I stared at the tree.

The tree glared right back.

An irritated Dryad Tree Tender, level ??.

I knew that I should have maybe been a bit more worried about the abominations following behind me, because... well, the because was rather obvious, they were angry madness-inducing tentacle monsters which wanted to eat me, that was a lot of reasons to avoid them.

Still, I had just literally run into a tree person and I could at the very least apologize.

The tree man was tall, with bark-brown skin that was rough and textured over his shoulders and sides and pecs, but over the more flexible muscles it looked smooth like the skin of a tree just beneath its bark, it even had a soft green look to it. His hair was long and whippy, like the branches of a willow and his legs were thick and literally trunk-like.

He also had a really nice six pack and the kind of squarish shovel-like jaw that I was really digging. “Hey,” I said before running my fingers through my hair to straighten it up a little. “Sorry for running into you, Mister Dryad, sir,” I said.

The tree-man’s eyes narrowed.

“Tell you what,” I said as I kept my eyes on his and not on his chest. “How about we go out for lunch. I’ll pay. To apologize. I’m sure they have vegan meals at the inn.”

Judging by the increasingly irritated look on the dryad’s face it was clear that I wasn’t very good at the whole flirting thing. Unfortunately, my only wingmen was a group of monsters that decided to interrupt my moment by bursting through the bushes behind me, tentacles whipping out ahead of them.

I jumped away, making it to the lower branches of a tree a little ways away before turning around and holding my shovel close to my chest. I couldn’t just leave Mister Dryad to be swarmed by the abominations, not when he was going to be outnumbered six to one.

The dryad’s hand shot out, catching the whipping tentacles of the abomination in the lead before he yanked the monster closer. His other arm shot forwards, fist burying itself into the monster up to the wrist.

The abomination struggled, its many hands grasping at the dryad, at first to find purchase, then with increasing desperation until thorny vines burst out from under its skin and started wrapping around its body.

I had to look away. The sight of the abomination, already on the gross side, being mulched by thorns the size of daggers, was just too much.

Congratulations! Your ally has made Dunwich Abomination, Level 8, push up daisies! Bonus Exp was granted for eliminating a monster above your level! Due to not being the primary combatant your reward is reduced!

Mister Dryad grabbed the next abomination and started doing terrible things to it, but there were four others, and they did not take kindly to their friends being pulped. Tentacles whipped out towards Mister Dryad and one of the monsters clamped down around his leg with its big nasty teeth.

I couldn’t just watch.

Screwing up my courage, I reminded myself that the abominations were big mean monsters and that it was okay to fight them. Sure, I had been the one to invade their home, but they were over-reacting with their long chase and their madness-inducing screams.

I jumped off the branch I was on and landed on the head of the rear-most abomination, sending it planting face-first into the ground before I bounced off and landed next to it. My spade came down on its head with a clang so hard it made my hands rattle.

It didn’t seem to do much to hurt the monster, but it did distract it.

Then a tentacle grabbed me by the ankle and started dragging me towards one of the other abominations.

“Oh no, no no no,” I said as I spun around and bonked the abomination behind me on the noggin. It didn't do much.

I chopped at the tentacle with the edge of my spade, then hit it again and again until it sliced off with a wet squelch and I was free to shoot up and into the trees above.

Mister Dryad had used the distraction to take out another one of the monsters. The two I had distracted waddled after me as I circled around Mister Dryad while he finished off their friend. The moment he was done, he turned to the abominations that weren’t looking his way and crashed into them like a falling tree.

It didn’t take very long from there.

Congratulations! Your team has eliminated five opponents (Dunwich Abomination, Level 7 x3, Dunwich Abomination, Level 8, Dunwich Abomination, Level 9)! Bonus Exp was granted for killing a monster above your level! Due to not being the primary combatant your reward is reduced!

Bing Bong! Congratulations, your Cinnamon Bun class has reached level 5!

Mana + 10

Magic + 10

You have gained: One Class Point

I landed on the ground next to Mister Dryad and panted with a mix of exhilaration and adrenaline-fueled desperation that was only just fading. Then the smell of all the abominations hit me and I gagged.

It had been easy to ignore the stench when I was busy running for my life, but now that I had a moment to relax I had no choice but to endure the stink. It was like inhaling raw sewage. My stomach surged, and it was all I could do not to lose my breakfast.

Mister Dryad didn’t seem to enjoy it any more than I did, not if the way he stomped off was any indication.

I followed after him, both of us moving upwind from the corpses of the abominations that were even now rotting at an accelerated pace. I could celebrate the level up when I wasn’t choking on stinky air.

Mister Dryad walked a little ways away, then turned around to face me with his big arms crossed over his chest.

I smiled sheepishly at him and rubbed a hand behind my neck. “So, ah, I’m sorry about all of that. I didn’t mean to bring those things into your home. They kind of followed me. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you please tell me! I want to be friends!”

