet it had something to do with cultivation. The snake was a poor matchup for him, though, so he would have to plan carefully.

  As he watched Karada heal the cuts in his arm, he was already thinking of solutions. There was one obvious way to approach it. A secret weapon of sorts, so good of an option that it would even count as a shortcut.

  Yes, he thought to himself with a vicious smile, that would be an excellent way to teach that overgrown serpent a lesson.