Raid of Holden’s Breach was successfully completed, allocating the land to the allegiance of the those that placed First in the group rankings.

Now that the Undead Giant Ent is vanquished, the tree will be named Yasargil, Tree Of Life, creating fruit that will increase all regen and boost Life Force effectiveness. Depending on how the Tree Of Life is fed, if at all, these bonuses and its fruits may alter.

Harvesting too many Life Fruits in a short period of time may have harmful effects on Yasargil.

All the Life Force it had been seeping from Holden’s Breach will begin to fall into the soil, boosting the growth of food with a 25% decaying rate for the next three years.

Any plant grown within Holden’s Breach will gain a Minor Disease Resistance, an increase in their nutrient value, and an increased chance of providing buffs.

Near Yasargil overgrown roots grow a variety of herbs, flowers, and potent poisons. Now named Garden of Blossoms, any herb planted within its territory will gain a 25% success rate of blooming, and 25% increased effectiveness of health regeneration, anti-disease, and Life Force bonuses.

Check your inbox for your appropriate reward!

The rank of those that have perished will be given to the next ranker.

Party Rankings

Individual Rankings

The Harbingers (252) Fifth Regiment (236) Fuck The Drail (223) ApikeUpTheAssholesOftheJultiWho (211) Trail Blazers (198) Nilbog (111) Sai Of The Flame (102) Mandrela (91) Iris The Ferocious (83) Obley The Untouched (80)

The tree did not completely fall apart with the completion of the mission, as it was not a complete monster. The Ents, Bearls, Ash Goblins, Wraths, and all other monsters did, but because the tree was not a complete monster, only the flesh and blood running in its roots vanished, leaving behind a colossal tree with its internal tunnels mostly intact.

The storm vanished too, but not without dealing its fair share of damage. The rest of the trees in Holden’s Breach were effectively uprooted, with even the largest of them being hurled across the distance of the mission. They fell all around Yasargil one on top of each other, almost as if serving as a barrier to the garden.

Holden’s Breach, courtesy of the storm and land bonuses, just became a superb farming outpost.

Nilbog climbed up one of its branches, each step sending agony through his ankles. The throbbing burned up his quads and snuck his back like thorns.

Even though the wounds healed, the pain was still there. He used the bottom of the spear to give him the extra push he needed with one hand, while the other covered his eyes from the sun, its glares falling straight into his eyes.

As sorely missed as it was with the past few days of dreary gray, the sun was currently doing its best to make up its scarcity by impeding every wretched step Nilbog took.

This was what Kara spoke of when she mentioned overdosing on Life Force Empowerment. His entire body burned with each little movement, a reminder of the abuse he had done to his body. He could feel his muscles falling off his cracked bones with each little movement he did.

The fear of permanent injuries would have terrified Nilbog if he had not possessed the ability to switch body parts at will.

She gets to have all the fun, while I get to deal with all the pain, Nilbog muttered under his breath. True, she was able to get results Nilbog could only dream of, performing maneuvers and attacks fairy tales told of, but he was still bitter about being used.

He got all the benefits of it, that was true, too, but he was still bitter about it.

At the very least, the view within the garden was as gorgeous as anything can be. A variety of bright flowers and herbs bloomed under, creating every color Nilbog ever seen in his life and then some more. The aroma seemed to crawl better than him, the sweet air making his tongue salivate for some warm bread.

The thorns did not all disappear, however. They were still enveloping the tree and its garden, but though it gave Nilbog the shivers, none of them seemed hostile, letting the survivors walk past the garden without tearing them apart.

That could not be said the same for the two fools that attempted to set fire to the garden.

Idiotic revolutionaries. One ruling class to the other, all that you do is cause more deat-

The butt of Nilbog’s spear struck a spot where the trunk was slightly angled, causing it to slip off. Nilbog fell forward, but neither of his legs seemed intent on catching his fall. He closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.

A hand caught him by his armpits, keeping him from falling onto his face. He coughed, turned around, and said his thanks.

Nika nodded, swiftly turning her sights back to the flora. She didn’t seem to have half the trouble he was going through, and from the way she bounced off her feet, Nilbog could almost say she was enjoying the hike.

Neither of them said anything for a while, the throbbing in Nilbog’s shoulder serving as a great deterrent. Not that he was complaining about it; being moderately poked in the shoulder with a knife was reasonable and kind of her, considering that Kara killed her friend and then confessed to her; how or why she let Kara get away with that, he didn’t know and didn’t want to.

