Master Of Astral Summoner
Chapter 58: Giant plant

Chapter 58: Giant plant

Shaan’s heartbeat pounded in his chest, followed by cold sweat streaming down nonstop as he watched the giant plant slowly move and begin scanning its surroundings.

"Oh, crap. W-What should we do?" The courier’s face turned pale like a corpse. "We have to run away from here."

"No. We must stay completely silent, or we’ll give ourselves away," Shaan replied. "Now, listen to me, Mr. Courier. Walk backward slowly, just like I told you, and move away from this terrifying creature until you reach that spot over there," he whispered while pointing toward a large rock not far from where they stood. "The most important thing is to keep it from noticing us."

"O-okay." The courier nodded quickly. "I-I understand."

Slowly, the two of them stepped backward. One... two... three steps. So far, everything seemed fine. The creature hadn’t noticed them yet, and everything still looked under control. Good. It seemed to go smoothly, just as planned. They kept moving backward until they finally reached the large rock.

"S-so, what should we do now?" the courier asked, tugging his hair with a frustrated expression. "I don’t want to die! I don’t want to—"

Shaan quickly covered the courier’s mouth with his hand. "Be quiet and don’t let that giant plant figure out where we’re hiding."

"A-a-alright," the courier said, pausing for a moment. "Now... what are we going to do?"

"We need to find a way out of here," Shaan replied, slowly turning his head to peek out from behind their hiding spot. "Wait, I’ll try to see our way out."

Shaan quickly looked toward the exit inside the cave, but unfortunately, the vines on the cave walls were moving swiftly to block their only way out. Damn. It looked like these giant plants weren’t going to let anyone leave this place easily.

’If this is the case, the only way out of here is to defeat these giant plants.’ Shaan bit his lower lip. ’This is bad. I never expected it to be this difficult.’

"Hey, what’s wrong? Why do you look so tense?"

"This giant plant is blocking our exit from here," Shaan said slowly as he stepped out of his hiding spot. "But don’t worry. I’ll try to defeat it." The courier nodded quickly. "A-Alright."

"Stay here and don’t go anywhere."

Shaan gripped his dual short swords and swiftly dashed toward the giant plant. Quickly, he swung his sword directly at the trunk of the giant plant, but it wasn’t as easy as he had imagined. The trunk’s skin was thick and covered in sharp thorns, leaving Shaan’s strike completely ineffective against the giant plant.

"Argh, damn it! I can’t—"

[Shaan, watch out!]

A thick vine shot out without warning, lashing toward Shaan with terrifying speed. He jumped back just in time and sliced through the vine before it could touch him..

[Hey, Shaan. Are you okay?]

"Yes, thank you. Robin Hood." Shaan nodded his head. "Damn. I never expected this plant will launch an attack."

[We have to stay sharp. This creature’s stronger than—]

Before Robin Hood could finish his sentence, more vines erupted from the ground, lashing toward both of them. They moved swiftly, dodging every aggressive strike aimed their way.

[Argh, eat this!] Robin Hood loosed arrow after arrow at the vines that lunged at him. [These vines just keep coming, even after we already destroyed them!]

’Slash! Slash!’

’Argh! This giant plant is extremely tall, and neither my attacks nor Robin Hood’s can’t kill it. ’Shaan bit his lower lip, glanced around. "There has to be a way to stop these wild vine movements. Damn it! But what should I do?"

When Shaan cut down the vine that tried to strike him, he accidentally noticed something: all of the plant’s vines grew from buds underneath the leaves. An idea struck him instantly, giving him the confidence that he could finally defeat this terrifying creature.

’Yes. Now, I know how to stop those plant vines.’

"Robin Hood, shoot your arrows there," Shaan directed his hand toward the buds of the giant plant. "And don’t let any of them slip by."

[But how? How can my arrows hit all those buds easily?] asked Robin Hood. [These vines keep appearing, and I won’t be able to target all the buds in time.]

"Leave that to me. I’ll use my dual short swords to cut them down," said Shaan confidently. "Once I slice through all the vines, use your Explosive Quiver to destroy every last bud."

[I get it, Shaan.]

"Alright then, time to move."

Shaan shot forward at full speed, instantly drawing every vine toward him. The giant plant reacted violently, launching a barrage of vines in his direction. But Shaan moved with sharp reflexes, dodging each one. He then swung his dual short swords and slashed through all of them with precision and force.

"Robin Hood, this is your chance to attack!"

Robin Hood instantly fired his arrows, hitting all the buds of the giant plant. Within seconds, the consecutive explosions from Robin Hood’s arrows caused the giant plant to scream in pain and begin losing its balance.

"Good, now it’s time to—"

Unfortunately, as Shaan prepared to launch an attack directly at the giant plant, the creature suddenly released all the thorns along the stem of the giant plant.

"Oh my God, what is—"

[Shaan!]

Shaan blocked all the thorns flying toward him with all his strength. However, because there were so many thorns, Shaan began to struggle to block them all.

"Argh, crap! I... I never expected it to be like this."

Bright red blood trickled down his arm. Though Shaan had managed to block many of the thorns, some had still managed to wound him, making it difficult for him to move.

[Shaan, hold on. I’ll get you out of here.] Robin Hood swiftly shot his arrow, trying to protect the wounded Shaan.

"I’m fine, Robin Hood... I-I’m okay—"

But suddenly, Shaan’s legs trembled. His strength faded with every second. His fingers grew stiff, and for some reason, his vision blurred until everything around him turned into a haze. He collapsed, helpless, onto the ground.

’W-what’s happening?’

Shaan tried to force his body to move, but nothing responded. Numbness crept through him, and the world around him grew darker. Unfortunately, one of the giant plant’s vines appeared and wrapped around his body, lifting him high into the air.

’N-no... this..this can’t be happening.’

Shaan’s heart pounded in his chest. His eyes widened in panic as he watched the giant plant open its gaping mouth, exposing a row of sharp teeth meant to crush his body..