"Jodie, watch your step!" he said, blade meeting grass as he beat aside another tentacle, the force sending him staggering back.

He stabilised himself, jumped, and then spun out of the way as several more tentacles slammed into the ground where he'd been seconds before. The haze obscuring the bulb had grown thicker now, making it almost impossible to see.

I need a shot at it.

Hector's mind raced as he ducked through more tentacles, looking for an opening. But there wasn't one. If he charged recklessly into the smoke, the vines would surround him, perhaps even slow him down if he stepped the wrong way.

He had limited options, so it was time to try something different. Hector pulled on his teachings, mana bubbling at his shoulders, popping and sprouting into a purple mantle of leaves, thick and bristling.

He slashed through the air, knocking aside a tentacle that had been aiming for his head, and levelled a hand forward. Several of the leaves on his mantle prickled to life before exploding forward, slicing through the air and punching clean through the mist, holes opening up in it as they slammed into the petal.

A screech split the garden, the smoke shifting as the tentacles continued to flail. He'd hit it, he'd done damage, but it wasn't enough.

A chunk of tentacle slammed into the ground next to him, and Jodie landed a moment later, glancing at Hector.

"Another talent, I see?"

"Not quite," Hector said, ducking under a tentacle, spinning and slashing at it.

The blade bit into the flesh but didn't go too deep. Hector pulled, but the vine tugged him along as it whipped to the side, throwing him through the air. He spun, landed on the grass and shifted, Jodie now obscured by the growing fog. But as it billowed, flickering, one spot—the bulb's location—was easy enough to figure out.

He raised a hand again, leaves bristling at his mantle before they shot forward, punching clean through it with a rain of purple. Another roar, this one guttural and deep, shook the garden again, and the ground began to shake. Beneath him, patches of grass exploded, tentacles ripping through and rising into the air, several of them slamming towards him.

He blocked the first, sidestepped a second, but a third slammed into his shoulder and knocked him to the side, and threw him clean out of the smoke. He skidded across the grass and stepped back.

"Are you alright?" Marcus called out behind him.

Hector glanced briefly over his shoulder to find he'd appeared next to the platform once again, Marcus there working furiously. Before Hector could get the words out, a dull numbness spread through his shoulder. He glanced at it to find the attack had blown his shirt open, and the skin was growing darker by the second.

Are you kidding me right now?

The monster had poisoned him. Its tentacle had somehow done far more damage than he'd first thought. So that meant if he got hit again, he wouldn't know the full damage until the poison had settled in.

He shifted, narrowing his eyes into the distance, as he moved his awkwardly positioned cloak over the wound. He had to take that thing out now.

Levelling a hand, he willed his mana towards his shoulders again, readying the leaves to explode, but found it more muted now, slower. His hand lowered.

All shots consumed mana, not something a Gravity-Forging cultivator would normally have to worry about, as the mana circulated internally and was thus more efficient, but every time he shot out the leaves, he consumed more mana.

Crap.

Hector ran forward, stepped, and then spun on the balls of his feet, flicking his sword forward.

The purple blade split through the air and dove into the smoke, a screech sounding moments later.

If he couldn't take it out with his petals, he'd have to find another way. Purple static crackled at his palm as his blade formed again from tiny snakes of electricity and dropped into his waiting hands.

Hector crossed the grass in moments, sidestepping tentacles and closing in on the core, or at least where he'd last seen it. If that thing could move itself, which was very unlikely, the mist would make it more difficult to find.

To his side, a figure burst through the mist and dashed by, a large tentacle chasing behind her.

Jodie could mostly handle herself, but if that thing caught her out, he'd be that much more vulnerable. Raising one of his blades, he lashed out at the tentacle chasing her. The purple edge bit into the flesh, static sparking briefly.

Then, with a heave, he wrenched it up, slicing clean through the tentacle. The appendage flailed backwards, whipping through the air and slinking back into the mist out of sight.

Hector turned to the side, the mist thick, waves billowing from almost every direction. Jodie was nowhere to be seen.

"Jodie!" he called through the mist, but two tentacles answered his call. As they raced towards him, he ducked the first and slashed at the second, knocking it to the side before racing forward again. This was no time to look around. More tentacles popped through the smoke behind him, and Hector frowned.

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There was no way this thing had surrounded them, but then again, tentacles were popping up from everywhere. If they killed one, another would just come up in its place.

Jodie burst through the mist again and fell in at his side, her eyes tight with annoyance, purple liquid slipping off her mask.

"This thing is tough, to say the least," she said, her chest rising and falling, cloak flapping slightly at her back. "I took out several of those tentacle things, and they just kept popping back up. We have to take out its core, Hector."

He dived to the side before he could reply, a tentacle shuttling by and slamming into the ground, exploding the dirt and sending grass flying.

Hector staggered, spun, and dodged another tentacle and continued forward. She didn't need to remind him of that. Attacking these limbs was getting them nowhere. The only good thing about this was that they had its attention, and it wasn't going after Marcus.

Jodie popped back through the mist again, her eyes glowing iridescent white as she focused ahead.

"It's definitely in that direction," she said, pointing forward, leaping over a tentacle and striking out. With a wet thud, a tentacle slapped to the ground, and they ran by, continuing on their way. "If I had to guess, it's just up ahead."

