I didn't know how to feel about this. Kazu's suggestion of using his staff's ability to burn down the vines was pretty risky considering that we were surrounded by a wall of trees, but the fact its power was able to nullify the vines' regeneration would allow us to get through the [Black Willow's] defenses and charge in with a full-frontal attack. Regardless, I decided to go through it not just because of our limited time here, but also for Kazu and Bai Hu's sake as well. We had endured everything that crazy tree had thrown at us in this battle and right now, it's payback time!
[Kazu, are you ready on your end?] I mentally asked through the game's whisper feature as a precaution to avoid getting any attention from the monsters.
[All ready! But are you sure that this plan is going to work?]
[Trust me. I've seen like plans like this in movies and I only need your staff for the second phase of this plan. If you can do it again, then it will be a success.]
We had done some tests not long before while we were concealed in another [Mana Barrier] and right now, the monsters were still looking for us due to Kazu destroying most of their vines. We used another [Smoke Bottle] to cover our tracks and to ensure that we were able to split up and get into our positions for this phase. After that, it's all up to our old lady luck to see through this fight's climax.
[Okay, if you're confident about this plan, then I'm ready. Just give me a signal when you're ready!]
With Kazu prepared, I figured it was time to teach those tree monsters not to mess with the Palmer brothers. Of course, I needed to get their attention.
"Hey, you dumb vines! Everyone says that you're tough enough to beat Bai Hu. Yet you can't even kill a kid and a teenager in just a few seconds? Just how slow are you?"
I didn't know if I should cringe at this or slap myself for that lame insult, but it had provoked them enough for them charge towards me and began trying to break through the barrier. As they did that, I took out my bow and two arrows and aimed towards the sky. And once the barrier broke after a few seconds, I unleashed another [Arrow Shower].
"Kazu, now!"
Using one of the [Physical Enhancement] abilities, I took a step back away from the vines just as the arrows from my [Arrow Shower] rained down on the [Malevolent Vines] right in front of me. But that was not the only attack we used against those monsters. Once the last arrow struck one of the vines, several bolts of lightning flashed and shocked them all from behind before setting them on fire, causing them to flail in pain. However, not all of the vines caught on fire as some of them quickly charged towards me, at which I quickly ran. Unfortunately for them, I headed straight towards Kazu who was standing at the ready.
"Did any of the vines escape your attack?"
"Yep," I replied. "Guess we're moving on to Phase 2. This means..."
I took out another arrow, but instead of loading into my bow, I handed it to Kazu and said, "It's time we set them ablaze."
Kazu nodded as he took it and tapped it against his staff. Once he did, its stones began to glow as it gave off a small spark on the arrow and ignited the tip with a small flame. Once he handed it back to me, I quickly loaded it into my bow and with precise aim, I released the bowstring, letting the fire arrow fly towards and strike through the vine, setting it on fire as the vine flailed and thrashed wildly.
"Hah! It's working!" I exclaimed and smiled at this.
"Yeah! I know trees burn easily, but I never imagined my staff's power could disable its regeneration abilities as well!" Kazu added. "But this is our chance to strike back!"
"Right! We've come this far and we're not letting you monstrosities run amok in this forest anymore!"
With that, both of us continued our crusade against the vines. Using Kazu's staff as a flint, I continued to ignite the tips of my [Wooden Arrows] and turn them into makeshift fire arrows. And to make this a bit confusing for the [Black Willow], we continuously switched places so that Kazu could cast his [Thunder] spells towards the vines, which he took advantage of his newfound ability to cast spells without incantations to use each of them in quick succession. Eventually, after a few minutes, most of the vines were burned to ashes, and we rushed in front of the boss monster itself, ready to take on the haunted tree.
"It's over, [Black Willow]! You have no more vines left! Give up and face your destiny!"
Unlike the previous one, I didn't cringe when I heard his declaration towards the tree monster. To be honest, it might've been for the best since I could see how mad the twisted tree was upon seeing its weapons destroyed by our own hands. Before it could attack though, I quickly aimed my fire arrow at it and shouted, "[Corkscrew Pierce]!"
