Mother Tree’s Defense Integrity: 5%

Jake watched the Mother Tree’s defense integrity tick down another percent. More than the wolf mother, he needed this fight to be over. Now.

The wolf matriarch raised her head and howled.

I really hope that’s not her getting ready for a power up, Jake thought.

He spared a quick glance to the skies. The constant buzzing sound from the bees and the wasps warring above them had changed. A part of it had become louder, closer.

Above him, he saw a death squad of murder wasps darting towards him.

Oh, no… he thought. Now was not the time for this boss to be summoning bonus minions.

He replaced the emptied can of bear spray in his hand with a can of bug spray from his Inventory.

A strong wind blew out from the Mother Tree before he could get the chance to use it. Carrying leaves from the tree away with it, it blew away the wasp death squad and split the war in the sky from the battle on the ground.

Mother Tree’s Defense Integrity: 3%

“If this is my last breath,” the Mother Tree said, “Then it shall be given to you my champion.”

“You won’t regret it,” Jake said. He ported his chainsaw into one hand, and a can of pepper spray into the other.

Ready to face the wolf, he charged forward, but stopped when she started glowing.

He took a few steps back. There was an aura around the wolf matriarch, colored something between brown and gold.

You’ve got to be kidding me, Jake thought. This overgrown gopher dog was actually using an ability.

The wolf mother howled one last time.

Jake heard the hedge rustle at his side and turned his head quick. The Mother Tree had opened a path through.

“This One thinks you should—” she began, but it was already too late. With a force beyond what was natural, the wolf matriarch let out a shout that echoed through Jake’s bones. It deafened him to everything, but the sound of it in the moment.

The aura around wolf mother sunk into the ground, shooting out in every direction. Its spell shook the earth and when it reached Jake it shook him too.

New Status Effect!

SHAKEN!

“Ugh!” Through her whispering roots, Jake could hear the Mother Tree groan. Her trunk shrieked like a tree like a tree that had just been felled.

Jake dropped his chainsaw and pepper spray. Before he could even turn to check on the Mother Tree, he fell to the ground.

Once he was laid out on his back, he realized that it wasn’t the earth that was shaking anymore, it was just him.

He tried to get up, but the magic’s effect was taking its sweet time to wear off. He felt like he was a drunkard who’d lost his balance.

“Thorn!” he shouted, as he heard the wolf mother charging towards him. Jake didn’t even have a chance of getting himself through the gap the Mother Tree had opened on his own.

The vine around his waist did not move. Thorn had to still be under the magic’s effect too.

No way am I dying like this!

Jake let out a shout as he fought against the spell binding him. He pushed his hands against the ground with all his might.

But it wasn’t enough. The wolf mother stomped down on his chest.

HEAVY DAMAGE!

A good chunk of his health points were bitten off from that alone. If he’d taken real damage, Jake was sure this was the moment he’d be spitting blood.

Though he couldn’t feel the pain, he definitely felt the pressure of the monster’s weight. It was like a boulder on his chest.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

It was hard for him to even breathe. The only bright side was that the attack seemed to have cleared his shaken status.

Each second, no each moment the giant wolf was pushing down on his chest, he was losing more health points.

As the tunnel wolf matriarch slowly crushed him, she brought her mangled face close and growled at Jake. The beast might have been able to kill him already with a couple stomps, but it definitely wanted to do it by ripping off his head.

The instant she opened her jaw, Jake summoned from his Inventory. There was a shocked look on the giant wolf’s face as a decorative boulder twice the size of Jake’s head filled her mouth and spread her jaw.

[I.P Weaponization] Proficiency has increased!

“Only four payments of $19.95,” Jake joked, hands pushing against wolf mother’s paw.

The wolf matriarch was not amused. She bit down on the rock with such force that it shattered. She pulled back, ready to lunge at Jake’s head again.

Thorned vines erupted out from the ground around Jake. They wrapped themselves around the wolf matriarch jaw, slamming it shut like a muzzle would.

Jake didn’t miss his chance. He held up his arms. In an instant, he switched the chainsaw he’d dropped to the ground by his side into his Inventory and then back out into his hands.

