Limitless Path

This time it was a massive overhead blow that sheared through both vines, quick and clean, like a cut from a surgeon's blade. Beth couldn't stop the sword after severing the vines, and even with the fibrous plant matter having absorbed much of the energy, the blade of her weapon still slammed into the floor of the jungle with enough force to dig out a near foot-deep gouge. Beth gave the sword a swift tug, freeing it easily, as it had done more to displace the ground than wedge into it. She still didn't rest, rushing for the fourth and fifth vine before repeating her earlier feat, slamming the sword through both in a massive overhead blow that cleaved the fibrous plant matter apart.

Seeing the end in sight, she rushed to follow the vines back to the source, finding the plant surprisingly only two steps into the undergrowth outside the clearing. The center of the being was about three feet tall and two feet thick, a somewhat bulbous cylinder with large, wide-bladed leaves on top where the vines emerged. The dark green mass of the body of the monster had thick, ropey, vine-like roots emerging from the base which dug into the ground around it.

As Beth stared at the strange being with slightly widened eyes, the roots churned, slowly moving the plant away from her. She wasn't having any of that, stepping forward swiftly and swinging her sword with her full power. The blade slammed into the plant and bit deep, but it was clearly not a lethal blow, as the monster thrashed and tried to grab her with its damaged vines.

She growled deeply, mimicking her bonded partner, and swung the blade back and forth repeatedly, ignoring the vines attempting to tangle her up. Her mad burst of sword-swinging power was enough to keep the damaged vines back out of sheer brutal ferocity, and she hewed through the center of the monster one strike after another. After more than half a dozen strikes, she slammed her blade clean through the center of the creature, chopping it completely in twain. She immediately planted her sword in the ground, leaning on it as she breathed somewhat heavily, eyeing the dead monster in front of her.

Another ninety-nine of these was going to be a pain in the ass, no doubt about it. She enjoyed the fight, but this was going to turn tedious and dangerous rather quickly. She hoisted her sword after a minute and returned to the clearing where Blood was pacing around, giving the wolf a glance before she rested against her blade again, not wanting to sit now that the fighting had started in such a climate.

The next crazy plant took a minute or so to show up but announced its presence soon enough with a wild mass of vines trying to grab Blood. Blood reacted instantly, pivoting around the vines and biting the outermost, not managing to sheer through it, but still dealing it quite some damage. Blood danced among the vines, having more trouble in dealing with them with her teeth and claws than Beth did with her sword, but her higher Dexterity allowed her to avoid the vines and strike more easily.

It took Blood longer to take care of the vines as she had to deal damage multiple times to one vine before crippling it, but she was able to persist quite well. The real problem came when Blood had to deal with the main body of the plant itself, the very tough and durable material quite difficult for her to chew and claw through. This led to the two girls setting up a system right away, already developing a kind of seamless teamwork that it took others many months to perfect, one where Blood mostly took care of the vines and Beth worked to chop the core of the plants apart.

The fight became an endless grind of vines, the whirling monster appendages constantly pressing the two fighters. It wasn't so bad at first, but when the second monster joined in the pressure increased. They had killed about a third of the monsters by that point, and Beth was really starting to feel the weariness. Apologizing to Blood, she let her companion deal with the two currently attacking plants after they had mowed down about fifty of them, taking some time to rest and recuperate. Once twenty minutes had passed, they switched off, Beth confronting two plants alone while Blood meditated to restore her stamina.

The real hell started around plant seventy. Hours had passed, the plants being incredibly tough and attacking in pairs forcing the girls into two more rest phases. When a third plant joined in it really pushed them to the limit of what they could do, barely hanging on to avoid getting constricted. It was at such a time that Beth really excelled, narrowing her concentration until her world was just the fight.

Every movement, every step, every swing of her sword, every kick to deflect a vine became her focus, flowing naturally as she melded into the battle. She was living within every moment and, though she didn't feel it, was pushing her skills to new heights. This sort of state was something that many less skilled Wayfarers would never be able to achieve, but it was something Beth found naturally through her supreme focus in battle.

She barely noticed the time passing anymore, flowing around all fifteen vines they were challenged by, as well as Blood, in a deadly dance. Time’s passing ceased to have any meaning for her as she moved, cut, slashed, slid, and chopped in a dance of macabre and beautiful death. It was with a daze that she awoke from what could only be described as a battle trance, looking around as she realized there weren't any vines or additional enemies attacking her. Blood was sitting on her haunches in the center of the clearing, lungs heaving like great bellows, looking at Beth with eyes slightly narrowed, brows scrunched and ears flicking incessantly.

Beth couldn't be bothered with anything at that moment, collapsing onto the jungle floor at the center of the clearing, spent so thoroughly she could hardly move. When Blood walked over and sat beside her, she no longer tried to resist that fabled clarion call, but slid off right away into a deep, dreamless sleep. She hadn't the energy or motivation to do aught else, even review the two's rather considerable gains from the battle.

It was only hours later that Beth woke up, finding Blood also passed out against her. Luckily, there never seemed to be any beasts or monsters that attacked the starting area after the initial one hundred, though Beth knew in the future that they couldn't just randomly fall asleep out in the wild like this. She shifted around a little bit so she could fully embrace Blood before she brought up her screens and scrolled through everything they had gained from that fight. After assigning both her and Blood's free stat points, she gave their screens a quick final glance to review where they were at.