The Tree With Two Faces
The auditorium ceiling had been completely shattered during the entrance ceremony, revealing a colossal dead tree that spread ashen leaves across the sky. Two human-like faces were embedded in its trunk. One sat at the very top of the thick wooden pillar, while the other hung upside down near the ground. Both pairs of eyes were staring straight at us. Or at least, they were supposed to be. I'd seen this thing so many times in the tutorial that it was practically burned into my memory.
But right now, half my field of vision was blocked by deep navy fabric. The elf princess-carrying me in front made it almost impossible to see anything ahead. Tch. If only I were a little taller...
Peony, completely unfazed by the monster's menacing presence, shouted with glee.
"Haha! This side has three heads! We're definitely not losing!"
"Those heads look like they'd fight better if they moved separately, though?"
"Yeah. Peony, wouldn't it be better if you got down?"
But the elf showed no intention of changing her mind.
"Don't you think this formation is the most perfect? It's combining Kim Si-woo's agility and strength! Lee Haneul's superpowers! And my archery all into one!"
There were way more disadvantages than advantages, but I didn't bother pointing it out.
Please don't make us fight like this. The three-in-one bio-robot idea seemed to have lodged itself firmly in her head. If I refused now, she'd probably sulk for days. Besides, this battle was easy enough that we could just wing it. Like I'd said earlier, this was nothing but a tutorial.
Sitting on his shoulders, I lightly kicked Kim Si-woo's chest with my foot. In response, he tapped my foot twice with his hand. I took that as agreement.
"Then let's fight just like this, like Peony suggested."
"Make sure you support us well from up there. Peony, Haneul."
And so, this bizarre battle formation was born.
But calling it a battle felt almost embarrassing. Because the wooden vines that had been blocking the auditorium had vanished. Which meant only one thing.
We could gang up on it!
This was an academy where people learned and trained supernatural abilities and otherworldly powers. Naturally, it was overflowing with ability users capable of fighting.
Pew!
The moment a flare shot up from somewhere, attacks began pouring in from all directions at once. Flames, lightning, frost. Destructive elements summoned by supernatural powers, along with blades, bullets, and bombs. Even the weapons crafted by humans rained down endlessly.
The researchers in white lab coats were cheering about "real combat" and "live experiments," frantically setting up all sorts of equipment before firing off various lethal and experimental weapons. And the elf, not to be outdone, was shooting arrows of every color at the raid boss.
The more extra damage we dealt, the bigger the rewards would be, but it wasn't necessary. This was a raid that the entire academy was tackling together. A boss you could clear even without going all out.
The boss, bombarded by attacks of every hue and shade, swung its massive branches in what seemed like agony, letting out pained screams.
Wait. Hadn't that thing been staring only at us since earlier? Now it was swinging its branches directly at us?
But Kim Si-woo skillfully dodged the enormous limbs, throwing in punches and kicks whenever he found an opening. From my position above the chaos, I only blocked the debris flying toward us.
The branches that had been slamming down from above now swept horizontally.
Kwagagagak!
They scraped across the already half-destroyed walls and floor of the auditorium, turning everything into a wasteland.
When Kim Si-woo prepared to leap away from an attack that was hard to dodge, papap! A series of arrows flew in and shattered the thick branch.
"Nice one, Peony!"
Even while being pummeled from all sides and starting to lose ground, the massive tree began twisting its own base. One rotation, two rotations... Each twist produced a deafening crunch until, on the tenth or so spin, it finally released all the power it had accumulated.
Pabababak!
The giant tree spun with elastic force, scattering sharp leaves and thorn-covered wooden shrapnel everywhere.
But it wasn't just spreading them randomly. It was obsessively pouring them all in our direction. Why?
In the game, it had been a simple area attack that even a low-level main character could endure. But right now, if the tutorial character took this, not even bones would remain.
Whatever the case, projectile attacks wouldn't work here.
I closed my eyes and spread my telekinesis forward in a wide barrier. The projectiles flying toward us numbered in the dozens, hundreds, no, thousands. Just like raindrops hitting the surface of water, the moment the debris touched the surface of my telekinetic field, they froze in midair.
If I hadn't been holding Peony, I could have reached out dramatically to stop the wreckage. It would've looked really cool, like in a movie. But that kind of scene doesn't happen in real life.
The new master commanded each of the thousands of fragments to spin. Slowly, the debris turned their sharp points toward their original owner.
When the final piece finished rotating, they all flew at once toward the face high above.
Twoooong!
