This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 96

Commencing the Attack

(This Chapter contains intense content. Viewer discretion is advised.)

Ellie’s current target was the green or yellow zone of the forest. These color-coded zones provided further subdivisions within the forest areas. The mission had already been specified. They knew where the wild boar beasts resided, pinpointing the mission area as the green forest of the 1st floor.

The 1st floor featured many forests with various names, such as the Green Forest, Steep Bamboo Shoots Forest, Medicine Conservation Forest, Fragrant Held Forest, and others. Each forest was further divided into 3 sub-zones. It’s maybe because the 1st floor had been thoroughly explored, allowing for detailed descriptions.

Each type of forest had 3 sub-zones. The Green Zone indicated a relatively safe area where the dangers were manageable. The Yellow Zone was a cautionary area for lower levels to be more vigilant, as these areas had a higher density of beasts. The Red Zone, however, was genuinely dangerous. If one could barely handle the Yellow Zone and wanted to go to the Red Zone, it would be tantamount to a death wish.

The Red Zone housed beasts stronger than the usual level for that area. For example, in the 1st floor, there were many level 0 monsters, but in the Red Zone, one might encounter level 1 beasts. Often, people’s greed led them to their demise in these zones.

Initially, Ellie wanted to start in the Green Zone. However, the presence of the suspicious man following her made her consider switching to the Yellow Zone. If she stayed in the Green Zone, he would easily find her, as the Green Zones of the Green Forest on the 1st floor were fewer compared to other forests.

In the Green Zone, one might encounter 1 or 2 stray beasts at a time. However, moving to the Yellow Zone could mean facing an entire herd of wild boar.

Ellie was confident that the beasts in the Green Zone couldn’t harm her, making it not challenging enough. With this mindset, she decided to head toward the Yellow Zone of the forest.

The Yellow Zone was much larger, with the Red Zone being quite small. It resembled a cave that could be inhabited. Perhaps, the high-level beasts were hibernating inside, which was why it was designated as red.

As she moved, Ellie constantly left spores behind. She hadn’t yet commanded them to decompose or use her botanic powers to absorb life force through them and store within her. Nonetheless, with every step she took, the natural energy, which was the source of her magic power, flowed into her body through the forehead point she had successfully opened during her journey.

Previously, she didn’t understand the difference between "absorb life force upon command with full functionality" and "continuously absorb life force under vitality maintenance conditions," but now she had experimented with it.

For absorbing life force upon command with full functionality involved drawing the life force from plants as she had always done. The plants would gradually wither, lose their life force, and die, eventually disintegrating into dust.

On the other hand, continuously absorbing life force under vitality maintenance conditions meant taking in an appropriate amount of life force from plants. This was the excess life force that plants naturally released into the atmosphere.

Often, when people walked past large trees, they felt relaxed. That was the life force, the natural energy that trees released. Ellie could utilize this effectively. When the life force approached the energy absorption point, it automatically worked to absorb and store the energy efficiently.

Meanwhile, the point on her forehead absorbed natural energy, converting it into her magic power and continuously expanding her magic capacity. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

Whether the concentrated life force that could be used for various purposes, or the magic power Ellie needed for energy cultivation, they were all obtained simultaneously. The more energy absorption points she could open, the more channels for energy intake she would have, without having to actively command them.

What Ellie liked the most about this method was that it didn’t make her actions conspicuous later. Unlike when plants lost their life forces and disappeared, which would eventually expose her if done frequently...

It was indeed the right decision to choose to train in the Introduction to Stream technique.

During her journey, Ellie tried to avoid paths that would likely lead to encounters with beasts to avoid unnecessary delays from clashing. She wasn’t too worried about what was behind her; as long as a beast approached, she would sense it immediately and could evade it in time. Luckily, she encountered only about 2-3 beasts along the way and managed to avoid them.

As mentioned before, the Green Zone was truly safe. If novices didn’t recklessly overestimate their abilities, they would undoubtedly remain safe.

She gradually made her way to the edge of the Green Forest according to the map. Ellie chose to hunt on her right side. Meanwhile, the person following her was trying to track her, but because Ellie hadn’t stopped hunting any beasts, she left no traces behind. Instead of following her to the right, the follower went left and began circling around aimlessly.

It might sound like they were close, but the forest was vast. Once they went in opposite directions, it was difficult to know where the other was unless they were truly unlucky.

No wonder the power to pinpoint locations was highly interesting for other people; it allowed people to find each other easily. Without it, a lot of time would be wasted, and encountering danger would become even more troublesome.

Ellie hid near a bush, positioning herself downwind to remain unseen by the group of beasts ahead. Her primary target for the mission was the wild boar, but the Green Forest housed more than just wild boars. There were other types of beasts as well, and the one she spotted now was a "Fire-Eyed Yellow Cat."

