Vaelorian sat beside his desk, staring at the open pages of his notebook. Several observations about Energy Perception were written across them, though most ended with the same frustrating conclusion.
Inconsistent.
He leaned back in his chair.
For the past several days, he had been practising regularly. Sometimes he could sense faint traces of spiritual energy around living things. At other times, even concentrating for several minutes produced nothing useful.
The problem was becoming obvious.
His room offered very little variety. The objects around him were familiar, and the surrounding energy seemed relatively weak.
If he wanted to improve his perception, perhaps he needed a different environment.
He turned another page and began writing.
Test Energy Perception in a natural environment.
He considered the idea for a moment.
There was a forest a considerable distance from the nearby settlement. He had visited its outer areas several times with his friends, although they had never ventured particularly deep into it.
It was quiet, filled with different kinds of plants and trees, and far enough from the usual roads to avoid interruptions.
It seemed suitable.
Vaelorian closed his notebook.
"Finally, a sensible plan."
He paused.
"Hopefully."
By late morning, he had packed a small bag containing drinking water, some food, his notebook and a few basic supplies.
His mother noticed him preparing to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To the forest."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"Just to spend some time there. I want to study the plants and practise concentration."
"Don't go too deep. And return before evening."
"I will."
She handed him a small container of food.
"Take this with you."
Vaelorian accepted it with a smile.
"Thanks."
"And don't forget to eat. You sometimes get so distracted by those books that you forget everything else."
"I don't forget everything."
His mother raised an eyebrow.
He looked at the container in his hand.
"Okay. Almost everything."
She shook her head, smiling.
A little later, Vaelorian left.
The journey took some time.
As he approached the forest, the sounds of the settlement gradually disappeared. The road narrowed, buildings became scarce, and trees began appearing more frequently along the sides.
He eventually reached a familiar entrance.
A narrow path extended between the trees, leading into the forest.
Vaelorian adjusted the strap of his bag and looked ahead.
"Well, here we go."
He stepped inside.
The temperature dropped slightly beneath the thick canopy. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating irregular patterns across the ground. Birds called from distant branches, while insects hummed among the vegetation.
For the first few minutes, everything seemed ordinary.
He followed the familiar trail, occasionally stopping to examine plants or observe the surroundings.
After finding a relatively open area, he placed his bag beside a tree and sat down.
This was a good place to begin.
He closed his eyes.
His breathing gradually settled as he began practising Energy Perception.
At first, he noticed nothing unusual.
Then, faint impressions began appearing around him.
Some seemed to come from nearby plants. Others were scattered farther away, blending into the general atmosphere of the forest.
He concentrated carefully.
The impressions became slightly clearer.
There was something different about the natural environment. Unlike the objects inside his room, the plants and trees seemed to contain subtle traces of energy.
He opened his eyes and looked at a small plant growing beside a rock.
"Interesting."
He moved closer and tried to sense it again.
A faint impression appeared.
He looked towards another plant.
Then another.
The results were inconsistent, but there was a noticeable difference compared with his previous attempts.
He opened his notebook.
Natural environments contain a wider variety of energy impressions. Individual sources are difficult to distinguish, but the overall perception appears more active.
He read the sentence.
"Not bad."
He closed the notebook.
Then he looked at the surrounding trees.
"Although I still have no idea what I'm doing."
After spending some time near the familiar trail, Vaelorian decided to explore a little farther.
He remained cautious, keeping track of the direction from which he had entered. He had no intention of wandering aimlessly through an unfamiliar forest.
As he moved deeper, the vegetation became denser.
Some trees were considerably older than those near the entrance. Their thick roots extended across the ground, disappearing beneath layers of soil and fallen leaves.
The atmosphere also began to change.
Vaelorian slowed down.
There was something unusual about the energy around him.
He closed his eyes briefly and concentrated.
Several faint impressions appeared.
One was close.
Another was farther away.
And beneath them, something seemed to spread across a much wider area.
He opened his eyes.
"That direction?"
He looked towards a section of the forest where the trees grew unusually close together.
The path was less distinct there, but he could still see gaps between the vegetation.
He hesitated.
Going farther wasn't necessarily a good idea. His knowledge of the forest was limited, and he had no experience dealing with anything genuinely dangerous.
He looked back towards the familiar trail.
Then he looked towards the unusual energy concentration.
A few seconds passed.
"Just a little closer. I'll turn back if it gets too difficult."
It sounded reasonable.
At least, that was what he told himself.
