CORRUPTED RAGE TREANT

  Big and mad. Fun.

  And it was allied with the Branch Wolves as they stepped back, moving to the sides to let the Rage Tree enter the battle.

  Times like these were when I wished I had a fire Elemental Essence of some kind. A good ol’ fireball to the face would take care of this thing pretty quick. I could punch and kick it, but with the two Branch Wolves and probably more nearby, I wanted to end this quickly.

  And my time was rapidly dwindling.

  09:37:15

  Sighing, I sheathed my tonfas and from my Spatial Storage I pulled out two handaxes. They were nothing special, still Arcanum-infused like all my weapons and gear were. Being the clanchief had some benefits.

  The edges of the axes were enchanted to be sharper and stronger. I was no expert with axes, or swords or any slashing weapon, since I preferred blunt bashing weapons, but I could hold my own against things like this. Against a trained swords or axeman? I’d be in trouble. I could have been an expert but I didn’t get the benefit from slashing or piercing weapons like I did bashing.

  I could still get some kinetic energy from the attacks, but nothing like I got from bashing weapons. There was just something about a hard surface slamming into something that generated lots of kinetic energy for me to absorb. I didn’t fully understand how or why it worked, it just did and I went with it.

  I had more important stuff to do then worry about why my Abilities worked the way they did. I probably could work at it and get swords and stuff to give me more kinetic energy but there were things to kill, a Clan to run, a Tower to climb. All the fun stuff.

  Pushing a little bit of Arcanum into the axes, the heads started to glow, the sharpness enchantment activating.

  One of the Branch Wolves lunged at me, I backhanded it with the flat of the axe, chopping into the neck on the backswing. It yelped, that weird scratchy noise. The axe head dug deep, cutting through branches. I stepped toward that wolf, lifting the axe and chopping at the shoulder as I turned and slammed my second axe into the other side of its neck. The head fell, still stuck on by a single branch. A quick chop and the head fell completely off, the body crashing to the ground.

  The other wolf took the opportunity, lunging at me. I kicked it, stopping its charge and then swung the axe, missing as the wolf fell back. The Rage Treant was on me, reaching down with the long arms and fingers. I smacked at it with both axes, chopping little bits of wood off but doing no damage. At least it kept the thing from grabbing me.

  The wolf came around the backside, leaping at me. I saw it and ducked, the thing slamming into the finger branches of the Treant. Rager grabbed, thinking it was me. The wolf yelped and Rager let it go, dropping it onto the ground and right into the swing of an axe. I slammed the axe down on its head, cracking bone and splitting branches. The thing stopped moving.

  I jumped back, avoiding the fingers of Rager. The Treant moaned in anger, the eyes blazing brighter. I gave it the finger. We had to work to make sure the good stuff from the old world didn’t fade away.

  I ran forward, getting in the reach of Rager, axes chopping at his trunk. Bigger slices of bark and wood flew off. I grunted as branches wrapped around me. My feet left the ground as Rager lifted me. I twisted looking back and seeing that Rager somehow had multiple elbows, the arms could bend a couple of times.

  He started to squeeze and I started to chop. Stupid Rager hadn’t trapped my arms, just my body. I hacked at the tree trunk arm, chunks of wood flying off. He brought me closer to the mouth so I kicked right above the mouth. Bark splintered, Rager moaned, pulling me back. I kept hacking at the arm.

  I chopped enough that the arm broke apart, me falling to the ground with the branches still around me. Good timing too as the other arm had been reaching and about to squish my head. Landing on the ground, the branches fell off me, my feet tangled up in them. The last arm reached for me. I batted at it with the axes.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Small bits of wood and even a couple fingers fell off. I backed up, trying not to trip as the branches around my legs wanted me to fall and die. I used my ability to lock my feet in place, preventing the branches from accomplishing their goal of killing me.

