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The abyssal water was filled with sediment and algae, making it harder to move through, but he eventually shuffled through before hoisting himself up to the hole that led into the mysterious interior of the colossal tree.

Before getting to look inside, he turned around, reaching down to lend a hand to Melisande, who seemed hesitant at first to accept his help, but obliged.

“Hyup,” Melisande made a small noise when brought up.

Bringing himself to his feet, he looked around with Melisande at the inside of the hollow timber. The bark walls were lined with crimson growth, sprouting flowers into a colorful, but daunting bloom as after a closer look, they both realized what was attached to the walls.

Bodies.

Human bodies.

Wrapped in green-and-red moss, blossoming flowers on their form, corpses were laced to the wall, completely stagnant and devoid of movement like natural taxidermy.

“This is…” Melisande muttered quietly as her eyes trembled.

There was an abnormal amount of bodies held in the swamp of the alternate reality; it wasn’t just the walls, but some even laid on the ground, decomposed and only kept from completely rotting away by the crimson blossom.

…Just what is this? What’s doing this? He questioned.

An answer seemed to come as Melisande screamed out, prompting him to spin around as he witnessed crimson vines sprouting from the flesh of the tree, sprouting in abundance as they whipped around.

“Melisande–!” He yelled out.

Before the thorny limbs could latch onto the silver-haired girl, he dashed with all of his strength, grabbing her wrist and moving her away.

As he glanced back, he saw the red tendrils extending towards them still, forcing him to hold his ground as he kept the girl behind him, using his sword to slash at the vines to keep them away._.

Slicing through a pair of the vines, he watched as a mysterious fluid leaked from the innards of the thick tendrils of nature, attempting to squirt onto his skin.

“–Huh?!”

He jumped back to avoid the release of the fluid, though part of his verdant cape was hit by the amber liquid.

What is this…? He thought.

As he looked down at the collar of his cape, he watched the colorful fluid bubble up like acid, causing the green fabric to turn before fungal growth began to spread across it.

“Ghh–!”

Acting quickly, he tore his cape away, tossing it to the ground as it was soon swallowed in fungus and crimson overgrowth.

“Emilio…! Look out-!” Melisande warned.

Before he was given a chance to discern his own thoughts on what he witnessed, he was forced to move again as he took Melisande’s hand, bringing her with him as a stream of the infectious liquid sprayed towards their position.

Where did it come from–? He questioned.

As he looked over while moving across the length of the tree’s interior, he found the flower-infested corpses rising, moving with stiff limbs as the mysterious substance oozed from the crimson lilies that sprouted from their eyes and mouths in abundance.

“What do we do?…” Melisande asked, looking around.

That was the very question running on repeat through the boy’s head as he found the ‘blossomed’ corpses coming to life, or whatever the fungal sentience could be called. They awakened from every angle, surrounding them completely.

Even worse, the damage he sustained from his fight with the gorilla was felt more than ever; purple-and-yellow bruises were visible on his cheek, chin, and torso as even breathing came with some difficulty.

I can spare a couple spells…at most. If I do that, I’ll be even more exhausted though, he thought.

Glancing around, he looked for some sort of opening for an exit, but the way they came in through was completely blocked by the blossomed corpses.

“Don’t let that stuff they’re oozing touch you–I’m pretty positive it’s how they got turned like that in the first place,” he warned.

“I figured as much, but…got it,” she nodded.

“Just stay behind me,” he told her.

“I can handle–”

“Melisande. Please,” he glanced back at her.

There was a certain level of desperation in his amethyst eyes as if saying ‘I can’t do this if you won’t go along’; the prideful girl recognized that look in that moment, accepting it as she slowly nodded.

“…Alright…but, don’t push yourself for me,” Melisande told him.

“It’s too late for that,” he mumbled.

As the blossomed corpses closed in, staggering over with rigid movements, their backs were close to the wall.

With the way things stood, he hardly had the strength to swing his sword with enough power behind it to cleave through the moss-covered bodies.

