Lucas and Sarah were journeying towards the north of the shelter, through a thick forest that surrounded them, except for the two-meter radius around the shelter.
Lucas turned to glance behind him, and the shelter was still visible in the distance. They had already traveled a few meters into the forest, and Sarah followed closely behind Lucas, her face betraying her anxious thoughts.
"What are these?" Sarah asked, as they had only walked a short distance of less than ten meters and already stumbled upon something new.
In front of them, they spotted an uncommon plant with an unusual blue hue that caught Lucas's attention, as it seemed like a fascinating discovery.
Inquisitive, they both approached the plant and crouched down for a closer look.
"It looks normal aside from the blue stem and leaves."
Lucas nodded and was going to touch it but a notification popped in front of him.
-----
Rapacious Plant
Level 3
Origin- Plains of Amaeron
-----
Lucas's complexion turned ashen, and he quickly grasped Sarah's hand, who was still studying the plant with fascination. He urged her to retreat with him, and although Sarah was about to speak, an astonishing event occurred before she could say anything.
CRACK!
The soil below the plant cracked and a big blue mouth came out. They both looked at the creature with a pale face.
The previously harmless plant had suddenly turned into a menacing sight, as it grew rapidly to a height of 6 feet, towering over them. Its stem was thick and lengthy, tinted with an unusual blue hue, and at the top, there was a colossal mouth that resembled those of carnivorous plants found on Earth, but far larger in size.
"S-Shit!" Lucas exclaimed.
'The system saved us there, who knows wher-' HIs thoughts stopped when the big mouth of the plant swiftly came toward them. This time around, Lucas pushed Sarah to the left and hastily moved right.
Sarah had frozen on the spot with wide eyes so Lucas had to take action on his own. The sudden jerk to her shoulder made Sarah fall to the left outside the rapcious plant's trajectory.
"Aaahh!" She exclaimed, her knee twisted making it sprain.
The head of the plant had traveled a few meters. It finally stopped with a jerk.
"He can't move beyond its reach, Sarah! run!" Lucas shouted with a frown. It was a huge mistake traveling so carelessly without anything to protect themselves with, other that the crudest spear in existence.
The ferocious plant moved his head to the wailing girl on the ground. Lucas knew it's intentions were no good.
He gritted his teeth and moved to the plant after closing off his brain. If he had thought with his brain, it was the worst decision yet he was dumb enough to try it.
"Get the fuck away from her!" Lucas bellowed, as he struck the flexible and mobile stem of the plant near its head. The plant convulsed and the stem fell with a thud, forcing the head to lower as well. However, the plant made no sound, as if it lacked any means of communication.
"Sarah!" Lucas shouted yet again. sarah looked at his furious expression with gritted teeth. She was going to ask for help like always.
"Get the fuck out of here quickly!" he said, the spear was not going to last long. He had already thought about the situation where it breaks and the head comes up again. But before it, he had to make sure Sarah leave.
Sarah gave a single glance at him and made herself get up. With pain evident in her eyes. She started limping toward the shelter. Lucas kept on forcing the stem to stay down. It was taking all his strength to keep it down.
The idea of moving back came into his mind yet he knew that if he were to lose the pressure on the strength. He would get jerked back and the survival rate would definitely go down.
"Come on, keep moving Sarah! You have to get to the shelter, now!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth.
"But what about you, Lucas?" She asked with panic, with the limping leg, it might have been slow yet she had come out of the danger. She could reach the shelter on her own yet Lucas was still in danger and mostly because of her.
"Just go! I'll be right behind you. I promise."
Sarah hesitated for a moment but eventually started limping faster, making her way back toward the shelter.
Lucas, with all his might, continued to hold down the stem of the rapacious plant, sweat pouring down his face. The stem was getting more and more difficult to hold down as the plant struggled to get free.
"Just a little longer...just a little longer."
