Chapter 245

The mayor of Raintree lunged for the hammer and Jay was momentarily reminded of an earlier scene when Carly had lunged for the nail.

The mayor didn't get far though, and Aiden reached out and grabbed the back of the mayor's collar. The bottom half of the mayor kept running but the top half stopped completely. The mayor's legs went out from under him and he fell to the ground in a jumble of limbs.

Aiden grabbed him by the arm and helped him to his feet but did not let go once he was standing. He held on to the arm and his iron grip made it clear that the mayor would stand still, or else.

The mayor looked from M'redith to Aiden before he gave up entirely on the thought of trying to pull his arm free from Aiden's grasp. He turned and faced M'redith with a look of betrayal on his face rather than struggle against Aiden.

“You can't hammer a nail in to the Raintree! Are you insane! We don't even allow people to touch it! It's sensitive!” the mayor yelled at M'redith with a horrified expression. “It'll lose its leaves!”

“We're not planning on hurting it,” M'redith insisted.

“What do you call hammering a nail in to its body?! If you're so sure then promise me it won't hurt the tree!” the mayor said incredulously.

Jay cleared his throat before M'redith could answer any further and she leaned towards him to hear what he had to say.

“Um. We don't actually know what is going to happen. I wouldn't go making any promises just yet,” Jay pointed out as he handed her the magical nail they had won from their last dungeon run .

“Great,” muttered M'redith. “Goddess, let's hope this works,” she said under her breath.

“No!” the mayor yelled loudly as M'redith placed the nail Jay had given her a moment ago and set it up against the trunk of the Raintree, point first.

M'redith's other arm, the one that held the hammer, drew back and then forwards in a long arc.

The nail sank in to the tree a quarter of the way with the first hit, and although M'redith had planned on hammering until the nail was flush with the tree she stopped as a loud rustling was heard overhead.

“No! What have you done?!” the mayor screamed in dismay as far above their heads the tree's green canopy stuffed with vibrant leaves began to gradually turn brown. The brown leaves then separated from the tree and glided through the air slowly, falling gently to the ground below.

Fearful screams could be heard from town as the leaves left naked spots on the branches high above them. Rain fell through the patches and on to the ground below.

M'redith frowned and swung the hammer again and the nail was forced deeper in to the tree. Only half of the nail now showed.

With the second strike the tree's bark, which had been off-white to begin with, began to fade even further, the off-white color darkening as it did so.

“Pull it out! Pull it out! You're killing it!” the mayor yelled as M'redith hammered the nail a third time while Aiden hung on to the struggling mayor.

The rest of the party spread out and kept an eye out for anything that might respond to the hammering.

The third strike of the nail drove it all the way in to the tree and the nail-head was now flush with the tree itself.

The entire group with the exception of the mayor was suddenly presented with a series of notifications.

Local Event Started! Protect the Raintree!

The Raintree's protection is failing and will collapse entirely at any moment. However, a magical item has been bestowed upon it which might save it, and with it, the town. Will the magical item become active before it is overrun by enemies? Protect the Raintree while the magical item is attuned to its new owner!

Jay opened his mouth to speak when another notification appeared.

Stage 1 Start: Shedding – Out with the old and in with the new! A body's skin is its best protection, and the old skin just won't do. Time for new skin!

The mayor was enraged by that point and was shouting curses at M'redith while Aiden physically restrained him. The Raintree now looked quite different than it had when they had first arrived. The massive green canopy above was now a patchwork of tufts of green interspersed with bare branches where dead leaves had fallen to the ground. There were less and less green spots as time passed.

The group could hear fighting coming from the direction of town and Jay guessed that they were fighting off a wave of ticks, all headed for the tree. Whatever the town couldn't hold off Jay's group would be responsible for handling.

Soon large ticks the size of wheelbarrows began to appear – from where, Jay was uncertain. They didn't have the best point of view, being right up against the tree and surrounded by vegetation. The ticks however stood out and were easy to spot due to their massive size.

