341 – Treant’s Evolution

Perhaps full after biting into the chimera lich’s neck, the petit nightmare gets down.
It then spits red thread from its mouth to cover itself.
Just before its head is completely hidden, it glances towards me and waves an arm.

What is it…? I wave back absentmindedly, and it spits thread to the ground.
It seems it was waving at my partner rather than me… Having that done to me really is quite irritating.
Now I understand how treant-san feels after being treated rudely by the petit nightmare.

My partner yawns and stretches out towards the base of the giant tree.
So this is the composure of a popular dragon…

In the blink of an eye, the petit nightmare’s head is covered by the thread, and it is turned into a red cocoon.
The cocoon is two sizes bigger than it.
About big enough to fit a single human.

It looks like it’s started its evolution preparation.
I wonder what it’ll evolve into next… It’ll probably be around C+ rank, the same rank as Aro.
Though she’ll evolve to B rank in no time at all.

With C+ and B ranks by my side, things will become a lot easier.
Honestly, the only one of the three that can attack decently is Aro, who on top of being C+ rank and specialised in magic, can absorb my MP with mana drain… With Aro at long range, the treant as an iron wall, and the petit nightmare as an opportunistic attacker… If each of their specialisations are developed as they evolve, they should be able put together decent formation.

If that happens, they can fight in an entirely new way than they have up to now.
They might become able to take down chimera lich-class enemies even without my support.
If so, their level will rise much faster.
With so many A rank adams and eves just a quick search away, in a way you could probably call this island the world’s best level up spot.
We should be able to explore those ruins soon too.

Now then, I’m looking forward to the petit nightmare’s emergence.
The way it’s gone before, it shouldn’t take too long.
Besides, the cocoon is shaking with a thumping sound.
Combined with the red thread, it looks almost like a heart.
It looks like it could come crawling out any second.

『……』

I suddenly feel a gaze on me and turn around.
The treant is looking at me as though it wants to say something.

…What is it? Ah, could be as a monster produced through [Fake Life], like Aro you also need [Fake Life] to evolve? You hadn’t evolved all this time, so I didn’t realise.
Hey, partner, stop just looking down and use [Fake Life], would you? Pack as much magic power into it as you can.
To celebrate treant-san’s future.

“……Gaa”

She looks up as though finding it bothersome and cries out quietly.
Treant-san is covered in dubious black light.
It’s [Fake Life].
S-somehow, it seemed like the magic was sloppy, but… Was treant-san able to evolve safety? It was, right?

From inside the black light, a tree branch suddenly protrudes… No, the end of the branch is split neatly into five.
It looks just like an arm.
The black light clears, the treant appears, one size bigger than it was.
Its bark is a bit darker and more rugged.
Rather than pure green, its leaves have a strong blue tinge to them now.

O-ohh… Its body surface looks a lot harder than before.
Is it okay to expect it? What is this species of monster?

【[Magical Tree】: C+ rank monster】
【A treant that excels at wielding magic.】
【Fights through combining the treant’s characteristic resiliency and the advantage of magic support.】
【Its leaves posses a peculiar magic power, and so there are many cases of adventurers attempting to subdue one.
But due to its nasty means of fighting, after half a day, many give up and retreat.】

O-ohh! C+! It’s a massive success! I was sure it would be around C- rank, but it looks like that was a needless worry.
It must be thanks to eating the fruit of wisdom…! Though isn’t it subtly dissed in the species explanation?

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Magical Tree
Condition: Cursed
Lv: 1/60
HP: 161/161
MP: 3/110

Attack: 43
Defence: 85
Magic: 113
Speed: 56
Rank: C+

Characteristic Skills:
[Darkness Attribute: Lv-] [Grisha Language: Lv2] [Hardening: Lv2] [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv1]

Resistance Skills:
[Physical Resistance: Lv4]

Normal Skills:

[Take Root: Lv4] [Clay: Lv2] [Rest: Lv3] [Fire Sphere: Lv2] [Aqua Sphere: Lv2] [Clay Sphere: Lv2] [Wind Sphere: Lv2] [Telepathy: Lv1] [Gravity: Lv2] [Poison Cloud: Lv1] [Physical Barrier: Lv3] [Antipower: Lv2]

Title Skills:
[Servant of the Evil Dragon: Lv-] [Eater of the Fruit of Wisdom: Lv-] [White Mage: Lv3] [Black Mage: Lv2]
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Uoooooh! Its skills have increased a lot! Their levels have also increased a lot too.
With this, I can expect a lot from it from now on! Umm… [Hardening] is it? Uh-huh, sounds good.
Mmm, [Poison Cloud]… [Physical Wall]… [Antipower]…… A-ahh, right, it does indeed sound nasty.

[Power] is a magic that raises the target’s attack stat.
So does [Antipower] do the opposite? With [Antipower] to reduce the enemy’s attack it can protect itself with [Physical Wall] while healing with [Rest], slowly reducing their health with [Poison Cloud], and, if there’s a chance, attacking with one of the sphere-type magic skills… N-nasty.
That really is a nasty way of fighting.
It’s a skill combination on the level of being unable to complain when there’s a power cut right when you start to play a competitive game.

Treant-san looks at its branch…or rather hand, and celebrates in delight.
Then it glances towards me as though trying to show off.
R-right… I’m glad.
But the treant becoming C+ rank is a wonderful miscalculation.

I’m grateful that it’ll be able to reduce the adam’s crazy-high attack stat.
I need it to do its best to raise the skill level… But then they do also have that stupidly powerful long range attack magic, [Gravidon].
The treant seems like it’ll be strong against physical opponents, but… Right, what about magical opponents? It would be great if, as its level is raised, it could get some new resistance or normal skills to allow for some new countermeasures.