*Slam*
Icarth once again hit the ground with a thud, rolling twice, Icarth pushed up and leaped back to his feet.
"*huff* *huff*," Icarth breathed out trying to stabilize himself through the throbbing pain across his chest where he had been struck.
Gritting his teeth, he dug his toes into the soft soil trying to gather power. With a powerful leap, Icarth shot forward at his master, trying once more to reach her.
Acacia stood there, steadfast, mostly because she was in tree form, waiting for her student to arrive.
Ethereal green leaves floated around her, showering down as if it was the autumn season.
Icarth dashed forward, side-stepping every leaf in his way, trying his best not to touch a single one. Dipping and weaving, and moving his body to his will, Icarth tried to dodge every floating leaf in his path.
Swiveling his eyes as fast as possible, Icarth absorbed as much information as possible, trying to find a feasible path through the minefield of leaves.
Acacia on the other side, watched peacefully, observing what her student would do next.
Twisting his arm out of the path of a green glowing leaf, Icarth used the movement to push himself out of the way of a wall of scattered leaves in front of him.
'Yes....!' Icarth's short victory was cut off as he barrelled right into a leaf at his side. Despite his best attempts to stop himself, Icarth hit the leaf head-on.
'Shi-' Icarth couldn't fully form his thought as he was cut off as the blast hit his side, throwing him backward.
Icarth hit the ground violently once more, eating a good amount of dirt along the way.
"*Phua*" Icarth spat out the dirt in his mouth as he got back up once more. He glared at the floating leaves, frustration building up inside of him.
'How do I get past these things?' Icarth questioned for the nth time so far. He had already tried countless times to get through this minefield of leaves, trying not to touch a single one. But every time, something or the other happened, which caused him to either brush into the leaves or ram straight first into them.
Icarth narrowed his eyes once more and took in as much information as possible. Crouching down once more, Icarth leaped forward like an arrow.
Breezing past the first few leaves with ease, Icarth made his way into what he called the 'second layer'. This was where the trouble started.
Here the leaves started to move with the wind, shifting unpredictably, causing Icarth to get blasted away countless times.
'Tsk,' Icarth clicked his tongue and ducked quickly avoiding a leaf aimed right at his head. Feeling his neck go cold, Icarth rolled forwards immediately to move out of the path of another leaf. Pushing himself up, Icarth rose up and stopped abruptly to stop himself from hitting another leaf floating above him.
Putting his foot forward, Icarth moved forward again, getting closer to Acacia. Having turned up his senses to the max, Icarth inched closer and closer while dodging every leaf that came his way.
'Hmm,' Acacia rumbled after seeing Icarth's concentration, her blue pearl shining mysteriously in the moonlight.
Icarth was finally within 10 steps of Acacia when he felt his back go cold. Acting quickly, Icarth violently changed his direction and pushed himself to the right just as a green lead zipped past him to embed itself in the ground.
'Wha-' Icarth wasn't even given time to formulate his thoughts before another green leaf barrelled towards his face.
Ducking, Icarth felt a tingling sensation on one of his outstretched arms. Jerking his arm down, Icarth's eyes could barely track a leaf as it flew past where his hand was.
Stumbling due to the momentum of his own hand, Icarth found himself staggering towards a leaf aimed directly at his chest.
'NO' Icarth thought as he grits his teeth and bunched up power in his legs. Pushing down, Icarth lept up and over the leaf, shortening the distance between him and Acacia to just five steps.
'Just one more jump!' Icarth thought as he braced himself for the landing.
And then, Icarth felt his hair rise all over his body. His eyes dilated as his field of vision was filled with those ethereal green leaves, all rushing towards his airborne body.
Twisting his body on instinct, Icarth was able to avoid quite a few....before being slammed by the rest, in his arms, legs, chest, and even head. Icarth shot back like a rocket, right into one of the trees at the edge of the clearing.
Cracking the trunk with his impact, Icarth slid down with a loud thud, his body filled with red marks from where the leaves had hit him.
Acacia stared at her student as she watched him get up almost immediately. A premonition struck her as her braches unconsciously tensed against the wind.
She watched as Icarth threw himself back into the dome of leaves, but this time with no regard for his safety. Icarth barreled through the gaps in the first layer and didn't slow down even in the second layer. Dodging the majority, Icarth made astonishing progress until a leaf blew right into his side.
But instead of flying back like all the other times, Icarth let out a roar and stomped down with all he could, digging his feet into the ground. The blow hit him, pushing him back several feet, his feet dragged through the ground as the pain rocked his body.
But Icarth didn't care at this point. Without a moment to waste, Icarth growled and barrelled forwards again reaching the third layer with only a few more collisions with the leaves.
Entering the third layer, Icarth shot forwards mustering all the power he could, right into the path of the oncoming leaf. Stomping down at the last moment, Icarth twisted his body to allow the leaf to shoot past him as he continued his path toward his master.
7 steps left. Icarth bared his teeth and pushed down, changing his trajectory to diagonally avoid another leaf.
5 steps left. He jumped up with a grunt to avoid a set of leaves aimed at his torso and legs.
2 steps left. Icarth found himself faced with the same situation as before. Airborne and surrounded by leaves in all directions.
Icarth was completely acting on instinct at this point. Activating his partial transformation, Icarth boosted his visual prowess, strength, and endurance dramatically. Swinging his arms violently, Icarth aimed to cut the leaves with his razor-sharp claws before they could reach his body. With another loud roar, Icarth's claws connected with the leaves.
Each time his claws touched a leaf, an immense force reverberated through the claws. Yet due to Icarth's strength, his arms continued its swing, cutting through the rest of the leaves. By the end of it all, many of Icarth's claws had cracks while others were bent at unnatural angles.
Icarth's red eyes glowed dangerously as he landed heavily on all fours, breaking a few of his claws. Without taking a moment to rest, Icarth pushed off the ground to complete the last 2 steps and landed in front of his master with a barrage of leaves stopping just before his prone body.
Acacia stared at her student with a swirl of emotions washing through her. She had forbidden him from activating his partial transformation during training and yet Icarth had used it anyways.
'I suppose I should congratulate him that he finished the training much faster than I predicted.' Acacia thought as she canceled the leaf dome. Just as she canceled her ability, Icarth finally moved. With a growl, he leaped at Acacia, his broken claws extended toward her pearl.
'I knew it.' Acacia thought as her premonition came true. Icarth had lost his mind to his instincts.
Acacia's voice rumbled softly, "Stop." Her magnificent aura unleashed itself, and roots erupted out of the ground and caught Icarth mid-air.
Slamming him to the ground, Icarth started to shiver under the unyielding aura that Acacia was emitting.
"Sleep," Acacia muttered and flowers sprouted which released spores right into Icarth's face. Surprised, Icarth inhaled the cloud of spores. Acting almost immediately, Icarth's eyes rolled back into his head and his face hit the ground with a smack.