King of the Mountain

Chapter 50: I Wish I Had a Green Thumb

Walter, the Dragons four and I teleported back to the last tower the next morning ready for anything. After making sure nothing would jump out at as immediately I checked the status of the tower. Everything seemed to be the same. I guess that means in a field dungeon that structures you make are permanent unless destroyed by others or monsters. The vegetation had grown right up to the 5 meter clearance zone of rock that Walter and I had placed around the tower though. The jungle itself was more of a threat than the monsters to our buildings.

We oved carefully over the next hour fighting off monsters and steady intervals until I saw a marked increase in their level. We must have entered into the next zone. We will travel another ½ hour before setting up the first tower. After half an hour I was starting to rethink this plan. The attacks we were fighting off were serious enough that I was not sure that five of us would be able to protect the sixth adequately while the tower was built. After consulting with the group, we decided that we would try it out with a slight modification to our normal plan.

We would all help clear the land first and then sit in the middle and fight off the monsters for the next 2 hours to see if they were consistently attacking or if we were thinning out what came at us over time. We implemented the new strategy immediately and it only took an hour for us to realize that this was working. It seemed that each wave of monsters was having to come from farther and farther away. This means the boss monster probably knew we were coming and was sending everything it could at us. It took some time for the further away monsters to arrive where we were thus the ever increasing time in between the monster attacks.

I would identify each lead monster as they came in during the waves and the levels peaked out at 160. As long as there were not too many of them between the six of us we can easily take down those at that level. I decided to go ahead and start raising the tower. With the kids being able to speak I felt confident that anyone of us could call for help and whoever was raising would be able to stop and help them out. I had Walter work on the tower first, just in case. It took some extra time, but the first tower for this zone is complete. We colored the outside of these towers red with the mineral cinnabar. I liked the progression of colors. Almost every person around the planet should recognize that after the first blue zone the color of the towers showed the increase in level. Yellow, to Orange, to Red for danger on the highest zone. We spent the next week setting up the other four towers in this zone. We finished one each day for the first couple of days, then the attack groups started to get larger, although the overall average level dipped down to 130.

I bet the over boss of the dungeon is calling monsters in from the last zone also. Probably trying to overwhelm us with quantity instead of quality. Strangely enough the organized attacks have only been during the day. The attacks we have at night are random and easily dealt with by one or two of us. It is hard to ignore this and I have decided that we will actually rest a little now that the last tower is built and advance at night to the final boss. It seems that the final boss does not do well at night, or it is tricking us.

As soon as it got dark the organized attacks once again ceased. The group cautiously traveled towards the center of the dungeon over the next 4 hours. We were able to travel much easier than we did during the day. All we had to worry about was individual higher level monsters ambushing us. It was relatively easy to spot those around us, but a couple monsters had caused some serious damage by coming down from the canopy until I had a brainstorm. I had Elvira the air elemental dragon form a layer of compressed air above us just under the canopy. Now whenever something disturbed that layer of air, such as a monster jumping down to ambush us we had just enough warning to move and cause it to miss the crucial first strike. Once it was down on the ground whatever it was would be easily dealt with by the six of us.

After four hours the attacks stopped. This made me crank up my awareness to a whole new level. The only reason I could see for the stopping of the ambush attacks was that we were near the final boss who probably forbade others from entering his/hers/its territory. Up ahead I can see what looks like a clearing in the forest. There definitely seems to be moonlight shining through. We all stop at the edge of the clearing for two reasons. First it is the smart thing to do to check out the clearing first and secondly in front of us in the middle of a clearing at least a kilometer across is the largest freaking tree I have ever seen in my life.

How have we not seen this thing from any of the towers we have built. I mean this thing should be visible from space. The trunk itself is easily 150-200 meters across and the height must rival the tallest of skyscrapers if not exceed them. It practically screams final boss location. We probably could not see it before due to Great Game dungeon logic or some other weird thing. Now that we are able to see it I have to take a picture before we continue. A quick selfie later with one of my memory storage crystals I decide that we have to advance.

