The scarecrow stared at Navy for a long time after that. The sound of the leaves moving through the forest made Nav’s hair stand on end as the being stared in silence.

It wanted to make him sweat. Vet him to see if he was worthy of the title. Someone to follow. Someone to listen to.

It didn’t seem to like the idea of someone it could seemingly trounce in battle telling it what to do. It’s still a monster, Navy thought.

The creature didn’t just submit to him. Navy’s nervous glances to the ground below slowly dripped into the creature, and with all the apprehension, the creature turned its attention to the ground as well.

“What do you… Keep looking… at?” Its Dulmpa wasn’t refined at all. It stopped and hesitated as it spoke the language, like it wasn’t the one in thought in. Not to the point of stammering, but moving like it was…

Navy shook his head. That was impossible.

The only ones who had access to other languages were the humans.

Navy educated the scarecrow about the fact that they were near a powerful creature that could easily tear them to pieces. “Like me?”

“...Yes, like you…” Navy said, trying to appease the beast. It growled happily as he answered in a grunts' passion. It revealed and giggled in its own sudo superiority like a child.

It was lucky Nav couldn’t use fire right now.

“We need to get away from this thing,” Navy said, but the creature wasn’t listening. Navy felt skin start to break as the scarecrow giggled. It’s grass tightened on acciedent in it’s own happiness, like a child holding it’s pet too hard.

Navy started to seethe. “This isn't a game! We have to go!” He raised his voice and yelled at the beast in a louder tone, but it did little to convince the creature to leave, let go, or even stay on topic.

“Where is father… I’m hungry!” It asked with glee. The disjointed creature only seemed to talk about the things it was interested in, ignoring everything else. The creature was half baked, it wasn’t in the oven long enough.

The gods had yet to sprinkle all the information the creature would need to… function. Navy sighed, trying to soothe himself and his bleeding body.

But it was hard.

“I said, he was busy.” Navy was firm and did not point out Rhodney.

He still had no idea what “I’m hungry,” meant in this context. Upon further inspection, by the way the creature moved and shifted it’s body, it didn’t require meat. For all he knew, if he sold his companion’s identity out, the creature would reach over and tear him to shreds.

The creature's gleeful demeanor shifted. It growled as it didn’t get what it was asked. Navy felt the grass wrap even tighter around his body.

Pops and cracks as meat and bone were compressed. Navy strained out a scream as the being squeezed him even tighter. Navy’s ambient mana spiked his irregular blue shooting out from his rage.

He heard the waves start to chrest like waves, the sound of large clumps of dirt moving, as the creature felt his energy.

Stop… You’re making it nurv– ARGH!!

He sucked his teeth, the blue didn’t stop coming.

Navy breathed in and out, hearing the leaves in the distance start to ruffle as something Large, started to approach.

God Damnit.

“Did you hear what I said! We have TSK– to leave!” He tried to reason but the creature didn’t budge.

“You do not… tell me what–to do… Where is my father…”

Rhodney… What are you doing down there?! Rhodney’s tranced body was unaffected by the shuffling of the roots. The roots gave his body a wide berth, avoiding his body completely as he stared dead eye’d at the tree. He glowed and his veins pulsed with energy.

But the others weren’t so lucky. Torrent’s body was motionless in the wooden-dirt sea. Navy was afraid she was going to get swallowed.

His other companion, Smokey, was actually getting that experince. He watched in horror as his torso was taken by a passing root and dragged into the depths like quicksand.

Navy could only watch, speechless as Smokey was dragged into the deep. He couldn’t see misty anywhere, and Torrent was probably next.

“...”

He relented.

“He’s… right there.” He motioned with his head, and made Rhodney slightly glow with blue magic. He made sure the creature could see him. Telling him he was the glowing one. Navy’s wounds burned as he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

He grabbed his arm and breathed heavily. He had long wire gashes across his body, and each movement hurt as each movement stretched. His bone’s shuddered and creaked as he attempted to get up.

He watched the creature's large gord face smile as it turned toward Rhodney.

There was too much going on. To attack Rhodney the scarecrow would have to let Navy go. He would wait for the being to turn around, and that would be the very moment Navy would take advantage.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

He pulled the fire from within his belly, breathing in and making his fist glow a bright crimson. The creature may writhe, and they may have to battle a flaming creature next to a giant tree monster… but they had little choice.

The alternative was being eaten by the forest.

For I make gambles that affect others, and they may feel the burns of fire, may they also feel the warmth of my hearth when I return.

For when I succeed, I will pay back those who stood with me thrice.

The creature lumbered towards Rhodney. It started through the waves of Root and dirt with a Non plus attitude. Moving through it like it would anywhere else in the forest. Its arm pulsed and shifted as Navy’s started to lift his aching body from the ground.

The giant creature continues to stalk its way toward Rhodney, its giant footfalls doing nothing helpful for Navy’s dreams of the future. The roots almost made him fall as he glowed an even brighter red.

Navy channeled his mana together, twisting a construct that enhanced what was already there. He fed the fire more kindling, more energy, more power. With his new knowledge he wished he had wind mana as well.

The rare combo would’ve been devastating for someone with his knowledge. Which… probably why he never saw the gods give it to any monster.

