I gasped and shoved my left hand against the tree to pull my hand out of the hole. Without the light from the Cyan-Agaric, I couldn’t see what had a hold of me but from the thick, rope-like binding, experience would say that it was a vine. Or a root.

Out of the corner of my eye, a dull brown snake-like creature wiggled and slithered across the mossy ground. A root, probably one from the tree right in front of me, drew closer, aiming at my feet. Several more roots shot out from the moss and into the air like wooden spikes. Then they bent and grew towards me.

Shit! I jerked at the root that kept my hand captive in the hole.

A stinging pain jolted from my wrist up through my arm as something wedged beneath my arm bracer and pierced my flesh. A second later, the smell of blood — my blood — wafted in the air.

I silently gasped and pulled back with more intensity, but I was forced into an awkward angle to gain what little leverage I had as roots continued to stretch towards me.

A twinge of alarm went down my spine as I felt three monsters moving towards me on the ground, very quickly. Damn, they found me.

I summoned my kindjal and thrust it into the hole. It was an odd angle and I couldn’t see what I was aiming for, but if I grinded it against my wrist, it should cut the root. Anyone else would have cut their own hand off trying this. But since my blade was connected to me, I wasn’t at risk of being maimed.

Another root wrapped around my leg, sliding all the way up to my thigh and binding me into a crouched position. Its tip nuzzled around my thigh, searching for a place to puncture.

Damn, damn, damn. I gritted my teeth and put more strength into pressing my kindjal. Suddenly, the root snapped in half and I nearly fell over. A severed piece of root slipped off my aching wrist and leaked blood all over the moss at my feet.

Behind me, I could feel the Velociorheas getting closer. Thirty feet.

I sliced the root wrapped around my thigh only to have two more latch on. A new attack, something fast from above, shot toward me. My eyes widened. I’d never get out of this.

A black arrow stabbed into the base of one of the roots binding me, nearly cutting the plant in half. A second arrow followed in a flash and finished off the root. In that same moment, I stabbed down at the other root that held me. As soon as it was cut, I grabbed the arrows and High Jumped with everything that I had. I shot into the air just as three Velociorheas flashed around a tree, barely more than a blur of colorful head. They lunged into the air, snapped at my feet, but couldn’t get to me.

I continued to soar upward, then felt the weightlessness of reaching the peak of my jump. I stabbed my kindjal into the tree trunk and anchored my feet braced against the wet bark. Too high for the Velociorheas and too low for biting vines and flowers — I hoped — I took a second to finally breathe and lower my pounding pulse. The monsters growled and screeched at the base of the tree, leaving deep cuts in the wood as they vented their frustration. The roots that had plagued me retracted back into the moss under the Velociorheas’ feet. Monsters ate monsters all the time, but apparently the roots didn’t care much for the blood of giant chickens.

I tipped my head back and looked above me.

The rainbow brigade stood on the branch above me, all with different expressions that ranged from shock to surprise. Green, that loud-mouthed man, still had a black arrow notched loosely in his compressed bow as if he was ready to let another one loose in a second.

“Hm,” Orange muttered. “An E with High Jump. Who would have thought?”

I gulped in another breath. Since they already knew, I guess I didn’t have to hide it from them. I flipped up onto my kindjal and used it as a springboard to jump the rest of the way into the treetops — and was instantly bit by a now-red flower. Gah. I looked down to find the flower and had a moment of lethargic dizziness. Just how much blood did that root suck up in the seconds that it had me? I stepped back to brace myself and kept my head up like I didn’t feel like falling over. Granted, the Velociorheas still making a racket below would be overjoyed if I did.

I took a steady breath and focused on the group of Hunters that walked across the branches towards me. They didn’t see me take the Cyan-Agaric. There was no way they’d be able to see it from the angle they were above me. And since one of them just helped me escape, they shouldn’t be a threat. In theory. It would be better to act casual and friendly just in case.

I bobbed my head at them and gave a small smile. “Thank you for helping me.” I looked at all of them, but let my eyes rest on Green the longest since he was the one who actually helped. I held the arrows out to him.

Green’s face turned beat red under his kiwi colored hair. The bow and arrow vanished from his hand before he took the ones from me. He lifted his chin with pride. “Don’t mention it.” Despite his words, his expression screamed, praise me more!

Blue, the obvious leader, gave me a complicated look. He folded his arms across his chest, tall and imposing in his full armor. “Where’s your party? What were you doing down there?”

Pink leaned around his broad back and blinked at me with huge deep blue eyes. “Hasn’t anyone told you that it’s dangerous down there? Why wasn’t your party protecting you?”

I was dying to run away, all the better to keep my mushroom hoarding a secret from them, but they obviously wanted answers. It was unusual really. The fact that they helped me to begin with was odd, now they were talking to me, a lone, weak E. But since they wanted answers, I’d give it to them.

“I dropped something earlier,” I lied right to their faces. I did feel bad about it, but what was I going to do? Tell them that we were competing for the same thing and I got it first? “My party wanted me to go and get it. I should catch up with them now. Thanks for your help.”

“Hey,” Blue called out before I could turn away. “We’re looking for something. A blue mushroom with three white circles on top. Have you seen one?”

