Wood Demon - Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Dawn Truce and Relentless Growth
The `Briar Patch Entombment` was an act of desperate ingenuity, a dense, thorny cage of rapidly regenerating vines erupted from the forest floor, momentarily trapping Rui. Jack knew it wouldn’t hold a Lower Moon for long, but he needed precious seconds to think, to breathe, to re-evaluate. The initial, chaotic clash within his tattered room and the immediate spill into the moonlit forest had been brutal, a whirlwind of threads and thorns. Rui was fast, his attacks precise and overwhelmingly powerful. Jack’s Level 32 strength, while significant, was clearly no match for Rui’s Level 38 Kizuki-enhanced prowess in a direct confrontation.
“You think this… this garden can hold me?!” Rui’s furious, muffled shriek came from within the thorny prison. Steel-hardened threads, glowing with a faint, deadly light, began to slice outwards, shearing through a dozen vines with each pass.
“Wasn’t planning on holding you for tea, little brother!” Jack yelled back, already moving. His tactic now had to be one of attrition, of utilizing the environment, of outlasting or outsmarting, not overpowering. “Just wanted to redecorate your personal space! Give it a more… organic feel!”
He plunged his hands into the rich, damp earth of Natagumo, drawing on its inherent energy, supplementing what Woody Jr. provided. His `Root Sense` spread out, mapping the terrain, feeling the pulse of the ancient trees around them. This forest was his ally, his arsenal.
Rui burst from the remnants of the briar patch with an explosive display of thread-work, his childlike face contorted in a mask of pure fury. “Your tricks are becoming predictable, Older Brother!”
“Predictable? Or am I just leading the dance, little spider?” Jack retorted, already retreating into a particularly dense section of ancient, web-choked trees. The thick trunks offered temporary cover, forcing Rui’s threads to navigate a more complex environment. As Rui pursued, Jack subtly used his `Root Sense` to trigger `Entangling Roots` from unexpected angles, not to catch the agile Lower Moon – he was too fast for that – but to momentarily disrupt his footing, to break his fluid rhythm. Each stumble, however minor, was a small victory.
The fight became a deadly game of cat and mouse, a brutal ballet played out across several acres of moon-drenched, terrified forest. Jack focused on evasion, using his `Camouflage Carapace` to blend with tree trunks when Rui’s attention was diverted, then lashing out with quick, harassing attacks. `Thorn Volleys` aimed not to kill, but to sting, to annoy, to force Rui to expend energy on defense. He seeded patches of the forest floor with his `Blisterblooms` as he moved, creating subtle, poisonous minefields that Rui, with his own sharp senses, mostly avoided, but it restricted the Lower Moon’s movement, forcing him into paths of Jack’s choosing.
Rui, for his part, was a whirlwind of deadly precision. His threads formed intricate, inescapable cages that Jack had to desperately tear through with his own vines or narrowly evade. He launched waves of slicing webs that clear-felled smaller trees, forcing Jack to constantly be on the move. The sheer volume and power of Rui’s attacks were terrifying. Jack’s `Barkskin Fortification` was tested to its limits, his flesh repeatedly torn and knitted back together by his demonic regeneration, each hit a searing agony.
“You can’t run forever, Jack!” Rui snarled, his threads lashing out, severing a massive branch that crashed down where Jack had been a second before. “Your pathetic plant tricks won’t save you!”
“Who’s running, Rui?” Jack panted, appearing atop another thick branch, a hail of sharpened leaves from his `Leaf Vortex` swirling towards Rui’s face, forcing him to shield his eyes. “I thought we were just enjoying a vigorous late-night stroll! Getting our steps in! You know, for cardiac health! Though, technically, I don’t think either of us has a functioning heart in the traditional sense.”
His `Siphoning Tendrils` became a key, if risky, tactical element. He couldn’t hope to drain Rui directly – the Lower Moon was too powerful, too aware. But he could, and did, use them to tap into nearby trees, even the smaller, less potent ones, drawing quick bursts of vital energy to supplement his BDA usage when Woody Jr.’s reserves felt too distant. It was like having mobile recharging stations, a tactic Rui, who relied on his innate demonic power and past human consumption, didn’t seem to fully comprehend.
The ‘unlimited stamina’ of their demonic natures meant the battle was not about physical exhaustion. It was a contest of BDA energy reserves, of regeneration speed, and of willpower. Jack knew Rui’s reserves were vast, but his own plant-based regeneration, constantly fueled by the very forest they fought in, was proving surprisingly resilient. The damage to the environment was immense – trees were splintered and felled, the ground was churned and scarred, and the air was thick with the scent of shredded vegetation, ozone from Rui’s threads, and the faint, sickly-sweet aroma of Jack’s Blisterblooms.
Hours passed in this brutal, unrelenting dance. The moon arced across the sky, a cold, indifferent witness to their demonic struggle. Jack was battered, his clothes non-existent shreds, his body a canvas of healing wounds, but his resolve hadn’t broken. He had landed a few surprising hits – a well-aimed `Thorn Volley` had drawn a pained hiss from Rui, and a cleverly placed `Entangling Root` combined with a burst of Blisterbloom pollen had actually forced the Lower Moon to retreat and cleanse himself, a small moment that had cost Rui precious seconds.
