The plague toads’ cheeks puffed out like they were about to spray us with some toxic spit. They probably had pretty decent range. We needed to be careful here…
“Dark Sphere!” Another black orb shot from Allo’s hand and into the toad planted with Treant’s Reaper Seeds. The toads exploded, splattering fluid and toad bits everywhere. Allo wiped her forehead with her arm, looking satisfied at a job well done.
Treant stared at Allo, stunned. ‹M-Miss Allo…?›
“Did you see that, Master Dragon?! I took down the toad that was giving us grief!”
‹Y-yeah, you sure did, Allo… Thanks for that…› I sighed.
I felt a thud as Treant fell over on my back. For a second, I worried Treant had taken some kind of feedback damage from its Reaper Seeds, but it seemed like this damage was purely mental.
“Y-you okay, Treant…? Hey! Hang in there! M-Master, what do we do?! That toad must’ve attacked Treant somehow…!” Allo shouted, shaking Treant frantically.
I put a paw to my forehead and shook my head from side to side. No, Allo… It didn’t.
‹U-uh, Treant, how about you just focus on attacking with spheres and split the experience points? I know you’re itching to level up, but taking these guys out one at a time like this is a little inefficient.›
‹…Very well, Master…› Treant mumbled, still lying face-up on top of my back.
C-c’mon, keep your head up… You only just evolved. It’s all uphill from here.
‹You’ll get to level 50 in no time that way. And once you’re there, I’m sure you’ll have a much easier time attacking,› I coaxed. Treant sighed and got to work.
After that, we settled into a steady routine. Treant shot at the plague toads with Clay Sphere to chip their HP down, and then Allo finished them off. After a little while, I checked Treant’s status again and was pleased to see it’d made some decent progress.
Species: World Treant
Status: Cursed, Tree Spirit Transformation: Lv 6
Lv: 36/130
HP: 1275/2483
MP: 7/764
Unfortunately, because Treant started with relatively low MP at level 1 and MP didn’t get restored when we leveled up, its MP was almost zero.
‹Master, may I please…borrow a little MP too…?› Treant panted.
‹Sure, take as much as you want. I’ll back off so we can take a break.› I flew higher to perch on one of the crooked Ngai tree branches above us. Treant’s roots lengthened, then attached themselves to my back as it used one of its oldest skills: Take Root. I hadn’t realized it could do that in tree spirit form…
‹That is some crazy high defense, though…› I muttered to myself as I looked over Treant’s status. Its other stats were slowly coming along, but its defense stat was already at Defense: 1120.
You didn’t see many monsters with defense that high… Those plague toads wouldn’t even make a dent in it at this rate. World Treant was more than just a simple endurance type—it was a freakin’ defensive tank. And Treant was only at Lv: 36/130 so far—it still had plenty of levels to go.
Its attack, on the other hand, was still only a measly Attack: 309. For…rank A+, that was crazy low. I guessed that just meant it couldn’t rely on its physical attack power. I definitely wouldn’t want to get in a physical fight with a World Treant. That fight would last two centuries.
‹A-all right, I should be about healed up now…›
No sooner had Treant finished speaking than something leapt up at us from below in a flurry of motion—a plague toad. I whirled around as it spat a burst of poison mist from its mouth, but there was no need; Allo was already releasing a Gale to blow the poison away.
“Krooo—aak!” The force of the Gale lifted the plague toad off its branch and sent it tumbling to the ground. It must’ve climbed up the branch with High Jump. Of course they waited until now to put their toad qualities to good use…
Other plague toads began to gather at the foot of our tree, hopping under and over each other with wild leaps in every direction. There…sure were a lot of ’em down there. If I dropped Treant on them with Meteor Stomp, it’d probably take out a bunch of ’em with a single blow.
