Chapter 60: Stalemate

The area was deathly silent, save for the sounds of ragged breathing and the howling of monsters in the distance. It was as if the Aramlians could sense the strength of the green-skinned woman before them, even if they knew nothing about her.

No one other than Jak and Mako dared to move from where they were.

Putting himself in between the Aramlian citizens and the newly arrived Nature Spirit, the redhead slowly put his katana back into its sheath. Without a word, Mako followed suit, moving to stand beside his friend with his blunted weapon held close to his hip. If the tension hadn’t already been thicker than honey, it was definitely getting there as the seconds ticked on by.

"I assume there’s no way we can talk this out." Jak spoke calmly and clearly, fixing his gaze onto the mysterious woman. "Given the lengths you went to trap this city."

The woman gave the redhead a look of pure condescension and hatred, as if she were looking at something that had crawled through the fowlest slop in the 3000+ worlds. If looks had power, Jak was certain that he would’ve been eviscerated by just a mere glance. Even the looks the Aramlians had gave upon the Rookies arrival was tamer than the contempt this Nature Spirit was shooting at the redhead.

"A mere insect like you? Why would disgusting humans dare to-"

"Ooh. Racism. That’s so hot." Mako interrupted the woman before she could finish her thought. "Do you have a Crystal Line? Or some way I can contact you? We can get a drink after this if you want."

"Is now really the time?" Jak gave his compatriot a side glance.

"Of course. Love a woman who can kick my ass." - Mako

"...There’s something wrong with you." -Jak

"And what? You think I’m friends with you because you’re perfect?" Mako countered, smirking a bit.

"Difference is, I have a reason I’m like this. You clearly hit your head as a child" - Jak

Whilst the two bright haired youths went back and forth with each other, Kruger could only look on in confusion. Here they were, staring down the cause of the disaster, the reason their backs were against the wall and lives on the line, and the only two available fighters were debating about Mako’s taste in women. The Fennelis was at a loss for words, unable to wrap his head around the events unraveling in front of him. And if he was thrown off, he could only imagine how the Nature Spirit was taking it, someone who had never seen how the young Rookies behaved.

That being said, Kruger was quick to recover when he spotted Jaks lowered hand.

Moving almost too fast for the young Fennelis to register, the fiery haired Adventurer drew his blade from its scabbard, swiping it across the cool night air. A thick line of flame magic shot out in a beautiful arc, cutting through the space with unreal speed. However, though undoubtedly powerful in its own right, the Nature Spirit didn’t so much as flinch as a bed of luminescent moss rose from the ground, intercepting the strike. Bits and pieces of the foliage burst into flames. Other than that, the structure looked completely unfazed, similar to how unbothered the green-skinned woman appeared as she lowered the moss wall back onto the ground.

"Mako." Jak lowered his voice, shifting into an offensive stance.

Immediately understanding what his friend was trying to convey, the blue-haired Rookie flicked his staff. Kruger took that brief exchange to back away from the two of them.

"Right." - Mako

BOOM! BOOM!

The duo pushed off from their positions, blazing a path towards the new arrival with zero hesitation. Though looking entirely unimpressed, the YggLan, or Nature Spirit, proceeded to raise a few more vines from the mossy environment in response. These ones were much thicker than the others, around the size of tree trunks, and looked just as sturdy. As soon as the tendrils made their appearance, they lashed out, shooting straight towards the dual Rookies.

Mako immediately splintered off, jumping off the ground and up onto the wall next to them, sprinting along its surface. Jak remained where he was, putting on more speed. As the vines approached him from all sides, he narrowed his eyes in determination.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

The heated metal left arcs of crimson in its wake as it tore through the incoming vegetation, turning the vines into scorched chunks. Jak pushed through unscathed, flames illuminating the night. As he closed the remaining distance, the woman summoned the bed of moss once again, the look of hatred still positioned on her face. Honjo Masamune hit the raised wall, colliding with it head on, embers and smoke erupting from the point of impact.

Tak Tak Tak Tak.

