Mother Tree’s Defense Integrity: 84%

With the four wolves and the goblin dead, Jake ported away his chainsaw and approached the remaining wooden plant child while Will examined the wolf corpses. The plant child had already made its vines recede, so Jake assumed that he wouldn’t be attacked.

“Do you know which path we should take to the Mother Tree?” Jake asked. Like the previous intersection they had entered in the garden, there were three new paths leading out of the hedge maze opening that they were currently in.

In response to his question, the wooden child just silently stared into the black pits that were the eyeholes of Jake’s hockey mask. Honestly, Jake wasn’t even sure if it could change the neutral expression it had plastered over its face, let alone talk.

“We’re here to protect the tree,” Jake said, pointing to the huge tree still visible in the distance over the hedges.

The plant child turned its head to where Jake was pointing. After a brief delay, it pointed to the path across from where Jake and Will had entered from.

“Thanks,” Jake said, deciding that was all he’d bother getting from the wooden child. There were obviously going to be more intersections that Will and him were going to have to choose which direction to go forward from after this. Rather than trying to get more detailed directions from a mute wooden mannequin, Jake thought they’d probably make better time if he threw Will over the hedge and jumped over after him.

He turned back to Will who was still leaning over one of the two wolf corpses he’d help the wooden child kill.

“You sure you’re okay?” Jake said, pulling up his hockey mask as he approached his best—and only—friend in Golding. He was starting to get a little worried that Will’s first instance was proving to be a more traumatic experience than his own first instance had ever gotten close to being for him.

“Yeah,” Will responded, still staring down at the wolf, “I’m just trying to figure out if I can tell the difference.”

Jake tilted his head. “Is there a difference?” he asked.

Other than the fact that one of them had more thorn wounds from the wooden child and the other had suffered more blunt force trauma from Will’s bat, he couldn’t really spot anything to tell them apart with from just a glance.

“The one with more thorn wounds was level 2 and the other one was level 3.”

“Oh.” Jake hadn’t gotten the kill notifications, so he wouldn’t have known. The slimes had been much more obvious with their level differences thanks to the size increase each level brought for them. Whatever difference levels brought to the wolves, however, were much more subtle. At least it was at these low levels.

“Wait, I’m feeling something,” Will said, leaning in closer to the monster wolf’s corpse. “I think I’ve got it.”

“So what’s the difference?” Jake asked.

Suddenly, Will’s expression changed and he put on a big grin. “Aye, I got my first skill.”

“Nice, what’d you get?”

“It’s uh… Wait, hold on. Let me see if I can get that feeling again.” Will hardened his expression as he turned to Jake and stared at him intensely. They were just on the cusp of an uncomfortably long silence as they stared into each other's eyes when Jake got a notification on his display shades.

Heads Up!

Your party member, Will has unlocked the Scan skill.

“Aye, did it again,” Will said.

“You sent this message?” Jake said, pointing at the message still being displayed to him.

“Yeah, the one about my skill right?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“Yeah, check it out,” Will said before sending Jake another message.

Your party member, Will has unlocked the Data Share skill.

Data Share

Allows you to share data between party members within the skills range.

“I used that skill to send your display shades the messages.”

“Can I send something back?” Jake asked.

“Yeah, just try to think about it,” Will said.

Jake focused on the thought of sending Will a message. He thought the words, Hey, can you see this? A second later, those exact words popped up right in front of him.

Jake: Hey, can you see this?

“That’s the message you sent me,” Will said, having sent what he received right back to Jake.

Will: Yeah, I got it.

“And that’s my message back.”

“Nice,” Jake said. With this, they didn’t even need to talk to communicate. “How long’s the range?”

“It's a little bit bigger than this area, I think,” Will said, referring to the garden intersection that they were currently in. That meant the skill had about a twenty-foot radius at its current level.

“And check this out.” Will pointed towards the dead wolves. As Jake looked at them he saw the names that the system assigned them and their level.

Tunnel Wolf - Level 2

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Tunnel Wolf - Level 3

He gave all the other corpses around him a look over too along with Will and the remaining plant child.

Tunnel Wolf - Level 4

Wolf Rider Goblin - Level 4

Thorn Sentry - Level 3

Tunnel Wolf - Level 2

Thorn Sentry - Level 4

Will - Level 1

Two skills back-to-back at Level 1, Jake thought, taking note.

“I can send the data for my Scan skill straight to you,” Will said. “I just need to see the monsters first.”

“Nice,” Jake said, stretching out. Recruiting Will was proving useful already. He took a quick look at the Mother Tree’s defense percentage.

Mother Tree’s Defense Integrity: 82%

“Come on, let’s get moving. We’ve got a time limit.”

Will stood up and took a few steps to follow Jake out the clearing, before stopping where he was standing.

“Wait, hold up. Check this out.” Will forwarded Jake a message.

The Mother Tree would like to send you messages through your Data Share skill.

Do you accept?

“You think I should?” Will asked.

Jake shrugged. “I mean we are here to save it.” A few seconds later, he received a forward message from Will.

Mother Tree: Brave Champions, we thank you for aiding our kingdom in our time of need.

“We?” Jake asked.

Mother Tree: Both Thorn of My Vine and I are particularly grateful for the actions the two of you have taken.

