Chapter 21: Running from an army

When I said I wanted a challenge, I didn’t mean finding the fucking human army.

I run over another hill, the roots in my body already beginning to grow sore. I weave between the trees, hoping to shake them off.

Stay calm, panicking won’t help you. Think, which skills do I have to help me with this? I stare at my menu in panic, realising that I don’t have any skills suited for this. I can only add my free point to agility, but it isn’t that bad yet.

Something whistles behind me and I duck, almost rolling over on the ground. The arrow, shot by the army, hits a tree digging into the bark. The impact is intense enough to make the entire tree shake, leaves falling out of the canopy. How is this fair?

I thought that armies didn’t exist in this world since the strength of an individual can outweigh the collective. Sadly the army that is currently chasing me proves me wrong.

I duck and dodge another arrow and shoot a quick few uses of Identify their way. Most of them seem to be in the same grade as me, with only a few higher grades at the back.

Another arrow shoots through the air and buries itself into the ground to my left. I take a gasping breath and continue on my sprint.

Arrows rain down all around me. I take cover behind a tree and move on in another direction.

Behind me, the army continues on their march all while yelling about mandrakes and skincare products.

The birds in surrounding trees take offence to the commotion that the army makes. They swoop down on them in droves, harrying any soldiers they can get their talons on.

It slows them just enough for me to widen the distance between us.

I move to the right, heading deeper into the forest only to get cut off by a volley of arrows.

Fuck, they’re boxing me in.

More skills activate in the background, and spells of dozens of kinds of elements fly through the air towards me. Fire nips at my heels, ice flies overhead all while the earth around me trembles and tiny walls rise to cut my path off.

I leap over one and take cover behind it while I think about my plan of action. I just need to hold out long enough. Any moment now they’ll disturb a monster that’s stronger than the average bird, or even better the dryads will notice their presence and finish off the army.

The only good thing about this hellish situation is that they seem to want to capture me alive, I think. Most of the attacks were targeted at my limbs and the fire spells aimed at me have largely disappeared.

The army closes in again and I turn towards the right, planning to head into the inner forest and make them disturb some strong monsters that will make short work of them.

I move into a crouch and feel the roots in my legs strain as I take off. There are more screams as I escape from the army. The screams only grow worse as they try to follow my direction and turn.

A shard of ice grazes my leg and cuts away entire roots. A painful numbness spreads from the wound.

I’m close. More birds are constantly rising from the surrounding trees, slowly growing in size the more trees I pass.

As the terrain grows more uneven more monsters join the fray, attacking the humans from all sides.

I spot a group of soldiers separate from the army, meet with some kind of bear that has mushrooms growing on it. Everywhere I look more of the same is happening; monsters that have been rudely woken up by the soldiers join the fray, only attracting more monsters as the din of battle grows.

Up in the trees, monkeys with two tails conjure up rocks in their hand and throw them at the army from the safety of the treetops.

A (G) grade soldier doesn’t seem to like that and slashes at the tree. The wave the blade creates moves through the air and cuts the tree apart.

When it topples all the monsters notice it. Together, they go from angry and annoyed to berserk. Roars grow all around and more monkeys show up, all angry that their homes are being cut down.

But even with that all going on, there are enough soldiers to fight back the tide. With the constant barrage of arrows and spells, they are beginning to gain on me, building up speed as they use their skills and boost their abilities far beyond what an ordinary (G) grade should have.

I step to the side and the arrow pierces my arm instead of my back.

Next to me, a tree gets hit with an ice bolt and the bird that has been nesting in it begins to rage and shoot blasts of water at the army.

I slip away and head further into the forest. This is how I can escape. If I just keep heading in deeper, they’ll be worn down eventually. Heading back home might be an issue, but that’s for future me.

Over the next few minutes, the human army is forced to spread out more thanks to the rough terrain and the monsters that keep raging all around. The bows are thankfully put away and exchanged for other weapons.

My ears ring when the voice of the general booms through the forest. “Men! Don’t let it get away! That monster is worth ten times its weight in gold!” he bellows.

