With determination he tried to still his nerves and marched to the front of the village and couldn't hold back the frown at what he saw.
Twenty-three including the adventurer who seemed far too smug even after being stripped of his armor. All of them slowly making their way over towards him with wide smiles and a casualness that did nothing to ease his worries. They paused only briefly when they saw the ancient ent and the steadily growing walls layered with spike bushes before casting their gaze onto the bamboo vines running steadily across the ground.
The gathered group wasn't entirely what he was expecting. Besides a few wearing bits of tanned leather, the rest seemed to be in nothing but skirt-like pants made from fur. They were also a mix of tall and muscled with a few having visible veins pulsing against their skin, and yet others who seemed just as big were rather flabby rather than muscled.
"Why are you all here?" Chris finally half-asked, half-demanded as his gaze scanned over each of them, easily spotting Walter behind them but a strange lack of weapons. "It hasn't even been a week yet. If it's for water or more meat, you will need to wait a while. The idiot over there trashed the storeroom yesterday and ruined what meat was being dried before shattering my water jar." He continued, acting somewhat dramatic as if it was a real hardship for him. "He even took a majority of the weapons, so I'm currently sitting with close to nothing at the moment. I haven't even managed to scavenge anything decent either." He finished, mixing in lies in hopes of having them turn on Walter.
Instead, what he got was belly-shaking laughter from the same bandit that had kicked the old man as he walked to the head of the group. The sight of him made Chris's blood boil with anger. His fists clenching so tightly his nails dug into his palms almost hard enough to draw blood while his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I have no doubt about that, kid." He began with a cocky grin and shrug. "We easily noticed where the shit he had came from, but he also told us some rather interesting rumors, and we just had to see it for ourselves." He said mockingly with hints of surprise as he took a proper look around. "And from what I see? He was actually telling the truth."
"Are you talking about the plants? They're mostly just weeds or protective of their own! Practically monsters in how they behave." Chris scoffed, trying to make the plants seem like nothing important or not worth any effort. "They're no doubt some kind of side effect from the dungeon being overly active since he stole its core." He continued, once more trying to throw Walter to the wolves but keeping his gaze sharp and focused on the group, noting how some of the bandits had wandered closer to the ents and bamboos, a few even going so far as to bend down to look closely at the bamboo to see if they really were weeds or not.
"It doesn't matter." The leader shrugged. "The boss feels this place could work well better in our hands now that there's actual stuff here other than sand and dust. So, here's your choices. Either you can leave, and even take that stick of yours. That's me being extremely generous, since we will let you go unharmed, you know." He said before pausing, no doubt thinking it would work for dramatic effect, but it worked in Chris's favor as the spike bushes were letting him know they were ready to strike, making him look over and notice the very faint tremor in the sand, all while the bamboo's silky female voice told him something similar.
"Or what?" He finally asked slowly stepping back as real fear crept into his tone, helping it seem more convincing. But he had no plans to try and hide just yet.
"You stay and act as our personal errand boy, like you did for the old man. Well, that, or we could kill you for resisting. Those are your choices here, kid." He mocked. "I really hope you resist, though. It means I can have some real fun with ya." He added, making a few of the others let out deep, short laughs.
"Or I defend my home." Chris said, his tone hard and eyes sharp even as his hands shook and his legs wanted to buckle. With those words, he gave the mental command for the bamboo to strike first. Faintly curious on how they would react.
He watched with surprise as they rapidly snaked around the bandits unlucky enough to get too close, aiming for their necks, wrapping tight. A few snapping firm, while others began to shake which caused a crunching noise to ring out, while those that snapped firm hardened to their steel-like form.
He watched as five bandits were taken out near instantly. The lucky ones having it end quickly, while the others desperately tried to rip them off as they snaked up and slowly began to tighten around their necks.
"You bastard!" The leader of the group shouted before ordering the others to rush at Chris, only for more to fall in pain, clutching their feet and legs as the spike bushes burst through the sand. Their hive-mind voices making Chris stumble for a moment as they roared that their thorns would shred the threats.
And shred they did, easily slicing across legs and feet before a few began tangling into one another and from there across the bandits, binding them painfully to the ground. Yet the rest of them still charged forward and around their fallen friends, shouting about making him pay with anger clear in their eyes.
He was taken by surprise when the ancient ent's voice, steady and firm, rang out in his mind, telling him it would stop them before it lowered many of its thick branches and began swinging wildly, knocking the front runners down before grabbing a few with thick vines and dangling them in the air, their bodies going limp. Seeing this made him realize that while the ents couldn't move, that didn't mean they couldn't attack.
Its actions proved effective in both blocking and killing more of the attackers, only for flames to begin running across its arms. Its vines loosening and burning to ashes as it let out a scream of pain both in his mind and out loud that shook the air.
"Didn't expect that, did ya? Cocky brat!" The leader said with clear mockery as flames lightly covered his hands, burning bits of his leather armor while a few licks of flame floated above his raised palms. "Should I turn this big guy to ashes? Make a nice bonfire out of it?" He continued, trying to act nonplussed, yet Chris clearly heard the anger and madness in his tone.
"Try it, and I'll have that fire spread through the entire area. Those thorn bushes are extremely dry and flammable. I doubt you want to have to explain to your boss why the place was entirely burnt out after all." Chris threatened while mentally talking to the cloud tree, who had already started to create rain over the ancient ent and the area around them. The water sizzling as it touched the flames before slowly putting them out and causing the black, charred bark to become visible.
