Wraithwood Botanist

Four hours into my hike, I finally reached a place that gave me serious pause. I got a notification when I reached it. It read:

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Warning: You are about to reach the Divide’s Barrier. The second-evolution beasts beyond this point are generally stronger, and third-evolution beasts are more frequent. It’s recommended that only second evolution or higher entities leave the Divide.

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I expected that warning, but I still wasn’t prepared for it. Second evolution… we hadn’t reached the first. Kline and I had been blessed with high-tier magic, and we had been hunting and eating second-evolution creatures exclusively. We had specialized elixirs and resources. Still—none of those things prepared us to face a third-evolution beast, and our poison perfume and mud-covered skin wouldn’t be enough.

I sent one glance at Kline. "Let’s see where you’re at."

Kline puffed out his chest, turned his head, and lifted his nose, creating the prideful expression you would expect from hideous trophy cats. I wanted to mock him, but he deserved it. His status read:

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Kline Hill

Race: Felis catus

Level: 24 (Capped Until Evolution)

Class: Phantom Cat

Spells:

Active Camouflage (Third Tier [+1]): Blend into your surroundings.

Phantom Claws (Second Tier): Create blades out of raw mana. Can extend claws or release them as an aerial attack.

Sharp Bite (First Tier): Use raw mana to sharpen teeth and jaws for bite attacks.

Mana manifestation (First Tier): Use raw mana to create physical shapes.

Warp Step (Fifth Tier): Teleport between shadows. [1]

Pounce (First Tier): Increase agility when striking.

Wraithwalk (Fourth Tier): Increased stealth of walking.

Wraithaura (Second Tier): Mute the sound of individuals nearby.

Enhanced Speed (Second Tier): Increases speed.

Enhanced Hearing (Second Tier): Increases hearing sensitivity.

Enhanced Smell (Second Tier): Increases sense of smell.

Far Sight (Second Tier): Increases eyesight.

Description: Kline’s gamble of accepting a fifth-tier spell in exchange for only increasing skills from stronger opponents has finally paid off. In the last exchange, he was able to increase his active camouflage and enhance his senses, making up for his own weaknesses. Take note of your partner’s path to greatness. You could improve by following it instead of doing… whatever the hell you’re doing.

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I chuckled with a taught smile, lacing my fingers and stretching them, trying not to kick a rock as hard as I could. Then I nodded and folded my arms. Only then did I sigh and get over it.

"You ready?" I asked.

Kline meowed.

I nodded and passed my fingers through the barrier, experiencing a strange icy tingle. "Then let’s go."

2.

The lignan bugs were located at Arithiel Pond, a water body that developed over a mana vein. Rich with mana, it was an ideal location to thread cores, which is why beasts always pushed the limits into lignan territory, getting as close as possible, risking it all to get stronger. That’s how the lignans fed.

My job was to get rid of their nest.

Great.

As I already mentioned, there was no ideal solution for killing these creatures. They built their nest in eranthia trees, spirit trees that were resistant to the elements, and became stronger with mana intake. They created natural barriers, and the mana was so dense in the area that magical attacks were rendered useless with the reserves available by most creatures. Fire, ice, wind—none would affect them.

Lignan bugs also hunted in nets that were 50 square miles, meaning that taking out the nest wouldn’t solve the problem, and there were no selective parasitic fungi that directly killed them.

They were a menace.

That said, I did find a fungi that felt promising. It was the quamper ball mushroom. This was the description:

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Name: Quamper Ball Mushroom

Summary: Wow, forget botanist. Searching for something like this is proof of serial killer behavior. Parasitic by nature, this mushroom spreads its spores by taking over the beast’s minds and making them attack the nearest potential host. Within the hour, the host will be killing family, lovers, and friends, like a civil war where everyone is the enemy and there can be only one victor. Make sure to hand out bread to nearby spirit beasts to improve your popularity, you psycho.

—---

My eyebrow had twitched when Lithco compared me to Caesar holding death matches, but I didn’t deny it. If I needed to be a tyrant to survive, I would, goddamn it!

I pressed on through the forest cautiously. Twice we passed by herbivores, twice we feared for our lives. One had spikes as sharp as razor blades, each dripping with poison like sloped needles. Another was a snakish creature, creating an archway in the canopies above us as it ate leaves. Bugs swarmed the ground for the first time, and I could hear the call of distant birds.

It was a whole new world.

Soon, we made it to our destination. The area Kline and I were in was pretty standard. The forest around us had fifteen feet between moss-covered trees, each planted upon ground laced with multi-colored ground cover and ferns. It wasn’t particularly dense and would likely be pleasant if the sky wasn’t white with cloud cover.

The lignan bug’s territory was the opposite. The trees were white and gray as snow, creating a calcified tundra that contrasted against the living forest. Around it buzzed translucent blobs that felt like mirages until we saw one the size of a cucumber passing by a green tree with its bubble-like body and tiny legs and mosquito sucker. It was a simple outline—but it was terrifying.

