Something was wrong.

Veeran had first suspected that something was askew since before the scalewolves had attacked them. The vinebeasts came every day, predictable enough to be dependable yet varied enough as to require near-constant awareness. And, for the first half-dozen assaults, they had gotten stronger with every attempt, faster or cleverer or simply utilizing some new strategy to attack. Why, he didn't know, and he didn't care.

The problem came when they stopped getting stronger. And then, they started getting weaker.

Ride and Haleford had dismissed that as a problem when he'd mentioned it near them, seeing it as an indication that whatever was creating or directing the vinebeasts to attack them was running out of strength and the problem would resolve itself given enough time.

Inq had at least understood that he was concerned, yet had not grasped the full extent of Veeran's worry. She agreed that the vine-source likely wasn't getting tired, but she had thought it was simply conserving energy while still harassing them, unwilling to continue ramming its metaphorical head against them to no gain.

Veeran, though, knew better. This thing had demonstrated it was intelligent, and that the vinebeasts it sent against them were occasionally a challenge. Now, it was building up its strength for an overwhelming attack. He didn't know precisely why he was so confident in this conclusion, but years of experience had honed his instincts into something that he would ignore at his own peril.

There hadn't been much that he could realistically do until now, though. He couldn't leave the shelter undefended while Smith and Haleford were around, and he was the primary source of defense they had.

He and Inq had spoken on the subject prior to the Commander's departure with their Artificer and Ranger, and had concluded that it would be possible for him to leave the shelter for some time, but doing so would necessitate him either taking a very short excursion or bringing Haleford with him. Everything in the shelter was fairly easy to replace, after all. However, he still ought not to venture too far afield unless something concerning happened.

And Veeran considered this concerning. Specifically, there hadn't been an attack yesterday. He'd spent the entire day ready for an assault which never occurred.

There were two possibilities, insofar as he cared. Either the vinebeast source had fully withheld an attack to build up its strength for a later attack, or the vinebeast was chasing down Smith, Inq, and Ride. The latter was unlikely, given how long it had been since half their team had departed, but was nonetheless possible. Now, neither was good, and both necessitated him tracking down the actual source of the beasts.

"Haleford," Veeran called out for the Healer. "Finish your current endeavor. We'll need to investigate something very soon."

"Absolutely!" the kid responded, "Shall I finish cooking, or would it be better if I just leave as-is?"

"If you're close to done, finish it. But mostly, secure our food stockpiles."

"Certainly!"

It was a few hours before they actually managed to depart the shelter, to such a point that Veeran loosely anticipated yet another vinebeast assault, yet it once more failed to materialize. Accordingly, Veeran was exceptionally ready for any sign of something being out of the ordinary, ears ready to hear even the slightest deviation in their surroundings. The forest was full of sounds loud and quiet alike, the omnipresent drones of insects forming a background for loud bird calls and the noises of plant life settling. Yet most prominent of all was the voice of a human.

"Do you think that plant is poisonous?" the Healer asked. "It might not look poisonous, but was red touches green the memory thing for telling what plants are stay-away? I bet if Alyssa was here, she could tell us. Did you know she feels magic? With her fingers! And maybe her toes, I don't know. That's just so wild to me! Why would you constrain your Mana sense that much? Wouldn't you agree that it's better to tell what magic is in something before it hits you? But she seems to have really made it work for herself. And in fact my family-"

"While I appreciate the exuberance, Haleford, I am trying to be vigilant."

"Oh," he piped down. "Sorry," he faux-whispered.

Veeran responded with a nonverbal acknowledgment, before scanning their surroundings once more. Ride had taken him partway down the path to where she'd first encountered a vinebeast once before, and described the rest of the journey, and he wanted to ensure they didn't go astray during that.

He moved a branch in their way off to the side with the tip of his [Frostblade], newly recast for this expedition, and withheld a sigh as Haleford, in an effort to get past Veeran as quickly as possible, chose a route that drastically extended how long he actually was in Veeran's way. He did his best to not judge the kid too much, though. He'd seen evidence of the Healer's skills back before the Jump, and they were clearly the result of someone talented. But it was obvious that Haleford hadn't actually prepared for a situation like the one they found themselves in, where he couldn't simply rely on prior efforts to ensure future success. He was used to being far more powerful than any of his problems, and now that simply wasn't an option.

It was absolutely a mistake, but a common and understandable one, in Veeran's view.

He wasn't certain exactly how the boy had gotten so much power at such a young age, but he hoped that it was something replicable and not simply him coasting off his family's training facilities, as Smith seemed to assume, because they could certainly use an extremely powerful healer.