“Thorn of My Vine?” Jake turned to the wooden child or he’d suppose if he wanted to be accurate the thorn sentry. The thorn sentry’s solemn expression remained unchanged, but it did raise its hand in greeting.

The Mother Tree’s defense integrity ticked down another point as he stared at the thorn sentry.

Jake shook his head. “Okay, whatever. Ask her to give us directions to the center of the garden.”

Mother Tree: I can hear you, but you are yet able to hear me. This one finds herself willing to give you guidance, but her heart cries out for her children. Would you find it in your own hearts to help them along the way?

“How much are you paying?” Jake asked.

Mother Tree: I am but a humble tree and this is a humble kingdom. We have little—

“Tell her we accept payments in game tokens and U.S.D.”

There was a pause before they received a response to that one.

Mother Tree: We carry none of the flesh of our fellows and neither my children nor I know anything of these game tokens you speak of.

Jake was amused that a generated sentient plant being knew enough about the local legal currency to call it 'the flesh of their fellows.'

Mother Tree: We shall offer you a fitting reward for your efforts, however, and you shall be known as a friend to this humble kingdom.

The fruits of our land are hidden now, but if the invaders claim victory, they shall have them destroyed and make this land barren. If you draw them away we shall share our bounty with you.

“And part of that reward is going to be for saving some of your children on our road to doing that?”

Mother Tree: Yes.

“Sounds good to me,” Jake said. They would have ended up helping the Mother Tree’s subjects along the way to her anyway. Will needed levels and experience. The safest place to get them both was going to be his first instance.

Mother Tree: Many thanks, Brave Champions.

I implore you to take Thorn of My Vine with you. This young one is eager to assist you and is born of light wood that shall make him easy to carry.

Jake wasn’t opposed to it. The level 4 thorn sentry had already proven itself capable of taking down a wolf or two. That said, the Mother Tree mentioned carry, so he could assume the Sentry wasn’t much of a runner.

“Welp, you heard your mother,” Jake said to the wooden child. “Hop on Will’s back.”

“I thought you had points in strength,” Will said.

“Yeah, but I’m also the only one who’s at risk of actually dying, so I’d like to have my hands free to defend myself if I can help it.”

Will shrugged in a way that about said, “Fair enough,” before walking over to the Thorn Sentry. He knelt down so it could climb onto his back.

Once the plant child was secure, the trio set off down a path with the Mother Tree’s guidance. They took the path across from the one they’d taken to enter the opening in the hedge until they came to another intersection that was empty.

Mother Tree: Take the path to the right. The path forward shall lead to a dead end and the path on the left shall misguide you.

“I’m surprised that a bunch of wolves and goblins are smart enough to find their way around this place,” Jake said, taking the lead as they followed the Mother Tree’s directions.

Mother Tree: They’ve had scouts digging under our kingdom and feeling out the roots from below. I’ve felt them for quite some time now, but there was not that I could do against them.

There was more that could be discussed, but Jake and Will held their tongues. The sound of plants and wolves fighting was growing louder as they followed the path.

“You mind telling us what we’re running into?” Jake asked.

Mother Tree: Some of my children and subjects have been pinned by waves of invaders led by goblins. I ask that you do what you can to give them aid.

“Got it. Keep straight or go left?” Jake asked as the path ahead split in two directions.

Mother Tree: Straight.

Rather than talking, Will kept hold of his breath and sent a message.

Will: Can you give me a quick rundown of how everyone is positioned?

Mother Tree: I can.

“Just tell me where to go,” Jake said. Whether they had a plan or they were just winging it, Jake was fine either way.

A few seconds after he’d rounded a corner, Jake heard a rustle from the hedge behind him. He looked back and saw that Will had barely caught himself before running face first into the hedge.

“Try not to text and drive,” Jake told him.

“I’ll try to see if I can set up text-to-speech later,” Will said, dusting his hands.

The trio continued forward after that for half of another minute before the Mother Tree told them to stop beside a hedge. Though the hedge walls muffled the sounds going through them, it was easy to tell there was fighting going on just beyond them.

Jake looked up as a murder wasp flew over head. He spotted a few of them floating over the hedge in this direction.

Will kneeled down, letting the wooden child, Thorn of My Vine, off of his back. In turn, the wooden child handed him two cans of wasps spray he had taken from Will’s bag.

“Thanks,” Will told the thorn sentry before turning Jake. “You said this game has status effects, right?“

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll aim for the wasps first while you go in. Thorn and the others aren’t affected by the wasps’ poison, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case for us.”

“Right.” Jake smiled. It looked like his strategist was starting to get into character.

“The Mother Tree is going to open a path for us near the goblins commanding the wolves,” Will continued. “I’ll mark them for you. Thorn will try to get a wolf or two out of your way, but don’t go in if you don’t think it's safe enough.”

“Got it.” Jake ported out his chainsaw and revved it. Between the sounds of barking, wasps buzzing, fighting, and the deafening effects of the garden wall, he doubted the invaders even heard him.

Mother Tree: I await your signal.

“You guys ready?” Jake asked.

Will nodded. “Ready.”

Thorn of My Vine: Ready!

“Let’s do this,” Jake said and the Mother Tree opened a gap in the hedge.