(Altura MC)

“I think you should go a bit easier on the branches, your grace, we don’t want to kill the trees just yet.” Kerrin said as we trudged through the forest. It was not a very pleasant experience.

The foliage was thick, the ground littered with things that would make you trip. I would name it a rainforest, but it lacked any sign of rain or water. Somehow, I did not think that such a forest was normal for cold regions like this.

But then again, what was normal in this world? Earth did not have magic vines either. Maybe trees just grew like this in this world. It wasn’t like I had visited any nation with a similar climate.

“I don’t know Kerrin. The trees don’t seem to be co-operating either. Perhaps we should just kill them? It would certainly make it easier for us.” I asked back.

“I think the both of us know that you will not be doing this. These trees are hardwood with sturdy trunks, they will not be easy to cut with hand. And your control, your grace, is…not up to the task.” Kerrins answered.

“And do you have any better ideas?” I asked, waving at the entwining branches before me.

“Yes I do.” Kerrin said, pressing his hand outward slowly. As he pushed, the branches curved away, making way for us.

“So, sap counts as blood.” I commented.

Kerrin looked surprised at my comment, saying, “That it is, your grace, there is blood in almost every living thing. And I can control it.”

And the OPness of the MC shows itself. No need to rain fire on your enemies, just rain their blood on the ground. Though I suspected there was a catch in there.

“And…what is the limitation? There must be one.” I asked.

“There is, your grace, I can only control the blood of someone one minor realm lower than me and even then they can resist. Controlling blood is not my only power though. I can do this too.” Kerrin said as he once again pushed his hand out, this time a red wave emerged from his hand.

The wave travelled close to one side of the trees, catching fire as it approached. Needless to say, it cut through the branches like they were butter.

“So you can set your blood on fire. I suppose you can freeze it too.” I said.

“Not yet, your grace, but that will come after I breakthrough to the Sapling realm. I will gain access to all the elements by mid-Plantling realm.” Kerrin said. Ah, good fellow, limit your OPness, it is showing. Please mind us simple plebeians with normal elements.

“Good, since you are so good at clearing these branches, how about you clear them all the way.” I said, feeling smug, you might be OP Kerrin, but I am still your boss.

“Yes, your grace.” Kerrin said, his smile twitching. Despite his apparent reluctance, Kerrin did clear the branches, allowing the lot of us to navigate the forest far more easily. Right up until we ran into what we were here to deal with. The vine.

It looked like a purplish green set of ropes, coiled around a tree, pulsing periodically, perhaps to the sound of a heart somewhere. Or perhaps just to the flow of sap through the tree. I did not have the skill to tell.

Deciding not to waste any time, I immediately set the vine on fire. I had no idea if the fire would, or even could, spread across the body of the vine, but it was possible, and I wanted to try. Wouldn’t it be nice if the vine died right here?

As soon as the fire touched the vine, it began trashing around, attempting to uncoil itself and escape. Belatedly, I remembered Grandpa Beluviar’s warning not to harm the forest and directed the fire away from the tree. It made the Qi cost bigger, but I wasn’t going to ignore the guy. Too many protagonists had their failure arc because of not listening to good advice.

And I wasn’t even a protagonist. The fire soon burned through this part of the vine and, as I followed it, started burning through the rest of it. As I, Kerrin, and the guard followed the vine and the fire that burned it, it almost seemed as if the fire was one of those in-game arrows that guided the player.

Like right now it was hopefully guiding us to the heart of the vine. Eventually we had to stop walking and start running as the fire sped up its advance, apparently we had hit a very flammable patch.

The guard was soon left behind as Kerrin and I rushed into a clearing along the fire. Except the clearing was not remotely clear. It was occupied by a large bundle of vines all coiled together. The mother root of the vine.

As soon as the fire touched the mother root it got snuffed out, apparently the mother root was fireproof, or at least fire-resistant. But was it ice resistant? I summoned the threads of Qi, twirling them into a dozen cones of ice before shooting them at the mother root.