Honestly, is he stupid? Being that loud in these parts of the forest is just plain stupid.

Right on time, a large red falcon swoops down from the sky, ready to shut up the general once and for all. The general in turn unsheathes his sword lazily. His horse whines at the bird in contempt. Then with a single slash, one of the falcon’s wings is cut off.

The monster falls to the ground with a sad shriek. A moment later it’s trampled by the soldiers that trail behind.

I turn my attention to my menu and my resources while I dodge a snake made out of water from the side.

SP: 14/36

I curse at myself. I need to shake them off, and fast.

I run past a patch of bamboo. When a man that’s in the lead moves past it, the plant chimes like a ticking bomb. It shivers and explodes, shooting out spears of bamboo impaling several soldiers.

My feet eat up the ground below me as I continue on, ignoring my Stamina which is steadily ticking down.

After what feels like a good dozen minutes a horn blares in the distance.

Finally, about goddamn time for dryads to show up.

Roots of trees wake from their slumber and trap any human that runs past. A few of the stronger ones manage to jump out of the way and continue the chase.

I look at the ginseng that I still hold in my hand. I really, really want to keep it but is it worth more than my life? I can’t use it for whatever monsters use things like these. My first treasure in this world and I have to leave it behind.

I turn around, aim at the face of the closest human, and throw it towards her with all my strength. She gets caught off guard by it and the ginseng hits her in the face with a smack. She topples over and I continue running while I bark out a painful laugh, only made worse by my dry throat.

More plants explode but the few soldiers that chase me, are agile enough to move out of the way of the blasts. They jump over roots that target them and catch up to me all while I have a free, unobstructed path since the trees somehow know that I belong to the forest.

Two of the soldiers retreat as the army far in the distance clashes with the dryads.

I stumble up a small incline and turn left, hiding behind a tree that stands alone on the hill. I blend in with the bark and wait for my Stamina to regenerate.

I hear the voices of a few soldiers that move past the tree which I’m hiding behind. “Don’t let those dryads distract us from our goal. Kill all those living weeds and fetch the mandrake!”

Not only does that human sound batshit crazy, but he also sounds like a fanatic. Calling dryads ‘living weeds’ is a bit much.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

*Hide (B) lvl 1/20 -> Hide (B) lvl 2/20.

Someone seems to agree as screams come from the direction they went in. I tune the army far in the distance out and focus on my surroundings. Good thing too because a snake curled up around the branches above me, looks down at me curiously.

I don’t wait for it to come to a conclusion as I resume running, searching for another place to hide.

My eyes fall upon a tall, thin tree, that matches perfectly with the shade of my bark. I blend in with it and listen to the clatter of armour as humans run past. Swords clash in the distance and there is more yelling. It sounds like the dryads are really going for it. Soon enough, all the humans will be pushed out of the forest and I’ll be safe again, although I need to be far more careful now that I’ve been seen.

A hissing fills my ears. I look up and don’t find any snakes laying in ambush. The hissing continues and I make the smallest motions as I look around for it, not wanting to be spotted.

It reaches a crescendo and a blade pierces the tree. The incandescent sword radiates off heat as it chars and burns the wood around it.

I let out a startled yelp.

“Damn. I thought I had it,” a human says.

The blade retreats into the tree, ready for a second attack.

I jump away just in time as the blade pushes through the tree again like a hot knife through butter.

I hear a sigh from behind the tree and a tall woman steps out. Blonde hair flows out below her helmet in locks. She has standard armour which covers most of her form. In her hand she holds a large, thick sword, glowing with heat. As I look at her in fear, the sword cools off and turns back to the ordinary grey of metal.

“Hello mandrake,” she says almost affectionately. “They call me Iveihla Firesword,” she gestures to her weapon, “And I have come to take you to the nearest alchemist. So, please don’t resist.”

Her cold eye bore into mine.

[Human: Swordswoman] Lvl 3/20 (G)

Fuck. There’s no way I can win this. I somehow need to find a chance to run away from her.

