Chapter 7 - 7: Now I really have a proper house
(The branches keep increasing, and if I don't do something, they'll eventually overwhelm me. Plus, that trick of moving the branches looks very useful. Can I replicate it with 'chi'? It's worth trying to capture it to study it...)
Noticing that the deer was cautiously watching him while slowly backing away, the boy knew he needed to get closer. He switched to incredibly fast and sharp movements, which allowed him to approach the massive beast from behind.
The moment he reached the side of the enormous deer, he immediately struck with his right hand, hitting its rear with the side of his machete, producing a thunderous impact sound.
The powerful blow made the deer 'scream' and shortly after, it started running in the direction of the traps, bringing a smile to the boy's lips. He quickly began to follow it, dodging and cutting branches, which never stopped attacking him, using his 'ethereal' movements once again.
But that smile vanished from the boy's face and was replaced by an expression of disbelief when the deer began to nimbly jump and dodge the traps as if it knew their locations beforehand. This was despite him ensuring they were well camouflaged, well enough that he would overlook them if he didn't know they were there, relying only on his mental map to identify them.
(Shit, it's trying to escape. I have to stop it!)
After passing the traps, the deer tried to flee deeper into the forest, forcing the boy to make a decision. He didn't dare go deeper because he had a very bad feeling about venturing beyond a certain point. Combined with the current situation of a deer capable of controlling branches, he was even more certain that the things he might encounter would be terrifying, and letting the deer alert them could be catastrophic and a risk he wasn't willing to take.
Using large amounts of 'chi', the boy strengthened himself to the limit and sped towards the deer using a combination of fast and aggressive movements. At the same time, he applied a trick to his right machete that he learned from carving wood, which was that if he sent a large amount of 'chi' and imagined an incredibly sharp edge extending from the blade's own edge, the tool would become so sharp that it could even cut rocks like butter.
As he got close enough to the deer, the boy leaped towards it with the intent to cut it in half, but at that moment, the machete in his right hand cracked with an audible sound, causing everything to move in slow motion for a moment. This allowed him to see it fracturing into several pieces, which made him open his eyes wide in surprise. But thanks to everything moving in slow motion in his perception, he could react quickly and adjust his movements accordingly.