Turbulence Clears the Tentacle Saplings
After wiping out all the tentacle tree saplings with Turbulence, we advance on Tentacle Lilith. That's the solid plan I laid out, but the moment I said it, Rydmila pulled me aside for a private word.
"I don't think this is the kind of thing you call someone out separately for, Miss Rydmila."
"Have you lost your mind?!"
Rydmila's face flushed red as she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Saying 'Wind Fart' in front of everyone just now...!"
"Yelling it that loud might give people the wrong idea."
"You're the one who made them think that!"
Rydmila grabbed my collar and shook me back and forth like crazy. Naturally, when an A-rank hunter goes full force, it could wreck my body, so she was just shaking me enough to make her point—get your head straight. It was kinda pathetic, but I still got a little dizzy. For an ordinary person, it'd be just enough to feel woozy. I let my body go limp in her grip, then raised a hand toward her with the most wobbly gaze I could muster.
"Calm down, calm down. You didn't seriously think I'd tell you to strike some weird pose and do a 'Wind Fart' right in front of everyone, did you?"
"Th-then...!"
"I'll control it for you."
"...Control?"
"Yeah. You'll use the power of Turbulence, but in a stance that won't embarrass you in front of others."
"......."
Rydmila let go of my collar and stepped back.
"Just how do you plan to pull that off?"
"Simple. Use your proudest long-range attack, and I'll guide you to infuse it with Turbulence mana."
"First off, let's change that terminology."
Rydmila conjured a spear from her mana and aimed it at the forest of tentacle trees.
"To something more appropriate!"
With a short breath, she hurled the spear straight ahead.
"Whoa."
Boom—!
The mana spear she forged flew toward the forest. It pierced right through the stem of the first tentacle tree, embedding itself in the second one behind it.
Kieeeek!!
The tentacle tree with its stem impaled let out a scream-like shriek, unfurling its tentacles. The intertwined fingers spread out all at once, nails poised like they were ready to stab at any nearby foe. At the same time, the fingers below fiddled desperately with the holes in their own bodies, trying to stem the gushing sap.
That behavior looked eerily like a human instinctively trying to cover a fresh wound, which gave me a momentary pause. But it could be interpreted two ways.
One: These tentacle trees had intelligence close to a human's. Most people would stop at that interpretation, but anyone familiar with angel powers could draw another conclusion.
Two: The spirits possessing these tentacle trees—the "fingers"—were fragments of angels. More precisely, they were like offshoots from a single angel, soul shards that absorbed earthly mana to spawn copies and spread roots. That's why not just Tentacle Lilith herself, but her derived sapling tentacle trees would interlock fingers like branches when pruning each other.
Squiiiish.
Or why damaged ones would extend stems to intertwine fingers, comforting each other by rubbing branches. All those bizarre moves had a reason.
"See that, Phoenix?"
Of course, no one else could see their true nature.
"Those offshoots of Tentacle Lilith move instantly to protect each other whenever one gets hurt."
Rydmila formed a second spear and hurled it at the forest from her spot.
"They're plants, but they have learning ability, so when you throw spears like this from range... watch."
Splurt.
"They do."
Crunch!
"This to block."
Another tentacle tree layered its branches multiple times thick to block the spear. Of course, Rydmila's throws were incredibly powerful, so the dozen or so overlapping fingers got riddled with holes, the spear lodged in the stem, and thick, opaque white sap oozed out.
"What do you think?"
"Unlike the first throw, no one-shot kill?"
"Yes. And by the third, it won't even penetrate. Because of this."
Rydmila tapped the ground with her foot.
"You can't see it, but their roots are entwined underground. Unlike normal plants, they wrap and overlap roots, drawing mana from the boss, Tentacle Lilith, to move."
"Like a hive mind?"
"Exactly. That's why you can't just attack recklessly from the outskirts against a boss like that."
"But they still get harvested periodically."
"That's my point."
Rydmila formed a third mana spear.
"The way to take down these monsters isn't by damaging the core or hammering them with ranged attacks to let them learn."
Whoooosh!
"We hunt by chopping them down from the outskirts—leaving just stumps so they can't adapt or respond even if they learn."
Rydmila swung her spear like an axe. Unlike the previous mana spears, this one's blade was especially honed to a razor edge.
"In other words, close-range: sever all the fingers and farm the cores one by one?"