Once I fired it, the arrow started to spin in mid-air before it pierced the monster's lower area, causing it to screech in pain. The attack's effects allowed the arrow to pierce through its defenses, both statistically and figuratively in this game and the tree flailed around even more. I quickly moved out of the way as Kazu aimed his charged staff at the Willow.
"My turn! [Lightning Scatter]!"
Once more, several lightning bolts scattered around the area as the trees' flames began to increase. At this point, I started to become a bit worried. Due to Kazu's abilities as a magician, his spells were much more powerful than my [Wind] skills and that meant there was a chance he might unknowingly spread the flames to other unaffected trees. So it was up to me to let him know when to stop.
As this whole battle is unfolding, Kazu and I managed to deal heavy damage to the [Black Willow] and its cronies. But I was surprised that what we had turned this into an equal battle against the monsters. Not to mention his ability allowed him to switch between spells during each cooldown, allowing him to shoot down several stray vines that the Willow summoned.
And as time passed, I saw its stats via my [Investigate] ability.
[Black Willow]
[Level: 25]
[HP: 419/800]
[Condition: Burned]
[Burned]
[The person afflicted to this condition will cause their [HP] to decrease over time and incapacitate them at random times. The damage will increase if the afflicted is weak to Fire.]
Nice. Not only was their health half-gone, but the effects of this status condition will increase the ongoing damage due to its weakness. It might've been a monster, but it was based on an ordinary tree before and retained all weaknesses. The Black Willow might have known this as it continued to screech painfully as it sprouted more living vines from the ground to attack us.
"Kazu, switch!" I quickly took a step back as he raised his staff and gathered more electricity into it.
"Right! We already know your tricks, [Black Willow]! So give it up already!"
As he released several more lightning bolts, I drew my sword and charged in with several slashes on the burning vines before I turning to the boss monster next. This caused it to strike back by spitting out several seeds and threw hard apples towards me. However, I quickly reacted by using my sword's blade as a shield to block them before I shouted, "[Counter Slash]!"
As the ability stated, I quickly swung my sword in a circular motion, which not only deflected the other seeds but also cut down several small branches that were attached to the Willow. What's more, another bolt of lightning struck the tree again as I jumped down from it, causing some of the branches to burn, and preventing the [Black Willow] from regenerate them.
"Nice job, Kazu!" I called out to him. "Perfect timing and execution!"
"Thanks! I should say the same for you with your awesome sword skills! I never seen anyone cut down seeds and apples like that before."
I doubt anyone seen has seen anyone cutting an apple with a sword at all. But still, our recent attacks had caused much more damage to the monsters. I even saw one of the [Malevolent Trees] fall to the ground and burning to ashes with one last screech. Guess it wasn't strong enough to survive the intense flames, unlike its boss.
[Black Willow]
[Level: 25]
[HP: 320/800]
[Condition: Burned]
Once I saw the latest stats on the Willow, I knew we were getting close. With one of its minions dead, it was only a matter of time until we defeat the plague's source once and for all. And with Kazu using more spells to damage it while taking care of the now weakened vines, I felt we would win this bout. But then, before I could fire another [Arrow Shower], the [Black Willow's] screech somehow changed its pitch from high to slightly low. The sound reminded me of a monster whale noise that I'd heard from a B-movie once. Something wasn't right. It's [HP] is almost at its critical health, but it had started to change its attack pattern a little bit. I thought that might be normal here since it was trying to use everything in its power to kill us. But just as I finished off another [Corrupting Vine], I heard something breathing down behind me and before I could turn around, I heard Kazu once more.
"Wind, heads up!"
I widened my eyes when I heard my brother shout. Knowing his warnings were not to be taken lightly, I quickly turned around and prepared my blade as the menacing tree preparing to spit something. I figured it was his seed attack, so I prepared a [Counter Slash] along with a [Parry] to negate it. But once it spits, I raised my blade... and noticed that it just missed completely.
I was confused. Why had their attack missed? Did the burns somehow affect its accuracy? Or did it target someone...
Oh no... Kazu was right behind me and that strange yellow seed passed by my shoulder. So that means...