They just needed to survive until then.

Fortunately, nothing larger than a sparrow attacked them on their way, and Veeran and Haleford soon found themselves near their goal.

It was, as Ride had described, an ancient-looking treewith heart-shaped leaves touched with blue patterns, overhanging a bend in a very pristine creek. A very faint harmony emanated from the trunk of the tree, indicating that it was decidedly magical, though not in any way directly connected to Ice, Metal, or Force.

However, despite the absence of any wind, the gnarled branches still swayed slightly as though caressed by a breeze. Veeran indicated for Haleford to remain where he was, and Veeran brandished his [Frostblade] as he cautiously approached the tree. It looked most akin to a sacred glen, and he knew firsthand how nothing good ever came of those.

On the positive side, somewhere with this much Mana could work quite well for helping him get a new skill or subskill. More magical places meant that you were more you, at least as far as magic cared, and the impressions you left in the surroundings could much more easily coalesce into a full-blown ability. The trick was making sure that the impressions all led in a single direction, until the world couldn't deny that you deserved to have its assistance.

Veeran's lips quirked as he heard Battlemage Isegon's voice about how incorrect he was with all of his magical theory echo through his memory. Then the memory continued, and the quirk froze, before Veeran set his face once more and pushed onwards.

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The harmony grew stronger as he approached, the tree's magic remarkably localized for a natural phenomenon, but otherwise didn't change. That was, until he reached the creek-bank opposite the tree itself. At that point, the harmony became a cacophony as the magic reacted poorly to Veeran's own magical blade, sending out what sounded almost like a rippling alarm.

Veeran took a step back, but the noise didn't stop, instead bouncing around and returning to the tree, which increased its faint movements into something substantially more dramatic.

Then, the first attack came.

A root at the base of the tree wrenched itself from the ground and swatted at Veeran from his left. He parried it, angling his [Frostblade] that its sideways trajectory was deflected upwards, and then hooked his crossguard on it and fully threw it over his head. Another root excavated itself from the ground, clods of earth falling away as it uprooted itself and came from Veeran's right, this time at waist height and harder to parry.

Veeran jumped and struck downwards with his sword, forcing it underneath him. As he did so, he also heard motion from behind himself, and as soon as he touched down on the ground, spun to strike at a small vinebeast – this one only the size of a housecat and leaping towards his face – and cut it in half. Doing so unfortunately left him open to the roots attacking him, and even though he started moving to avoid it, he still was struck in the shoulder and knees simultaneously by the wooden tendrils. It didn't hit him hard enough to injure him, but it had enough momentum to knock him to the ground, where two more of the smaller vinebeasts attempted to pounce on him.

The first one he swatted out of the air with his off hand, and the second he kept from landing on his face by interposing his elbow in the way. It bit into his skin with sharp thorn-teeth, and Veeran felt something cool against his skin for just a moment before hot blood overrode other sensations.

He crushed the vinebeast – as it still clung onto him through the force of its bite – against a rock next to him by slamming his arm into the ground, then took to his feet once again, cutting the other vinebeast in half when it came at him for another attack.

It was quite apparent that these smaller-type vinebeasts didn't cost the tree very much to make, either in time or in magic, and as such this combat would be a question of endurance. Whether he could finish the fight before he was worn down, or if this new body would give out too soon would be the deciding factor. Veeran's breath grew steadied even as his heart raced, assessing his goals.

Right now, his primary obstacle was simply crossing the stream. It was too wide for him to easily jump over, and the ground on its banks too soft to sustain his weight for long. If he had a running start, he might be able to clear it, but it would be a close thing. And that assumed the tree didn't swat him out of the air, which was a possibility becoming more likely with every passing second.

Veeran prepared himself for a new wave of miniature vinebeasts as the tree's main assault paused for a moment, only to be instead beset by an enormous cloud of leaves, spinning and humming with Force enhancement, a storm of foliage that was impossible to parry or dodge, and leaving Veeran with no choice but to shield his face as best as he could and duck behind a nearby rock.

His defense wasn't as ironclad as he would have liked, and the magically sharpened leaves effortlessly sliced through his skin wherever they struck, like so many razors opening up cuts all along his arms and legs, with some slicing their way into his flesh and burying themselves inside him. As soon as they stopped moving, the Force enhancing them left them, so Veeran could move without worries of shrapnel tearing himself up from the inside. Doing so was always unpleasant, and escaping that particular experience was a pleasant surprise.

