I looked up. Ymir, having spotted us, was now hopping toward us, crazed grins on both of his mouths. His face—so different from humans and other monsters—still formed perfect smiles. The mouths were wide and curved up at the corners, and his nostrils flared in excitement. His single eye was wide open. It was the blank, innocent smile of a creature with no higher forms of thought.
As he ran, his arms swung through the cursed trees, crushing and uprooting them with every stride. The forest shook around us. There was no doubt about it—this guy was definitely stronger than me.
Well, I wouldn’t call that surprising. I’m good with magic and being tricky with my skills, but that’s nothing compared to a violent behemoth like this guy.
My eyes met Ymir’s, and his widened slightly, like an animal who’d spotted some tasty prey. A shiver of fear ran down my back in a way I hadn’t felt in a while.
‹Allo, Treant, let’s get out of here!› I quickly arched my back to launch them both into the air, then caught them with my mouth and leapt into a Roll.
Of course, there was no way Ymir could keep up with my Roll. I listened as the sound of him crashing through the trees faded into the distance. Even after I couldn’t hear him anymore, I kept going for a while at the same speed. Finally, when I was confident I’d managed to shake him off, I slowed and let Allo and Treant down.
‹Th-that was a surprise…› Treant said as it tumbled out of my mouth, then got to its feet.
‹Y-yeah… Sorry, Treant. I thought we were far enough away, but he’s apparently got some good eyesight. I’d rather not see him again anytime soon. Sorry to you too, Allo. We probably would’ve been fine if I just hid myself with Dragon Mirror.›
I looked down at Allo to find her sniffing her arm, fascinated. “Master Dragon’s scent…”
‹Allo…?›
“Y-yes?!” she yelped, immediately dropping her arm and standing straight. Was Allo…doing okay? She’d been acting kinda weird lately…
‹Hopefully all that Rolling didn’t attract any weird monsters…› While Roll was the quickest way to move around—and we were now much closer to the tower—Ngai Forest wasn’t the best place to blindly crash through the trees. It was the only way to get away from Ymir, but there was no guarantee we wouldn’t run into some monster even more dangerous than him.
I used Psychic Sense to sweep the area for nearby monsters. ‹Hmm…›
‹Master? Did you find something?› Treant asked.
I nodded. ‹Yup. Just the monsters I was looking for too. Guess running into trouble was a blessing in disguise this time.›
My Psychic Sense had picked up on multiple weaker monsters around us. I wanted to get at least one decent leveling session with Treant before we got to the tower, and these guys seemed like the perfect prey.
All right. Time to see World Treant in action.
“Groooooooooh!” I roared to intimidate the monsters nearby. The forest around us seemed to shudder in fear, and I sensed movement in multiple directions. Then the ground around us began to ripple and bubble, and a handful of monsters emerged from the earth.
“Kroooak!”
“Kroooak!”
They were giant toads, each about five meters long and covered in swollen reddish-purple and orange boils that made their bodies appear almost spherical. Their black skin sizzled and smoked with putrefaction. Just looking at them made me sick to my stomach.
“Kroooak, kroooak!” the giant toads croaked loudly.
Plague Toad: Rank B+. A giant toad. Harbors numerous diseases and curses that cause its body to swell and form boils. It is said that plants will not grow nearby for a thousand years after a plague toad has set foot upon the soil.
Whoa. These things were like natural enemies to a World Treant. And they were rank B+ instead of A−? Perfect. They shouldn’t be too hard for Treant, even at level 1.
‹Master! I will show you my true potential right away!›
‹W-wait, Treant! If you go full-size mode right now, they’ll surround you and beat you to a pulp!›
Man. No matter how you looked at it, a giant, immovable monster was just an easy target. Would Treant ever get a chance to show off its true form?
“Dark Sphere!” Allo released a black sphere of light at one of the plague toads. When the attack connected, the toad exploded, spraying its toxic fluids all around us.
