'I need to get out of here.' Grove thought. 'No matter how much I keep burning their roots to the ground, their disgusting body keeps fixing itself.'

Grove focused on his magic; he used the strong mana he could feel around him to create a smoke, making everywhere hot while creating enough cover for him to run away.

He found a good spot to hide, a rock that had been covered with little grass. Grove catches his breath and then frowns at the tree growth in his arm and leg. He wondered what would have happened to him if he didn't wake up. Where were his monster teammates taking him to? Nothing that was happening made sense to him.

He thought of burning away the tree growth in his arms; after all, it hasn't grown big yet. Grove activated his magic and let his flames flow in his hand. He was about to burn the growth in his arm away without caring about if he ends up burning his flesh in the process when a certain image flashed in his mind.

The image of the player who choked on his own disease while salivating like a hungry beast who hasn't eaten for days.

"F*ck!" Grove put out the flames and shut his eyes. He felt angry and sad. "If I knew that I was going to end up like those f*ckers, I wouldn't have laughed at them." His voice was filled with regret.

'Am I going to die? I don't want to die!'

Grove controlled himself from screaming in anger; just when he was at the peak of his life as the world's greatest mage, getting used to the world he had been dumped in, now everything was over. It ended too soon, and Grove felt like he wasn't ready to die.

One of the root monsters sneaks up behind Grove; it stretches out its arm and lets it form a sharp edge, then in a flash, its arm extends and pierces Grove from behind.

Blood poured out of Grove's mouth as he looked at the root that impaled him. He forced himself to pull away from the root when he looked behind and saw that the monster was getting ready to use it second hand to attack him again the same way from behind.

Groaning at the pain, and using his left hand to stop himself from bleeding, Grove releases his fire magic from his right hand, burning down his opponent. He let out a heavy breath and cursed when he saw that the root he burned had begun to reattach itself again.

'It's the mana.' Grove thought as he watched the monster. The mana he had been obsessed with and thought had been there to make him stronger was what reattached the monster's root back together.

Unable to believe his dark thought, Grove activated his fire magic again and then noticed how the tree growth in his arm and leg grew slightly.

'Lila isn't the one responsible for this strange disease. It's the mana. There is something wrong with the mana flowing here; I shouldn't have used it.' Grove was agitated with his thoughts. The truth was out in the open to him and brought back a part of his sense that had long been forgotten because of his obsession. He could feel a corrupted mana flow in his body, and no matter what he did, he couldn't get the mana to leave; it had taken over his mana core. The only way he could be free from it was death.

Distracted by his own thoughts, Grove wasn't focused on the root monster that had been completely healed from Grove magic.

The monster growls and jumps on Grove, and part of its burning root harshly burns Grove's flesh. The monster raised its sharp hand and pierced Grove again.

Grove's sight was dim; he was losing his senses. Pain and agony were the only things that registered in his mind as he screamed, "Get off me!" He activated his magic and lost control of it in his weak state. His flames made the monster jump away from him and scream while trying to put the flame out. The monster voice reminded Grove of the male player he had laughed at before his search for Lila. Grove didn't have time to think about if the monster that attacked him was the player; his mind faded away, and he screamed as more growth crawled out of his body. He watched helplessly as it ate his flesh and replaced it with roots.

Grove's transformation didn't stop until he was completely consumed by the corrupt mana. The root monster that refused to die didn't attack Grove anymore and waited for his complete transformation. Together, they walked at the same eerie pace and joined other monsters who journeyed straight to where the tree highlighted with mana was.

One by one the monster hugged the tree and became part of it. Just when it was getting to Grove's turn, a green light shone brightly in the tree; it brought out Inga, an SS+ tree beast who ate mana. She was strong but couldn't leave her root.

"That's enough delicious mana for the day." Inga licked her lip with her razor tongue. Her skin and hair were green and illuminated by light from the flow of mana in her body. She had four scary eyes with no forehead. Her stem formed a strong crown on her head; her body was slightly covered with white fabric, and any possibility of her having legs was completely ominous as she floated close to her tree.

A little drop of leaf falls from her green hair as she says, "There are other humans in my domain; they are aware of me and refuse to use my mana. Find them!" She orders.

Grove and the rest of the tree monsters who haven't been devoured growl out before responding, "Yes, Master."

"I'm sure that the only reason they know about me is because of those annoying spirit beasts." Inga muttered to herself as her monsters turned away to search for their targets. Finding human targets was always easy. Easier than beast, but this time around it was difficult because the set of humans she was looking for were being protected by the spirit beast.

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