Aiden pushed the mayor over towards the tree and behind the group as they spread out and began to engage the handful of ticks that had evaded the town guards in combat.

There weren't many of them, and M'redith handed the mayor the hammer and moved to intercept the ticks.

The mayor accepted the hammer and wielded it with both hands and held it at the ready, just in case the ticks got too close. The mayor wasn't a combatant, had no training, and no Class to speak of – he wouldn't join in the fight unless absolutely necessary.

M'redith drew her sword in one smooth motion and as she did so she guided the blade so that it struck the delicate mouth-parts of the tick directly in front of her. The blow shattered and broke the delicate body parts and the tick screeched horribly.

The tick attempted to force M'redith out of the way but she was like an immovable object and the tick bounced right off of her. She then tried her own body-check and the force of her body striking the tick made a crunching sound as some of its exoskeletons was crushed.

M'redith hopped back and out of the way as the creature swept at the area where she had just been standing with its front legs. As M'redith adjusted her stance she leapt forward and cut one of the legs off, then another one right behind it.

The tick fell over to the side, lopsided and unable to move forward. M'redith kicked it on its back and then stabbed down at its underbelly with her sword. All of its legs spasmed and then went still as its life was ended by the sudden strike.

Jay was dealing with his own tick while M'redith was fighting her battle and Jay wasn't doing nearly as well. The ticks were armored with an exoskeleton but the legs and mouth-parts were somewhat easier to damage. Jay's skill with his staff meant that it took him quite a lot of hits to do any damage, but he did manage to damage the tick he was fighting.

M'redith jogged over to where Jay was fighting and kicked the tick on to its back from the side. Its legs scrabbled in an attempt to overturn itself but M'redith was waiting with her sword and drove it straight through the helpless monster.

Carly was using her staff with great effect and was doing a bit more damage than Jay had been. Still, she was incapable of actually killing the monsters. The best the staff wielding members of the Glimmerhides could hope to do was to disable the ticks. Only M'redith seemed to have a weapon that could kill the ticks.

The mayor was despondent and was shaking his head as if it was a dream and he was trying to wake up. No one had any spare time to comfort him however as they were all engaged in combat and he was left to wave his hammer about ineffectually while cowering.

Norri was fighting two ticks, and doing quite a bit of damage. Both ticks were stumbling around as if drunk thanks to the brutal and efficient strikes that Norri used constantly. She leapt about the ticks as she delivered her blows until they were both stationary and struggled to move. M'redith made it over to her just as Norri had disabled both of them.

M'redith killed both of them after flipping them over on to their backs. She continued to move about the battlefield, the others would disable the ticks, and M'redith would end them.

As they fought however they could hear a wail from the mayor and Jay turned just in time to see the tree's surface begin to slough away in thin sheets. The shed sheets of protective bark all fell to the ground and formed a pile of wood shavings at its base, all colored a sick off-white color.

As the sheets fell away they left the surface of the tree covered and shining in sweet sap that glowed an off-white color. It glistened in the light and the ticks still alive went berserk as the sap was uncovered by the falling sheets of bark.

Stage 1 End! Ten seconds to next stage!

The mayor didn't get the notification but the others did and they quickly gathered over by Aiden who was still keeping an eye on the mayor.

Jay had a gouge on the side of his head, M'redith had a wound on her hand, and Carly had taken a blow to her ankle. All small injuries which Aiden quickly healed. He had barely enough time before their brief intermission ended.

Stage 2 Start: Drying – The old skin now gone, a fresh layer of skin grows and must have time to dry in order to form a new protective layer.

The group barely had time to arrange themselves before a new wave of ticks appeared. These were a bit smaller than the others and were far more numerous.

Jay marveled at the sheer number of them. If this is what made it past the town then what must the town look like, Jay thought to himself as he began to strike at ticks. He hoped the town was doing alright but had no more time to think on it as the ticks attacked all at once.

These smaller ticks were easier to kill and even those wielding a staff were able to do so.