He was finally at his limit, the muscles of his arms and shoulders went numb. He couldn't tell whether he was applying pressure right or not.
The stem suddenly jerked and the rapacious plant moved up, sending Lucas flying back several feet.
THUD!
"Fuck.." Lucas grumbled, his head felt dizzy from the impact, he was lucky enough to hit the tree with his back that took the impact without much worry. He got up and started moving behind Sarah's figure who was looking at him and calling out with panic.
The plant moved its head around a bit trying to get the feel of the movement again, it had no
eyes, just a face and it moved toward Lucas who was making his way through while taking the tree's support.
Sarah on the other hand could look at the plant readying itself to shoot again.
"Shit Shit Shit shit, this can't be happening." As Sarah held her head, she began to panic, overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events. The memory of Lucas saving her from the savage plant flashed through her mind, giving her a sense of reassurance. She took a deep breath and fixed a resolute gaze on her hand.
The thinking took place for only a few seconds and soon, a ball of fire formed on her hand. She knew holding it for long was a lost cause.
"Lucas! DUCK!" She shouted and threw the fireball straight. Her trust in Lucas had increased by a fold.
Lucas saw the upcoming fireball, it wasn't really coming toward him yet he still obliged and ducked down. The fireball made its way into the air fast and hit the plant right inside the mouth.
BANG!
"Kyaa!!" She exclaimed in joy and grimaced in pain later, but it was worth it. Her aim which was either from luck or adrenaline had hit the bullseye.
The plant made its way up and down the ground smashing its head everywhere. The sound of sizzling came out of its mouth with smoke. Sarah and Lucas looked at it with different emotions.
[You have helped kill the creature of Amaeron- Rapacious Plant of Level 3!]
[+25 EXP]
[Level up!]
[+1 Stamina, +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 Mana, +1 intelligence]
[+3 free points]
Sarah limped her way toward Lucas. They both were hurt badly in their own way. While Sarah had sprained her legs, Lucas's back was hurting badly from the impact.
"Lucas! I am level 1 now!" Sarah said with excitement. She was hurting yet the achievement was big for her.
"Congratulations! I leveled up too… and my wounds are unusually okay too." Lucas leaned back, wincing slightly as he felt a twinge of pain from the pressure against his back. He was aware of the sizable bruise he had sustained earlier, but surprisingly, the pain seemed to have lessened a bit since the last time he checked.
"You scared me with that loud sound when you hit that tree," Sarah said, shivering at the memory. She could almost feel the pain that Lucas was experiencing just by imagining it.
"The points I got from leveling up helped me feel good. Believe me, I wouldn't be walking right now with my wound." He chuckled and opened his status.
===
Lucas Garde
Sex- Male
Level 2
Origin- Planet Earth
Exp- 9/50
Strength- 8
Intelligence- 9
Stamina- 6
Dexterity- 14
Mana- 11
Free Points- 3
Skills- Shelter Generation(rare- level 1), punch(extremely common-level 1), unarmed combat(extremely common- level 1)
===
'The stats have increased again, I feel good too. This time the free points will go to mana.' Lucas thought and looked at the body of the rapacious plant, it was on the ground with it's whole length outside the ground. Lucas squinted his eyes and looked at it's face that was open wide, something was shoning lightly inside it's mouth.
Lucas staggered his way toward the plant under Sarah's confused gaze. He came near the head which was half the size of his body.
"What is that?" Lucas crouched down with a groan and moved his hand inside the plan't mouth.
"W-What are you doing?" Sarah panicked and tapped his shoulder in fear.
Lucas stayed silent and touched the blob of light inside the mouth. His hand felt like burning but he didn't react, too embarrassed to show Sarah his mistake.
'Fuck, the insides of the mouth is obviously acidic, how dumb can I be.'
He picked the nearest small stick and poked the blob of light. With three or four attempts, the skin tore and a small ball came out of it with a slimy juice.
—
Mana core
Quality- Common
—
"Mana core!"