"Eh, seductive isn't your style anyway. You're more like… that cool tomboy chick that's super chill, down to earth and relatable. Like, she invites you to her dorm room, you eat a microwave pizza together and fuck on the couch while watching Netflix. And that's like, a date, you know? No fancy expectations or pretentious bullshit."
"Thanks? I guess?" I said, a bit confused as to whether that was intended as a compliment or not. "You're really adapting well to this whole… being a woman thing…"
"I never thought I'd want to be a woman, but now that I am… you can call me Maddie," Matt, no Maddie said with a shrug. "I'm actually quite happy with my sexy new body."
"Well Maddie, just wait until a dire-whatever jumps on you next," I grumbled. "Won't be so happy about being a woman then…"
"That's why I'm buffing my strength," she said with a smirk. "Going for a warrior build. Maybe with a hint of magic, like a Paladin. I'll kick the ass of any wolf that tries to take me."
"Yeah, well, hopefully next time something tries to stick themselves in me I won't be so useless either. I've been practicing. I'll be able to set them on fire before they can try anything," I said, flexing my non-existent bicep.
Maddie smiled, "Yeah, we'll have to see who turns out more badass then…"
"Wha-?" At the edge of the group, Peter let out a squeak of surprise.
I turned just in time to see a green tentacle lift the little asian schoolgirl off the ground, and yank her away into the bushes out of sight.
"Oh fuck! No no n-" Peter screamed, before her voice suddenly cut off.
Everyone started moving at once.
The front-line warriors, Ash and Maddie charged off ahead of us. Behind them, Lysander and I followed. Chloe nervously brought up the rear, not so much charging in to help, as just being too scared to be left behind on her own.
I followed the charging group and the sound of faint muffled screams. We soon reached the monster. It was a giant thorny plant with writhing tentacle vines. It looked like a cross between a pitcher plant, a venus fly trap, and a bramble bush. Peter's terrified screams were coming from inside a big green bulb in the plant's core.
Ash charged in immediately, only to get batted away by a tentacle and sent flying off into the forest. Maddie was not batted away. Instead, the tentacle quickly wrapped around her waist, and pulled her in towards its central body.
"Oh shit!" Maddie screamed.
Lysander wasted no time, firing off a barrage of purple magic missiles that warped the air around them as they flew. Every time they hit the plant, they sent up a spray of juicy plant fibres. The missiles weren't as effective on the plant as they were on the other creatures, however. Like a tree trunk, the plant's body was flexible, and seemed to absorb and spread out the kinetic damage it received.
"Nooo!" Maddie cried.
The plant opened its wide maw, and I shivered when I saw inside. The entire interior was lined with vicious thorns. Anyone trapped in there would be pierced and held firm, unable to do so much as squirm without rending their own flesh apart. Maddie kicked and fought the tentacle's grip, but was soon stuffed inside the monster's maw. The thorn lined walls squeezed shut, and I heard a howling wail coming from inside as Maddie's body was pierced from every angle.
Yikes!
"I sincerely hope you've gained some proficiency with your fire spell," Lysander said calmly, but even her voice was betraying a hint of panic.
I calmed down, and focused. Just like during practice, I formed my mana into the shape of a Firebolt. It took a couple seconds, but I finally managed to unleash the spell successfully.
A bolt of fire flew out of my palm towards the plant, striking the base, right where I'd aimed. The plant flesh sizzled, and let out a hiss as the moisture inside the stem turned to steam. I discovered that unleashing the spell didn't reset the glyph I'd formed. The second bolt was ready to fire immediately.
Bolt after bolt flew out of my palm, I sent a barrage towards the creature. The plant didn't breathe with lungs, so it didn't screech or howl as I burned it alive, but its tentacles flailed madly with panic and pain. Once or twice, it lashed out and slapped a tentacle towards us, but Lysander deflected it with some sort of transparent shimmering shield.
Lysander joined in my barrage, hammering a flurry of arcane bolts towards the monster's stem. Its dried-out flesh, now hard and brittle from the heat, shattered from the impact. Large chunks of the monster broke off and flew away with each strike.
I was soon running low on mana, only a few bolts left before my reserves were empty. I finally heard a crack. Like a falling tree, the plant monster teetered over, and crashed against the ground.
[Fire Magic I] Skill has reached rank 2
Your party has slain a Level 9 ThornTrap.
Level up! You are now a level 3 [Mage].
You gain +1 Mag, +1 Free Attribute Points.
You gain +1 Skill points.
"Ding!" I said with an exhausted gasp. Looks like my fire magic skill levelled up too. I quickly stuck another free attribute point in Intelligence, bringing it to 20. I decided to leave the skill point for later.
"Ding as well, but we should probably save those two before we celebrate," Lysander said.
Ash limped out of the woods, groaning. There was a big bruise, diagonal across his body, and he looked pretty dazed.
"Aww fuck… did I miss the party?" He grumbled.
"There are still two damsels in there that need rescuing. I'm pretty sure I'd boil them alive if I tried to help." I said.