Jay began to lash out with his staff and poke holes in the backs of ticks the size of volleyballs.

The fight was not a bloodless one and blood and viscera had been sprayed all about the area they fought in as they continued to try to manage the overwhelming number of ticks.

Some inevitably made it past the group, and the mayor discovered that he could be useful after all. He began to use his hammer to shatter the heads of the ticks that managed to start their climb up the tree. He made disgusted faces as he was covered in the spatter of his strikes but continued to defend the tree the best he could.

Some managed to get by the town, the group, and the mayor, and managed to climb up the tree and begin to suckle at the sweet Raintree sap. Those that did so were far too high for the group to strike them with their melee weapons.

“Aiden, Carly, can you hit the ticks high up on the tree?” M'redith called out in between slashes of her sword.

Carly was surrounded by ticks and was trying to clear them out the best she could. She didn't have any spare time to dedicate to anything else at the moment.

Aiden, however, did. He turned away from the ticks and aimed high at the ticks on the tree and cast a few Physician's Blasts at them. Each blast sent out three bolts and Aiden lucked out and managed to find targets with all but one bolt.

Tick corpses began to rain out of the sky as Aiden worked on clearing off the tree while the rest of the group fought off the wave of ticks.

The ground was becoming slick with foul body fluids from the defeated ticks but the bodies themselves disappeared in to motes of light thankfully or it would have become tough to move about due to the massive number of them.

The mayor was now saying “I hate this I hate this I hate this,” over and over again but did not slow his pace of killing ticks with his hammer, still held in a two handed grip.

As they fought on the sap covered tree began to undergo a change. It was gradual at first, but began to accelerate once half of the tree had dried. The dried portions of the tree were easy to make out as they glowed a vibrant white light that was neither warm nor cool but instead right in the middle of the white color spectrum.

The tree gleamed. Except for where it was covered in ticks.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Aiden continued to blast away at the ticks overhead as the wave of bodies around them thinned out and soon the only ticks of note were high up, in the tree. Aiden fired off one more blast and two of the bolts struck the remaining ticks which fell out of the tree, dead.

Stage 2 End! Ten seconds to next stage!

“Goddess, can't we get a longer break?! I'm getting low on mana!” Aiden called out.

M'redith swore under her breath. “Stop casting! Save the rest for heals! Carly, focus on the ones in the tree!”

Carly, no longer in combat, now had plenty of time to send a few stars shooting towards the ticks. A few uses of her Class Ability later and the tree was clear of ticks and gleamed a scintillating white.

The group didn't have time to regenerate health or mana and barely had enough time to catch their breath before another notification appeared.

“Are we done?!” the mayor asked with a terrified look.

Stage 3 Start: Activation – The stage is set and all that remains is for the magic to flow! Continue to protect the Raintree, until it can do so itself.

“I don't think so. Almost?” Jay said hopefully as the mayor's face fell in disappointment.

Ticks began to filter in, some volleyball sized, some larger and tougher. It was a slow trickle at first, and the group easily handled the smaller ones. The larger ones they would disable and flip on its back for M'redith to kill as she wandered the battlefield back and forth in between fights.

The tree's surface had completely hardened by then and formed a new and smooth layer of bark that glowed impossibly white. High above them overhead the tree's branches began to form new green buds.

“It's – it's working!!!” the mayor exclaimed incredulously.

The wave of enemies intensified and the group began to become overrun.

Some ticks managed to get past everyone and climb the tree but Jay noticed that they were unable to chew through the bark. The ticks milled about restlessly on the surface of the tree in search of a gap in the tree's armor.

“Carly! Focus on the ones in the tree!” M'redith called out and Carly nodded and turned to send a few deadly yellow stars falling towards ticks high above her.

Again ticks began to fall out of the sky, dead from Carly's attacks.

One hit M'redith right in the head on the way down and she reflexively said “Ow!” loudly.

Norri saw it happen and giggled. She continued to giggle as she fought on against numerous ticks at the same time.

