"AAAaaaah… Ooof!"

Cordelia's shout was cut short when a vine slammed into her back.

'Ouch! This is bad!' She thought, wincing from the pain. She was hanging upside down by her left ankle. Even through the thick leather shoes, she could feel the vine's limb tightening around her foot.

'Okay, okay. Relax! This is just a game!' breathing in and out quickly, she tried to calm down, 'What's the most important thing? Right! Protect the neck!'

She put her left hand on the back of her neck and held it there. Then she tucked her chin down and raised her shoulders up, trying to expose as little of her neck as possible.

Which was in the nick of time, as another limb wrapped around both her arm and her neck, and began to squeeze.

'Ugh,' she grunted. It was uncomfortable, but not life-threatening.

Under the green glow of her healing spirit, she observed her assailant. She could see the limb around her neck. It was as big as her forearm, with skin that looked and felt like tree bark. Sprouting from it were smaller branches, about as big as her finger and without the bark. Scattering here and there were small leaves that looked like tiny hands. The small limbs were squirming, trying to get a hold on her body.

It looked like this thing had at least three large limbs. The first one was holding her ankle, the second one her neck, and the third one hit her in the back just now.

'Where is it?' grunting with discomfort, she drew her dagger with her right hand. As a small limb approached her, she slashed at it, severing the tip.

That seemed to 'anger' the plant, as it began to tremble. Then the third large limb slammed into her belly, taking another 20% of her HP.

"Hey! A little help here, maybe?" Straining, she called down.

"I'm helping! Hang in there!" Manco's voice drifted from somewhere below, amidst the sounds of rustling leaves, snapping vines, the whistling of crossbow bolts and spells.

'What the hell is taking him so long?' She dared not looked down, but kept her eyes out for the vines. Two small branches wrapped themselves around her remaining ankle, and three more grabbed her right wrist, restricting her movements.

'Hey, what do you think you're doing?' She reversed her grip on the blade, adjusted its angle, then turned her wrist, slicing off two of the branches. Gritting her teeth, she withdrew her feet to put the other branches within reach and slashed. Then she hooked her right leg around the main limb that was holding her left one and struggled to right herself.

The third limb was nowhere to be seen. It was probably busy dealing with the guy below. Now she just had to cut this thing squeezing her neck and free herself, somehow.

Then…

*Poof!*

Her healing spirit expired and disappeared, plunging her surrounding into darkness. Gritting her teeth, she renewed it…

…Just in time to see several large vines closing in.

*Whack!*

*Snap!*

A whip-like vine slammed at her right arm, knocking the dagger away, then curled around her wrist. It was followed by three or more vines which wrapped around her remaining limbs. In a blink of an eye, her right arm and both legs were tightly bound.

Then the whole thing began to squeeze. Apparently it had given up trying to strangle her and just decided to crush her whole body.

-15!

-14!

-15!

Her hit point ticked away several times per second. At this rate, she had only seconds more to live…

'I guess I'll revive back in Mistwood Village again,' she thought as her vision lost focus.

NO! I'm not dead yet!

Steeling herself, she considered her options.

Breaking free with brute strength was impossible. Her right dagger was knocked away and returned to her inventory. Her left dagger was still in the sheath, but there was no way to reach it.

The only things she had left were her spirit totems.

The starfish was still boosting her HP regeneration. It was the only reason she was alive right now. The seagull was useless, unless she was falling.

That was all.

Wait! That wasn't all!

There's something else. She got this from the gypsy lady at the caravan.

'Here goes nothing!' Cordelia thought, as she activated her newest spirit totem.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

'Shit! This is bad!'

Manco cursed, as he dodged a large vine then pinned it to the ground with his dagger.

Each mature strangler vine, consisting of three to four main limbs, would occupy an area of several hundred square meters.

What was surround them right now was not one, not two, but at least four mature vines.

'Just my luck!'

