The apple orchard was a grid of three by five. Inara and James had killed a corner tree, there was one tree yet untouched between them and Desiree, and tree she’d activated was in the other corner.
Inara charged forward. She ran faster than James had ever seen, and from the look on her face it was clear that there was only one thing on her mind: getting Desiree far away from that tree.
The apple tree’s face was still forming by the time she arrived. She picked Desiree off the ground like a sack of potatoes and veered off. Just before she reached the edge of the orchard, she dropped Desiree and planted the shield between the tree and her daughter.
Inara was left entirely exposed.
Shit shit shit.
James was still stuck in the skill screen. He was still sitting at less than half health. Running close enough to hit the tree with his sword would put him in chomping distance, and another bite like that, in addition to being crazy traumatizing, would probably kill him.
Mana Bolt was his only option to do any damage, but he didn’t have enough MP to cast it.
He scanned the skill list again, and then he saw it:
Meditation
Clear your mind. Focus inward. Was that an epiphany, or are you just hungry?
Increase mana regeneration.
James was out of time. He purchased Meditation, then spent his other two points on Mana Bolt.
Your turn!
James chugged a mana potion, which skyrocketed his MP back to full, then cast.
“Mana Bolt. Mana Bolt!” To his delight, the upgraded Mana Bolt cost less MP, and he was able to cast it twice.
Critical hit!
Direct hit!
He aimed for the face both times, but the distance worked against him. His second shot went high and didn’t cause as much damage. Still, the tree’s health plummeted down.
Then it was Desiree’s turn. She looked torn, like she wanted to approach the tree, but she also seemed to understand just how much trouble she was in. Instead she crouched behind the shield, and she was small enough that she was very nearly tucked entirely behind it.
The tree, which had initially faced Desiree as its primary aggressor, turned instead toward James, who had done the most damage.
Enemy turn!
The tree reared back, then flung its branches forward to deliver the gatling gun leaf attack. It was unfocused; the leaves shot out from their branches, focusing in a little on their main target, but leaves could only be directed by so much.
Inara got caught by a few edge cases, which cut deep red lines across her face and arms.
James had just enough control over his body to repeat the move Inara had done on the first tree, turning so only his profile faced the tree. Even so, the attack dealt 20 points of damage, which left him with only 22/100 HP.
What’s worse, the spread of the tree’s attack caught more than just James and Inara. A few leaves shot against the trunk of the sleeping tree between them, which already began to shiver and blink its angry eyes open.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me,” James grumbled. If they were going to fight another tree, he might have to use his health potion after all, despite Inara’s objections. Hell, he might have to use both of them; sitting on a fortune would do no good if he couldn’t stay alive.
He’d have to use another mana potion too. At that point, would he even have time to attack, or would he spend the whole turn downing potions?
On the other hand, if damage was consistent, he had enough health to withstand another leaf attack. Barely, but that might be enough.
Apple Tree Lvl 8 has joined the fight!
God. Fucking. Damnit. He wouldn’t survive two attacks.
The new tree trembled. It screeched, and the ground rumbled. In a wide circle around its base, roots stabbed up, vicious spikes seeking to impale whoever was near.
Inara and Desiree were safely out of range. James flinched as the outermost roots shot out, just inches away from his foot.
The other tree wasn’t so lucky. Roots intertwined with roots, and the earth around them churned.
The corner tree’s health dropped dramatically.
The spikes’ closeness granted James a brand new flavor of fear. He’d gotten off lucky, it seemed, when that first tree chose to take a bite of his arm. If it had skewered him with its roots instead, James surely would not have survived.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
End enemy turn!
Inara grabbed her scythe and ran for the weakened tree. She raised the blade high, and it swiped across the creature’s face.
Critical hit!
Defeated level 8 Apple Tree!
Exp +3025
Level up!
Level 6 didn’t come with any skill points, but James knew there were two stat points waiting for him.
Which also meant… He’d been so focused on skills that he hadn’t allocated his stat points. Ten per level meant he had thirty stat points available to him.
Your turn!
James dumped all his stat points into INT and WIS.
Name: James
Race: Human
Class: Hero
Level: 6
HP: 22/120
MP: 170/290
EXP: 20/3500
Stat Points Available: 0
STR: 14
AGI: 14
INT: 29
WIS: 29
CON: 14
Skill Points Available: 0
Skills: Meditation 1, Mana Bolt 2
James did just enough mental math to know his next move would work, then pointed at the tree.
“Mana Bolt, Mana Bolt, Mana B—”
Critical hit!
Critical hit!
Defeated Level 7 Apple Tree!
EXP +2900
The tree slumped over, and the oppressive weight of combat lifted.
James sagged. That had been way too close for comfort.
Inara whirled on Desiree. “What do you think you're doing out here, young lady?”
Desiree’s fear transformed into defiance. She crossed her arms. “I'll never get a class if you don't let me out of the house.”
