Jake watched as over a dozen bizarre figures advanced toward him from various angles. Much like the wood golem, these beings didn’t appear to be mutants. Instead, they seemed to be magical constructs—twisted forms shaped by nature itself. They stood tall and bore a resemblance to human figures, but instead of flesh and blood, they were formed from gnarled branches and plant matter. Tangled vines coiled and intertwined, forming their torsos and limbs, creating beings that looked like something straight out of a waking nightmare.
Although their bodies resembled those of humans, their features were disturbingly distorted. Their arms were long and spindly, extending beyond natural limits. Some of the plant creatures sported hands that culminated in elongated claws, each finger tapering into a sharp, thorn-like tip that gleamed ominously. Upon closer examination, he saw that the tips of their fingers oozed a viscous fluid. It had to be some sort of poison.
This observation made Jake pause for a moment. Could he be affected by it? After all, his body was vastly different from a human’s, seemingly composed solely of some obsidian-like material and infused with mana. Then he recalled that there was a poison resistance listed in the menu of his resistances, which currently stood at zero. So, he could indeed be affected by poison after all. If any of those plant creatures managed to land a hit with their poison-dripping claws, it would likely have some negative effect on him.
Not all of the plant monsters had claws, though. He noticed that some of the creatures closing in on him from every direction didn’t have hands at all. Instead, their arms terminated in long, whip-like thorny vines, which looked quite menacing. Had he still been human, he definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be lashed by those whip-like tendrils. They looked powerful enough to rupture human flesh all the way to the bones.
The plant monsters continued to approach him from every direction. Leaves of various shapes and sizes sprouted from their bodies, but there was no life in them. Their faces, if they could be called that, were a patchwork of bark-like skin with hollow eye sockets, in which hovered emotionless eyes similar to those of the wood golem—ethereal orbs emitting a deep crimson glow. Unlike the golem, none of these minions possessed a mouth. With the creaks and rustles of their vine-like limbs, the plant monsters kept closing in on him. These creatures couldn’t truly be considered living beings. Instead, they were made of various plants, shaped to resemble human figures and animated by dark magic.
Jake used Enemy Appraisal on one of the nearest plant monsters to learn its weaknesses. He discovered that they were vulnerable to fire. While this piece of information was useful, none of the weapons he possessed could deal any elemental damage. If he had access to fiery weapons, he could likely have dispatched the plant monsters pretty quickly. Without any fire-based weaponry, he figured his only option was to tear through their plant-like bodies with his regular weapons.
One of the creatures finally closed in, raising its poison-dripping claws. Jake ducked, feeling the whoosh of air as the plant monster’s talons swept over him. Just then, Feral Instincts triggered an alarm, warning him of another impending attack from behind. He threw his body sideways, but the Dizzy negative effect was still in play, causing him to stagger and nearly lose his footing. Although he managed to remain upright, he wasn’t able to evade the strike, feeling the sharp claws rake across his back. Immediately, another system notification flashed through his mind.
You have just gotten a negative effect: Mildly Poisoned. You will be losing HP for a little while.
Another monster lunged at him. Jake tried to dodge its claws, but the Dizzy debuff threw his balance off, causing him to stumble into another plant creature. It instantly attacked, its claws raking across his chest and leaving deep gashes in his obsidian-black flesh. His Feral Instincts flared up again, warning him of yet another unseen threat. Before he could react, a whip-like thorny vine struck, leaving a long gash across his side.
This was just fantastic! Jake was furious now. These new types of monsters were proving much more dangerous than any ex-humans he had faced before. They moved with speed and agility, striking with enough force to leave deep gashes in his hardened body. Not even slashers or chasers—two of the most dangerous ex-humans he had met so far—could inflict such damage on him.
This shouldn’t have been surprising, though. After all, this hunt quest was marked as Hard for a reason. For the next several minutes, Jake concentrated on dodging their attacks, choosing not to counterattack. He knew he had to wait for the Dizzy debuff to wear off before he could regain full control of his body. With his movements shaky and unsteady, there was no way he could effectively evade attacks while simultaneously retaliating against his foes. So he focused entirely on defense for the next several minutes.
While he dodged and evaded enemy attacks, he occasionally checked his HP. The Mildly Poisoned debuff caused him to lose a few health points every minute. It wasn’t all that bad, but it was an issue he’d need to address later. He really needed to find a way to boost his resistances. None of the ex-humans—except for bloaters—he had encountered so far dealt any kind of elemental damage, so until now, he hadn’t had a reason to think about it. However, now that he started to encounter monsters using elemental attacks, he realized he really needed to somehow increase his resistances.
The Dizzy and Mildly Poisoned debuffs wore off almost simultaneously. As soon as they did, Jake charged at the nearest plant monster, lashing out with his claws. The tips of his talons tore into its chest, which turned out to be much denser and harder to penetrate than he had expected from a creature that appeared to be made entirely of plant matter. His claws left half-inch-deep gashes in the monster’s body, causing sap-like fluid to ooze from the wounds.
Feral Instincts kicked in again, sending him an alarm signal indicating a foe was about to attack him from behind. Without the slowing debuff, Jake was prepared this time. He ducked just in time as a whip-like vine shot over his shoulder, missing him entirely. Spinning quickly, he grabbed the vine with one hand and yanked, pulling the attached plant monster toward him. With his right hand transformed into a smashfist, he delivered a powerful blow to the creature’s face with enough force to blow its head apart.
Surprisingly, the now-headless plant monster was still alive. Unable to see, the monster lashed out with the thorny vine extending from its other shoulder blindly in the air, trying to hit Jake. He let go of its vine-arm and kicked the creature in the middle of its torso, sending it sprawling backward onto the ground. Jake immediately brought his foot down on it, stomping on its chest with enough force to create a huge hole through its body. Even without a head and sporting a gaping hole in its body, the plant monster was still alive. It now appeared to have trouble getting up from the ground, though. Deciding to finish it off later, Jake spun toward another enemy.
For several minutes, Jake battled the plant monsters, which turned out to be incredibly hard to kill. They seemed to lack any weak points on their bodies. Even without heads or after sustaining heavy injuries, they continued to fight fiercely. To slay a plant monster, Jake literally had to tear it to shreds, leaving only torn pieces of plant matter. Because of this, the fight was long and exhausting. He really needed to acquire some weapons that dealt elemental damage to dispatch such monsters more easily.
At long last, all the plant monsters were defeated, and the ground around him was littered with pieces of plant matter, along with shreds of tangled branches and intertwined vines.
Multiple enemies killed. +4500 XP
You have gained enough XP to level up. Your level went up from 61 to 62. You have gained 5 SP.
At least he had earned a good chunk of XP from those plant monsters. However, before allocating the earned skill points, he had to deal with the wood golem. He turned toward the massive creature, which stood in the middle of the clearing, watching him with its emotionless glowing eyes. Throughout his fight with the plant monsters, the golem had simply watched, refusing to join the fray.
Now, Jake needed to find a way to bring the massive monster down, and he had to do it quickly. Unsure of how often the wood golem could summon its minions, he wanted to avoid another prolonged battle with those plant creatures. He kept his gaze locked on the golem for a moment longer, and then a plan formed in his mind. Jake burst into a sprint toward the towering beast.