A portal opened between his chest and the wolf matriarch’s paw. Gravity and the vines pulling down on its jaw worked together to drag her leg through it. Her body leaned down into the portal and her face came slamming into Jake’s raised chainsaw.

With all the strength Jake could muster, he pulled the chainsaw back. There was a rough grinding sound as he split the wolf mother’s jaw.

The vines that were holding it shut were cut through. They fell away as the beast violently reeled back. She let out a pained cry, barely able to properly move what was now the four pieces of her jaw.

The wolf mother stumbled back, pulling her leg out from Jake’s portal. Jake closed the portal to spare his mana.

He felt a sharp tug from the vine around his waist and ported his chainsaw away in anticipation. Dragged against the ground, he went sliding between the wolf mother’s legs and away from the danger they presented.

“Good job, Thorn,” he said, once the sentry had finished pulling him through the dirt. He turned over, quick to keep his eyes on the wolf matriarch.

Rather than coming after him, she was whimpering with her head against the ground. It looked like she was either trying to hold the pieces of her jaw together with her paws or just trying to make it less painful. In the end, even a beast like this had its breaking point.

Jake ported out his chainsaw and revved it. There was no time to be feeling sorry in a deathmatch. He was sure the wolf hadn’t given an ounce of pity to the thorn warriors she had ruined.

Mother Tree’s Defense Integrity: 2%

As soon as she heard the roar of Jake’s chainsaw behind her, the wolf mother fled. She ran around the courtyard looking for an exit, but they’d all been closed off by the Mother Tree.

When she didn’t find an exit, the wolf mother chose a part of the hedge that was furthest away from Jake and started digging.

Strong instincts, Jake thought. ‘When in doubt, dig your way out’ had to have been programmed into every dog native to the underground.

“Time to let go,” Jake said, pulling Thorn’s vine. WIthout a word, the sentry unraveled its extended limbs.

Jake started jogging over to the disfigured beast. While she was running around trying to flee, he had watched her. It was very clear to him that she had slowed down.

Her wounds from fighting him and the thorn sentinels were finally starting to catch up to her. Or maybe she had already been suffering from the start and that was why he even had a chance to begin with. On the backs of the thorn warriors she’d massacred, he was going to win.

Jake revved his chainsaw as he drew near to the wolf mother. She had managed to dig herself a nice pit by the time he’d managed to get close, but it wasn’t anywhere near big enough for her to slip through.

In a burst of movement, the giant wolf switched from her digging and lunged at Jake as he drew near. She had moved as fast as she could with the energy she had left.

It was a quick switch on her part, almost too fast for Jake to handle.

Almost.

The chainsaw disappeared from Jake’s hands into his Inventory. He slid down onto the ground and a ten foot spear appeared in his hand. It was a thorned spear, the one the Branch That Moves Stone gave to him, still freshly slicked with blood from the war wolf he had slain with it.

A portal appeared above Jake, swallowing the wolf matriarch’s leg as she tried to trample him. She slid forward, control of her momentum lost to her. The beast skewered herself upon Jake’s spear, piercing herself the full way through.

With one end of the spear stuck in the wolf mother’s chest and the other sticking out her back near her hind, Jake did as he was taught.

He flicked wrist, twisting his hand around the shaft of the spear. Like a rose blooming all at once, the thorns of his spear erupted.

Mother Tree’s Defense Integrity: 1%

Beyond a single last whimper, the tunnel wolf matriarch didn’t utter a sound. She pulled her leg from Jake’s portal and sauntered forward one more step before collapsing.

She’d have almost fallen over and crushed Jake if his spear wasn’t holding up her weight. The spear was thin, but it did not bend or buckle at the burden the beast had put on it.

“Course it held strong,” Jake said with a hint of amusement and a smile. It was a branch that moved the final stone and one that won the day.

You have slain a Tunnel Wolf Matriarch with your spear!

Enemy: Level 15

[Dimensional Manipulation]

Portal Generation Proficiency has increased!

[Dimensional Manipulation]

Dimension Generation Proficiency has increased!

Level Up! x2

Heads Up!

Weapon Evolving!