78 Rage The symbol on his glowed as it issued a notification in his mind. [Fey bloodline activated] [Battle power has increased by 15] Emery tapped into the bloodline of his ancestors and began his transformation. He didn't care whatever information the symbol showed him in his rage-filled mind. All he cared about at the moment was that he had a surge of energy and was able to move his body free from the influence of the paralysis poison. His strength and speed had doubled and with the natural strength of his transformation, so that when he jumped toward the ceiling and ricocheted himself straight to the old hag, the ceiling of the rounded hut exploded as he managed to charge the old hag into the storage room. With such powerful charge, any normal human would have died, especially an old woman, but of course this old hag was far from normal. From the rubble of the wood and straw, Granny stood up uninjured with her skin looking as brown as an oak. [Oak flesh - Tier 2 plant magic] [Turning flesh into a hard oak wood, strong but light] Emery's attack virtually had no effect on her and instead of being fearful, Granny appeared to have been more excited than before. "Hahaha! Wonderful, excellent! You truly are special! Such a rarity even to those who are direct descendants of the Fey!" "I… I'll rip you…apart!" He roared and once more charged at Granny when a wall of wood sprang from before her. He quickly shifted his position mid-air and waved his arm, sending Granny outside flying where the blood moon shone its ominous crimson light. He chased after the body lying on the ground but when he arrived, her figure became a black smoke, dispersing into thin air. The roots on the ground then started creeping on him and managed to latch on his legs. After he hacked the roots with his claws, Emery darted his eyes until he found Granny's silhouette going into the forest wherein he followed suit. Inside the forest, the tall trees little light from whatever the crimson moon shone on the land below. He tried to track down Granny's mocking voice as she kept on saying, "Come here, boy. Come! I'm over here!" She moved faster than any old woman should've been able too, but Emery was nearing her evident by the faint black smoke he had been seeing signs of. Emery understood that he had no spells nor even a sword, but he understood that his claws right now would probably be more effective against the old hag than a weapon. After clearing everything of the spells that had managed to twist itself on him, Emery breathed in and out. The cold winter made him look like he was breathing out his own smoke coming straight from his nostrils. He was calming himself since he had fallen to her tricks twice. If he continued being reckless and wouldn't be more careful, he realized that he would eventually fall prey into the hands of an old mad woman. Now that he had gotten back some sense to himself, Emery surveyed his surroundings and came up with a plan. This time, Emery ran in circles in the hopes of confusing Granny and her wicked spells. His advantage was speed and he would take advantage of that until she finally slips out and that would be his one and only chance to get close and tackle the old woman to the ground. He believed that as long he pinned her down, her wooden spell of defense would eventually break apart. "What are you doing now, boy! Can't you even catch an old woman?" Despite making himself calm earlier, he could feel his emotion was starting to rise up once more. It looked like his transformation not only affected his body but also his psyche. He gritted his teeth as he continued to catch his breath, trying hard not to fall out of grace by her nonstop taunting. As he ran around, another of Granny's shadow rope appeared behind a tree rope, his fast momentum made him barely dodge it causing him to crash into one of the trees. He stood up, uninjured, and saw the aftermath in his wake. The thick three was half broken and was almost about to fall. Then a new idea popped in his head. Emery once more ran around and purposely crashed into the trees where Granny's shadow rope appeared. He noticed a silhouette jump out of the way of the fallen tree and this confirmed his theory. Granny's couldn't be far away or was most likely hiding behind the tree the shadow appeared from since it was attached to her directly. He continued doing the same stratagem and after a dozen of trees later, Granny's voice rang out and said, "Hahaha, looks like you've gone mad, my dear Emery. Sadly, falling trees won't be enough to hurt m—" Before Granny was able to finish her words, Emery appeared above her, standing on top of a nearby fallen tree and pounced on her. They were only an inch away when Granny chanted a new kind of spell at such speed that a black light in the shape of a crescent moon appeared on the top of her palm and shot toward Emery. Emery barely had the time to twist his body in mid-air when the unknown spell sliced past him. The notification of the sleep arrived at the moment of impact: [Enfeeble Blade - rank 3 darkness spell] [A powerful and extremely sharp blade created from the shadow of the darkness element] Blood splashed against the trunk of the tree and Emery could no longer feel his right arm. He turned to see what had happened and only to find his right arm was still hovering in the air while he was descending fast on the ground. Distracted by such a shock, he didn't notice Granny had whipped her jet, black dagger, pierced him right into his scarred chest, slammed him on the ground and got on top of him. Emery howled as he could feel every fiber of his being forcefully drawn out and consumed by Granny. "Grraaaahhhh!!!" Each second felt like eternity while witnessing his own white stream being pulled out of his body. Emery struggled trying to push the old woman away, but it seemed that even her strength was quite unusual while his was starting to dwindle. And he was starting to lose consciousness when Emery then heard the familiar voice again. "You're in trouble again aren't you, kid?" said a voice in his head. "You! Who are – why are you always messing my head" he replied with his thoughts. "Huh? The feeling is mutual, kid. Stop messing around, your pathetic actions will be the end of us both!" "I-I—" "I what, kid? I'm trying your best? Heck, you can't even defeat an old woman!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 "Whoever or whatever you are… you either help me or shut up!" Emery bit his tongue just to force himself awake. It barely did anything as his vision was waning. The white stream became even thicker like endless smoke entering through Granny's wide open mouth. "Such a rich life force!" yelled Granny. "This… this!... what is this!.. What are you really Emery!" She laughed madly as a black shadow mixed within white stream and entered her mouth. And in just a few seconds, her hair became thick and dark, skin tightened, until she finally became an attractive young woman in her 30s. She touched her face before taking a look at her body, her wrinkled skin turned smooth and white. She grinned and shouted, "This is the best! Finally! Finally! After two hundred years of seeing that disgusting face, I'm back to my prime! Now, I'll be able to return the favor to that bitch!" Emery shakingly raised his hand. The feeling of feebleness grew stronger as he could tell her rate of absorption was getting stronger by the second. He knew he was on the boundary of life and death. If he didn't do something, anything, this would spell his inevitable doom. And with such desperate situations, came desperate measures. He decided to not even try to escape, instead, he decided to embrace it. He grasped Granny's hand that was holding the hilt of the dagger and pushed it deeper into himself. His sudden actions surprised her, making her lower her head, and at that moment Emery found the strength to sit up and bite Granny's neck with all the force he could muster in his jaws until the blood was starting to drip down. Granny was startled and then immediately broke away. But Emery was not willing to let go. He released his left arm, put it around Granny's torso and once again bit as hard as he could until a chunk of meat was taken off. Granny screamed and pushed him back with both hands before turning herself into a shadow and disappearing. ----- Author Note