So that’s why they helped me. They wanted information. I paused like I was thinking. Then I slowly shook my head. “I can’t help you. Sorry.” That at least was the truth. I couldn’t help them. And if I saw another one, I’d keep that one for myself, too. Maybe after I completed my task, I’d tell them where to look if I found yet another. But for now, they were on their own.

The leader nodded. “Well, then you should get back to your team fast. E’s shouldn’t even be allowed in here.”

Green hissed and winced. “Damn flowers.” He jerked his right foot to the side.

Yellow, right behind him, snickered. Purple rolled her eyes and leaned on a hip.

I nodded slowly. “Right. Well, good luck finding your blue mushroom.” Because I’m going to find them all first.

Pink, Green and Yellow waved goodbye to me before they left. Blue, Purple and Orange simply turned and walked away.

I took a second and checked under the branch for any Assassin Vines. There weren’t any, and since all the little flowers around me had already turned red so they wouldn’t bite me for the time being, I sat down on the branch and took out some food and water.

Only one Cyan-Agaric was in the Josu Rainforest a day. Once that one was picked, another one wouldn’t show up until the next morning. So looking for another Cyan-Agaric was pointless right now. What I needed to do now was start looking for another Aero-Tuethida.

And I would, after I took a break for some needed calories and revenge.

Twenty minutes later, I stood up, ready to go. I walked across the branches until I was under the Hell’s Pitfall that nearly killed me yesterday. Below the hole that I dug out of it’s side, trails of black, blistered plant flesh streaked where the digestive acids leaked out. Even the branch under the base of the seven-foot tall flower had been burned and withered away. Six vines hung down from the base, still charred or cut from my encounter.

Was it a bad thing that I felt a strong sense of satisfaction when I saw how damaged it still was? That damn freak-plant was going to get me to the next level.

My lips curled and I focused on the base, the receptacle, truly seeing it for the first time. It was three feet wide, the same as the bell shaped flower, and about two feet thick. I couldn’t see any roots, for all I knew the Hell’s Pitfall could be anchored to the thick branch with magic. I frowned, trying to come up with an attack strategy. Even though it was injured, it was still five levels higher than me. And the last time I tangled with it, I nearly died.

From what I could tell, the energy crystal was in the middle of the receptacle, nearly at the top. Stabbing up through the branch for it wouldn’t work, my sword wasn’t long enough. Stabbing from the top meant that I’d have to go through at least three feet of paralyzing acidic liquid to get to it. And I wanted to avoid touching that stuff as much as possible. So a side attack and dealing with the vines was the way to go. Just as important was speed. From what I could tell, there weren’t any Hunters around me. But I didn’t know how long that would last. Let’s do this.

I cast Mist and pooled a thin cloud around my left hand. From there, I Mirrored my kindjal and activated Feather Step. Then I High Jumped till I was level with the Hell’s Pitfall. The mist pooled under my feet and solidified, giving me a surface to fight on, ten feet away from the monster flower. Close enough to deal with the vines, but far enough away that I could move freely.

It sensed me. Three vines shot towards me. I was still smarting from the last plant that grabbed me but I slashed at the vines, slicing and cutting as I twisted and turned out of their reach. They were more nimble than I was, after all they didn’t have the restriction of a skeleton, but now that they didn’t have the element of surprise, I was able to keep up. Every time another foot of vine was lobbed off and fell to the open mouths of the Velociorheas below, my lips curled up a little more.

The other three vines joined the attack. They were from the other side of the monster plant’s receptacle so they didn’t have as much reach, but they still attack me with agusto, whipping, slapping and trying to wrap around anything they could latch onto. It really put my agility to the test. Try as I might, I still couldn’t block everything. My body was littered with welts that twinged whenever I moved. But I was able to avoid all of the stabbing attacks.

A vine wrapped around my upper left arm and jerked me to the side, trying to flap me in the air like laundry on a line. The rest of the vines shot forward to wrap around or puncure me. I gritted my teeth and opened my left hand in front of me, converting the slow rain to mist and creating a solid barrier between me and the monster. It was bigger than I wanted to make, but hopefully a Hunter wouldn’t notice it. Being mistaken for the Josu Ghost wasn’t going to help right now.

The vines hit the barrier and slowed down, but since the monster was stronger than me, they were still inching their way through the barrier. Once they got the other side, it would shatter and they would have full movement again. I took the time to swing the kindjal in my right hand at the vine around my arm. A large section fell to the ground below.

I jumped up, stepping on the barrier that held all of the vines temporarily motionless and lunged at the Hell’s Pitfall receptacle. As soon as the monster felt me coming, it began withdrawing its vines from the barrier, but not fast enough.

I stabbed my kindjal into the monster’s base, aiming right at the energy crystal. A vine twisted around my waist, punishingly tight, squeezing out all my air. I gritted my teeth and pushed harder with my sword, sinking it in farther. I felt a slight resistance and the energy crystal shattered.

[+153 EXP]

[You have Leveled up!]

*****

Jyn Devhro

Rank C

Lv 26

EXP to Next Lv 1145

HP 973/1425

MP 105/220

Strength 51 (+20)

Magic 45

Constitution 46 (+20)

Stat Points 0

Agility 50

Perception 43

Intelligence 38

Skills

Throw

Critical Hit

Quick Hit

Mirror

High Jump

Abilities

Mist (Improved) (40 ft)

Feather Step

Regen (Limited)

Stealth (Limited)