Ropes of green enveloped the goateed borc in a matter of seconds. His movements restrained and his mobility restricted, the large man was at a loss for his current predicament.
It was as if the forest itself had come to life. In the most dire of moments, when those trying to protect the forest and its adjacent town were in life-threatening danger, there was life. An ethereal presence, an embodiment of Milkwood Forest, that was coming to the aid of the strange, metal man and his companions. Strokes and whispers of green flooded the air as nature overtook those of the campsite. Riva was at a loss for words just as much as the immobilized borc was. She thought she had seen the sight in front of her before, but she quickly started to doubt herself. This majestic display was most certainly unique. Leone, still away, was missing out on such a sight, which made Riva think of how annoyed he would be to know he missed it. Azim did not have the best view, for the goateed borc was obscuring most of the spectacle. The borc himself could not see much either, however he was the one feeling all of it.
Just before the red-toned man had plunged his giant, deformed sword all the way through the robot’s chest and into the tree he was pinned against, something had grabbed ahold of him. In fact, dozens of somethings. The borc watched in disbelief as strands of green about an inch in diameter wrapped around his arms up to his hands, across his chest and stomach, and even across his bearded face. 2, 6, 11, dozens of thick, green ropes constricted the large man’s limbs, restraining him from pushing the weapon any farther forward. Not only that, but he couldn’t move an inch in any capacity. The man was just stuck, immobilized, with ropes and ropes of plant-like material holding him in place.
Then he started to feel himself get dragged back. The green ropes forcefully loosened his hands to let go of his sword as he was pulled back, scraping along the dirt floor. He saw several more vine-like strands crawl along the campgrounds past him, reading toward the pinned android. They stretched up to where the sword lay stuck, a few wrapping around the grip of the hilt and the rest pressing against the metal man’s torso. The maroon red man watched in disbelief as the vines pulled the blade out of the robot’s armored chest, revealing a wide gash that stretched across the width of his steel torso.
As if the humiliation couldn’t get any worse, the boss then felt himself lose touch with the ground as he was lifted up into the air, about 4 meters high. In addition to himself was this 6-foot, devilish sword, held up by several of the strands of the mysterious, green entangler as well.
Unable to resist, the borc’s arms were forcibly stretched out wide, so that he appeared prepped for a crucifixion. His legs were bound beneath him, close together, and his arms spread out like he was expecting a hug. Whatever these vine-like things were, the large, goateed man was furious at the idea they were somehow stormer than he was.
Barking in desperate anger, the borc struggled and shifted, hoping to break free from his nature-made restraints. His efforts were met with little success. With the sword held up in front of him, the maroon-toned man panicked when he noticed the blade rise higher than his position… before rotating and pointing down toward him. More irate and fearful barks ensued.
From the bushes, Riva watched in amazement. She did not know why the impressive sight before her was unfolding the way it was. All she knew was how thankful she was. Azim, pulling himself together and attempting to recalibrate his internal processors, leaned back against the tree he had just been released from. Looking down, the android observed the foot-long gash in his steely chest, paying close attention to every individual dip and ridge that had been torn up on either end of the wound.
It was a nasty attack, yet luckily had not been enough to affect him the same way Leone’s attack had back in Welstom. This was partly due to the fact that it was an exterior attack rather than one that happened from the inside. However, to Azim’s credit, it was also partly due to the work he had done on himself with the help of Reavius, leaving his armor slightly tougher. If Azim had to give himself a stat, he asserted that the toughness of his exterior had gone up by +2 stat points. He made a note in his back brain to take an analysis of his “stats” later, so that he could potentially monitor his progression while in Irvana.
Azim looked up to behold the spectacular sight taking place in front of him. He saw the borc with the goatee that had been so rough with him, and, thanks to some kind of magic pressure, had been shockingly more powerful than him or any of the other borcs. However, rather than demonstrating a show of dominance, the robot saw the maroon-skinned man now being held up in the air, helpless, by an array of several dozen vine-like extremities. Not only that, but floating above the goateed boss, thanks to even more ropes of green, was the large man’s own sword aimed at him.
Looming over the tall, maroon man in perfect irony, the downward-pointed blade descended upon the borc. Before the sword could impale all the way through him, the boss cast his transfiguration spell one more time. Moments before making contact with his sternum, the giant blade shrunk back down into its knife-sized form. While he was able to minimize the threat of the weapon, the now-6-inch blade still made its way toward the borc, piercing his chest and digging into his thick skin. The dark red man winced in pain, but took note of the fact that it was better than being stabbed with the knife’s variant look.
Still alive, restrained and with a knife in his chest, the borc felt the vines wrapped around him constrict even tighter. Then, without warning, the plant-based restraints flipped him over so that he was parallel to the ground below. From this position, he could see everything. The large man saw the metal-encased stranger that had been so rude to interrupt his plans, which he had been so close to killing, lying against the tree catching his breath. He saw the bushes where the audacious woman was hiding, though he could not actually see her. And finally, he saw what half him in its grasp, his limbs roped in statis by two dozen viridian vines.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The borc let out a few short barks before shouting, “You little—“
However, the borc was unable to finish his raging outburst, as he was interrupted by the final act of this magnificent display. The thing responsible for all of the vines twitches, running a shiver through all of the dark green ropes holding the large man in place. A moment later, still facing the ground below, the borc began to plummet downward, the vines pulling him back down to the campgrounds.