As we get closer to the tree I try and identify it.

World Tree Giver of Life (Corrupted)

Good to know. Probably unique to the Earth so try not to destroy large tree. However, the corrupted part leads me to believe that we will have to battle whatever corrupted the world tree. Now what could corrupt a tree that size. It would take something of immense power or something of lesser power a long time. I wonder which one it is. We carefully keep scanning the area for threats as we approach. Esmerelda is the first to spot something wrong.

“Dad what are those things?”

Esmerelda was pointing to a cluster of what looked like giant seeds off to the left. Identify.

Corrupted Seedlings of the World Tree. Purification possible.

Obviously I do want to purify them but I do not know how. Help.

“What is the simplest method to purify corrupted substances in the Great Game.”

To purify a substance without preparation the simplest method is to overwhelm the corruption with uncorrupted mana.

Ok my crazy high mana pool is going to pay off big in this dungeon. I approach the seeds carefully incase anything is protecting them or hiding near them. Once I reach the first seed I place my hand on it and think about transferring mana to it. A Great Game notice appears.

This seedling will take 1,000 mana to purify. Do you wish to continue?

I mentally select yes and feel the mana leaving my body. The seed starts to glow and I receive a new notification.

Purified Seed of World Tree. The Guardian will be summoned after 29 more seeds are purified.

I get it these seeds are probably considered traps by most people because they would have depleted their mana pools to fix the corruption and be less ready to fight a guardian with low levels of mana. However, with my mana pool and regen rate this should be a piece of cake. I whisper the plan to my group.

“Listen up, after I purify 29 more of these seeds the “Guardian” will be summoned. I do not know what the guardian is, but we can prepare for it anyway. Spread out quietly and find more of these seeds and then meet back here in 15 minutes.”

I get acknowledgements from all of them and watch them scatter to start locating seeds. While they are doing that I will finish purifying the four remaining seeds in this group. Once I am done purifying the seeds I sit down and rest my back against one of the glowing seeds. After about 10 minutes the group starts to filter back in. They each reported new clusters they discovered. It seems that there are several more seeds than are needed to summon the guardian. I wonder if there is a bonus for purifying more than is needed? I guess we will find out.

There are 7 other clusters that my group located in that short amount of time. The seeds in them vary in number.

3 seeds

5 seeds

5 seeds

5 seedss

7 seeds

9 seeds

12 seeds

Ok, lets figure this out.

“Walter, how much mana do you have available and how fast does it regenerate?”

“Master I have a mana pool of 1,550. And I regenerate at a rate of 70% every 15 minutes.”

Wow, I should have asked this before. I kind of now understand why people seem to think I am a broken character when I let slip some of what I can do. Walter is only one level behind me, but his mana and regeneration is world’s behind what I have. I do not know if this is because I am awesome or if it is a limitation on familiars. Whatever, my plan should still work.

“I will purify groups 2, 3, and 4. I will also purify 2 of the seeds in group 1. Before we purify the final seed I want to set up traps for this Guardian that will arrive. We are going to set up traps in a path towards group number 6 the nine seedlings. We will set up a second set of traps between that group and the final group of 12. Walter will purify the last seedling in his group summoning the Guardian. Walter you will then escape the 12 seedling group.”

“Yes Master, I can do that.”

“I will be at the 9 seedling group and will start purifying them as quick as I can after I see Walter purify the seed to summon the Guardian. This should draw the Guardian towards me. If I can finish the purification before it arrives I will then run to the group of 12 seeds and join everyone there. We will build some quick fortifications and set up some long range weapons around the group of 12 seeds. Dragons you will aim and fire the weapons I leave there to slow down the Guardian while I try and purify the 12 seeds. If the Guardian gets close I want you to switch back to your large forms for fighting and Walter and I will join in on the attack. Does everyone understand?”

