Luna's party was surrounded by two Haunting Trees, whereas Jay had to face two on his own. Currently, Nina was still restrained by a Haunting Tree, and Randy was heading toward the party with another one chasing after him. For a party consisting of only rookies who encountered Haunting Trees for the first time, it could not get worse.
Jay, in turn, tried to focus on what was in front of him. For him, a Haunting Tree should not be much of a threat, but he could not help but constantly glance at the others who were in danger. He knew that he had to hurry up so that he could lend the others a hand.
However, Jay sensed the presence of more monsters. In his sight were only two Haunting Trees, but he felt even more creeping up on him.
"What's going on here...? Why are so many gathered at one spot...?" Jay murmured pensively, checking out his surroundings. Usually, Haunting Trees were monsters that acted on their own—in rare cases even as a duo. However, it was unheard of that they moved in larger groups like now.
At the same time, Luna attempted to free Nina from the grasp of a Haunting Tree, while Carl headed to Randy. Using a cheap spear she had purchased right before their departure, Luna swung it at the branches around Nina. Multiple branches were wrapped around Nina, but no matter how often Luna tried to cut them, nothing changed. Once a branch was torn, another one spawned immediately.
Luna grew frustrated as she kept swinging and thrusting her spear at the branches. If the quality of her spear were higher, she could have possibly cut through them in one go, freeing Nina from the Haunting Tree. However, she was only able to afford a low-quality spear, which turned blunt quickly.
"Then, how about this..." Luna muttered with a frown. She stepped back and gripped her spear tightly. Lightning gathered around the spear as if it were becoming the spear's coat.
Luna cocked back her arm with the spear, gathering even more lightning. She took a deep breath before she took a step forward and threw the lightning-charged spear at the branches.
The attack tore apart many branches, and only a few were left, grabbing Nina weakly. Luna dealt more damage than before, but it was not enough. New branches slowly grew and reached out toward Nina. It also picked up Luna's spear with its branches and was about to launch it at Luna.
"Hya!" Nina shrieked. Before the branches could come closer to her, a sword came flying and cut off the remaining few branches, causing Nina to fall.
"Nina!" Luna yelled, rushing to her. Fortunately, Luna managed to catch Nina, but instead of holding her in her arms like a prince, Luna was crushed by her weight.
"T-thank you, Luna!" Nina said, genuinely happy, although Luna was groaning awkwardly beneath her.
The two did not have time to indulge in trivial chatter.
"Hurry up and meet up with the others!" Jay shouted from afar.
Luna looked over at him. He was holding off a group of Haunting Trees—probably around five of them. As of now, he appeared only slightly injured, with a few bruises on him, but all in all, he did not seem troubled. Rather, Luna appeared more troubled about him than he was. The sword that cut through the last branches and saved Nina was originally Jay's sword. That sword was stuck in a random tree far away from him, leaving Jay with no weapon at his disposal.
"Jay, I'll get-"
"Just do as I say and regroup with the others!" Jay cut Luna off, who wanted to help him. Despite having lost his weapon, Jay smiled confidently. He picked up Luna's spear that the monster originally took away and tossed it over to Luna.
"Focus on the Haunting Tree there. I will hold these ones off in the meantime." Jay added reassuringly. With his gaze, he signaled at the Haunting Tree that was fighting against Carl and Randy.
Luna and Nina hesitated at first. They wanted to help out Jay, who was clearly in a dire state, but they also knew that they would only hold him back if they were to join his side. Thus, they rushed over to the rest of their party with a bitter expression on their faces.
The Haunting Tree that captured Nina initially was about to go after the two girls once more, but ice spikes suddenly emerged from the ground and cut off its path to them.
"Come at me first if you want to go after them." Jay provoked the monster, glaring at it sternly. He might not have a weapon now, but he still had his body and his other skills.
And while Jay had to fight off six Haunting Trees, the party of rookies finally regrouped.
"Carl! Randy! Are you alright?" Luna asked worriedly as she tried to regulate her breathing.
"We're fine, but it doesn't look good for us..." Carl responded out of breath, whereas Randy only nodded his head once. The two were looking at the monster in front of them, which bared its eerie branches toward them.
"No matter how many branches I cut, new ones appear right away...!" Carl stated, gritting his teeth.
"Their attack power shouldn't be underestimated either. One direct hit could knock you out!" Randy added vigilantly.
While listening to her party, Luna thought deeply about how they should tackle the enemy. Aside from her, the others did not possess a magic skill. Even their exclusive skills would not be of much help in this situation.
"Guys, I have a plan..." Luna announced, sounding slightly nervous.
Because she had the skills, she had to take the lead in the offense. Therefore, Luna came up with one solution.
"This may sound crazy, but I will charge right into that monster. Can you guys support me and protect me from its attack? Once I'm close enough, I will deal the finishing blow!" Luna explained, looking at her comrades firmly.
And because the others could not come up with another idea, they nodded in agreement. They switched their formation. Now, Luna was at the front with Carl and Randy on her sides and Nina at the back.
While the enemy was coming closer with its branches, Luna charged up her spear again with lightning.
"Let's go, guys!"
Following her signal, they recklessly rushed toward the monster. Luna led the charge and destroyed the branches in front of her by swinging her lightning spear. Simultaneously, Carl and Randy blocked off the ones that were targeting her and the group from the sides. And if there were branches that the two men could not reach, Nina would shoot them down with her arrows.
Their teamwork was impressive, even though it was their first time working together. The plan they had in mind was successful, and they soon began to notice the enemy's main body. The size of a Haunting Tree varied, with some being thicker or thinner than others. And luckily for the group, their target was a thin one.
Luna prepared herself to launch the finishing blow by charging up even more lightning. However, it was at that moment that the Haunting Tree spawned dozens of branches from the middle, targeting Luna alone.
It was too sudden for her to react, as she was already in her stance to throw the spear.
"We got you!" Carl shouted.
Randy jumped in front of Luna and blocked the incoming branches. The branches were pushing him back, but he did not ease up and pushed back as well. Following him, Carl appeared and cut off the branches one after another, whereas Nina targeted the main body to attract its attention.
"Luna, now!" Nina yelled nervously.
With her comrades protecting her and giving her the best chance to strike, Luna jumped up and launched her spear with all her might. The spear was charged with even more lightning than before and hit its target.
The Haunting Tree was trying to block it with its few remaining branches, but it was in vain. The spear pierced right through the monster and left a wide hole behind.
"Did we do it...?!" Carl muttered in hope.
The branches were shriveling just like the motionless main body was.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the quest!
You are now Level 4!
You have 4 stat points. Do you wish to allocate them?]
After seeing the status window pop up, Luna fell on her back and looked up with an exhausted smile.
"I'm beat..." she sighed. Luna enjoyed the short moment of silence until she remembered something more important.
She shot up from the ground and turned around, making the others flinch.
"What's the matter?" Carl wondered.
"Jay!" Luna shouted worriedly as she rushed back to where she parted with him. While her party had to deal with one Haunting Tree, Jay had to face six of them at once. She forgot about that because she was too busy with her target.
If her party had that much trouble with one of them, how would it be for Jay then?