Inara launched into a rant about safety, and James did his best to tune them out. He touched both trees, revealing two apples from each.
“Aw, no shield?”
Inara approached him. “I apologize for my daughter,” she said stiffly.
James waved her apology away. “I understand where she's coming from,” he admitted. “It's probably hard, being left out when it sounds like a fun thing to do.”
“Hm.”
“Does she get any experience while she's out here, if she doesn't have a class?”
Inara hesitated. “It's not correct to say that she doesn't have a class, more so that her class is Child and she is level ten. When she finds a particular calling, her class will change appropriately.”
“I see,” said James, although he didn't, really. Could anyone change classes? Did levels and skills vanish with the change, or could a person accumulate a variety of talents over the years? What kind of skills did a Child have?
“That last tree,” Inara interrupted his thoughts. “How did you kill it so quickly?”
James grinned. “I dumped thirty stat points into INT and WIS, and two skill points on Mana Bolt. The combination made the attack strong enough to kill the tree in two hits.”
Inara shook her head in amazement. “The Hero class really is special. Most people only get two or three stat points per level.”
Desiree joined the conversation. She looked subdued after her mother’s scolding, but something told James that it wouldn’t last. There was already a gleam in her eye as she surveyed the rest of the orchard.
“Since you can kill them so easily,” Desiree said, “we should clear the rest of the orchard!”
“Desiree!” Inara objected reflexively, then paused. She looked at James curiously.
He considered. He had the six apples he needed for his quest, but he also had plenty of mana and Meditation to help restore it between fights. If they did one tree at a time, it would be easy to fire safely from a distance and stay topped up, especially now that a full mana pool was enough for ten attacks.
“Let’s do it! You ready?”
Inara and Desiree nodded.
“Mana Bolt!”
Your party has entered combat.
The tree came to life. Its eyes widened into angry divots, and its mouth yawned open into a hungry maw.
Inara’s turn came first, once again, but she held back.
Your turn!
“Mana Bolt!”
Defeated level 8 Apple Tree!
EXP +2500
James still had plenty of mana remaining, so he didn’t hesitate to attack the next tree. Two Mana Bolts later, it too was dead. He made short work of the rest of the orchard.
At first it was satisfying. Vicious revenge against the creatures which had so terrified him in that first battle. By the end, it was boring. They were stuck in place, unable to fight back. He leveled up once more, and if he wanted to upgrade his magic again he might have been able to start killing the trees in one hit.
But he wasn’t sure yet what he wanted to spend his points on. It was tempting to dump them all into magic and be a distance fighter, but not every enemy would be this static.
“Yeah! Get ‘em! Stupid trees.” Desiree jumped and shouted on her every turn. She was an enthusiastic cheerleader, and James couldn’t help but smile.
He made a show of dusting his hands off. “That’s the last of them.”
Desiree ran forward and kicked the closest tree — only to jump away, clutching at her wounded toes.
Inara let out a long-suffering sigh. She caught James’s eye. “Good work. And thank you, for sharing the EXP with us.”
James blushed and shrugged. “It’s nothing,” he said. He hadn’t thought of it, really, but if he had, he would have done the same. He hadn’t quite figured out how to say it out loud, but he hoped she would stay with him. It was hard to imagine trusting anyone else on his team, and if he had to explore the world and defeat the Demon King, he couldn’t imagine a better partner.
Instead of saying all that, he ruffled Desiree’s hair. “Let’s head back, yeah?”
Desiree threw up her hands. “The loot!” she yelled. “How do you always forget the loot!”
“Oh, yeah.” James turned quickly to hide his embarrassment and walked quickly through the orchard, touching each tree as he passed. Each one gave him two apples. Each apple granted +50HP, which for the moment made them more effective than a health potion. He would have to keep that in mind.
On the fifth tree, he received a staff. It was a long, gnarled piece of wood topped with a carving of an apple.
Applewood Stave
Carved from the stubborn heartwood of an ancient Apple Tree.
James passed it to Desiree. “Here. You need a weapon with some reach.”
Inara started to protest, but her daughter was too quick.
“Thank you, thank you!” she said, grabbing the staff. She immediately ran off to swing practice strikes against imaginary enemies.
James and Inara followed after her, back to town.
Quietly, Inara said, “This is too much. First the shield and now the stave… We cannot afford to pay you back.”
James shrugged. “You don’t have to pay for a gift. Anyway, I’m just glad I ran into you two. Things could have gone very differently for me if the first person I met had bad intentions. I still don’t know nearly enough about this world, and I feel as though I’m fighting blind. It helps me to know that there is someone I can trust here.”
Inara was silent for a long moment, then finally nodded. “You can trust me.”
“Mom! James! Come quick!” Desiree cried out with such alarm that the two adults immediately burst into a sprint.
As soon as they crested the hill, they saw the problem.
The whole town was on fire.
