Chapter 67: Tournament Day 1 (Part 9)

[Woah! What the hell's up with these roots!?! Shit!] - Karen

[Oh you like them? It's a racial trait actually, although my family has taken it a little further than most. As you can see.] - Arbor

[What?!? Whoops! AHHHHH!] - Karen

Ducking under a sweep from the massive wooden tree root I tried pushing my opponent into revealing her moves. For some reason almost all of her opponents would just reveal all there secrets if she so much as showed any interest, maybe it was a cultural thing? Coincidence or not it seemed that her hope bore fruit and the ladylike green woman immediately began opening up to her while seemingly directing the root to attack, despite not moving an inch from where she was standing.

Distracted by her thoughts at just how ridiculous it was that her enemies would just reveal their powers when asked she realized a second later how effective of a distraction it could be as she went to dodge the tree root once more and was impaled from behind by a second one that she hadn't noticed before.

Screaming in pain at the surprise impalement I felt weakness and an odd thin feeling emanating from my wound, like I was being sucked through a straw slowly. Fighting through the pain I glanced down at the sharp wood and noticed the area around it getting noticeably more thin over a few seconds. Oh shit!

[Awwww.... Seems you were able to get away from that. Shame.] - Arbor

[Hah! Hah...! What the hell is with those plants?!?] - Karen

[Oh these? These pretty cutie's are Bloodletter Strangling Vine's. My own breed actually, selectively bred to increase their parasitic tendencies. You could say that their favorite meal is magical beasts. Like you actually.] - Arbor

[You fucking kidding me?!? That's like a godsdamn hard counter for a slime! You just happened to have something like that prepared, were you like aiming for me or some shit?!?] - Karen

[Oh no no, you think to highly of yourself. You see there's another thing these cutie pie's love.] - Arbor

[And what's that?] - Karen

[Blood.] - Arbor

To say that the Dryad across from her was confident would have been an understatement. Looking every bit the calm, collected and refined Lady that she apparently was Lady Arbor slowly pet one of the half dozen root's that had appeared from below her where she'd apparently been hiding them. Treating her plant pets like giant dogs she nonchalantly expressed her disappointment that I hadn't fallen to her previous attack, all the while exuding a nearly uncaring attitude.

Still "gasping" instinctively from the pain that came from her ambush I asked about those wiggling roots that were so unlike anything I had even heard of in the last few month's I'd been in society. And, it turned out I was right, her answer to my question confirming that they were, in fact, unique. Actually it was almost like they had been created with the sole purpose of defeating me, or others like me. They seemed to be the natural predator's to mana-based lifeforms based off the feeling she'd gotten when in contact with them. SHE WANTED TO DEVOUR THEM!

Quickly shaking off her sudden impulse to eat emanating from deep in her soul she asked about the supposed other thing these things liked eating. Blood.

Licking her lips as she was assaulted with another impulse to DEVOUR, to CONSUME, Karen once more dodged with only the barest margin of error. Quickly following that with a move that would have been impossible if she still owned a spine, her attention focused on avoiding what was effectively the predator of her species.

Despite that her instincts continued to scream in her ear, telling her to turn the food web upside down. And it was getting worse as time went on. Her vision, focused on the writhing vines, began to notice a slightly blue-green glow emanating from the vines. The light, forming lines throughout the moving plants, seemed to lead into the ground then back into Arbor. She didn't know what exactly that light meant but whatever it was she was sure it would taste amazing! Barely stopping herself from stepping into one of the larger roots Karen immediately forced herself into the smallest possible shape before reforming on the opposite side of the attack.

[Woah Woah! Karen keep it together! Alleyoop!] - Karen

[You know I think it's time we brought out the real powerhouse to finish this off. I'm getting quite fatigued standing for this long and wish to be done with you.] - Arbor

[Yeah!?! Well bring it on! I will CONSUME everything you throw at me! Oop!] - Karen

[Fufufufu! Well I don't know whether that slip of the tongue was your true self or not but regardless I'll grant your wish. Rafflasia! Come Forth! Ohohoho!] - Arbor

Ever since I'd come to this world I had been in a slime form in one way or another. At first I was barely mobile, slowly rolling my pill shaped body across the ground as if I were a tiny, sticky tire. After that I had learned to maintain a slightly humanoid shape and had slowly gained more and more mobility as I did so, even allowing for rapid dodging and moving. Even so I hadn't felt comfortable in my body, treating it like a temporary, albeit interesting, skin. One that I planned on leaving as soon as possible. The last few weeks however had changed my opinion on the matter. The realization that Austin, or Rose as she preferred being called, was comfortable here. The fact that she could now fulfill her Sapphic fantasies with the one she loved. Even the fight with those assassin's, then with Edgar, in which she'd lost control and become some unstoppable slimey blob creature. Each of these events had not only made her accept and welcome this new world, it had forced a familiarity with the way her new body operated that she hadn't gained in the long years trapped next to the lake within that damn forest.

