35 Forest Fire
"It hurts!" Zet screamed as vines erupted from his body. He shot up and screamed. Roots spread through his body at an accelerated rate. Sap leaked from his wounds while he screamed. Vines ripped through the side of his face and stretched out. A woman's face appeared on the side of his own. It formed and grinned while he screamed.
"Such delicious nutrients," A feminine voice moaned. I stepped forward and stabbed my hand into Zet's stomach and pulled out the key. The entity shrieked while I tore away at her roots and claimed my prize. Roots shot out of Zet's body ready to dig into me. I kicked Zet's body in the torso and watched it tumble across the ashen battlefield.
"You need me to beat him. Don't kill me, you need me." Zet screamed. I turned to watch the exchange while I put the key into my storage ring.
"Oh, sugar you don't get it. I'm not just devouring your body; I'm feasting on your soul! Soon everything you are will be mine." I stalked in front of the creature with Aura Rush. She gazed at me with Zet's green eyes.
"You are a demon." I said. She let out a pleased moan.
"I'm from the great forest of desire. Many want to be one with nature. This one bargained with my mother for a seed. Do you want to be one with nature too, sugar?" Zet's aura was nothing compared to hers. Green aura surrounded her mixed with pieces of red. She grew larger and a set of breasts soon sandwiched Zet's face. My sword came down glowing with halos of flame lining the blade.
The ground turned to glass and the wards around this section of the building flashed to life. I turned to see the demoness. She was singed and more of Zet was pulled into her body. She was like a tumor that grew larger than its host body. Zet was being absorbed by the body. His mouth was held open in a silent scream.
The demoness let out a moan. "I'm not like most lust demons when I consume a host, they feel every root as it tears through their body and soul. Then, I suck them dry slowly sometimes over years. He couldn't wait he wanted it now." She glanced at my blade. "You have a demon too. How do you feed big sis, are you eating him slowly bite by bite or will you consume him all at once one day?"
Diabla snorted and appeared beside me. "The relationship between a demon sword and their owner is sacred. When we find a wielder worthy of our power, we become a part of their soul. A tree demon who's only instinct is seek out nutrients and propagate could never understand me." The blue halos that within Diabla's blade grew brighter.
Roots from the ground rose up and I slashed Diabla. The shear amount of heat was enough to reduce the roots to ash. I flapped my wings and took to the air. What trees remained withered and not from the flames I'd unleashed. The aura within this area was shifting.
"Now, now, now that's what I've heard since I was born. I was stored in a glass ball and wrapped with red and green spells. With me there is no slow growth or the certainty of nature. I'm to evolve and devour now. Give me your nutrients." She growled and flew at me with flowery wings.
After her outburst I formed a plan. She was powerful more powerful than I was in many respects. That didn't mean she didn't have a shit ton of weaknesses.
Chimeral Plant Demon lvl80
Rank: Plebe
She had changed after absorbing the aura from the forest. Her skin was a mix of vine green and bark brown. Vines made up the hair on her head and her face took on an childish shape. The creature's chest remained human with large breasts wrapped in vines. Through the thin skin of her stomach Zet's body could be seen dissolving in a vat of acid. Flakes of flesh collected at the surface of the liquid contained within her. She was like a pitcher plant mixed with a human body with wings. Her wings smelled like cherries.
Diabla appeared beside me. "We have to kill her now. Summon another Underworld Dragon's Wrath we have more than enough Aura." She crossed her arms and flicked her hair to the side. "She's weakened we won't have a better chance."
I sensed something strange and flew backwards. The wind suddenly spiked and pollen flew off her wings. My wings carried me through evasive maneuvers to dodge her passive attacks. I didn't know what would happen if I was hit by her pollen, nothing good. I fired off sever javelins only for vines to lash out deflecting the attack. I swapped to fireballs.
"What are you doing? Those didn't do shit against Zet and she's stronger." Diabla yelled.
I shook my head. "No yet, it seems she didn't gain much knowledge from Zet or there are things that Zet didn't know."
