Rolling away from the hole in the ground, James was able to see what made it for the first time. Pulling itself out with sharp talons, a bird the size of his fist with a bright blue feathering and yellow belly chirped aggressively, as if it hadn’t just attempted to murder him.

Considering the absurd speed at which it had moved, it looked no worse for wear, probably having a high VIT stat as well as AGI. Before James could pounce on it, having shaken off the surprise, the mutated bluebird took to the air, coming to a stop on a high branch.

“Holy fucking shit. We are fucked.”

James would have usually been shocked at such language coming out of the typically polite Ezekiel, but looking at the dozen birds that were taking residence next to his would-be murderer, he couldn’t help but agree.

“Behind me!” Daniel shouted, his shield glowing brightly. Even as he set himself to stand as a bulwark against the tide of dive-bombing birds, they were already launching themselves off the branch.

Maria and Ezekiel managed to get to safety in time, but James and Lauren were not so lucky. Knowing that he risked getting truly injured, the Thakinetic flooded his body with Empowerment, for the first time in a long while not concentrating it on just his limbs.

A second later, he was hit by three different birds. The strength of their assault was such that he was thrown away like a rag-doll, rolling to a painful stop against a maple tree.

James could feel a pulsating sensation in both his arms, which he had used as a shield. Opening his eyes, he saw that at least they weren’t horribly mauled, probably thanks to his suit, but they didn’t feel good.

Attempting to open and close his hands proved painful, but at least he knew they weren’t broken.

“Die, you stupid birds, Dieee!” Maria’s shout brought him back to the present. He looked up, noticing that several of the birds were busy desperately dodging her fireballs while others lay on the ground, unmoving.

James picked himself up, focusing his skill only on his arms. He sighed in relief, glad that the enhanced VIT could at least lessen the pain.

A shadow moving within his senses told him that Lauren had been luckier than him. Her left arm was limp at her side, but beyond that, she looked no worse for wear, and she was busy stabbing those birds that had remained on the ground.

“They can’t attack more than once or twice. Kill them before they recover!” The girl yelled, even as she moved to her next victim.

James didn’t need to hear that twice and sprang into action. Despite the great deal of pain he was in, he still had perfectly functional legs and made good use of them.

His reinforced boots easily squashed the birds, their high VIT evidently the result of an active skill rather than their base stats.

Daniel was busy holding against the assault of the few still flying birds, but with Ezekiel’s debuffs, they were not a particular threat. They chirped confusedly, evidently not used to their prey surviving more than a hit or two. Certainly not their entire flock’s combined assault.

Maria finished setting fire to those that had gotten back on the branches but were too tired to fly again, her spells more precise than before thanks to the skill having leveled up after the fight with the starfish.

“Try to hem them close to the ground!” James called, lifting his foot off another bird’s corpse. He was trying very hard to ignore the pulsing pain in his arms because, being forced to use his legs to fight, he needed to split Empowerment between all his limbs, thus lessening the pain-relief effects of the enhanced VIT.

Maria complied with his request, stopping her direct assault and instead covering the sky in a much thinner veil of fire. Having seen many of their comrades get burnt to death by those very same flames, the bluebirds flew low, trying to escape the fiery curtain.

Unfortunately for them, they landed directly in Lauren and James’ strike zones. It took them a few passes to get them all, owing to their limited mobility after the first assault, but eventually, they managed to get them all to the ground, and from there ending the fight was a quick affair.

“Jesus H Christ. That was so much harder than I thought it would be.” Lauren complained, walking to Ezekiel, whose healing skill was already busy putting James’ arms back into fighting condition.

“That’s the problem with walking in without any knowledge. The rangers said they were attacked by a plant, but nothing about dive-bombing birds.” Daniel commented as he inspected his shield for any damage. Luckily, being made of D-rank materials, it had held up without a scratch to show for it.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Maria, who had been fundamental for their efforts at hemming the birds in, didn’t look that impressed “They weren’t even that tough. We could have dealt with them easily if we had known what to expect.”

“Yeah, but the problem is, we didn’t know about them. And we won’t always get every bit of information about the next dungeon. The cave in Montauk should have taught us that.” Ezekiel replied, wiping his forehead after having finished healing Lauren’s arm.

Interrupting their bickering, James lifted a hand, Thakinetic Awareness telling him that something that wasn’t there now suddenly was. Slowly, he turned to look around where he felt the presence, but nothing stood out to him beyond the usual shrubbery and trees.

“What is it?” Maria whispered, looking around furtively.

“There is something here that I can barely feel. It might be hiding behind the trees.” He answered, suspiciously checking the hemlock plants for any sign of mutation.

“James…” Daniel murmured, eyes wide “I think it might be the trees.”

