Biohuman

The three boys stood around the lizard. They watched the purple blood gush out of the lizard's body. They were thinking about what they should do with the large animal.

"We could just leave it here." Keng suggested. "I don't wanna carry this through the hardest part of the trail."

"Animals will get to it before we can come back for it." Lee Seng told him.

"The bone plating would probably be most profitable but we can't move it." Ritsuka tapped his chin. He had attached Angerfang onto his back and was slowly starting to circle the lizard. "The exterior plating was really hard to dent. Even your strikes did very little, see?" His finger moved over a small part of a strike. Lee Seng and Keng's ears twitched. They looked to the right and noticed Halys standing on top of the rocks.

"You didn't follow me for quite some time and this is where I find you guys?" Halys easily moved down the boulders and jumped down. He made his way over to the boys. "A large bone lizard. I haven't seen these in awhile. They're normally in sunnier places." He pointed around them. It was a large enough opening of sunlight, but the large creature didn't seem to fit the area at all.

"This wasn't supposed to be here?" Lee Seng asked.

"These guys usually travel around different environments. It probably accidentally made its way to this place and got hungry."

"That would explain why it rushed at us." Ritsuka commented.

"Lee Seng screamed and caught its attention." Keng threw Lee Seng under the bus.

"Why?" Halys looked up at Lee Seng. He wasn't even staring at the lizard. He was staring at the Dark Matter on him. "Chang, what happened?"

"Huh?" Lee Seng zoned back in.

"Why're you staring at the Dark Matter? Something happened?"

"Oh," Lee Seng began to shake his head when he stopped. He didn't know if it was bad or not. "Everything feels different. I tried to strike this Bone Lizard and dented it twice, only. Granted it had very thick bone plating, the Dark Matter energy feels… lighter."

"Lighter? Is that even possible?" Halys asked.

"My Dark Matter was thick like mud. I just felt a rush of muddy water within my body all the time. I didn't notice it yesterday, but after using my abilities, it feels lighter like it went from muddy water to lake water."

"Is it purified?" Keng asked, trying to keep up with the metaphor.

"I guess you could say that." Lee Seng nodded. "It doesn't feel heavy. It feels deep and vast now."

'Can he already feel the difference after I took out the stuff in his body?' Halys thought. His mind flashed back to the moment after he finished clearing Lee Seng's body of negative effects.

—

"Will he be okay?" Florabelle asked. She flew over to Halys, hesitantly.

"He'll be fine." Halys nodded.

"Are you going to turn all of the negative energy into more nature energy?"

"Something strange happened to him. There's something… weird about Lee Seng."

"What?" Florabelle asked. She moved closer as Halys pulled one of the vines towards him. He made a small incision cut on one of the vines and watched dark liquids slowly ooze out of the vines.

"You see this?" Halys pointed at the liquid. Florabelle nodded. "This isn't decay and poison. This is all stuff that's been inside of him before all of that."

"I'm not following, Nature Warrior." Florabelle told him.

"I've been observing this kid since he was little. During all those years, he grew up to be quite a handful."

"Okay..?"

"Well, when he was supposed to get his powers around his fourteenth birthday. It's when they enter Eighth grade."

"Eighth grade…?"

"Well, he never got any powers and I think this is why." Halys pointed. He squeezed the vine and watched as a small black worm-like thing dropped to the floor. He squirmed and started to dig itself into the ground. Halys watched a rock orb surround the worm. He grabbed it, letting go of the vine that healed itself of the cut.

"What're you gonna do then? H-he lashed out like he was some sort of beast." Florabelle looked towards the unconscious Lee Seng.

"I'll have to send this to the Village. Lady Vix'i will be able to study it and tell us what was in his body. Until then, I'll have to observe him." Halys looked up at the sprite. "If you see anything strange happen to him, let me know."

"Y-you want my help with this? I-isn't this a Fox Spirit matter, Nature Warrior?" Florabelle stuttered.

