James had started running into the forest that stretched out behind the family house. His breathing remained steady, even while running with enough speed to cause the wind to whistle in his ears and he barely felt anything when the branches whipped him as he ran between the pine trees. He still had to pay attention to the rustling within the thicket as another pair of roots shot toward him. James came to a quick standstill as one of the incoming vines passed by his ear while another missed as he turned to his side. They had barely missed him. Or he thought he did, taking a moment to assess himself he realized he had returned to his normal size. The Super Mushroom's effects had disappeared at some point during his run. “Just get out of my way already!” He shouted pulling the trigger turning the vines to ash and cinders.

  With a moment to gather his thoughts, he realized that the vines weren’t exactly accurate. They seemed to strike at anything using some sort of sensory method. (Was it based on movement?) And now that the super mushroom’s effect was gone, he had to be careful as with it so went the jump boost and acrobatics.

  There was also another issue, he didn’t know why but whatever this creature was aggravated his senses. If he had to guess, normally his senses were around 1.8 times stronger than a normal person's. But they were easily manageable as he needed to focus for them to get to that point. If he did, it was like looking through a magnifying gss, he could see the minute details that would normally be overlooked. But for some reason, they seemed to be aggravated, he couldn’t control it like normal (Was it pollen? Or an ability?) Whatever it was, it is maddening! Even the light whistle from the wind in his ear felt like a roar.

  He took another breath. Right now, he needed to find the main body and to do that, he returned his hand to the item bag. With the Grav Traps used up it was easier to find what he needed as he pulled out his Scouter. Putting it on he looked through the green interface as it started scanning the nearby roots. “Now, where are you.” James started following the roots as the Scouter’s scanning function led him through the forest.

  Following the wireframe scan of the roots James stumbled upon a rocky outcropping surrounded by sparce trees and a dip in the ground. Looking down the hole, inside was a mummified husk of a cow that seemed to have been drained of its bodily fluids. There were some equally dry thinner vines wrapped around it.

  Seeing this James started to put some puzzle pieces together. He could tell that the vines weren’t seeking mindlessly, they relied on some sort of sensory method. Either searching out body heat or they were seeking out nutrients like a flytrap. The exact method was a mystery but from what he could surmise as the distance from the main body increased the sensitivity of this sensory method decreased in return.

  Looking up into the distance James could see something faintly moving in the distance. While he looked the Scouter started highlighting the strange object, before a circle appeared around the target spinning and scanning before giving it a numeral James assumed was 9.

  Jame continued his trek following the mapping as it traced the vines. The outline of the strange tree was growing clearer as he approached a sweet smell hung in the air as were the many vines that blocked his path. Once again pulling the trigger on the fmer ejecting another confgration, turning the roots in front of him into cinders and ash. (It was extremely lucky that this thing appeared in one of the rocky areas on the mountainside) James thought. With fewer trees, there was a lower chance of a forest fire, and as long as he managed to burn the vines completely there was a lower chance of a wildfire spreading. It just took a little longer.

  The increase in various boneless limbs wasn't the only thing that grew as he approached, the strange affliction on his senses grew stronger. His eyes burned and his head ached, it wasn’t from smoke as the roots burned almost completely without releasing anything but ash. “I just want to kill this thing and sleep”.

  Buring his way closer James finally arrived at another lightly forested area, though a solid area around the thing was demolished. Littered with wreckage from nearby trees, the ground didn’t fare any better either, loose rock had been smashed and compacted. After running around for what felt like ten minutes James could finally see it. He wasn’t surprised to find a tree, standing at 10ft tall with sparse white petals dotted around the main trunk. Simir leaves adorned the many branches that adorned its crown given their appearance it looked like a strange willow tree. Maybe not long ago it was probably a normal willow tree, now it was something akin to an Ent, Roper, or a Tentacle Monster.

  There didn't seem to be something like a face or a head on the trunk. But there were four rge thicker branches on its trunk, which like the rest of the body seemed to move and wiggle continuously. From the roots to the trunk and the branches every part of it squirmed around like worms.

  There was a moment of calm before the tree creature released a strange creaking shriek, and a barrage of vines, roots, and branches bared down on him.

  *SKREEEEEEEEEEE!!!*

  Hundreds of different limbs were unched at him while James calmly pulled the trigger. All were met with a bzing inferno, turning to charcoal and ash under the hellfire. James stepped through the hot embers unaffected by the heat of the inferno. The sleeves and colr of his white shirt had burnt, and the ends of his pants were still burning. "FOUND YOU," James said with red blood-shot eyes looking up at the creature.

  In response to being directly burned, the tree creature did not take it kindly as it began to creak and shriek.