As soon as he said it, a root that he hadn’t even noticed before sprung from below and, with incredible swiftness, speared one of the bird corpses, pulling it into the ground.

Immediately, team 0 took up a formation behind the Tank. They waited for another move for a few seconds, but nothing seemed to happen. Then, just as James was about to propose they attack instead, the earth rumbled and a dozen roots lifted themself up.

Thick enough to withstand several hits, the mutated tree trunk split open, revealing a gaping black maw. The roots wiggled in the air like tentacles and its fronds shifted, the sound surprisingly intimidating.

"Well, I guess we found the plant the rangers were talking about." Ezekiel muttered, clutching his knife a bit tighter, his face pale. The roots slowly snaked towards them, their movements grotesquely agile for plant matter.

"Maria, do you think you can burn it?" James asked, keeping his eyes on the undulating mass before them.

"Not sure, but I can damn well try!" Maria replied. Flames erupted from her fingertips, forming a whirling ball of fire that she hurled toward the open maw. The fireball was met by one of the roots, engulfing it completely.

The tree seemed to shriek in pain, retracting back from the heat. The root separated itself from the main body and fell to the ground, shriveled and blackened, but the monster itself was not affected.

Emboldened by her success, Maria sent three more fireballs in quick succession, each promptly intercepted by a wiggling root.

“We need to get the roots’ attention and give Maria a clear shot!” James called out, advancing. He grabbed one of the tentacle-like roots, causing it to twist as if in surprise and then try to spear him through.

He jumped back, dodging the strike, and grabbed onto another, letting it go immediately to avoid the whip-like hit. The air whistled as it passed just over his head, and since it was the only unprotected part of his body, James was very keen on keeping it away from any murderous root.

I know high-ranking helmets are super expensive and getting a bad-quality one is worse than having none, but we really need to find a way to protect our heads.

Things started moving much more quickly when Lauren jumped in from the other side. Buffed by Ezekiel’s magic, they could easily avoid the roots, even though they couldn’t do much in return. James tried a couple of times to hit the roots after avoiding their strikes, but the most he could manage was breaking some of the exterior wood up and pushing them away. They were surprisingly springy, moving with the hits and softening the blows enough that they wouldn’t break.

However, it had never been their plan to do so. When enough roots became occupied with the two melee fighters, Maria could finally get a few good shots in, burning the last protective roots.

Hidden behind Daniel’s glowing shield, the Fire Mage continued her barrage, hitting the trunk for the first time, making it shriek. The magical flames burned brightly and hotter than usual, and it wasn’t long before the rest of the tree caught on fire.

It flailed around, sending burning sparks everywhere and forcing Maria to run containment, on pain of creating a massive blaze. Still, with the tree on fire, they only needed to avoid its increasingly desperate hits until it finally started breaking down, its roots losing their strength and becoming inanimate.

Team 0 kept their guard up, watching the bonfire, until a notification finally popped up, telling them that they had defeated a [Juvenile Treant].

“That’s a juvenile? I really don’t want to meet an adult one then.” James commented, somewhat annoyed at not having done much damage. He had still received some EXP, since without his help Maria wouldn’t have been able to kill it, but it annoyed him, having been relegated to support.

Lauren grimaced, wiping her blade clean from the bird’s crusted blood. "Let’s also make sure to clear this whole area. If one tree mutated, others may have as well.”

“Yeah, and more importantly, I couldn’t feel it until it started moving. I think they might be basically in hibernation.” James had been shocked and confused at the Treant’s presence. Even the Whip Seaweed had much more willpower than it during its hiding phase, making him worry about any future encounter.

His ability to find beings based upon the strength of their will was one of Team 0’s greatest strengths and what allowed them to tackle dangerous situations without fear of falling prey to ambushes. If his skill was becoming less useful, it might spell difficult times for them.

Still, a second notification broke him out of his spiraling, and James smiled. Leveling up was always a good way of breaking him out of his funk.

STATUS WINDOW

Name

James Summers

Age

19

Awakening

1st

Talent

Thakinesis

Title

Level

19

MP

71/95

STR

15

VIT

11

AGI

11

SENSE

14

MIND

10

STAT POINTS

0

James closed the window, feeling much better now that he had increased his STR and SENSE again. It was important not to overspecialize, but at times, having a bit more punching power was worth it.

Also, given his fears of being ambushed by the stealthy Treants, it only felt right to add to his ability to feel them coming.

Soon after, another such presence pinged his skill. Turning around slowly, James noticed a tree in the distance starting to shift around unnaturally. He silently alerted the others with a hand sign and started to get closer, only to stop in his tracks.

There wasn’t only one Treant, unfortunately. There were five.