The wind whispered through the trees, soft, shifting, deceptive.
Andrew crouched motionless beneath the massive Elderpine roots, eyes locked on the trail ahead. His heartbeat had steadied. His breathing was controlled.
Everything he had set,snare, trap, decoy was in place. All he needed now was patience.
Then he saw a flicker of movement along the treeline. A Sylvan!
It moved low, cautious, its bark-toned skin blending with the undergrowth. A second followed. Then a third. Their claws clicked softly against wood and stone, their green-glow eyes scanning. They'd tracked him.
Andrew didn't move.
He watched as one Sylvan stepped onto the narrow trail between the two trees, exactly where he'd laid the vine-snare.
It paused, sniffled the air.
SNAP!!
The vine tightened, catching its ankle mid-step and yanking it off-balance. It toppled sideways into the underbrush with a hiss of surprise.
The other two Sylvans froze and then charged.
"Now!" Andrew struck.
He exploded from behind the tree roots like a coiled shadow, his Nyxian Dagger already in motion.
He went for the second Sylvan first, before it could react. The dagger slammed into the base of its neck, sliding in with brutal precision. It dropped instantly.
The third Sylvan pivoted, fast,but Andrew was faster.
He grabbed a sharp rock from beside the root trap and flung it straight into the creature's face.The Sylvan staggered.
Andrew closed the distance, slashing in a tight arc across its chest. Bark split. Sap sprayed.
The creature screeched and clawed wildly, scoring his ribs with a shallow rake, but Andrew didn't stop.
He tackled it backward,right into the punji pit beneath the roots.
The Sylvan screamed as the sharpened branches tore through its limbs and torso, impaling it in place.
Andrew landed hard beside it, breath shuddering. Then silence.
'Three down.'
He yanked his dagger free from the second Sylvan's corpse and stood, staggering slightly.
His body screamed in protest, but his mind was razor sharp.
That was a clean ambush.
The bait had worked.
But he couldn't rest. Not yet.
A deep tremor rippled through the ground.
Far off, but real.
The Treant was moving again.
And this time, it might bring more than just force.
Andrew turned toward the deeper part of the ridge, his next path already forming in his mind.
He wasn't just surviving anymore. He was adapting.
[Time Remaining: 8 hours 09 minutes]
The forest was learning. So was he.
The tremors grew heavier.
Each one closer. Deeper.
Andrew limped toward the far ridge, branches slapping against his arms, his breath clouding in the suddenly colder air. The sunlight had dimmed, clouds rolling in above the canopy, dulling everything in grey.
Time seemed to be faster. Or maybe the Treant was the slowpoke.
[15 Minutes 10 seconds Remaining]
'The Treant.'
It emerged through the forest like a walking monument, twenty feet tall, bark-armored limbs crushing the undergrowth. Moss draped its shoulders. Its face was a jagged maw of wood and stone, glowing faintly from within like coal beneath ash.
But this time, it wasn't alone.
Behind it, two smaller shapes,Mini-Treants, about half its size but still massive—ambled into view.
"Seriously?" Andrew muttered, dagger clenched tight.
No running now, no hiding. This was it.
He circled left, toward a grove of massive split-stone boulders, his last card. The space between them was narrow enough to funnel enemies but wide enough to dodge and strike.
The Treants followed, slowly, but unrelenting.
Andrew slipped behind one of the stones, heart pounding in his ears. He planted his last vine, crude, taut, and dropped a flat rock across it.
A pressure trap. Then he crouched and waited.
The first Mini-Treant barreled through the clearing. It stepped on the vine.
CLICK!..
The rock shot up with the spring, slamming into its bark-knee with a heavy crack.
The creature staggered.
Andrew didn't hesitate. He lunged and slashed across its exposed joint. A line split open,sap poured like warm oil. It swiped at him, but he ducked behind the boulder.
The second Mini-Treant came from the right, swinging wide.
Andrew backed up, drawing them both into the bottleneck.
He rolled beneath the first one's attack and ran straight toward the larger Treant.
The colossal being reared, its arm like a tree trunk descending with the force of a landslide.
Andrew dove, rolled, just in time. The ground shattered behind him.
He used the impact to sprint up the root-like leg, dragging his dagger across the Treant's bark as he climbed.
Sap burst in geysers.
The Treant roared.
He reached its shoulder, turned his dagger point-down....And plunged it into the glowing hollow at the center of its chest.
A crack echoed out.The light inside dimmed.
The creature trembled,then its massive hand caught Andrew midair.
Crushed him against its arm.
Pain exploded through his ribs. He gasped.
Everything blurred.
[Time Remaining: 01 Minute 42 Seconds]
The Treant stumbled.
Staggered.
Andrew, choking on blood and bark-dust, saw the forest tilt.
The dagger was still embedded in the hollow.
He slammed his fist against it,again and again.
CRACK!!!
The hollow shattered.
Light poured out in a blinding surge. The Treant gave a final, gurgling groan,then its limbs collapsed inward, roots curling, body turning to crumbling bark and ash.
Andrew fell with it.
The world spun.
He hit the ground hard. Didn't move. He didn't need to.
[Time Remaining: 00 Hours 00 Minutes 00 Seconds]
Mission Complete: Survive Until the Great Conjunction
[Qualification stage passed]
[+20 Guardian Spirit Points]
[+60 Monarch Points]
[+5000 Coins]
[Reward: Skill Orb (Stored)]
[Market Unlocked]
[Title Earned: The Assassin Title]
[Badge: The Adaptor]
[DreamSurge Knowledge Gained]
Andrew lay in the clearing, staring up at the sky as clouds parted. Sunlight streamed down.
He smiled,bloodied, broken,but still alive.
"One hell of a level," he whispered.
'Dreamsurge knowledge??..what's that?'
Immediately the prompt appeared in front of him again. With two more prompts flanking the first one.
"What the hell is this?" Andrew mused in confusion.