"Now you only need to pass one last trial. Succeed, and you will become the ruler."
"Lay it on me!" Ash replied, startling Keen, who cawed in question.
"Who are you talking to?"
"You can't hear it? The voice?"
Another caw. "No? What voice? Are you fine, Ash? Do you need me to find some Cureberry?"
"I see… Only I can hear the voice. And yes, I'm fine. But what's a Cureberry? I want to see them."
"I can get you some if you want."
"Yes, please do it later after I get what the last trial is."
Despite Keen not understanding what trial Ash was talking about, he just nodded and waited for Ash.
The being from the banyan tree took some time this time, but it finally delivered the last trial after a whole minute of waiting.
"Make yourself worthy of the ruler. Modify yourself with the DNA of the three rulers of the forest.
The Miregorge Slug.
The Titanbark.
And last, your acquaintance, the Verdant Stag."
Images of the three creatures popped up in Ash's head. Telling him of the exact creatures he needed to find and extract their DNA from.
The knowledge transfer finished, and the voice spoke one last time.
"I wish you success. Be our savior and ruler."
The voice then disappeared once more. Not speaking a single word anymore.
Ash processed the knowledge he had just gotten. His tongue clicked, and he shook his head without even realizing it.
"I still need to fight that unkillable stag again… How do I do that…"
But the viney stag wasn't the only creature that Ash needed to worry about now.
The Titanbark, from what he saw, was the stronger, bigger version of the carnivorous tree that Ash fought before.
The knowledge didn't show what kind of abilities the Titanbark had. It only showed Ash how to identify it.
"There's no way it would be as easy as fighting the carnivorous tree…"
But one light in this dark tunnel was the Miregorge slug.
Ash thought it would somehow be a gigantic slug that could summon vines and wrap him up like a burrito.
But actually, no.
It was just the ordinary slug that Ash had been using as his catalyst for disease splicing and the one he used to improve Keen's regeneration.
With this knowledge, his first goal was clear.
"Keen, let's go! We got our first objective."
The sun was shining brightly in the sky. Which means that there was no slug yet.
Ash didn't waste his time, though. Instead of just sitting and waiting for the slug, he decided to gather as many poisons and venoms as possible.
While also scouring the forest to find anything that he could add to his or Keen's DNA to prepare against their next two fights.
The journey was incredibly fun for Keen.
He got to explore a lot of the parts of the forest that he avoided before, simply because he didn't want to die stupidly.
But now, he had two bodyguards who kept him safe while he enjoyed the view from the sky.
On the other hand, Ash was having the time of his life.
Suffering.
He got three more diseases from a snake that hid underground and paralysed its target, another sentient vine that caused more of his blood to be spilled, and a leech that found its calling in climbing up vertical surfaces.
The three were more than annoying to deal with. The poisons and venoms, of course, not the creatures themselves.
The two creatures were easily killed by Ash simply using the steelbark skin to prevent any poison or venom from being injected into him, while his crimson vines took care of the job.
Well, for the snake, he just stomped the guy's head to paste.
The symptoms of the disease were the real pain in the ass for Ash to survive.
Fortunately, there's no verdant stag that threatened his life this time.
So Ash could just happily enjoy his gains without going into a death battle.
===========================
Tier 1
Marrowbile Poison
A digestive venom extracted from underground carrion serpents. Melts bone from the inside out while leaving flesh intact.
+Symptoms:
-Spinal Whimper: Paralysis begins from the tailbone and creeps upward.
+Ability Unlocked: Creeping Paralysis (Active)
Inject a localized venom that slowly paralyzes the target over time, spreading from the point of contact. Paralysis can stack and escalate if repeatedly applied.
Hollowthorn Venom
A plant-based hemotoxin from a sentient vine that ruptures capillaries with floral precision, forcing blood to bloom through the skin in vivid, fatal patterns.
+Symptoms:
-Capillary Bloom: Microvessels burst open in organized spiral clusters, forming red, flower-like lesions.
-Petal Fever: Victim experiences rapid-onset fever and visual hallucinations of blooming flora.
+Ability Unlocked: Bloodblossom Thorns (Active)
Launch a series of vine-thorns coated with Hollowthorn venom forward. On contact, affected targets bleed outward in ornate patterns that weaken muscle coordination and cause visual disruption (hallucinated flower petals, warping terrain edges). Stacking hits deepens the blooms.
Lattice Leech Syndrome
A parasitic condition caused by the tree leech. A wall-crawling predator that anchors itself to vertical surfaces with muscular sucker pads.
+Symptoms:
-Leechskin Adhesion: Pores across the limbs ooze sticky mucus and form blister-like suction nodes. Victims often wake up stuck to walls or ceilings.
-Compulsive Clambering: Muscle memory fixates on vertical movement; infected may involuntarily crawl up trees or ceilings during sleep.
-Blood-Rush Disorientation: Headaches and blurred vision from repeated inverted positions and sudden shifts in body orientation.
+Ability Unlocked: Wallcrawling Grasp (Passive/Active)
Can summon suction pads to cling to any surface as if walking on flat ground.
===========================
Ash now had 2 more offensive skills. One that he could use to hopefully paralyze the damned stag.
He doubted the stag's vines could bleed with his new bloodblossom vines, but there's no harm in trying.
As for the last ability, Ash now could safely climb up trees without using his vines. A welcome ability despite not giving any direct upgrade to his offensive capabilities.
The abilities were nice, but collecting diseases wasn't the only thing that Ash did.
Now, with the seed, Ash also did a couple of upgrades to himself and Keen.
Ash visited the chameleon that he accidentally strangled with his vines before.
Extracting its DNA to change the color of its skin.
Giving Ash color-changing skin and steelbark, and color-changing feathers for Keen.
On the outskirts of the other side of the forest, they also found a cave, which Ash quickly delved into and grabbed an innocent bat.
He copied the echolocation organs of the bat, giving them to himself and Keen.
While also extracting the bat's ability to eat blood for himself.
Ash could drink the blood with his mouth like a vampire did, but he couldn't imagine himself giving the verdant stag a loving kiss on the neck to kill it.
So instead, Ash added the DNA to his crimson vines, enabling him to suck blood from them.
Saving him from having a reputation as a romantic killer.
And lastly, for himself, Ash visited his old friend, the verdant wolves.
He got their DNA, and now, a flower bloomed on his chest, right above where the seed was planted.
He could now have an extra hand of vines to use.
He offered the flower to Keen, but the raven vehemently refused.
"I don't want any plants attached to my body! They are very creepy and weird!"
They spent hours finishing their preparations, but the sun was still above the horizon.
They still had an hour or two before they could finally get the slug once more so Ash could add their DNA to himself.
With the spare time, he decided to check out his other enemy to defeat.
The Titanbark.