"Kazu, look out!!!"
Unfortunately, my warning didn't reach him in time as I watched him get hit by the seed, which to my surprise, burst into a cloud of yellow dust around him. To my horror, Kazu began to cough as I watched him drop his staff and fall towards the ground. I-I couldn't believe it. I knew it was strong enough to hurt us, but I never expect that it was able to target someone else. At that, I remembered that Arthur had mentioned that if you deal a lot of damage to a monster, you will gain a lot of [Hate] from it and it would see you as its next target. And while Kazu had damaged it a lot, he mostly focuses his spells on the vines and the [Malevolent Trees] to nullify any ambushes. So why did it target him despite my attempts to draw its attention away from him?
Regardless, I shouted his name as I rushed over to him and cut down the last of the burning vines to save him. But once I reached him, I noticed that his movements were rigid and he seemed to be struggling just to move his.
"W-Wind..."
I quickly shushed him as I look around his body. "Don't move. That seed did something to you and there is no way I'm leaving you alone for one second!" He seemed to be weakened from the attack, but I didn't see any signs of poisoning. However, I could hear him grunt as he tried to raise his right arm, but he eventually gave up and lowered his arms again as he groaned.
"Easy for you to say. I-I can't move my arms or legs at all!" he exclaimed. "I can't even reach my staff to cast more spells against that jerk tree!"
Seriously?! Just what kind of seed or fruit had it spit on Kazu? I quickly opened up his stats to check on his condition.
<Kazu> [Party Member]
[HP: 132/340]
[Condition: Paralysis]
Wait?! That's the same condition I had during our battle with Bai Hu! We didn't have any medicine to cure it, so that meant Kazu would be out of commission for a while. But why him? I was right in front of the [Black Willow] and yet, it had just ignored me and targeted my little brother instead. I turned around to face the monstrous tree, but to my shock, it flashed that creepy smirk and cackled at our predicament as it shook out the last of the flames around its body. At first, just seeing made me shiver in fear. But after what it did to my little brother, I could almost feel something burning inside of me. Rather than fear, worry, or hopelessness, I felt like wanting to rip its twigs out and chop its torso in half. Usually, whenever I faced one of Kazuki's bullies, I was able to hold back most of my strength to avoid hurting them physically. But considering this Willow was more ruthless than those bullies, I decided to make an exception this time. Besides, hurting Kazu right in front of me and laughing at us was a big mistake.
"W-Wind..."
I heard Kazu groan behind me as I stood up and prepared my sword and bow. Just seeing him injured reminded me so much of that day, and I refused to let it happen again in this virtual world.
"D-Don't... Y-You can't beat it... alone..."
"I know. That's why I'm going to end this once and for all," I said as I raised my sword right and faced the boss. My brother was paralyzed from that last attack and his [HP] is already at red. I was not gonna let him die by that tree monster. "If I'm going to die for your sake, then I'm taking that Willow down with me!"
Yeah, I knew it was reckless, but it was the only way. So I raised my sword and...
"S-Spirits of thunder... g-give me a meager of your power t-to paralyze my enemies..."
Kazu?
"[S-Static... Stun...]"
Before I knew it, a small bolt of electricity suddenly flew past my shoulder and hit one of the branches on the [Black Willow]. Was that... Kazu's...?
"I-I told you, W-Wind..." I turned around and gasped to see Kazu weakly aiming his staff at me. I guessed I had been blocking the aim at his real target. "W-We have to beat that thing together... T-That's why... I won't let you fight it alone...!"
"Kaz..."
I'm speechless at this. What he did might've injured him further, but he refused to let his condition stop him from finishing what we had started. This was a far cry from the Kazuki I knew and yet, I was touched by it. I couldn't say that he was only doing this to remain useful no matter what, but I could tell that he refused to let me go on alone. The [Black Willow] is already on its last legs and if we wanted to beat it for good, then I had to borrow his magic one more time for this battle.
"Man, you are a pain when it comes to this stuff. But then again, the characters you've made in our RPG campaigns seem to share your determination as well. Guess you're starting to become your favorite character, huh?"