People were too strange. All he wanted was the fruit. An unnatural hunger was eating at his insides. A Ravenous Hunger, to be more specific--a nasty debuff which reduced HP and STM regen by 30%. It didn't make sense why he had it, considering he had...eaten before the fight started.

Switching the blood and the amount of healing and resources he spent might have had something to do with it.

The fruit were large, orange pinkish balls the size of a head and looked just as juicy; a comparison that quickly mortified Nilbog.

He almost regretted his greed for going for the largest fruits.

Almost. When they reached one of the top branches, the fruit hung off by a thick green material to their core off to the side, in hands reach. They were not attached to the branches, but rather to a green vine that ran from one branch to the other. They stretched all around them, almost blocking out the sun.

Nilbog got close to the edge, wishing that the Game would have been thoughtful enough to install a railing. He reached for one, pulling on it from the bottom. It was abnormally cool and firm, not at all juicy as he thought. A shame, but he’ll take what he can get.

It didn’t pluck off, as he had originally thought, too. He sighed, glancing at Iris who was already beside him, hacking at the root with her dagger. The fruit dropped onto Nilbog’s hands, and surprisingly, its flesh began to mellow seconds after being cut off.

Life Fruit

Rank C Advanced Food.

A highly nutritious fruit that will increase Life Force, HP, STM, and Overall STM regen by 30%.

Just don’t think about how it was created.

He stared at the fruit for a few seconds as it softened, and then nudged it towards Iris.

She hesitated for a few seconds, making Nilbog realize how foolish that move was. She probably thought he was testing whether the fruit was safe or not on her; A common wisdom is to never trust the Game rewards--edibles doubly more so.

He was about to take it back before Iris grabbed. One hand held it from the bottom while the other, the one that was holding the dagger, held it at the side. It was somewhat...funny that her hands were not big enough to hold the fruit by themselves.

No, funny was not the right word. It was more positive, and rather than making him laugh, it rather tugged at his lips and made his organs feel strange.

Not looking to pressure her into biting first, Nilbog reached for the next fruit. It didn’t budge either. He swallowed, his saliva pounding heavily in his ears as it went down his dry throat. He thought about just bitting it off, but he quickly dismissed that idea; the posture was just as important as the taste.

He turned back towards Iris, whose lips were was pressed together, her cheeks pulled back. He was about to ask her for help when he realized that the fruit he gave her kept both her hands full. He was about to ask for the dagger, but with the spear keeping up in one hand, and if he had the dagger in the other, which was going to catch the fruit?

“Ah,” Nilbog finally realized, “I’m an idiot.”

She doubled over, the giggles shaking her body. Nilbog stood by, feeling increasingly foolish as her giggles turned into high chuckles. He faced away, feeling more and more of his weight on the spear. He should have just taken the fruit for himself; he was the one that could barely move. It would have been easier for her to cut one than this silly method.

“I’m glad,” she said, wiping a tear-off on her shoulders and somehow smiling. It was uncanny how bright and wonderful it was, Nilbog thought, almost taking a step back, which would have been truly tragic considering they were a good hundred meters high in the air.

He did understand what she meant, but did not ask. What are you glad for? Why didn't you kill me? How did I get here? What is going on?

Was that something he could ask to someone that was laughing at him?

She stepped forward, pressing the fruit against her stomach, and just as awkwardly hacked at the fruit’s leathery material, doing her best not to drop her own fruit in the process.

A pleasant smell emitted from Iris, the cause being the fruit no doubt, leading Nilbog to glance at her, which was was extremely odd by itself; humanoids, and humans in specific, absolutely stunk, and Nilbog always did his best to avoid looking at them. They were boney and had disproportionate legs and arms, with tiny noses and frail-looking pink lips and ears.

The only reason Nilbog tolerated living with them previously as for their great food, but recently, ever since he had changed his race, his senses have been extremely skewed.

Even the fire-wielding swordsman, the one that had attempted to kill him previously, had a peculiar, toned body. Instead of odd or mutated, Nilbog found him… superior?

At least for the fire swordsman, he could tell the reason for his good opinion of his body: he was strong. Envy, Nilbog most definitely wanted that strength, and his body was a part of it.

But what of Iris? Her body was even weirder, with longer, thicker legs than her upper body.

