Published at 21st of December 2021 04:15:44 PM

474 [Meteor Stamp]

For a while I remain motionless, my body entwined with treant roots, but Upon checking the treants status, I see that its MP is indeed recovering quickly. It seems that [Take Root] can be used in a similar fashion to Aros [Mana Drain]. I see. With this, we can keep training.

Thank you, master-dono. It feels like I can fight some more!

Treant-san seems raring to go Its at times like this that I feel like its just going to pointlessly run in circles, but itll be okay right?

For now, would you mind getting off my back? It feels uncomfortable, almost like Im being parasitised. This is okay, right? My bodys not about to suddenly move on its own, right? The roots are pressed against the crevices between my scales, and the more I look at them, the grosser it feels.

I transfer treant-san back to my head and walk up to another of the fake shrubs.

Treant, shoot that one.

Master-dono This one wont be another miss?

I-its okay! I checked!

I make the mistake of confusing a greengreens for a troll mandragora just one time in a way that causes us to have a standoff with a normal plant, and of course treant-san begrudges me for it.

The treant shoots a [Clay Sphere]. The ball of earth thunks against the trunk of the shrub, and it shakes and rises to reveal the giant face of the troll mandragora below.

At the start, treant-san was too scared to even look straight, but now its facing down the troll mandragora with a straight trunk. I should leave aside the question of whether this is growth from the accumulation of battlefield experience or simply the confidence gained by borrowing a dragons authority, and simply be happy that its no longer freezing up.

Perhaps because it can now look directly at the target, the [Clay Sphere] directly hits the troll mandragoras forehead. Its still not enough to overwhelm its recovery ability, but Whats important is how the experience points will be distributed.

Riiight But, at this rate, each time we defeat one of them, well have to take another break to recover MP. The damage per MP efficiency is just too poor.

Treant-san has the [Poison Cloud] skill. If we could use that to poison it No, the troll mandragoras poison resistance is too high. Treant-sans magic stat isnt great either, so its questionable whether the status condition would even be applied.

Wait, even though its a treant, doesnt it have a complete set of earth, water, wind, and fire sphere skills? I guess [Clay Sphere] is the highest level, since thats all it ever uses, but Wouldnt [Fire Sphere] be better against a troll mandragora? The current strategy is just too slow.

Treant, you have a fire magic skill, dont you? Why not try using that?

H-hahaha How you jest, master-dono. If I were to use that, the fire would spread to me.

The treants wooden face stiffens. I see, it hasnt been using it out of fear.

This is no time to be picky! If you want to become strong, you need to learn to use whatever you can!

Mmm

Youll be okay. Ive never seen anyone set themself on fire like that before. I can assure you that it wont happen, okay?

I understand, master-dono! I need to get strong like Aro-dono so that I can fight at master-donos side! I must do so as quickly as possible! Faster than nightmare-dono!

S-sure

It sounds like treant-san struggled with being left behind alone in the Great Alban Mine. W-well, as long as its got the motivation to push ahead, its all good.

I pull my neck back to dodge the troll mandragora. Then, I plop my chin down on top of it, causing it to flinch. Now, treant-san! Its full of openings!

Yes, master-dono! [Fire Sphere]! [Fire Sphere]!

Two balls of fire shoot in quick succession. They hit the troll mandragoras face. The flames burst, and plumes of black smoke rise. It looks like it did considerably more damage.

This can work. Treant-san has magic skills of all four elements. As long as it can learn how best to use them, its options for attacking arent bad.

Huh, why does my head feel hot?

Master-donoooOOO! Water, water!

Youre burning! Aaargh! Why, why did you use an unfamiliar skill twice in a row so quickly?!

I swing my foreleg to finish off the troll mandragora with [Dimension Claw].

828 experience points have been acquired.

Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 828 experience points have been acquired.

The level of [Oneiros] has risen from 63 to 64.

I lower my head so that the treant tumbles to the ground, and then hold it in my mouth. My saliva quickly extinguishes the flames.

Are you okay, treant?

Yes, somehow

I check the treants level. Its risen fromLv: 20/60toLv: 26/60. This is a good pace.

I suppose its good to know that, if treant-san self-destructs to use fire magic, its enough to just barely outpace a troll mandragoras recovery. If it can learn to control [Fire Sphere], the hunting of troll mandragoras should become easy.

I have the super-efficient [Demon Lords Favour] skill, which doubles the experience acquired by my followers as long as they are a lower rank than me. If we can hit a rhythm, we should be able to bring treant-san up to max level in no time.

Master-dono, I am out of mana again. Do you mind if I spread my roots over you again?

Its because of the need for breaks like this that our pace is so bad. Is there nothing we can do to fix this?

Master-dono! If I were to spread my roots across your head, the need to move between your head and back would be gone!

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I dont want to look like such a weird monster though!?

Looking like a dragon that had been taken over by a plant would be a bit much for me, mentally-speaking. For that matter, would it not be dangerous? I wouldnt actually get my body hijacked this time, right?

I was confident it was a good idea, but if Aro-dono were to see us I worry that I would be turned into charcoal

You were confident it was a good idea? I suppose that from a pure efficiency standpoint its not the worst, but still Hmm, its no good if I just shoot down ideas If only there was some way to bring down the enemys HP with treant-sans own power. I cant think of anything though

Suddenly, the image of treant-san burning flares in my mind.

H-hey, Ive thought of something good.

Something good? If you think its a good idea, then lets do it, master-dono!

AlthoughUmm, youre free to refuse if you dont want to

If master-dono thinks it is good, then I shall do my best, no matter what!

After discussing the plan with treant-san, we search for another troll mandragora. Treant-san sets fire the the upper part of the troll mandragora with [Fire Sphere], causing it to emerge in anger.

Lets go, treant!

Yes!

I flick my tail up, flinging the treant on my tail high into the sky. High above the troll mandragora, it bursts into flames. Its an intentional self-hit with [Fire Sphere]. Next, it transforms into steel. Its the newly-acquired [Statue] skill that raises defence.

In addition, a black light spreads out of the treants body. Its [Gravity], with only the user in range. Turned into steel and burning, treant-san plummets under the force of [Gravity].

Then, it slams directly into the troll mandragoras head. A huge black scorch appears on the troll mandragora and, though no sound comes out, it appears to scream in pain.

Species: Troll Mandragora

Condition: Normal

Lv: 52/80

HP: 379/531

MP: 164/184

Upon checking the damage I see that it went well. It still has a lot of MP left, but its an incredible amount of damage for one with treant-sans stats to deal. I check treant-sans status too, and see that a normal skill called [Meteor Stamp] has appeared. Nice! It was recognised as a skill!

I tackle the troll mandragora and extract treant-san from the ground, then launch it into the air for another [Meteor Stamp]. After the third [Meteor Stamp], the troll mandragora keels over. We were finally able to defeat a troll mandragora with treant-sans damage alone.

526 experience points have been acquired.

Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 526 experience points have been acquired.

Great, my portion has gone down quite a bit. Treant-sans share should have gone up by the same amount.

Checking the level, I see its risen fromLv: 26/60toLv: 32/60. I was worried at the start, but it feels like the goal is now in sight!

Treant-san staggers towards me. You did it, treant! Your level shot up by a lot! See? Isnt [Meteor Stamp] great? Lets do this again for the next one!

U-umm, master-dono Would it be okay if we didnt use this strategy the next time?

Ah You didnt like it after all.