~~~
The [Appraisal] skill triggered, its panel blazing across Jin's vision like a death sentence written in crimson light.
o__________________________________________o
TRIAL GUARDIAN DETECTED: 100 YEAR TREANT
CLASS: ???—FAILED APPRAISAL LEVEL NOT HIGH ENOUGH
LEVEL: PEAK ORDER I ???—FAILED APPRAISAL LEVEL NOT HIGH ENOUGH
THREAT ASSESSMENT: ???—FAILED APPRAISAL LEVEL NOT HIGH ENOUGH
WEAKNESSES: Fire…???—ANALYZING... FAILED APPRAISAL LEVEL NOT HIGH ENOUGH
o__________________________________________o
"Peak Order I," Jin cursed.
Shit, this thing could legitimately kill us if we mess up even slightly.
Jin's mind raced through plans and indecisions while his body remained perfectly still.
But then again, greater risk means higher potential latent aura accumulation. To be able to fight against all those monstrosities waiting for me out in Vienna and to actually save this world, I need a lot of latent aura.
"Jin," Rudy said quietly, his new shield already raised in a defensive stance, "Tell me you have a magic to deal with this thing."
"About that…" Jin spoke softly. "Rudy, treants are highly resistant creatures. Usually they are docile, kind, and very rarely angered."
"That doesn't look docile to me, Jin."
Right then, the Treant's voice rumbled through the chamber like distant thunder, each word carrying the weight of ages.
"MORTALS. YOU SEEK UNDERSTANDING THROUGH CLEVERNESS AND PREPARATION. BUT WISDOM... TRUE WISDOM IS EARNED THROUGH TRIAL."
"THROUGH SUFFERING. THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT COMES ONLY WHEN DEATH BREATHES UPON YOUR NECK."
Oh great, another philosophical monster, Jin thought with growing annoyance.
Why can't we ever fight something that just wants to kill us quietly? Do all ancient guardians come with built-in monologue protocols?
The Treant raised one massive arm. Ancient wood groaned against itself as muscles of living timber flexed beneath the surface, and Jin could see thick vines beginning to writhe along its forearms like serpents preparing to strike.
"Spread out!" Jin shouted, his enhanced boots already shifting his weight onto the balls of his feet as essence flowed down through his legs. "Don't let it focus fire on either of us! Mobile harassment with hit-and-run tactics!"
The Treant's response came with terrifying speed.
Vines erupted from its fingers—not growing, but exploding outward like organic whip-cracks, cutting through the air with lethal precision and a sound like tearing canvas.
Jin's Zephyr Striders responded before conscious thought could interfere, launching him backward in a graceful leap that carried him fifteen feet in a single bound. The vine that would have wrapped around his throat instead sliced through empty air with a whistle that spoke of deadly intent.
That was close…
Rudy rolled in the opposite direction, his newly acquired shield coming up in a diagonal block that caught a descending vine mid-strike. The impact rang like a cathedral bell, metal meeting organic force with enough violence to crack stone. The shield held without showing a scratch, but the impact still drove Rudy to one knee.
"Try not to compete in terms of strength, Rudy." Jin landed in a combat crouch, Iron Howl already filling his grip.
The Treant's hollow eyes tracked their movements with disturbing intelligence. Ancient amber light burned in those empty sockets—the kind of glow that spoke of centuries spent learning how small, fragile things moved before they died.
When it spoke, leaves fell from its mouth like autumn snow.
"FLESH AND STEEL. FRAGILE THINGS THAT THINK THEMSELVES MIGHTY. THE FOREST REMEMBERS ALL WHO HAVE FALLEN BENEATH ITS ROOTS."
"YOUR BONES WILL JOIN THE CHOIR OF THE FORGOTTEN."
Why do all guardians in this damn dungeon talk so much? Jin squeezed off three rapid shots at center mass, muzzle flash strobing through the chamber.
Fucking third-rate actors.
The bullets struck with precision—dead center, right where a human heart would be. They embedded themselves in thick bark with dull thuds that spoke of iron meeting something far denser than wood. No visible damage. No stagger. The thing didn't even seem to notice he'd shot it.
"This is not gonna work." Jin's mind raced through options while his body moved on instinct, circling left to maintain distance. "The bark density is too high for standard projectiles! I need to channel essence through Iron Howl to enhance the penetration capability!"
"In normal people's language, please!" Rudy shouted back, already moving to flank the creature from the right side.
"My regular bullets aren't working! I need to use magic bullets!"
"That would have been so much easier to understand!"
"Fuck you, Rudy! And go for the legs—try to limit its mobility!"
Rudy was already in motion, his longsword flashing in a diagonal slash aimed at the Treant's left knee joint. The blade bit deep into aged wood with a satisfying crunch, sending chips flying like wooden shrapnel. Dark sap sprayed from the wound—not the clear, sticky substance of normal trees, but something that looked disturbingly like blood.