He studied her features, curious as to what made her good to look at. Her face was dirty as the soil, reminiscence of cuts and blood making a clear trek on her face--all in all not much different than what Nilbog’s mug felt like.

Her hair was a chaotic mess, but unlike Nilbog’s dark bushel that stopped at his ears, her’s was a pale yellow that went down to below her ears, and sometimes fell in front of her eyes. It would be a determinant in battle; why would she grow it out like that?

When the air blew, ruffling her hair, he noticed she had a scar on the left side of her jaw, a large cut that seemed to have craved some of the bone out, though it was well covered by her hair. Was it to hide her weakness, the fact that she took a mortal wound?

He caught a peek of another one when he stepped closer to her and looked over her shoulder. It was slightly thinner, running down her collarbone and in between her breasts, though strangely she didn’t seem to have covered that one, wearing a low cut shirt instead.

Something heavy and round fell onto his hand, and would have nearly slipped off if his Seventh Sense did not activate, catching it and bringing it closer to his chest.

What an odd skill, that was.

“That was a clo-” Iris began to say, but flinched noticeably when she faced Nilbog, almost jumping back. Her eye sockets, though small and not perfectly circular, held two nice eyeballs with an interesting shape and a bright blue color. It was the only part that the dirt did not touch, causing it to almost glimmer.

“What?” Nilbog asked. She stood still, her pale face turning red, which was odd considering temperature was not sub-zero, and the wind rather warm.

“You’re...standing really...close,” she said in a whisper, looking down slightly and to the left.

“Oh,” he said, almost taking a step back-- again, he found that not to be a good idea. “Let’s find a spot,” Nilbog said. He probably smelled, considering that he too was human, or rather, had a human body. He hoped that the fruit would conceal his smell, but not that it mattered.

Who cared whether he smelled or not?

Nilbog trundled behind Iris as went towards the cave entrance. Iris was about to sit first, but then paused, and then held forward a hand.

He didn’t need it, as he was just about to drop to the ground like a limp doll and hope for the best, but he took it anyway. She helped him balance as he squatted down, letting his back rest against the wood behind him.

They sat cross footed, weapons close on each side--always ready for an ambush.

Without saying much, they dug into the fruit.

Juicy was an understatement. Its insides were a bright yellow, jelly-like material. He didn’t as much as bite into it as he simply put it into his mouth before it melted into a liquid-like material, lighter than honey but much sweeter with a stronger taste.

It didn’t just taste good; it felt good. With each mouthful, the aching of his body and spirit lessened and rather began to feel better than he had ever felt. A notification appeared, informing him he had received an Advanced Food buff, but Nilbog was too busy eating to read it. He slapped it aside as he slurped out the juices running down his fingers, a moan or two escaping his throat.

He stopped chewing and rather began to swallow, his stomach forcing him to squish his face against the juices. Half-way through the Life Fruit Nilbog realized he forgot to breathe, and with difficulty removed himself from the fruit for a few gasps of air. His mouth almost dived back into the fruit before he heard a sound to his side.

Iris was there. It had momentarily escaped his mind, but humans held strange etiquettes when it came to consuming food.

He glanced at her with same anxiety he would have before a battle, but became wide-eyed to see her three-quarters of the way through the fruit, face nearly completely submerged into the fruit, and if there was a core then she would have already devoured that too.

Not only did she use her mouth effectively, taking huge gulps, but she also utilized her hands, pushing out the juice from the other side and tunneling it through her mouth. She avoided eating the skin, focusing on the flesh inside. It was delicious, too, but eating it before the insides would cause the entire fruit to simply melt through the fingers.

She flinched suddenly, somehow noticing Nilbog’s gaze. She slowly lifted her head from the fruit, the ends of her hair sticking to her cheeks and lips from the sugar. The flesh of the fruit, mostly melted, ran down her panting lips, the sticky juice falling onto her chin and sliding down her neck.

She swallowed, smacking her lips together, but had to open them to breath faster. “I’m...a messy eater,” she whimpered, doing her best to wipe her mouth with her forearm, still panting hard enough for her chest to noticeably expand with each breath.

Nilbog doubled over, coughing brutally. He felt Iris bending towards him, a hand on his back, saying things that were blocked by the ringing in his ears.

Those strange thoughts that rummaged his head. The things he wanted to do with his mouth; they were not natural.

Was he… was he becoming a man-eater?