Shinon was taken aback as he saw a tree covered in thick vines suddenly co to life and start moving towards him. He could see the acidic goo dripping from its branches, burning holes in the ground beneath it.
The tree was a towering behemoth, quickly twice his height, with twisted branches that resembled gnarled fingers. Shinon knew that he was in for a tough fight.
He watched as the tree began to uproot itself, its branches flailing wildly. Shinon knew that he had to act fast.
"Well, this is just fantastic," Shinon muttered under his breath, twirling his sword with a flourish. "Another day, another zombie tree."
As the tree neared him, Shinon drew his sword and activated the necrotoxin elent. The Blade glowed with a sickly green light. The Blade wasn’t his only weapon, but it was the strongest one, and he was excited to test the strength of necrotoxin.
Summoning all his strength, he launched himself at the tree, his sword at the ready.
The tree swiped at Shinon with its branches, but Shinon was quick to dodge the attacks. He slid under one branch and leapt over another, slashing at the tree’s bark as he went.
The tree responded by spitting out globs of acid, but Shinon was equally fast with his reflexes, easily dodging the attacks.
"How do you fuckers keep producing all that acid? Don’t tell y’all ate horseradish and ginger before dying," Shinon taunted the tree as he sliced off one of its branches. "Ti to give you a trim, I suppose."
The tree roared angrily, causing the ground to shake, and more vines and branches sprouted from its trunk.
Shinon grinned, excited about the challenge, and summoned his shadow tentacles. The tentacles shot out from his hands and the ground under the tree’s shadow, wrapping around the tree’s branches and pulling them back.
"Let’s see how you like this," Shinon said as he ran towards the tree.
He used his tentacles to swing around and leap onto the tree’s trunk, using his sword to carve deep gashes into the bark. The tree flailed about in pain, but Shinon held on tight, his tentacles keeping him steady. All that training inside the stream was finally bearing fruits.
As he continued to hack away at the tree, Shinon suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down to see one of the tree’s vines had wrapped itself around his ankle, digging in with thorny spikes.
"Oh, co on!" Shinon yelled, slicing off the vines in one swift motion.
The tree took advantage of Shinon’s distraction and spat acid at him again, this ti hitting him square in the chest. Shinon grunted in pain as the acid burned through his clothes and seared his skin. But a shadow wiped the acid before more damage was done to him.
"That’s it," he growled. "I’ve had enough of this."
With a burst of energy, Shinon jumped off the tree’s trunk and landed on the ground with a thud, but quickly recovered and stood up straight.
He lunged forward, his sword glinting in the sunlight. The zombie tree retaliated by spitting a glob of acid in his direction. Shinon deftly sidestepped the attack, rolling away from the burning puddle it created.
The zombie tree howled in anger, its branches whipping around wildly. Shinon barely managed to dodge them, his nimble footwork allowing him to duck and weave through the onslaught.
"I’m starting to think these zombie trees don’t like very much."
The tree snarled, its branches lashing out again. This ti, Shinon was ready. He leapt into the air, his shadowy tentacles erupting from his back to give him extra height. Without wasting a mont, he raised his sword above his head, channelling his shadow magic into the Blade.
"Now, let’s end this."
He soared over the tree’s head and brought his sword down in a powerful strike. The Blade glowed with an eerie greenish-black light as it sliced through the trunk, sending the tree toppling to the ground, its vines and branches thrashing about wildly before dying out.
Shinon landed gracefully on his feet, watching with satisfaction as the zombie tree disintegrated into ash. Leaving behind another monster code, but this ti bigger than the ones Shinon had seen before.
"Another one bites the dust," he said, sheathing his sword and storing the monster core in his inventory.
A sudden beeping noise caught his attention. He glanced down at his wrist, where the interface of the system had appeared.
[You have levelled up!]
[Current level: 22]
[Extra domination points will be awarded for rare achievent! Domination 27]
[Quest Complete: Knowing your surroundings.
Reward: Shadow Manipulation has been upgraded to lvl 4.]
[Lvl 4 perk unlocked: The user can create up to six shadow weapons at any given point.]
Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the trees behind him. He spun around, ready to face whatever new challenge lay in store. But what he saw wasn’t any zombie, but the face of the last person he wanted to see.
Shinon took a step back as Selena and her group approached him, his hand still gripping the handle of his sword tightly. He had never expected to see her again, let alone on this forsaken land.
Once he saw her blonde hair and green eyes, mories of the past ca flooding back to him. But those tis were long gone, and now he felt nothing but coldness towards her.
"Shinon..." Selena called out.
Shinon could feel the heat emanating from his body as his anger began to boil. He couldn’t believe she dared to show her face in front of him after abandoning him to the Phoenixes.
"What an unpleasant surprise this is. Don’t you think?" Shinon growled, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
As Selena approached Shinon, the four n surrounding her quickly pointed their guns towards him. Shinon stood his ground, ready to defend himself if necessary. Selena put up her hands placatingly, trying to calm the situation.
"Gentlen, please lower your weapons," she said firmly.
One of the n, a burly guy with a thick beard, spoke up. "But, ma’am, he could be a threat to you."
Selena turned to the man and gave him a stern look. "I know him. He’s not a threat. Now lower your guns before he chops off your heads."
Reluctantly, the four n lowered their weapons. Selena turned back to Shinon, a concerned look on her face.
"I thought I would never see you again-"
"Let’s keep things that way," Shinon replied and turned to leave before Selena grabbed his arm, but he pushed her away, prompting the n to draw their weapons again.
Shinon stared at the n and said, "You guys don’t wanna go that road, trust ."
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