The creature's response came fast and violent.
Its massive fist swept down like a falling boulder, easily the size of a battering ram and moving with enough kinetic energy to crater stone. Rudy got his shield up just in time—the Bulwark of Duran absorbed the crushing impact with a resonant CLANG that echoed through the chamber like a struck gong.
But absorption didn't mean complete negation of force. The sheer kinetic energy sent Rudy skidding backward across stone, boots scraping and sparking as he fought for purchase. Twenty feet he slid before managing to arrest his movement, shield arm trembling slightly from residual impact stress.
Jin lined up his next shots while the Treant's attention focused on Rudy. Each bullet found its mark—shoulder, chest, the thick junction where neck met torso. Iron Howl bucked in his grip with familiar recoil, but the damn thing just kept coming.
Then those hollow amber eyes fixed on him.
Fuck. Now I have its full attention.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice cut through the chaos. "Duck!"
Jin dropped flat without hesitation, complete trust overriding survival instinct. Rudy's longsword whistled through the air where his head had been, the blade trailing silver light as it carved deep into the Treant's midsection. Dark sap sprayed from the wound like arterial blood, and the creature staggered—actually staggered—for the first time since the fight began.
That's teamwork. Jin rolled away from stomping feet that could have turned him into paste, came up in a firing stance, his essence flowing into Iron Howl. Now let's keep the pressure up.
The gun's runes lit up like captured starlight, transforming ordinary bullets into something far more dangerous. Each round now carried a fragment of his will, his intent to destroy given physical form.
Now let's see how you handle properly enhanced ammunition, you overgrown piece of firewood.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Iron Howl screamed its fury.
The enhanced rounds struck with devastating effect, punching through bark that had turned aside normal bullets like they were pebbles.
Each impact sent shockwaves through the Treant's wooden frame. Dark sap sprayed, and for the first time since the fight began, the creature actually staggered backward.
"That's more like it!" Jin felt a surge of savage satisfaction as he watched the monster reel from his enhanced firepower. "Guns are awesome!"
Rudy pressed the advantage without missing a beat, his Shield deflecting another whipping vine as he drove his sword point-first into the creature's injured leg. This time the blade sank deep—so deep it nearly disappeared into heartwood.
The Treant's leg buckled. The massive creature dropped to one knee, its movements suddenly less fluid, more labored. Ancient joints that had weathered centuries groaned under its own weight.
"We've got it!" Rudy yanked his sword free with a spray of dark sap, already preparing for another strike. "It's weakening!"
As if to mock them, the wounds they'd inflicted started glowing with sickly green light. Jin watched in growing horror as bark regrew, bullet holes sealed, and the deep gash in the creature's leg knitted itself closed like it had never existed.
"Son of a bi—!" Jin's voice carried genuine frustration and mounting concern. "Regeneration! Of course, it has high-speed regeneration! Because why would we be allowed to have easy boss fights in this goddamn dungeon?"
All their carefully inflicted damage was gone. Worse than gone—erased, as if the last two minutes of combat had been nothing more than a brief inconvenience to something that had weathered centuries of conflict.
"So what's the plan now?" Rudy asked, his voice tight.
Jin's mind raced through his accumulated knowledge of fantasy combat mechanics, cross-referencing everything he'd learned about regenerating enemies from countless novels and games. Regeneration abilities usually have limitations. Either they require time between uses, they drain the creature's energy reserves, or they can be overwhelmed by sustained damage output. The key is figuring out which limitation applies here.
"The regeneration has to have a weakness!" Jin called out while activating his boots' Zephyr Walk ability. "We need fire…"
He stepped onto invisible platforms of compressed wind, gaining elevation as the chamber fell away beneath his feet. From fifteen feet up, he had a perfect bird's-eye view of their opponent, revealing details that ground level had hidden—micro-fractures in the bark where his enhanced bullets had done cumulative damage, the slight favoring of its left side where Rudy's strikes had created structural weaknesses.
There. It can definitely be hurt, and the damage is accumulating even if it's healing. The regeneration isn't perfect—it's just fast.
The Treant turned its attention skyward, raising both massive arms toward him like a priest invoking divine judgment. The chamber filled with the sound of rustling leaves as dozens of razor-sharp wooden projectiles materialized around its hands—each one the size of a dagger and humming with lethal intent.
"WIND CANNOT SAVE YOU, SMALL ONE. THE SKY IS NO REFUGE FROM THE FOREST'S WRATH."
Oh, come on, Jin thought with growing irritation as the projectiles launched toward him like guided missiles.
This is getting ridiculous.
He twisted in midair, Zephyr Walk giving him mobility that no ground-bound fighter could match. Left, then right, then down in a spiral pattern that made him nearly impossible to track accurately. His enhanced agility let him dance between the wooden spikes like they were moving in slow motion.
