Once the night fell, Maximus used his new shapeshifting ability to change his arms and legs into crimson, lupine, clawed limbs. He clenched his new hands and nodded, satisfied. The increase in power is noticeable. Less than the bear, but it’s faster and sharper. He noted as he punched out a few times to test the new increased strength.
Sprout climbed onto his shoulder, and Maximus turned to the two, “Stay here around the fire, where it’s warm. Embi will stay with you, and in case something happens, he will rush to notify me. If everything goes well, we will be back before morning.” Maximus explained and started climbing up the slope with his clawed limbs. Each claw sank deep into the soft ground, gripping firmly and letting him use it as leverage for an easier climb.
“Good luck, boss!” Vesper shouted as he lay around the fire, lazily stretched out. “What are you staring at?” Silex growled suddenly.
“You are worried about him as well.” Vesper noticed Silex’s lingering gaze, fixed on the slope.
“As if… all our food is with him, that’s all… and he usually needs me to protect him,” Silex muttered, looking away.
“Ah, yes. Where would he be without mighty Silex?” Vesper said teasingly, a grin tugging at his jaw.
“Even you know that it is so!” Silex nodded, completely unaware of the sarcasm.
***
Maximus climbed slowly, avoiding touching any bramble stems or roots, for that matter, in case the plant creature could sense him from afar.
It took him half an hour of slow crawling upward until he finally reached the top and the dirt path they had followed earlier in the day.
The moonlight barely pierced through the dense thicket as he carefully rushed toward the place where they had encountered the horrific head before. He used his simple spirit energy sensing technique to observe any changes around him while his lupine legs carried him forward with barely any sound escaping, thanks to the effects of his cowl.
Moments later, he stood beneath the last location where they had encountered the head, but currently, there was nothing there. “It is probably slumbering or waiting to attack like last time.” He took out his staff and prepared for the worst.
“Spectral Wolf, come, help us!” Maximus activated his skill, and a translucent wolf shimmered into existence beside him. “Hello, friend. Could you go investigate deep into this thick, thorny plant for me, please?” Maximus asked calmly.
The wolf nodded slightly and phased through the thorny stems, slipping deep into the heart of the area.A few moments later, the ground trembled, and the wolf came running back, snarling. Behind it, the bramble split open, and a large, wooden, emotionless head emerged, lashing out with its thorny vines.
“Good job, buddy. Help us if you can, but now it’s up to us!” Maximus said and activated Sanctuary. A verdant green zone of dense spirit energy surrounded him, Sprout, and the spectral wolf as slim thorn whips began clashing against the massive, tree-sized attacks of the bramble being.
The sanctuary’s thorns shattered as Maximus activated Cyclone Shell and enhanced Barkskin while dodging the attacks. Mid-dodge, he shot Storm Javelin, which precisely struck the head, piercing one of its emerald eyes.
BOOM! The javelin detonated in a swirl of sharp winds and furious lightning.
The eye, along with the left side of the head, disintegrated into splinters, while even more attacks descended as the head began regenerating at an incredible pace.
“Not good, it has near-limitless spirit energy to heal from! Sprout, teleport on top of its head after my next attack. Not before, alright?!” Maximus ordered as he cast Vine Tendril, pausing the activation while he positioned himself for a clean strike.
He ignited Gale Step, launching himself straight toward the head, his defenses, along with his armor, keeping him safe for a brief moment, and that moment was enough. He raised his hand and slammed it down as Vine Tendril erupted from the position his arm had just been, the emerald magic circle expanding as it activated.
A dark tendril the size of a large man’s arm crashed down like a felled tree. The bramble vines shattered under the weight as the tendril slammed directly into the head.
THWACK! CRUNCH!
The head gave in under the oppressive force as it was driven into the ground before the tendril snapped in half.
With the head forced down into the dirt, behind it was revealed a massive cluster of intertwined bramble stems spread endlessly, covering the entire area, and somewhere in the center, a large grey nest the size of a building stood surrounded by the thicket.
“Sprout, now!” Maximus roared as Sprout darted forward, landing atop the head and driving his roots deep into its cracked wooden skull.
As Sprout invaded the being, the entire region began to rustle and shiver, while the head released a loud, piercing buzzing that made Maximus clasp his ears, trying to dull the sound as it made his brain vibrate within his skull. Just what kind of creature is this? he gasped. This whole area is part of it! Maximus realized. There truly was no way of passing without defeating it here.
