. Snore~ snore~
Deep within the verdant, sun-dappled wilderness forest, a lone Direwolf was blissfully sunbathing, sprawled out near the base of a large tree, fast asleep. Its snores, loud and rhythmic, echoed faintly through the clearing.
Thwack!
Suddenly, a well-aimed stone struck it sharply on the head. The Direwolf, startled violently awake, yelped and scrambled to its feet, its head snapping up. It glared balefully in the direction the stone had come from. Over there, a strange, blue-and-black, streamlined creature was casually picking up more stones from the forest floor.
Ethan, transformed into the swift XLR8, offered a cheeky, high-pitched taunt: "Hellooo, little doggy! Feeling sleepy? Want to come out and play? Hehehe!"
Seeing this bizarre, unknown creature actually dare to provoke it, the Direwolf became instantly enraged. It bared its formidable, yellowed fangs, a low growl rumbling in its chest, and then charged at him with surprising speed for its apparent age. Just as the Direwolf was about to pounce, its claws extended, Ethan, as XLR8, sidestepped with contemptuous ease. The Direwolf lunged at empty air, crashing clumsily where he had stood moments before. Ethan, with his incredible reflexes, even managed, while the beast was still awkwardly airborne before landing, to use his sharp, three-pronged claws to slash across its flank dozens of times in a blur of motion.
Stab! Rip! Tear!
The Direwolf yelped in pain and surprise, its matted fur instantly stained with streaks of crimson. It landed heavily, whirled around, its eyes, glowing with an intense, predatory green light, now fixed with deadly intent on Ethan.
"Hehe, that was fun!" Having successfully achieved his taunt and drawn its full attention, Ethan turned and bolted off in a pre-determined direction. The Direwolf, naturally, wouldn't let this impudent tormentor escape and immediately gave chase, its powerful legs churning. This Direwolf, although old and perhaps past its prime, was still an F-rank mid-grade mutated beast, a creature representing a power level a full watershed above Ethan's current human rank. Furthermore, being a species renowned for its agility and stamina, its raw running speed was, alarmingly, no slower than Ethan's current XLR8 form.
"Hehe, looks like you really, really want to play with me now! Then hurry up and come get me!" Ethan called back, deliberately speeding up as he ran deeper into the forest, the enraged Direwolf following closely, snapping at his heels. Although the Direwolf's straight-line speed was perhaps marginally faster than XLR8's current output, every time it was just about to catch up, to sink its teeth into its prey, XLR8 would execute a strange, impossibly sharp dodge to the side. The Direwolf, due to its greater mass and inertia, couldn't react as quickly and had to take several lumbering steps on the ground before it could correct its course and change direction, losing precious ground each time.
After a short, intense chase, Ethan led the panting, increasingly frustrated Direwolf to a small, sunlit clearing. In that clearing, planted conspicuously in one particular spot, was a small, brightly colored flag. Ethan, as XLR8, ran directly towards that flag and then, with a burst of speed, leaped high into the air, sailing cleanly over the marked spot as if jumping over an invisible obstacle. The Direwolf, not possessing high intelligence and blinded by rage, dumbly continued its forward charge. As it ran to where the flag was planted, the ground beneath its paws suddenly, treacherously, caved in. With a startled yowl, the Direwolf fell directly into a deep, wide pit that had been painstakingly dug in advance by the three friends.
Direwolf, from the bottom of the pit: Young people these days have no combat ethics! Tricking and then sneak-attacking an old, frail, respectable wolf like me! Outrageous!
That Direwolf, enraged and humiliated, wanted to jump out of this hole, and it certainly possessed the raw strength and leaping ability to do so. But just as it gathered its powerful haunches and leaped upwards, just as its head was about to clear the edge of the pit, its vision suddenly darkened as a large, heavy rock came whistling down from above. It was Marcus who had thrown it; he and Seraphina had already prepared a large number of stones nearby, waiting for their cue. The Direwolf, unable to exert any evasive force or change its trajectory in mid-air, was directly smashed on the head by the heavy stone. The brutal blow nearly broke its old, weathered back, sending it crashing back to the bottom of the pit with a pained howl.
However, the Direwolf, being a resilient F-rank mid-grade mutated beast, wouldn't be defeated so easily, even with a cracked spine. Its claws suddenly began to glow with an ominous, bloody-red light. Then, with a furious swipe, a large piece of the fallen rock was directly sliced into several smaller pieces. This, Ethan recognized from Seraphina's earlier briefing, was the Direwolf race's innate talent skill: its claws would glow red, their sharpness and durability would greatly increase, and its overall physical attributes would also receive a temporary, significant boost. The downside, however, was that its intelligence would significantly decrease during this berserk state, and after the skill wore off, it would enter a period of profound weakness.