Then, as the sky in the east began to show the faintest, almost imperceptible lightening, a shift occurred. It wasn’t a conscious decision from either combatant. It was a deep, primal instinct, a shared dread that transcended their personal animosity. The sun.
Jack felt it first, a subtle change in the air, a prickling on his demonic skin that had nothing to do with Rui’s threads. His `Sunlight Resistance: 0.5%` was a death sentence he couldn’t ignore.
Rui, too, paused mid-attack, his head tilting, his crimson-flecked eyes narrowing as he sensed the approaching dawn. The fury in his gaze was momentarily overshadowed by a more fundamental, ancient fear.
There was no formal agreement, no words exchanged. The fight simply… halted. The unspoken truce was absolute, driven by the imperative of self-preservation. With a final glare that promised renewed torment, a look brimming with hatred and a new, grudging respect for Jack’s tenacity, Rui melted back into the deepest shadows, heading towards the oppressive gloom of the main house.
Jack didn’t waste a second. His body screamed with a symphony of aches and deeper injuries his regeneration was still working on. He turned and fled, not towards the main house, but towards his secret sanctuary, towards Woody Jr.
He stumbled into the narrow cave opening just as the first true rays of dawn painted the distant mountain peaks with fire. Collapsing against Woody Jr.’s familiar roots, he pressed his battered body against the cool, life-giving wood, desperately drawing in its energy. The flow was immediate, potent, his system craving it after the immense expenditure of the night-long battle. The cool, green vitality spread through him, soothing the aches, accelerating the healing of torn demonic flesh and strained BDA channels.
Then, the System chimed, a welcome sound amidst the chorus of his protesting body.
`[Significant Combat EXP Gained from Sustained Battle with Higher-Level Opponent and Tactical Utilization of Environment and BDA!]`
`Level Up! You are now Level 33!`
`Blood Demon Art: Plant – [Siphoning Tendrils] fluid absorption rate and nutrient conversion efficiency increased by 15%. [Entangling Roots] range increased by 10 meters, durability moderately enhanced.`
A grim, weary satisfaction spread through Jack. “Level 33,” he rasped, his throat raw. “Took an all-night beating from a psycho spider-kid with a god complex, got one level and some shiny BDA buffs. At this rate, I’ll be ready to actually challenge him for real by… oh, sometime next century.” He coughed, a dry, racking sound. “Still, progress is progress. And those tendrils getting an upgrade? Might be useful for… aggressive rehydration. Or maybe giving Woody Jr. a more efficient thank-you.”
He focused the incoming plant energy, not just on the lingering thrill of the level-up, but on systematically knitting together the deeper wounds, on replenishing the very essence of his demonic form. He analyzed the fight with a critical, detached mind: Rui’s speed was his greatest asset, along with the terrifying versatility and strength of his threads. Jack’s own strength lay in his resilience, his environmental synergy, and the unexpected applications of his plant BDA. The element of surprise regarding his true strength was gone now; Rui knew he wasn’t to be trifled with. This changed everything. He needed new tactics, new strategies.
Later that day, as the sun blazed high above, rendering the outside world a deathtrap, a faint rustling sound came from the entrance of his cave. Jack tensed, ready to summon vines, but then he caught a familiar, delicate scent. Saya.
She squeezed through the narrow opening, her true, dark-haired form a welcome sight in the dimness. Her eyes were wide with fear and concern as she took in his still-recovering state. Some of the deeper thread burns and lacerations, though mostly healed, still looked raw and tender. In her hands, she carried a broad, waxy leaf folded into a makeshift cup, filled with clear, fresh water.
“Jack…” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “I… I was so worried. When Rui came back… he was… enraged.”
Jack managed a weak, crooked smile. “Hey there, Saya. Nice of you to drop by the ‘Battered But Not Beaten Demon Day Spa and Recovery Lounge.’ Don’t worry about Rui. He just plays a little rough. Thinks ‘aggressive negotiation with razor wire’ is a perfectly acceptable form of family communication.”
She knelt beside him, her touch feather-light as she gently dabbed at a particularly nasty-looking thread burn on his arm with a piece of damp moss she must have brought. Her fear for him was a palpable thing in the small cave.
“You were so reckless,” she murmured, her gaze fixed on his wounds. “He could have… he could have killed you.”
“Yeah, well,” Jack said, his voice still raspy, “he didn’t. And more importantly, he didn’t lay a thread on you after I intervened. I’m calling that a win. For now, anyway.” He looked at her, his expression softening. “Thanks for the five-star nursing service. And the H2O. Woody Jr.’s great for EXP, but a little dry on the beverage front.”
As Saya gently tended to his superficial, lingering injuries, her presence a quiet comfort, Jack’s mind was already racing. The fight had been a brutal learning experience. Rui was a monster of focused power and refined skill. But Jack was adaptable. His BDA was unique, tied to the very environment around him. If he could just get stronger, faster… if he could find more potent plants, unlock more devastating abilities…
The unspoken truce with Rui was just that – a truce, born of mutual necessity. It wouldn’t last. Rui’s pride was wounded, his authority challenged. He would come for Jack again. And Jack needed to be ready. His tactics would have to evolve, become sharper, more ruthless if necessary. His survival, and now, increasingly, Saya’s, depended on it. The game had changed. And Jack, the reluctant demon botanist, had to change with it.