Chapter 37: The war begins
We live, we fight, and we die.
-Written by unknown. Location: Central untamed lands.
It took them four days.
Just four days.
That is all we got to prepare. With a thunderclap, that illusion of peace shattered. It was already coming to a close with the increasing presence of the Cave crawlers but now that the first Zuzillian forces have arrived?
“And these are just (D) grades?” I ask while I stand on one of the highest branches of his tree.
Sairal, standing on another branch, nods. “Just over 50 of them. All in (D) grade.”
In this world I always underestimated humans. First that firesword woman, then that human party that managed to spot me, and finally that Nightstalker.
It turns out that Dryads have the same flaw.
I don’t know what happened but they suddenly were there, setting up the first of the teleportation circles.
The King, according to Sairal, sent out his own dryads to fend off the humans. That’s what I’m currently looking at. The (D) grades fight on an entirely different scale than anything I’ve seen before outside of that tsunami.
An explosion booms out far in the distance. Half a minute later the wind catches up, howling as it passes, ripping branches of trees.
Sairal shakes his head. “The difference in strength becomes greater each grade. They are all at the peak of (D) grade.”
I turn to him and see the sweat beading on his forehead, slowly rolling past the sides of his face. It can’t be good to have them fighting so close to his heart that he can’t move.
Jets of flame burst out above the green carpet of trees, drawing my attention again. How far away even is that fight? Twenty kilometres? Maybe more?
“Are we gonna win?” I ask looking as one tree comes alive and rises above the rest. It raises a fist and punches it to the ground, hopefully taking down one or two of the humans.
I brace for the tremor that might come. Luckily, it doesn’t. We’re too far away for that.
Sairal shakes his head, pulling his focus towards the conversation instead of the battle that keeps raging on. “It depends on if the King wants to conserve his strength for later.”
An earth golem rises from the ground. It begins to pummel the living tree with its fist relentlessly.
“Why would he want to do that?” I point to the fight, “If he doesn’t stop that and they set up those teleportation circles, we will have armies at the border by the end of the day.”
The dryad turns to me, “Luxia has one advantage in this damned event. We can defend and set up traps. We can buckle up and outlast the storm.”
The living tree that’s struggling with the golem is set ablaze and lets out a wail that sounds like rocks grinding together.
“Wait, don’t we have another advantage?” I ask turning back to him.
He smirks and nods, prompting me to speak my mind.
“Aren’t there far more enemies than there are forest dwellers? So can’t we also grow in strength faster?” I say, thinking about that entire human army that chased me and how many points they would be worth.
I really shouldn’t think like this but when life can now almost be counted by the event points it will give me.
“That too. The longer we survive, the stronger we’ll become.”
Carefully, I climb down his tree and wave goodbye to the five mushroom guardians that have been playing tag or hide and seek under Sairal’s dryad heart’s canopy.
Watching those (D) grades won’t help me get stronger.
I head off to the nearest Cave crawler outpost.
In the past four days, I’ve only been killing those insects from dawn to dusk. Group after group, endlessly killing them. I must’ve killed hundreds, maybe even a thousand.
All that amounted to nothing. Well, not nothing, but I can’t destroy the outpost. For every group I killed two more rose from the Depths.
The only good thing about killing that many is the progress I made with my skills.
I pull up my menu and look at the progress of the last four days.
Species: Mandrake: Bindweed force lvl 2/20 (G) -> lvl 3/20 (G)
HP: 105/105 -> 115/115
SP: 74/75 -> 90/90
Strength: 30 -> 32
Agility: 14 -> 16
Perception: 9 -> 10
Constitution: 33 (+15) -> 35 (+15)
Endurance: 11 -> 13
Mind: 9 -> 11
Unallocated stat points: 8 -> 12
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Skill points: 13
Skills: 11/17 skill slots in use
Photosynthesis (C) lvl 19/20.
Mandrake Scream (Un) lvl 5/20 -> 7/20.
Identify (C) lvl 15/20.
Bindweed of Nature (R) lvl 7/20 -> 8/20.
Claw infusion (C) lvl 4/20 -> 6/20.
Hide (B) lvl 7/20 -> 11/20.
Dance of Death (C) lvl 1/20.
Fire resistance (B) lvl 10/20.
Depth sense (O) lvl 17/20.
Bindweed manipulation (R) lvl 5/20 -> 8/20.
Bindweed conjuration (R) lvl 4/20 -> 6/20.
*Time remaining: 294 days, 13 hours, 24 minutes, 36 seconds.
*Event points: 437.27
I blame my evolution for the poor gains. The benefits it gave me are immense and so are the stats I receive each level. I, uh, should have thought a bit more when the system gave me a warning about the higher experience requirement per level.
Several hundreds of Cave crawlers only amounted to a single level. Though, most of them were lower (H) grades and (I) grades, so I can’t really complain.
I would love to take on one of the stronger ones that matches my grade, but they never leave the outpost, instead content to guard all the smaller Cave crawlers.
Another problem that I’ve come across is that I can’t figure out how the system calculates the event points awarded per monster slain. Level and grade certainly play a part. I’m certain of that now. But there is something else. Maybe how much destruction a monster brought or can bring?
That, however, has terrifying implications. Is the system able to see into the future or is it just a rough guess? Either way, I’ve given up on getting to know the math behind it.
Getting close to the outpost, the forest around me changes. First, the trees turn bare of leaves, showing that the weakest Cave crawlers have ventured out enough to this point. After that, the bark is stripped of the trees and finally, the only thing that remains is a sad stump in the earth.
