Raze ~ 20!

Happy Monday!!!

~ Twenty ~

Contrary to their concerns, Forest Imps seemed to be a fairly rare enemy. They weren't sure if that was due to the sheer size of the forest they were in, or if there were only a few of them in the forest in total. Either way, after fighting the powerful Imp and winning, they had continued on and found creatures more in tune with the forest theme.

“Back, back, back!” Poppy shouted as he rolled under the bough of an enraged tree. The forest was alive, in a figurative and literal sense. *Whomp* A spray of dirt and loam was pushed into the air, leaving behind a crater that almost contained the Duelist. “Looks like we’ve got another Ent.”

Bard grunted like a hog, twirling his axes in agitation. “Still naw way ta take em?”

“Nothing I can think of that is repeatable on a regular basis.” Joe shuddered as eyes opened along the trunk of the ‘tree’ and a wide tongue licked vertically along a mouth that spanned the same distance. “I think I could come up with a single target ritual, but I don't have the kind of resources that we would need to kill off every one of them we find.”

“I wonder if the trees back in the trial area were Ents?” Jaxon mused aloud. “You think… nah, there’s no way these have bones, right?”

“Alexis? How about you?” Poppy turned hopeful eyes on the Aromatic Artificer.

She shook her head as well, “Same issue on my end. If I made up a batch of poison to kill plants, which I could, it would require a lot to kill just one of these. I’d need a wagon full of barrels to make any kind of impression, and then what’s the point?”

“Grr.” Poppy trilled, a sound very out of character for him. “I feel like there should be an easy way to take these down! They are immobile, right?”

“Right, but it would be like pounding away at a tank.” Joe motioned for them to start walking again. “You hit it, deal almost no damage, it hits you back and you get demolished. Remember that we are really out leveled here, and we need to play it smart. A lot of the things in here can take us out if we get surprised by them.”

“Stay alert, don't die. Good life advice.” Jaxon nodded along heartily, then was yanked forward by Poppy; just managing not to get smashed by the Ent he had wandered near yet again. “See? Alert!”

“I’m about to put you on time out.” Poppy muttered as he got back to his normal position near the front of the group. “As in, I’ll let the next one hit ya.”

“I think that’s my cue to call a halt for the evening.” Joe called out as people started to grumble and get snippy at each other. “Who wants to make a fire, who wants to cook? I can set up the campsite really quick.”

“Good call.” Alexis sighed and glanced sidelong at Joe. “How opposed are you to giving me a good Cleanse from a distance?”

“You know, I feel bad using a deity-granted power to help someone shower sometimes.” Joe sighed as her gaze turned more pleading. “Fine. I did get it up to the Student ranks. So, I kinda wanna see what that looks like. Cleanse.”

Alexis staggered as water washed over her from head to toe in an instant, removing all grime from her skin and equipment. “Geez, Joe!”

Joe was also surprised, and he looked at his hand in concern. “That took so much mana!”

“And it was basically a firehose!” Alexis had given him a second to make the connection on his own, but he seemed distracted.

“Right, sorry about that.” Joe shook off his confusion and explained himself. “I’m just worried that if I use that spell to hydrate someone, I might end up hurting them accidentally. Rupture some veins or some such.”

She winced as her mental image meshed with his. “Oh. yeah, get some practice in first.”

“Who wants a shower?”

Bard lifted a hand. “Protection ring fir- *glabuh*!”

Joe chuckled nervously as the soaked Skald glowered at him, “Ah, sorry, thought you were volunteering. Right, ritual.”

He pulled a metal plate out of his spatial ring, set it in the center of the campsite, and dripped a drop of blood onto it. He activated the ritual, which would now cause anything under level thirty to avoid them. “All set on this end. What do you guys want to do tonight?”

“Ooh!” Jaxon sat next to the tiny fire that had just been lit. “Ghost stories! Wait, no! S’mores! Are marshmallows a thing here? No? Stories, then? I see… watch rotation and logistical talk?”

“There we go.” Poppy nodded at the final statement.

Joe forestalled the conversation when he saw the resignation on Jaxon’s face. “Actually, why don't we talk about things going on, and what we want to do? We haven't really had much time to talk, but I know that a few of you weren't planning on being trapped in the game. I knew what I was getting into, but… some of you weren't even in pods. You guys doing okay?”

