Chương 21: Chapter 20: The Living Network

The Runebark Behemoth's trail would have been difficult to miss even without Kevin's vibration sense. Each six-hoofed print had crushed roots deep into the soil, and pale green light continued pulsing through the damaged wood long after the creature had passed. James followed the tracks east with the Warpstone Warhammer against one shoulder while Julie moved through the undergrowth and Kevin periodically attached threads to nearby trees. The forest changed as they traveled.

Ordinary trunks gradually gave way to trees wide enough to hide houses behind them, and exposed roots rose above James's waist before joining together into natural walls and elevated paths. Green patterns moved beneath the bark in slow curves, brightening and fading with a rhythm that matched the pulses Kevin had begun detecting through the ground. James stopped beside one of the largest roots and activated Workman's Appraisal.

His new class skill separated fibers, magical channels, pressure lines, and several details he would have completely missed with ordinary Appraisal. The information appeared in blue. [Living Runic Network] [A naturally developed magical structure connecting compatible organisms throughout the Eastern Hunting Ground.] [Life-energy and nature-aspected mana may travel through connected organisms.] [Damaged sections may draw resources from the wider network to accelerate recovery.] James rested one hand against the root while green light moved several inches beneath his palm. The whole eastern region had somehow become one enormous magical system, with every tree and root acting as part of the same network.

"So if something here gets hurt while it stays connected, the forest can feed it energy," he said as Julie tasted the air beside him. Kevin sent a steady confirmation after following another pulse through his web. The arrangement also interfered with both familiars' senses. Julie normally separated warm bodies from the environment with ease, yet the trees now carried enough magical warmth to create overlapping shapes around her perception.

Kevin had an even worse problem because every root transmitted insects, moving branches, distant animals, and the regular pulse of energy traveling deeper into the region.

"Home-field advantage," James said as they resumed walking. He tightened his grip around the hammer when another pulse moved beneath his boots.

"Five levels above us apparently wasn't enough, so the boss also gets an entire forest plugged into its ass." Julie's amusement came through the bond. Kevin seemed more interested in the structure than the joke, and his silk stretched briefly toward three different roots before he abandoned the attempt to track everything at once. James understood the frustration because Workman's Appraisal kept revealing useful information faster than he could decide what deserved attention. A heavy crack sounded ahead.

Kevin immediately focused. James lowered the warhammer and crouched behind one of the raised roots while Julie disappeared beneath broad leaves. Something large moved beyond the next group of trees, and the rhythm of its steps matched the heavy prints left by Barkhide Boars. The creature eventually walked into view. It stood larger than the ones that had attacked Daniel's camp, with bark armor covering nearly every exposed surface and living roots wrapped around both tusks.

Several cuts crossed its flank, yet green light already crawled through the wounds. [Barkhide Boar — Level 11] [Strengthened by the Eastern Living Network.] [Connected roots restore damaged armor and physical injuries.] [Severing active joining points will interrupt local restoration.] The boar stopped beside a glowing tree and drove one tusk into the bark. Green light rushed from the trunk through the root around the tusk, and one of the cuts along its side closed within seconds.

James watched closely until Workman's Appraisal highlighted the points where the roots entered the creature's bark armor.

"There you are," James said quietly as he raised the warhammer. Julie felt his intent through the bond and moved toward the boar's rear flank. Kevin climbed from the hammer to a nearby branch and prepared several strands above the creature. James stepped into the open. The boar saw him immediately. Its head dropped. James had enough time to realize that a Level Eleven Barkhide Boar accelerated much faster than the Level Eight versions before it charged.

"Shit," James said as he moved sideways. Kevin dropped a sheet of silk across the creature's face and one tusk, pulling its head slightly off line. The boar tore through several strands, yet the disruption kept James from being skewered. He swung into the front shoulder. Measured Strike flashed behind his eyes. The hammer found the joining point Workman's Appraisal had already identified. Bark cracked beneath the blow, exposing a thick root that ran beneath the armor and into the leg. Julie attacked the opening.

Her fangs pierced the root. Green energy surged toward her mouth. The markings across her scales lit immediately as Rune-Touched Scales intercepted part of the discharge. Julie recoiled with a sharp pulse of pain through the bond, but she held the energy long enough to twist and bite the exposed joint again. The stored power discharged through her fangs. The root blackened. Every healing line around the boar's injured shoulder went dark. James smiled.

"That works," he said as the boar tried to turn toward Julie. He stepped forward before it could complete the movement and drove the hammer into the same weakened area.

