32 Chapter 32: Pinky

"Ugh my stomach" Writhing on the ground I keep gripping at my stomach to try and ease the burning sensation that has permeated me for the last few hours.

After skinning that stupid pink bear arm I was feeling really hungry...and well...

The meat tasted delicious at first! So fantastic, in fact, that I stupidly ate the entire thing in one sitting. "How could I be so stupid? Come on Masamune, you know better than this." Aside from some fairly intense um....gastric distress..I was feeling as good as can be expected. My whole body felt hot and feverish, but at least it doesn't seem any worse than eating any other kind of spoiled food.

"Thank god I setup camp first. If I hadn't then that stupid bear would have probably gotten his revenge already." I think as a rueful smile crosses my lips. I take in a huge breath of air and shout to the heavens, "YOU WIN THIS ROUND PINKY!"

A wracking cough makes me double over again. The burning feeling in my stomach is easing if only a bit. This entire time, I've been doing my best to use the spell "Earth's Gift" to try and fix this. Unfortunately the gut wrenching pain is making it near impossible to hold the concentration required to use it!

My vines are fine, since I've practiced so much, so at least I'm not completely defenceless. My mind feels hazy, and I can't seem to focus on anywhere very easily. Shaking hands reach for my water pouch. The simple cork at the top though. I grip with all my might, but it seems that the wracking pain is already weakening my body. Even my teeth can't seem to get any purchase on the blockage. Straining with my hands firmly grasped on the base as my teeth gnaw on the cork. I finally find some purchase, and begin to pull as hard as I can, then with an audible *pop* the cork comes out of the top.

Panting from the residual excitement of my "battle" I proudly pour the clear fresh water into my mouth. Slowly the cool water eases down my throat, as my breathing stabilies further.

"Well let's look at the bright side. This is great training for me to use spells while I'm hurtin I guess." With that in mind I force myself into a meditative position and focus on my body. I struggle getting paste the first layer of my consciousness, the pain is all I can focus on. I grit my teeth and force my focus, "Come on Masamune, be a man!"

Ever so slowly I feel my body slip away from me, my towering spiky trees greet me, and I can't help but breath a bit more easily. The pain that was wracking every inch of my body is completely gone in here. My chest tightens at the thought, "So if I just tried they wouldn't have been able to get me through torture, great."

Feeling slightly defeated I try and turn my attention to what is around me. Given that this forest is a manifestation of my own soul. It seems logical to me, that my forest might mirror some of what is going on in my own body. Peering at the towering trees, I examine them closely, but I can't seem to find anything here that seems similar to my own issue. I focus on the trees themselves making myself feel what they do, how their roots spread in the soil, and how their very highest branches sway at the gentlest touch of air. I smile softly, but then I feel a sharp shooting pain.

There at the very base, in the middle of the tree, completely out of sight, I can feel a disturbance. Bending my senses to that point I get a feel for it. Whatever is causing the pain, it feels...weird? It feels like there are millions of tiny little ants eating away at my inner core.

With a lot of regret I pull myself out of my forest and re-enter my body. "AHHHH" Screaming into the evening sky I try my hardest to remain concious. The wave of pain was more intense than anything I had ever felt before!

"UGH," I struggle to lay back down, and pant heavily once more. "Clearly what I felt, in there was termites, so...What is the human version of termites?" I mull the question over in my head. There don't seem to be a lot of easy parallels from tree to man.

So I focus instead on what Termites are in relation to the plant. It devours them, lives off their body, and causes only destruction.

"That stupid fucking bear had a god damn tape worm didn't it!" I gnash my teeth in anger. I want so badly to find that stupid bear and rip his other arm off! Bastard!

The pain shudders keep me up most of the night, but they do ease up around morning.

In all honesty the long night exposed to the light of the moon, in a truly wild place was very beneficial to me. Throughout the night the cleansing light of the moon was continuously sucked in by my body. The magic in the area around my body had increased in density by a marked degree.

I stand up, and aside from a bit of tenderness from the wounds I got from Pinky I'm feeling strong and healthy. There is another problem, one I think most adventurers would be able to solve really easily. When I had gotten back, I had never cleaned of my blade. That in and of itself, probably wouldn't be a problem, but the incredibly thick hide of the bear also dulled the blade greatly.

I really wish I knew how to fix that... I know in video games that you use a sharpening stone of some kind but...What the hell would that even look like?

I try and scour my mind for any minor detail I might remember about weapon care, but nothing. "Well, there has to be something else I can use. Aside from that unholy lance that thing was...unpleasant."

"Oh, damn I'm an idiot!" I quickly conjure up vines to grow around me strong and straight vines that have little give to them. Then I command them to slither and slide against one another coiling into a a tight braid. With my vine rope I smile slightly. "Well, it's not quite a whip, and its not quite rope." I hold the coiled bundle of plants in my hand, and it looks shockingly plain. No sense of power or ability, but I know what it truly contains.

I strike out with my weapon, the barest flick of my wrist it flew toward my intended target. It strikes home, and think inch long thorns burst out from the fine embedding into the tree and holding fast.

"Masamune used vine whip!"