In a matter of seconds, dirt and rock met the goateed boss’s face and chest with a “thud”. The vines that had picked him up slammed him back into the ground with intensity, so much so that the knife implying the red-toned man, which only left the hilt showing, was forced all the way up through the borc’s sternum, trapping it inside his chest.
“Oh my—“ Riva muttered, stopping herself short.
“Oh my,” echoed Azim.
Slowly, the many vines encasing the goateed borc unraveled and let go of the large, red man. The dark green ropes floated up in the air, receding back to their origin. Azim and Riva both watched in awe as the various vines made their way back to what sent them after the angry borc, the flowered tail of a cat-like creature covered in a compact, green texture and an iron cuff around its neck like a collar. The same creature to which Azim had given up his arm.
The waving vines slowly raced back into one another like a tree dealing and reeling back its branches, until all that remained was the cat-like creature’s one tail. Azim stared at the green-covered cat in awe. Something else stood out as well. In the animal’s mouth, to Azim’s surprise, was his arm.
Azim slowly walked toward the animal, being careful not to startle it. From behind the bushes, Riva stayed watching in curiosity. Creeping slowly step by step, Azim tried to get closer to the strange cat. The animal turned to the side so it was perpendicular to the robot, but stayed looking at him. It didn’t move beyond that. Approaching the creature with only a foot’s distance between them, Azim slowly crouched down to once again be at eye level with the animal. To the android’s satisfaction, the green cat did not move. The android gently reached out for his arm with the one he still had, hoping to get it from the creature’s mouth, but the cat moved its head away, not wanting to give the metal arm up. The robot was puzzled.
Despite the cat-like creature’s unwillingness to let Azim’s arm go, it still need not seem any bit wary of the robot’s presence. If anything, the animal was almost drawn to Azim, though he did not understand why. It walked up to the crouching android and rubbed his side, walking around him, purring, until it made its way entirely back around. The metal man lifted his one good arm and attempted to pet the dark green cat along the top of its head. To the robot’s delight and Riva’s surprise, the cat nudged into the metal man’s hand as he petted it. After a couple seconds, Azim brought his hand down to the plant cat’s neck and gently scratched it, which made the creature purr.
Riva slowly stood up and started to walk over to the two new friends. “Wow, hun’, I think that kitty really likes you,” she told the robot.
“This… is a cat?” asked the android. “While I cannot remember precisely why, something in my back brain tells me that this is not a cat I am familiar with. I think… they are smaller. And not green.”
The woman giggled. “Well, there are all sorts of feline species here, dear. Though none of them are as… “normal” as you’re probably used to, I suppose, given there is no magic where you come from. But yeah, this big guy is what’s known as a Mosstail, which you probably could’ve figured from its moss-covered body. I will say, though, I’ve never known one to grow vines like that. As far as I can recall, the only magical properties they have come from the flowers on their nose and tail. And what pretty flowers you have, don’t you?”
Riva nuzzled the medium-sized cat on the forehead, admiring the beautiful purple flower on its face. It allowed the woman to do so, but once she was done it nudged back into the robot. “Wow, he really likes you!” noted Riva. “I wonder why… Oh! Azim, sweetie… why does he have your arm?”
“This was the creature I saw earlier in the forest, to whom I gave my arm to. It appeared nervous of my metal body, so I lent it my arm as a peace offering. I believe it has something to do with the iron collar around its neck.”
“Ah, I see, and you’re not worried about getting it back?”
“I did make an attempt to receive it, however this… ‘mosstail’, as you called it, appears to have grown attached to it. Despite this, I am not worried, for as I stated earlier, I will not allow myself to feel hindered or in need of pity over the loss of my limb.”
“Well okay, sweetie, whatever you want. So… is that little guy coming with us?”
Before Azim could respond, the borc with the goatee slowly got up, focusing his attention on the mosstail that had made an embarrassment out of him. He charged toward the mosstail, holding his arm out forward as if he was going to strangle the plant-covered cat. Instead, Azim interrupted the attempted assault, chanting, “Scrap Return”, and retracted the borc’s knife from his impaled chest.
The sudden jerk of the blade’s removal spun the large, maroon man to face the android. Somehow still standing, the goateed boss swung an untamed fist at Azim, barking as he did. Having the upper hand now, the robot ducked under the wide swing and stabbed the borc in the gut as he did, leaving the knife in his opponent to free up his hand. Standing back up in a swift motion, Azim took advantage of the opportunity before him. The large goateed man was stunned for a moment at the blow of the knife, but the metal man knew the small blade wouldn’t be enough.
Learning from his previous actions against the borc boss, Azim threw out another strong-armed robotic punch. However, this time, instead of landing the hit in the stomach, he socked the maroon red man clean in the face, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying several meters. As the borc skid along the dirt of the campgrounds, the mosstail beside Aim meowed in contempt.
As if the timing wasn’t perfect enough, Leone emerged from the trees and paused to take in the scene waiting for him. Scanning the area, he saw Riva, perfectly okay, the rest of the enemy borcs, completely not okay, and Azim, armless but okay. “Hey, hey, looks like you guys have been busy. Glad to see you didn’t need my help, though I’m sure you could’ve used it, huh?”
Then, a third, four-legged being standing around the campsite caught the young man’s attention. “Um, what… the hell… is that?”