We approach the dark treeline, and it's not only the lingering gaze of the golden lizard that makes me shiver. The trees themselves give off an aura of danger that I can't quite figure out. All I know is it's best if I don't touch their trunks. Every time my gaze falls on them at this close distance, I get the instant reflexive feedback to stay away. Even so, we enter the dark forest. I activate my stealth skill along with my greater form. The orange threads that flow from my core wrap around my large form while I pull out my sword, intertwining and amplifying my stealth skill as well, making me completely vanish. The only thing left behind are the heavy orange footsteps that bend space behind me. Once they've made it far enough from my core, the stealth skill deactivates and the threads are visible to the naked eye. Even so, I still have a window of time where I'm invisible and can catch it off guard. This small time-lag and a bit of misdirection are what I'm counting on. It may see me now, but its momentum is still moving away from me. I'm closer to its golden fruit than it is to me, and Ember is not its primary threat anymore so his movements are far less noticeable. I send out a new telepathy message while swinging my sword again to slice through the small stem of the fruit keeping it connected to the upper branch of the tree. Ember swoops down beneath the thick branch while I open up my item storage and let the fruit fall inside. The enormous lizard's long spiked tail uncurls and shoots backward to grab onto the black branch and shift its forward momentum and swing toward me instead of keeping its forward lunge. The torque created by the sudden change in direction is far more powerful than I predicted, and its rows of teeth and open maw come rocketing toward me much faster than I was initially expecting. Even so, I still see many possible escape options I can take before having to use my teleport crystal. In my greater form, its open mouth is almost half the length of my body. The sight is still hideous, but it isn't as intimidating as it was when I witnessed it kill 40 insects in the blink of an eye while I was still a red core. Crimson blood drips from its neck where I managed to slice it earlier; this even adds to the full picture that this too is just another beast that can be killed. It may have been a full-powered cheap shot, but I never planned to have a fair fight in the first place. I smirk and continue to airstep forward, putting my sword away into my item storage to increase my aerodynamics and fly through the air faster. It gains on me quicker than I travel forward, but in my peripherals, I see Ember emerge from below the branch of the tree about 20 meters away flying even faster than the lizard. If I try to change direction in mid-air, I'll only be leading this creature toward both of us. Its tail is about to unwrap from the branch to propel itself in my direction even faster, and I need to make sure its momentum is pointed in a direction that helps me get away with my prize. I take a deep breath and whisper to myself. "This is going to hurt a lot..." Then, I grit my teeth and shift my weight, putting out my greater form's unguarded arm right in front of the jumping lizard's jaws as it clamps down. All the same pain and crushing pressure of its teeth piercing through my flesh translate from my greater form to my actual body on the inside. My HP and MP both drop drastically while I feel orange threads being ripped from my being as well. I let out a yell while separating with half of my arm and kicking off the trunk of the tree at the base of the branch to change my direction entirely. As my foot makes contact with the black tree, another dangerous sensation hits my body and psyche. For the split second I kick off the tree, even more orange tendrils of divine energy are ripped away from me and disappear into an indescribable greedy depthless hunger of the obsidian tree. I let out a gasp while I push myself away from the tree and the lizard tears off a large chunk of my greater form's energy and leaves tendrils of yellow threads behind in every single tooth mark. It flies one way, and I fly the other toward Ember. I don't dare look back to see if it's satisfied with its energy-dense meal while I power down my greater form and land on Ember's back. My rings and gauntlets float in front of me where my arm is missing. It regenerates back instantly to fill the empty space, however, the slow-moving orange threads that flow from my core take a few seconds to fully intertwine with my arms again. Ember flaps his wings and twists his body through the deadly trees and we burst out of the forest seconds later. Once the view of the clouds and open sky hit my vision it feels as if an immense pressure has lifted from me. We escape the yellow observation domain of the lizard in the same instance, and its presence disappears from my senses as Ember flies away from the island. I stare down at where my arm was bitten off and still feel the pain of every single toothmark it left behind. After a few more seconds pass and my HP rises back up to full, the pain fades away. I smile as Ember's flight path turns in the air, slowly pointing us back toward the forest while I pull my sword and the glowing yellow fruit from my item storage. "It has a weak point, we can take advantage of that and can kill it before it heals. I just need to give it a taste of its own power." As I channel Soul Energy into my blade, I activate stealth again, and begin examining the yellow fruit closely.