It makes my blood boil, seeing what they are doing to the forest. What’s worse is that it makes it difficult for me to sneak around. A (G) grade I might be, but I can still be worn down by enough lower grades. My resources aren’t infinite.
My eyes flick to my menu and the unallocated stat points just sitting there. Maybe I should add them to Agility, though, having them right there where they are has shown its benefits several times already.
The sad reality is, that getting levels is difficult for now. Cave crawlers give bad experience and I can’t get some time alone with another (G) grade.
Far in the distance, the camp appears. From the simple outpost it was, it has grown to a sprawling mess of moving insects, coming or going to the cave that lies at the centre of the camp.
Above the masses now tower five (G) grades. The amount of weaker Cave crawlers has also grown several times over.
I should hate it, I should hate that my actions made no impact. But as the event points continue to grow, and there are the targets for me to practice my skills on, I’m somewhat content.
At least this is better than the desolate forest with nothing to hunt.
I keep watching the camp go about their daily lives for a while, keeping track of the stronger Cave crawlers.
My eyes focus on an (I) grade that seems to be different from the others. It moves through the camp with fluidity to its motions, easily moving through the crowd of Cave crawlers.
The monster taps the grass with its mandibles, leans closer and begins to tear it up. Nearby weak Cave crawlers watch it and copy the behavior.
Before I know it, patches of grass are entirely gone, revealing the fresh brown earth beneath.
If they have their way, nothing will be left of the forest. No forest dwellers, no trees. Not even the grass will be spared.
With renewed rage, I resume taking down groups of Cave crawlers left and right.
The day passes in a blur, groups of Cave crawlers blending into each other, the only sense that time is passing the increase in event points.
Skills level here and there.
Taking a small break, I look at my menu. This isn’t enough. I need more.
I find myself taking more risks, taking down groups closer to the camp, not willing to wait for them to stroll out far enough.
Bit by bit I grow reckless.
I know it. This is stupid. I should just wait, and do it slow and steady, but that has never worked for anyone.
I continue getting closer to the camp until the Cave crawlers spot me. The (I) grades that have been tearing up the grass are the first to notice me.
Like the dumb insects they are, they sprint towards me, intent to die. They don’t even make it close to me, getting killed by the bindweed snakes I’ve kept up around me. Heads roll off their bodies and the acidic scent of their blood fills the air.
It draws more attention. More show up and I grin as the bindweed snakes are overwhelmed and I have to step in.
My claws rend through them, a slow trickle of Stamina giving them that sharper edge.
The notifications drone in my mind and I shut them off.
Half a minute later the first (H) grade shows up. Like the other insects, it tries to stop me.
I block its mandibles with my claws, grab onto it with my other hand and tear the head off from the rest of the body.
Something changes in me and I feel a skill turn on for the first time. Dance of Death sings in my head, adjusting my movements, letting me fall into a steady rhythm.
I hum to myself, following the sound the Cave crawlers make with my tune. The angry clacking of their mandibles is the beat. The rending of my claws is my voice as I sing along.
My song grows louder. More Cave crawlers die and the stronger ones show up. With one eye on the (G) grades, I see that they’ve taken notice.
At a sedate pace, uncaring of how many Cave crawlers I kill, one makes its way to me. Unlike the normal insects that all look relatively the same, at (G) grade they start to become distinct.
The (G) grade insect isn’t sleek and is built more bulky with spikes on most of its surface. The monster’s mandibles glow with light, signalling that it’s using some sort of skill.
The ground rumbles beneath my feet. I jump back and not a second later a pillar of earth spears up from the ground.
The earth shudders once again. I grab one of the insects that flies through the air at my face and trade places with it.
Confusion is on the stupid bug’s face. That confusion turns to pain as another spike of earth lances through the ground, skewering it.
The Cave crawler makes a painful chattering sound as it dies.
I turn to the (G) grade that is powering up for another skill.
Shaking off one of the insects that keeps trying to bite my foot off, I dash towards it, pushing all the monsters out of the way. The ones that leap in front of me are sliced apart by my claws which I hold in front of me.
The magic-casting insect tries something different. Instead of creating a spike, a hole opens up in the ground in front of me.
I leap over it, hearing the bugs that chased me stumble into it. While in the air, I conjure up a bindweed snake in my hand. The green vine with thorns goes to work, making an improvised protein smoothie.
The caster looks over its back to the other (G) grades. They are making their way towards us, stepping on Cave crawlers that didn’t manage to get out of the way in time.
I conjure up bindweed all around me. The vines grow from the ground, writhing around me.
The magical Cave crawler takes a step back towards the centre of the camp.
I reach towards it with a hand, commanding the bindweed around me to lunge at it.
Earth rumbles around us, impaling the vines and obstructing their path. Mandibles are used to snap the ones that make it to the monster.
In seconds bindweed wraps around the monster’s form. I wince as the bindweed tears and I’m forced to expend more Stamina to keep it constrained.
The other (G) grades speed up, sensing something wrong.
Too late.
There are just a few metres between us.
My claws reach out and cut into the Cave crawler’s defences.
Like many before, I pierce the eyes and push my claw into the monster’s brain.
Without a sound, it dies.
I turn around and speed through the masses. The other (G) grades look a bit mad now that I killed one of them.
That magical Cave crawler was weak. Maybe it would have been stronger in the caves, able to attack from all sides. But here? Weak.
It takes some time to free myself from all the insects that kept chasing me. After killing the last of them, I sit down and lean against a tree.
That was good. Sadly, now they’ll be on guard. Even the stupid Cave crawlers expect me to return.