"Cut anything in front of us!" Alex yelled. Glint accelerated, bounding past Alex despite his shorter legs, and tore into a root as it lifted to bind the monster's legs.
Unfortunately, the small monster wasn't anywhere near enough to actually take on the entire forest on his own. There were hundreds of trees in their path, and every single one of them seemed to have woken up at the same time.
Roots reached for Alex and Claire from every direction. Their only saving grace was that their enemies, no matter how numerous, were still trees. The roots moved slowly and the trees weren't close enough to each other to completely wall off his path.
With Glint tearing up the path before them, it was manageable. Alex bounded over an extending root and twisted out of the way of a brittle, leafless branch that reached for his neck. His breath came out in short bursts as he pressed himself, moving as fast as his body would allow him to.
Trees whipped by. Blood pumped, more adrenaline than oxygen, and the edge of the forest drew closer with every step. Alex pushed himself even harder, unable to keep a grin from starting to form on his lips.
There was no doubt in his mind that if even a single tree managed to trip him up, he was dead. The roots would have him bound completely in seconds. But, despite that, racing through the forest was fun.
Alex let out an involuntary cackle. He dove forward, clearing a branch and hitting the ground in a roll. Roots rose in his path and he launched himself forward in a slide. He slipped just beneath them and Glint carved the path ahead open as he leapt back to his feet.
Claire's footsteps marked her presence behind Alex as he broke back into a run. The edge of the forest drew closer and closer — and then he was upon it. The trees gave one last desperate attempt to hold him back, but Glint carved a path through them.
He launched himself through the thin hole and landed on the other side of the forest, rolling across barren dirt and scrambling until he was at the base of the mountain. Alex turned back as Claire skidded to a stop beside him. The forest continued to creak and in moan in fury — but the trees didn't seem like they could actually rip themselves free of the ground. They slowly fell silent and the forest returned to its former state.
"Goddamn," Alex breathed, as flopping back on the dirt and pressing a hand to his hammering chest. "What a rush."
Claire dropped down beside him with a disbelieving huff. "That's not the word I'd use, but it sure did get my heart beating."
A grin pulled across Alex's face. "I almost want to do that again."
"You're insane," Claire said, but she couldn't keep a small laugh from slipping out from her lips.
Alex took a moment to catch his breath before he rolled over and pushed himself to his feet. Glint stood beside them, waiting mutely for more orders.
I wonder if I could have him just go kill some of those trees. Would that count as challenge? There are a whole lot of them… but given how they were acting, would killing a single tree even count? It seemed more like a hive mind.
If that's the case, I'd probably have to kill all of them to get the reward. No point getting Glint killed here and wasting a ton of time waiting for him to come back when there's more than enough challenge still waiting for us. I'll eat my socks if this mountain is any less riddled with monsters than the rest of the Mirrorlands.
Alex brushed the dirt off his clothes and blew out a breath to steady himself as he squinted up at the mountain before them. The storm crackled in the distance. They were fortunate that the mountain wasn't restrictively steep, but it still looked like it would be at least a day of climbing before they reached the top.
"Well, might as well get going," Alex said, adjusting his ruffled shirt and blowing out a breath. "That mountain isn't going to climb itself."
"Why do I get the feeling you're somehow already bored?" Claire asked.
"I haven't the faintest idea." Alex grinned. "You aren't telling me you want to sit around here longer, are you?"
Claire started to shake her head, but they both froze as a loud crack split the air. Alex spun back to the forest as a branchy hand wrapped around a trunk and pushed, causing the wood to creak and groan until it let out a crunch and ripped in two.
A crouched, wooden humanoid stepped out from the forest. It straightened, gnarled body unfurling to easily eight or nine feet tall. It had long, spindly fingers and jagged growths protruding from all over its chest. The monster had no eyes and its mouth was nothing but a rough hole in the center of its face full of jagged spines.
Ent Harvester (Novice 4)
A low moan escaped the monster's mouth hole and it started stumbling in their direction. Claire let out a curse and lowered into a fighting stance.
"I knew that was too easy. Shit. Get ready."
"Hold on," Alex said, squinting at the monster as it lumbered closer. It was a relatively high level, but it wasn't all that fast — which was made apparent by the fact that it had only shown up after they'd gotten out of the forest.
"What? Do you want to run?"
"Run? Hell no." Alex kept his eyes on the monster. "Glint, get closer to that thing, but focus avoiding getting hit."
Glint scampered to follow his commands. As soon as the Shardwalker grew near the Ent, the tall monster swung a spindly arm. Glint hopped back, easily avoiding the strike. The wooden fingers raked through the ground and cut through it like butter.
"It's pretty slow, isn't it?" Alex observed.
"Yeah. It does look like Glint is perfectly matched against a monster like this. Just have him finish it off. It'll be easy energy for you."
"That would be a waste, wouldn't it? Back on my world, the apocalypse only just started — that means that every scrap of energy now is way more valuable than normal. Getting ahead early means you can stay ahead."
"We're not on your world," Claire pointed out.
"No, but I plan to get back. I'm not going to plan for failure. That does nothing. I'm going for success, and this is a way to get some extra energy. If we're faster than it is, then we have a huge advantage as long as we don't get hit. That means we can try something."
"Try what?" Claire's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
A grin stretched across Alex's lips. "Making the fight a little more interesting."
///Author's Note///
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