I need strength, he thought, I’ve never tried this before, but…work with me, heart. Pump some of that Dragonheart blood through my veins–just a bit…just enough to get us through this.

Focusing on the beating of his own heart, the nerves and anxiety aided in raising his heart rate, allowing warmth to flow through his veins as he forced that internal strength to awaken.

BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.

The tightness in his chest increased, causing him to wince quietly as he tightened his grip on the handle of his sword; heat flowed through his body as his blood boiled.

His eyes shifted to their draconic slant, causing his veins to press against his forearms as it came forth just in time–

[Dragonheart System Activated]

[Current Stage: Dragon Newt | 1/10]

It was a surge of adrenaline that was much appreciated in the daunting moment, giving him the strength needed to swing his blade through one of the approaching, flower-covered corpses.

As he bisected the corpse that was invisible to gender, the blood it spilled was the very liquid he feared to touch, forcing him to step back.

Not good, he thought.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a suspicious bundle of vines that led up to what appeared to be a second floor of the colossal, hollow tree. Though as he looked up, he found something waiting on the higher floor of the fungal-infested timber.

That’s…! He realized.

It was a doorway; a pale-white door, sticking out like a sore thumb just out of reach.

“Melisande, look up there…” He told the girl.

As the emerald-eyed girl looked up, her eyes locked onto the existence of the door as well. It was a sight of hope in the dreadful environment as they found themselves surrounded by the blossomed corpses.

“A door?…How do we get up there though?” She asked.

“See those vines next to the wall, to your left? Use those,” he told her.

“But what about you–?”

“I’ll be right behind you,” he assured her, keeping his eyes forward.

Melisande was clearly hesitant as the boy her age was adamant about holding the line with nothing but a sword in his hand, but as she hesitated, he yelled out sharply–

“Go! We don’t have much time…!” He told her.

“Right…but, you better be right behind me!” Melisande said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched, making sure the girl was able to ascend the vines, though she struggled, she was making her eyes.

Attempting to halt her, the fungal-infested, zombie-like humans reached out to her, trying to grasp her legs, but he intervened with a swipe of his sharpened steel.

“Ngh!” He grunted, swinging his sword.

There’s too many, he thought.

Though they were slow and predictable in their movements, a single touch was all it would take for him to meet his end. Their numbers never seemed to thin, with more blossomed corpses arriving, crawling out from between gaps in the wood.

More…? He thought, looking around.

As he glanced at the vine, he saw that Melisande was no longer on it, having successfully reached the higher floor of the hollow timber.

A sense of relief washed over his body as he now was able to move without reservation, swinging swiftly as he aimed for the heads of the blossomed corpses, taking them down quickly and making sure to move before the liquid could touch his skin.

As he began to back up towards the vine to follow Melisande–his stomach dropped. He had accidentally backed right into one of the moss-skinned corpses, glancing back to meet ‘eye-to-eye’ with the malignant spider lilies that bloomed from their eyes.

An empty groan left the absent lips of the corpse as he quickly pulled away, but even in his quick reaction–a single drop of the liquid fell, hitting his forearm.

“Shit!…No!” He let out in anguish.

There was no time to hesitate. As it stood, it was his life on the line, and he needed to make a decision right then and there without thinking.

It wasn’t guaranteed it’d work, but he couldn’t waste time on pondering it.

Raising his blade, he closed one eye and slid the visceral steel across his afflicted flesh, slicing off the piece of flesh that had been touched by the blossoming liquid.

“…Hfff…” He breathed out.

Warmth oozed from his inner forearm, sliding down his limb as fresh crimson trickled down in a continuous flow.

Still, he wasn’t out of danger yet as more blossomed corpses approached, forcing him to expend what little mana he had left in one move.

…I’ve got to do this now! He thought.

Holding his hand forward, he summoned the last strength of his Dragonheart activation into one manifestation of azure flame.