Extratreerestials

Extratreerestials

Year 84 Month 10

Battles. It was inevitable that a battle would break out now that the demon king is on this continent. The demon king generated lesser demons like a zerg hive, its minions gushed out in all directions. The nearby kingdoms attempted to defend and delay the inevitable, creating large armies to fight.

Yet, the demon king itself also has the ability to fire projectiles like the supercannon, so that curtailed any attempt to form up into a larger force. Thankfully, it didnt seem trigger happy.

So, this month, my beetles and gang faced multiple medium scale battles, at about 5,000 to 10,000 demons. Since it was going to be a battle of attrition, we mostly fought a defensive battle, concentrating my forces around my larger [giant attendant trees]. This made the most of the aura effects, and helped minimise casualties.

My beetles need a few months to replenish itself, so its entirely possible for the demons to overwhelm my surroundings if I lose too many beetles.

Still, we have communication channels, so Jura has been really busy, coordinating with other nearby kingdoms to fight defensive battles together.

Lausanne, was unhappy, though.

Whyd the demon king have to spoil my adventurer fun!

Its too dangerous with the demon king on our continent!

But it was fine just a month ago!

Well, its hard to explain the erratic behavior of the demon king. Or maybe it just seems erratic from our point of view. We, after all, do not understand or appreciate its thought processes.

Still, more defensive battles, and despite racking up kills, I dont seem to be gaining levels. Which is really quite sad.

The demon king, of course, is headed for the site of the previous demon king, and will probably attempt to summon something similar to the previous demon king, if the news of the Astaroth copy is to be believed.

So, were going to have a mini-rerun of the previous demon king on our hands. Something that perhaps I have to deal with. Since I can handle a demon walker, I suppose in some ways, this is a good test of my own strength. Will I stand up to a mini-demon king?

Theres time to prepare. And so I intensify all my anti-demon preparations by stockpiling my anti-demon bolts and weapons.

Yet, theres quite a bit of apathy amongst the general populace. To them, all this news is just like regular citizens watching a news channel on the television, talking about some virus or war in some faraway place. Theres no personal relationship, so most of these regular folks dont feel a thing and they dont react to it. If Im not a tree who regularly have to move my beetles to face these forces, perhaps Id be like that too.

Not my problem.

Someone else will handle it.

How do I get proactive people? Is there a way to let these people imagine they have control over things?

Its clear by now that a part of it comes from the influence of the classes and levels, that people of a certain class have their mindsets influenced by the constraints and scope of those classes. So, if I want proactive, I need to give these people the right kinds of classes, which then shapes how they think.

And so, I get the feeling like... I need to shape my minions more actively, on top of helping them with levelling. So, I decided to grant some of my lesser grade classes more freely, and also even grant some of the Valthorns the [Knight] classes.

The intention is quite simple, that is, if I have a larger population, I could then make a general assessment of the mindsets of those possessing different classes, and see whether theres any differences.

I could run them through standardised tests in [dream tutor], and evaluate their performance. If the class really influences thoughts, then it should be something exhibited throughout the population, and not just individuals.

So, on top of expanding the Valthorns previously to some 500 kids, Ive segregated the newer pool of 300 kids into 3 groups. One with [Knight] class, about 100 of them, one with [Ranger] class, about 150 of them, and another 50 kids with [Druid] classes. If there is some kind of uniformity of thought processes, I think this is large enough to tell.

Then, the issue that emerged was... we didnt have enough knights to properly train the knights.

Get me some. I told Jura that, and so he had to put up a banner and notification hiring Knight Trainers. Strangely, knights tend to be a human kind of role, so it made some of the New Freeka council peeps look and ask questions.

But they dont dare to touch us.

Some of the royals though, saw this is an opportune to curry favor with us, so a few royal families quickly offered their Knights.

Strange how even if I tried to avoid these royal politics, they always happen.

So... which royal family do you want to pick? Quite a few volunteered their best knights. I even heard about some of them.

As a Tree, I just want to grow. Why does everything have to do with people jostling for power? Sigh.

How many can we afford?

Probably 5.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

Then pick one from the 5 nearest kingdoms. Use the proximity as a basis. Publish and let the kingdoms know about how we chose the 5 too, just so that we dont seem like were intentionally sidelining the others.

Sure. They will ask for favors from us for this.

Let it be clear to them that I will not owe them favors.

They will make me owe them favors. Jura frowned.

Maybe we shouldve made it anonymous.

That wont work. Everyone knows were the only institution with Knights in New Freeka. The council has some knights, but not to the point where they need... knight-trainers. Theyll be able to trace it from us.

Ah well. I sighed. I spent a day or two mulling over it, and decided its still better to get the knight-trainers. Its good to get insights from other nations military, there should be good points we can learn.

