Garden warfare between two trees wasn’t overly exciting. [Savage Roots] was a remarkably ineffective skill, if either plant monster had practised or pushed their limits the skill would have been far more potent.
The enemy tree countered, it’s own spear of wood striking out at Leif’s advancing roots. This counter was in turn countered, and then that counter was countered.
Fronts were made, lines were drawn, should hostile roots cross into the others territory they would be set upon. Stabbed and strangled.
Leif was a smart tree. Smarter is probably the more accurate descriptor. His roots went deeper, only to strike up from beneath. His [Grand Action] skill boosted his [Might] when he went on the attack and [Spirit] when recovering from wounds.
As time flew past, his victory became more and more certain. The foe was losing ground, and the more ground that was lost the less nutrients it could absorb. And though there was a certain defender's advantage, Leif’s relentless advance crushed all opposition.
He knew he was winning. If Leif had eyes he would have noticed his opponent began to look sickly as its roots were destroyed, leaves wilting and branches sagging. He could instead tell the condition of the other tree via the innate life detection his specific species possessed.
Then something changed. It was sudden, shockingly abrupt for a battle between two plants. A battle that so far had lasted for two entire season shifts.
The enemy grew far stronger, it surged with vitality and its intent sharpened. Where once its actions and reactions had been comparatively slow they were now practically blistering.
As if a switch had been flipped, Leif began losing ground. The frequency in which the enemy launched [Savage Roots] attacks doubled, then tripled. Both combatants had become more proficient with their skills as the fight had progressed, but for such a sudden shift to occur…
Leif’s mind raced, the strange planty synapses that may or may not have existed went into overdrive. How? How had he gone from days away from victory to being so hard pressed on the back foot, back root, whatever.
Initially his thoughts were along the lines of a level up. Had the enemy tree gained a new skill that could explain the boost in combat ability. But could a single skill have made such a difference? And if so, how far was Leif from getting the same skill?
As it turned out, no. Neither tree had levelled up.. In actuality Leif’s opponent was three entire [Juvenile Blight Tree] levels above him. It had an extra skill, and this skill was the only reason it had held on so far into the fight.
But Leif couldn’t know this, and his total level was still higher at ten versus seven. In fact, the cause of this sudden paradigm shift would become apparent in three weeks time.
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Leif was sick, he could feel himself wither, his vitality draining. As he lost more and more ground his every action became sluggish, his every thought strained. He was going to lose and he didn’t know why.
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Faux pain came from a larger root a few metres from his trunk where it had been penetrated. If Leif had been biologically capable of feeling panic he certainly would be. The fruitless tug of war between the sucking force draining him and his feeble attempts at controlling his internal energy continued for several hours, with each minute he grew weaker and weaker…
Warning! You have sustained near fatal injuries! You have 22 unspent free attribute points. If you do not spend these points within one minute they will be randomly distributed based loosely on primary class growth rates.
What? What did that mean? He thought, why had the thing popped up showing him the things? He didn’t know the thing or the things at all, what did the thing mean?
…
Unspent attribute points have been distributed! Might +8, Alacrity +1, Intelligence +2, Willpower +3, Spirit +6, Charisma +2!
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Attributes:
Free: 0
Might: 15
Alacrity: 4
Intelligence: 3
Willpower: 5
Spirit: 12
Charisma: 16
===
Oh, that's what it means. Leif realised. And then, in the world’s most stunning display of understanding cause and effect he had a thought. That must have been why the other tree became strong!
And he was correct. Not only was he correct but he was substantially stronger. Weakness fled in the wave of higher numbers. His mind sharpened due to [Willpower] and [Intelligence] let him see new connections, have new ideas.
Though he had lost ground against his foe the fight had returned to the prior status quo. A status quo in which he had the advantage. One month and two weeks later…
Level up! Class [Juvenile Blight Tree] is now level 5!
For killing another of your kind and proving dominance over a protracted back and forth conflict you have gained a level!
+1 to [Might] +1 to [Intelligence] +5 free points!
You have displayed excellence above your ability!
For surviving a gruelling battle of attrition few others of your level could have survived you have gained the following!
+2 to [Willpower] +2 to [Spirit]!
For demonstrating combat prowess while within the wilderness and possessing tenacity and grit in the face of adversity you have the opportunity to gain the [Survivor] class!
Class slots: 0/2
Accept? Y/N
As Leif couldn’t read the system prompts, and therefore had no idea an option had been presented he neither accepted nor declined the final message. This led to the class being automatically declined after a month had passed.
In our protagonist's defence, he had important things to do. Like drinking groundwater and photosynthesising.