He continued forward.
The deeper section of the forest was noticeably different.
The trees stood closer together, and the ground was covered with layers of old leaves. Several enormous roots twisted around rocks and extended beneath the soil.
The air was still.
Even the sounds of birds seemed distant.
Vaelorian stopped beside a large tree.
He tried Energy Perception again.
This time, the impressions were stronger.
There was spiritual energy in the surroundings, but its distribution was unusual. Some areas contained almost none, while others seemed to hold concentrated traces.
He crouched and placed his palm near the ground.
A faint sensation passed through his awareness.
He frowned.
"That's strange."
He moved his hand a little farther.
The sensation disappeared.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Vaelorian sighed.
"Wonderful. My ability works whenever it feels like it."
He stood up and brushed the dirt from his palm.
Then he noticed something beneath a nearby tree.
Several dark, thin roots extended across the soil. They looked ordinary, almost identical to the exposed roots surrounding them.
He examined them briefly before looking away.
He had no reason to suspect anything unusual.
He continued exploring.
Several minutes later, Vaelorian stopped again.
This time, the sensation was stronger.
He could feel faint movements beneath the ground.
At first, he assumed it was caused by insects or small animals. But the impressions seemed too large and too coordinated.
He slowly turned his attention towards the surrounding area.
Something was moving.
Not above him.
Beneath him.
His expression became serious.
He took a step backwards.
The ground remained still.
Then he noticed that the dark roots near the tree had shifted slightly.
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Vaelorian stared.
"Wait..."
A thin vine emerged from beneath the fallen leaves.
It moved slowly across the soil.
Another appeared behind him.
Then a third.
Vaelorian's eyes widened.
He stepped back.
The vines suddenly accelerated.
Several dark tendrils burst from the ground and wrapped around his ankles.
"What the—?!"
He fell backwards.
His bag struck the ground, and the container of food rolled away.
He tried to pull his legs free, but the vines tightened immediately.
More tendrils emerged from beneath the soil, winding around his legs and waist.
Vaelorian grabbed one and pulled.
It barely moved.
The vine was stronger than it looked.
He tried again, putting more force into his arms.
A sharp pain travelled through his wrist.
"Damn it!"
The vines continued spreading.
Then he felt something even more disturbing.
A faint stream of energy was being drawn out of his body.
His expression changed.
He could actually perceive it.
The energy within him was moving towards the vines.
"What are you doing?"
The question received no answer.
The vines tightened around his body.
He struggled to move, but every attempt seemed to make the situation worse.
His breathing became uneven.
He tried to remember what he knew about spiritual energy.
Perception.
Manipulation.
He could sense the energy being drained, but he couldn't properly control it.
He had spent so much time trying to understand energy that he had never seriously considered what would happen if something began taking it away.
"Of course..."
He gritted his teeth.
"Of all the things in this forest, I had to find the one that eats people."
Deep beneath the forest floor, the roots of the spiritual organism continued spreading.
The creature was known among a small number of cultivators as the Blood-Eating Spirit Vine.
It was an unusual spiritual plant that grew in regions where spiritual energy accumulated naturally.
It possessed no human intelligence, no language and no understanding of morality.
It simply survived.
Its roots remained hidden beneath the soil for long periods, absorbing energy from the surrounding environment. When a living creature carrying spiritual energy entered its territory, the vines would emerge and attempt to capture it.
The stronger the energy source, the more aggressively the organism responded.
To ordinary humans, its territory appeared to be nothing more than an unusually quiet section of forest.
Most would never recognise the danger until it was too late.
And Vaelorian had walked directly into its territory.
The pressure around his body increased.
Vaelorian tried to pull his right leg free, but the vine tightened until he could barely feel his foot.
He needed to get up.
He needed to get away.
But his strength was disappearing.
The energy being drawn from him wasn't the only problem. His awareness itself was becoming unstable. The faint impressions he had been sensing throughout the forest began fading, as though someone were gradually turning down the volume of the world.
He tried to concentrate.
For a moment, he couldn't sense anything.
Panic struck him.
He opened his eyes and looked around, but the vines had already covered much of the ground. Several more were moving towards his arms.
One wrapped around his left wrist.
Another caught his shoulder.
He pulled desperately.
The vine around his wrist tightened. Something sharp scraped across his skin, and pain shot through his palm.
His grip weakened.
"Get off!"
He struck the vine with his other hand.
It barely reacted.
A tendril wound around his forearm and began pulling him towards the ground.
