Squirming

Blood's nails dug into the firm root wrapped around his waist. Beneath the hard exterior, a warm liquid wildly slushed around within the root.

Once Blood's nails penetrated it, the liquid oozed out and soaked Blood's hand, but the texture of the liquid was slightly slimy.

Blood used the fresh lubricant to slide out of the monster's grasp. He dropped down into the hole and crashed into the ground, but he didn't have time to relax.

Moments later, a collection of roots struck the area he landed on and tore deep into the ground, luckily, Blood dodged. Finding himself in a desperate situation, he activated his Gift again but targeted himself.

Blood erupted out of his wrist and spiraled in the air. He molded a semi-solid rope from his fresh blood and lassoed one of the lighting fast roots.

With the root caught, Blood manipulated the rope and blades shot out of the rope encasing the root, tearing it to shreds. Blood stood his ground, still unable to see clearly from the dirt, so he waited for another strike.

But nothing came, until the dirt in the air finally settled. Across from Blood, a gigantic spider stood trapped in a cage of tree roots.

The spider was massive, dark, and hairless. Its body was the exact same color, the same texture as the tree that encased it. The moment Blood saw the monstrosity, he took a step back.

Instantaneously, the spider's awareness peaked and an array of roots flew towards Blood; although now that the dirt has settled, Blood clearly saw that the roots he's been fighting all along were really the spider's legs, disguised as the tree.

Blood sidestepped the attack, but when his foot landed on the ground the spider adjusted its aim and continued to blow towards Blood.

Finally realizing the spider was blind, Blood jumped into the air and lassoed a real, exposed root above him. He swung above the ground and rocked back and forth, avoiding the attack from the spider.

And now that he was hovering above ground, the attacks ceased once more. But now, Blood had to make a decision.

All of the blood he had available was being used for the rope, so he either had to drop back down to the ground to attack the spider or rip more blood from his own body.

While hanging, he looked at his wrist. His veins were starting to darken and he could feel the effects of the battle: exhaustion, lethargy, and oddly enough, disinterest.

His hand was tiring out, he was slipping. With only a couple moments left, Blood let go of the rope and dropped.

Immediately, the attacks returned, but Blood managed to dodge them on foot. Meanwhile, he pooled the blood in the air together and formed one last spire.

Now that he could see his opponent, especially one trapped in a cage, Blood was confident he wouldn't miss. The blood in the air hardened and a massive crystal spear took its place.

Blood evaded another attack and then launched one of his own. The crystal spear zipped across the hole and slid past the cage of roots encasing the monster.

It bludgeoned the spider's head, sinking inside the center of its face and continuing through the rest of its body. Blood squirted out of the spider's orifices as it collapsed to the ground.

A moment of silence passed and then the conversion began. The spider began to disintegrate into essence, breaking free from the constraints that had trapped it for so long.

Out of breath and ragged, Blood dropped onto one knee. His heart beat violently, like a cannon was firing in his chest, he could feel his entire body quake with each pump.

Looking at his hand, black veins squirmed underneath his skin. He immediately summoned his dagger and plunged it into his hand, cutting through to the other side and splitting whatever black lines he saw in half.

The pain kept him sane, it gave him something to focus on other than the bizarre things he was seeing move under his skin. He also felt hot, like someone was holding a magnifying glass above in the sky and had it pointed down onto him.

He heard footsteps approaching from behind and began to panic. He wanted to run, he wanted to flee and never look back, but he was trapped in a hole.

Before he knew it, three people stood above him and looked down.

"You killed it." Emile's voice echoed within the hole Blood found himself in.

The word kill entranced Blood's mind, he focused on it, thought about it, and believed in it. The blood around him hovered off the ground and slowly hardened into an array of icicles.

But before the icicles blasted through the air, a bright flash of light blinded Blood. The air erupted out of his lungs and he felt his feet lift off the ground, then his back slammed into the ground.

As his vision cleared, he looked around but was only able to see Emile's face hovering inches away from his own.

"Looks like you got ahead of yourself."

Blood grit his teeth and the icicles released. Waves of crystalized blood rained down on top of Emile, but he ignored it.

Instead, Emile pushed his hand onto Blood's forehead and activated Breath of Essence. At the same time, a loud blast shook the earth and a golden Valkyrie appeared behind Emile's back.

She wielded a hammer twice her size and, with a single swing, produced enough air pressure to shatter all of the approaching blood crystals in an instant.

Blood's temperature lowered the moment Emile began working on him and as his sanity returned, so too did his exhaustion. Remembering Spright and everything else, Blood allowed himself to relax and closed his eyes, a deep sleep was waiting for him.