After clearing the immediate obstacle, the enraged Direwolf leaped out of the pit again, its red claws flashing. But another large rock immediately fell from above, aimed squarely at its head. Ethan, having quickly switched to Four Arms, hefted another giant rock with ease. "Let's play Whack-A-Monster, doggy!" he roared.
Seraphina shouted a warning from the edge of the clearing, "Be careful, you two! It just used the Direwolf race's innate talent skill—its power is boosted!"
Ethan, as Four Arms, grunted with effort as he dropped his rock. "So, we just need to keep it in the hole until its skill ends, right? That should be fine then; we have plenty of stones!"
As Seraphina had warned, it was indeed like that. The enraged, skill-boosted Direwolf was a terrifying sight, its red claws tearing through the falling stones with frightening ease. However, as it cut through more and more rocks, the pile of shattered stones beneath its feet in the pit grew steadily higher and higher. Each time it leaped out of the hole, it became slightly easier than the last, its escape seeming more imminent. Just as it was about to finally scramble free, its front paws scrabbling at the lip of the pit, a truly huge, flat rock – one that was the exact size of the pit opening, because, to be precise, the hole had been dug according to the dimensions of this specific rock – suddenly fell from the sky, guided by Four Arms' immense strength. THUD!
The massive rock sealed the pit opening perfectly, fitting into it like a giant stone cork. The Direwolf was directly pinned between the unyielding weight of the massive rock above and the jagged, crushed stones below. But this wasn't over yet. The rock on top, under the combined efforts of Ethan and Marcus, actually began to press down, slowly, inexorably, bit by bit. Ethan, still as Four Arms, and Marcus, using his full strength-enhanced might, were on top of the massive stone, stomping down rhythmically, pushing the giant rock further and further into the hole. With each coordinated stomp, they shouted a motivational slogan, their voices echoing in the otherwise quiet forest.
Ethan: "Heave ho!"
Marcus: "Work hard!"
Ethan and Marcus, in unison: "For the credits!" (And the precious loot!)
To add even more weight and ensure the seal was complete, Seraphina even applied a thick layer of her Bedrock Armor to the top surface of the giant rock, making it even heavier and more resistant. The Direwolf trapped below, squeezed mercilessly from both sides, its body pressed down by the crushing weight of the giant rock, struggled to breathe, its bones groaning on the verge of breaking. The sharp, unforgiving edges of the crushed stones beneath it were now deeply embedded in its flesh, causing unimaginable pain. Pressed from both above and below, it was in extreme, unendurable agony. It could only struggle in vain, its berserk rage fading into pained whimpers, as there was no longer any space for it to move, no leverage to fight back. It could only watch helplessly, its life force ebbing away, as death drew nearer and nearer.
The two on top continued to jump and stomp until they had done so several more times and found that the massive rock could no longer be pushed down even a single centimeter further. Only then did they finally, exhaustedly, stop.
Ethan, reverting to his human form and panting, asked, "Is… is the wolf dead now, you think?"
Seraphina, also breathing heavily, peered cautiously at the sealed pit. "Monstrous beasts, even F-rank ones, have extremely strong vitality. To be on the absolute safe side, let's just leave it down there under the rock for a good while longer. Let's go collect our primary spoils first!"
As Seraphina finished speaking, her eyes gleaming with anticipation, she eagerly ran towards the spot where the Aura Bloom grew, its faint luminescence a beacon of hope. Ethan and Marcus, their earlier exhaustion momentarily forgotten, quickly followed her. Seraphina first activated the small electronic screen on her psionic armor's gauntlet, quickly reviewing the proper collection essentials for rare herbs she had downloaded. Then, she took out a special, psionically-sharpened military spade from her pack and began to carefully, meticulously dig out the soil around the precious plant, taking care not to damage its delicate root system. After about half a minute of painstaking work, she finally stood up, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her glove.
"Done!" she announced triumphantly, holding up the perfectly excavated Aura Bloom. Its roots were intact, and its leaves glowed with a soft, healthy light. "It's a bit of a pity that this one is for Ethan to use for his breakthrough. Otherwise, I'd definitely want to preserve it and make it into a specimen to treasure. This is our first real trophy from our very first trip into the wilderness as a team!"
Ethan felt a pang of guilt. "Then why don't you take it, Seraphina? I can always find another one next time, maybe."
