Raishin and Agnis seemed to have a plan to deal with the tree’s attacks. I suppose Gregory and I would have to deal with these broccoli minions in the meantime. Besides we needed to get to know more about this tree before the guys can nuke it.

It seems we’re all on a time limit here. I said to Gregory and he nodded. I took my battle stance and released my taunting roar. I hoped it wouldn't attract the attention of the tree but it still seemed to shoot at Agnis. The number of spears kept increasing but it seemed like he was quite comfortable evading them. Normally he plays a seemingly passive role disturbing the enemies' movements so that we have an easy time hitting them and not getting hit but well a tree isn't exactly mobile so I guess this is when his role seems to flip. Raishin is our main attacker and it seems he's really serious about nuking this tree.

This brings us to my role, I'm the frontline tank and attacker, while Gregory is also a tank but more aimed at tanking magical or energy-based attacks. I deal better with physical attacks while he deals with magical attacks. Normally our plan would be quite unusual and stupid but since neither Gregory nor I could block or react to those spears we will leave it to our mobile glass cannons. If they get hit it would be game over for them though. We will deal with the enemies we can actually defend against. I counted about 75 pink broccoli monsters which headed toward me because of my taunting roar.

These things are safe to punch right? I'll cover your limbs with a special shadow cloak which will only allow for energy to flow out but not in. Just in case. The black cloak extended to cover my limbs but instead of its usual black color, it turned dark purple.

So that is what the dark purple in your cloak does! Yeah, give them hell! I will provide some support while investigating, you’re mostly on your own though, is that ok?

That is fine, I will call you when I need assistance. Have fun. Gregory left a shadow clone that would probably assist when I needed help while he headed off closer toward the tree before melding with the shadows and disappearing to who knows where. My taunting roar felt unnecessary now because I didn't expect Gregory to go very far. Oh well, it is time to punch some pink broccoli monsters! I let out a battle roar and rushed at the broccoli monsters. I punched one with a flame-infused fist and it got sent flying. It got up after crashing into the wall 20 meters behind it. It seemed these things were quite tough. By now I was surrounded by broccoli monsters but that wasn't an issue. These creatures weren't as simple as they suggested, they stood in a circle around me seemingly waiting for me to make the first move, and move I will! This time I infused my fist with earth and punched at the ground. The ground cracked and sent a huge shockwave and rock spikes outwards. I proudly looked at the broccoli monsters I launched and impaled with rock spikes. Pink broccoli skewers! Maybe I should apply fire to finish the dish! Woops I'm starting to think like Agnis, he would totally go for such a pointless combo.

Anyway these skewered broccoli monsters wouldn't be bothering me. They were not exactly close to dying but they couldn't free themselves so I consider these a low priority for now. I blocked a swipe from a broccoli monster and shifted my center of gravity to throw it toward another broccoli monster that was heading for me. After throwing the broccoli monster I didn't have much time since I had to react to the other ones coming at me. It seemed some were preparing to cast simple magic in the distance. Since I don't have a good way of dealing with stuff like that, I will have its allies' bodies block the magic for me. I kept some broccoli monsters at bay, I went for their shins, solar plexus, and joints. They didn't seem to work well. The shins worked the best since they couldn't move fast after getting their shins snapped in half. The magic went off and I moved behind the crippled broccoli monsters to use them as a shield.

The broccoli got well steamed and toasted and I threw this broccoli dish at the magic casters. It wouldn't do a lot of damage to them but it would allow me time to dash over to them and properly disable them. I locked 2 casters in a combo consisting of a flurry of punches, jabs, and the occasional kicks to throw them off balance. If this was a human, they would've broken quite several bones but these things didn't seem to be that affected. I would just have to go for what I know works. I imbued my fist again with earth magic and punched the ground. I would like to have some more variety in ways to deal with these broccoli monsters. I looked over at Agnis and he was zapping the tree and throwing fireballs but none of those seemed to deal well with the tree. I'm assuming the same would work for these monsters. Earth seemed to somewhat work but most of my magic is related to body enhancements and imbuing my limbs with elements. I got an idea. I picked up a rock, imbued it with earth magic, and punched it at a broccoli monster. It punched a hole in its head. It was still moving as if nothing happened but the hole was there.

Hmm, why are these monsters weak to earth magic while it is shifting the magic balance towards earth? I stomped on the ground sending rocks floating and I punched them and imbued them with earth magic at the same time. Rock-et Punch! They flew straight and true and turned 3 broccoli monsters into something similar to a beehive. Their structural integrity couldn't hold out with so many holes in them and they collapsed into a puddle of uhh energy? I should get Gregory over here soon. Broccoli that is weak to beehives... I'm sure there is a pun in there somewhere. I got lost in thoughts when a broccoli came a bit too close.