- Fire-Eyed Yellow Cat, Level 0: Attributes - The beasts that have a beautiful and cute appearance. They are extremely fast and can use their eyes as bombs. In a near-death situation, they will detonate their eyes to ensure their prey perishes with them. Their weakness is their frail body; any successful attack is guaranteed to inflict wounds.

Action Plan

Option One: Use the rooting of the purple mushroom spores to mark the location.

Option Two: Use the rooting of the purple mushroom spores to decompose internal organs.

Option Three: Use the rooting of the purple mushrooms for decomposition. -

This information appeared as Ellie tried to spread her spores forward to root on the bodies of the beasts. Her attributes and abilities panel indicated she could deal with them using her powerful spores without needing to engage in physical combat.

Despite the cheating nature of this ability, Ellie felt that this cheated power she received might make her become a weakling who kept relying solely on the purple mushrooms. So, she wanted to try fighting on her own before facing insurmountable dangers.

Her first task was to match the speed of the beasts in front of her. True, her initial ambush might succeed, but once she wounded the first beast, the remaining ones would immediately target her. Therefore, Ellie needed to plan carefully before acting.

The Fire-Eyed Yellow Cats were in their territory, adorably grooming each other. Their cuteness was part of their strength. If Ellie wasn’t seeking strong opponents, she might have let them go.

After some strategic thinking, she used a high vantage point as her initial cover. She wanted to fight the Fire-Eyed Yellow Cats to improve her speed and acclimate herself to combat. Following the law of the jungle, where the big fish ate the small, she didn’t have many options.

Whoosh!!

The first arrow was suddenly shot into the air. Its accuracy wasn’t great since it was Ellie’s first time using a bow. When the arrow was shot, this sudden movement startled the Fire-Eyed Yellow Cats from their rest, their ears perking up as they roared threateningly.

However, Ellie remained calm, avoiding drawing too much attention. This kept the cats from pinpointing her exact location.

The cats prowled around, growling. Using this moment, Ellie fired another arrow. This time, she used her previous experience to calculate the direction and also factored in the north wind that had slightly skewed her previous shot. Consequently...the arrow hit its mark successfully!

"Meow!!!" The startled cries of the small beasts were ear-piercing. A level 1 cat was killed by the 200 gold coin arrow in a single hit. It’s no wonder people often said that fairness didn’t exist. Even if a noble’s child hunted for the first time, they had far better chances than others!

While ordinary villagers might have only a few copper coins, allowing them to buy knives that could barely scratch the Fire-Eyed Yellow Cats, Ellie used an expensive bow and arrow to take their lives instantly. Such a disparity meant their hunting speed could never be the same.

"Meow!!"

"Rawrr!!"

Despite the arrow killing 1 cat, it also revealed Ellie’s position. The small beasts below noticed the arrow’s direction and the bush she was hiding in.

The Fire-Eyed Yellow Cats growled loudly. Ellie retrieved her arrows, knowing she couldn’t match their speed. The cats didn’t give her any more chances. They used their 4 paws to leap forward. About 9 cats surrounded the tree she was in, and 2 of them began skillfully climbing up to hunt her down!

Clang!!

The chain knife swung around, the sound of the knife and chain clashing resonated. The sharpness and reflections of the blade indicated which cat was getting close. Ellie chose the one on her right first because it was the easiest to attack, while the one on her left was moving too fast for her to handle with her current speed.

"Option Two: Use the rooting of the purple mushroom spores to decompose internal organs."

As she muttered softly, the yellow cat on the left was shocked that its body suddenly felt like something was gnawing at its insides.

Ellie didn’t want to use this method on such cute beasts because destroying their organs would cause them immense pain. However, their speed was too fast that she could not kill them instantly.

Clang! Swish!!

She swung the chain knife towards the head of the Fire-Eyed Yellow Cat rapidly. While the force wasn’t immense, the speed of her swing, combined with the cat’s momentum, caused the knife to pierce through its head swiftly. The high quality of the chain knife meant that its sharpness was excessive, causing it to exit through the back of the cat’s head.

The drawback of using the chain knife, which Ellie had just discovered, was that...after it pierced through a beast’s body, retrieving it was not easy because the beast’s body remained attached to it!

"Tch!" Ellie had to abandon the weapon for now. She couldn’t shake off the dead body in such a short time. Next time, she would need to change her combat strategy. Instead of stabbing directly, she would need to throw the knife in a way that inflicted horizontal wounds.

"Hiss!!"

The yellow cat, enduring its pain, reached a small branch beside Ellie. She then ended its suffering with a lower-quality knife than the 200-gold-coin weapon.

However, just 1 meter away, a loud noise erupted.

Boom!!!Its body fell below with a violent explosion. Ellie was startled by its action. It was a wise decision to use her sword for combat and not attempt to retrieve the chain knife. Otherwise, the explosion would have been right next to her, causing her to be caught in the blast!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!