-

> The demons come for you. Their king is here. < I attempted, out of goodwill, to warn Lilies. Perhaps I hoped to learn something from the interaction, I speculated that it, with its long age, must have encountered many demon kings in the past, and yet it survived, just like I did.

< The bringer of otherworldly destruction. >

Does it care, or does it not care? Thats like a statement of fact.

< Let it come >

> Do you not fear it? <

< Like fire, it is fearsome, but the rain will come >

I unleashed all the attacks I have in my reservoir, using up all my root strikes. It thrusted into the bottom of the walker like a constant barrage, its demonic shell cracked, and then in its dying breath, it shot out another attack. That second strike destroyed another giant tree.

I felt that again. And somehow I felt really... mad.

Its like a part of me was cut off.

And I didnt like that at all.

But by now I was out of root strikes, and it would take a day or two for it to recover. Still, I was pissed, and I wasnt going to let the demon walker go. So, my vines and roots appeared, entangling it.

It wasnt dead yet.

But I wasnt going to let it run away from me.

No.

It killed two of my giant trees. Two of... me.

I used my other skills. Everything else that I have. [Fruit attacks], [Poison field], [Corrosive fruits], [Tree saps], [Constrict], and [Natural Mana overwhelming].

And I pulled the demon walker down to the ground. It was weak. Our attacks made it weak. I spawned two more giant trees in place of where the two others fell, and they added strength to the roots that pulled the demon walker down.

It collapsed. Alive, but grounded, its mouth and other orifices tied up, tangled by roots. Like a parasite we feasted on the demonic walker.

We drained, and we pushed our mana in.

It struggled. By now, the battlefields remaining demonoids crushed in the onslaught of root strikes. There was a few demon knights. They hacked at the trees and the roots. They did a bit of damage, but the regeneration of the giant trees were faster.

As long as the demon walker fell, we could take a few hits.

It struggled on the ground, its wounds not recovering thanks to the interference of natural mana.

At times, it seemed like its strength recovered slightly, or the effects of our constrict skill faded. But [constrict] was a skill that was meant to last long, and if I wanted, I could keep using it perpetually.

For days.

It attempted to struggle. THe demon knights attempted to hack away the vines. Then my skills returned. And I cleared the battlefield of the lesser demons, whatever balance on the demon walker.

If this was next to me, itd already be dead. But such are the perils of fighting at 30% strength.

I drew on the mana from wherever I could, and channeled it there, the giant attendant tree acting like my regional power station. Mana weakens it. The demon walker attempts to resist, and I could sense it functions on demonic mana, or whatever that dried up husk of a lake is. Perhaps I could call it desert mana, to our natural water mana? The mana inside fought against the mana we intentionally poured in.

Whatever. I wanted it dead. We wanted it dead.

We pummelled it again, and it turned weak. A day. Two days. It never really died. It still lived. Cursed distances, my roots not working as well.

A few more days, and my arsenal of skills refreshed itself.

And we repeated that. Each time, the demon walker edged weaker, its cracked skin starting to give way to our natural mana. The vines started to make roots into the skin of the walker. Everytime it struggled, we unleashed our root strikes, and then finally, after two weeks, we broke through the head, and cracked the demon walkers inner structure.

It was almost there, dying.

Our vines reached into it. So did our mana. We ran out of root strikes again. So the vines, the branches, they extended like feelers, like a parasite finding the innards of the creature.

Like a hollowed log, infested by algae and mushrooms.

[Natural mana overwhelming is capturing... assimilating a demon walker].

[Assimilating...]

Oh.

[Assimilation successful].

[Obtained Massive Woodwalker Shell]

[Massive Woodwalker Shell is inactive, as it requires a titan soul, or 5 artificial soul, a powerful mobile energy supply, a mobile root-mind complex and a mobile high density energy storage]. [Low quality energy supply and storage will limit power and performance of the MWS.]

[Titan Frame Type : Wood-Walker unlocked. Future titan souls may select walker variants]

[Creation of WoodWalker Titan Frames require construction of Titans Chambers, a special construction project]

[You gained two level. You are now level 142]

[Natural mana overwhelming upgraded]

Only two levels?

Whats left, is now a verdant monstrosity, once a demonic giant thats now covered in vines, leaves, moss and all other sorts of vegetation. As if an ancient machine was left to the effects of nature for a long period of time, and now the trees have reclaimed them, assimilated them, like those ancient temples where the roots are in every part of the structure.

But... theres no mind to it.

I have this... thing, but I cant use it.Unless I get those mobile energy supply and energy storage. So, it is time to turn to my trusty lab!

Commence research!

Additional Research added :

Super-Storage Potatoes (SSP) - stage 1 - 12 months.Massive leaf-power generation array - stage 1 - 16 months.I think itll probably look like an oversized Venusaur if theres a big bunch of trees on its back, with some potatoes.

Or would it look more like bulbasaur?

Spaizzer

panics