Vaelorian's shoulder hit the soil.
He gasped.
His remaining strength was no longer enough to resist the combined pull of the vines.
He was being dragged towards the base of the enormous tree.
There, beneath the exposed roots, the energy concentration was strongest.
His eyes widened.
The plant was pulling him towards its centre.
He tried to crawl in the opposite direction, but his legs barely responded.
Think.
He forced himself to breathe.
Think, damn it!
His Energy Perception had almost disappeared, but he could still sense one thing.
The energy moving out of his body.
It was flowing towards the vines.
He followed the faint sensation with his awareness. The movement wasn't random. The energy was being drawn through the points where the vines touched him.
He remembered the exercises he had practised.
He had always tried to sense the energy around himself.
But now he needed to understand what was happening inside his own body.
If I can sense where it's going... can I influence where it moves?
He attempted to concentrate on the energy near his chest.
Nothing happened.
The vine around his waist tightened.
A sharp pain travelled through his ribs.
His concentration shattered.
He coughed, struggling to draw air into his lungs.
For several seconds, he could do nothing except lie there.
Then another tendril began crawling towards his neck.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
He tried again.
This time, he didn't attempt to control all the energy within his body. He focused on a tiny portion of the flow moving towards the vine around his wrist.
He imagined nothing.
He forced no grand technique.
He simply tried to interrupt the movement.
At first, nothing changed.
Then the flow trembled.
The vine around his wrist loosened slightly.
Vaelorian felt the difference immediately.
His eyes opened.
"That..."
The vine tightened again.
The brief improvement vanished.
His head throbbed.
He tried to repeat the sensation, but his awareness slipped. It was like attempting to hold water between his fingers.
He had found something, but he couldn't keep it.
The tendril around his neck moved closer.
Vaelorian swallowed.
He was running out of time.
He forced himself to look around.
His bag lay several feet away. The straps had become tangled beneath two vines, and the water container was still beside it.
The ground was covered with roots, stones and fallen branches.
He needed something.
Anything.
His eyes settled on a broken branch lying near his right hand.
He stretched towards it.
His fingers brushed the wood.
The vine around his wrist pulled.
His hand slipped.
He tried again, stretching until pain spread through his shoulder.
This time, his fingers closed around the branch.
He pulled it towards himself.
The vine tightened.
Vaelorian gritted his teeth and swung the branch against the tendril wrapped around his wrist.
The first strike did almost nothing.
He struck again.
A faint crack appeared along the vine's surface.
The tendril loosened.
He struck a third time.
It recoiled.
Vaelorian immediately pulled his arm free.
Blood ran down his wrist.
He barely noticed.
He used the branch to hit the vine around his waist, but another tendril caught his leg before he could free himself.
It dragged him several inches towards the tree.
His fingers scraped against the soil.
He struck the vine again.
The branch broke.
Vaelorian stared at the remaining piece.
"You're kidding me..."
A new tendril wrapped around his ankle.
He had no time to complain.
He noticed something while struggling.
The vines weren't responding equally to everything around them.
Whenever he moved his body and released energy through sudden exertion, nearby tendrils shifted towards him. Their attention seemed to follow the strongest available source of spiritual energy.
He glanced towards the loose stones scattered around him.
Then towards the area where the vines had emerged.
An idea formed.
It was reckless.
But he had no better option.
Vaelorian gathered what little strength remained in his arms and threw a stone towards the opposite side of the clearing.
It struck a tree root.
Several vines immediately changed direction.
The pressure around his ankle decreased.
He pulled.
The vine didn't release him.
Instead, it tightened around his leg and began dragging him again.
His knee struck a buried stone.
Pain exploded through his leg.
A cry escaped his throat.
He nearly dropped the broken branch.
For a moment, he couldn't move.
Then he looked down.
The vine was pulling him towards the tree again.
He had only seconds.
He struck the tendril with the broken branch.
Once.
Twice.
The third strike landed near a thinner section.
The vine recoiled.
Vaelorian twisted his body and pulled with everything he had.
His ankle came free, but the sudden movement sent him crashing sideways. His shoulder struck the ground, and the remaining branch slipped from his hand.
He tried to stand.
His injured leg buckled immediately.
He fell to one knee.
The vines began moving towards him again.
He couldn't run.
Not like this.
His eyes moved towards the exposed roots of a nearby tree. A narrow gap lay between two thick roots, just large enough for him to crawl through.
If he could reach it, the roots might slow the tendrils.
