The two monsters ambled slowly toward me. It was hard to tell if they were moving slow on purpose or that was their natural speed. Moments like this was when I really wished I had some ranged Abilities. I had an extra Essence slot and would get another in twenty-two Levels, but the more Essences had, the more I had to Level up for each threshold.

  I stepped back, getting some distance, coming up alongside the dead Treant. And the arm-branch I had broken off. I smiled at the other two Treants.

  I lifted up the arm-branch with a leg, grabbing it with my arms. Twisting back, I used the stored kinetic energy to strengthen my arms and threw the arm-branch at the tall thin Treant. The two crashed together. I didn’t bother looking to see the results of my throw.

  Instead, I charged at the stumpy Treant. I used kinetic energy to push myself faster, crossing the distance quickly, drawing the tonfas as I ran. Crossing my arms in front of me, tonfas along my arms, I pushed a Force shield around my body.

  I slammed into the stumpy Treant. There was snapping and cracking of branches, pieces of bark falling to the ground. I grunted on the impact. Stumpy was solid. I landed on my feet, jumping back as Stumpy twisted. He couldn’t reach me with his hands, but he sure wanted to slam one of his trunks into me.

  I ducked under the attack, kicking at Stumpy’s leg. I had stored energy and force added to the kick and it barely cracked the leg. Stumpy’s arm-branch slammed into my shoulder, sending me flying. I hit the ground, tumbling into a roll, using my field to take the energy. It still hurt but not as bad as it would have and I got some energy from it. I increased the inertia between me and the ground, coming to a stop and then reversed it, pushing myself up quickly. Stumpy and the other treant were both walking toward me. The branch I’d thrown was still tangled up in the other guy’s own branches, which really was just going to make it harder on me. Maybe not my best idea.

  Stumpy and Sticks, not the best name but it would work, spread out, putting even more space between them. The arm-branches reached out for me. Sticks could only do one arm as the other was caught up in the branch I’d thrown. Stumpy was sporting a cracked and broken section on his side where I’d punched him.

  I charged at the two Treants, aiming for Sticks. Stumpy turned to come at me as I reached Sticks. I stopped and turned, leaping at Stumpy. I flew over him, sending force to my kick as I connected with the top of his trunk. There was a loud splintering sound as pieces of bark flew off. I landed on top of Stumpy, catching onto the rough and exposed ends of bark with my hand. It snapped but I used my Motion Essence to lock myself into place on top.

  Turning I ducked as Sticks reached for me. His finger branches scratched across Stumpy’s trunk, snapping and breaking some of his and some of Stumpys. I reached up, grabbing some and snapping the fingers. The Treant moaned, pulling his arm back.

  Pushing kinetic energy into my fist, I punched down into the top of Stumpy. Bark exploded beneath my punch. I felt the pulp of the Treant’s interior. Stumpy moaned in pain, his arm-branches, reaching up to try and grab at me. They scratched as the sharp fingers tried to grab me, but I kept moving, smashing the finger-branches, snapping and breaking them off.

  Sticks arm came back, the two Treants crashing against each other, their branches twisting together, locking them in place. They weren’t as smart as I first thought.

  I punched Stumpy a couple more times, reaching in and pulling up handfuls of pulp, which I threw at Sticks. That guy was too thin for me to stand on, but that was okay, I had other things in mind for him.

  Leaping off Stumpy, I grabbed the top of Sticks trunk. My momentum carried me past the thin Treant, yanking his head down with me. He fell to the ground as I landed, branches snapping and cracking. There was a louder cracking as Sticks pulled at Stumpy’s branches, his being pulled off. I rolled forward, popping up and turning.

  I jumped up, putting the kinetic energy and force into my feet, as I landed on top of Stick’s tree trunk head. There was a very loud snapping and cracking, the poor thing stopped moaning. I stomped a couple more times, running down Stick’s trunk toward the grasping arms of Stumpy.

  I batted one out of the way, ducking under the other. Reaching Stumpy, I punched out, smashing through the bark outer layer. I grabbed at the bark along the edges of the hole I’d made. Pulling, I snapped off larger pieces.

  Slamming my fist into the pulp, I pushed as much kinetic energy and force as I could into the wound. There was a loud cracking as bark flew off Stumpy’s rear, followed by a mash of pulp. I pulled my fist free, shaking off tree pulp, giving Sticks one last stomp but he was already dead.

  YOU HAVE SLAIN CORRUPTED WILD TREANT

  YOU HAVE GAINED +20 TOWER POINTS AND +20 MULTIVERSAL POINTS

  YOU HAVE SLAIN CORRUPTED WILD TREANT

  YOU HAVE GAINED +20 TOWER POINTS AND +20 MULTIVERSAL POINTS

  Not getting off Sticks, I touched both to start the looting process. Sticks disappeared, turning back into the Arcanum energy that had created him, dropping me a couple feet to the ground.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  YOU HAVE GAINED +2 TREANT BARKSKIN AND +1 TREANT SPEAR SHAFT

  Both items were interesting. I wasn’t sure how good armor made from bark would be or if it would qualify as Light or Medium armor. The spear shaft was cool. It probably would give some bonuses to any spear made with it.

