The black rove beetle reacted to Edward’s protestations with another blast of acid. Edward had to teleport away to avoid it. “Okay, this is it. Bad beetle! You need a good spanking!!” Edward glanced back at the leaves dissolved by the acid. I can avoid it easily but I should keep it that way. If I get headshot by this acid blast, I’m probably dead. If I’m hit in the chest my leather armor should protect me somewhat, but I don’t know by how much. Let’s stay far away from its acid sprays.

When the beetle threw another acid spray at Edward, he took advantage of it to teleport behind the insect. He sliced at it with his dagger, the dagger bounced harmlessly on the beetle’s exoskeleton. What the heck!? I got a powerful weapon in a lost temple from an ancient civilization and it is useless against a mere beetle! As the beetle was quite slowed to turn over, Edward used the opportunity to hit it again several times with his dagger. Each time the dagger only left a small dent in the beetle armor without being able to pierce it.

The shape of the dagger enabled the user to deliver more force in his blows that a normal one. One could imagine this dagger like a boxing glove ending with a spike in a way, the horizontal bar serving as a hold, helping the user to use all of his force in his blows. However, even though the blow was strong, the blade wasn’t able to pierce the armor, the piercing force was transformed into a blunt force, leaving only dents in the armor.

Once the beetle finally turned around, Edward teleported once more in its back, but some distance away from it this time. He took a few moments to inspect the dagger, it wasn’t damaged and seemed as sharp as ever. The dagger is fine. Does this mean the problem is really coming from this beetle? This stupid thing as an armor strong enough that my dagger can’t pierce through it? This is ridiculous. Since the beetle was too slow to catch up to Edward, he was able to teleport around it, avoiding the acid throws, and hacking at the beetle trying to find a weak point in its exoskeleton.

“I see, since you are this stupid and annoying, the only way for you to survive was to have a strong armor to hide behind.” He taunted the beetle ineffectively. Actually, that kind of makes sense. This beetle is way too slow to avoid the Teleportcrows, however, with an exoskeleton this strong they can’t do anything to it either. The beetle continued to throw acid at Edward not getting disheartened by the fact that it was always missing him.

After teleporting a few more times trying to get past its armor, Edward was starting to get frustrated. How tough is this thing? He teleported once more to avoid an additional blast of acid, almost stepping inside an acid puddle that was leftover from another blast from the insect. Edward looked around, the whole field was covered by irregular puddles of green acid. This is getting tricky, I should better go out of there. He teleported a few meters away “Hey you have a serious case of acid reflux you know?”

He threw a glance at the green ponds further away and then at the small green puddles near him with a disturbed gaze. Are those ponds acidic too? If only one of these beetles is able to throw so much acid at me, several of them fighting in this place for a few years could seriously produce acid ponds. I was hoping to find a nice environment to change from the forest, maybe a nice glade or two, but all I got is an acid marsh. Not cool man, this marsh is not mellow nor mallow. He thought while smiling at his own joke.

Maybe because he was farther away, the beetle lowered its abdomen. Is it giving up? Did it finally realize that I’m not a larva? Thank heaven. Edward thought to himself with renewed hope. The beetle opened its shell, four wings unfolding from it, before shooting quickly toward Edward with a mix of a jump and a low flight. It was having its mandibles wide open. Edward was surprised by this increase in speed from the ordinary slow beetle. However, no matter how fast the beetle was, it was still quite slower than a Teleportcrow appearing behind your back. Having fought with Teleportcrows for several days already, Edward reacted in a heartbeat and teleported to the side, avoiding the aggressive charge from the beetle.

I have enough of it. I won’t flee from a simple beetle. When the beetle recovered from its charge and turned around to face Edward, the latter released his aura at full strength. Edward suddenly became a lot more threatening, surrounded by a bright blue threatening aura, even his dagger glowing a faint blue. The beetle froze in place for an instant, before hesitating and deciding to scramble away, leaving Edward alone. “Hahaha, that’s how it should be! Learn your place beetle, you should be the one running away from me, not the reverse!!”

