A Way to Kill A Tree (1)

In the few hours Ash spent spying on the carnivorous tree earlier in the day, one huge question mark hovered above his head.

'How the heck do I kill a goddamn carnivorous tree?'

The last time he checked, he didn't have a chainsaw with him.

Hell, even if he got one, the tree's bark looked nothing like ordinary tree bark.

He saw a bear slashing the damn thing and the bear's claws were knocked back instead.

The clash echoed a loud clanging sound, something that didn't make sense in the biological world.

It's like when a steel clashed against another metal.

And if you think that was all, you were so wrong.

The tree had vines, like almost every creature in the cursed forest had, that could elongate and fly towards its enemies.

And was that all? No! 

The tree also had thorns that it could shoot out from the vines.

Venomous thorns.

One that could turn the body of its enemies rigid, similar to its bark.

How did that work? Ash could barely understand the physical and chemical process of photosynthesis when he was taught about it back in the academy, how could he understand moving vines magically shooting venomous thorns?

If not for the fact that the tree was rooted on the ground, then it would almost be a cheat creature that would dominate the whole fractured zone.

But that was also the exact reason he wanted his catalyst to be the thorn of the tree.

The knowledge the god gave him told Ash that the stronger the materials, the stronger the result would be.

And after hours of analyzing and checking his arsenal of abilities, Ash might have found a way to deal with the cheat-like abilities of the tree.

And to do that, he needed to make sure of something first.

Ash tiptoed around the tree, not literally around, more like 20 meters away from it.

He had made sure that it was a safe distance where the tree didn't start shooting its thorns towards him.

Ash then activated one of the new abilities he got for the first time.

'Hallucina Plague,' He spoke aloud in his mind.

Green mana, a blessing of the benevolent god, gathered in Ash's arms and shot forward.

It flew and crashed against the huge 7-meter-tall body of the carnivorous tree.

He doubted the tree had a brain where he could put hallucination magic onto it.

But the ability never specified that it needed to be used against creatures with a brain.

It just said that it would show illusions/hallucinations to his enemies.

And show hallucinations it did.

As if seeing a creature charging towards it, the vines that came out of holes in the tree bark came to life.

As if having a vendetta against the creature that had trespassed into its territory, the vines shot directly towards a certain spot on the ground around it.

Shooting the venomous thorns as soon as the vine came out of the holes.

But of course, the thorns and vines hit nothing as there was nothing there. Only an illusion that Ash had placed onto it.

'So it could also affect creatures without a conventional brain like humans or animals…'

How did hallucinations even appear in a brainless creature? No idea. 

'Magic is great,' Yes, magic.

Seeing his ability worked, the chance of him succeeding just went up by 20%.

And that's if you count Ash's own calculation as valid.

To increase the chance even further. Ash smiled wryly to himself, did some warm up, and proceeded with the first step of his plan.

The first step to his majestic, questionably fool-proof plan was none other than,

"Hey! Brainless, not so big tree! I'm here! Come get me!" 

Ash took several steps forward, shouting to get the carnivorous tree's attention.

And attention he got.

Just like when it saw the illusion, the vines grew once more, shooting out of the holes in its bark.

The vines began shooting the thorns straight towards Ash, ready to collect him once the venom made his whole body rigid.

And Ash, like the agile, athletic person he was, successfully kept his feet rooted on the ground.

'Ah, hell no! I'm not that brave!'

At the last second, he turned his body 180 degrees, showing his back to the incoming thorns and vines instead.

He peeked a little, then saw the thorns were about to hit him.

Ash used all of his strength to kick against the ground. Propelling his body forward more than 5 meters away, something that was possible due to the toxic surge skill.

But he jumped forward, not sideways.

The thorns came in contact with his body and embedded themselves into his back.

'Godamnit it hurts!' Of course, what did he expect from it?

The thorns began releasing the venom contained inside it, turning parts of Ash's back into solid tree bark.

He landed headfirst onto the ground, his face creating a questionable fertilizer from the blood in his cough and the fertile forest ground.

And with his back turning into a solid tree bark, Ash could do nothing but reflect on his decision to live.

Fortunately, the venom didn't hurt like the berry's poison, nor did it make him a hippie like the black mushroom.

It just made him unable to move the parts that had been bark-ified.

Which was almost all of his backside due to his decision to get hit by all the thorns.

But that was all part of the plan. He had successfully jumped away from the tree's attacking range.

Ash remained unmoving for a whole minute before the green mana surged from his chest and enveloped his whole body.

The rigid bark skin on his back cracked as the structure of the bark was adjusted by the green mana.

Starting from his feet, Ash began wriggling, the bark skin on his back now followed the movements of his muscles.

Rather than staying rigid and keeping Ash from moving, the bark had now become an armor for him.

He could move just fine as his body adopted the bark as its own.

Ash then stood up then used his own vines to pull out the thorns that were still stuck on his back.

Ash summoned the book from the depths of his soul, or from wherever it was stored inside his body, onto his hand.

Seeing a new entry in his codex, his smile widened.

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Steelbark Ossification (Carnivorous Tree Resin Venom)

A defensive venom secreted by the Verdant Maw, a predatory tree species that transforms its victims' organic tissue into hardened cellulose armor. Originally used to immobilize prey by ossifying muscle fibers.

+Symptoms:

-Subdermal Calcification : Epidermis layers gradually convert into semi-organic bark plates under stress.

-Pain Numbing : Localized nerve desensitization in hardened areas.

-Joint Rigidity : Temporary reduction in flexibility near ossified zones.

+Ability Unlocked: Steelbark Skin (Active)

Upon activation, the user's skin develops rigid, bark-like plating, forming a temporary second skin as an additional layer of defense.

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Ash activated his newly added ability, the Steelbark Skin.

All over his body, including his face, his skin turned to the same steel-like bark of the carnivorous tree.

Ash then stared at the tree, his index finger pointed at it, issuing a challenge.

With a second skin that was as hard or maybe harder than steel, Ash was ready to defeat the carnivorous tree.

He declared proudly, "MP!?UHMMP! MMHMMUP!"

Alas, his proud declaration was obstructed by the bark skin that covered his whole face, other than his eyes and nose.

His heartfelt words could only be understood by himself and his benevolent god above.