"Kevin, keep the other connections busy." Silver Thread wrapped around the roots near the creature's rear legs. Kevin used Living Reinforcement in an unexpected way, hardening the roots where they crossed one another until they could no longer flex with the boar's movement. The animal pulled forward and effectively tightened its own restraints. James activated Measured Strike again. A pale line appeared beneath the jaw. He swung upward. The hammer cracked through bark and bone, snapping the head backward.

Julie struck behind one foreleg and released venom into softer tissue while Kevin tightened the immobilized root network. The boar collapsed onto one knee. James hit the marked point beneath its eye. The skull gave way. [You and your bonded familiars have slain a Barkhide Boar — Level 11.] [Experience awarded.] James remained alert until the surrounding roots stopped moving.

The green light inside the severed connections faded first, while the roots still attached to the corpse continued weakly attempting to supply energy for several seconds. Workman's Appraisal showed the flow reaching dead tissue, failing to find a stable path, and withdrawing into the ground.

"That's useful," James said as he crouched beside the body. Julie remained close enough to watch his hands, and Kevin lowered himself onto the bark plating with obvious interest.

"The forest can feed these things, but it still needs proper connections. Break enough joining points and the healing shuts down." Kevin sent him an image of several bindings locking roots in place. Julie followed with an impression of green energy entering her scales before burning back through a bite. Their suggestions were becoming increasingly detailed as their Intelligence rose. James removed several bark plates and one of the root-wrapped tusks.

The material lost some of its glow after separation, though Workman's Appraisal still identified useful compatibility with nature-aspected energy. He strapped the best pieces to his pack and resumed following the enormous six-hoofed trail. The ground continued rising. Soon the exposed roots formed bridges across deep sections of forest floor where tangled vegetation hid the bottom from view.

Some bridges were wide enough for several people to walk abreast, while others narrowed until one bad step would send someone falling into the roots below. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. James crossed the first broad bridge slowly. Kevin sent threads across the surface before every few steps, testing the living wood for movement and structural weakness. Julie moved near the center where the surface gave her enough room to avoid the edges.

A vibration reached Kevin halfway across. The spider stopped. James felt the warning through their bond before he heard anything.

"Two," James said as Kevin separated the movement into distinct sources. Julie lifted her crested head and found flashes of heat among the trees.

"Fast. They've been circling for a while." A shadow crossed the bridge behind him. James turned. Whatever had moved was already gone. Workman's Appraisal caught enough for a name. [Rootclaw Panther — Level 12] James tightened both hands around the hammer.

"Level Twelve," he said as Julie shifted closer to him. Kevin stretched silk between several raised sections of bark.

"Two of them." The second panther dropped from above. Kevin's alarm struck through the bond a heartbeat before impact. James raised the warhammer horizontally. The panther collided with the reinforced shaft and drove James onto one knee. It was larger than any natural big cat he had seen, with black-green fur broken by strips of bark armor and roots twisted around its paws like living claws. The animal changed direction almost instantly.

One bark-covered paw scraped across James's breastplate, while another claw opened his upper arm before he could move clear. James swung sideways, but the panther jumped over the hammerhead and landed against the trunk beside the bridge. Julie intercepted it. She rose beneath the animal and wrapped around one rear leg. Her weight pulled the panther off its next jump, dropping it hard onto the bridge. Julie bit through the softer tissue above its paw before releasing ahead of the claws.

The first panther returned behind James. Kevin fired silk across its path. The creature changed direction before touching the web, bounded across the side of the living bridge, and landed several yards away. Green light pulsed beneath its bark-covered claws while Julie's bite wound on the second panther began closing. James saw the roots. Thin strands extended directly from the animals' paws into the bridge.

"The bridge is feeding them," James said as he moved toward the nearer panther. Julie understood immediately and began forcing her target away from the thickest green lines.

"Get their feet off the roots." The first panther lunged. James brought the warhammer down. The animal escaped the hammerhead, but the strike smashed into the bridge and opened a crack beneath James's feet. The entire root structure shifted. Kevin reacted before anyone else. Silver Thread spread through the fracture. Blue light followed. [Living Reinforcement applied.] The bridge steadied beneath them.

"You're holding the damn bridge too?" James asked as Kevin's strain entered the bond. The spider continued working, laying additional silk through the damaged section while the panthers circled.

"All right. I'll try to stop breaking our floor." Julie drove one panther toward the edge. It twisted around her bite and slashed across her side. Several scales tore free. Pain hit James through the bond. Julie responded by wrapping around the animal's foreleg and using her full body weight to pull it sideways. The panther lost contact with the main root line. Its healing stopped. James saw the change immediately. The green glow inside its bark armor dimmed, and the partially healed bite reopened along its leg.