With a deafening explosion that made our ears ring, splinters of wood flew in every direction. When the dust cleared, one of the faces that had been glaring at us was completely smashed to bits.
The upside-down face on the ground let out a furious wail the moment its partner disappeared, thrashing wildly.
Puh-eong!
Vines and branches whipped like lashes, tearing through the sound barrier with explosive booms.
Since they were part of the monster's body and flowed with mana, I couldn't block them as easily as regular projectiles. So I gathered the fallen pieces of the roof nearby and shaped them into a dome for defense.
Kwaang! Kwaang!
Just the sound of the whips striking my makeshift barrier was enough to shake heaven and earth.
"Does anyone here have a grudge against this tree? It feels like it's targeting us specifically?"
"I don't remember anything like that!"
"Ehehe... Well... I've been on bad terms with trees lately. Maybe that's why. I'm sorry, Kim Si-woo, Haneul."
An elf on bad terms with trees?
"That doesn't even make sen—"
Just as I was about to speak, I suddenly sensed an approaching surge of mana.
This is... from below!
"Kim Si-woo! Jump back!"
In a hurry, I used my telekinesis to control the concrete floor we were standing on.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
A heavy thud vibrated up from underneath. The moment Kim Si-woo leaped back and I released my power, a hell of thorns made of thick roots burst up exactly where we'd been standing just a split second earlier.
The roof fragments that had lost my telekinetic support were torn apart miserably, no longer holding their solid shape, and scattered in all directions.
The sudden backward dodge threw off our balance, tilting us backward. Being in such close contact with these two ability users made it incredibly difficult to use telekinesis only on myself to stabilize our posture...!
As our center of gravity started to tip over, I instinctively hooked my leg around Kim Si-woo's neck and pulled. Pressing my body against the back of his neck and leaning forward finally let me regain our balance.
Even though I hadn't squeezed that hard, Kim Si-woo was gasping and turning red in the face.
"Hey! Stop that..."
"Then don't move so suddenly!"
Despite her uncomfortable position and the constant swaying as she lost balance, the elf was still firing arrows perfectly. This time, thorns were erupting wildly from behind us and closing in.
"Si-woo! Forward!"
Tat!
This time Kim Si-woo leaped forward. Our center of gravity shifted ahead, and my body leaned against the back of his head. At least I hadn't grabbed his neck this time, so he probably wouldn't complain.
But Kim Si-woo's movements had become noticeably slower than before. Had he already reached his limit?
"Are you tired already? Peony! Give Si-woo some vitality!"
"No no! I don't need vitality! I just got distracted for a second!"
"Then focus! We're in the middle of a fight!"
The endlessly pursuing thorns finally forced me to lift the ground itself into the air with telekinesis to dodge them. Damn it. I'd wanted to let these two gain some real combat experience.
The boss, which had been taking heavy fire from all sides, had now lost all its swingable branches. It was reduced to a skeletal tree with only a few sparse leaves remaining. All its branches were gone, and the thorny roots could no longer reach us.
It really seemed like the end now.
"Did we... beat it?"
"I think it's safe to say we did, right?"
"Yeah. It doesn't have any attack methods left."
Kim Si-woo, who had taken a short breather in midair, seemed to have returned to normal condition. So it really had just been a momentary distraction.
"What a truly eventful day. By the way, what exactly did you do to make the tree hate you, Peony?"
"Well... it started this morning. Like I mentioned at the main gate earlier, there were a few incidents."
"Ahaha... Of course I remember. That thing, right? That?"
Honestly, the only things that stuck in my memory were the elf with a tearful face under clear skies, and that enormous... Ahem. Anyway, that was it.
But when did it get this dark? Is it going to rain today?
Sensing the suspicious flow of mana, I looked at the nearly dead boss. From the few remaining apertures at its tip, it was spraying something mixed with mana.
It probably wasn't poison. Since poison-using ability users had participated in the battle, we'd have noticed immediately if it were.
Shwaaaaa...
Rain began to pour down. Whatever the substance was, it looked light, so the rain should wash it all away.
I used my telekinesis to tear pages from the notebook in my bag and formed a paper umbrella. The rainfall was unusually heavy. With this much precipitation, it should've been all over the news... Did that boss do something?
No way. It's not like it's a monster partner. Would a tree really use a rain-summoning ability? And what would it even accomplish by making it rain? This pattern didn't even exist in the game. Maybe it was just thirsty?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a jade-colored lightning bolt struck down, tearing apart the lightning rod that remained on the half-destroyed auditorium.
Huh...?