The light drizzle did nothing to the flames lining the leader's arms and hands, though, instead creating a faint steaming mist. "Your little tricks aren't gonna help ya, brat. But ya definitely helped me realize something with this shit." His grin turned far more bloodthirsty and greedy now as he stepped towards Chris.
"Ya ain't from this world, are ya? You have this look I've seen before when I was a kid. It was on a summoned 'hero's' face, and ya were rather surprised by my magic, which is nothing too special. And even the way my boys looked seemed to take ya by surprise, like ya hadn't seen a bandit before. Even how you hold that staff tells me ya don't know how to use it, and even a blind man could tell it ain't for magic. Even the tree took ya off guard."
His words made Chris flinch back slightly as if struck. "It surprised you too, though. I saw how your eyes widened for a moment when it acted to strike down your men." Chris tried to argue, slowly stepping further back towards where the vines and shadow berries were, keeping his eyes on the leader and the remaining thugs—those injured and those still fine—along with Walter as they all slowly made their way into the village, taking care now not to get too close to the ents, bamboo, or spike bushes.
"Hah, yeah, I was a bit surprised by it. I thought it was some kinda decoration ya somehow got out here. You're something else, kid. Especially since I can see ya have fear in ya. That ain't normal for those of this world, which is another mark against ya. Hmm, pretty sure ya should fetch quite a nice price if sold to the right person, especially if ya can do plant magic. A nice way to make up for my men ya killed." He taunted, but with greed having replaced his anger.
Chris saw out the corner of his eye that Walter had begun sneaking past the thugs, steadily heading towards the shadow berries and probably hoping to be overlooked and steal what he could before making a run for it.
"Oh no, ya don't! You three! Go along with him and get what ya can." The leader ordered with a grin, sending three of the remaining eight thugs after Walter, who blabbered about just wanting to secure something valuable.
Chris couldn't help but smile when all four of them collapsed to the ground, letting out strangled chokes of pain before going silent.
The leader, clearly beyond furious, once more rounded on Chris only to have the bamboo staff strike him across the face. His head snapping to the side, his fire going out, while the remaining thugs let out blood-curdling screams of pain, the gympie vines having wrapped around his legs before stabbing their horrid needles into them.
As their leader staggered back up, spitting a few teeth and a mouthful of blood, he glared at Chris as if it could kill him, while seemingly getting ready to once again ignite his flames. The words to the spell, something Chris missed before, already escaping, only for the strangle vines, having crept over steadily while he focused on Chris, to snake up and wrap around his arms before pulling them down, causing a meaty thud and cracking noise to echo out before pressing its flower to his throat. Its needle extending enough to draw blood as the other hovered right against his eye, all but forcing him to do everything he could to not scream out in pain.
"Try anything, and those needles will go right into your head and throat." Chris warned, doing what he could to ignore the plants' words of wanting to twist him apart piece by piece. The reaction he got from the leader at that was a deep, mocking laugh despite him clearly being in pain. "And you all but prove me right about not being from this world! You're far too soft. Ya turn green at the sight of blood and don't even have the courage to kill your foes yourself, instead relying on these plants to do it for ya." The needle dragged along his throat, making him let out a hiss of pain as it stabbed around his windpipe, deep enough to draw blood but not deep enough to be fatal yet, as the other moved from his eye to pierce through his cheek, making him let out a grunt of pain. "I will give ya props, though, brat. Having these things torture me? That's something a bandit would do! I suppose there ain't much difference between us. If it weren't for the boss's 'care,' I probably woulda been weeping from the pain already."
His words caused a burning anger to rage within him. He didn't want to admit it or accept it, but seeing him in pain, finally making him hurt like he did the old man, felt good. "I'm nothing like you!" He spat out, doing what he could to hold back the disgust at feeling good for causing harm. All his words seemed to do, though, was make the leader laugh even harder before coughing up blood as one of the vines began to stab him in the chest rapidly with its needle.
"Lie all ya want, but I can see we're the same, kid. Ya might not get your hands dirty yourself, but ya torture others with your tools. Ya take what ya want. Ya don't give a damn. And I saw that flicker of enjoyment, of happiness, when my boys died, and even now I see the satisfaction in my pain." He taunted with a broken smile that only turned Chris's stomach further.
As the life slowly began to leave him, he continued to laugh madly. "The boss will get ya for me. But before I die, tell me something. Will ya at least be man enough to kill my men yourself? Ending them as a man and putting a stop to their pain? Or will ya use these green monst—" He didn't have the opportunity to finish as his body was rapidly raised and slammed violently to the ground with a meaty thud and loud cracking noises.
Looking from the dead leader, he moved to the closest withering bodies, slowly realizing the truth of his words. His gympie vine was one meant to cause pain. He thought maybe it could disable a person, control its sting, or that the shadow vine's leaves might be able to counter it. But he realized he was oh so wrong after the first attempt failed to stop their pain. He watched them start to cough up blood, their throats screamed raw and bloody.
He was left with only the choice to either kill them now himself or have his plants do it. He couldn't let them live, not in such pain, but he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to kill them himself. Standing in front of the closest one he had just tried to heal, he shakily raised his bamboo staff, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly as he swung it down.