Chương 78: Chapter 66 – The Hunt for Essence

Cade moved through the swamp alone, bare feet sinking slightly into the damp earth with each step. The air was still thick and humid, clinging to his skin like a second layer, but the silence that had followed Vorduun and Brahm was gone. Insects buzzed in uneven rhythms around him. Something small darted through the undergrowth to his left, rustling leaves before vanishing. Farther off, something heavier splashed through shallow water. Above him, branches shook as unseen creatures leapt from limb to limb.

Cade exhaled slowly, adjusting to the shift. Without the oppressive presence of the ash tortoises, the jungle no longer recoiled. Instead, it pressed in around him—alive, watchful, and full of movement. Cade's gaze drifted to a cluster of low bushes beside the path. In his essence sight, thin green lines traced through their stems—faint, almost fragile threads of life weaving up from the ground and branching outward. He stepped past them, glancing toward a larger tree nearby. The difference was immediate.

The tree's trunk held a much thicker line of green essence, pulsing slowly as it rose upward and spread through the branches above. Smaller offshoots extended into each limb, like veins feeding the canopy. Every plant, every living thing had green lines running through them. Cade's attention snapped to movement in his peripheral vision as a pair of oversized mosquitoes buzzed past him. In his normal sight they were little more than blurs.

In his [Essence Sight] they were streaks of faint green—thin, flickering traces of life darting through the air before vanishing into the foliage. He kept walking. Time blurred as he moved deeper through the swamp, his attention constantly pulled between the physical world and the web of essence layered over it.

He found himself staring at things he would have ignored before—watching the way life essence pulsed through roots, how it gathered more densely in thicker plants, how even the smallest sprouts held a thread of it. It was fascinating. Time passed and Cade barely noticed the distance he'd covered. It was strange—without something trying to kill him, the swamp almost felt peaceful. The noise, the movement, even the thick air… it all settled into something calm.

His gaze settled on a large cypress tree rising from a shallow pool of still water. Its thick trunk twisted upward, roots spreading into the murky water below. Something about it caught his attention and Cade slowed. [Essence Sight] showed a bright, concentrated mass of life essence clung to the tree. It stood out sharply against the steady, pulsing lines that ran through the rest of the trunk. Cade frowned slightly and stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he studied it. What is that…? Behind him, the swamp shifted.

The muck stirred as subtle ripples spread across the shallow water. Then, slowly, several thick roots began to rise from beneath the surface. They pushed upward through the mud in silence, slick with dark water as they uncoiled. Their tips sharpened as they lifted. Cade didn't notice. His attention remained fixed on the strange mass of essence in the tree. For a brief moment, everything stilled. Then the roots struck. They shot forward like spears, cutting through the air with sudden, violent speed.

Cade felt the impact a split second later. A dull, heavy force slammed into his back, driving him a half step forward. He stumbled.

"What—?" Cade spun around instinctively, heart spiking as his mind scrambled to catch up. Behind him, several thick roots jutted from the ground, their sharpened ends hovering exactly where his torso had been a heartbeat ago. Another root snapped forward. Cade jerked to the side, barely avoiding the strike as it punched into the ground where he'd been standing. His thoughts raced. Why didn't that hurt more? Then an instant later it clicked. Toughness. He had reforged his body and it wasn't the same as before.

Another root lashed out. Cade twisted, stepping back as it carved through the air in front of him. His eyes flicked over the roots, tracking them carefully. In his essence sight, thin green lines ran through them. They were faint, barely thicker than the tiny plant Vorduun had burned earlier. Cade frowned even as another strike launched toward him. He dodged again, feet splashing through shallow water as he shifted position. The roots were large and they looked sharp enough to skewer him if they hit right.

But compared to Cade's natural Toughness, the sharpened tips may as well have been blunt butter knives. And the essence running through them was… weak. Cade moved again as another spear-like root shot toward him. He wasn't about to stand still and find out the hard way if his Toughness enhanced body could handle repeated strikes. As he circled, his gaze followed the threads of essence running through the roots. They all led back to the tree. Cade's eyes narrowed as the connection clicked into place.

"Of course there would be sentient plants in this green hell," he muttered. His focus snapped to the trunk and he used [Identify]. Quickgrowth Cypress — A common wetland tree that grows rapidly in environments rich in mana. Cade stared at it for half a second.