“Fantastic!” Jaxon enthusiastically responded, taking a moment to showcase his ability to bend around. “I could never do this back on earth, and now I have forever to do it and get even better at it!”

Joe grinned and looked at Poppy, who had a far different look on his face. Resignation and regret were spelled out, and he wouldn't meet the eyes of the group. “I am not doing as well. I came here to earn enough to be able to take care of my daughter, using my actual skills as a Duelist to give us a comfortable life while only ‘working’ four hours a day. I have been able to contact my parents, and luckily they were able to come over and get little Amelia. She… she was still taking a nap. The time dilation ensured that she didn’t suffer for my arrogance, at the very least. How many didn't get that? You know that my body wasn't even there? If I couldn't call, they woulda thought I ran and just left her to the monsters roaming the world.”

He paused, taking a deep breath and looking up at the canopy above them. “But now what? The announcement to the world that they needed to come here to avoid danger is… what do I do with my girl, a toddler unable to wield a sword or magic? How do I bring her to a new place that even I don't understand? But monsters are walking our planet, and she isn’t safe there! But beyond that… have any of you seen any children from our world?”

Joe was startled by the sudden turn. In fact, he could not remember a single instance of seeing any child, the youngest he had seen was a teen at the Mage’s College. He was leery of this new thought, and what it might mean. Poppy nodded upon seeing their realization. “Exactly. What happens to her when the data core is touched to her head? Does she get put in the trials? I do not wish that on my enemies.”

“Terms and conditions.” Joe softly muttered, a faded memory struggling to surface in his mind.

“What was that?” Poppy glared at Joe.

“The… at the start of the game, there was an option to read all the terms and conditions. One of them was about children below the age of majority, in this case sixteen, I think. It said that all children would be placed in a different area, and they would… I can't remember exactly, but they are taken care of, and I think that you have the option to be with them. Or visit them. I’m sorry, I was less interested in that clause at the time.” Joe’s voice trailed off, but Poppy didn't seem to mind. The Duelist took a deep breath and sank into contemplative silence.

“Well, ahm havin a grand ol time.” Bard cut in after a few beats of awkward silence. “Ah di’naw think ah’d enjoy this place half as much as ah do. Might be thanks to this lassy here.”

A wink was sent at Alexis, who simply rolled her eyes and nodded at him. “Yes, you’re lovely too, and in my mind this is actually one of the best-case scenarios. I was drowning in debt and failure, and I am pretty sure that there’s no way for people to collect from me anymore. I can focus on making a new life here, and live in the way I choose. How about you Joe? More… crowded than you planned for?”

“A bit.” Joe let a ghost of a smile play across his face. “I have an interesting goal now, which is nice. I am mostly concerned that there are going to be a lot of people that don't stick around this area when the next area opens up in a couple weeks.”

“Why would that matter?” Jaxon cocked his head to the side. “They would be going elsewhere to get resources and such, right? Less people here means less people to take care of. Win-win.”

“But what about the people here that have no money, food, shelter?” Joe shook his head and glanced around to see that he had their full attention. “We were told that the races that we eventually found and worked with would be important. That implies that we will have large-scale, extinction level fights. What would have happened if we became a shattered race?”

“I think that one of the most important things to do in this area, the starting area, is to power up as much of humanity as possible. Fix resource issues, create stable bases of power. I mean, look around. We are still in an area that out levels us, and this is the starter area!” Joe leaned against the wood of a tree, shaking his head. “How many people are actually going to be ready for the next area when they go there? I know I am. Anyone with me will be as well. Why are you all looking at me like that?”

The faces of all the others were pale, washed out in the firelight. Alexis pointed up, her voice wavering and resigned, “That’s not a tree behind you, Joe.”

Joe looked back and up, meeting eyes with an Ent that was double the size of any they had encountered thus far; well over a hundred feet tall at the crown. He rolled to his feet and managed to get off a blast of acid. A green and brown blur appeared in his vision, and the last thing that went through his mind… was a massive branch.

You have died! You were killed by: Trent the Treant, Guardian of The Northmost Zone of the Forest of Chlorophyll Chaos. Calculating… you lose 3,000 experience!