Chương 66: Chapter 65 - Timber!

"Alright, as usual we will travel in a formation. Rowen, you will be in the vanguard, I believe you have considerable experience with the interior?" Dominic shot him a questioning eyebrow.

"I do have some experience" Rowen puffed his chest.

"Good, then follow my direction and we will be off, as soon as Kennick finds a trail we can start the hunt" Dominic nodded. Nythera coughed. All eyes turned to her.

"Actually I will be determining the direction of our trek" She coughed again.

"And why is that?" Dominic asked.

"Because I know the way to something really interesting" Nythera stared right into his eyes, unblinking.

"And what is that? What could you possibly know of the interior? As far as I am aware you have only been to the western interior, far less dangerous than the eastern side" Rowen retorted.

"Ok but I know the way to a dungeon, at least I think so. Are you not curious? Well I guess we can just go on a wild chase through the jungle" Nythera shrugged.

"Fine, you win, I won't ask how you know where a dungeon is, but we have had suspicions about this region for a while" Dominic sighed "Nythera direct Kennicks heading and then fall back behind me and Rowen". The well-spaced trees gradually thickened, closing on each other like walls as they went. Green mosses and progressively thicker undergrowth slowed down their passage. Rowen hoisted up yet another dead triabit, all three legs dangling limply "Does Kennick have a grievance with these?"

he threw it over his shoulder with the collection of a dozen others.

"Actually, yes. These bastards have actually consumed his rations several times. For some reason they only seem to target his bag" Dominic said. Wispy mists drifted through the woods and the enclosing trees gradually took away their ability to see further than a few yards. Thick green leaves blocked their sightline in every direction and the area was so loaded with flux that Nythera's Flux-sight could not see through the foliage anymore. The leaves shook, dropping fresh dew onto the ground. Another shake. Thump…..

Thump….. Thump…… thump….. Dominic's face broke into a huge grin.

"Well you're about to get a real treat, milady. It ain't every Dunday that you get to see one of these" Dominic tugged her forward through the brush. The woods cut apart, before them a wide clearing of flattened land, devoid of trees in the middle of the forest. Three giant circular towers sat in the middle of the clearing, their base was significantly wider than their tops. Long reaching spindly tentacles reached out slowly, grabbed a tree, and pulled…

The entire tree, roots and all popped out of the ground, brought up into the sky, it was dropped into the top of the tower and disappeared. One after another trees were ripped up and dropped into the towers. THUMP Nythera nearly collapsed on the spot as the quake resonated. Each tower had four stump legs. Flux flowed from the top in thick veins down to the base. THEY ARE ALIVE?

"A whole herd of Timberjaws, quite the sight" Dominic looked up at them proudly as if they were his children he was showing off. A clear, twenty-wagon-wide path through the woods showed where they had come from.

"Do they just eat the entire tree? Just like that? I think I heard about something similar, an arbovore, but this is way bigger than that" Nythera said, gaping in awe.

"Yup, roots and all. This is a herd of juveniles though, the adults are twice as tall" Dominic chuckled. One timberjaw sat well behind the pack, slowly moving forward. Its veins no longer carried a rich flow of flux down. It also had three gaping holes in the tower, vines and leaves sprouted off it in various spots, huge broadleafs as big as a person.

"Hey Dominic, is that one injured?" she pointed.

"Injured, what? What could possibly hurt-" He paused "shit, KENNICK! GET AN ARROW OR THREE IN THAT ONE" he shouted. The vines wriggled the moment an arrow pierced the trunk. Snaking out from small holes that pocketed the body, they ripped up anything around them, tearing up and tossing the remaining undergrowth. The plant has three times the flux density as the body… oh Thump Thump Thump Thump.

The house sized corpse sprinted after them in rage, the pack of previously docile timberjaws began to stampede forward through the forest, knocking down trees with every step.

"Nythera, cannon now! Rowen, try to keep its attention on you and lure it into the woods, it'll have a harder time moving there" Dominic shouted bolting towards the treeline. Aether Cannon manifested in a split second, the flux around the clearing warping with its presence. And the Timberjaw slowed to a stop. And came charging straight at her. FUCK! Why me?