The cones pierced the mother root, causing it to bleed some sort of blue-green pus. Kerrin took the chance to try to set said blood on fire, but the fire was snuffed out before it even began. The mother root was of a higher cultivation level than Kerrin. In fact the root was likely a higher cultivation level than me.

I stepped onto a snowflake, snowflaking myself around the beast. The air offered me a distinct advantage. Now I could attack it better. Throwing threads of Qi out, I aimed at the same vine that had been hit before. I missed, but sadly for the vine, it was big enough that it did not matter. It bled nonetheless.

Three huge arms swept into the air, swinging randomly. Sadly from for them, they were huge, and I was small and mobile. Dodging was an option and dodge I did. More ice cones went down, along with a small amount of fire. I wanted to see how much resistance it really had. Mentally I checked my Qi expenditure.

330/390 Qi. 60 Qi spent

Oof, 60 Qi in a few minutes? I may have to mind the expenditure this time. How did I even manage those snowflakes last time? I wonder if I did something I am missing.

Or do those incantations take less Qi? Maybe I should - an arm suddenly leapt at me, forcing me to dodge. I think I would leave the experimenting for later. Meanwhile, the fire had damaged the vine. More than the ice cones even. It just wouldn’t spread through the body.

Some sort of protective skill perhaps? Or something else? How did these beasts work anyway? There was so much I didn’t know. But for now, more fire! Incantation this time.

‘Fore, oh, Fire of Dragons. Hear my call! Burn my enemies once more! Let this vine turn to ash!’

Qi swept out of me in a wave. Leaving me drained. It was decidedly not a pleasant experience.

15/390 Qi. 375 Qi spent.

Three hundred fifteen Qi gone at once, I don’t think I had cast such a large spell before. But it was not without reason, I saw a huge mass of fire move out, attacking the vine. There must have been thousands of threads worth of fire in there. Either that or I was doing it wrong and inefficiently enough that the incantation was so much better than me.

It drilled inside one of the arms and then spread. I could see a mass of colors spread inward as the vine was killed from the inside. Apparently whatever resistance it had, did not affect its insides.

Qi gained!

Qi Analogous Vine (Late Sapling) killed: 253 Qi. A heavily injured late stage Sapling, its power dropped to little over that of an Early Sapling. Qi gain reduced due to injured state.

Vine arms (Mid-Seedling) killed 17: 17 × 1= 17

Total Qi gained= 253+17= 270

Level up! Early Sapling (390/600) → Mid-Sapling (60/1200)

Stats gained!

+3 to all

Due to Qi Analogous Vine being an active threat to the welfare of your duchy, full experience is gained.

And that lower levelled debuff was killing me. One Qi? No wonder the nobles did not kill lower leveled beasts, it was a waste of Qi. But I had also discovered something else about the casting.

The incantations were dangerous. I had no idea what would happen if my Qi dropped to zero or worse, below zero, but I had a feeling that I would not like it. I might have to be a bit more careful.

All it would have taken was 15 more Qi for me to find out. Before I had always used it for specific tasks or ending blows, not a blank statement like this one.

Now to land before snowflaking around had me finding out. I landed back near to where Kerrin was hiding behind a tree, out of the vine's range of attack. The guards also seemed to have just arrived, but neither had much of a chance to contribute.

How long did this battle take? It was unlikely to be more than five minutes. Behind me, the vine fell down, quite literally shaking the earth. Not earthquake shaking but ‘something heavy fell’ shaking. I wonder how such a big plant was merely a Late Sapling. Then again, it was also pretty weak. And more importantly, what injured it?

I turned around to see if I could find any clues and find myself facing a flashing vine. Something was obviously pulsing brightly under the vine. Cautiously, I approached the area, looking for the source.

I gingerly picked up the vine arm, under it lay a single stone. As I watched, it flashed purple revealing the image of a tree.

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name) (landed)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (Sapling-Late(60/1200)), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

18

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

22

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

20

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

22

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

18

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend advanced concepts]

21

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

22

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

23

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

22

Retainers

Kerrin

Mid-Seedling (260/300). Element of Blood, anomalous Seedling