Deacon sat up on the lily pad after a few minutes of collecting himself. Looking around the area, he noticed a lot of that frog’s parts strewn about the place. Deciding he better keep moving, he got back up to his feet. Between him and the next pad was a copse of trees. There were vines hanging down from each with strange ivy decked between them. He readied himself to jump up and swing to the next pad when he heard water splashing in the distance. Not willing to wait and see what it was he launched himself at the vines. The lily pad he was on proved to be deceptively stable yet buoyant. The pad pushed down into the water with the force of jump cutting off some of the possible height he could achieve. Deacon’s fingertips grazed a nearby vine before he plummeted into the murky green and brown waters below.

Sputtering and splashing, Deacon rose to his feet. The water was barely waist high on him, but he was getting tired of being wet. Deciding he would take the slow route switching back to channeling the nether, he trudged his way further into the swamp. Ten minutes later he reached the next lily pad and climbed up. He began tentatively hopping on the pad gauging its buoyancy. If he timed it just right, he might be able to springboard off the thing on the pop up. He looked up at the canopy noting it was much more lush than it was at the boundary line. Deacon noticed it was much more humid here as well. This Wode was clearly a deathtrap for anyone besides Sun Wu and The Unsatiated. He absentmindedly wondered if the frog would just have been eaten when that huge thing got here or would have run along besides the other animals. Then he wondered how the elk and squirrels would make it through the swamp. Deacon brought his mind back to the task at hand, getting out of here and getting back to his team. Bending his knees, he started pumping his legs in anticipation.

“That’s not going to work,” came the voice of Sun Wu startling Deacon from his rhythm.

“I’m open to suggestions,” Deacon responded getting more irritated with the legend by the moment.

“Are you serious? Do you not know jump?” asked Sun Wu who could now be seen riding his staff above the tree line.

“That is exactly what I was about to do. Wait, what are you talking about?” Deacon asked now more confused than before.

“Do they teach monks nothing? Jump is the art of pushing your mana into your legs to clear a great distance. How do you keep up with enemies of your school if they can just run away?” asked Sun Wu.

“I… don’t know. Do you think that would work with soul energy?” Deacon asked. His mind racing with memories of tigers and dragons.

“Ay ya, its very simple. First year student stuff. In thanks for stopping the eater I will lower myself to teaching you this very basic ability,” said Sun Wu as he literally lowered himself through the thick, overgrown trees to hover a yard away from Deacon’s lily pad.

“Thanks. I think,” Deacon responded, still a little stunned.

“One thing first. Give me your hand,” asked Sun Wu floating closer and extending his right hand.

“Oh sure,” said Deacon leaning out over the water.

Upon contact with Deacon’s hand, Sun Wu’s eyebrows almost jumped off his head. His eyes flashed multiple colors and he took a deep breath. Shocked by what he just saw, Sun Wu yanked back his hand and started shaking it vigorously. His eyes darted back and forth before a grin grew on his face in an expression that told anyone who could see him that a plan was just hatched.

“I don’t like that face you’re making. What’s the rub? Are we doing this or not?” Deacon asked, lowering his hand to his side, and growing more concerned.

“Of course, my friend, of course,” said Sun Wu returning to the more jovial version of himself.

“What did you see?” Deacon asked folding his arms now sure the god was up to something.

“A matter for another time. Training you in jump, that’s what we are doing now,” replied Sun Wu.

For the next hour Sun Wu tried to impart to Deacon the method of forcing mana through his torso, down through his legs, and launching himself into the air. Deacon made several attempts. Once he pancaked into the swamp making Sun Wu fall off of his staff narrowly avoiding the same fate but holding onto it with his tail. Several times Deacon triggered Spectral Dash which only intrigued Sun Wu. They spent fifteen minutes just discussing how Spectral Dash works until Sun Wu, out of nowhere, used Spectral Dash to weave between trees ending back where he started.

“Crude, soul shaping ability. I can see many uses for this, but it is soul draining. You say you’ve used it often?” Sun Wu asked, completely forgetting what they were originally working on.

“It’s one of the first abilities I learned. Aren’t we working on jump though?” Deacon questioned trying to get them back on task.

It took another hour, placing the sun around midday, before Deacon received a new skill prompt.

New Ability Learned: Spectral Jump- You can mold soul energy into your legs pushing your standard leap to double your vertical and three times your horizontal. This costs five percent of your soul energy per leap. Higher levels of this ability will allow you to consume more soul energy for greater effect.

Deacon smiled at this message. He didn’t even need rule breaker to modify it. Immediately he triggered it and found he could easily make it between the lily pads now. Deacon especially liked the snapping sound of his clothes whipping in the breeze. The visual effects were different from Spectral Dash. With this ability there were green lines that trailed from his extremities. Too thin to be thought of as anything but trajectory markers.

“Took you long enough. Now let’s go. I want to show you something,” Sun Wu said sailing past him seated on his staff.

They traveled through the rest of the swamp only occasionally being interrupted by another frog or enormous alligator with antennae. Deacon began to think the swamp was full of amphibious animal insect hybrids. With his new ability he easily sailed over these creatures only stopping to take down a frog every now and then for soul energy refills. Some of the moss growing on the trees caught his eye as it gave way to some fungus. The fungus happened to be Coralis Lichen. The next ingredient in his regen potion recipe. He now moved slower through the swamp using Polterheist to lift any moss he passed by looking for the lichen. They made it to the next biome late in the afternoon after Deacon absolutely stuffed his bag with Coralis.

This new region was mountainous. There were jagged spires of granite sprouting from the ground with sparse vegetation precariously hanging from rocky ledges. The wind whipped through the many canyons and crevices. Deacon could see mountain goats hopping from peak to peak. The air here was clear of the stifling humidity he experienced in the swamp all morning.

“To the top, I will meet you there,” said Sun Wu as he flew right up the side of a mountain.

Deacon began to worry. All he’s done so far was push on in this Wode. He needed to figure out the key to leaving this place. Deacon knew fighting Sun Wu to defeat him would end in misery. All signs point to him being at a much higher level in every way that counts. Even the modified text concerning his nemesis didn’t offer a solution considering Caphida’s demise. Pressing on didn’t seem like the best option and to the best of his knowledge it seemed like he’s been in here for a long time. He had no idea if the Regulators needed him or not.

Bam! Deacon was taken off of his feet by a goat with gleaming blue sapphire horns. His health dropped by twenty percent leaving him at ninety five percent. He looked down at his right side and noticed the horns not only hurt him but damaged his clothes. The minor enchantment that repaired his clothes had just stopped working. He didn’t have much time to speculate as the ram came in for another charge. Deacon just side stepped it and drove his right leg into the creatures midsection lifting it five feet off the ground. He followed up with a left jab to the side of its neck receiving a solid crunch for his efforts. The goat stopped breathing after that since Deacon had crushed its windpipe. Not being one to let a good soul go to waste, he stomped it for good measure getting back about ten percent soul energy. That told him this creature was considered uncommon. He dumped the white furred blue horned corpse in his bag. That might be something fun for Alfred to look at later. Upon turning to continue his journey he noticed no less than twenty five rams all perched nearby ranging from standard goat shape at the lower elevations to full on elephant sized.

“Fuck!” Deacon whispered under his breath as a deep orange halo appeared behind him traveling counterclockwise before disappearing.