The tree person glared.

“I really am sorry,” I said. “I was looking for some flowers when they kind of ambushed me, and the forest seemed like the safest place to run off to. But I learned my lesson! I’ll be a lot more careful next time I go snooping around.” It looked down towards my feet, then I caught sight of something from the corner of my eye and gasped. “You’re injured!” I said.

Mister Dryads thick legs were covered in small scratches, the sort that would probably heal over in a little while. Those had to be from the tentacles. The wound that caught my eye were the large, jaggedy bite marks around his knee and calves. They looked deep and there was something leaking out of them.

I stumbled forwards and Mister Dryad stepped back.

Looking up, I met his eye, then gestured to his leg. “Let me see, please? I can clean out the wound, at least, and I have some cloth to bandage it up.”

The tree looked at me for a long time, then slowly nodded.

Smiling, I got down on one knee before him while slipping off my backpack. I regretted not buying any healing potions while I was at the alchemist’s shop. Maybe some salve of sorts. It would have been the smart thing to do, but doing the smart thing wasn’t always something I was good at.

I carefully pressed a hand next to the bite and winced a little as I took it in from up close. The bark-like skin was split open, each jaggedy hole liberally smeared with some sort of putrid purplish... stuff. I didn’t want to touch it. There was also something coming out of the wound, brownish and sticky looking. Sap? That would make sense.

I idly wondered if Mister Dryad could make me some maple syrup, then banished the thought.

A glance at my status showed that I had plenty of mana, so I fired off a powerful burst of cleaning magic aiming for the wounds and the gunk within them.

The purplish stuff fizzled away as my magic rushed to it. Mister Dryad shifted, but didn’t object otherwise. He did protest when I pulled out some long strips of cloth from my backpack and started tying them around his leg. “Hey, you can’t just leave this uncovered. It’ll get all infected and then it’ll take forever to heal. I don’t know what kind of infections work on a tree person, but I bet they’re not fun.”

He paused and let me bind his wound with my makeshift bandage. I made sure to leave a cute little bow on the end, that way he could impress all the cute dryad girls. It would show off his manly ‘look at me injuries’ side, and also his cute feminine side. I wondered if he’d let me play with his willowy hair. I bet I could make it look really cool if I braided it.

“So, what does a handsome treeboy like you do for fun around here?” I asked.

Mister Dryad looked at me for a long, long time, then he opened his mouth. “... Fun?”

I blinked. “Eh? You can talk?” I asked.

He nodded with the kind of speed you’d expect from a tree--which was to say, fairly slowly.

“Oh, wow. Okay, cool! I didn’t know dryads could talk. This is really neat.”

He pointed to me. “...Talk.”

“Yes! I can talk too, of course.”

“... Too... much,” he finished.

I almost collapsed. “No! I don’t talk too much! I talk just enough, I swear. I’m sorry, it’s just when I meet someone new I want to know everything about them so sometimes I ask too many questions and I guess I do come on a little strongly, don’t I?”

He nodded slowly again. He turned around a little, looking deeper into the woods and I had the impression that he was getting bored with the conversation.

“S-so, I’m looking for a flower,” I said. “Actually, wait, I never got your name!”

He sighed, a noise like wind ruffling through leaves.

“Was that your name?” I asked. “Oh right, I’m being silly again. My name is Broccoli Bunch. Like the veggie!”

“...No.” He shifted a little. “Oak.”

“Your name’s Oak? That’s a great name for a treeboy! I’m Broccoli, but I already told you that. So, ah, I’m wondering if you could help me. Not that you need to, you’ve helped me a ton already today.”

Oak closed his eyes and I had the impression that he might have been praying to whatever a tree prayed to. “...Help?” he asked.

“Yes! I’m looking for a flower.”

Oak tilted his head to the side, then he waved his arm across the ground and all sorts of little wildflowers sprouted out of the soil and bloomed to life, their colorful petals turning a patch of the dreary forest into a brilliant rainbow patch full of life.

“Whoa,” I said as I knelt down to poke at the flowers. I recognized them vaguely as common cornflowers and poppies. “Pretty!”

“...Flowers.”

“Yes, they are,” I agreed with a beaming smile. I set my backpack down, careful not to squish any of Oak’s flowers, and pulled out my herbology book.

Oak frowned at it. “...Dead brother.”

I froze. The book had, admittedly, probably been made from a tree of one sort or another. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I found this a while ago. I can’t say whether it was made with respect to your brother or not.”

Oak considered that, then shrugged.

I opened to the dog-eared page with the Two-Lipped Tulips and showed it to Oak. “This is what I’m looking for,” I said.

He looked for a long time. “...Weed. Cull.”

“Cull? You want to get rid of this kind of flower?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Well then, maybe we can help each other!”

***