Kazu's face turned red as I gave him a small grin, at which I guessed my compliment (and a little bit of teasing) got through to him. Teasing aside, he did seem to be like a shonen hero a lot thanks to the bravery behind his shy disposition, not to mention the stories he had read inspired him to break out of his cowardly nature. But all that aside, since he was still paralyzed from the [Black Willow's] attack, there was still a chance that it might shake off its [Burn] condition once more. So if we wanted to defeat it, then we had to act fast. Luckily, I had one more trick just for this situation.
"Well, you do what you need to do, Kaz. I'll try to incapacitate that monstrous pile of twig from up close!"
"B-But how are you going to that? You might... get poisoned again..."
That was true. Even if we found a way to stop the vine's regeneration ability, that Willow might find a way to grow back its [Corrupting Vines] and poison us once more.
"That's true. But that just means I can't let it get the first strike on me."
As vague as that sounded, but I decided that actions speak louder than words. With my sword in hand, I took a few steps forward as I glared at the [Black Willow], and as it screeches as the ground starts to quake, I quickly ran towards it. I knew this was my only chance. With Kazu paralyzed and the boss on its final legs, I know that this next attack had to count. First, though, I needed some leverage and that vine growing out of the ground was the perfect stepping stone. I jumped onto and then from the vine before it can attack me and raised my sword towards the Willow. Unfortunately, when I did jump, I realized that even with the vine increasing my jump, I still couldn't reach the willows' height in the process. But...
"Spirit of Sylph, hear my call," I whispered as I put my left hand behind me. "Create the wind that is gathering all around me. Help me release the gale to push back my foes!"
As I said this, I could feel the wind blow behind me as it gathered in my left palm. Once that was done, I take one good look towards the [Black Willow] before I shouted, "[Gale Force]!"
With one full black of air behind me, I find myself being blown towards the Willow. I did my best to keep my and once I got close enough, I raised my sword and swung it several times at the tree's face before using the remaining blast of air from my left hand to blast myself away from it before it could retaliate.
"Kazu now's your chance!" I shouted as I tried my best not to lose my balance from the second blast and avoid any problems landing. Once I regained balance, I can hear Kazu's voice from below.
"I call the thunderous spirit of my aura. Let my small spirit dashed through my staff with this power! [Lightning Bolt]!"
As soon as he said the last word for his incantation, I quickly spun myself away from the line of fire and sheathed my sword once more, at which a bolt of lightning passed me and made a clean hit in the monster's face. And because of the spells special attributes, the [Black Willow]quickly exploded in flames and screeched in pain again.
"Spirit of Sylph, hear our call. Trap our enemies into the gale of storms and imbue our weaponry with your blessings!" I then chanted as I aimed my right hand towards the burning tree in front of me. "[Tempest Blow]!"
With that, the whole domain became enveloped in a small tornado and a strong gust of wind blew by my face, and I started falling slower now. However, something else began to happen. Fire needs oxygen and with this strong gust containing more oxygen than the usual air around our atmosphere, I knew it would either blow most of the flames away or...
FWOOSH!!!
It would fuel the fire around the Willow. And with its body made of wood, I knew it would burn within minutes. Unfortunately, there was one aspect of the plan that I had overlooked.
BAAAM!!!
"Yeowch!"
The landing...
"Ow... I hope that didn't hurt me as much as the Willow has..." I groaned as I tried to get up, and I saw Kazu right next to me on the ground. Thankfully, I had only been dealt about 30 points of damage from that fall thanks to my [Wind] magic. But once I recovered, my eyes widened at the new scene right in front of me.
[SKREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!]
What was once a horrifying monster plaguing us had become a burning shell of its former self. The Willow screeched and flailed around as it tried in vain to put itself out. I saw its [HP] drop rapidly. And despite how strong the tornado's gust was, it continues to fuel and spread the flames around the Willow. It tried to attack us once more with its vines, but the vines just ended up caught in the fire and ended up flailing about to extinguish them. Even more, many of both the dying and healthy trees are also caught up by the flames, which I wanted to put out immediately, but I knew the growing flames might be too much for us to handle at the moment. As we looked on, the final [Malevolent Tree] succumb to the flames as its trunk and branches broke down in ashes, now screeching to its final breath.