He dragged himself forward.
His injured leg trailed behind him.
The first vine caught his boot.
He kicked desperately.
The vine tightened.
He kicked again, and the movement sent another wave of pain through his knee.
His boot came off.
He left it behind and continued crawling.
The ground scraped his palms. His injured wrist left a thin trail of blood across the soil.
Behind him, the vines moved faster.
One struck the ground beside his hand.
He flinched and pushed himself forward.
Another caught the back of his shirt.
The fabric tightened around his shoulders.
Vaelorian twisted, grabbed the cloth and pulled.
It didn't tear.
The vine dragged him backwards.
For one terrible moment, he was suspended between the ground and the tendril, his injured leg stretched behind him.
He reached for the fabric again.
Then he understood.
He couldn't free himself while the vine held his shirt.
He grabbed the edge of the torn fabric and pulled with all his strength.
The material ripped.
He fell forward.
The vine recoiled, still holding a large piece of his shirt.
Vaelorian crawled beneath the exposed roots.
A tendril struck the opening.
It scraped across his back, tearing skin through the remaining fabric.
He cried out and pushed himself deeper.
The gap narrowed.
The roots pressed against his shoulders.
He forced his way through until his body emerged on the other side.
The vines continued striking the ground behind him, but they couldn't easily reach into the narrow space.
Vaelorian collapsed.
His chest rose and fell violently.
He had escaped the immediate grasp of the plant.
But he wasn't safe yet.
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
His injured leg throbbed. His wrist was bleeding, his back burned, and his spiritual energy felt almost completely depleted.
He looked through the gap between the roots.
The vines were still moving.
They hadn't abandoned him.
One tendril entered the narrow opening and began searching.
Vaelorian dragged himself backwards.
His hand touched something hard.
A stone.
He grabbed it.
He struck it with the stone.
The impact barely slowed it.
He struck again.
This time, the vine recoiled slightly.
Vaelorian looked towards the other side of the roots.
There was a narrow opening leading down a sloping patch of ground. Beyond it, he could see thinner vegetation.
It might lead away from the organism's territory.
He had to try.
He pulled himself towards the opening.
His injured leg dragged behind him.
Every movement sent pain through his knee, and his breathing became increasingly difficult. He could feel the remaining energy inside his body, but it was too faint and unstable to help him.
He attempted to use the internal circulation he had discovered.
For a moment, he sensed the energy gathering near his chest.
Then it dispersed.
His head spun.
He stopped.
The vines were still searching.
He couldn't remain there.
Vaelorian clenched his teeth and continued crawling.
A tendril slipped through the roots and caught his ankle again.
He froze.
The vine pulled.
His body slid backwards.
He grabbed the nearest root with both hands.
The tendril tightened around his ankle, and his injured leg was pulled at an awkward angle.
Pain shot through his knee.
He screamed.
His fingers slipped.
For a moment, he was being dragged back towards the opening.
He looked down at the vine.
Then at the stone in his hand.
He struck it.
Once.
Twice.
The tendril barely reacted.
He raised the stone again, but his hand trembled so badly that he nearly dropped it.
The vine pulled harder.
His grip on the root began to fail.
Vaelorian's thoughts became strangely distant.
He was tired.
So tired.
His body wanted to stop fighting.
But the tendril was still pulling him.
He closed his eyes.
For the briefest moment, he sensed the energy being drawn from his ankle.
He focused on it.
Not the entire flow.
Just a tiny portion.
He tried to interrupt it again.
His consciousness trembled.
The energy movement faltered.
The vine loosened.
Vaelorian struck it with the stone.
This time, the tendril recoiled.
He pulled his leg free.
The sudden release sent him rolling down the slope.
He struck the ground hard, bounced against a tree root and came to a stop among the fallen leaves.
For several seconds, he couldn't breathe.
Then he forced himself onto his elbows.
The forest was quieter here.
The vines were no longer visible.
He looked back towards the slope.
Nothing emerged.
He didn't wait to find out whether the plant had stopped pursuing him.
He pushed himself upright and staggered away.
His injured leg could barely support his weight. He used the trees for balance, moving slowly through the vegetation.
Every few steps, he had to stop.
His vision blurred.
Once, he fell against a tree and remained there for nearly a minute.
He wanted to sit down.
He wanted to close his eyes.
But he remembered the vines moving beneath the soil.
So he continued.
He didn't know how long it took.
Eventually, the vegetation began to thin.
The familiar trail appeared ahead.