"Keep it there," he said as he activated Measured Strike. Julie tightened her hold while the animal clawed at her scales. A pale line appeared behind the panther's shoulder. James swung. The hammer crushed through bark. The panther screamed and tried to leap back toward the bridge's center. Kevin caught its rear leg with silk. Living Reinforcement flashed. Instead of strengthening the panther, Kevin reinforced his own anchored web and the section of bridge supporting it.

The thread stopped stretching under the creature's weight. James struck again. The shoulder collapsed. Julie released the leg and bit beneath the jaw. The first Rootclaw Panther went limp. [You and your bonded familiars have slain a Rootclaw Panther — Level 12.] The second panther attacked Kevin. It launched toward the spider with enough speed that James had no chance of intercepting it.

Kevin dropped from the bridge at the last possible moment, hanging beneath the root by several threads while the panther landed where he had been. James charged. The animal turned toward him. Julie came from the opposite side. The panther backed toward the edge, keeping both threats in view. Green roots reached from the bridge and wrapped around its paws again. Its damaged flesh began healing. Kevin felt the connection before James could call it out. Silver threads shot upward from beneath the bridge.

They wrapped around the new roots. Blue light flashed. Kevin reinforced the roots in a twisted position, locking them against the panther's own legs. When the animal tried to move, the hardened connections pulled tight around its paws.

"That is nasty," James said as he closed the distance. Kevin sent a tired pulse of satisfaction from beneath the bridge.

"I'm proud of you." Measured Strike marked the panther's chest. James hit it once. The reinforced roots held. Julie struck the flank and discharged a small portion of stored green energy through the bite, enough to blacken two root connections without draining everything she carried. James hit the chest again. Bone broke. The panther collapsed. Julie released before the body could fall onto her.

Kevin climbed back onto the bridge, visibly exhausted from reinforcing the structure, his traps, and Julie during the fight. [You and your bonded familiars have slain a Rootclaw Panther — Level 12.] [Experience awarded.] James stayed standing until Kevin's threads reported no further movement. Only then did he lower the hammer and crouch beside Julie. Three scales had been ripped away from her side, though the tissue beneath remained shallowly cut.

"You okay?" James asked as he examined the wound without touching it. Julie pressed her head against his forearm, and her answer carried pain mixed with satisfaction.

"That means yes with complaints. I understand." Kevin climbed onto the warhammer and settled heavily against the head. James looked toward him next.

"You held the bridge together while trapping two Level Twelve cats," he said as Kevin's exhausted pride reached him. James gave the spider a careful tap on one thickened leg.

"Excellent work. Completely ridiculous, but excellent." A voice came from the western end of the bridge.

"Don't move!" James turned. Four humans stood among the raised roots. They carried monster-bone spears, bark shields, and the kind of battered equipment that suggested they had been surviving away from the larger camps for several days. The woman in front was Level Ten. A deep cut crossed one cheek, and half of her layered bark shield had been crushed inward. Her eyes moved from the two dead panthers to Julie, then Kevin, and finally James's warhammer.

"We're not here for your kills," she said as she kept her damaged shield raised. The three survivors behind her remained tense, though none stepped closer.

"If you keep following those tracks, you need to know what's ahead." James rested the hammerhead against the bridge. He kept both hands on the shaft because strangers appearing after a fight remained a poor reason to become careless.

"Level Fifteen Regional Boss," he said as Julie moved beside his leg.

"Six legs, giant antlers, and apparently every creature in this region is hooked into some kind of healing network." The woman's expression changed.

"You already figured out the healing?" she asked as her shield lowered by an inch. James nodded toward the Rootclaw Panthers.

"Break the connections and the smaller creatures stop recovering," James said as Kevin tapped the warhammer once. He glanced east, where the Behemoth's tracks crossed deeper into the luminous forest.

"I was planning to see whether the same principle works on the boss."

"It won't," the woman said. James looked back at her.

"Why?" A roar shook the canopy before she answered. Green light awakened beneath the bridge. Then the nearest trees illuminated. The glow spread outward through roots, trunks, branches, moss, vines, and every living plant James could see. What he had mistaken for thousands of separate magical channels revealed itself as one connected structure stretching farther than his Perception could follow. The woman looked toward the eastern forest.

"The Behemoth doesn't connect through a handful of roots," she said as the green light continued spreading. Her three companions watched the trees with the exhausted fear of people who had already seen what lived ahead.

"The whole eastern region is connected to it." James looked down at the glowing bridge beneath his boots. The Runebark Behemoth roared again. For the first time since following the tracks, James understood the size of the problem.