‹Whaddya think, Treant? You’d probably take out at least four of those guys with one Meteor Stomp. That’ll earn you a bunch of levels at once! You in?›
‹You bet, Master! Leave it to me!›
As soon as Treant agreed, I shot higher into the air, thinking. World Treant was so big, I don’t even know where to drop it from… I wanted to make this quick and drop from low enough that the Origin Matter wouldn’t find us…or Ymir, for that matter.
When I was about twice as high as the tops of the forest trees, I decided that’d have to do, and tossed Treant off my back and into the sky.
‹Go, Treant! Take ’em down!›
Treant immediately released its Tree Spirit Transformation and returned to its World Treant form. This was its first time using Meteor Stomp with its new body. Its massive trunk dropped to the ground, turning to metal as it used Statue.
Treant slammed into the ground with the force of an earthquake, tearing the ground around it and smashing five or six plague toads underneath it. It was so loud that I had to cover my ears with my paws.
‹Yeah, that’s a strong move. But maybe it’s better we don’t use it against weaker monsters…›
“Agreed,” said Allo, looking down at the devastation below us.
That skill would send some nasty monsters running our way if we weren’t careful…and I wouldn’t want to use it much in our home world either. If we used it too close to a human village, we could cause a major disaster.
‹C-can’t move…›
The lower half of Treant’s trunk was buried under the rubble, leaving it exposed and unable to escape. In another spot, the ground began to crumble, and soon a new plague toad crawled out and headed straight for Treant.
Allo and I were still high in the air from dropping Treant. ‹Crap! We’ve gotta get Treant, and fast!› I dove toward the ground in a rush of wings.
By the time I landed, Treant had already sustained a plague toad bite—a smack from its poisonous tongue—but was relatively unharmed. It seemed like its defense was high enough now that it could completely block most of the plague toad’s attacks.
‹Let’s try this again!› Treant shouted, and waved one of its branches to send a handful of green Reaper Seeds flying out at the enemies surrounding it. The plague toads, which had been ready to leap at Treant, suddenly stopped moving. Then their bodies began to swell and bulge.
“Kree, kree, kroooak!” They convulsed, writing, as some kind of wooden branches began to extend from their bodies, destroying them from the inside out. Poisonous flesh, fluids, and viscera flew in every direction.
Wh-whoa… That was wild. Treant was now much closer to its targets than it had been in the air, which made the effect happen a lot faster. Between that and the levels it’d gained since then, the Reaper Seeds were wreaking havoc.
“Kroooak!” A remaining plague toad leapt forward to attack, but was promptly caught by a branch with Barkskin Armor applied.
‹Wood Counter!› With a shout, Treant bent its body in half and crushed the plague toad with its oversize branch.
“Kreeek!”
Holy cow! T-Treant’s actually strong now! ‹Great work, Treant!›
‹Look, Master! I did it! I actually did it!› Treant exclaimed.
Treant never would’ve been able to take out this many rank B+ enemies so easily before now. It looked like it’d finally blossomed.
‹Leave the rest of these toads to me!› Treant declared, stretching its trunk in happiness.
“I’d like to level up a bit more too, y’know…” Allo muttered.
I watched Treant battle the toads with a wry smile dancing across my lips, happy to see my friend finally find its stride. But as I looked on, I began to hear a soft ka-thud, ka-thud, ka-thud in the distance.
At first, I paid the noise no mind. But it slowly got louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore, and I turned my head to look at its source.
It was Ymir, sprinting toward us at full speed, his two mouths open wide in glee. C-crap! He found us?! I thought for sure we were far enough away! I knew Meteor Stomp was a bad idea.
‹Heh heh! I’ve got nothing to be afraid of now! I may even pass Miss Allo’s level at this rate!› crowed Treant as it carried on happily toying with the plague toads, as oblivious as ever.
‹Treant! We’ve gotta get out of here! Ymir’s coming!›
‹R-really?! Masteeer! Come get me!›
‹You gotta change to your tree spirit form first! Hurry! My back can’t handle your World Treant form!›
I swooped down, hurriedly scooped up tree spirit Treant, and launched myself into a Roll to flee the scene.