Just as he was reveling in his superiority and his victory Edward felt a sudden shift in the forest aura. It didn’t feel welcoming anymore, a sense of dread filled him instead, his face quickly paling to a faint white. Shit! I shouldn’t have done that! It was as if something which was previously slumbering had just opened its eyes, fixing its gaze on Edward. Maybe this beetle is afraid of me, but clearly, there are other things in this forest that I should better leave alone. Edward dropped his aura, even canceling it so that he would be harder to notice. He then teleported away a few times, before breaking in a run. It’s time to get the hell out of here.

Edward was able to avoid losing his direction thanks to the different marks that he had graved on the trees on the way in. He was thankful to his previous self for having this idea. Right now, he certainly didn’t have the time to climb a tree to find his way back. The night hadn’t fallen yet but he didn’t feel safe in the forest anymore. To think that all of that happened because of a stupid beetle. I had to hide from Teleportcrows before, but at least they look dangerous. I didn’t even manage to injure it. He glanced once more at his dagger, a faint lingering blue color was dissipating on it, the inscription on it still glowing a little. Uh? When did this happen? The dagger wasn’t blue before. Let’s think about it later, first I should go out of the forest.

Edward continued to run away, even teleporting from time to time to go faster. He realized that he kept his momentum when he was teleporting. While running, he was also starting to get better to estimate the place where he would teleport to. He managed to leave the forest in a few hours instead of more than half a day of walking. He reached the border when the sunset was ending and the night was beginning. Phew, I should probably stay out of the forest for a day or two. This is frustrating but I don’t want to discover what I disturbed. The auras I felt gave me a serious sense of pressure. Shit! I just got a power-up, but I am still out of my depth in the wilds. I can fight a random monster, but anything particularly strong and I don’t have any other choice but to flee. Luckily for me, the teleportation power I got is useful both to attack and to retreat.

Edward spent an uneventful night, only dreaming about being stuck in a crowd of beetles as tall and as fat as sheep, having to push them so that they reluctantly free the way. Now even in my dreams, there are beetles. I will name this specie the stupid acid beetles. Let the world know, how annoying they are. Edward took some time to do meditation exercises to better his mood. Sensing and seeing his aura always help him to regain his calm and to keep a posed mindset.

By forbidding himself to go inside the forest he didn’t have many things to do. He mainly focused on aura training and on improving his teleportation. Improving his physic aptitude was a bit hard to do, push-ups now being useless, and aura perception was best used inside the forest. There wasn’t much life to sense in the screes slope where his outpost was situated.

Now that he had more time to think about it, Edward took out his blade to examine it again. The blade was back to normal and there was no trace of any blue color. He caressed the inscription graved on the blade written in the Damkinan’s language which meant blood flow. By now, Edward was sure that it was in part due to those runes that the bade got absorption powers. The blade turned blue, the same color as my aura when I fully released it against that beetle. Maybe my aura can actually affect this weapon?

He slowly released his aura while holding the dagger, nothing happened at first, he then conscientiously led some of his aura towards the dagger. This time, the weapon reacted, the dagger turning the same blue color as his aura, the inscription on it glowing faintly. Don’t tell me that I am using this weapon incorrectly since the start. Apart from the change in shade and glowing runes, Edward didn’t notice any particular change. He stood up, while continuously releasing his aura in the weapon.

This is actually more difficult than it looks. I have to release my aura in the dagger without releasing it entirely. I should test if my aura is impacting the blade in another way than its color. Edward went outside near a rock. He first did a strike of his dagger against it without activating his aura. The blade bounced back, making only a small nick in the rock. He then struck a second time, this time while activating his aura on the blade. The blade didn’t stop and cut through the rock like butter. Edward was surprised by the absence of any resistance and had to take a step forward to gain back his balance.

The blade hadn’t fully cut the rock in two as its length was too short, but on its way, the rock was showing a smooth cut. Damn right, I knew this dagger was awesome. Just you wait stupid beetle, you will see if you can hide behind your shell for long. He then remembered how he had to flee away from the forest. But that will be for another day, I better stay away, for now, to let things settle down. Tomorrow I could go climb up the mountain until now I only went into the forest, but I never tried to reach the summit of the mountain. He looked at the different peaks covered in snow. I am ill-equipped but I could at least walk until I reach the snow. All I’m missing is a raclette cheese and it could be a perfect holiday in the mountains.