The Puppeteer of the Trees

I looked at the man and decided to scan him and check his stats.

Name: Grant

Class: Viridian Knight

Title: King of Earth

Element: Earth

Weakness: Fire

Resist: Thunder

Type: Breaker

Rarity: Six Stars

Level: 23

EXP: 24/100%

HP: 2,790/2,790

MP: 230/230

Burst Gauge: 45%

ATK: 384

DEF: 289

MAT: 190

MDEF: 102

AGI: 101

LUK: 101

Skills: Viridian Upper, Terra Counter, Ravaging Storm, Devastation

Burst Skill: Definition of Viridian

Burst Skill EX: Viridian Obliteration

Leader Skill: Leader of the Viridian [Boosts parameters by 45% for all allies, reduces Burst Gauge Cost required for Burst Skills by 20%, All Viridian Moves are boosted by 50%]

Extra Skill: Order Boost [Boosts all parameters by 100% when a member of the Grand Order is in the party.]

Equipment:

Weapon: Viridian Blade

Shield: None

Accessory: Extinguisher Bracelet [Reduces damage taken from fire elements by 50%]

"So your name is Grant...I can only assume that you're here to stop me, but I won't let that happen." I said then pointed my sword at him.

"Your Agility is rather low, but then again your rarity is only Three Stars. You are at a clear disadvantage." Grant said then closed his eyes, lowering his sword.

"I've dealt with people much faster than me in the past. Agility means nothing when you've got the reflexes to react." I glared.

Grant opened his eyes to look at me. "If you are so confident then let's see it in action. All Kobolds! Target his allies only! Shin is mine and mine alone."

The kobolds howled and got ready for battle against Kamie and our units. Kamie let go of my arm and stepped backwards. I got in my stance then looked at Grant. He got in his stance then dashed towards me. I grunted as he was already in front of me. I blocked his attack with my barrier and took a guarding stance to initiate my Extra Skill. I took only a bit of chip damage, but my Extra Skill allowed me to take even less damage while guarding.

"I see...your reflexes are good. I'll admit that, but try this on for size! Devastation." He said then slashed down, breaking my guard and shattering my barrier immediately. He smirked then his eyes shined, noticing I changed my element to Fire. "That won't save you! Viridian Upper!"

He slammed his palm against the bottom of the handle of his sword and slashed upwards, hitting me and sending me upwards. I grunted loudly and coughed a bit. It did a lot of damage to me despite me being a Fire Element then I remembered the field effect. Things weren't looking too good for me or any of my allies. This field effect was going to be the death of all of us.

I landed on the ground and panted. "Imperial Boost!"

"Imperial Boost..?" Grant rose an eyebrow.

I smirked and looked up. "Imperial Boost boosts all my stats by 20% per boost."

"I see...so that means I have to take you down now!" Grant dashed towards me. He slashed then was blocked by Shelly's shield. He grunted and jumped backwards. "Get out of my way!"

Shelly noticed him dashing to her. "Burning Guard!" She bellowed and her shield was set ablaze. Grant hit her shield and Shelly immediately parried then hit him with a Blazing Thrust. She lodged her lance through his body then kicked the lance further in his body.

Grant groaned loudly and slid back a bit. His HP fell a great amount, but it wasn't enough to get him in the yellow zone. He growled and took the lance out of his body and tossed it aside then glared at Shelly. "You bitch...I will kill you. I swear I'll kill you!"

Shelly summoned her lance back in her hand. She looked back at me and I looked at her and stopped spamming Imperial Boost. She got out of the way and I dashed towards Grant. Grant looked at me and bellowed then dashed towards me.

"Imperial Slash!" I bellowed and slashed, striking Grant and sent him crashing through multiple trees. I lowered my sword then noticed a burst of green aura in the distance.

Grant flew towards me using his aura. "Burst Skill EX: Viridian Obliteration!"

He slashed at me. I got in a guarding stance and grunted as his attack made contact with my sword. He broke my guard and hit me with his attack then an explosion happened. I was blown away into a tree and my HP fell into the red zone. I fell to my knees and panted.

"Shin needs help!" Kamie said then blocked an attack by the Armored Kobold.

Yuki looked back at me then her eyes shined. "I've had enough!" She said as her dark aura surged powerfully.

The Kobolds felt her energy and some of them whined.

"Burst Skill: Eclipse Burst!" She yelled and raised her hand in the sky then the area began to grow darker and a light shined in the sky then a blast of dark energy hit the Kobolds striking all of them down in one hit.

Fiona, Kamie, and Ophelia looked surprised and noticed the area returning to normal.

I slowly stood up and noticed Kamie rushing to me. She gave a Mega Potion and healed me back into the green zone. "This damned field effect is ruining us. We can't resist any form of damage without boosts. Fire Units aren't useful here and Earth Units prevail because of this effect.."