Whoa, not cool man! Back off! As I punched it and it flew into the wall 20 meters further up. Hmm, Deja vu. It started to get quite warm here. That's odd I shouldn't be working up a sweat from these movements. That is when I noticed the enormous fireball Raishin was making. Whoa! I wonder if that fireball could one-shot these monsters. Only one way to find out! I dashed at two broccoli monsters and dodged their swipes. I crouched and grabbed each one by the leg and spun on my heels before throwing them one by one into the fireball Raishin was making. They went in and… didn't seem to fly out. Well, that is one problem solved. I wouldn't have to assign more brainpower and magic to deal with this broccoli. Sad that I can't punch them into oblivion but oh well.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I baited some broccoli to stand in a line and punched them one by one into Raishin’s fireball. I still had to block some attacks and some overhead throws but I tried to make sure I could punch most into the fireball. It got progressively easier because the fireball kept growing. How big is he going to make that? He was about 200 meters away from me but the fireball above his head at its closest point was about 50 meters from me. Which made it quite hot here. I decided to move away but not without punching and throwing some broccoli in the fireball on my way out. There were about 25 broccoli monsters left. I don't have many flashy moves but I want to defeat the last ones in style. These 3 friends of mine started to rub off on me. I focused and gathered magic within my core. I gathered wind magic in my feet and performed a tornado kick. The wind magic sucked all the broccoli into my kick and after pulling them in and continued tornado-kicking the broccoli into the fireball. The swirling wind started creating a small tornado. The sudden occurrence of wind magic started to feed the fireball and it started to get hotter.

Whoa, thanks Ted, this saves me a lot of time! Uhh, that kind of happened by accident. Yoo Greg, I need you to check out these energy puddles! The shadow clone which stayed stationary for my whole fight started to head towards me. It held its hand over the energy puddles and mumbled something. I started backing off more because it started to get hot again. I noticed something moving in the roots of the big tree.

Not good! I ran in to block a big broccoli charging at Raishin.

Ugh, where did this come from? I was blocking this big broccoli about 50m away from Raishin. It was really hot here. I imbued myself with magic to protect myself from the heat but I needed to deal with this charging monster.

Just focus on making the fireball Raishin, I will deal with this oversized broccoli! I tried to push the broccoli back but it was huge and stronger than me. I guess I will have to go into big bear mode. I felt my bones crack and my muscle mass expand. My perspective went from looking up at the broccoli to looking down at the broccoli. I took one step and easily pushed the broccoli back. The broccoli tried to swipe at me but since I was a really big bear now it bounced off my fur. I returned the favor and swiped at the broccoli. My bear slap sent the broccoli flying and it got lodged deep into the cave wall about 100 meters further.

I jumped down, stomped on the ground to make an earth spike, broke it off, and threw it at the broccoli lodged in the wall, impaling it. Now I was sure it wouldn't break free. I looked around between the roots to see if there were more big broccoli monsters. When I didn't find any, I canceled my Big Bear form. The fireball started to become annoying because there wasn't a place in this huge room where its heat couldn't be felt. It wasn't like I could stand anywhere though since Agnis was using half of this room to move around. There were so many spears shooting at him I couldn't even count them. The tip of his tail seemed to be turning red. I assume he's not fully managing to keep all the lightning from turning red. It seemed like he got what he wanted to get out of the tree because he signaled to Raishin to prepare for a nuke. Well, this was quite the problem because Gregory was nowhere to be seen. I didn't want to be bear-bequed.

Yoo Gregory, where are you? Something close to me appeared out of the shadows.

Sup? Whoa! Stop using shadow sneak on me! Did you find anything?

Not much the only things I've found out are that this tree's regenerative ability is no joke and that there is energy flowing from its roots to the main tree we see over here. We both looked at the tree.

I also found a lot of big broccolis hiding between the roots which I weirdly enough could one shot with earth magic. Has been a while since I could one-shot something. Yeah, my Rock-et punches were effective.

Rocket? You know what I don't even wanna know. It seems Agnis got what he was looking for and they are ready to nuke the tree.

I will start making multiple earth walls then, I will telepathically tell Agnis where he gotta drag Raishin to after they released their nuke. Gregory made layers of earth walls and filled the spaces with shadow walls. He tried to make an ice wall to keep us cool but it almost immediately melted.

Guess we need Agnis for this. We watched as Agnis gathered an insane amount of lightning. He made something that looked like a purple lightning ball around him and threw it at the pink broccoli tree. The tree regenerated the damage almost instantly. It seemed he started to get the hang of using lightning magic a lot. He looked very pale though. We were too far from them to hear what they were saying but it seemed both of them wanted to rush the nuke because they were getting nauseous. Raishin shot the enormous fireball at the tree and at the same time, Agnis shot a big ball of deep purple lightning at it. The two balls would collide together on the tree. Agnis grabbed Raishin and dashed towards us. He slipped into the opening in the dome of walls Gregory made and sealed it with frost magic. Because his frost magic wall was see-through, we could see the tree getting nuked.

Ugh, I feel sick. Time for that potion. They both opened the potion and a very foul-smelling odor spread through the dome. I'm not sure if they popped open the potion too late or if this foul-smelling potion did it but both emptied their stomachs.

Gregory you bastard! What's the point of anti-nausea potions if the smell of them sends you barfing? Blegh! You can’t barf from magic-induced nausea if you end up barfing from smell-induced nausea. Gregory said while tapping his temple with his index finger.

Ugh, I will get you back for this! Blegh! Gregory said that but even I, who wasn't nauseous had to control myself to not barf from the smell, Gregory seemed not too great either as he also used magic so also must've been a bit nauseous. One moment these guys pull off some crazy impressive feats and other moments they sabotage themselves and end up in ridiculous situations. I'm not sure if I should be proud of them or worried about them.