And it was using this newfound familiarity that she found the skill to continue dodging and weaving, working her way through the chaotic tentacle-like woody vines towards their master who looked a mixture of irritated and smug. Looking all the world like the pretentious noblewoman she was acting the green skinned woman looked down on my slow approach with condescension, her words illustrating how confident she was in her coming victory.

A minute later I saw why as I egged her on, my mind instinctively begging for more. Laughing arrogantly down on me as if she were a stereotype from one of those Yuri games I used to force Austin to play with me I nearly froze on the spot as the ground below my opponent began to rise out of the earth, taking the green lady with it.

[Holy fuck!?! What in the hell is that?!?] - Karen

[RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!] - Giant Fucking Flower!

It was a massive fuck-off flower! Sporting thorns shaped like teeth in the maw that was it's flower it rose from the earth with Lady Arbor seemingly attached to it, her legs seeming to merge with the top of the flower. Stunned by the appearance of what looked like a goddamn boss from the notoriously difficult Da*k Souls game I flinched slightly when it let out a earth-shattering roar, the sound echoing throughout the Arena.

[Shit shit shit! Why'd I provoke her?!? What even is that!?!] - Karen

[RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!] - Giant Fucking Flower!

[AHHHHH! Don't come! Fuck fuck fuck!] - Karen

Startled by the flower towering over me I briefly noted that the plant lady seemed to have sunken even more into the giant, jawed flower thing. Not only that but those vines from earlier seemed to have joined with the giant mobile flower as well and were currently whipping around chaotically as I narrowly avoided them.

The flower, seemingly irritated that it missed me, immediately lurched forward, it's "body" tearing up swaths of ground as it forcibly pushed through the bedrock. Each of the slabs of rock more than large enough to crush me to a pulp I needed to get the hell out of the way!

[Dammit I know I swore not to do this but this is ridiculous! DEVO-!] - Karen

Faced with what seemed like an instant loss and possibly even death I felt my mind latch onto that feeling from before. The one that I'd gotten when I ate those disgusting assassins, the same one that I'd lost control of during my fight with Edgar. I needed to bring out that form, consequences be damne-

Suddenly an image of Rose's worried face flashed in my head. She'd been beside my hospital bed after my fight with Edgar, worried sick that I wasn't coming back. As image of her crying face flashed in my mind as I thought back to it. Had I seen that? No, I don't think so. So why?

Shaking my head to clear it from distractions I hardened my resolve. I wouldn't give into that ability and lose control of it, I can't let myself make the Rose of now sad. The Austin of the past would have forgiven me and I knew that his new personality wasn't that far from what it was previously but I couldn't do it. She still felt the same things and loved the same way. Making Rose cry was not an option!

Resolve hardened by that thought I let myself go a little bit, just enough to call forth a growing hunger beneath my consciousness but not enough to grow more than about double my height.

[Raaaaaah?] - Giant Fucking Flower!

[Surprise Mother Fucker!] - Karen

Slowing to a stop as I grew to my new, Amazonian height, the slavering plant seemed surprised at my transformation. I wasn't sure how it's slack-jawed flower was able to show emotion but somehow the shock of it's expression was clear even in my dulled state.

Not wanting to let the chance pass I aimed a blow directly for it's "head" as I finished growing, my body still smaller than it's own but my new size still giving me a bigger chance at causing damage. Instinctively leaving some of my slime behind when I landed my blow I was mildly shocked that I could still vaguely feel a connection with it, even separated by a few dozen feet as the plant fell backwards.

[RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!] - Giant Fucking Flower

[It's good. We're okay. I can do this. Pheeeeeew! For her... Okay bring it on you son of a bitch!!!] - Karen

The flower, recovering from the shock of both my transformation and my hard blow to what was effectively it's head, let out another loud roar. I'd pissed it off.

Smiling at it's reaction I felt a slight squeezing sensation around my consciousness as an overwhelming urge to CONSUME threatened to rear it's ugly head. Frantically pushing that feeling down I breathed deeply, the action calming me despite no longer needing to actually do so. Letting out one last breath as I felt the urge retreat for now I glanced up at the VIP box that Rose was present in. At this distance I wasn't able to actually see her face or how she was reacting right now but I could picture how worried she probably was. I couldn't let this change me. Calming down my inner turmoil I once more faced off against the plant that had finally regained it's upright posture. It was time to end this, quickly.