Millions of hot yellow tendrils of divine energy flow through the enormous fruit in my Greater form's hand.
It looks like a meter-tall peach that glows with a golden radiance, vibrating and humming, bending reality around it, making it seem heavier than my entire orange core.
However, at the same time, it feels as if it's as light as a feather, almost trying to float above my greater form's hand.
Ember's voice echoes through my mind in our link.
"That fruit has an absurd amount of higher frequency threads coursing through it. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just as potent as an entire yellow core..."
We approach the treeline again, and I widen my scope of perception to try and locate the lizard we just fought, but nothing comes back into my senses. The forest before me seems as if it's empty.
"What exactly are you implying? It will give me power... but is it safe to consume?"
There's a moment of silence, and I think back to the extreme surges of power and energy the insect creatures gained when they took a single bite of this fruit.
They grew in perceived strength and speed for fractions of a second, and it would take multiple other insects to subdue them.
If I were to consume a great deal more than a single bite, I'm almost certain I can land a finishing blow on the monster that lurks in these woods.
Ember replies as Soul Energy envelops his entire body, and I even feel a slight pull of his plunderer skill activate, draining mana and a small amount of orange divine threads from my aura.
"Yes, you'll be able to handle it... Stay focused, and don't stray far from me. I'll take care of the excess energy residue and keep you stable. You'll know exactly what I mean in a moment. Just focus on taking the shot, don't jump off my back, and I'll handle the rest."
I nod and take a deep breath in and out as we soar between the trunks of two impossibly tall jet-black trees, then bring the golden fruit to my Greater form's mouth.
In a single bite, the fruit disappears inside my energy form's mouth, and a burning hot sensation forms in my real body's heart.
I hear Ember's wings fly in the air, and my heartbeat syncs up with this motion.
My gaze spreads out through the seemingly empty forest again, then what feels like a hot spark of electricity surges through my body. It flows up through my chest, into my brain, and out through my eyes, blinding my vision with a yellow light. The yellow light instantly disperses and gives me a new burst of advanced perception similar to my enemy detection skill, however it can see everything including the trees, rocks, and even individual divine threads floating through the air.
A pulse of golden yellow energy flows from my forehead and spreads through the forest as we glide into it.
Everything that lurks in these trees becomes visible to me.
There are hundreds of buzzing insects and dozens of mutant chameleons stalking their prey.
The yellow light in my chest, brain, and eyes continues to expand and it gets hotter and hotter, making my body glow like a sun.
My self-regeneration skill works at full power as the yellow tendrils of energy wrap around every fiber of my greater form, however, it's clear this energy is far too intense for my body and orange core to fully contain if it keeps growing in intensity like that.
A line that Ember spoke earlier when we first entered this construct comes to mind when he warned Dane that if he were to eat a red fragment, he would be burned from the inside out and explode on the spot.
The rate of growing fire in my chest and overwhelming growing heat intensity throughout my body and greater form makes me believe that exactly that is about to happen.
However, Ember said to focus on the task at hand and he'd handle keeping everything under control.
I take another deep breath as the golden thread wraps around my greater form's sword.
Then, I pinpoint exactly where the creature we left lurks. Its tail is wrapped around a branch on the opposite side of the tree we left it on, and I still see a slit in its throat where I managed to attack it last.
Its eyes are closed, and it seems to believe it's fully camouflaged behind this tree.
In my temporarily enhanced vision, I watch streams of golden thread flow from the lizard at a steady rate and disappear into the darkness of the branch it rests on.
At the same time, the heat that courses through my own body hits a point of discomfort that leads me to want to let out a scream.
However, right before I do blow our cover, the sensation of Ember's plunder ability kicks in.
The overflow of golden threads that my greater form can't handle is being siphoned out and entering Ember's body instead of corrupting mine.
Out of the corner of my eye, I expect to see his aura wrapped in the bright orange threads of his divine energy aiding this phenomenon, but what is really happening is quite different.
My gaze is subverted the moment my subconscious realizes what it is.
The same silver and golden sparkling energy from the center of his core is absorbing the excess threads through my feet.
The mental block kicks in again and my mind is pushed away, almost forgetting it in the moment to focus on the task at hand.
A wave of refreshing clarity washes over my mind as the immense heat and pressure are lifted from my body, only leaving enough that I can handle.
We whiz past the base of the tree, and finally, the chameleon's snake-like eyes open and lock onto us both glowing, covered in the same yellow tendrils of divine energy as it is.
The lizard monster immediately bursts with its yellow aura and swings its body up from its resting position while showing us its claws and rows of jagged teeth, however, it doesn't seem as frightening and deadly as it did before.
We have the element of surprise on our side, and I have more energy surging through me than I've ever felt in my life.
It lunges forward, and at the same time, Ember curves his flight trajectory to put me in the perfect position to land a hit.
Even with this timing and enhanced precision, the monster I'm attacking isn't going to give up easily. It protects its weak point on its neck with its outstretched two front claws.
My glowing yellow sword collides with its yellow claws and a shockwave of golden divine energy shutters through the forest.
The lizard's maw opens wide and its tongue shoots out while it releases a distorted screech and pushes its jaw forward to try and get a bite out of me again.
I use all my strength to push against its claws that push against my sword with equal force.
We're stuck in a standstill in the air for a fraction of a second while the intense pulse of energy ripples through the obsidian trees.
Even now, I can feel I'm at the peak of my strength. If any more time passes, the surge of power from this yellow fruit will be wasted and I'll lose my chance.
Ember knows this too and turns his entire body to the side to reach out his own claws using our forward momentum to make contact with the lizard's exposed side.
Another pulse of yellow energy ripples through the forest as its protective barrier degrades and long claw marks are left in its flesh.
At the same time, its shriek gets louder and the deadlock between its claws and my sword loosens while it's pushed to the side and behind to squirm with pain from Ember's blow.
This leaves me with a single opening, and Ember leans into it while I lunge forward to thrust my gold-coated blade into the slit I created when we attacked it the first time.
As the beast flails backward from the pain of Ember's scratch, my sword pierces through the underside of its neck and through its head, leaving a bloody blade visible in its open maw of jagged teeth.
I finally let out a yell while Ember stops absorbing my excess energy runoff.
Instead, I let it all course through my blade and let the force blow an even larger hole in its skull while we continue to soar past the branch it jumped from.
By the time Ember curves our flight downward, the sharpness in the creature's eyes fades, and its constant thrashing slows down.
Ember swoops beneath the branch and we take the same path through the trees and out into the open air to see the clouds again.
The deceased lizard's body dissolves on my sword as the intensity of the yellow fruit's energy fades and is left behind as a trail of golden threads in our flight path.
Both Ember and I now have a small percentage of our bodies and orange cores flowing with these shimmering yellow threads. The large yellow stone that falls from the monster's disappearing corpse marks our first kill and major step of progress toward conquering these dark forests and seeing where they lead to even higher above in this construct.
Now that I know how they operate within their territories, and have successfully managed to safely consume one of their fruits, I'm confident I can do it again. The only real unknown danger that lurks in the back of my mind is the infinite darkness that resides within each of these glossy obsidian trees.
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Author's Note:
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