As they ran further, more and more tentacles popped up and whipped towards them. They were growing thicker now, and the thickest concentration likely pointed to the bulb's location. They just had to destroy it.

After dodging a few more tentacles, a pink form became clear to them. Hector rushed forward, and as he locked eyes on the bulb, he pulled on his [Blazing Arsenal] Talent. The magma pool no doubt still bubbled on the stone platform meters behind him.

A second later, something screamed through the mist, but the ensuing explosion came from several meters behind. The plant creature had blocked it. Of course, it wouldn't let him get close with something like that.

"Jodie, I need to—" Before he could say anything, three tentacles struck towards him like a wall of vines. He stepped to the side, but a fourth came from his blind side and smacked him on the back, numbness washing through him as he slammed into the grass and rolled.

He couldn't stay down, though. Gritting his teeth, he leapt to his feet, arms spasming as another tentacle slammed into the spot where he'd been a moment before.

The large pink petals lingered in the corner of his vision. He spun out of the way of another tentacle and rushed towards it.

Jodie popped out of the mist from above, thrusting down with her blade. It bit into the soft leaves of the bulb, and a roar from within shook the air, rattling Hector as if a small earthquake had gone off.

The petal squelched open slightly, flinging Jodie to the side. She arced through the mist, spun, and landed on the grass with a heavy thud, vines racing towards her even as she steadied herself.

With crisp, sharp swings of the sword, the vines dropped to the ground and flailed away, purple liquid sputtering out of them.

Hector didn't waste a beat as the bulb began undulating, roars seeping out of it as dense purple mist began pouring forth.

He struck with one blade and sliced out with the other, one slicing sideways across the petal of the bulb, the other slicing down.

The creature roared again, vines whipping towards him. He stepped back, and the creature slammed into itself with a loud thud. Sure, he'd cut it, but how would he get through?

There was no guarantee the core was even in this part of it. He could just be cutting his way into its mouth, only to be digested if he even made it inside.

With a shout, he leapt up and expanded the static field around him. It would have been really useful to have [Vault Runner], but sadly, the Talent was still on cooldown. Striking out again, he slashed at the entrance of the bulb.

The purple blade sank into its flesh, and he leapt backwards, dragging the weapons down as he did. A guttural roar came from the bulb again, shaking the very air, and Jodie was at his side, deflecting vines that aimed to kill him.

As he landed on the ground, the petal fell to the side, purple liquid gushing out like a river spilling onto the grass. Through a light haze, a pulsing core of green and red peeked out, and Hector's eyes widened.

"Jodie, go for that!" he said, slicing away a tentacle aiming for her, dashing forward and striking out at another that was going for Jodie.

"Really, me?"

"Just do it!" he yelled, cutting at another vine that whipped away.

She dived forward, crossing the fallen petal with a wet squelch and thrusting her sword out. It bit into the pulsing core with a sharp clink followed by a crack and a squelch as the blade sank further.

No roar emanated, and Hector's mouth almost fell open as the vines began to wither. Then, from his side, pain exploded, and he shot backwards, stumbling across the grass and losing Jodie in the mist.

As he rolled to a stop, he grunted and staggered to his feet, retracting his static field. No vines came through the mist, and he paused, waiting for something that, thankfully, never came.

Instead, numbness spread through his arm, and he glanced down at his shoulder, moving the cloak to the side. The blasted wound had grown, the poison colonising him, having now spread from his shoulder to his collar and probably covering most of his neck.

He reached a finger up and dabbed at the tender spot, wincing a little.

"How the heck am I going to deal with this?" He dropped to the grass with a dull thud and groaned, coughing. "Marcus," he croaked.

Through the mist, Jodie stepped out and flicked her sword to the side, splashing purple blood onto the grass like raindrops. The moment her eyes landed on him, she rushed over.

"Hector!" she screamed, running over. "Marcus!" Sliding to a stop on her knees and cradling him, Jodie began stammering. "A-are you all right?"

"Do I look all right?" Hector wheezed as his vision began fading.

"Marcus!" Jodie called again, her head snapping to the side. Behind them, footsteps thumped across stone and then thudded onto grass, beating over to them. The next second, Marcus was at his side with a small bowl in his hand.

"Hector, drink this—it will help."

Glancing at him, Hector narrowed his eyes. He didn't exactly know what this was, but he'd have to trust Marcus with it. Though it was a tad convenient. Was this part of the quest—make a potion and see if your friends survived the poison?

Hector took the small bowl to his mouth and let the disgusting liquid pass his lips. The taste was a mix of mint and a super bitter coffee flavour, brought together with almonds. Part of him wanted to gag; the other wanted to just pass out. With soft gulps, he took the liquid in, his vision continually fading all the while.

"You'll be all right, Hector," Jodie said, shaking him a little. Her voice was uncertain, as if she said the words more to comfort herself than him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then tried to speak, but numbness spread through him and passed onto his lips, then his eyes, then his fingers, and finally his entire body became numb. It was as if he'd become a rock.

It'd be a fine thing if Marcus had made the potion, only to end up poisoning Hector with it. Then this would have been pointless. The plant monster's poison was more soothing to the point of being almost unnoticeable. And unlike Marcus' potion, the poison it used didn't make him want to be sick.

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