The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 75

A stain of blood began spreading through the remains of my shirt as I barely managed to dodge the spear of twisted vines aimed straight for my heart.

My heart pounded with a force strong enough to break out of my ribcage from the thought of death looming before me. I almost died. This sensation felt different from the other near-death experiences I had had. It was almost instantaneous; I could’ve died in that split second, and it would’ve been because of Tess, no less.

I knew women were dangerous.

Barely dodging the tendril, I grimaced at the feeling of blood trickling down my cheek.

I almost chuckled at the comical situation stirring in my mind. Grandpa Virion’s hands were literally on the cocoon, but as soon as I got near her, a flurry of spear-like vines automatically locked onto me for the kill? I knew that, deep down, Tess was still mad at me.

I parried the next dark, spear-like tendril before things became even worse. The cocoon that wrapped around Tess began expanding as an uncountable number of vines began surfacing from the ground beneath her.

"Kuu!" ’Papa, you’re okay!’ I heard Sylvie chirp near Gramps.

Grandpa Virion’s shoulders loosened as he let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you almost died, brat. What’s happening now?"

"Yeah, that was... a little too close for comfort, and I honestly have no clue what’s happening now, Gramps. Maybe your granddaughter doesn’t like me so much anymore." I managed to shoot him a smirk, making him chuckle despite the situation we were in.

After another thick layer of vines intertwined around the existing ones that formed Tess’ cocoon, dozens of tendrils began positioning themselves to, once again, shoot at me. Just me.

"Kuu..." ’What do we do?’

Sylvie, who was perched next to Grandpa, tilted her head in confusion, since the ’enemy’ was her ’mama.’

I want you to stay with Grandpa Virion. She’s only aiming at me for some reason.

After dodging the discharge of tendrils, I positioned myself away from Gramps and Sylvie. Gramps was drained of all his mana from suppressing the dark aura for almost two days straight while Sylvie was better off not interfering until I knew exactly what the implications would be.

What’s more, ’Tess’ was becoming more creative in her attacks; her next wave of tendrils were even laced with sharp thorns. The more I avoided the spears of vines, the more sure I was that the beast will was dead set on trying to kill only me. It also wasn’t helping that my ring was burning to an almost unbearable degree.

Could it be that the elderwood guardian’s dying will was hoping to gain redemption from me since I was the one that defeated him down in the dungeon? If that really happened to be the case, I hoped I lived long enough to find out.

Frustrated, I withdrew my sword from my dimension ring, but as I did, something else came out with it.

While Dawn’s Ballad appeared promptly in my hand, a small shining orb shot out of the ring towards the cocoon.

It was the orb that that homeless storekeeper had given me!

The clear orb, about the size of a marble, sparkled with an array of colors as it bolted towards the enlarging cocoon.

What the hell?

Grandpa Virion noticed it too but he only gazed at me in confusion, probably thinking that I had done it intentionally.

Streaks of light escaped from the crevices in between the vines as the orb sunk into the cocoon.

Before we even had the chance to wonder what was going on, an explosion occurred from within the cocoon, revealing a menacing, naked, black-haired Tess.

As the orb sunk into her stomach where her mana core was, Tess’ sickly complexion went back to normal... no, beyond normal. Her now flawless pearl skin seemed to literally radiate as her black hair turned back into its original gunmetal silver hue.

Her physical appearance wasn’t the only thing that changed. As the orb disappeared completely inside her abdomen, Tess’ unconscious body was completely covered in an aura I had never seen before—distinctly different from the usual mana existent in the atmosphere, in an almost mystical way.

Surrounding her was a scorching flame comprised of brilliant emerald gems. Millions of green, leaf-shaped embers made up this unique aura. As the emerald aura expanded, the once-black vines turned a serene jade green. Even as the mesmerizing aura drew nearer, for some reason, I didn’t fear it. Before it reached any of us, the aura shrunk back and dissipated.

As Tess’ figure fell, I jumped up and took out the coat I used while I was an adventurer, swiftly wrapping it around her bare body as I held her in my arms.

The dark aura that filled the training room was completely gone, and more importantly, Tess was safe.

"Mmm...not now, Arthur. Too soon," Tess mumbled as her face revealed a coquettish smile.

...She was most definitely safe.

"Pfft! Hahahaha!" Relief washing over me, I laughed. I laughed full-heartedly at Tess’ sleep talk and just at the fact that she was okay.

"TESSIA!" Grandpa Virion came running with Sylvie dangling from his long white hair.

"She’s okay, Gramps. She’s just sleeping now." I set her down and fell onto my butt as all the strength I had left, left me.

Both Sylvie and Gramps began meticulously inspecting the slumbering Tess before they heaved a sigh of relief as well.

"...She is okay." Gramps slumped down next to me while Sylvie curled up next to Tess. For a brief moment, we just blankly stared at the other end of the training grounds, too tired to even think.

"..."

"So did you get a good eyeful?" Turning my head, I could see Grandpa Virion’s smirk grow so wide that I was rather surprised his lips didn’t tear.

"She’s thirteen!" I groaned as I fell back on the soft grass-like moss.

"Almost fourteen," he corrected as he shifted a his softening gaze back towards Tessia.