Aiden shook his head with a smirk on his face as he used his staff to fight off the ticks the best he could. He had to save what little mana he had left for heals just in case someone got hurt during the fight.

The battlefield was by that time a filthy gooey mess and the group had to be careful of their footing so that they didn't slip and fall.

They hadn't even cleared out the massive wave of ticks when they heard screams and a loud crash. There was something off in the distance, and it was big. A large mass began to move from the town and towards the tree.

Although they couldn't make out much, they could certainly make out the elephant sized tick that was moving slowly towards the group.

“Crap,” M'redith said in worry. “How in Goddess' name are we supposed to kill that thing! We're having a tough enough time with the big ticks already!”

The group had a little time before the giant tick arrived, but it didn't feel like it as the gargantuan tick drew inexorably closer to the tree.

The rest of the group was still struggling with the wave of ticks as the huge shape drew close enough for the group to make contact with it.

“Hit it with everything you've got!” M'redith yelled as the giant tick took another step forwards.

M'redith used her sword to hack away at one of the tick's legs as Carly sent three bright yellow stars hurtling through the air towards the creature's mouth-parts.

Aiden triggered his Physician's Blasts back to back and covered the creature's 'face' with acidic green slime.

Norri used her Control Creature ability on the tick and froze up its left legs, or at least two of them anyway.

The massive creature lurched to the left as its legs gave out on that side. The front of it was a mess of wounds from the magical attacks and it made a gurgling screeching noise that hurt everyone's ears before it quieted once again.

The tick was still alive however and managed to use its remaining legs to pull itself forward. It couldn't stand, but it could crawl apparently – or drag, as was the case.

The group had let too many ticks get past them by that point and the tree was becoming thick with them as they swarmed over its surface in search of a weak spot.

The group focused on the single massive tick and tried to damage it but was quickly running out of options.

“I'm out!” Aiden yelled as he stepped away from the massive tick and went back to killing smaller ones.

“Me too!” Carly said as she did the same. They were both now out of mana and would not be able to cast any further Class Abilities until they had a break and time to regain some.

“Goddess help us,” M'redith cursed under her breath as she continued to strike, ineffectually, at the monster's front legs.

“I've got an idea!” Jay said as he yelled, “Close your eyes!”

Jay reached in to a small pouch on his belt that contained fine black sand. He took out a pinch and threw it – directly at the creature's face.

The sand exploded in to a blinding white flash and the tick shrieked and shied back and away from the light. Now blind, the tick flailed about in an attempt to figure out where the tree was.

The group basically left the massive tick to Jay and M'redith as they focused on the smaller ones still trying to climb the tree.

Jay swore under his breath. “Goddess,” he said as he took a quick look around him. They had failed. The tree was covered in ticks, more ticks were still appearing, the town was certainly overrun, and they were up against a giant tick that most of them couldn't even damage. Oh ya, and most of them were out of mana too, Jay thought with a frown.

The tick had regained its vision and reoriented itself so that it faced the tree and began to drag itself once again slowly towards it.

“Again?” M'redith asked with a look towards Jay.

Jay nodded and took another pinch of sand out and threw it at the monster. Again it struck the monster in the face and it screamed. This time it did not shy away however but continued its inexorable journey forwards.

“What now!” Norri yelled as she battled a slew of ticks at once.

“I'm open to ideas!” M'redith shouted back over the commotion of combat as she hacked away at the giant tick while doing very little damage.

“This was a horrible idea! I hate the Guild! I hate you all!” the mayor yelled as he killed ticks with his hammer, one at a time.

“That's the spirit!” Aiden called back and Norri giggled in spite of their situation.

“Again!” M'redith yelled at Jay who had just killed a tick that had tried to climb up his leg.

Jay reached in to his pouch but found only one pinch of sand left in it.

“Last one!” Jay said and as he did so saw a red outline appear on the ground between the giant tick and the tree. Without thinking Jay threw the sand at the monster.

The sand struck the monster's face and exploded in a white brilliance just as the giant tick used its own special ability.