Seraphina immediately handed the Aura Bloom to him, her expression firm. "How can that be? We all agreed before we even started that if we found it, this was for you, Ethan. I can't possibly delay your Aura channeling progress just because I want a sentimental souvenir. Your breakthrough to Level Four is more important for the team right now. Hurry up and eat it."
Ethan accepted the Aura Bloom, its leaves feeling strangely cool and vibrant in his hand. "Okay… How exactly do you eat this thingamajig, anyway?"
"You eat it with your mouth, silly," Seraphina replied, a smile playing on her lips.
"Right, I get that part," Ethan said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, don't I need to remove the roots first, or wash it or something? It's covered in dirt."
"Absolutely not!" Seraphina cautioned immediately. "Aura Bloom must be eaten entirely whole – leaves, stem, roots, and even the clinging soil – to maximize its medicinal effect. Washing it with ordinary water will also cause its potent spiritual properties to be significantly lost, unless you use specially prepared, purified Aura water, which, needless to say, we don't currently have."
Ethan looked at the dirt-covered plant in his hand, then shrugged. "Alright then. Bottoms up, I guess. That Direwolf occupied this specific place, so this immediate area should be temporarily safe from other predators, right? And time is pressing, so I think I'll just try to break through here and now."
Marcus nodded decisively. "Good idea. We'll guard you, Ethan, so don't worry about a thing! Focus on your breakthrough!"
Ethan sat down cross-legged on the forest floor, took a deep breath, and then, with a slight grimace, swallowed the entire Aura Bloom whole. The potent, earthy medicinal power exploded within his body almost instantly, a surging tide of pure, concentrated psionic energy, far more intense than any potion. It immediately began to help him assail the bottleneck, the watershed, that separated Level Three from Level Four. The Aura on Ethan's body grew stronger and stronger, a visible shimmer of energy now surrounding him. Ten tense minutes later, he finally reached the peak of his current accumulation. A soft flash of spiritual light flickered across Ethan's body; this was the unmistakable visual sign of a successful breakthrough.
He didn't wake up immediately, however, but continued to sit in a meditative state, consolidating his newfound power, for nearly twenty more minutes before he finally opened his eyes, a gasp of refreshed energy escaping his lips.
Marcus, who had been anxiously watching over him, leaned forward. "Ethan, man, how is it? Did it work?"
Ethan stood up, an irrepressible, triumphant grin spreading across his face as he told them, "The effects of that Aura Bloom were even better, even more potent, than I could have ever imagined! Not only did it help me break through the Level Three bottleneck clean as a whistle, but it also pushed my Aura channeling progress at Level Four forward by a large margin already! If I were channeling Aura normally, just absorbing ambient Aura, it would probably take me months of hard work to reach Level Five from here."
Seraphina clapped her hands together, her face beaming. "Congratulations, Ethan! That's fantastic news! Quick, quick, see if you've unlocked a new beastification hero! A Level Four alien!"
Ethan, his heart thumping with anticipation, activated the Omnitrix – no longer a 'little wreck' in his mind, but his greatest treasure. He turned the dial twice, and sure enough, a brand new, unfamiliar silhouette appeared on its glowing faceplate. He pressed the watch face down. A flash of brilliant green light. Appearing in the original spot, where Ethan had stood, was a strange, new green silhouette.
Ethan, observing his transformed hands, thought with a smirk, Well, I've been 'greened'! Literally. No, wait, that's not right… I turned green.
That green silhouette was a bizarre, plant-like being. It had five thick, prehensile vine-like appendages that served as its legs, allowing it to anchor itself or move with surprising agility. Its hands possessed three long, sharp claws. Its shoulders were adorned with what looked like two giant, menacing Venus Flytrap-like maws, which twitched occasionally. Two broad, tough leaves covered its head, almost like a hood, nearly concealing the features of its head beneath. There was a single, large blue eye set in the center of its face, and, curiously, one similar blue eye on the surface of each shoulder-mounted flytrap. A large number of thick, black, thorny vines grew from its back, coiling and uncoiling restlessly. The familiar Omnitrix symbol was emblazoned on its chest.
"Wildvine!" Ethan announced, his new voice a strange, rustling, slightly gurgling sound.
Seeing this new alien hero, this bizarre plant-creature, Ethan felt a strange mixture of both happiness and a sliver of disappointment. He was happy because he could immediately sense that this form, Wildvine, would be extremely useful in the current dense forest environment, with its vines, camouflage, and plant-based abilities. He was disappointed, just a tiny bit, because a part of him, the part that loved raw power and cool crystalline forms, had really, really been hoping for Diamondhead this time.
Shiny stones motivates me to throw CHAPTERS so throw them on these fic