"That's right."
"What if there was a ranged way to do that?"
"......."
Rydmila eyed me suspiciously.
"What are you getting at?"
"Obviously, with Turbulence."
"......Fine, whatever."
Rydmila stabbed her mana spear into the ground and approached me, grabbing my cheeks with both hands and pulling my face close.
"Embarrassing poses for others to see? Fine. No matter the stance, if it lets me drop these monsters easily, I'll do it."
"Then we're good?"
"The problem is that mana isn't something I can control."
She was dead serious now.
"Like when you turned the training grounds to rubble—if that mana bursts out of my body randomly, you think I can just use it recklessly?"
"Just adjust the direction?"
"Direc... what?"
"Like this. Evangeline! Come here a sec?"
I called over the most suitable teammate from the group quietly watching our exchange from afar.
"What? No idea what's up, but we agreed?"
"Hold still. No resisting."
"No resis—kyaa?!"
I scooped Evangeline up from behind and positioned her in a certain hold.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing?!"
And the one freaking out wasn't Evangeline—it was Rydmila.
"D-don't tell me you expect me to...!"
"What, you got it right away? Sharp as ever, Miss Rydmila."
Rydmila's Turbulence blasts downward. So if she takes a stance like this—something straight out of an extreme Western porn vid—we can adjust the direction.
"Evangeline. How about throwing a V-sign toward Rydmila?"
"Like this?"
Evangeline played along, striking the pose. She might feel a bit shy herself, but she was smirking at Rydmila's blushing panic.
"What, Rydmila? If Phoenix holds you like this, you can use that 'Wind Fart' thing?"
"Th-that's not...!"
"Then why be embarrassed? It's not like Phoenix can see anything from back there."
Some people will do embarrassing stuff themselves just to mess with others.
"He's just supporting from behind, right?"
"Exactly. You okay with it, Evangeline?"
"Nah, totally fine. Way better than being lifted by the armpits? I have no idea why Rydmila finds this uncomfortable or embarrassing~"
"Evangeline...! This isn't about you...!"
"Oh? If I could do it, I'd strike this pose in a heartbeat to take down those monsters."
When the princess offers, how can you refuse? Our Old School Building special class had bonded in all sorts of ways over the past month.
"Phoenix, what do you think? Can I use this to raid those monsters?"
"Sadly, only Rydmila can drop enemies with this stance."
"Aw, too bad. If I could, I'd do it myself and sweep them all away!"
"Grrr...!"
Rydmila ground her teeth, glaring at Evangeline and me, then turned behind us for backup.
"Miss Unia! Say something!"
"Something."
"Miss Unia...?"
"Any reason to be embarrassed?"
Unia tilted her head as she approached, straightened Evangeline's skirt with a hand, and sighed.
"If I could help like this, I would. Think I could pull it off?"
"For you, Miss Unia, I'd probably just stand behind as a mana battery."
"Then should I try this time? Mana control, let's give it a shot."
"Nah, it's fine. Time to clear up Miss Rydmila's misunderstanding anyway."
I signaled Evangeline, who lowered her legs.
"Even using Turbulence, you don't need a pose like that, Miss Rydmila. It'll be something like this for Unia."
I helped Evangeline stand on both feet, then gripped her from behind, hands sliding up and down.
"!!"
Evangeline shivered in surprise, but I wrapped my extended hands around her midsection, channeling mana into her body.
"Like this—we'll flow the mana into your spear, Miss Rydmila. The power of Turbulence."
"Rydmila's wind magic is called Turbulence? Whoa, cool name."
"Sounds magical. It's your unique spell?"
"Th-this...!"
Rydmila's hands trembled, but she finally sighed deeply and turned toward the forest.
"...I'm not doing Evangeline's pose."
"Obviously. Why else would I adjust your mana for you?"
I stood behind Rydmila, getting her into a spear-throwing stance and pressing close from behind.
"Relax and build up your mana. I'll hold you steady."
"......."
"You can do it. You're Rydmila. Hunter-style."
Just sever all the stems without damaging cores, right?
"Soon, you'll control the wind without my help."
".......!"
"And that'll be your path to S-rank."
I slowly began stimulating the second core deep in her abdomen.
"Wanna try?"
"...I'll do it."
A moment later.
Kaboom—!!
A storm erupted in the forest.