The red line on the ground disappeared as a spray of thick black liquid sprayed out from the monster's mouth.

Thankfully, the sand from Jay's Starburst Pouch had ruined the creature's aim, and the black spray of liquid shot off in to the undergrowth to the side of the tree.

Everything the black liquid touched rotted and steamed as if boiled. The vegetation around it died, right before their eyes.

“We have to stop this thing!” M'redith yelled as the entire group witnessed the monster's special ability go off. “Before it hits the tree!”

“I agree!” Jay yelled back, “HOW?!”

The mayor was by then just cursing almost incomprehensibly as he continued to kill ticks.

The massive monster stretched out one long leg and dug it in to the ground, then used it to drag its massive body the rest of the distance to the tree. The mayor tried to stand in its way and Aiden was forced to drag him out of the way so that he wasn't killed outright by the tick.

Now nestled right against the base of the tree the giant tick flexed its mouth-parts and waited.

“What is it doing?” the mayor said worriedly. Jay thought that the mayor might even be crying, it was tough to tell through all the filth from the fight.

“Waiting,” Jay said. “For its special ability to recharge. Once it does – it'll attack,” Jay explained.

The wave of ticks had stopped and soon the only ones that remained were high up on the tree, clustered in thick disgusting bunches of bulbous bodies.

The group gathered around the tree with the mayor. They were out of options.

Stage 3 End! Activity Complete!

The notification caught the group by surprise and was accompanied by a sudden red glare from the tree's bark. A sudden fiery aura appeared around the tree's bark before a whip like crack was heard and the aura spread out in all directions at high speed.

The effects were immediate, and immolated ticks began to drop off of the tree, burnt to a crisp, their exoskeletons shattering as they fell out of the tree and struck the ground.

As the aura passed over the giant tick at the tree's base the monster's carapace blackened and crisped as its body made crackling sounds and steam rose off of it. As the aura moved on no ticks remained alive anywhere near the tree, or on it.

The entire group braced to be burned alive but the aura did not harm them as it passed. It didn't have any effect at all on them, only the ticks – the tree's enemies.

As the aura continued to race outward and cover more of the town's area cheers could be heard from the town's direction and Jay could just picture ticks falling over dead in the middle of fights.

The mayor watched as the aura reached its original position, where it had reached in the past and formed the border between jungle and town, but the aura did not stop but continued to expand.

As the aura expanded trees and plants alike burst in to flames before going out and smoldering before the blackened remnants went up in motes of light.

The aura continued on until it had cleared an addition mile of land in every direction outwards from the tree, and town. What had once been a small town surrounded by fields was now itself surrounded by a huge area of newly cleared land.

Overhead the tree began to grow as the canopy stretched out to lay claim to the new area that had been cleared. Soon the gargantuan tree had spread out and the new buds on its branches bloomed in to giant green leafs. Soon the entire area under the tree was once again shaded by its leaves and branches.

Now at the extreme limit of its range, the aura held firm and formed a glowing red barrier around the tree, the air above it, and everything around it. Not a single tick remained alive within its borders.

The group and the mayor stood silent in awe. The mayor had tears in his eyes and looked on in wonder while the rest of the group just looked filthy and exhausted, and happy to still be alive.

A new notification popped up in Jay's vision and as it did so he could hear another cheer come from off in the town's direction. He looked over at the mayor and saw that his eyes had lost focus just as people's eyes tended to do when reading a notification. Whatever the notification said, it had appeared for everyone around the tree, not just Jay and his group from the sound of it.

Jay called up his notifications and read the new one that had appeared at the top of the list.

A hush falls over the town as the ancient Raintree is reborn anew thanks to the Guild group, Glimmerhides! Event successfully completed! All participants shall be rewarded with a blind box, please check your inventory!

The mayor was still open mouthed as he gazed at the tree and aura in wonder.

M'redith leaned up against Jay even though they were both filthy and smiled up at him. “Thank Goddess that worked.”