Magnus crouched behind a tree, hidden in some bushes, pockets stuffed with all the poisonous fruits they could hold. That being a grand total of four and even then, he could bring only the smaller pieces of the apple-like fruit. He had to hope they had enough poison in them to damage him at least a little. Hostyr mentioned that to get stronger he had to take risks. Fighting while being poisoned sounded risky to him. It was a good way to level up his [Poison Resistance] and [Last Stand] at the same time and hopefully faster than if he was leveling them up separately.
Magnus turned his attention from his plan to the clearing before him. A single sickly-looking tree stood in the middle of it, and a Level 5 Corrupted Ent circled it without stopping, almost as if the tree knew someone was coming. His [Stealth] leveled up to 4, while he sat crouched in the bush, probably due to the patrolling Ent The tree itself didn’t look as sick as the one he felled before. What he didn’t know was if that meant the Ents were stronger or weaker. Magnus didn’t know whether to hope for the first or the latter. He was seeking Power after all and that didn’t come without hardships as Hostyr said. Though hopefully, they wouldn’t be so powerful that they kill Magnus.
In preparation for the battle and started eating the fruit stored in his pockets, feeling the burn as they tumbled down his esophagus, shortly after settling in his stomach. The flavor was starting to grow on him a little. It was slightly sweet and spicy. Much more palatable than the vomit-inducing spider jerky he still kept in his pocket. He tried actually eating the fruits when he was still at the previous tree, but the poison dissipated from his bloodstream before he found this place. Luckily, he made sure to bring spares in case he took too long to look for another tree.
Taking a deep breath, Magnus rushed out when the Ent was walking away from his hiding spot, half the fruits already lying in his stomach and the other half stored behind the tree so as to not destroy them in the ensuing fight. He made sure not to linger too much in the bush, as waiting around would only make his resolve unsteady and make him unnecessarily stressed. Better to throw himself into a fight and not stress later. The adrenaline numbed his nerves just the right way.
The poor Ent turned his way too late, while Magnus’ fist was already going for its core. It tried to block with its arms but only managed to get its sharp twig fingers in the way of the punch. With [Vicious Blow] and a minor boost from [Last Stand] the fingers crumpled like paper and the momentum of the punch carried over halfway into its torso. Magnus tsked and stepped back while looking into its cold, unchanging eyes. He was hoping to kill it in one fell swoop and proceed to start the work on the tree. His Strength proved insufficient once again. Magnus knew that not killing them in one hit didn’t matter as much as his survival. But his childhood fantasy of lifting buildings and shattering the ground with his punches still spoke to him from somewhere deep in his mind. That would come in time, but first, he had to get there.
Staying on the Ent’s weakened side, as it was covering the hole he made in its torso with its damaged arm, Magnus suddenly got an idea. It was time to test out his Endurance. So, he intentionally stumbled and the Ent instinctively stabbed toward Magnus’ center. Intentionally ignoring his instinct and the subtle hum of [Danger Sense]. It wasn’t screaming though, so that was a good sign. Closing his eyes and clenching his abs, he prepared for the worst. The worst didn’t answer his call however and the claws of the Ent that seemed so horrifyingly sharp penetrated only a few centimeters into his belly.
Smiling, Magnus grabbed the Ent’s arm holding it in place and opening it up to his assault. Its expressionless face looked inexplicably surprised as if doubting whether someone his Level could be so durable. He didn’t leave it surprised for much longer and struck for its core with his free right hand from above. His knife rested on the ground with the leftover fruits as it would only break when faced with foes made of wood.
The Ent couldn’t shift its damaged arm to intercept his attack and he managed to penetrate from above it right into its core. Magnus’ punch was a little bit stronger from the increased boost of [Last Stand], with his new wound and the poison slowly making its way throughout his body. The light from its cold eyes sputtered out and all the fight left its body as it slumped to the ground. The claws still in Magnus’ belly got torn free of it and followed the corpse in its fall.
Magnus dusted off his hands and cheered triumphantly. [Danger Sense] screamed, predictably.
[Danger Sense is now Level 3]
Magnus basking in the glory of his victory forgot the bigger picture with the tree in it. The fight got him turned around and he was now standing with his back to the tree. He managed to lean out of the way of the wooden spear flying toward his head but it managed to graze his cheek and the pesky thorns slowly started sprouting from the cut. Tearing out the thorns before they became a problem, he looked in the direction of the tree and the smile he held turned to a frown. The Mage who sent out the wooden spear stood with its arms raised in front of it aiming at Magnus, another spear slowly taking shape. A Sentinel was slowly tearing itself away from the tree and a now familiar growth was bulging on the bark of the tree. It wasn’t long before another Ent took shape. Both the already formed Mage and Sentinel were Level 7.