"Whoa..."
That was all I could say at the time as I found myself utterly stunned at this horrifying, yet beautiful scene playing right in front of us. When I turned back to Kazu and helped him back to his feet, I noticed his reaction was the same as mine. We watched as the [Black Willow] was consumed by the flames and, after a few more seconds, it lay there silent.
[Black Willow]
[Level: 25]
[HP: 5/800]
[Condition: Burned]
It still had about 5 [HP] left, yet the tree remained motionless as their body crumbled in ashes. As we watched, I noticed something glowing in the ashes. With the [Tempest Blow] about to expire, it blew most of the ashes away, which allowed us to see what was glowing within the remains of the boss monster. To our surprise, it was a purple seed. I guessed it must've been the heart of the [Black Willow]. I thought about stabbing and killing it, but then I remembered what Bai Hu said about how it could regenerate with time, which he learned during his previous attempts to destroy it and the plague. So maybe...
"Kazu."
"H-Huh?" Kazu weakly spoke up. "What is it?"
"Do you have enough [MP] to cast one more spell?"
It was a sudden request, but we needed to finish this boss once and for all. And right now, Kazu was the only one who could eliminate it for good. Thankfully, he silently nodded "yes" as he narrowed his eyes and tried to raise his staff at the seed. But as he did, he suddenly stopped, dropped his staff and groaned in pain. I guess his [Paralysis] had seriously impeded his movements a lot. I was not about to leave him to his own devices in that state, though, so I picked the staff up and handed it back to him.
"D-Don't worry... I-I can do this...," he muttered as he tried to keep his grip onto my shoulder. "W-We need to finish this... For Bai Hu..."
I didn't say anything else because we both already knew what to do next. I helped him aim his staff towards the seed and no sooner did he declare a [Lightning Bolt] spell than the seed became consumed by fire.
[Black Willow]
[Level: 25]
[HP: 0/800]
[Condition: Dead]
[NOTICE]
[You have defeated <Tested Wild's> true boss, [Black Willow]!]
Finally, it was over. The monster that had almost destroyed the whole forest and the plague that is killing everything in its wake, the one that almost killed me, my brother, and the guardian of the <Tested Wilds>, was gone. The [Black Willow] was dead, this time for good.
"I-It's gone... The [Black Willow] is gone!" Kazu perked up in spite of his condition.
"Yeah. It's all over." I muttered. "Looks like we can rest easy now."
To be honest, that fight was pretty tough considering our current levels. But because of our teamwork, we managed to win.
[NOTICE]
[Because of the [Black Willow's] death, the mysterious plague has finally disappeared.]
Once that notice appeared in front of me, the poisonous fog that was enveloping the wall of trees started to disperse, while the vines wrapped around the trees began to rot and crumble in dust. It looked like everything was going back to normal.
That is until I noticed that the flames on the previously unaffected trees that were left over from the fight were still burning.
"Oh no..." I muttered in panic as my eyes widened after seeing the fire start to spread. We had been so focused on the fight that we hadn't noticed the remaining flames that had been scattered from Kazu's spells were now spreading around the unaffected trees. If we left them burning, there was a chance it could start a forest fire, and just after we had gotten rid of that plague too!
Even worse, I turned around as the white tiger himself appeared right behind us, and noticed the fire.
"U-Uh... We can explain..."
----
Current Quest: Destroy the Plague *** [Special Quest]
Status: In Progress
Party Members:
[Wind]
[Kaz]
----
Wind's Masteries
[Archery] Level 16
[Woodcrafting] Level 7
[Swordsmanship] Level 16
[Cooking] Level 4
[Wind] Level 12
[Physical Enhancement] Level 14
[Hunting] Level 13
----
Kazu's Masteries
[Arcana] Level 19
[Thunder] Level 15
[Wind] Level 14
[Alchemy] Level 12
[Magecrafting] Level 10
[Magical Affinity] Level 17
[Scribe] Level 4