Emily had only spent a few short moments at the pillar, but the tree had already drawn near. There was a small mound of metal church chairs thrown in front of the tree monster's path. She had seen it smash a car, so she doubted it would affect it much.

“Can the pillar help us, Emily?” McLaughlin asked with urgency.

“Yes and no. We can buy weapons and we can get access to quest and renown. Does anyone else have monster parts for merit?” Emily asked but didn’t wait for the answer. She knew no one had defeated a swarm of monsters like she had. “I have one hundred merit points. Strai’Ze,” she lifted her hand to her head to indicate who she was talking to, “can I give those merit points to Corporal Watkins?”

“Yes, place your hand on his head.” Emily did as the spore instructed. Watkins was a little shocked, but didn’t withdraw. “And, there, I’ve given one hundred merits to Watkins.”

She looked at the man who had lost his leg. It was a lot to put on him, but she could tell he would do the job. It would also free up those who could draw the monster away from the pillar. “Okay, you’ve got points to buy weapons now.” His eyes looked at a screen she couldn’t see and he smiled.

Eduardo, who had been helping transport Watkins looked antsy to get to the Pillar as well. He picked the soldier back up with a grunt and said, “just make sure you get bladed weapons and not blunt ones. A club won’t do much against a tree.”

Emily didn’t wait to make sure he accomplished his duty, she had her own to accomplish. “I’m going to go distract that thing. Help me when you can.”

McLaughlin nodded toward her as she strung her new bow. It was time to see what this tree monster could do.

Maverick barked at her as she ran off to fight the tree. “Stay back buddy, be ready to help if anyone gets injured.”

She really hoped the dog wouldn’t follow her as she approached the monster. The aura it gave off played with her senses. The tree felt powerful. It was definitely the same feeling she got when she had passed it after rescuing Eduardo earlier. It hadn't been uprooted at that point. What had made it change so much? Did it evolve after reaching a certain level? Did it just remain dormant after fusing for longer than she had?

The monster seemed to size her up as she dashed toward it. Its forward moment stopped as it seemed to take on a defensive stance. It was hard to tell with it being a tree and all. She needed to draw its attention toward her so it would stop advancing on the rest of her group. Luckily, pain was a good motivator.

Emily began to strafe to the right while bringing her new alianthose bow up with her left hand. She placed her hand on the bow string and pulled it back. Reaching out to her spirit she materialized a glowing blue arrow into the slot and fired. The arrow rocketed forward leaving behind a blue streak of light in her vision as it struck the monster in the center of its trunk.

The monster writhed back from the attack and brought its leafy branches low obscuring her vision for another shot. Emily wasn’t looking for another shot yet though. She just needed to keep it’s attention.

Maverick kept barking at the tree. She really hoped the dog wouldn’t draw its attention away from her. The pup had gone from sentient to sapient, but that didn’t bridge the gap of intelligence between dogs and humans right away. She just hoped that Maverick wouldn’t get itself or the group hurt from poor decision making.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Another arrow appeared in the drawn back bow and she fired again. Hopefully that would keep its attention on her. But the monster barely reacted to the arrow striking one of its top branches that were used as a shield.

They must not be as vital to it, Emily noted. The tree began to pace slowly toward her with its leafing branches still low. Perfect, it's moving toward me.

She began backpedaling away from her slower foe while keeping up the onslaught. Her dexterity attribute must be helping her, because firing an arrow while running would not have been possible a day ago. Well, at least not without missing or stumbling afterward. Using the Perfect Shot ability was becoming second nature to her. It was attached to her highest stat, Imagination, which definitely helped.

Emily drew back her bow again and fired a little off target. Grabbing it with her Projectile Control she tried to draw the arrow in a curve around the dense foliage the monster was using as a shield.

She nearly stumbled as her spirit strained more than usual and she reflexively released control of the arrow. It flew past the tree with only a slight curve shown in its trajectory.

Why had that hurt her spirit? She had been able to do much more than that when she had been throwing her arrows before.

“It’s because of your low Cognition and Might stats,” Strai’Ze interjected helpfully. “I’m still learning this new System, but from what I’ve gathered it’s because those stats are too low. Might is your lowest stat so controlling a projectile at that speed will strain your spirit. The bow fires the arrow much faster than you could throw it previously.”

“Ugh, why do I feel like every attribute always matters and I never have enough to put in any of them.” Emily began strafing around the tree again and was surprised how it followed her with its branches despite the distance she put between them. This thing’s senses must be through the roof.

“There will always be weaknesses you need to shore up. However, if you spend too much time focused on weaknesses you will never grow your strengths. Finding a balance between the two will be best.”

Emily listened to her spore companion. It made sense to her, but it was always hard for her to let go of control like that. Recognizing she couldn’t use one of her main abilities with her bow felt like a huge glaring weakness. How could she focus on her strengths?

She focused her thoughts and imagined up a new solution. She loaded her bow and fired into the sky. Perfect Shot allowed the arrow to fly in the arch she had envisioned. Projectile Control allowed her to nudge the arrow slightly and speed it up without causing strain. And with her movement she was able to guide her foe just right.

Three seconds after release the arrow slammed hard into the trunk of the tree monster. The arrow continued through the monster and into the cement of the parking lot. Leaves whipped around as the monster writhed in pain.

Emily prepared to shoot again, but hesitated. She should probably share the reward of this kill with the others. This was a great opportunity for the whole group to gain some levels. But then the tree started moving back toward the pillar.

It moved in a mad dash while somehow still keeping a barrier of leaves between itself and her. It was moving far faster than it was before. Had it only been leisurely strolling before? It definitely wasn’t faster than her, but it still would make it to the Pillar before she could do much more damage.

She desperately fired another arrow into the air and then another and another. She wasn’t able to control all three arrows, but Perfect Shot still allowed for well imagined trajectories. She waited the four seconds for the arrows to fall hoping they would stop the monster as it approached the rest of her group.

Maverick barked at the tree and the monster seemed to suddenly straighten itself up. The arrows struck harmlessly into the canopy of leaves. The dog then ran to place itself between herself and the tree monster. It barked at her ferociously and then again at the rest of the group who began to surround the tree monster with newly acquired axes.

The dog looked angry at them, not the tree…

“Shit,” Emily whispered, “It isn’t a monster is it?”