Maximus smiled proudly at Sprout, who still hadn’t stopped the absorption process. Leaving him be, he opened his status.
Spirit Skills Unlocked:
Nature’s Command (B) – Usurped from a regional ruler, the Bramble Hollow, the spirit has gained the ability to connect to networks of plants and roots, allowing it to observe an area with a 100-meter radius. Plants closer to the spirit can be directly controlled.
Photosynthesis Heart (B) – An ability born from absorbing the experiences of the Bramble Hollow and influenced by the contractor’s desire to provide sufficient spirit energy. The spirit can now store an additional 500 spirit energy in a small, verdant crystal-like core within. This energy can be shared with the contractor if his spirit reaches 0.
Conditions to evolve Parasitic Control (A) have been fulfilled.
Parasitic Control (A) and Nature’s Command (A) are merging.
New skill unlocked: [Hollow’s Command (S)]
Hollow’s Command (S) – The spirit can connect to vast networks of plants and roots, allowing it to observe an area with a 300-meter radius. Plants within a 10-meter radius can now be controlled remotely, and simple commands such as defend, attack, and heal can be issued for autonomous action as long as the spirit remains rooted within range.
“By the stars, Sprout, you need to slow down, or you’ll leave old Maximus in the dust at the rate you’re growing.” Maximus smiled as Sprout detached his roots and lunged into his lap, now much larger and heavier than before.
“Whoa, buddy, you’re not that small anymore,” Maximus teased.
Sprout stared at him with his large eyes and frowned, his facial expressions now far more human-like. His body shone like a glowing lamp before he suddenly shrank back down to his original ten-centimeter size.
“Wow, you can adjust your size? Excellent!” Maximus rustled his leaves. “How about your other form?” he asked, intrigued.
Sprout’s whole body twisted, morphing into a much more deer-like creature. His new quadrupedal form had a small leafy tail, an elongated deer-like face, and two small emerald, almost crystal-like horns. His beast-like feet now resembled clawed limbs more than tangled roots, while bark-like emerald scales formed across his body, shining gently under the moonlight.
He leapt from Maximus’s arms and ran around him happily, his speed noticeably faster than before. “Hmm, I cannot say that I’ve ever seen such a form. Looks like a baby deer, but at the same time… a bit draconic as well? Especially the scales and the feet. You really are a special little spirit, aren’t you?” Maximus smiled gently, then added as his gaze shifted toward the large nest of wasps in the distance, “How about we go clear that out as well? Wasps usually can’t fly or fight well at night. This is the best chance we’re going to have. And who knows, we might find something interesting there too.”
Sprout chirped, jumped, and morphed back into his miniature humanoid form, landing on Maximus’s shoulder and clapping with approval.
Maximus nodded and reactivated his partial lupine transformation. Oh, wait, I could try shifting my eyes as well; wolves see far better at night. He focused on his vision. His pupils rippled and twisted, shifting into crimson, slitted shapes, and even without the cowl, his sight grew clearer and sharper. And if I add the cowl… He tested, pulling it over his head.
His vision shifted once more, merging with his lupine gaze as the entire area brightened, as if it were midday. Oh ho, the combination is even better. Amazing, good thinking, me. He chuckled and sped forward, lunging across the bramble, using the thorn-free stems as footholds.
***
It took Maximus not even ten minutes to arrive in the middle of the sea of bramble, where a large grey wasp nest loomed like a silent guardian.
“Sprout, you did a lot; let me deal with this one!” he said and cast Starlight Shower. The area lit up as a large magic circle spread across a 5-meter radius above the nest and released a rain of starlight comets.
WOOSH!
WOOSH!
BOOOM!
The comets descended like heavenly fury, igniting the nest like dry wood. Crackling flames and shrill screams devoured the silence of the night.
The wasps started crawling outside, confused and disoriented. They stumbled into one another, while others caught fire, flying like maddened suicide pilots into their kin, crashing into the bramble, buzzing wildly until their wings melted and their bodies fell still.
“A wretched necessity,” he sighed. He took no pleasure in massacring living beings, but if he let them live, their hunger would drive them to hunt once morning came, and he could not afford to risk his life or the lives of his companions.
As he watched, the entire nest began to collapse inward, crumbling onto itself and swallowing the confused insects into the waiting bramble below. “By the fading light, let this be the last time I must turn the heavens into a butcher’s knife. Burn, then. Burn until silence returns, and my heart forgets the sin of countless lives taken.” He let himself express freely without anyone judging him, as a sliver of old Aurelius flashed within his gaze while he exhaled heavily, the flames and the starlight shimmering within his lupine gaze.
Just then, from the burning rubble, a six-meter-long queen wasp rose alongside seven of her still-living guards, her pincers clicking furiously.
