Bam.

Kling.

Haelley didn't wait for us to get crushed and pummelled. Even though she wasn't powerful like the demons, her advantage came from her ability to fly and to travel rapidly. The movement that creation entered her vision through the cracks, her body disappeared.

What a way to enter a battle!  

I could hear what sounded like firecrackers going off. However powerful it was, Haelley was sure putting up a good fight.

I guess I better not lag behind too much. Otherwise, Smoothie isn't going to let me off for being a coward.

Carefully, I shifted the vines and leaves to allow myself a small exit. Corpses of various armored flying maggot-like insects littered my immediate surroundings. The biggest one around, likely the fourth evolution of that insect, towered above me. It was the size of a two storey house. Unlike the ugly low leveled minions, this one looked like a scarlet winged giant termite with large razor sharp mandibles. It moved slowly as it swung its mandibles like elephant tusks.

[level 67 Insect;
Species: Po-Hatorshi;
Physical: 244/252;
Spiritual: 132/137;
Traits: Collector, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Resistances;
Abilities: Coordinate, Ballistic, Protector;
Description: A type of insect that serves as a protector of its colony.]

Haelley's rapid succession of attacks had barely scratch its physical stat. She dished out drop kicks, roundabout kicks, and all types of kicks aiming at any possible weak points she could reach. The only noticeable damages were the broken and scrunched wings. Those were probably what Haelley had aimed at first to ground it permanent so that I could reach it with my vines.

While they were fighting, the swarm of insects were flying overhead completely ignoring this area of the forest. Although it was still considered a forest, many trees had fallen due to the current battle making this an open battlefield.

Thank goodness they aren't ganging up on me.

Now that I knew I was fairly safe and that Haelley was fully occupying the Po-Hatorshi, I began my first hands on battle. It was actually quite exciting for me despite the lack of that feeling of adrenaline rush.

Once I stepped out, I planted my feet firmly into the ground.

I placed my hands onto the ground. Already, thousands of pieces of my strawberry plant parts were scattered across the forest floor. Those that were large enough would act as my clones and move as I commanded.

Here we go. Let's raise a jungle!

As much as I would love to do that, I didn't have such power. Instead I opted to catalyze the growth of clones at the base of the Po-Hatorshi's legs. Dozens of vines shot up, entangling the legs of this monstrous insect.

"Haelley, how are you doing?"

Because of how quickly she was moving, I couldn't check on her status at all.

"I am okay!"

Not all of the vines were able to hold on. Some of them snapped and tear as the Po-Hatorshi  struggled to free itself and repel that bird lady. It was like a beast trying to drive off a fly.

"Hold on a bit longer, I'll start draining it as soon as I fully bind it."

The reason I didn't immediately start draining it was because I didn't wish to alert it. If it suddenly switched its target to me, I doubted I could survive the onslaught. A single swing of its head, those mandibles would cut me down in an instant if I wasn't careful.

Come on, grow faster! Bind it already!

More and more vines burst out of the ground beneath. At that moment, my spiritual stat plummeted after everything stored in |gourmet| was used up. However, that monster just wouldn't stay still. Should this continue, my spiritual stat would bottom out before I could accomplish anything other than being a hindrance.

Screw this, no more waiting, I'm draining you dry.

The moment I started using [absorption], the Po-Hatorshi released an explosive roar.

Oh crap, it could do that!? This is bad, really bad! Was that [coordinate]? We need to finish this before others could converge on this location.

"Haelley, keep it down!"

I kind of wished Haelley had explosive abilities. Against weak ones, she was superior, but against strong opponents with heavy defenses, she was kind of useless. It was like someone trying to cut a tank with a machete.

With each vine that tore, twice as many vines took its place.

"Okay!"

Since the monster was likely using its defense based abilities, I focused on draining its spiritual stat first. That wasn't the only reason either. I was much more proficient at draining spiritual stat in the first place. Recently, my control of this ability had increased substantially. Within ten seconds, it was down to two-third of its original spiritual stat.

I looked up to the sky. Strangely, the swarms of insects flying overhead were still ignoring us. Places they had crowded were now barren lands. Their feeding frenzy had not stopped as if they had not heard their protector's cry. Nonetheless, I had a bad feeling, a really bad feeling about this.

With only a third of its spiritual stat remaining, the Po-Hatorshi released another explosive roar into the sky.

Just die already!

I couldn't care less about saving it for Haelley to kill for her level up. This one kill should be enough for me to level up as well, and unlock my next evolution. Time continued to tick.

The moment it had lost all of its spiritual stat, I switched my target to absorb all the components that made up its tough armor, or carapace. If possible, I still wanted to allow Haelley the chance to level up. For her, she couldn't as easily level up just by growing up normally. Smoothie had stated that Haelley needed to defeat challenging foes to level up rapidly.

Crush.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Holes were being drilled into its now brittle carapace.

"Finish it off, Haelley!"

"Okay!"

Now that this monster no longer had the strength, a single drop kick came from the sky and shattered its head down the centre.

Sploosh.

Haelley, you'll need to shower later or you'll stink with bug juice.

"Haelley, did you level up?"

"Yes. Bad, two more coming."

"Two more of these?"

"Yes, fourth evolution, same type."

The only ones that could threaten us were the fourth evolutions. My guess was that there might also be fourth evolutions that were different just like how I had make my choices. Whatever was the case for their evolutions, I was grateful they were the same type because I wouldn't want to deal with any unique types if they existed.

I sat down, leaning against my plant body that Smoothie was currently in. In the meanwhile, without stop, I was using [absorption] on the corpses to gather as much material resources as I could. These were the building blocks to be used for growing my sticky vines. Nothing was to be wasted. 

"I need more time to replenish. Haelley, aren't you tired?"

I wished somehow all my clones would share its resources with me. That would grant me such an enormous buff in stats that no mere insects could ever pose a challenge to me.

She landed next to me and stated, "I will sing."

That really surprised me. I had never once heard her sing, and not to mention she wanted to sing in our current predicament.

"Sing? With your abilities?"

"Yes!"

"Why didn't you sing earlier? The forest is already gone."

"Earlier, I wanted to be strong to fight it. Now I sing for you so you fight."

Ah so you were saving your mana? "Rapid transport" did cost lots of mana after all. Tch, I'll forgive you for dumping so much work on me.

"Fine, but I'm unreliable, you know? Are you sure about leaving two of them to me? I'm just an amateaur."

She nodded, "I trust. Smoothie trusts."

I sighed, "Alright, I guess it can't be helped. I'll do my best."

She hopped on top of our temporary dwelling, or rather, that dome which acted as the last line of defense just moments ago. This was to be her stage.

If she's the singer, does that make me the dancer? Please go slow on me. I can't dance.

"Try feeding them strawberries," a whisper entered my ears.

"Smoothie, get back in there, those things are coming any minute."

She teased, "Awh, I'm going to miss the best part, no?"

"It's the worst part! Now, get back in there."

"Yes, yes," she waved before she returned inside the plant body.