  *SKREEEEEEEEEEE!!!*

  The tree started to throw more of its branches as the problem before they too burnt in the process. They failed to reach the target, it stung, it hurt, it burned! The creature grew enraged that prey would dare fight back, smming the ground with its rge branches. unching up dust, dirt, and debris. James braced himself as the ground shook and the dirt was unched into the air. "Next time I’ll add a gas mask,” James said as the tree unched into a stomping tantrum trying to beat out the fire.

  While the tree was having its tantrum James started running around trying his best to dodge the branches and roots flying around him. All while holding the trigger on his fmethrower igniting everything he could. Even so, the main body of the tree didn't seem to burn while most of its branches had caught fire.

  *SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAA!!!*

  The tree shrieked out loudly, the noise reverberating in the air. Before unching another strike at James this time with one of the thicker branches. Not wanting to get crushed James jumped out of the way, performing a dive as the rge branch nded behind him.

  James repeated this process attempting to ignite the main trunk and then jumping out of the way. This tree creature didn't seem to understand the pattern would repeat no matter how many repetitions it took. (Even the dumbest goblins were smarter than this) James thought seeing that he had burned about every branch and root he could.

  Given how much James had burnt down it would be ridiculous to say he had reduced the damage of his weapon for testing purposes. The fact it was only spitting fire was a testament to this. No matter how much he tried he couldn't burn the trunk, so it was time to try something else. Because the fmer was a game item there were some things he couldn’t do now that it became a real object. More importantly, there were also things he could do now that it was a real object. Like adjusting the strength of the fme or the fuel consumption.

  First, he needed to reload, twisting off the small canister on the back before throwing it towards the tree. Then reaching into his bag pulling out another identical canister. After a quick reload by screwing the new canister on and smacking the oddly shaped bulbous front end back into pce all while dodging fming branches, the reload was complete.

  Turning the nob on the side as far as it would go, the miniature fme grew and grew before the color of the fme changed from red to blue. “JUST BURN ALREADY!” James screamed unching a tidal wave of blue fmes.

  This time the main body ignited slowly consumed by the blue fmes, its movement slowed, its branches now burned away as the trunk was engulfed. The tree let out various noises as it was baptized in fire.

  *SHREEE*

  The tree smmed down using all of its weight attempting to crush the bug responsible for its pain using up the st of its strength. Sadly, for the tree, its st resort had failed unable to crush its arsonist before its body gave out. Now it could only y on the ground and become a bonfire.

  With the battle now over James stood over the fming embers of the tree as it crackled. Watching the fire take hold in earnest. A wave of peace washed over him as his senses started to calm down while he watched the tree burn.

  "When will it end?" Danny bemoaned cutting through another vine.

  "Honey, quit your griping." Diana admonished her son as she continued spreading fire retardant powder around the outside of the house.

  After James ran off at Olympic speed the rest of the family got busy. The two brutes donning their bck firefighter uniforms and chainsaw-equipped rifles had their hands full mowing down the approaching growth. They were now quite behind in taking care of the stray roots as they slithered closer to the house. The two of them while physically fine due to the potions were growing mentally exhausted after spending all their efforts cutting vine using the chainsaw attachments of their guns before adding it to the pyre.

  Danny was at his wit's end having to run around the backyard cutting vines. Then he remembered his chainsaw was also a gun! James wouldn't just give them a gun that wouldn't work in this situation, right? Danny aimed at one of the vines before firing, a soft bang followed by a bst of fluid that ignited burning the vine.

  “Hey watch it!” Ronald shouted.

  “Their explosive!?” Diana excimed.

  “I think the bullets just have something combustible inside,” Danny thought they might be an oil that burns when in contact with oxygen.

  With this now understood the father and son duo began firing on the vines. Burning them up much faster than before. Before too long the vines seemed to stop coming. looking around they spotted a light illuminating a small part of the mountainside.

  “It seems he found the source,” Danny said looking at the bright light in the distance.

  With the battle over, the family started their trek through the woods following the burnt path that James cut his way through to get here. Taking them several minutes before they stumbled on their youngest. Sitting down in front of the rge burning tree, he stared deeply at the fmes. His clothes were burnt and tattered, his hair swept back, his skin had returned to normal as the potion affects had worn off, and while his expression looked far calmer now, he looked tired. The rge tree seemed to squirm and release a faint noise that was barely audible. In response, a gleam appeared in James' eyes as he pulled the trigger letting out another roar of fme. He remained sitting there quietly watching the fire burn. Watching for any final struggle the tree might attempt waiting for it to die.

  Seeing his actions the rest of the family assumed he was making sure the bonfire didn’t go out until they got there. “I brought the marshmallows!” Diana announced pulling out a bag of XL marshmallows. James turned to look at his mother giving a small smile.

  Under the bright moonlight on the hill with the sounds of crackling fire, the Dewitt family enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the burning tree.

  END

  Spoilerkidmonkey94

  [colpse]