My new weapon hung loosely in my hand as I trotted forward through the thin forest, eyes scanning between trees and the vegetation for any sudden movement. I wasn’t sure what I was scanning for but Cleo mentioned monsters were everywhere. Alexander referred to them as just plain enemies which I had guessed they were.
The beauty of the forest was stunning as I made my way through it. The air had a coolness to it as it caressed the skin on my face. The wind carried an earthy fragrance mixed with the scent of the vegetation. The slender trunks of trees reached for the sky, creating a natural canopy that filtered the sunlight. Sounds of birds singing and their wings flapping away as they lifted off from the tops of the trees echoed through the forest. It was nearly the end of summer—at least it was before The Great Shuffling. If the seasons had not changed then the color of the leaves would soon change.
“I would love to see this place in Autumn,” I spoke softly.
I had been walking for close to an hour with no remarkable activity. In fact, since completing the second test, I had not seen another person or monster other than Alexander. It didn’t bother me, though. I didn’t mind being alone. It was no different than usual. But where the hell were the enemies?
Asher Loveless: Hey Alex. I’ve been walking for an hour and haven’t seen a thing. I thought this place was supposed to be crawling with enemies.
Alexander Sinclair: It’s Alexander. And the forest is crawling with enemies. You just haven’t spotted any of them yet. But trust me, they are there.
Asher Loveless: I see. And Jesus how do I have to constantly deal with our entire names in this chat? It is quite jarring. Can’t we just do first names or even nicknames?
Alexander Sinclair: Yes, of course. It is part of your chat ability. You may give a nickname to each member of a chat group. Including yourself. Same way as always, just focus on the name and then the name you want to give it and it’ll change. You can do our first names and that should suffice.
Asher: Cool, I think I got it. Thanks!
Alex: You’re welcome!
“I haven’t spotted them yet?” I said. “Haven’t spotted what? Trees? Plants? That’s all that is here. Oh, and birds.”
As the last of those words left my mouth, a sudden shift of movement came from some thick foliage off to my left. The sound of branches snapping rang out along with the noise of something brushing passed the thick vegetation. It wasn’t a loud sound—more like a sound of an animal running away from something. Or running to something.
Raising my bow, breathing heavily, I aimed it in the direction the sound came from. An arrow popped into place, ready to impale whatever decided to make itself known.
As the moments passed, nothing decided to jump out. My jaw clenched as the frustration of nothing happening made its way out of me by letting the notched arrow fly toward the supposed monster. In quick succession, the bow continued to fling arrows into the thick foliage, all landing with hard thunks. I shouted out, “Take that you stupid trees.”
After a few more moments, my breathing slowed to a more calming pace as I began to continue my trek through the forest.
A few dozen feet passed as a thunderous roar rang out from behind. The ground began to rumble. Loud snaps and crashes of branches and trees uprooting and falling to the ground came from behind in the thick foliage where the initial movement had begun. The rumble had increased as another booming roar echoed.
Adrenaline was coursing its way through my body. Every instinct in my body was telling me to run. To run and never stop. But curiosity was a flaw I possessed. And perhaps one day it would be a fatal flaw. But I had remained. The roar blasted my ears, my hands rising up to shield them from the impact of the noise. I readied my bow once more as the creature crashed into view.
A massive form of bark towered above, adorned with gnarled branches and a crown of vibrant green leaves stood before me on its two large thick trunks. Two more thick trunks hung by its sides as its arms. A few arrows stuck out from its central trunk. It even appeared to have a face.
My widened eyes stared in disbelief as I choked out, “It’s… a… tree? A walking tree.”
The massive tree barreled towards me, taking long lunging steps. Trembling from the adrenaline, I notched a few arrows and let them fly toward the beast. They all hit their mark. But it did not slow down the walking tree. “Oh, shit.”
With the tree closing the gap between us, I retreated further into the forest to gain some breathing room. As I ran, I forced a message to Alex.
Asher: Giant walking tree attacking and my arrows don’t do anything. Help!
I continued to sprint away while waiting in anticipation of a message from Alex. “C’mon, Alex!”