I try to stretch the moment as long as I can, recovering the tiniest scraps of resources.

I stretch out my claws, already pushing stamina into them with my skills.

The human shakes her head with disdain, “How futile.” Her blade heats up again, going from grey to vibrant orange in seconds.

It shoots towards me and I twist out of the way.

I step forwards and let my claws loose over her amour, scraping grooves in the metal. I shiver at the odd sensation and pull back before she can strike again.

Surprise is written on her face as she traces the grooves I left with her fingers. Next time I need to go for the joint of the armour to draw blood and hurt her.

She pulls her weapon back and drives her foot into my stomach. Pain courses through me as I’m sent rolling down the hill in a mess of flailing limbs. The world flashes around me in dizzying blends of green and blue. The trees are upside down, turning and twirling as I feel bile rise in my throat.

I come to a stop at the base of the hill, the world still twisting around me. With my limbs shaking, I push myself off the ground.

I turn back to her and see that the human is calmly walking down the hill towards me, her sword burning with more fervour than before. Her face is twisted in an angry scowl, “Since when do mandrakes fight back?” she asks rhetorically, “You monsters are supposed to run away when seen. Unless…”

Her pace speeds up and she blurs down the hill. Trying to catch her off-guard, I push most of my remaining stamina into Claw Slash. I lurch forwards, ducking below the blade and step closer to her, ready to end it all in a single blow.

The human’s face sours more. Something changes in her. A skill activates and her sword vanishes.

The next thing I know is the searing of roots and the smell of burnt wood. Something falls to the ground.

The arm that I had stretched out to cut through her armour lays limply on the ground, the fingers still stretched out, ready to cut flesh to the bone.

My thoughts grow light and the air tastes disgusting as I breathe in the burning smoke that lazily drifts from my stump. Only as I keep staring at where my arm used to be. I feel it hit me like the car that brought me to this world.

I scream and scream, my throat burning and growing raw as air escapes my lungs trying to release as much sound as I can. Tears well up in my eyes and I shiver, the pain rocketing through my body in waves. I try to move the fingers that I don’t have, the nerves screaming that something is wrong.

In front of me, Iveihla winces at the sound. She drops her sword and claps her hands over her ears. Her knees shake and she falls to the ground, blood leaking out of her ears between her fingers.

Frosty, anger builds up in me. I move without realising it.

My remaining hand shoots out forwards and my claw, infused with every last drop of Stamina, cuts into her face scraping flesh off bone.

It’s her time to wail and only then do I get pulled out of my trance and realise what I’ve done.

I feel her warm, sticky blood on my claws. More rolls out of the scrapes on her face.

She hisses in pain, suppressing painful sobs that force themselves past her lips. She reaches up to her face, her hand coming back slick with blood.

Three lacerations mar her, going from her chin to just above her eyebrows. Her lips are cut in two and there isn’t much skin on the bridge of her nose.

Blood rolls out of the wounds, blinding her partially.

“Y-you,” she stutters as she pushes down the pain, “Fuck! Fuck you all. Fuck bringing you alive!” she yells as her hand reaches for the sword.

I attempt to kick it away before she can get her hands on it, knowing that if she does, it’ll be my end. With her longer reach, she pushes me away and dives for the sword.

She stands up, towering over me. Her chest rises and falls with each deep breath as she stares down at me, hatred flaring in her eyes. The wounds on her face continue to bleed and it drips down from her chin onto the golden armour.

She raises her sword above her head as it heats up. Instead of becoming the searing orange it used to be, it continues to grow hotter. The air shimmers around it as the blade turns an incandescent white.

I let out a painful wheeze as my body still rockets with pain from my missing arm. Together with the fatigue, the pain in my legs and all the rest, it is enough to make me topple over.

I hit the ground painfully, barely able to move as I watch the blade heat up further, the metal beginning to grow hot enough for it to roll down the blade and drip onto the ground.

The air around her grows hot with her wrath.

She raises it further into the sky as if she is delivering divine retribution.