Soul damage, power reduction—death—these creatures were the grim reapers of the Fourth Ring, killing indiscriminately.

I probably should have run. My life was far more important than a quest housing a class I didn’t need—

—but I wanted to do it.

There was nothing rational about accepting the request, but it wasn’t particularly dumb, either. It was something I wanted, even if it was dangerous, like some people who played dangerous sports like motocross or base jumping despite the risks. They did what they wanted—this is what I wanted. Simple as that.

That’s why I looked at Kline, asking if he was ready. He nodded and increased his Wraithaura, disappearing into the forest in his Active Camouflage, blending with the smell of mud and dried poison. We walked on.

3.

A knock on Elana’s door startled her, making her kick the table, sending ripples through her wine glass. She turned to the door, anger boiling in her heart. "What did I tell you?" she yelled, standing and striding to the door, throwing it open. "Explain—"

Kori was standing in front of her door, shaking a bottle of wine.

Elana felt a desire to grab the tiefing’s horns and smash his head against the wall, but instead, she snatched the bottle of cheap wine and tilted her head into the room. "Hurry up."

He smiled. "If you insist."

Elana scoffed, but she was subconsciously relieved that someone was joining her. "Don’t you dare put your feet on my counter," she said as he sat down, pulling glasses out of a spatial rift.

"If I did that, what would the point of wearing new boots be?" Kori asked. He used Purify on his boots before kicking them onto the small table. "Besides, shouldn’t you be worried about that?"

Mira was slinking to the forest, moving over brush, stepping over rocks, ducking under limbs—unaware of how close the lignan bugs were. Even Kline was unaware of how close they were, as they were silent, scentless, and many were tiny—smaller than a pinkie nail.

"Yeah…" Elana whispered, pausing with the wine in hand, watching them get closer.

Mira had to be close enough for the spores to reach but far enough to run. The breeze would only reach so far. Worse, the lignan bugs flew around randomly. In a situation like this—luck meant everything.

Elana’s heart thumped, it galloped, it strained and rattled and cracked against her ribs like thunder and drums and falling trees. It was time for the attack to begin.

4.

I had never been as afraid as I was when I approached the lignan nest—and that said a lot after fighting the reaper and shalks and suffering potential soul damage. Kline dying? Sure. But that was a different type of fear. That was fear over what had happened—this was fear of what was to come.

I could see the lignan bugs now, the first line fifty meters away, the nests maybe two hundred. This breeze had to count.

I was ready—but my body was itching. Damn it… I thought as I patted my stomach and back, gritting my teeth. I was terrified they were in my shirt.

It was from trauma I developed at thirteen when wasps had built their nest in the side of my house. I couldn’t reach my bike, and that annoyed me, so I went inside and got a tennis racket.

Some people might think it was a strange weapon—but the people that know, know. A tennis racket is the grim reaper’s scythe of winged insects. One swipe will murder twenty wasps at a time, and there were hundreds.

Whoosh! I swung it back and forth, watching bugs fall to the ground like dropped gravel, grinning like a psychopath at how effective it was.

—Then I got stung.

It felt like a searing needle stabbing me in the chest. I immediately opened my shirt and found three crawling on my chest; God knows how many were on my back and stomach. In an instant, I was howling, slapping my chest and stomach and pants and arms like a death metal drummer. I even pulled off my t-shirt (thank God I was alone), whipping it around like a gladiator failing a chain mace, striking it every which way.

It was embarrassing and painful, but those things fade with time—

—it was the eeriness of knowing how many were in my shirt without me noticing. That fear was crawling through me as I looked at the lignan bugs, trying not to think of tiny ones lurking—prepared to bite.

Despite that fear, I pressed on as if I were under a spell, licking my finger and holding it up to calculate the breeze, which was picking up, making me nervous.

The coolness on my finger indicated that it was blowing north—so I moved west, getting into a suitable position.

Information request, I ordered. Provide me with exact trajectory information in the form of a dynamic map with instructions.

The map pulled up. It was clear, telling me to shoot the spores directly north, and they would lightly curve into the nest site. Yet there was a warning that said: Act fast; there is a high chance of precipitation.

Son of a— I didn’t even finish my thought before a bolder gust of wind spread through the area, bringing dark gray clouds to replace the white. The forest dimmed further, and I instantly feared rain. If it did, it would prevent the spores from spreading—I had to move.

Now! I activated Spore Barrier and grabbed the spore bag from the preservation chamber. I untied it and activated Levisphere, pulling out a mass of golden spores.

Suddenly, the sky flashed, and the distant boom of thunder cracked across the land. The canopies rattled from the wind, and the leaves swayed back and forth from a heavy gust.

The map updated again, telling me to move further up.

Damn it! I secured the ball and ran, trusting Kline would keep up. As I approached the launch sight, two words popped up on the screen.

Maximum gust.

I did, angling my hand and calling the spell with all my might. Pervasive Breeze!

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