"FIRE!" She ran from her own cannon, the beast fixated on the ordnance. A shell roared forth and went straight through the towering monstrosity, blowing out a deluge of rotting internal organs and plant bits. It didn't even flinch, running straight over the cannon and turning it back to flux. Another arrow thumped into the fleshy walls, doing absolutely nothing. Thanks Kennick, I suppose it's the thought that counts, but what about results? If the trees slow it down maybe I can get an extra shot or two in?

It lumbered back towards the woodline, where its hecklers hid. Nythera brought forth the cannon once again, deeper in the woods. The foliage blocked her line of site, but the blazing lines of flux snaking into the sky made its location apparent to her. The ground vibrated beneath her, as the cannon drew the beast straight to her. The barrel pivoted down. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"FIRE" she yelled. CRACKKKKKKKK The shell ripped through one of its stumpy legs, taking out bone with flesh. The grey tower wobbled, undulating back and forth. The sound of roots being torn and trunks snapped resonated through the woods as the beast crashed to the forest floor.

"Kennick! To me!" Dominic called out. Nythera pushed through the green growth to find Dominic and Kennick standing before the entrance to the tower. The inside was a dull red with shingle-like teeth facing downward. So it what? Grinds the trees up with these? Vines snaked up the tube, periodically writhing in place.

"We could leave it, but it'll just find another host and come back. Best to kill it now" Dominic stepped into the tree-shredder.

"Come on Nythera, we got a core to cut out, you should see how it's done" Dominic's voice echoed on the walls. Gross, what happens if it closes in on us? This thing eats trees, I would think it'd have a very easy time with people. Kennick gave her a shove "Hurry up" he whispered. Rowen chuckled. Oh just you wait Rowen, you'll get your turn too, I'm sure.

"Fine fine" The flesh gave way beneath her boot, stepping carefully around the shingle-teeth, she followed after Dominic's light. Dominic held up his palm, a glowing orb of light and flux swirling in it "You like it? Cantrip I picked up from a friend" he waved it around. Ok it's kinda cool, wish I had someone to teach me cantrips, all Halt does is through me off things and Talvik is useless.

"Now look here" he brought his hand right up to the walls. Thick interwoven vines laced up and through the flesh as if stitched. Every movement the pair made caused a twitch, making the wall itself contort with its green stitches.

"This is a really nasty fluxspawn, you see them occasionally in this region. They are smart, dangerous and worse of all" he turned his dimly-lit eyes to her.

"Worthless. The monster parts for this parasitic bastard are nearly entirely worthless. Alchemists can use it but it has weak effects and the only piece worth a damn is heart" Dominic sighed.

"Which I am about to show you how to extract." They cut their way forward, Dominic periodically clearing out walls of inert vines. The tunnel narrowed, the teeth got smaller.

"The heart is always deep within the beastie, but so far that it can't easily feast on what it kills" Dominic pointed at a writhing bundle of vines on the floor, then another, and another.

"Which is it?" Hmmm I wonder? Maybe the brightly glowing mass crammed into the corner? Nythera pointed. Dominic stabbed. The top of the tunnel sunk as all the vines instantly went slack, the walls bucking in partially with them.

"First guess, not bad" he shrugged "this was supposed to be harder, beginners luck I guess" he ripped it out of the vines mess and a purple-reddish orb was revealed.

"This won't be any use in your shells, I'll give it to some alchemist" tucking it in a pocket, they both made their way out, heads kept low. The rotting smell had grown immediately on its death and Nythera coughed as they exited into the clean forest air. I hate this fucking fluxspawn, a parasite, it stinks, and worth nothing. Avoid at all costs. Level Acquired!

Aether Culverin (lvl 15 > 17) (3 tokens) The timberjaws were but visible towers shrinking in the distance, a path of snapped trees and destroyed undergrowth left in their wake.

"If you ever chance upon it, spotting the adults is a true wonder" Rowen stared longingly at the distant creatures "They make the juveniles look like a turtling to an aether turtle, utterly insignificant" What's an aether turtle?

