Chapter 99 - Arrogance Supreme

Everything in front of me had been split like Moses with the red sea… except it had done so horizontally. I wasn't even sure how, I just planned to cut through it enough to deflect the water away from me. This was a bit… much. So much so, that I had even hit the Spellcasters. The sight hits my eyes as the water flies over my head and cascades around my feet.

The mage, who was about half a foot taller than me, had a shallow cut into her stomach, the cloth horizontally shredded in that area, and had fallen back on her butt, unconscious. However, the druid was probably 3 or four inches shorter, and their chest was what received the blow. They had no visible damage, and even the pecs were shaped in a way that I couldn't tell if it was just a chest or… otherwise. The part that got to me the most, however, was the complete lack of a set of nipples.

"… Holy shit. Are you an actual tree or something, or just biologically non-binary? That's cool as hell."

The druid doesn't seem to agree with me, their face flustered bright red as they raise their stick high.

"Cursed Arbor Magic! Wilting Branches' Embrace!" an embarrassed voice cries, and trunk-sized branches reach out from the ground, trying to wrap around me, the others, and Ro, who somehow still got hit by the water and was still mostly unaffected, even saying a quick "huh. Must be raining."

Off to the side, Yorun stands behind Termi, who has planted herself to sit on her shield, which is currently resting on a squashed giant. "Hey, those look dangerous!" She calls out to us, and I sigh. "Thank you so much for that great info," I mutter, swiping my sword and focusing Mana into it.

"Uh…"

The branches keep closing in, since I didn't slash through them this time. "What the hell?" I yell as I jump and run around, trying to avoid the branches closing in on me like a cage. "Why isn't it working?!"

[Swing For the Fences! (Uncommon Active Skill): By invoking the improved style of a baseball player from Earth, the user can send out a ranged slash of Mana from their weapon.

Cost: Varies on size — Cooldown: 1 second

Activation Requirement: Batter Up!]

"Activation Requirements?! What the hell!!"

<Activation Requirements are specific conditions that must be met in order to activate a given Skill.>

I duck under and around a few more branches, but my clumsiness catches up to me, and my foot snags on a loop in the bundle of sticks, sending me tumbling. "No shit! What the hell does Batter Up even mean?" I groan as I try to make my way to my feet — but the same foot is now locked to the ground at an awkward angle.

A flash in my head gives me a slight buzz as I feel Alyphia jump in. 'A "hitter" doesn't swing their bat willy-nilly, my Disciple. Take up a batter's stance, and swing with all your heart!'

'Did she just say "willy-nilly?" I swear, she's getting worse.'

'…I can hear your thoughts, you know.'

I slash down the roots holding my ankle, allowing me to stand, just to see I'm now locked in a thick cage of thorny branches, braided around themselves to make them thicker and sturdier while they slowly sink into the ground. Eniyala, Lynsel, and the Healer are in another, Termi and Yorun are away from the mess with the other big man on one side, and Ro and A-quack-o are on the other. Ro is still unbothered, pieces of wood scattered around him. 'For a swordsman, he sure is sturdy.'

'A swordsman? My lovely Klum, that is NOT a swordsman.'

I brush off Alyphia for now as I take her advice — I set my feet, grabbing my sword in both hands and raising it to just above my right shoulder. I feel warmth and see a slight purple glow from behind me, signaling it was working. This was soon accompanied with another message.

[Skill Swing For the Fences! has been activated.]

Remembering my form from before, I swing my sword out, instinctually morphing the blade into a wider shape. A solid dark purple line forms from the edge of my weapon, pushing through the air to cut a large gap in the branches in front of me. The slash is so wide that it shears the top of Eniyala's cage off as well, and flies towards the druid.

"Playful Dryad's Curtain!"

A wall of tree trunks rises in front of them, and the slash burrows into that instead, cutting almost three-quarters of the way through before dying out. It puts enough force into it to give me time to climb out of the still-burrowing mini prison, and looking over I see two fire chains lifting Eniyala up, three more rocky ones carrying Lynsel and Healer lady. "All good?" I yell, and Eni flashes me a thumbs up before having the chains carry the three over to Termi. "Cool, yeah. I'll just take care of this wood nut by myself. Mhm, leave it to me."

I knew if she could hear me, she'd beat my ass, so I ensure I keep my volume low as I speak to Eniyala's back.

Shaking that train of thought from my head, and the weariness of several weeks out of my limbs, I start running in the druid's direction. Cracking and creaking sounds fill the area; the tree wall is falling. From behind it, a twisted, larger tree begins forming from twirling branches that snake around each other slowly. A thick trunk begins to form from its middle, a hole in its center for the druid. Bushes cluster upon its top, giving the tree cover as more branches spread outwards. The roots dig underground, wriggling furiously. The whole thing seems huge, but it's only about 20 feet tall. The tree itself sways back and forth, numerous branches and roots flying my direction.

I burst out laughing, pointing my blade at A-hello. "You're not even close to being on their level! How can you be so arrogant?"

I feel everyone staring at me as if to say "you're one to talk," but I ignore them all as I run towards the thrashing wooded limbs.

"Let's see what you got!" I laugh again, feeling genuinely excited for this new challenge.

* * *

A certain Dragonling was polishing his "shiny" during the whole exchange. His cloth has been imbued with small amounts of his breath, resulting in two Curses: Loss of Hearing, and Loss of Sight.

Of course, he was too stupid to know this.

A heavy gust of wind had brushed his face earlier, then a slight spurt of rain. Finally, a branch or something had tried to grab him, so he had simply smacked it away like a bug. After all, he had better things to do!

Finally, his single-minded focus weans as his shiny is shone to perfection. He's still able to see it, not due to his vision, but thanks to his Treasure Hunter Skill, which allows him to see anything of value to him up to 3 miles away.

Putting the cloth and shiny back in his storage cube, he blinks as the carnage in front of him comes into view. "What's going on?"