"That's enough." A voice said and walked up.

I looked at person and noticed they had mask on and wore a black cloak with the Grand Order logo on the back of the cloak.

"The Goddess summons you, Grant." The person said.

Grant looked at the masked figure and calmed down then sheathed his sword. "Consider yourself lucky. We will meet again. When that time comes...You will fall."

The masked figure and Grant warped out of the dungeon and to the St. Eternus Tower.

Kamie looked at me worried and held my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...That attack just hurt a lot..." I answered and stood up straight. I looked at everyone and sighed softly. "This dungeon may be difficult, but I know we can make it through. Let's head back to town and restock on items and such then come back to clear the area."

They all nodded and I clicked the warp back to town option and we all warped back to town. Our units headed off back to my home leaving me and Kamie alone with each other.

Kamie clapsed her hand over mine as we walked to the item shop together. I looked at her and she blushed a bit. "We are boyfriend and girlfriend now so it's only right we hold hands while going places together."

"That's fair enough." I chuckled softly and interlocked our fingers together.

She blushed more as I did so. We entered the item shop together and she let my hand go to the counter and buy her items. I decided to check her stats while I had the chance.

Name: Kamie

Class: Reaper

Title: None

Element: Dark

Weakness Light

Resist: Dark

Type: Breaker

Rarity: Three Stars

Level: 20

EXP: 19/100%

HP: 1,124/1,124

MP: 103/103

Burst Gauge: 21%

Soul Gauge: 12%

ATK: 174

DEF: 58

MATK: 49

MDEF: 49

AGI: 68

LUK: 60

Skills: Draining Cleave, Butterfly Sweep, Fallen Cross

Burst Skill: Soul Execution

Burst Skill EX: Spiritual Ruin

Leader Skill: Soul Collector [Every kill the user gets restores 10% HP and fills the Soul Gauge by 1% per kill.]

Extra Skill: Soul Rage [When the Soul Gauge is 50% or higher and the Soul Gauge is activated, all stats get boosted by 100% until the Soul Gauge hits 0%]

Equipment:

Weapon: Soul Harvesting Scythe

Shield: None

Accessory: Demonic Blood Ring [Boosts ATK, MATK, and AGI by 20%, damage taken may restore HP]

I closed the interface and looked back at Kamie, who just finished buying her items. She walked over to me and handed me half her supply. "Eh? You didn't have to get anything for me."

"But I wanted to...~" Kamie smiled and held my arm.

I shrugged and smiled back then we walked out of the item shop. "Anywhere you want to go before we head back to the Wise Woods?"

"Not really, but I do want to do something with you after we clear the dungeon. Maybe a date or two?~" She smiled.

"Yeah we can do that." I smiled and looked at her.

She looked back at me then I summoned our units to us then we all warped back to the Wise Woods. I still wasn't too confident in the area since the field effect of the area completely screws us over. Fiona sighed a bit as she felt the same. I scanned Fiona and checked her stats.

Name: Inferno Fiona

Rarity: Three Stars

Element: Fire

Weakness: Water

Resist: Earth

Type: Breaker

Level: 21

EXP: 45/100%

HP: 1,822/1,822

MP: 119/119

Burst Gauge: 21%

ATK: 120

DEF: 83

MATK: 40

MDEF: 45

AGI: 67

LUK: 50

Skills: Flare Ride, Blazing Combo, Inferno Dive

Burst Skill: Inferno Rain

Leader Skill: Will of Flames [Boosts Fire Element Units parameters by 30%, survives any attack with 1 HP at a 50% chance]

Equipped Spheres:

Slot 1: Ablaze Force [Boosts Fire Elemental attacks by 30%]

Slot 2: None

Fiona had good stats, but this area just makes those stats look virtually useless. She looked a bit discouraged, but she decided to push forward for Kamie. I walked over to Fiona and gently tapped her shoulder. She looked at me, seeing my determined smile.

"We can make it through this. I know we can. I'm sure there is an answer to this field effect. Something has to work against them." I said then nodded.

She looked down a bit then nodded and smiled. She looked back up to me. "Right, I'm sure you're right about there being and answer. I've just never been in this situation so early. I guess it took me by surprise at first. I have to rely on neutral damage to even get guaranteed kills."

"Maybe that is our answer. They now resist fire damage a bit, so maybe neutral damage can work." I said then thought for a bit. "But if I change my element to something else, I won't resist earth damage as much as I would fire damage. It seems now we need to have some good strategies that will guarantee us a win."

Kamie watched us as we thought for a bit on what to do. "Maybe this would be a bit of a reach, but maybe the sun can play a part in the field effect. The trees seem to be...well they are unnaturally large and seem to be controlled by someone. Maybe we can find the target controlling the trees and that can help us?"