From the wall, Mako took a few final steps before pushing off, launching himself the moment he was aligned with the Nature Spirit. Spinning his battle staff rapidly, he summoned sharpened blades of water to both ends of the weapons, almost as if it was an deadly saw.

"Water Manifest: WhipLash!"

In response to seeing Mako’s incoming spell, the woman quickly covered herself in moss, spreading the wall around her like a cocoon. However, the moment she was out of sight, the blue-haired Rookie grinned and landed gently on the ground, battle staff fixed to his back.

"Gotcha." Mako chuckled as he kneeled on the ground, placing both hands against the cocoons surface. "Water Propulsion!"

With an unbelievably strong torrent of water, one that made a geyser seem like a puff of hot air, the cocoon was sent skipping across the ground. Slamming into trees, trampling shrubbery, and knocking over buildings that had somehow survived the World Trees appearance. Since the Nature Spirit hadn’t fixed it to the ground, the cocoon was nothing more than a kickball that Mako and Jak could knock around at their leisure.

As the cocoon bounced into the distance and out of sight, cheers rang up from the crowd behind them.

The Aramlians had already started celebrating.

"Enough." Jak was quick to shut it down, moving swiftly towards the group. "That won’t keep her away for more than half a minute."

"She’s severely weakened due to the spell used to capture all of you," Mako chimed in. "However, even with that knowledge, the most we can do is stalemate with her. You all need to get to the Parthenon and take shelter there for the time being. We’ll figure something out in the meantime."

"Knox!" - Jak

The midnight colored lion appeared the moment his name was mentioned, emerging from the crowd. Making his way up, the Vox Lion let out a low growl as he moved to stand before the redheaded individual.

"You get Kruger and the rest there safely. Watch over them."

"Grrrrr!" Knox seemed to nod in agreement, indicating he understood.

"Allow me to stay and help-"

Jak gave Kruger a look, causing the Fennelis to halt his words.

"Go and help your people."

"But-"

"As a warrior of NorthClaw and future Scholar, you have what it takes. Show me your resolve to keep those you love safe. Don’t rely on your father’s expectations. Don’t rely on the expectations of others. Rely on your own feelings and desires and push forward. If you can move, you can fight!"

"If you can fight, you can win!" - Mako

Boom!

The sound of trees ripping apart could be heard in the distance. Just based off everything that had happened, Jak wagered that the Nature Spirit was now substantially pissed off.

"Go!" Jak wrapped up his little speech, motioning the Aramlians towards the root. "Now!"

Kruger grit his teeth, hesitating for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. On one hand, he wanted to stay and assist the Adventurers in the fight to save his city from the ongoing destruction, to stop the Nature Spirit in her tracks. On the other hand, he knew that with his lack of combat experience, he would only serve to get in the way and possibly get the two fighters seriously injured or even killed. Feelings versus logic. A never ending battle that he always had with himself.

"All Aramlians with me!" Kruger rose his voice as he sprinted towards the wall. "We’re heading towards the Parthenon!"

"That’s it Krugs," Mako muttered as he walked up to stand beside the redhead. "Be the leader you were meant to be."

"Almost enough to make a grown man cry." - Jak

"Almost." - Mako

"So. How do we deal with her?" Jak pivoted around, facing the opposite direction of the fleeing Aramlians.

There, hovering 6 meters off the ground with a mixed look of anger and frustration, was their newly aquired friend. The Nature Spirit. She didn’t have a scratch on her anywhere, not even so much as a scuff mark on her clothing. Being skipped along like a rock against water didn’t seem to do anything except piss her off, which was as much as Jak had expected.

The only reason they hadn’t been flattened already was because the Nature Spirit hadn’t recovered sufficiently enough to do so. Otherwise, the dual Adventurers and the Aramlians would’ve met a grisly end the moment she appeared.

Odds were, the longer the fighting went on, the stronger she would become.

"I guess we just hit her until she dies." Mako once again retrieved his staff from his back. "Or until we die."

"Probability of this being a clone?" - Jak

"25 percent." - Mako

"Those are some pretty good odds." - Jak

"Doesn’t make this fight any easier. She’s still gonna kick our ass." - Mako

Jak let out a breath, literal smoke escaping his lips. "I guess so. Let’s get started then."