He slid under a whipping branch, and rolled to one side to avoid another slamming down from above.

'Here we go!'

He took out a vial containing a swirling yellow liquid, then leveled the skull wand at the cluster of vines that was preparing to attack.

[Dark Implosion]!

As the dark energy crackled and clumped the vines together, he gave the vial a shake and threw it at the same point.

Upon contact, the vial shattered, splattering the yellow liquid, which clung to the vines and burst into flame. Within moments, the green-yellow alchemical flame quickly spread through the whip-like limbs.

*Whack!* *Snap!*

As if feeling the pain, the vines wiggled like a bunch of frenzied snakes. Several of them broke away from the cluster and retreated up the trees. He could still see the flame clinging to them and burning.

Scanning the surrounding trees, he located a second cluster of vines, and gave it the same treatment.

Made out of fire beetle extract, crushed nightstalker bones, and powdered coal, the Basic Alchemist's Fire was a highly volatile liquid that ignited when exposed to air. It was not the best tool for dealing with plant-based enemies, but it was the best he had access to at the moment.

As most of the strangler vines had retreated, Manco heard a bestial roar above.

'What the hell?'

Looking up, he saw Cordelia tearing the vines apart with her bear hands.

…

Wait. Bear hands?

…

Yes. Bear hands.

…

Cordelia had summoned a Bear spirit. Except this one wasn't just hanging above her head like the starfish. Instead, it completely covered her body and was almost solid, like a magical golem. Manco could faintly see her figure within the construct, controlling its movements and attacks.

She was at the center of a bear. Having gained a foothold on one of the cypress trees, she was holding the last vine's main limb in one arm and keep tearing into it. Each of her strike easily scooped away a big chunk of the vine, spraying splinters and barks.

The situation between them had reversed. Now the vine was desperately trying to free itself from her grip. But it was in vain, as she slowly and methodically worked her way toward its roots, dragging them toward her. With a final roar, she plunged both arms into the squirming roots and ripped them apart like a piece of cloth.

In the grand scheme of things, the rampage was quite unnecessary, as the vines were mostly dead anyway. But it was cathartic for her, so he let her vent.

Come to think of it, if things had gone south and he had been occupied, she wouldn't have needed his help.

After a few moments, the bear totem disappeared. She let go of the pieces of the strangler vines, which fell down with a thud next to Manco.

"You okay up there?"

Without answering, she jumped off the cypress tree. Her feathered headdress glowed and a transparent image of some sort of bird appeared above her. Instead of plummeting to the ground, she glided down gracefully. As she was closer to the ground, he saw it was a seagull. She kept floating down like a descending angel.

*Poof!*

*Crash!*

The spirit disappeared, and she fell down in a heap.

"Ow!" Cordelia groaned, holding her head.

"That was really cool," suppressing his laughter, Manco offered her a hand, "Just need to work on the landing a little bit more."

"Hmph!" Slapping away his hand, she stood up by herself, "You said you could free me easily!" she said indignantly.

"I know I did. But there were more of them than expected!" He held up his hands, trying to placate her.

"You did it on purpose!" she said, glaring at him.

"Did what?"

"Delay helping me!"

"What are you talking about? I was doing my best!"

"Did you enjoy watching me getting tied up?"

"No!..." He didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "When did I get a chance to watch you get tied up, m'lady? I was fighting for my life down here too!"

"Next time you'll be the bait!" crossing her arms, she stalked away.

"Sure, sure! Hey, hang on!" he called after her.

She completely ignored him.

"There might be more of them!"

That stopped her dead in her tracks. Sulking, she turned around and stood next to him. Letting her fume, Manco turned to the dead vines scattering in the area and began gathering them to a heap.

"What are you doing?" unable to contain her curiosity, Cordelia asked.

"Harvesting. It's got something we need. Mind giving me a hand?"

"Hmm... Fine!" reluctantly, she approached the pile of vines.