Way of the Knights

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After resting through the night, Raven ended his meditation and went out of his tent. 

He noticed that the poisoned beasts were still here. Some of them were resting while some of them had drawn their last breath. He sighed as he saw the decayed corpses, he looked away and went towards the spot where fire previously was. He threw in yet another batch of flammables and set the whole thing alight. Once he's done, he turned around left after tidying up. 

Today, his goal is to go towards the core of the forest. 

Raven moved at a moderate pace, neither slow nor fast. He is aware that he had to be more careful about his surroundings the deeper he went. As gets closer to the Withered Dream Tree, his presence will become more and more obvious to it. And since the tree is sentient, it could guess the Raven's intentions by coming closer. 

He's keeping an eye out for the retaliation of the tree since he knew that it won't just allow him to get close without defending itself. 

And he was right to anticipate this…

*Creak* *Creak*

As he ran, Raven suddenly felt movements around him. The withered trees suddenly twisted, and from their trunks, thick and thorny vines popped out and blocked Raven's way. 

*Pshew!* *Pshew!*

The vines then unleashed a rain of thorns covered in Withering Poison. Thousands of thorns were shot in an instant. No matter how swift Raven is on his toes, there's no way he'll come out unscathed from this barrage, there not even a room to dodge since the vines were surrounding him.

Raven's eyes flashed and suddenly, a bubble made out of solid and transparent energy covered him. As the thorns hit the bubble, not even a single one managed to burst it. The thorns were deflected by bubble and Raven continued moving forward. 

On normal cases, an Energy Barrier wouldn't work against this attack. Not only was it strong, the vines shoot thorns almost indefinitely. To top this all off, the Withering Poison could seep in through the energy, which means that blocking this way would only be courting death. 

What made Raven different is the fact that his barrier is not just any Energy Barrier, it is composed of Chaos Force, the result of the perfect merging of Energy Essence, Vital Essence and Spirit Essence. It's more robust in structure, allowing it to defend against these unceasing waves of thorns. 

As Raven got closer, the vines attempted to slap him away. But before they could do so, Raven's hammer materialized on his hands. Adjusting it to size that he could hold using one hand, he stomped forward and performed a mighty swing. 

*Boom!*

A huge hole was punched through the barricade of vines, Raven leapt onto the gap and made it to other side, just in time before the hole he made were mended. He continued running while holding the barrier around him, at the same time he's also actively searching for the next barricade of vines. 

After running for a couple miles, Raven found the next barricade. He tried dashing through it but there was a surprising development in front of him which prevented him from doing so.

The soil swelled, suddenly vomiting creatures buried underneath. Bones flew up and swiftly arranged themselves to form what they used to be. Skeletons of dead beasts big and small, barred their fangs at him. To top everything off, they were covered with a thick goo of Withering Poison. 

"Oh? This can happen too? I didn't see this in the records." Raven muttered to himself, gripping his hammer tightly with an amused expression. 

From what he could see, the Withering Dream Tree animated at least twenty beasts who were all at least Tier 3 in strength. As all of them charged towards Raven, he smiled and released a powerful momentum building up inside him. 

*BOOM!*

The whole forest shook from the sheer impact of Raven's strike. Chunks of rocks flew everywhere and the charging beasts were decimated. Some of them were lucky to remain intact from Raven's attack, the others were being pieced back by the power of the tree. 

And since these beasts were dead already, they knew no fear. They recklessly charged towards Raven once again. On top of this, at least thirty vines filled with poisonous thorns emerged around him and started shooting him down with thorns. 

Raven remained relatively calm. Even under this chaotic battlefield, he never once halted his steps. His breaths are even and there are no traces of panic nor stress on his face. 

The thorns are already useless against him so he could ignore those, the only way they could hurt him is when he drops his barrier or when he become careless, which is very unlikely to happen in a battle like this. 

As the reanimated beasts came closer, Raven sent a signal to his hammer, switching it to its second form. Adjusting its size to a two handed version, he gripped the handle tightly, stomped with a mightily and swung the hammer with an overbearing strength.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Pillar-sized fists, tainted with a Bronze hue, fell down from the sky. Each fist accurately smashed the remaining beasts in powder. After that, Raven took another strong step forward and performed another swing. This time, a gigantic fist covered in a bronze gleam manifested behind him and flew like a shooting star forward. 

Nothing could hinder its path, beasts nor trees alike. Raven kicked the ground and follow the projectile closely as it tore through the barricade in front of him. It punched a massive hole and allowed Raven to get through the other side before the gap mended and the fist disappeared. Raven continued running. 

He looked up briefly and saw the trace of an arching tree with pitch black leaves. Raven's eyes focused as he thought: 'Nearly there.'

Of course, the retaliation of the tree wouldn't stop here. As he ran, he was still being shot with numerous thorns, the only difference is that they are now varying in sizes. Some thorns were getting bigger, forcing Raven to pay close attention to them and dodge the really big ones. 

He also noticed that the vines that are sprouting around him were getting thicker. Not only that, he could feel that these vines were tougher and more poisonous compared to the ones he destroyed earlier. He guessed that these must be the main roots of the Withering Dream Tree itself. 

There was another surprising development from the things that are attacking him. The main roots of the of the Withering Dream Tree were sending vines that splinters into barbs, which are also dripping with poison. 

Raven were forced to dodge these barbed vines since he knew that those could nick his barrier unlike the raining thorns. And since the poison could seep in, he didn't want to take his chances. 

As for those he couldn't avoid, he solved it by destroying them with his hammer. Still Raven hadn't faced any real threats to his situation, he could manage them so far. And this should certainly make the Withering Dream Tree anxious and angry. 

Eventually, Raven saw the final barricade that separates him from the tree itself. 

The final barricade consists of thick and robust wall of bones, trunks, roots and is covered by large thorns all covered in Withering Poison. Raven inhaled sharply and focused on the barricade on his sight. 

He waited for an opportunity where the things preventing from coming close, shows a gap that he could take advantage of. Once he saw it, his eyes widened and he cracked up his speed to its maximum. He swiftly close the gap between him and the barricade.

As he was inches away from the barricade, Raven's vision changed. Points, marks, and lines flooded his vision, making his surroundings a little strange. A strange sensation crept up onto his heart which he forcibly suppressed. He then focused his gaze on the barricade and switched to the base form of his hammer. 

At this moment, Raven felt like everything around him slowed down. He forgot about the things that were trying to stop him from destroying the final barricade and focused on the things that only he could see. 

The Points, Marks, and Lines that he saw, he called them 'Fragile Signs'. No matter how many times he saw them their mystery still baffles him. Nevertheless, this is not the time to be sentimental. 

There is a long line in front of him. Raven raised his hammer and traced the said line using that. After he did so, silence ensued around him. 

*Crack!*

It was then followed with by an audible cracking sound. Out of nowhere, the barricade was filled with web like marks, stretching all the way to the nearby trees and vines. There was loud shattering sound before all hell break loose. 

The shockwaves caused the whole forest to rumble, the beasts who were still inside were terrified and the aftershocks were felt by those who were close to the forest.

As Raven laid waste on the barricade in front of him, he is now standing in front of the massive tree called: The Withering Dream Tree.

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