  I moved back to the first Treant I had killed, touching it to get the loot.

  YOU HAVE GAINED +1 TREANT BARKSKIN AND +1 TREANT BOARD

  I wasn’t sure what a Treant Board would do. It was only about three feet long and six inches wide. Not enough to cover a building. I’d have to look it up when I got back to Crossroads since I was probably going to get a decent amount in this Dungeon.

  And if it was useful enough, I might come back and farm some more.

  Stretching, I looked around the area for any Acorns or other things I was looking for. Still hadn’t found any Birchen Logs. Not finding anything, I kept walking around the dungeon perimeter.

  ***

  It took a couple hours to circle the perimeter, then I moved about twenty feet in. That was what I figured had been what I’d been able to see from the edge with the way the trees were spaced out. From there I looped around the perimeter again and then did it again.

  On my fourth loop I came across the first thing different from everything before. I’d fought and killed another fifteen Corrupted Treants and a good sized handful of Acorns. There seemed to be more of the things in the Dungeon.

  Four creatures stood before me, each the size of a wolf and that was what they looked like. Except they were made out of branches all twisted and intertwined together. Like the Treants, their eyes glowed red. They had thorns in the place of teeth and claws, but still looked really sharp.

  CORRUPTED BRANCH WOLF

  Evaluate had them as a Level or two below me, but there were four of them. Fighting a pack was always a pain in the arse. I was great at one-on-one fights, especially against things higher Leveled. I was still good at fighting multiple creatures, but just not great.

  Not to brag, but my good was still better than most people’s great.

  The wolves spread out, surrounding me, coming a little closer. I could see little thorns growing along the branches that made up their bodies. Not something I’d want to punch too much. The branches were pretty tight together, giving it some strength.

  I drew my tonfas. The left one I spun so the longer length was out. The right one I kept along my right arm for added protection. The Branch Wolves started growling. It was an odd sound, like the wind making branches scratch against each other. That noise had always been unnerving at night alone in the woods. Coming from four wolf-creatures, it was really unnerving.

  I stayed facing the one in front, which was slightly larger than the others. The other three were on the sides and right behind me. I pushed the kinetic field out a good five feet. It was thin, not able to absorb anything, but would let me know when something moved into it. A kind of early warning system. I didn’t use it that way often, as it didn’t give me any energy to use, but when surrounded it was a lifesaver.

  The wolf in front took a step closer. I ducked down, feeling the wolf in back touch my field as it leapt. The wolf landed in front of the other. I turned to the right, slamming my arm against the side of the charging Branch Wolf. Little bits of wood flew off, the thing giving a strange yelp as it was knocked to the side.

  I rolled back, the left Branch Wolf landing where I’d been. I kicked out, shattering branches on the thing’s chest. It yelped and skidded back, bumping into the other one.

  Popping up, I had my back against the tree and now had all four in front of me. I pulled the kinetic field in close, getting it back to where I could absorb the energy. One of the wolves was already charging at me. Shifting my feet, I swung the tonfa in my left, the wood smacking against the wolf’s branch head. It was weird to look at. The shape was pure wolf, but it was made up of dozens of small branches. I cracked some of them, snapping the head back, cracking some branches that made up the neck.

  Another one came in from just behind, at a different angle. I swung my right arm up, tonfa connecting with the undersize of the creature’s jaw. Angling my left, pushing kinetic energy into the weapon, I stabbed the end of the tonfa into the neck of the wolf. Pushing force energy from my core to my arm and into the tonfa, I sent the energy out into the Branch Wolf’s neck. Wood exploded, the thing’s growl ending in a short yelp before the head fell to the ground, the body following.

  Sharp jaws clamped onto my left arm, one of the other’s grabbing on. The thick leather armor kept the teeth from penetrating. It tried to shake and I stole the kinetic energy, keeping my arm still. I smacked my right tonfa against the head, breaking off an ear and cracking the branches of the head.

  I kicked out, catching another roof in the chest under its head. The thing twisted to the side. Adding force to my next hit, I slammed the tonfa against the Branch Wolf’s snout that was holding my left arm. Bone cracked, the jaw opening. The front half of the jaw bent up, barely connected to the rest of the head. It didn’t stop the thing from trying to snap at me again. With a quick flip, I had my right tonfa extending out and since the wolf wanted to keep biting me, I speared it through the head, sending a bit of force to make the branch head explode.

  Two down.

  A loud moaning came from the trees behind the Branch Wolves. The creatures didn’t turn, not caring about the sound, but I cared. A shadowed form stepped out of the trees, coming into view, having to duck to get under the branches.

  It was larger than the other Treants and far more humanoid, with two fully formed arms and legs made out of thinner trunks and actual hands with fingers. The main trunk was wide, bigger than Stumpy had been. Eyes glowed red, a wide mouth lined with jagged bark.

  That was one big Treant.