The attack seemed to have taken a lot out of the tree, as the roots and branches assaulting Veeran stilled for a few moments, which was plenty for him. With the time he'd been granted, he sprung from his hiding place and began to sprint parallel to the stream's bank, building up as much speed as he could before a bend in the meandering creek brought him head-on with the rushing body of water. It was a bit wider at the bend than it was on the straighter stretches right before and afterwards, but with how fast he was going that shouldn't matter much.

Veeran leaped, on track to clear the creek and land on the right side of the river, when an entire tree branch landed on him.

The wood connected with a crack against his shoulders and neck, knocking him out of the air, making him lose his grip on the [Frostblade], and dropping him into the flowing creek, splashing into the water a moment after he did so.

The water felt cool but not chilly, though the sudden shock of the temperature difference, and the feel of the water flowing into his many, many open wounds, threatened to push Veeran into shock.

He forcibly relaxed his muscles, preventing himself from hyperventilating as he momentarily resurfaced to get a gasp of air, before the water current swirling around him pulled him underneath once again.

Beneath the water, everything was far more sedate despite the fact his surroundings were actively pulling him away from his target. Fish easily swam out of his way, their scales glimmering with reflected and generated light alike. A large and protruding rock presented itself to Veeran, and he grabbed onto it, using it as a springboard to pull him from the river's grasp. It didn't quite break the surface of the water, but it didn't need to as Veeran turned his body to make use of the river pushing him up onto the top of the stone.

Before his feet could be swept out from under him, he managed to grab onto the nearby riverbank and haul himself up, though as he did so a root burst out of the ground mere inches from his face and tried to knock him back into the water. Fortunately, it wasn't moving fast enough to do much more than break his nose, and it splashed into the river even as Veeran hauled himself up onto dry land.

He'd lost maybe fifty feet or so, but he could still see where his [Frostblade] was stuck in the riverbank, with two roots wrapped around it and apparently trying to break it.

Veeran allowed himself to smile. Even with his sword under level 10, he was almost tempted to let the precocious little tree try to break the blade, just to get some amusement out of it.

But, that was secondary to the mission, and instead he wasted no time in running up to where it was, taking a couple of blows to the torso from roots for the trouble, but as soon as he had his hand on the [Frostblade], he pulled as hard as he could with muscle and magic alike to free it from the tree's grasp. The blade sliced through the root holding it, and the other root suddenly found itself in a tug-of-war with Veeran as he sought to raise it and it sought to drag it down.

It lost that battle a moment later as Veeran reached down with his other hand, grabbed it by the crossguard, and essentially flipped the blade to smoothly pull it out of the grasping tendril.

By now, more of the roots were beginning to stir again, and Veeran heard what might have been the faintest stirrings of Force mana in the tree's leaves, so he charged forth as best as he could, closing in on the tree's trunk. A root raised itself to trip him, and he jumped over it. A vinebeast attempted to drop on him, and he sliced it in half. Nothing stopped him, and his eyes fixed upon his target: a section of the gnarled trunk that might have once held a branch, but now was a divot with bark clearly woven around it, giving him a perfect self-correcting place to aim for.

Around him, the entire tree seemed to come alive, every branch reaching down like a massive weeping willow, trying to restrain him as much as harm him, but he would not be stopped. A circular swipe to cut away some branches nearing him smoothly, making him break through. He'd moved forwards, heedless of all attempts to stop him, and now his sword was cutting a path through his obstacles, the arc turning into a stab as Veeran closed in on the tree.

⟨Piercing Strike⟩

The [Frostblade] glowed with an icy blue light, and Veeran threw himself into a lunge. The magic in his blade surged, a chorus of Force enveloping his sword and nearly pulling him along for the attack.

Then, the tip struck and sunk into the bark, then into the wood itself, and the ringing cacophony of mana screeched, like a ringing bell shearing in half, and began to fragment. The branches froze, some of them shearing themselves off the tree and falling to the ground as they found themselves far overextended from where they ought to have been, while others sprang back into place with so much force that they lost leaves, leaving them fluttering to the ground in their wake.

Veeran withdrew his sword and assessed his surroundings, though didn't drop his guard. Nothing seemed to be attacking, even the vinebeasts, and after a minute of nothing happening, he allowed himself to lower his blade and begin returning to Haleford. Without a tree attacking him, Veeran was able to cross the river upon a few large rocks a bit upstream, and in response to some prompting, began to explain how the fight had gone while the healer patched over his wounds.

Haleford had just finished Veeran's right arm when a screeching rend filled the air, and the tree Veeran had just killed erupted into a pillar of golden flames, piercing the sky like a spear.

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