"I'm sure they are wonderful Rowen, but I think Dominic wants you back in the vanguard".

"Oh" he scampered off to Dominic, who had finished talking to Kennick and was reorganizing the party. Trekking through dense foliage and over ankle-breaking moss, with constant direction from Nythera, the flux density steadily increased.

"Not another fucking wall, we are cutting through this one" Dominic hacked with vigour at the wall of bush. The bluespeckled leaf bushes were by far their biggest enemy, tough, wide enough to take time to hack through, and prone to dulling blades. Dominic and Rowen finally cut through.

"Well where to now?" Dominic asked from the small space full of knee-high foliage they found themselves in. Thick trees enclosed on them from all sides. What is up with the flux here? Half the plants are denser than your average animal. And that tree? Nythera's fingers raked over the smooth, flawless dark-brown bark.

"This tree has a ridiculous amount of flux in it, is it valuable?"

"If it is that noteworthy, I am afraid we lack the instruments to chop it down at this moment" Rowen said with a quizzical look. Dominic nodded "We aren't here to chop down trees, lets get a move on" Creakkkkkk Behind them, a tree tilted away, bending near the base.

"By Kronan, what the fuck is wrong with-" Dominic began. The tree whipped back at speed. Slamming into the ground right where Rowen had been. Nythera jumped backwards on reflex. A wooden spine split right through her right arm. A frantic scream escaped her throat. My arm won't move, SHIT"It's one of the stabby trees! Keep a distance!" Dominic shouted. One of Kennick's arrows was already stuck in the bark. Dominic sprinted forwards straight for it as it bent backwards.

Aether Cannon materialized, more as a shield than a weapon as she crawled backwards, careful not to upset the spine too much. THUMP An explosion of dirt and torn greenery obscured her view. Dominic grabbed the base of the tree and started hacking away with his sword. Rowen sprinted off into the woods, eager to avoid another macing. He's never going to get through that fucking thing, but I can.

"Dominic! Get clear!" Nythera screamed. Dominic looked back, saw the cannon, and desperately tried to rip his sword from the tree. It was stuck.

"Fuck" he swore under his breath. He dashed into the greenery, "NYTHERA IF YOU BLOW UP MY SWORD YOU WILL BUY ME A NEW ONE" he yelled as he went. Yeah as if, next time don't get it stuck in a stationery target. The tree bent backwards, preparing for the next thumping.

"FIRE" Nythera screeched, clawing herself behind a tree. A roar of fire. The sound of a toppling tree.

"Is it over?" one eye popped out from behind her woody wall.

"I hate these fucking trees, you never see them coming becasue their bark is always a different color" Dominic ripped his sword out of the splintered-wood mess. Nythera grit her teeth. And tugged on the spine. She screamed.

"This fucking thing is stuck in my arm" walking over to Dominic with a pleading look.

"Wait a moment Milady, Kennick has some painkillers" Dominic said. Rowen peeked out from behind a giant frondy leaf "My skills do almost nothing to these opponents, I am afraid I would not fare any better than Dominic" he justified his cowardness. Dominic hacked off spine after spine "these make fantastic tools, especially for tool rods, a bundle will sell for a pretty price".. And I got nothing to show for it, no levels? Really?

"Would this be an environmental bleed event?" Rowen asked, trying to look dignified.

"Yup, whatever dungeon our lady has honed in on has been bleeding flux and fluxspawn for Kronan knows how long" Dominic replied.

"Then why hasn't the area outside the Quartz dungeon just become quartz?" Nythera asked, flinching. Kennick materialized behind her, already pouring painkillers directly onto the wounded area.

"Hold steady".

"The quartz flux is too different and the dungeon too small, this is probably a plant based dungeon, much easier for it to bleed in the middle of a forest" A pulling sensation radiated through her arm. The spine was gone and a bleeding wound full of woody shards is all that remained. That was… amazing. Can I get some of those painkillers? Kennick wrapped her arm in fabric and tied it off tightly. She didn't feel a thing.

"Sadly, these plant monsters are worthless for my shells, is there nothing a bit more… ferocious?" she asked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Rowen screamed as he was hoisted into the air.