Alex: That is a Treant. The physical arrows of your chargebow will cause negligible damage. Use your elemental arrow in order to damage it. The fire should do the trick.
The moment the message finished cascading into my mind, I spun around with a notched arrow and aimed it at the treant. Fire Arrow. The green glow of the original arrow transformed into a flickering red and orange hue. Warmth radiated from the arrow as I pressed the side of my cheek to the hand gripping the bowstring. The bowstring slid from my fingers as the arrow streaked forward through the air like a comet.
Alex: Also, did you check what rank it was before engaging? If it is a Jade or higher then don’t attempt it.
With a loud thunk, a small flame flickered at the point of impact of the treant’s bark. Quickly, the flame began to spread and engulf a small patch of the bark, becoming roaring flames. The thick, wooded hands of the treant trashed at the burning area in an attempt to extinguish the flames. The smell of burning wood began to spread as smoke rose to the sky.
In astonishment, I stood frozen intrigued by how human the treant’s reaction to the flames was. The astonishment faded as the treant finished smothering the flames, leaving a large section of bark scorched and charcoaled.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The treant, now focused on me again, taking long strides with its trunks, barreled toward me. The treant was fast as I began to scramble to attempt another retreat. Within moments, the treant had closed the gap I had gained.
From the treant came a leaning, sweeping arm to my right as it swung by missing me by a half foot at the very least. The treant’s attempt to splatter me on the forest floor caused it to lose balance and tumble forward. The treant hit the ground with a loud boom. It began the slow process of picking itself back up.
I took advantage of the situation by gaining some more breathing room before turning back around and sending another fire arrow. The arrow struck the treant at the top of its crown of leaves, engulfing them in a roaring flame. Instead of standing and gawking, another fire arrow found its way into the treant’s wooded body. In quick, succession fire arrows left my bow finding their mark every time.
The forest crackled with intense heat as the roaring flames licked at the mighty form of the colossal treant. Thrashing and flailing its limbs on the forest floor caused the ground to rumble beneath my feet as roaring cries erupted from the burning giant.
After a few minutes, the treant’s wild movements died down, coming to a stop. The flames began to die down as the entirety of the treant’s body was blackened and scorched as it fell apart into charcoal.
A surge of euphoria coursed through my veins as if every nerve ending was aflame with exhilaration. Jesus Christ, did it feel good. I felt as if I could conquer anything in my path. I felt invincible.
A surge of text accompanied the euphoria regarding an achievement that I ended up dismissing in order to bask in the excitement for a bit longer. After a short time, the sensation faded away. I wrote to Alex to give him an update and a question.
Asher: I killed it with the fire arrow. Thanks for that. Also, how the hell do I check its rank?
Alex: You have to use your head. Focus on it. The information will be there. I presume since you killed it that it was just an Opal or else I wouldn’t have received your message.
Alex: Also, you may loot it. That should be part of your Inventory ability. Same way as always except the creature needs to be dead.
I walked over to the burned husk of the once-giant tree and stood beside its weathered face.
[Treant]
Opal
A living embodiment of ancient wisdom and raw power, the treant, is a massive form of a tree that can be as old as time itself. The type of tree they appear as varies. They possess immense strength and use it to protect the woodlands that surround them. They are capable of blending with the other trees. In fact, they blend in so well that you probably walked passed dozens of them without even realizing it. They only show themselves when they deem their woodlands in danger. And if they do you better watch out.
That explained why nothing had happened for ages. I must’ve walked passed—who knows how many—treants on my hike. I frowned. The thought of killing a wise old creature, like the withered one that lay in front of me, that was trying to protect its land crossed my mind. This feeling was worse than when I threw the choking zombie-like man off the ledge of a building. I knew that this creature wasn’t that old since the world was transformed less than a day ago but couldn’t help the feeling.
A sigh left my lips. Why had it felt so good to kill it though? That rush of euphoria was addicting. I wanted more of it.
Asher: It was an Opal. Quick question. When I killed the treant I felt this exhilarating rush through me. What the hell was that about?