“Yes dad.”

“Yes Master.”

“Alright, Evira and Bruce, protect Walter as he sets up the fortifications. Esmerelda and Azure your with me as I purify and set traps.”

About an hour later I joined back up with Walter at the group of 12 seeds and reviewed his preparations. Everything looked good. I took out 5 large crossbows and loaded each one with the most powerful combination bolts I had. I also took out my sniper rifle and set it up for myself with a mix of explosion and fire bullets. I figured the Guardian of a giant tree would be the weakest against these two.

I sent Walter off to the last seed in the group of three to purify it and teleported over to the group of nine. Everything was set and ready to go. I shot a small fireball into the air to let Walter know that I was ready. I soon saw the glow of another purified seed. I also saw the tell tale shimmer of a teleportation portal. I quickly started purifying the seeds around me. By the time I got to the fifth one a giant animated tree had arrived I paused quickly and identified it.

Name: Demigod Harusta Race: Hamadryad Level: 263

Well dang it, that guy is much stronger than I anticipated and what is with the Demigod title. Focus back to purifying. As soon as I purified the next seed the Demigod turned in my direction and started walking towards me much faster than I would like. I quickly moved to seed seven and saw Harusta hit the first of my landmine traps. It actually stopped him and caused him to look around. I use the distraction to finish purifying the last seeds in this group. Harusta started walking in my direction again but much more carefully. Dang it, can he see the traps? I take out my MA 12 air rifle and start firing it at Harusta. I do not expect to do much damage, but if I can get him to concentrate on me instead of where he is walking then he will hit more of the traps and more damage will be done.

As the bullets hit him, Harusta just looks annoyed and starts moving more quickly in my direction. He is only setting off about 1 in 7 or 8 of the traps I laid down. Not nearly enough to make me confident in bringing him down. After another minute or two Harusta is getting much much closer to me and looking much much bigger also. I decide that discretion is the better part of valor and teleport to the last group of seeds. Or at least I try to. Instead of teleporting I see this instead.

All teleport functions have been restricted in the presence of the Guardian.

Well shoot, that is not good. Wait is blink considered a teleport? I try blinking into the distance closer to the last cluster of seeds. YES it worked. I found a loophole that I can exploit. I blink over to the last group of seeds and hear the Guardian turn to follow me. Now that I am here I grab my waiting Sniper Rifle and Start channeling mana into the bullets. I am going for max mana in each shot, even if that means fewer shots. I need to break its defense down so the others have a target to shoot for and also a target for melee combat. I yell at my group to hold their fire until my command. I manage to get 5 shots off. The first is at its head and does little to no damage. The second is on the chest, where I manage to crack open and shatter several branches that make up its skin. That is one weak point. Finally, I send the remaining three shots into its left leg. I want to slow the thing down if possible. Each bullet to the leg does significant damage.

Almost half of the leg has been destroyed. Harusta is still moving, but his mobility and speed is definitely affected. I yell for the group to aim at the damage I made on his chest and fire when ready. My mana has almost recovered to full and I start purifying seeds as fast as I can. As I reach the last seed I hear one of the kids yell at me to be careful. I look up and see a fist descending towards me. I use the seed as a shield. Right before it hit the seed the fist stops. I knew it. It wants to stop me but also does not want to damage the seedlings. I quickly scream out my discovery and tell everyone to attack and then retreat behind the seeds. I place my hand on the final seed and dump my mana into as quick as I can to purify the thing. Done, now to take care of Harusta.

Harusta is looking rather bedraggled, but still seems capable of a good fight. His chest is torn up and looks vulnerable, but more importantly his leg looks ready to collapse. I decide that I need to eliminate the leg first. I blink behind his injured leg where he cannot see me and charge up a 200 mana fireball and release it. I see it travel hit and explode. The damage is okay, but the fire just is not taking hold like it should. I decide that a constant stream of fire would be more effective. I yell to my dragons to change form and target his chest with their breath weapons. I blink one more time and grab a hold of the back of Harusta’s leg. I channel my mana into a fire stream and keep pumping mana in to keep it burning. Think of a longer hotter blowtorch. After about 20 seconds of this Harusta screams in rage, his leg starts to buckle and he begins to fall backward.