I looked at Kamie and she made a lot of sense. "You know, you strike a very good point. I don't know how I didn't think of that. We can search this forest for the adversary and take them down, weakening the field effect a bit so our units can deal more damage."

[Kamie's Bond Percentage rose to 14%]

Kamie giggled and turned from side to side. She liked being praised and being told her ideas were good ideas.

"Alright, let's find the target and take them down." I said then everyone nodded then we all hurried off to find the target.

As we ran down a path we stopped and noticed a river split our path in two. I looked around and noticed a bridge to the left of us. We ran to the bridge and were stopped by another wave of Mandrakes. We summoned our weapons and rushed into battle. We took down the Mandrakes with a bit of difficulty. After taking them down we ran across the bridge and I heard a woman singing. I stopped and scanned the area then noticed a woman who had long blonde hair, wore a green dress made from leaves and carried a magic cane with her. I scanned her.

Name: Plant Puppeteer Sil

Rarity: Three Stars

Element: Earth

Weakness: Fire

Resist: Thunder

Type: Support

Level: 25

HP: 3,590/3,590

MP: 442/442

ATK: 53

DEF: 102

MATK: 167

MDEF: 145

AGI: 53

LUK: 92

[WARNING! WARNING! Mini Boss Dectected!]

Sil turned around and noticed us then sang loudly then one of the trees began to move. The tree swayed from side to side then grew wider and larger than ever. The tree became a monster and roared at us. I scanned the monstrous tree.

Name: Great Ent

Level: 25

HP: 6,000/6,000 + 1,500

"A unit who can summon other monsters..? What the hell is this? What is Grand Order doing?" I asked and glared at them. "No matter, let's hurry and take them down!"

I dashed towards Sil and noticed vines emerging out the ground then dodged the vines. "Imperial Boost!" I bellowed then dove between two vines and rolled forward. I got back up and noticed Shelly making her way in front of me. I noticed the Ent sending an earth beam at me from its mouth.

Shelly got in front of me and used her shield to block the beam and slid backwards. She grunted a bit and noticed Fiona and Yuki teaming together to fight the Ent. Yuki sent a powerful Dark Beam EX at the Ent, but a barrier blocked the attack. Fiona jumped from tree to tree and somersaulted forward and surrounded herself in flames then went for an Inferno Dive at the Ent. The barrier blocked the attack but there were noticeable cracks on the barrier.

Sil looked at Yuki and Fiona then went to send an earth beam at them, but Ophelia sent a Floral Shine at the earth beam and the two attacks collided then an explosion happened. Kamie dashed forward then disappeared into the smoke.

"Butterfly Sweep!" Kamie bellowed and appeared behind Sil then used her scythe to sweep Sil off her feet then tossed her into the air.

Sil opened her eyes and stopped herself in the air then sent a wave of earth spikes down at us. I grabbed Kamie and pulled her behind me then got into guarding position and blocked the earth spikes the best I could. Kamie held onto me and closed her eyes tightly. The wave of spikes stopped then Sil landed on the ground. I looked at Sil and my eyes shined. Kamie let go of me then watched me dash forward. Sil looked at me and prepared another attack, but Shelly ran to Sil and hit her with a Blazing Thrust and slammed Sil to the ground using her lance.

"Burst Skill: Great Imperial Crush!" I bellowed and dashed towards Sil then slashed downward and hit her then cracked the ground and bellowed as my eyes released flame aura. A line of fire burst from the ground and struck Sil powerfully and she took massive damage from the Imperial Boosted Burst Skill.

Sil landed on the ground and panted then looked at me, terrified. She tried to get off one last attack but I stepped on her arm, stopping her then dealt the finishing blow at her weak spot. She screamed then her body dispersed into magic particles. The Ent roared and turned into magic particles with her then the trees began to return to their normal state and the rays of sun began to shine into the forest, weakening the field effect.

[Mini Boss Defeated!]

[Field Effect of Wise Woods Weakened!]

[Party Earned 4,500 EXP!]

"That was pretty hardcore on how you defeated her." Kamie said and walked up to me then held my arm and smiled.

I smiled at her then nodded. "I had to do what needed to be done."

Yuki looked at us and felt a bit jealous. She didn't like the fact that Kamie was all over me. Ophelia noticed Yuki's face then looked at me and Kamie. She also was jealous, but not to the extent of Yuki. Yuki puffed her cheeks and walked off.

"Eh? Yuki! Where are you going?" Ophelia looked at Yuki. "Yuki!"

Fiona stood up and looked at Yuki.

I wondered what the commotion was then noticed Yuki running off. "Yuki?" I looked at Kamie and she let me go so I could pursue Yuki. I wondered why Yuki would all of a sudden run off like this, but I knew I had to catch up to her no matter what.

[Ophelia, Shelly, Fiona, and Kamie have been removed from the party.]