D-dang. Allo sure was strong. I guess that was just what happened when a magic specialist went up against a lower-rank enemy. Every time I saw Allo in action, I was reminded of why it was so easy for her to level up compared to Treant.
“Now that we’re close to the tower, it’s time for me to grind some levels too!” Allo called, then struck a superhero pose.
‹I hope there’ll be enough left for me…› Treant said sadly.
Rather than engaging myself, I decided to fly low around the plague toads. That way, even if they tried to jump up at me, I’d have plenty of time to see them and fly up higher to avoid them.
Keeping distance between myself and the plague toads and moving at a reasonable speed meant the plague toads would struggle to aim at us with any of their long-range skills. And even if they succeeded, we’d have plenty of time to react. Allo and Treant could pepper them with attacks without fear of getting hit themselves, making this a safe way for the two of them to farm experience points and gain some levels.
‹Clay Sphere! Clay Sphere!› Treant fired off a frantic round of clay orbs at the plague toads. One of them connected, exploding a single boil and spewing out more toxic fluid, but the plague toad seemed fine overall. It leapt toward us with a croak.
‹Wh-why didn’t that do anything…?› Treant asked, dumbfounded.
“You’re still only level 1, Treant…” Allo said quietly. But I knew that wasn’t the only reason: At level 1, Allo’s Walpurgis had three times the magic power of Treant’s World Treant. As she was now, Allo would’ve been able to kill the plague toad with a single magic attack.
‹Um, Treant? Do you maybe have any other skills you can attack with?› There was Meteor Stomp, of course, but these were only rank B+ enemies, and Meteor Stomp was both time-consuming and expensive to cast. And now that Treant was so huge, it’d be harder to use Meteor Stomp safely. A giant tree falling from the sky would definitely stand out, and I didn’t want to risk Ymir coming after us. It could be used as a last resort, but I’d rather avoid using it if we could help it.
‹Of course, Master! Say no more!› Treant gulped, then spat a glistening green seed at the plague toads. It landed on one of them and lodged inside one of the boils. At that moment, soft greenish light began to glow from its body.
Oh, nice! Is that Treant’s new skill, Reaper Seeds?
‹There! With that, that plague toad is as good as dead! I’ll suck out all its MP in an instant!› Treant called, voice oozing with pride.
Normal Skill “Reaper Seeds.” Creates plant seeds that siphon MP from those caught inside. The closer the skill’s user and its target, the faster MP is absorbed. Once its prey’s MP is completely absorbed, the Reaper Seeds will grow rapidly, destroying its prey.
Good deal. That skill should take it down. Eventually, at least. Curious about the skill’s effectiveness, I checked the plague toad’s status.
Species: Plague Toad
Status: Mad God, Reaper Seeds
Lv: 66/85
HP: 568/598
MP: 375/377
Hmm…looks like it’s still got a long way to go. Well, Treant’s level is too low to get any closer, so I guess that’s just how it’s gotta be.
‹Heh heh heh! Watch, Master! I’ll shoot another one at a different toad!›
‹Uhh…shouldn’t you put ’em all on the same one?›
‹Oh? Why is that?› Treant asked, tilting its head in confusion.
‹Just…trust me.›
Per my advice, Treant shot three more seeds at the same plague toad. But after the third one, Treant fell over on my back with a groan of pain. Maintaining that many Reaper Seeds seemed to be taking its toll. Welp. Guess it’s not a skill Treant can throw around as it pleases after all.
I flew around the clearing in a circle, checking the toads implanted with Reaper Seeds from time to time. But I didn’t see any sign of them slowing down anytime soon. After leaping up to try and chase us, the plague toads seemed to realize they couldn’t catch us at our current pace, and instead glared at us in annoyance, twisting their boil-laden necks to watch us fly around.
‹Haah…haagh… Look! Look at the anguish on their faces! It’s only…it’s only a matter of time now!›
Uh…really? Treant looked a lot more anguished than any of those toads did…