I quickly blink back to the seed cluster and watch as Harusta topples backwards straight onto a growing stone spike.

“Walter, that’s brilliant. Keep it up. Ok, I will try and blind him while you continue to work the chest area. Go!”

I pull an eight foot flame spear out of my inventory and shift into my draconian form. I then blink to a spot about 20 feet above the fallen Harusta’s head. As I fall I glide until I am lined up with his eye and then pull in my wings. The force of gravity should add to the damage I am about to do. I sink the spear at least 2 feet into this tree things eye. I then released the flame mana that was built up inside it and watched the eye start to burn. However, I was a little too distracted and was knocked a glancing blow from one of Harusta’s hands as he raised them to his face. I may have high stats, a draconian body, and even an abnormally large HP value, but none of that removes the pain you feel.

That hit hurt and it feels like it may have broken some bones. When I get done tumbling along the ground I shift back into my human form and stand up woozily to check on the situation. Harusta seems to be barely moving. I can see Bruce still attacking and Elvira resting on the side. I don’t see the other two or Walter. I need to finish this. I quickly down a high grade health pill and feel my bones start knitting together. This is going to hurt even more. I blink above Harusta’s head once again but have to take the fall on my legs as I am pretty sure my wings are broken still. I catch my breath for just a second and run towards his mouth. As soon as I get close I just start tossing random magic grenades in for three seconds (I managed to get six in) and then turned around and ran back towards his eye that I stabbed. This time I was paying very close attention to where his hands were. He was feebly swatting at Bruce. Good job Bruce way to keep him occupied.

Just as I reached my spear, which was still lodged in the eye of Harusta, the grenades I threw into his mouth started cooking off. I could feel the shaking and damage from where I was and decided it was time to end this. I took out my largest Warhammer and jumped up extra high. I was going to pile drive that spear in as deep as I could before I overcharged it and let it explode. One hit, find my balance, again. Two hits, more than half way there, one more time. Three hits and then I kneel down and place my hand on the butt of the spear and send mana into it until it starts to shake and vibrate. This is the first time I have done this on purpose. I found out the hard way that each magic weapon can only hold so much mana before it explodes in a spectacular manner. Luckily it starts to vibrate and shake before this explosion happens which allowed me to throw away the experimental dagger and only take a few pieces of shrapnel in damage when I first discovered it.

Since I have reached the shake and vibrate stage I blink away from Harusta’s head and turn to watch the result.

“Everyone clear the area!”

I probably should have said that a lot sooner as I could see Bruce get knocked out of the sky by the explosion. He was far enough away that he might take some damage, but should come through the whole thing just fine.

You have defeated demigod Harusta. Calculating rewards. For being the first to defeat a demigod you are granted the title of Demigod Slayer +3, For being the first to kill a monster above level 250 you are awarded the title X-Class Killer +2, For completing 50 or more dungeons in less than 1 year you are awarded the title Dungeon Maniac +2, For destroying the highest level monster currently on the planet you are awarded the title Monster Master +1, For being the first to destroy a legendary plant type monster you are granted the title Plant Killer +1, For purifying all seeds of the World tree you are granted the title Purifier +3 and have the exclusive right to plant one seed in a place of your choosing. For saving all of the World tree’s seeds you are granted the title Guardian of the Trees +3. All other experience and rewards will be administered after twelve hours of non-combat outside of the field dungeon.

This is awesome. I have not gotten that many title in a long time. Let’s see added all up that is 15 more bonus points in every stat plus whatever experience we are going to get. I gather up the group and after collecting my World Tree seed I teleport us back to the staging base we set up.