Vaelorian recognised it.
For the first time since the attack began, he felt a genuine sense of relief.
He took another step.
His leg gave way.
He collapsed beside the path.
When he finally regained enough strength to move, the sun had shifted considerably.
His bag was gone.
His food was gone.
His water supply was gone.
The notebook he had carried into the deeper forest had been left behind with the bag.
He stared at his injured hands.
The skin across his palms had been torn, and dried blood covered his fingers. His wrist was swollen. His back stung whenever he moved, and his knee had begun swelling beneath his trousers.
He slowly sat up.
For a moment, he simply breathed.
Then he looked towards the forest.
The deeper region appeared just as quiet as before.
Nothing moved.
Nothing revealed the presence of the organism beneath the soil.
Vaelorian swallowed.
"That..."
He stopped to catch his breath.
"...was a terrible training session."
The words sounded weak even to him.
He tried to laugh, but the movement hurt his ribs.
The smile disappeared.
He looked at his injured leg.
Then towards the forest again.
He had entered that place expecting to improve his Energy Perception.
Instead, he had nearly become food for a plant.
The journey back was slow.
Vaelorian avoided the deeper paths and followed the route he remembered. He stopped several times to rest, using tree trunks for support whenever his injured leg threatened to give way.
By the time he reached the settlement, his clothes were torn and dirty.
He had no desire to explain what had happened.
When he finally returned home, his mother noticed his condition immediately.
"Vaelorian! What happened to you?"
He tried to smile.
"I fell."
She looked at his torn clothes, his bleeding wrist and the way he was struggling to stand.
"You fell?"
"Quite badly."
"Sit down. Now."
He obeyed.
She brought water and began cleaning his wounds while asking what had happened. Vaelorian gave her a vague explanation about slipping on uneven ground and hurting his leg.
She didn't look convinced.
But she didn't press him immediately.
For once, he didn't argue when she told him to rest.
Later that evening, Vaelorian sat on his bed with his injured leg supported by a pillow.
His body still hurt.
The encounter had drained much of his spiritual energy, and even after resting, he felt mentally exhausted.
He stared at his hands.
The cuts were small, but they reminded him of how close he had come to losing control of the situation.
He remembered the vines tightening around his throat.
The sensation of being dragged towards the enormous tree.
The moment his fingers had slipped from the roots.
He closed his eyes.
For a while, he remained silent.
Then he noticed something.
His perception felt different.
The faint energy impressions around him were slightly clearer than before. He could distinguish the presence of nearby living things with greater consistency.
He also became aware of the remaining spiritual energy within his own body.
It wasn't much.
And he couldn't properly control it.
But he could sense its circulation.
He tried to follow the movement.
The sensation lasted only a few seconds before fading.
He opened his eyes.
A small improvement.
That was all.
He had nearly died for it.
Vaelorian leaned back against the wall.
"Not exactly the most efficient training method."
He looked towards the empty space beside his bed.
His notebook was still somewhere in the forest.
He would have to return for it eventually.
But not tomorrow.
Definitely not tomorrow.
That night, Vaelorian remained awake longer than usual.
He replayed the encounter in his mind, trying to understand what had happened.
The plant had responded to spiritual energy.
Its roots had spread beneath the ground.
Its vines had captured him and attempted to absorb what it sensed within his body.
He had managed to interrupt the energy flow, but only for a few seconds.
He hadn't defeated the organism.
He hadn't even damaged its main body.
He had simply escaped.
After some time, he reached for a spare notebook and wrote down what he could remember.
Forest Observation
Encountered an unidentified spiritual organism capable of extending roots and vines through the soil.
The organism attempted to absorb my spiritual energy.
Its attacks became more aggressive when I struggled and released energy.
During the encounter, I noticed that energy within my body could be sensed as a moving flow.
I managed to interrupt a small portion of the energy being drained, although I couldn't maintain the effect consistently.
He paused.
His hand was still slightly unsteady.
He added another line.
Energy Perception has become somewhat more stable. Internal energy circulation may be possible, but further observation is required.
He read the notes.
Then he wrote one final sentence.
Never enter an unfamiliar forest without understanding what lives inside it.
Vaelorian placed the pen down.
He looked at the injuries on his hands.
The encounter had taught him something his books could never have conveyed with the same clarity.
Knowing that danger existed was one thing.
Being helpless in front of it was something else entirely.
He closed the notebook.
For now, he needed to recover.
And next time, he would make certain that he was better prepared.