Chapter 55 – Trial by Tree

"Another potion!" Torres exclaimed as Titus hurled yet another fireball across the small room that exploded into the training dummy. The thing must've been enchanted somehow because every time a fireball ruined the man-sized construct, sending splinters everywhere and leaving the thing a smouldering wreck, by the time Titus sent another attack at the dummy, it was as good as new.

The pair had spent the best part of an hour training with Titus' newfound ability. He'd managed to control the flow of Mana so well and so instinctively that he could raise or lower the cost for the Fireball spell by even a single point with each attack. By the end of the hour and after more mana potions than he could count, Titus had thrown fireballs from a cost of two Mana, all the way up to eleven, where his maximum pool sat.

"How many of those things do you have?" Titus panted. Not because the heat was causing him to sweat, but in truth, he just wanted a break. Torres had been nonchalant at first, maybe even dismissive, but now? Now, he was like a teenager on Christmas Eve shaking all the presents to see what he could get. At one point he'd even asked Titus to explain to him exactly how he was doing this and tried it himself – but the result was nothing out of the ordinary. Torres had seemed miffed that Titus could do something he couldn't, but he'd at least been gracious about it.

Torres smiled. "I have my own personal storage box, and as I have said, Mana management is of paramount importance for a Spellcaster. Our last resort when our bodies and equipment have failed, is a good old-fashioned Mana potion."

Titus nodded, remembering the lesson Torres had just taught before they'd begun their extra-curricular training.

"Do you think it's going to be the same for any spell I learn?" Titus asked.

"That remains to be seen, young Spellcaster," Torres replied. "But if it does… you're going to be in for one hell of a journey in the Arena. There is one thing I would like to test though, if you would indulge," Torres raised an eyebrow like Titus should know what he was talking about.

"What is it?"

"I would like to know the real effect on the damage capability of the spell that the Mana cost has. I would like you to cast your spell on me."

Titus' eyes widened. He hadn't been at the Arena for very long, but he knew that hitting an Instructor with a spell was most likely a giant no-no.

"I… I can't," Titus said, taking a step back. But then he remembered something. "But I can go to the pits and try it out there if you have a health potion. I'm almost right back up to full but that one seems to take a little longer."

"Actually," Torres replied with a thoughtful expression. "That is a very good idea. Attacking each other in a classroom is not a trend I would like to start. But please, if you are going to attend the pits then I would like to come and watch. Perhaps there are even some insights that I could give to aid you in your training as a Spellcaster?"

Titus nodded as Torres passed him a red vial that was clearly another health potion. Titus drank it and nodded thankfully as his health pool returned to its maximum of fifty-two. With his Health, Mana, and Stamina all in fact at their peak, Titus felt like he could go ten rounds against a Jötnar Warrior. Not that he would, of course as he wasn't an idiot, but the fact was that he felt great. Strong even.

He then walked alongside the instructor back through the torchlit hallways to where the pits were spread out across the large open cavern. There were some other Contestants training there along with the sounds of steel upon steel, feints, shouts, and screams but if anything, the place was sparsely populated and nobody seemed to notice Titus' arrival alongside Torres.

"I've been fighting against level three monsters," Titus said with one foot on the first step down to the Pit. "So go with the same?"

"I think we can do a little better," Torres replied. "Why not see what you can do with a level four?"

Titus wasn't as sure as Torres seemed. He knew he hadn't had too much trouble with the threes, but going up against a level four alone – and one that was going to be a surprise - didn't seem like the wisest move. The problem was though, that this was the most Torres had spoken to him since he'd first met him, and going against his advice seemed like something that would set their relationship back somewhat.

With that in mind, and knowing that there could be invaluable lessons in the future from the Instructor, Titus nodded once and descended into the pit to take on his next opponent.

Chainmail shirt on and sword in hand, Titus had everything he thought he would ever need when facing off against monsters in the pits or the Arena, though he had some ideas already about what he planned to buy once he had the money to.