"I grow tired of this game. Breath deeply and be filled with my pollen. Lose yourself inside of me." Zet's face slipped through her skin and he fell fully into the pitcher. Through the light of the flames the shadows within her stomach become visible. I watched the roots rip him apart while he thrashed a final time. From that point on her body changed.
Her waist shrunk and her face took on a teenage shape. The demon's wings grew larger, the flowers on her wings turned a bright pink, and her body become more feminine. Her hips filled out, the demon's breasts grew, and her waist thinned. It was her aura that had the biggest change. Before it had been a mix of Zet's and her own. Now that it was all hers, it became significantly larger. Not only had she ranked up after feeding from him. She was able to level using the xp she stole from the jungle.
Ping!
Quest: Slay The Demon Dryad
Reward: +20 CON +20 STR
Demon Dryad lvl80
Rank: Knight
The wards slammed into her like lightning striking a tree. Green, white, and red lightning struck, her pink wings withered, and she fell.
Demon Dryad lvl20
Rank: Knight
I landed just in front of where she cratered. Diabla and I joined our breathes together. The power of heaven and earth gathered to us, was transformed into qi, and then to aura. The halos upon her blade glowed with the unstoppable power we'd gathered.
"I just wanted to propagate. Why am I being punished for that? Don't you want a green world?" She asked.
Despite my wounds, I gripped my sword with both hands. Her ass never felt better in my hands. The grip was so comfortable, I couldn't get enough of the feeling. Diabla danced beside me cackling while the flames from her blade bathed the world in blue soul fire.
I knew I looked like some demon straight out of hell. My wings were spread out, blood covered my clothes, and bore down upon a green skinned lady. The flames came down and no one saved her. Her form only lasted a second before she was erased by the fires.
Ping!
Quest Completed: Slay The Demon Dryad
Rewarded: +20 CON +20 STR
Constitution 180
Strength 161
Ping!
Level Up …
Jacob lvl50 Black Sol Imp
HP and AP restored
+300 HP and AP
+30 to all stats
HP: 39.3k
AP: 86.1k
Half of the xp vanished before I could absorb it. Elsewhere, I felt another power grow. It held the same feeling as the power that helped me. Just as I sensed it, it vanished without a trace. I gripped the pommel as hard until I heard an eep.
"Stop pinching my butt." Diabla said.
I relaxed my grip. "Sorry, these wards are stealing xp."
Diabla turned her head to the side. "We need that right."
I sighed and rubbed my face and prepared for a long explanation about the importance of xp. She giggled. "I'm joking, can't you read me and here I thought we made excellent partners."
Ignoring her comment seemed like the best course of action. "Killing more of the guardians here might not be the best plan. We should get Gwen and leave this place." I said.
"Jacob, we're on his sacrificial alter and we've already taken up the knife. I thought it was weird he didn't mob us with all five guardians." She kicked over a pile of ash. "Well, it would make sense if he wanted us to kill them. These type of set ups have rules. I doubt he can sacrifice them himself or if he does his xp will be lower." I nodded.
That made sense. A knight killing a plebe would give much less xp than a plebe killing a plebe. The level difference just increased the xp gain. Even halved it would cheat the system. The natural soft locks of reality were being broken. That wasn't good. The pendulum swings both ways. A counter force would be called.
"I'm guessing these wards will keep us from leaving." Diabla nodded.
I closed my eyes and wanted to yell. A counter force could be literally anything from a veteran player appearing to an event appearing on nightmare XIII mode. That or a hunter will appear to kill anyone abusing the system. An admin may be called to alter the coding of reality. None of those options were a good thing. I had to move even faster. I had at most a couple hours to kill Dol and end this nonsense.
Diabla picked something up from the ashes. "Look at this. That bitch managed to propagate after all. Catch," she tossed me a seed the size of a baseball. A Zet worth of aura lay within the seed. It was the colors of the aura that intrigued me. Green, blue, and white swirled within the seed making up its pattern.
I placed it in my storage ring just as the doors opened behind us.