"Wow. Looks like my [Identify] is still completely useless." He ducked under another sweeping root and pivoted around the base of the cypress tree, his feet splashing through the shallow water. The roots followed. They twisted through the mud with unnatural speed, striking from new angles as if anticipating his movements. Cade barely avoided another thrust, the sharpened tip passing close enough that he felt the air shift against his skin. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Even with a lesser quality Identify, it should have mentioned something about sentience and root spears. His gaze snapped back to the trunk. In his essence sight he could see that the life essence within the cypress didn't flow like the other trees he had seen. It didn't pulse evenly from root to branch. Instead it pooled halfway up the trunk. Right where that dense knot of green had previously caught his attention. Cade's eyes narrowed but another root shot toward him.

He twisted aside, water spraying as his foot slid across the muddy ground. He kept moving, circling the tree. If the source of the attack was tied to that cluster of essence, then he needed a better angle. The roots lashed out again. Cade ducked, then stepped through a gap between two strikes, pushing himself around to the opposite side of the trunk. His shoulder brushed against damp bark as he moved. He saw the bulging mass protruding from the tree.

At first glance it looked like a burl—a natural growth, rough and uneven, blending almost perfectly with the bark around it. But then it twitched. Cade froze for half a second. Yeah. That's not part of the tree. The burl shifted again, subtle but unmistakable. Cade quickly used [Identify] again. Rootspike Stag Beetle — Level 12 A large wetland beetle with a durable shell. Its bark-toned carapace helps it blend against trees. It uses roots and uneven terrain to launch sudden attacks at its prey.

"Shit, that was actually useful," he muttered. Then he had to move again as another root came stabbing toward his side. He twisted away, breath quickening as the fight sharpened his senses. Cade's eyes flicked back to the beetle. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could see it clearly. The "burl" was its body, pressed flat against the trunk. Its legs were anchored deep into the bark, gripping tightly.

And in his essence sight he spotted the thin lines of green that extended through the beetle's legs and merged with the tree's own essence. That's how it's doing it. It wasn't the tree attacking him. It was the beetle controlling the tree's roots. Another barrage of roots shot toward him. Cade ducked, then stepped forward instead of back, closing the distance. He had no weapon. Nothing but his own body. He dodged again, slipping between two strikes as he moved closer to the trunk. Cade clenched his fist.

"Guess I'm doing this the hard way." He surged forward, timing his movement between more incoming roots. His fist slammed into the beetle's carapace. The impact jolted up his arm instantly. It felt like punching steel. Cade's teeth clenched as the force rebounded through his bones, his arm vibrating from the strike. The beetle didn't budge.

"Okay," he hissed as he staggered back half a step, shaking his hand slightly.

"That's not gonna work." The roots came again. He dodged, slipping to the side as another spear-like strike buried itself into the mud where he'd just been standing. Cade exhaled sharply, mind racing. He needed something. Anything. His eyes flicked down to his right hand. The skin had healed over and now looked normal. But he could still feel the rhizome within. Alive just beneath the surface. He hesitated. A familiar unease crept into his chest. He had used it in his fight against Brahm.

He remembered the feeling of it growing out of his skin. Feeding off of his resources, off of him. And now he was forced to use it again. Cade grimaced. Another root speared toward his chest but Cade twisted, the sharpened tip grazing past him as he stepped through the opening. Mud splashed underfoot as he kept moving, refusing to let himself get pinned in place. His breathing steadied as he reached inward toward the parasite buried beneath his skin. It pulsed faintly in response.

Cade clenched his jaw and focused his will. He needed something he could use to pry the beetle off of the tree. He bet if he disconnected it from the tree itself, then the beetle would no longer be able to control the roots and would be easy pickings. Grow. The response was immediate. A sharp, invasive sensation spread through his right hand as something shifted beneath the surface. It wasn't pain—not exactly—but it felt wrong. Like something that didn't belong was forcing its way through him.

Cade's fingers twitched as wood split through skin on his palm, sliding outward in twisting strands of dark, living fiber. The growth coiled over itself, thickening, extending, shaping itself as he guided it with his will. He felt it draw from him. A sudden drain ripped through his body as the rhizome fed on his health, stamina, and mana. All three dropped at once, a third of each torn away and funneled into the growth forming in his grasp.