Having had enough of looking at my incoming death, I turn around and crawl over the ground with my remaining hand.

“YOU WILL DIE!” she screams, blood flying everywhere as she lisps.

Roots snake out of the ground, trying to wrap around the woman who is literally burning with rage.

She casually swings her sword around her, not taking her eyes off me. Around her, everything bursts into flames. Even the grass below her feet shrivels up, all the water slowly evaporating from it.

More roots join the fray as a form appears from behind a tree. “You really shouldn’t yell in a forest. It makes you easy to find,” a dryad says.

Her hair is a tangled mess of golden leaves that look like they have been sculpted by a master metalsmith with all the care in the world. Instead of having the usual greenish undertone to her skin, she has gold mixed into it.

[Dryad of gold] lvl ?/20 (G)

The dryad looks at Iveihla as if the human woman is a spider that crawled into her home. As the dryad stares at her roughed-up face, she lets out a chuckle, “My, my. You look like a mess, girl. You go back to your mother. Bet she will put up with your pathetic whining.”

She kneels down and grabs one of the roots that curls around her feet. It turns into a golden spear. She casually twirls it around in her hand. “Only if you make it that far, that is.”

The human and the dryad stare at each other.

A decision is made.

A ring on Iveihla’s finger activates and explodes in a burst of blue dust. Suddenly, her body speeds up. She pockets the arm she cut off and sprints away in less than a second.

“Tsktsktsk,” the gold dryad shakes her head, “The bugs always love to run when you find them,” she says. She stops twirling the spear around and stretches her arm back while holding it. Her body lowers to the ground and her feet slide apart. She stretches her free hand forwards, aimed at Iveihla.

In one fluid motion, she throws the spear forwards. A moment later I hear a loud clang of metal on metal and a painful scream.

“Dammit. The bitch is getting away,” the dryad curses. Before running off the turns towards me, “Good job little mandrake. You messed her up real good. Anyway, I need to finish her off. Bye!”

The dryad speeds after Iveihla continuing to taunt her with remarks about her family and how ugly she now looks with her new soon-to-be scars.

Confused and slightly miffed I stand in the clearing. There aren’t any monsters nearby but in the distance, I still hear the army fight with some dryads.

With a wince, I pull up my system notifications.

*Identify (C) lvl 6/20 -> Identify (C) 7/20.

*Mandrake screech (C) lvl 6/20 -> (C) lvl 8/20.

*Claw slash (B) lvl 10/20 -> Claw slash (B) lvl 12/20.

My eyes land where my arm used to lay on the ground. That woman, Iveihla, took it with her. She took my damned arm.

I turn back to the cauterised stump, the pain still rolling from it in waves. At least there isn’t any smoke coming from it.

I head home. I’m no use in a fight, and I don’t want to meet any new monster or dryad now that I’m defenceless. I frown as I keep tasting the sweet sap in my mouth. Something must have happened with my throat when I used Mandrake Screech.

With the imminent threat of death gone, the pain grows louder. The only saving grace is that the air doesn’t smell like burnt roots and that the wound is cauterized.

***

Back home, I just lay on the moss around Sairal’s tree, the mushroom guardians guarding me. I’m just so tired. With no adrenaline in my veins, I feel the pain loudly, begging for my attention.

I ask the mushroom guardians if they can help me back home, my entire body shivering and rocking.

The two larger guardians gesture to a few smaller ones that have been hanging around. I don’t think of it as they help me to my cave.

On my makeshift bed of moss and grass, I fall asleep, thinking about what will happen now that they know that I exist. They want to turn me into goddamn skin cream.

I think back to the fight and realise how strong Iveihla actually was. She had enough resources to set her blade aflame. She had enough strength to kick me down a hill.

That entire time she was playing with me until I scratched her amour. And just when she was getting serious, I somehow managed to make her bleed.

If this all happened again, she would have killed me instantly.

The more I think about it all, the more grim the future seems. In my dreams groups of humans flock to the forest, upturning every stone to find the mandrake which is at least worth five times its weight in gold.