  I dropped one of my axes, grabbing the arm and pulling it down. The Rager tried to fight me but I managed to take its kinetic energy and transfer it to myself, helping me pull the arm down. It kept trying to lift the arm as I pulled back, which led to a loud cracking sound. The arm hung limp as I turned to the other arm, chopping at it with the axe. The Rager kept trying to swing the broken arm, which gave me more energy to absorb. I chopped harder on the other arm, cutting deep. I reached out with my left and grabbed at the Rager’s body, fingers grasping the bark and managing to pull it a little closer to where I could punch at it.

  I changed the swinging from the arm to body as I also punched at the freaking walking tree. I’d come across Treants before. They were fairly common in the forests around Solace. I’d lost count of how many of the things I’d killed.

  The Rager started thrashing, I just increased the chopping and the punching. I won and the thing died.

  YOU HAVE SLAIN CORRUPTED RAGE TREANT

  YOU HAVE GAINED +30 TUTORIAL POINTS AND +30 MULTIVERSAL POINTS

  YOU HAVE SLAIN 4 BRANCH WOLVES

  YOU HAVE GAINED +80 TUTORIAL POINTS AND +30 MULTIVERSAL POINTS

  Making sure to look around the area, double checking that it was clear, I walked around all the bodies and touched them all, turning them to energy and dropping the almighty loot.

  YOU HAVE GAINED +3 TREANT BARKSKIN, +1 TREANT SPEAR SHAFT, +2 TREANT BOARD, +4 SHARP BRANCHES AND +2 BRANCH FANGS

  I was sensing a theme to the drops in this Dungeon.

  ***

  04:15:56

  More time running around the Dungeon, more Treants and Branch Wolves killed, more Treant loot. Lots more Tutorial and Multiversal Points. Overall the Dungeon was kind of boring. Pretty straightforward and linear, but was understandable for a solo Dungeon. Not the most original either. But I was gaining loot to bring home and points.

  I was also making good time through the Dungeon, especially since I was facing the end. Trees grew close together just ahead, a cleared space between the ring and the treeline I sat in. About twenty feet and filled with six Corrupted Treats. There was just enough of a gap for someone to walk through the ring. The obvious location of the Growling Oak Treant. But first I had to deal with six others. Like all Treants, they all looked different. All walking trees, but some taller and thinner, fatter, long arms and legs, or a bunch of smaller branches that served as arms and legs.

  This kind of setup was surprising for a solo Dungeon. It was custom made for ranged fighters. They could take out the Treants, or at least most of them, and then go in and deal with the Boss. There wasn’t much I could do in this scenario to take them out early. I didn’t have any ranged attacks. That was what I was saving my last open Essence Slot for. Something that would give me ranged Abilities and good synergy with my other Essences.

  Hadn’t found one yet. And I’d been looking for a very long time.

  I was hoping that Crossroads or the Tower Floors would have one.

  But what to do about the half dozen Treants? I needed a plan for this.

  Most of the time I was just a brawler but I was capable of coming up with a plan when needed. And this needed one. I could handle the six over time, but not at once. I looked around at the treeline, wondering just what I could do to even out this fight. There wasn’t much but just trees, trees, and more trees. And the walking ones. How could I make it all work together and help me kill five of the things to finish the quest. It was nice of the Dungeon to give me a bonus one.

  I started climbing the tree closest to me, going slow to not make any noise. I got high enough that I was over the height of the Treants, still couldn’t see into the grove itself. The perspective didn’t give me that many new ideas.

  Mentally I opened my Spatial Storage, looking through what I’d brought to Crossroads with me. Some provisions, a change of clothes, all my various weapons, camping gear and some rope. That last gave me an idea.

  I climbed back down, pulling out what I needed.

  Thankfully no one was going to be around to see this plan. It was definitely something I’d tell Jack to not do. The others would just shake their heads and call me dumb. And they’d be right. This was incredibly stupid.

  But it would be fun if it worked.