Chapter 6: New Spell and Close Fight with the Treeish Creature

"Wait a minute, how???" shouted Matthew in disbelief. Instead of the gray mana stone he had expected, there was a mana gem! Normally, it took even the most talented mages a few months to advance from being an Apprentice Mage to an Official Mage. This was truly a miracle. "Ha! I guess my gray mana stone, or should I say gem, is much cooler than the other gems now, huh? Finally, I won't be looked down upon as trash. Okay, first I need to survive here in the Corrupted Rainforest and awaken my first ability," Matthew said, directing his attention towards the glowing gray mana gem.

Suddenly, darkness surrounded Matthew, and he found himself unable to see or feel anything. Scared, he tried to look around but found nothing. The darkness felt empty, devoid of any color or objects. It was like pure nothingness. Matthew contemplated and realized that this nothingness could actually be a container. It could be filled with more energy or mass than its own size. He then observed as a golden light appeared, but as it entered the nothingness, it dissolved, making the nothingness brighter with a faint yellow hue. Matthew understood that by using his mana to simulate nothingness, he could absorb energy. He also realized that he might be able to become one with the void at the peak of being a Supreme Mage, eliminating the need for mana and directly utilizing the nothingness. Excited by his discovery, Matthew realized the vast potential of his element.

Suddenly, another light emerged, fiery in color, and dissolved like the golden light. Different hues symbolizing various elements tinted the nothingness until darkness returned as the colors mixed together. But something felt different. Instead of nothingness, there was energy that could be used in any way desired. Matthew exclaimed, "I understand! I can use my simulated void to absorb elements and convert them into energy attacks. Wow, that's so cool!"

With this newfound knowledge, Matthew disappeared and reappeared, his eyes momentarily turning black before returning to normal. Filled with enthusiasm, he exclaimed, "Alright, treeish creature, it's time for round 2!" Leaping out, a gray hue surrounded him, attracting winds and engulfing some dirt, intensifying its glow. The treeish creature emerged, its red eyes fiercer and emitting a more menacing aura. Matthew launched a wind beam towards it, but vines appeared and blocked the attack. Surprised, Matthew continued running and launching more wind strikes, but the creature remained unharmed, creating more vines to entangle him.

Using a barrier of wind, Matthew destroyed the vines, continuing to attack the treeish creature. Suddenly, a vine struck him from behind but seemed to collide with something metallic and retracted. Matthew then swiftly escaped the vine's range. Angered, he unleashed a powerful wind beam, causing the void mana around him to dim. Although the creature used its vines to block most of the attack, some wind made it through, leaving a deep cut. The creature roared in pain and anger, its bark regenerating and emitting a darker aura that withered the ground. Matthew remained unaffected, protected by his mana. Undeterred, he unleashed concentrated wind attacks while the creature countered with more vine attacks. They continued in this manner until the tree creature weakened, sustaining numerous cuts. Despite being slightly fatigued, Matthew remained unharmed, as the vine attacks seemed ineffective against him. Seeing an opportunity, Matthew using all of his mana activated a deadly beam of concentrated wind towards the treeish creature intending to finish it once and for all.

As the deadly wind beam moved toward the treeish creature, it realized the attack's immense power. If hit, it would surely die. However, the creature knew that surviving this attack would allow it to defeat Matthew, who would be out of energy. Strengthening itself, the creature summoned all its remaining power, pouring some life force into a vine barrier. The defense shone with strength, but after a moment, the vines shattered, and another gust of wind struck the treeish creature. Matthew had hidden an additional wind gust within his attack to ensure its success. The wind attack punctured the creature's bark, leaving a massive hole where its eyes had been. Enraged and in agony, the creature attempted to crush Matthew but suddenly stopped and collapsed, falling toward Matthew, who was defenseless and exhausted.

As he looked towards the collapsing treeish creature which had seemed to lose all of its life energy, Matthew closed his eyes in despair as he knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge the attack with his defenseless body. As he lamented that just as he seemed to get another chance at life he had lost it again, a loud clang sound happened. "Yep, that's it," thought Matthew, "I'm dead now." Then searing pains spread throughout his body. After being stuck with his sorrowful thoughts he suddenly realized something. "Wait, if I'm dead, how am I still thinking and why is the pain slowly subsiding?" After opening his eyes Matthew realized that he had a large bruise on his body, in fact his entire front was purple. However the surrounding tree creature bark had all been broken and laid beside him.

Confused, Matthew looked again and realized that indeed his "weak" and "defenseless" body had just destroyed the falling corpse of the treeish creature. It seemed like a miracle, something impossible but, many miracles had happened to him recently including his sudden arrival here as well as his gray mana stone, no gem now. So Matthew accepted it and decided to continue on in his journey to escape the Corrupted Rainforest and find a place to live. So after searching around for some food and provisions, Matthew set out in search of civilization or a way to exit the Corrupted Rainforest…