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Deciding that the Mage had to go first, Magnus rushed it before the Sentinel shook itself awake from its birth. He could take on two Ents, but three, doubtful. In the best-case scenario, it would be another weak Corrupted Ent and not another Mage. The Mages were annoying. If there were more of them the Sentinel could lock him down and the thorns would slowly overwhelm him. That’s why the Mage had to go. If it was another Sentinel at least he could escape. That would prove difficult with two long-ranged Mages after him.
“It would not come to that though,” Magnus thought as he finally reached the Mage and swung for its core while ducking to evade the forming spear. Wait when did he start calling the balls of mana as core? It felt so natural as if it was common knowledge. Shaking his head, Magnus cleared his mind. The mage started stepping back and unexpectedly turned the forming spear in its hand into a spiked shield that barred the way to the Mage’s core. Magnus however couldn’t stop the momentum of his punch and his attack punched right through the Ent’s shield, getting his arm stuck in the process and letting the Mage step back unharmed. Cursing, he felt as thorns sprung from the shield and started digging into his arm’s flesh. He pulled his stuck arm from the shield with the help of his other one and threw the unexpectedly light shield at the retreating Mage. The shield flew true and stole the Ent’s feet from under it, making it fall backward. Magnus looked at the accelerating Sentinel that was just now starting its charge and judged that there was no time to remove the thorns blending his flesh.
Magnus charged toward the grounded Mage. It didn’t manage to move out of his way and Magnus, imitating the wrestlers he saw on TV, elbow-dropped the poor Ent. The vulnerable Mage couldn’t withstand Magnus’ mass and speed and shattered upon contact. He realized that wasn’t such a good idea when the charging Sentinel did the same thing to his now grounded self. Thankfully, Magnus wasn’t quite as brittle, but even with his Endurance he still had his breath beaten out of him.
An idea came to him and Magnus feigned unconsciousness. Just as expected, Magnus started hearing the creaking sound of the Sentinel’s mouth opening. This time, however, the Ent was sitting on Magnus’ back and not his front, so he waited. When he felt [Danger Sense] the strongest he felt in a while, he spun around and struck the Sentinel’s head with all he had. This was Magnus’ strongest punch yet, and it was evident. The Sentinel’s jaw flew right off and it stumbled down from Magnus into a lying position. Taking advantage, Magnus started pummeling it. It was tough and his hands were bloodied by the end but it was worth it, as he managed to let out some of his anger towards the damn tree people. The Sentinel lay shattered on the ground like a broken vase.
Magnus looked back at the tree and saw the lithe figure of another Mage, this one the same Level as the two before, standing beside it preparing to cast another spear. He, wisely, waited for it to fire, dodged out of the way, and started running. The thorns were starting to hurt quite a bit, but the more damage he had the stronger he was. The Mage didn’t manage to muster a shield before Magnus’ punch broke its wooden neck, rendering it immobile but, curiously, alive. Not caring overmuch about Ent biology Magnus tore out the paralyzed Mage’s core.
Making sure no more enemies were in the area he triumphantly raised it above his head and screamed a victorious scream, while crushing the core in his fist.
[Last Stand is now Level 2]
[You are now Level 6. 2 Stat Points gained.]
A surge of Strength flooded him as [Last Stand] leveled up and he tore out the thorns still digging into his flesh. Tired from the fight he sat down on the ground while watching the tree for any spawning Ents with [Mana Perception].He rested for a few minutes and put both of his Points into Strength, surprising himself. After feeling moderately refreshed, he started the work on the tree.
“An axe would come in handy,” Magnus thought.
After the tree’s dying throes finally stopped Magnus picked up two of the smaller fruits and retrieved his knife and the remaining two fruits.
Magnus repeated this two times, the tree looked sicker than the one he just fought and that was felt in the difficulty of the fight. In the process, getting a Level in [Poison Resistance], two Levels in [Vicious Blow], and a Level in both [Danger Sense] and [Last Stand]. He was strolling around the forest while looking for another tree to cut down when he suddenly came upon a curious sight. Another clearing. But this time the tree towered over the forest around it. It was the most beautiful tree he had ever seen, the red fruits glistened on its high branches. That would not be especially unusual, but the Ents were. There were at least two groups of them and they were fighting. One side was clearly protecting the tree, while the other was trying desperately to get to it. All in all, there must have been at least 12 Ents in one place, more than he had ever seen. The defending side was losing as there were only 5 defending the tree. There were more corpses on the attacker's side though. That was explained by the higher Levels of the defenders as some of them reached Level 9 while the defenders had only two Level 8 Ents.
When Magnus was deciding what to do, something unexpected happened.
A voice. Not a cold voice of a system, but a beautiful clearly feminine voice spoke pleadingly in his head,” Help us,” it cried out. And Magnus listened.