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***
In the end, I searched three passages and met six stumps, or rather, their name sounds quite different - iglodrevo... or abbreviated - stump, and not a simple one, but with a level! I don't know where he got it from, but... he had it and that was it.
By name... it's hard to call them needle sticks. They don't have needle hands, but they have fingers. They are not clever, they attack their enemies like zombies.
Needle tree - living tree - level 1.
Danger level: Medium.
Attitude towards you:
Attitude towards the unknown:
Omnivore-10, Devour-10, Tree-max.
Monster's progression to new evolution - 18%
Strength - C+
Dexterity - B+
Stamina - A+
Intelligence - D-
The funny thing was that the stumps would burst like a balloon upon death... and turn into a vapour that disappeared in a few seconds. And after each death they left one 'twig', not many twigs, but just 'one' twig. A useless twig, of which I had already collected seven!
They even died after a few hits with Ram and Rem's tentacles, if I pierced them twice, they would burst. You cut them in half, they burst.
I'm... not sure if that happened in canon. Even though I haven't read the whole thing, there were no monsters like that, especially ones that were so weird and bursty. Even Rem and Ram didn't know anything about them, and no matter how much they tried to devour it, when I managed to get it on the floor, it still died after a few seconds, and the sisters looked around confused, dazedly apologising to me.
Okay... it's not that big of a deal... I guess. Experience falls off them, as usual, and... they leave branches behind... which I don't really know what to do with. But the maze itself was big, the further I went, the more stumps I met and the more often they gathered in groups. First there were two, then three, then five, and so on upwards. Until there were already ten of them in a pack.
They were a bit of a problem. For they kept trying to squeeze me, but the fire fried them so well, what is there - frightened, I even left a little bit to the new level. But it was a pity that I couldn't find any hidden rooms - they were there, and there were a lot of them, as many as ten! But the walls were blocking my way. I tried to influence them with magic, fireball, but all in vain and useless. Nothing. It's empty and it doesn't work. But the labyrinth was very big in size, with each fork there were more and more forks, until there were a lot of them and you could choose where to go at the will of your left heel. It's good that I have a mini-map, otherwise I would have got lost here in this way, which is strange, there were no traps at all!
Yeah... this is the kind of weird maze. With experience dripping down the drain.
Level up!
Oh, level ten! An hour's search for the exit... quite a lot, I tell myself.
Well, at least the girls are satisfied and happy, almost having fun competing to see who can kill the most. And the reward... as you could already figure out - a whole lot of yummy goodies.
And oddly enough, Rem was winning with a score of twenty stumps, against Ram's eighteen. Now they want to have one last decisive fight, after which there will be their coveted reward... Poor me....
By the way, here's the first pack of suicide bombers. This time there were... already over twenty heads. Hmm, and the room is bigger than usual this time... too bad it's empty as usual, but come on.
'Master! Please don't interfere!' - Ram said seriously, sitting on my shoulder.
'Are you sure you don't need any help?' - I questioned, looking at such a bunch of stumps.
'That's right, master! This is my sister and I's battle!' - she said pathetically, glowing with anticipation. I'm not afraid to say that she glowed on her own... ah, it was the magical sight that worked like that.
The skill of magical sight enhanced!
The pain in my eyes was so sudden that it made my eyes water, and the worst part is that I can't even wipe them! And I can't see, either. And the sisters have already jumped off my shoulders and entered the battle.
Experience +100
The skill magic gaze has reached the maximum level!
Evolution by absorbing the astral gaze skill is available
Magical Astral Gaze
Yes/No
Experience +100
Experience +100
Experience +100
Experience +100
Damn, the tears that protruded made it hard to see, and I could only make out blurry images of the sisters as they joined together and leapt over the heads of some stumps, slicing through their shrubs with two tentacles...
Experience +100
Experience +100
Experience +100
Experience +100 Experience +100
Taking off my helmet and gauntlet, I began wiping my eyes from the accumulated moisture. Oh... how uncomfortable....
Experience +100
Experience +100
Experience +100
Experience +100 Experience +100
- Whoo! - one of the stumps yelled as usual and rushed forward like a berserker. Here's another one of their funny abilities. When stumps die in front of them, the more sensitive ones go into a berserk state. This doesn't make them mega strong, but their bush does burn.
Experience +100
Experience +100.
This may have interfered with the girls and their new invention 'fusion'.
- Guaaaah! - He yelled posthumously and burst into white vapour.
Experience +100
Experience +100.
Oh, I think that's it. No more tears! Rubbing my eyes one last time, I stared at the battlefield. The vapour was still there and hovered amusingly on the ground, slowly dissolving. Amongst the sticks and white smoke, a two-coloured slime could be seen waving its two tentacles languidly in the air.
Yin and Yang - Only the colours are different....
As I admired them, I heard a familiar scraping sound and looked in the direction of the sound. Something new!
Not far from the girls, the walls, like arched gates, opened to the sides, revealing an evil deafening howl!
- Graaaaaaaaaaah! - A large wooden hand appeared, then a second one, and then a huge stump, five times the size of a normal one, appeared! I cringed as I looked at the new wonder... and for nothing.
*Wshuh* Noticing the new opponent, the sissies threw themselves at the big stump, jumping onto its crappy arm.
- Groooooaaaah! - roared the elder stump as the two tenacles pierced his arm in several places at once. Considering their increased power in this form, the wounds weren't exactly severe, but the stump took heart and swung round, about to swat the pesky mosquitoes that were stinging him.
* Bang, bang, bang *
I slapped myself in the face as he broke his own arm with his own punch, and the girls got to his bushes and started crumbling his stupid head.
- Gryyyyyyy! - pretty quickly the greenery filled the air as the bark fell to the ground and the stump became bald and ugly.
*Bam-hump*.
'Yeah... what's wrong with it?' - I yelled mentally as the large stump slapped a whole arm across its face and legitimately broke its head into many small splinters, killing itself!
Experience +200
*Bam*
The stump fell on its back with a loud sound, never making it out of the archway of the gate, and then with a *Poof* sound burst a huge cloud of steam in all directions...