“You should have closed your eyes beside your kin. The heavens had already granted you freedom from this cursed existence…” he muttered and cast Vine Tendril: Violent Haze.
A ten-meter-long tendril of violet bark descended like the wrath of the forest, and the guardian wasps, still dazed by the night and chaos, lunged at Maximus only to be swatted from the sky like flies.
The tendril, along with their twitching bodies, fell into the bramble as a violet haze spread around the queen, dulling her senses and causing her wings to freeze intermittently mid-flight, dragging her slowly downward.
She buzzed furiously, slashing with her scythe-like limbs and sending sharp crescent waves toward Maximus.
He cast Cyclone Shell and Barkskin while summoning a single Storm Javelin, gripping it tightly in his red-furred claws.
He braced and used the raw power of his lupine limbs to hurl the javelin toward the wasp queen, far faster than the skill alone would have allowed.
ZOOM!
BOOM!
The javelin tore through the air and struck her head-on, the explosion sending her tumbling through the still-falling rain of starlight that continued to bombard her massive body.
With one final twitch, she fell.
You have defeated: [Hatchling Mantis Wasp Lv. 20] x 50
…
You have defeated: [Royalguard Mantis Wasp Lv. 28] x 7
You have defeated: [Mantis Wasp Queen Lv. 30]
Talent Points gained: +4
Battle Tokens earned: 3500
As he quickly scrolled through the notifications, he lunged forward toward the body of the queen that lay draped over the thorny stems and stored it away. A creature of such size and power would be a shame to let waste away here.
He then descended into the thicket and started digging through the remains of the massive nest. There, he found little of value, mostly dead larvae and hatchlings mixed in with charred workers and a few fallen guards, from whom he harvested several of the sharper, scythe-like limbs and stingers. His powerful claws ripped them off cleanly.
Just as all hope of finding anything worthwhile began to fade, Sprout suddenly jumped off his shoulder and scurried through the thorns and debris.
Moments later, he emerged, dragging behind him a head-sized egg that was somehow still intact.
“An egg?” Maximus furrowed his brows as Sprout lifted it with his vines, nudging it into his arms.
Maximus nodded slowly and grasped the still-warm egg.
[Mantis Wasp Egg (E)]
An egg of the Mantis Wasp species, still untainted by the hungering curse.Can be hatched but requires a spirit-energy-rich environment.
Energy to hatch: 29%
Time remaining to hatch: 30 days
Quest Created: Hatch and tame the creature by feeding it your spirit energy.
Rewards: New companion, 2 Talent Points
“Hmmm, no harm in having another companion. I might even gain some useful shapeshifting forms from it.” He paused, then nodded. “Alright, let’s store it for now. I can feed it spirit energy slowly over time.” He added, “Thanks, Sprout. Let’s head back now. Those two must be worried sick.”
***
They swiftly moved back through the thorns until they arrived at the remains of the head. Maximus stepped next to it and laid his hand atop its cracked forehead. Would be a shame to leave you like this. He thought and stored it as well.
Sprout, who was sitting on his shoulders, stared at him and blinked slowly.
“Don’t judge me, little one. Once you take a life, you need to use everything that remains to show that you are honoring its sacrifice, no matter if it was an insane, human-eating monster. Life is life… and well, you never know when you might need a large wooden head.” He chuckled at his own remark and sped off toward his beastly duo.
***
“Did you see that?!” Silex gasped as the sky beyond the small, solitary swamp ignited. Embi floated upward, whirring excitedly.
Both he and Vesper remained silent for a while, watching the distant glow, and once it faded, they both exhaled heavily.
“Boss went all out; it looks like,” Vesper said proudly.
“Ha, it’s easy to fight plants with fire. Why did we ever worry about that redhead?” Silex said, relaxing, just as something slid and landed beside him.
“So, you were worried about me?” Maximus asked with a smile.
“You bastard, why do you sneak around like a damn cat?!” Silex shouted, embarrassed.
“Boss, how did it go?” Vesper asked, concern still lingering in his voice.
“Very well. Our friend Sprout here did most of the work. The wasps and that plant are both dealt with. We can leave as soon as the sun rises,” Maximus explained.
“Well done, little one!” Vesper exclaimed, his tail wagging happily.
“Hah, even needs a plant to help him. How sad,” Silex chuckled.
“I could always use a new pair of boots. I hear reptile leather makes the best,” Maximus said seriously.
Silex gasped, maw hanging open. “You wouldn’t?!”
“Who knows?” Maximus winked and chuckled.
“Teasing bastard,” Silex exhaled.
“Come, let me tell you what happened while my spirit recovers.” He sat down by the campfire as Embi happily floated around him, and he began retelling the events.