Combining your affinities is the reason why they were so sought after and praised. Why they were so valued in the first place. Being able to combine your magic with another always made something exponentially more powerful as you chained it together.

The Wizards described it as: weight that came down the more you casted. They would wear robes not because of the fact that they wanted to run into battle without any defense, but because it would be impossible, to move if they weren’t.

And he felt it.

His legs shook and he felt his posture be pushed down as he poured his mana into his flames. Not his energy… His actual affinity. His flame began to glow a beautiful sapphire, dots of mana floating off except for erratic sparks.

The blue ball didn’t move traditionally. Instead of floating up and rising like a typical flame, the heat traveled in every direction like light would.

Its white and blue tendrils ebbed around his hand, up, down, left, and right. It looked more like a wild energy octopus than a fire. It spiked whenever he’d sneak a step towards the beast. Too much… He thought.

Navy’s left heart was beating too hard and was knocking the second one off. His breath was too heavy, his blinks were off. His steps were heavy, he was expending too much.

Focus Navy.

He felt that buzzing feeling slow to a solid static as he moved slower. As he breathed slower, allowing the calm to set in. Stalking, the tendrils of the flame shrunk and it began to roll in an eager rotation around his hand.

Navy stood low as the scarecrow stared down at Rhodney.

And at the same time,

…

Lapping waves. Wide trees with no leaves. Mud that sneaked past Rhodney’s pants–

Wait, Pant’s?

Rhodney looked down to find his brown caveman shorts gone again. The archaic scratchy delicates were replaced with an outfit he would’ve casually worn back before he had come to this world. Loose black jeans that were too baggy for his thin legs. He had his old, gray, “Prison Tee” as he coined it back on earth.

Not the gown.

“Is this a dream?” He asked the space. He felt a little too lucid. As he moved his body it felt a bit like he was in two places like you feel when you’re sleeping, but also a little too clear to be a dream.

He heard storm clouds roil as he looked around. For the second time he was dragged into a space today, and he was starting to have doubts about his reincarnation.

Keep a theme…

First, it was with that giant rock. He had entered a space like his old room, but the outside had been filled with those colorful clouds he’d seen in space.

He and the plinth saw stuff outside, the both of them had never seen before. The event was even weirder because the rock swore on everything that he had no idea how it had gotten there.

He heard the rumbling of storm clouds. His long mullet of hair flopped over his face and tried to wave itself in front of his eyes. He blew it out of his face and started to walk.

He was just happy the bald spots were gone.

The large leafless tree’s stuck out spike like. They jutt out the water like stone that rolled uphill. Spiked diagonal, with thick branches that had no interest in falling off. He didn’t want to touch them as he watched them shrink away at body.

Rhodney walked through the swamp in his skechers and jeans. The mud stuck to his shoes like molasses. The ground more like syrup than mud. Too smoothe as he stepped in it, too still like water, and too sticky. He attempted to shake it off, shaking his foot in the air, but…

“Huh..?” Rhodney got mildly perturbed as he saw the mud multiply every time the blur of movement stopped. This place probably worked on dream logic, he guessed. I mean he was inside something's head.

Last time he had done it on instinct, on the urge to communicate with something seemingly bigger than itself. Bringing it somewhere familiar to talk, but this time, he had been dragged. Not like a conversation like the boulder. The minute he had tried to recharge, WHOOP he was sucked here.

He felt bad as he heard Navy’s voice slightly echo far away, but he didn’t know how to leave. This was completely new territory.

Rhondney felt that slight burning in his stomach he felt as an imp but this was a swamp. Fire magic wasn’t going to be all that useful. He continued to walk.

Feeling the oobleck mud’s properties got thicker as he traveled deeper into the marsh. Rain started to fall and he heard the lightning starting to pick up as he walked. Must be getting closer.

Even with the rain, his body didn’t seem to get wet. It was more atmospheric, fake.

He could sort of just… feel it. That tugging sensation. It was like when he tethered onto someone during command. At that moment his subtle understanding seemed to peak. Inside the creature's mind or body he could feel it calling. He felt it’s… breathing. The mud moved, chresting and falling as it breathed.

The entire world moved like one organism.The tree’s bent inwards and forwards in the marsh, like they were affected by a second oxygen that Rhodney was unaware of.

The creature was far larger than Rhodney, demanding respect and honor as he moved closer to its base. He slowly could see it; ‘It was hard with how dark it was.’

The hulking tree loomed over him. A squashed form, the tree was large, but it’s shape was squashed like playdough. It’s body was round, unclimbable, looking like a cartoon cannon in an animation about to fire.

It was the only tree in the forest with leaves, long branches that stretched up to the rain. It’s leaves were a dark green that gave Rhodney the opposite impression of life.

It was… old.

The other tree’s in the marsh gave it a wide distance away, all of them jutting away as if the tree had pushed them all away with a wave of power.

It looked without eye’s and smelled him without a nose. The entire world felt like it swirled around the tree and all gave Rhodney it’s attention as he arrived. The forest got a little more quiet, the raindrops letting up as it waited.

Rhodney felt all the leafless trees–

Oh. Sorry.

The ecosystem corrected him with a slight shake. There were no other tree’s here. Those were roots. Sticking up and out of the ground in a state of…

Hmm?