"If you’re finished with your final words, then allow me to start our interaction properly." The Nature Spirit raised her hands to her sides, palms facing upwards. "Just don’t regret that you never got the chance to pray to the gods of your choice."

The ground began to shake violently, cracks appearing a few meters away from the bright haired duo. Jak and Mako quickly retreated as enormous plants emerged from the mossy depths, rearing their ugly heads as they wiggled and squirmed into existence.

"Great Forest Manifest: Jugond Acid Plants!!"

The newly created, enormous plants looked like some sort of dragon fruit, with splotches of green, red, and even a shade of blue closely situated near their ’mouths’. Their heads were about 12 meters in length and 6 meters wide, with some sort of liquid dripping from the aforementioned mouth. The stalks holding them up were thicker than stone pillars and possibly even stronger, allowing the plants to twist and turn their heads at unusual angles. They didn’t look too dangerous, but that meant very little when dealing with a Rift Hunter Class fighter.

The moment the Jugond Plants finished developing, they immediately fixed their mouths in the directions of the youths.

"Not that the gods would listen to insignificant human pests!!"

"Gods, she’s so hot for that!" - Mako

"You were being serious?" - Jak

"As a fresh corpse." - Mako

Pooosht! Poosht! Poosht!

The two youths barely had time to evade as blasts of liquid slammed into the spots they once occupied, forcing them on the move. As the unknown concoction seeped into the ground, all non plants began to dissolve and burn up until there was nothing left. Rock, sand, insects. It vanished without a single trace, as if it never existed in the first place.

"Well isnt that just terrific." Mako sidestepped another blast of acid as he shot for one of the Jugond Plants. "They can shoot acid!!"

"It’s in the name of the spell idiot." Jak fell in step behind his compatriot, dodging a shot of corrosive liquid. "Learn to listen."

"Whatever. Let’s just get rid of them!!"

Putting on speed the two matched each other, lining up. The fiery redhead summoned a line of fire along his katana, puffs of smoke once again escaping his lips. The blue-haired Rookie conjured up a blade of pure water in the shape of a halberd, sharpening it and refining it as he and his companion closed the distance between him and the numerous plants.

"Flame Manifest-"

"Water Manifest-"

Halting just before they reached the plants, the Adventurers swung their weapons in tandem, letting loose their built up magical power in one fell motion.

"Elemental String!" - Jak and Mako

The area flickered briefly, as if the world had stopped in its tracks. Then, like a damn bursting open, it all erupted.

An explosion of red and blue, of fire and water, rocked the vicinity in front of them. Everywhere the plants had appeared and even some chunks beyond that was bathed in a volatile sea of combined magic, destroying everything in its path.

From atop the root overlooking NorthClaw, Kruger looked downwards, eyeing the sudden spell tearing apart the very ground. He could feel Jak and Mako far below, mixed up in the ongoing battle with the antagonistic green-skinned woman.

Even now, after having made the decision to lead his people to the Parthenon, he had half a mind to leap back down and help the fighters.

However, even with the urge, he merely turned around.

"Don’t die." Kruger narrowed his eyes in determination. "I promise I’ll find a way to help you two."

"Do you think we held back too much?" Mako asked, watching the magic begin to die down. "We might’ve been able to hurt her with it."

"No." Jak swiped his sword downwards. "It wouldn’t have done a single thing."

As the destruction started to settle and the magic started to disperse, the YggLan emerged once again.

She was unscathed.

The Jugond Plants had all been eliminated, not a single one remaining on the battlefield. All around the Nature Spirit, the remnants of the plants as well as that of NorthClaw could be seen. The combined spell from Mako and Jak had bulldozed everything without a shred of discrimination, shredding it apart before spitting it back out. The only thing that hadn’t been affected was the one thing that the duo wished it HAD affected.

"I believe you worms said something about a stalemate, did you not?" The YggLan smirked for the first time, a condescending look still on her face. "I’ll be interested to see how you can manage that."