Instructing the pit to provide a level four opponent, Titus stood and watched the portal as it formed to bring the monster onto the sands. He felt a mixture of emotions as he stared into the black disc: fear, anxiety, hope… but most of all, he felt his pulse beating its ever-increasing tune, and his hands sweating around the hilt of his basic steel sword.

Titus' stomach lurched at the creature that materialised within the pit. Because it was far larger than anything he'd ever fought before.

Treant Sapling

Level: 4

HP: 210/210

The thing that appeared wasn't much of a sapling by any accounts; if anything, it looked more like a tree had been possessed by a demon. And Jordan had been dead wrong when he'd said the things were small creatures. At least ten feet tall and made of some ancient-looking bark, the Treant Sapling had a ferocious wooden face, complete with an open maw, fangs, and evil red eyes. A main trunk-like feature stood as the central column to two arms that were each larger than Titus, both of which were complete with very large wooden hands. For this to be a sapling, Titus could only wonder at how big the adult versions of these things could be.

The Treant roared, and Titus couldn't help but feel like this one could very well be beyond his capabilities.

"It's a tree, Titus," Titus heard Torres' voice come down from above. "It's made of wood. It's big, but you know what that means, don't you?"

Titus wondered if that statement alone was going to be enough to get him a penalty to his experience if he actually managed to make it through this one, but beyond that, the Instructor's words clicked. This was a tree, and that meant it could burn.

Titus knew that his Fireball spell was going to be the way to go to win this battle, but it wasn't something that he was going to be able to cast more than once, especially if he pushed all eleven of his Mana points into it. He cursed the fact that he didn't have any Mana potions to bring into the fight with him.

He knew that the best approach would be to feel out this opponent, get an idea of what it could and couldn't do, and then strike.

The problem was though, was that the Treant seemed to be rooted to the ground and although it was roaring at Titus, it wasn't doing much else.

Titus controlled his breathing, held his sword up and to the ready, and watched.

The creature continued to roar and writhe around like it was wrapped in chains but then as Titus watched, the Treant raised its arms into the air and slammed them down into the ground.

The sand beneath Titus' feet rumbled and cracked as it was clear that the Treant's arms were somehow travelling beneath the ground towards him.

Titus really couldn't make his mind up about what to do at that point. A part of him willed Torres to shout more instructions down, but the Instructor was no longer forthcoming. In his indecision, the giant hands of the Treant erupted from the ground and towered over Titus.

He did the only thing he could think to do in that moment. He raised his sword ready to defend himself.

The two giant wooden hands looked to grab Titus where he stood, and seeing how big and powerful they were Titus dropped to the ground and rolled backward just as they came within an inch of him. He felt the wind rush over his head as he dodged the attack.

But before Titus scrambled back to his feet, one of the hands was on him again, crashing into the ground as a balled fist right where Titus had been just a moment ago.

Then Titus noticed something as he regained his footing. The giant wooden hands were on the ends of wide forearms, and that meant that if he could…

Crash. One of the hands swiped at Titus and this time a trailing tendril whipped him across his chest. In comparison to the rest of the Treant, the thing that had hit him was tiny, but it had sent him flying. He knew before he'd even hit the ground that a good chunk of his health points had just been stolen from him.

Titus rolled back away again as soon as he landed, doing what he could to ignore the pain that was beginning to explode all throughout his body. But now he could see that at the edge of the pit, he was just about out of range of the two giant hands.

And that gave him the opportunity to properly assess his situation.

The Treant was bigger, stronger, and faster than he was. It had more health and controlled more than half of the field of battle. But as Titus watched the hands swirling about, trying and failing to reach him, he saw one place that he could stand where he would be out of range from at least one of the hands: at the forearm of the other hand.

So Titus plotted his route and didn't pause for a moment. He ran. He ran directly towards the great right arm of the Treant Sapling and at the last moment dove forwards before the left hand could bat him away.

Titus had the feeling that the giant wooden hand was on its way to try to swat him away again, so he let his body fall to the ground as he skidded into the Treant's right arm. As he thought it had been destined to, the other arm swooped over his head missing him again by inches, and then it crashed into the upright forearm, which was now out of reach of the annoying human buzzing about the pit.