As I waited for Alex’s response, I attempted to loot the creature. Loot, I commanded, starting at its body.
[Ancient Bark]x4 obtained.
[Verdant Leaf]x12 obtained.
Examining the loot showed that the bark and leaves were crafting materials. The bark could be used for shields and arrows while the leaves possessed a natural affinity for magic which could be utilized in alchemy.
Alex: It’s not uncommon for people with classifications to feel a coursing sensation after defeating an enemy. This indicates that your experience increased. The more experience the greater the sensation. Yours is peculiar though. The people who generally do have a sensation describe it as more of a discomfort. Some experience extreme pain. While most people don’t have any sensation to it at all. Having a positive feeling is not something unheard of but quite rare. If you don’t mind, I would love to talk to you about your past. Maybe we can figure out why you feel this way.
Asher: Thanks for the answer but no way am I doing a therapy session.
An abrupt rumble shook the ground beneath my feet as I finished sending my last message. The familiar sound of branches and roots snapping followed by multiple thunderous roars reverberated throughout the forest.
Heart thumping, I readied my bow with a fire arrow, knowing what was about barrel into my view.
Another treant appeared before me. It had a similar appearance as the first but they were not the same. Then another appeared. And another. Three treants in total rushed in.
A quick scan showed they were all Opal rank. I fired my arrow into the one standing closest. The arrow pierced its bark and began to burn. One after another, a steady stream of flaming arrows bombarded the treants. The chargebow made it easy to keep up the pace of arrows flying at them. Not having to reach for an arrow from a quiver and notch it yourself was a huge boon.
As they began to burn, they thrashed against one another attempting to smother the flames with each other’s bodies. Deathly cries pierced the silence of the forest as I stood there in awe once again. Good thing I had access to fire or else I would have never been able to fight these giants.
While I gawked, one of the treants gripped the leg of another that had fallen and began to twist and yank it. With a giant crack piercing the air, the treant heaved the flaming trunk upward. It landed a dozen or so feet in front of me as it continued to roll at a high speed toward me.
The flaming log came too fast as I attempted to dive out of the way. The trunk slammed into the lower half of my body, sending me spinning out of the way as my bow slipped from my hand. Landing hard on the forest ground left me in a daze. The burning log continued to race further into the forest as it slowed to a halt.
The treant, which had heaved the leg of another, was no longer burning. It was scorched to hell, most of its bark was gone around the midsection, and it had a gaping hole that was exposed from where the bark had been.
My legs were screaming as the pain radiated through them. I attempted to stand to find my bow but collapsed as shooting pain radiated through my upper leg bone. Crying out in pain, I searched frantically for my bow.
The bow had landed a few yards away. I began to crawl toward it as the ground began to rumble. The treant was moving my way but now it was missing an arm.
As I reached my bow, a crash came from where I had originally landed. Another thick tree trunk had fallen from the sky, missing my body by mere feet as it bounced further into the woods.
Screaming in pain, I forced myself to a seated position as the treant continued its relentless retaliation. Readying my bow as fast as I could in the awkward position, thankful that the bow was of the short variety, I notched another fire arrow and fired for the gaping hole in the treant.
The arrow struck true. Right in the wound. The treant went up in flames, burning from the inside out. Its barreling pace came to a halt as it fell to the forest floor. Its face grimaced in pain as flames flickered from its green eyes.
“Jesus Christ,” I screamed out in relief.
The air hung heavy with the scent of the scorched wood as the treants burned to a crisp. With a gentle touch, I felt the top of my leg. The skin was scorching and the soft touch of my fingers dragging against it sent a radiating pain outward. The leg had broken from the collision with the flaming tree trunk of a leg. Sighing, I lay back and rested my head on the vegetation below the trees.
The moment I had been waiting for arrived as treants' last remaining life burned away. A euphoric sensation rushed through my body once more. Followed by another and another.
A smile grew on my face. The euphoria took the pain away as it flowed through me.
Level Up! You have reached Opal 1.
You have 4 unassigned attributes.
“I think I am going to love this.”