Most of the projectiles missed by comfortable margins. One didn't.
The wooden spike caught him in the shoulder, punching through his leather armor like it was tissue paper and drawing a hot line of blood across his collarbone. The impact spun him in midair, nearly breaking his concentration on the air walk enchantment.
Fuck! That actually hurt! Jin gritted his teeth as he dropped back to ground level; his time limit on the aerial movement expired.
He landed behind the Treant, pressing his palm against his shoulder wound. Warm blood seeped between his fingers, but the damage felt superficial. He'd taken worse.
"Jin! Are you okay?" Rudy's voice carried genuine concern as he continued his own harassment attacks, keeping the monster's attention divided.
"I'm fine!" Jin responded, though his shoulder throbbed with each heartbeat. "Just a scratch!"
Bobby's shop inventory flashed through his memory—all those miscellaneous ingredients he'd bought on impulse, thinking they might be useful someday. Most were crafting components, potion bases, the kind of thing that seemed important at the time but useless in actual combat.
Wait. The Fauxfire Oil.
A grin spread across his face despite the pain in his shoulder. The oil was nasty stuff—highly flammable and nearly impossible to extinguish once lit. Perfect for dealing with regenerating plant monsters that probably had an instinctive fear of fire.
"Rudy!" Jin circled the monster while drawing the vial from his pack, using his enhanced bullets to blast at its right leg. Each shot struck with precision, and the Treant grunted and roared in pain before finally falling down. "Catch!"
He threw the vial in a high arc. Rudy caught it without looking, complete trust in their partnership making the complex maneuver look effortless.
"Empty that on its head!" Jin stopped circling and planted his feet, preparing to channel sorcery. Power gathered in his chest, waiting for the right moment.
Rudy nodded, understanding flooding his expression. Jin was about to use magic, which meant he needed time and concentration. Time Rudy would buy him.
Rudy dashed toward the monster as it slowly struggled to rise, its leg already beginning to heal. He changed his grip on his sword, holding it like a spear, and drove it through the creature's chest with enough force to slam it back down. The blade punched deep into the heartwood, pinning the Treant to the stone floor.
Rudy backstepped quickly, emptying the oil directly onto the creature's head and torso. The viscous liquid spread across ancient bark like liquid death, filling the air with its acrid scent.
Just as Jin's voice began to resonate through the chamber.
« O Fire that devours the unwary... let your hunger consume what stands before me! »
Power erupted from his outstretched hand—a concentrated stream of magical fire that struck the Treant's oil-soaked form. The monster's bellow shook the very foundations of the chamber, a sound like entire forests being consumed in wildfire, and the Fauxfire Oil ignited in a whoosh of consuming flame that turned night to day.
The flames spread across the Treant's form with beautiful, terrible efficiency. The oil did its work exactly as advertised, creating a blaze so intense it hurt to look at directly. The creature thrashed wildly, each movement sending sprays of flaming oil in every direction, and the air filled with the acrid smoke of burning wood and ancient magic.
For a moment that stretched like eternity, Jin thought they'd actually won.
Then something went catastrophically wrong.
The Treant's remaining eye blazed brighter, shifting from amber to poisonous emerald. Its bark darkened to almost black, and thorns erupted along its limbs like armor spikes.
The flames that should have been consuming it instead seemed to feed it, drawn into its form and converted into something else entirely.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" The creature's voice carried notes of genuine shock, but also something darker. "PAIN... I HAD FORGOTTEN THE TASTE OF PAIN! BUT I HAVE TRANSCENDED SUCH WEAKNESSES! I HAVE BECOME ONE WITH THE FLAMES THAT WOULD DESTROY ME!"
When it rose to its full height again, it seemed even larger than before—more menacing, wreathed in green fire that burned without consuming, fed by its own corrupted essence. The air shimmered with toxic energy that made Jin's eyes burn and his throat close up.
o__________________________________________o
[PHASE TRANSITION DETECTED]
[TRIAL GUARDIAN: 100 YEAR TREANT - CORRUPTED FORM]
[THREAT LEVEL ESCALATING TO ???? PARAMETERS]
[WARNING: ??D!@##@# ???
o__________________________________________o
Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me.
The Treant's voice was different now—deeper, more sinister, carrying undertones that seemed to whisper directly into Jin's mind with promises of pain and death.
"YOU HAVE SHOWN STRENGTH, MORTALS. ADMIRABLE STRENGTH. NOW... SHOW ME YOUR WILL TO SURVIVE WHEN STRENGTH ALONE IS INSUFFICIENT."
Corrupted green flames exploded from the Treant's transformed body, filling the chamber with searing heat as a wall of emerald fire rushed toward them both with the speed and inevitability of an avalanche.
Jin's hand moved toward his remaining supplies, but the flames were too fast, too wide.
This is going to hurt.
~~~