Unfortunately, the Treant did not cause any damage to itself, but at least Titus now had somewhere to hide that was semi-protected.

For a moment, Titus forgot what he was actually doing down there in the pit. He had forgotten that the enemy he was supposed to be fighting was actually everything around him, and it was only at the shout from Torres of: "Kill it!" Did he finally remember, and begin hacking into the creature's stoic forearm that he'd taken cover by with his sword.

Wood splintered and broke away from the creature as Titus hacked and slashed as best he could whilst remaining vigilant because he knew that one false move could lead him right into the path of the Treant's left arm.

On more than a few occasions, he had to reposition himself around the far side of the creature's forearm to prevent himself from being flattened by the onrushing giant hand.

Then things went from bad to worse. Titus was exhausted by the constant chopping, but when he looked up at the Treant Sapling, he saw that for all his effort he'd only inflicted ten points of damage. Five percent. The thing was well and truly a beast – and one that he had no doubt most Contestants his own level would have trouble besting.

But then again, if something was truly that strong at a relatively low level, surely it had a massive weakness, something that he could exploit.

And then it hit him. The creature, from the very beginning of the fight had controlled its half of the battlefield by putting a huge amount of distance between Titus and the main bulk of its being – the central torso-trunk, and terrifying wooden face and maw.

But then it hit him literally. The left hand of the Treant that was. Apparently, the creature had figured out that swiping at Titus was getting it nowhere, and it had used its seriously low intelligence to figure out that it should sneak its hand up to Titus slowly, like coaxing a spider into a cup.

Titus was not crushed or devastated by the hulking hand; rather it closed its tendrily fingers around his body and picked him up off the ground, keeping him secure around the midriff. Titus managed to keep a hold of his sword and although both his hands were free as he began to rise into the air, he quickly found that he didn't have the space to even strike the Treant's hand. He was at its complete mercy.

It was clear within a moment what the terrible creature had planned for Titus. It hadn't been able to swat him like a fly with its hands, so it was going to use the only other thing it had to cause damage. It was going to eat him.

The path to the open splintery maw of the Treant was direct but slow. Slow enough for Titus to watch himself about to be fed to the thing like he was nothing more than a morning pastry.

He knew he had just one opportunity. He would have to time it perfectly, but he still had the one attack he had yet to call upon in a real-life or death situation.

Waiting for just a few moments until he was close enough to be sure he couldn't miss, Titus began focusing his attention inward, and to the Mana that swirled around his body.

Eleven mana points were never going to be anything groundbreaking, but it was all that he had. At the very worst, he was hoping to make the Treant drop him if he managed to set it alight.

The Mana coursed into the spell as Titus did everything he could to make sure every drop in his Mana pool was fed into it, and he was rewarded for his efforts when a fireball larger than his head materialised before him. He still held his sword in one hand, but it didn't matter. He willed the attack forward and willed the fireball to hit the face of his opponent.

For a moment it looked like his aim had been off, and it had been difficult because he himself was moving the entire time, but then as though in answer to his internal misery, the fireball dog-legged and shot straight back on course, disappearing instantly into the Treant's mouth.

But then nothing happened. The Treant stopped drawing Titus closer, like it was confused about what had just happened, but it was certainly not affected by it.

Titus' heart sank. This was it. His spell hadn't even caused the Treant to loosen its grip on him, not one iota.

And then the Treant did release its grip. It released it so suddenly that Titus fell to the ground and landed in a heap. He had just enough time to turn his head to see that in the time that it took him to reach the ground, his opponent had exploded into flames and was receding almost instantaneously from the tips of its tendrils inwards towards its centre mass. The last thing that Titus saw of his opponent was its open, surprised maw, and deep, blood-red eyes, before it turned to ash and faded away into the ether.

You have gained 25 experience points.

Congratulations, You have reached Level 3.

XP to next level: 102

You have 5 stat points to distribute.

You have 1 Ability point to use.

Skills Available to learn:

Stamina Resonance [1AP]

Health Resonance [1AP]

Mana Resonance [1AP]