He used his connection to Sprout, pouring spirit energy into him while gripping his staff more tightly and swallowing a Cinder Seed. “Go all in; I’ll be your battery!” Maximus shouted as he pulled out an Emerald Crystal with his other hand and began absorbing its pure spirit energy rapidly.
Sprout sensed the surge of power and drove his roots deeper, piercing into the core of the being, merging and intertwining with its network of flowing spirit channels.
Despite the damage and its broken head, the being began drawing on decades of stored energy, pushing back and invading Sprout’s essence in return.
“Oh no, you won’t!” Maximus roared, lunged forward and landed beside Sprout, covering him with Sanctuary’s embrace.
Sprout, sensing Maximus’s concern and wanting to prove his own worth, let out a high-pitched, pained cry as the bud atop his head bloomed into a pure white flower with a bright green center. As it bloomed, a wave of calming floral scent spread across the entire area, weakening the head’s desperate resistance and even forcing Maximus and the Spectral Wolf to pause, staring at the small plant spirit giving everything it had to subdue a creature that ruled, a creature that likely had never lost since its creation.
Seizing the moment, Sprout pulled himself deeper, driving his roots into the very center of the creature, into its brain, into the dense cluster of channels, into a large, cannonball-sized core.
Sprout wrapped the core with his roots and pulled. As he did, the bramble being screamed, and a surge of energy exploded across the entire region, flooding into the head and into Sprout, blasting him outward in a violent eruption of spirit energy, but even through the chaos, Sprout never let go of the core.
EEEEEEEE!
A long, shrill scream echoed as the entire region suddenly fell silent, lifeless, leaving no trace that the creature had ever existed.
Maximus used Gale Step and surged forward, catching Sprout midair and landing softly with Slow Release, a smile breaking across his face. “You did great! I am so very proud of you!” he said gently as the flower on Sprout’s head closed back into a bud, and as it did, Sprout shut his eyes, and his whole body began to tremble.
As Sprout vibrated, his roots lengthened, stretching toward the fallen head. “Oh, I understand. Good idea!” Maximus said, placing him back down as the roots sank into the lifeless wooden husk, absorbing the immense stores of spirit energy within.
“Well, Spectral, we did it!” Maximus said, patting the small transparent head before the spirit faded away.
Maximus sat beside Sprout and glanced at the large orb he was holding.
[Bramble Hollow’s Spirit Core (B)]
The heart and brain of the ancient Bramble Hollow, a species unique to the Thistelon Realm. These parasitic entities are known to merge with the surrounding flora, mutating entire regions into living hunting grounds for their sustenance. They commonly form symbiotic relationships with insect-like species, creating self-sustaining ecosystems of predation. If not eradicated early, they become nearly unstoppable.
This particular core has been growing for the last twenty years, and the vast spirit energy contained within can be used to push a body into the next realm.
You have defeated: [Bramble Hollow Lv. 30]
Alert: You have accomplished an unexpected deed.
Skill appropriate for your Class rewarded [Dread Hollow (C)]
Talent Points gained: +10
Battle Tokens earned: 5000
Dread Hollow (C) – Spread your spirit energy in a radius of 4 meters, infecting all plants and ground around you and sprouting Bramble Hollow tendrils that strike your targets and drain mana or spirit while dealing crushing physical damage.
Current limit: 1% of your maximum spirit or mana per 10 seconds. The longer the tendrils hold a target, the faster the absorption becomes. Absorption rate increases by 0.5% for every 30 seconds a target remains entangled.
Due to your increased connection with your spirit, you can choose to transfer energy directly into the plant spirits.
Costs no spirit, but you must remain still for 1 minute while casting. Cooldown: none, but it continuously taxes your mind due to a direct connection with multiple tendrils.
“By the stars, who knew that plant-like abilities could be this strong? I truly missed out in my last life. Oh, the spells I’ll be able to create once I can tap into mana again!” He smiled, satisfied, as his eyes darted toward the glowing Sprout.
Sprout’s small humanoid form slowly grew as dark green bark formed across his body. His arms became slightly bulkier and more defined, while his legs thickened and extended. The leaves on his head slimmed down, while two small, horn-like branches grew from his forehead, his bud in the middle of his head slowly pulsing but remaining unchanged.
Then, with a gentle surge of verdant energy, Sprout opened his eyes, his form now nearly double its previous size, around thirty centimeters tall.
Skill Plant Spirit (E) has evolved into the skill Greater Plant Spirit (D)
Alert: The [Guardian Plant Spirit] has absorbed some of Bramble Hollow’s Skills
Note: Inspect your spirit's status to learn more.