"As I see it, you're an ally of the Fox Spirits now. We eradicated the spirits that haunted this cabin and the Village can build a small outpost here for travelers." Halys explained. "You'll be in contact with more Fox Spirits in the future. Probably a lot that resemble Ritsuka and Lee Seng." He pointed.

"I don't… understand. Why would you make a small outpost here? Wouldn't it be better to build one closer to the Village over there?" Florabelle pointed.

"We will have to monitor the boy. If he feels changes, we'll have to keep an eye on him and make sure he's fit to continue the expedition in a couple of days."

—

"Continue to monitor it. You're still feeling fine after the fight?" Halys asked. Lee Seng nodded.

"I feel fine. Like I barely used anything against this thing." Lee Seng pointed at the lizard.

"Good," Halys nodded. "How about the rest of you? Ritsuka? Keng?"

"We should hurry up." Ritsuka told them. He came to a stop next to Lee Seng and pointed at Angerfang. "I'm being drained as we speak. I know I have enough to last a couple of more hours. I'm burning energy standing here."

"I'm good." Keng gave Halys a thumbs up.

"Alright. Continue the trail. I'll deal with this." Halys pointed.

"How're you gonna deal with that?" Lee Seng asked. Vines erupted from Halys' nature body and started to wrap around the lizard. The vines easily lifted the lizard and Halys turned.

"Like that." Halys pointed. "Let's go. You guys wasted a lot of time fighting this." He jumped and pulled the lizard's body behind him. It flew behind him with ease, slamming at the top as he moved. "Get back before noon!" The boys followed after him. Lee Seng watched as the forest got denser. The tree's grew closer together and the light of the two suns dimmed. He looked over at Ritsuka. He wondered if Ritsuka could see in the darkened place.

Before he could say something, he heard something fly straight for him. He dodged forward, jumping closer to Ritsuka and Keng as something snapped where he was. He continued forward, not looking backwards.

"I guess it starts." Ritsuka whispered. Keng nodded as more similar noises flew straight for the group. The two began to dodge whatever was attacking them.

"What are they?" Lee Seng asked as another noise flew straight for him. He dodged to the side, getting a glimpse of a small bulb chomping down onto air. It immediately pulled back into the darkness. Ritsuka and Keng didn't slash, they simply dodged the creatures.

"Don't kill them." Ritsuka told Lee Seng as he leapt forward, dodging more bulb creatures below.

"Why?" Lee Seng asked.

"You don't wanna know why."

"It'll be worse for us if they do actually get cut." Keng shifted into his Fox form, leaping in between two bulbs as they snapped. His form shifted back to the humanoid form and continued on his way. The strange noises grew louder behind them. Lee Seng started to turn and caught a glimpse of something large coming at them.

"Is there something huge in the forest?" Lee Seng asked.

"No, why?" Keng asked. Ritsuka and Keng both looked behind them and quickly started to run faster. "Run!"

"W-w-w-why?" Lee Seng asked, picking up speed.

"It's never done that before!" Ritsuka shouted. Loose bulbs shot out from the sides, extending their mouths to chomp down on the three boys. The Lee Seng moved backwards, barely dodging the chompy bulbs as they sailed past him. Keng and Ritsuka moved forward, putting more distance between them and the large thing following them.

"I guess this is what he meant when he said, 'The forest will wake up one day and try to bury you!'" Keng shouted. The loud strange noise roared in unison as Lee Seng tried to catch up to the others. The vines were starting to block his path.

'They're blocking my way on purpose?' Lee seng thought. He jumped forward, his form shifting. He began to run and dodge the vines and bulbs with ease. 'They're intentionally doing this to me!'

ROAR!

Lee Seng looked behind him. He could clearly see a large bulb snaking its way straight to him. Its body was made of vines that moved around as it launched itself forward.

"SHIT!" Lee Seng  jumped, body turning and shifting back into his human form. He landed on all fours, energy condensing into his legs as he pushed. He rocketed forward as the large bulb chomped down on the spot he was at. The forest shook in retaliation.