"Fuck me—" He staggered half a step but forced himself to stay upright as the weapon finished forming. Two meters of hardened wood extended from his hand, forming a dark, ridged spear etched with faint fractal patterns. They looked strangely familiar, but he didn't have time to study them. In his essence sight, Cade could see a faint green line connecting the weapon to his palm. He tightened his grip. The weapon felt solid and yet his stomach twisted. I cannot wait to get this thing out of me.

He could feel it inside him. A parasite that was using him just as much as he was using it. Another root lashed toward him. Cade snapped back into motion as he surged forward. The beetle remained anchored to the tree, its body pressed flat against the bark as its legs pulsed with essence that controlled the assailing roots. Cade's eyes narrowed. The connection was obvious now. As long as the beetle stayed fused to the tree, it could keep using the roots to attack him.

If he could pry it loose, maybe the roots would stop moving altogether. He closed the distance in a burst of movement, slipping between two incoming strikes, and drove the spear forward, jamming the tip into the slight gap between the beetle's body and the tree. Even as he pushed, the carapace held firm. The beetle's grip remained anchored to the trunk. Cade gritted his teeth as he used leverage to his advantage.

"Come on—!" He pushed harder, using his full strength, bracing his footing in the mud. Then something gave. With a sharp, tearing sound, the beetle's grip broke and its body peeled away from the trunk as broken bark rained down. The moment it lost contact all of the roots dropped at once, falling limp into the mud, lifeless without the beetle's control. As it fell, the beetle shifted. Its shell split as thin, translucent wings began to unfurl from beneath the carapace.

Cade didn't give the beetle a chance to escape. He brought the shaft of the spear down hard, slamming it into the creature's back and pinning it to the ground before it could take flight. Mud splashed outward on impact. The beetle twitched, its wings half-extended. He didn't hesitate. Through his [Essence Sight], a denser knot of life essence burned within the beetle's body—faint compared to Vorduun's core, but far brighter than anything in its limbs or the tree.

He adjusted his grip and drove the wooden speartip downward, targeting that point. It punched between the beetle's plates where it found soft tissue. The beetle twitched then went still. In his [Essence Sight], he saw something within the beetle's body shift. A faint wisp of green lifted off of the body and drifted toward him. As it moved, the color faded. The green thinned until it turned pale, then nearly transparent—so faint it was almost invisible even with his enhanced vision.

It slipped into him, but unlike the essence from ash, he felt no warmth at all. A moment later, as it settled within him, Cade received a System notification he hadn't seen since before entering Cynthia's Legacy. Ding! You have defeated [Rootspike Stag Beetle – Level 12]. You have gained additional experience for killing a creature above your level. Race: [Human – (F)] has reached Level 10. +2 to all stats. Cade blinked and his grip on the spear loosened slightly. What? His gaze dropped back to the corpse.

Strands of green still lingered within its body, slowly fading as they bled into the air—yet they were undeniably still there. Cade's brow furrowed. Was that translucent wisp experience? Cade's focus shifted inward as he pulled up his status.

STATUS Name: Cade Whitehollow Age: 26 Race: [Human (F) – lvl 10] Health Points (HP): 605 / 605 Stamina Points (SP): 572 / 572 Mana Points (MP): 583 / 583 Statistics: Strength: 34 (49) -> 36 (52) Dexterity: 33 (47) -> 35 (50) Endurance: 34 (49) -> 36 (52) Toughness: 31 (44) -> 33 (47) Vitality: 35 (52) -> 37 (55) Wisdom: 37 (53) -> 39 (56) Intelligence: 35 (50) -> 37 (53) Willpower: 54 (78) -> 56 (81) Titles: [A Brutal Welcome], [Coreless Conqueror], [Shepherd the Young], [111th Integration Pioneer], [Perfectly Reforged Body], [Coreless Lawbearer] Law Seed: [Inviolable Self] Quests: Tutorial Quest: Lords of the Swamp, Dungeon Quest: Cleanse Cynthia's Legacy Race Skills: [Unbroken Will], [Identify (lesser)], [Hyperfocused Meditation (rare)], [Essence Sight (uncommon)]