In an instant, as the growth outcomes and byproducts of the two seeds were swept away, Orcatch Senior clutched his neck and let out an ugh.
“You, you little brat, you planned to duel like this from the start!”
“Isn’t it the fault of the senior for neglecting safety measures?”
So, I shouldn’t be losing my Mandragora either!
I only pointed out the fact, but Orcatch Senior was furious, shouting, “Oh really? Then you try summoning! I’ll sweep everything away just like you!”
If I plant a mediocre common-grade seed here, it’ll be nothing but a lame excuse for backing out.
If my goal is to make the seniors furious enough to collapse from high blood pressure, that’s a resounding success, but the objective of this duel is to showcase the skills of a veteran player!
I need to show a safe yet malicious combo that won’t be easily countered.
“Go, Duntuncho! I choose you!”
[Rapid Growth – Duntuncho]
[Inventory – Fertilizer Summon]
The beginning of the development is Duntuncho, who grows bigger every time it consumes fertilizer.
If I utilize Duntuncho’s absorption properties well, I can create magical resistance gear like a heavenly armor or robe, making it a valuable crafting material rare plant.
Orcatch Senior’s eyes glinted with greed as incredibly tempting rare plants appeared, even without a vacuum cleaner.
“Hah. To offer a plant more valuable than what I lost. Are you trying to treat me? Turns out you’re quite the thoughtful junior.”
“Who do you think you are to just take it away? I still have two left!”
This Duntuncho is a key seed for a counter strategy build that maximizes effectiveness while avoiding others’ sabotage.
“Next up is Spidecho! I choose you!”
[Rapid Growth – Spidecho]
[Dark Enhancement]
[Physical Resistance Increase]
The second is Spidecho, also a rare plant material for crafting.
This plant monster extends like a spider’s web, capturing and consuming its prey, growing bigger and sturdier as it does.
Spidecho even has a habit of applying mana-use knowledge it obtains from its prey, so its mana conductivity is exceptionally high.
If there’s highly conductive Blue Metal in the mineral category, Spidecho can be considered its counterpart in the plant realm!
“Hahaha! What’s this? A double event? 1+1? Expensive treasures don’t magically appear in sequence, you foolish Agassi.”
“Hmpf. A 1+1 always comes with free gifts, you know? If you’re that confident, take a look at this first. Let’s see who’s laughing now!”
The last plant didn’t come from the pocket, but out of the vacuum cleaner.
“For the final, Royal Jelly Plant! I choose you!”
[Vacuum Cleaner (+5) – Royal Jelly Plant Summon]
The moment the stolen plant was summoned into the field, Orcatch Senior’s face turned a furious red.
When Titosso turns on the red light made by Professor Sadako, it looks like a blood-soaked ghost, sending chills down my spine, but this senior just looks pathetic when angry!
It seems reckless to be so complacent, but honestly, there wasn’t much reason not to be.
“Now do you understand? The sustainability of this build!”
“This brat, you’ve empowered Duntuncho and Spidecho at the same time with the Royal Jelly Plant’s trait…!”
Duntuncho, thriving on royal jelly, grows rapidly, while Spidecho, lured by the royal jelly, becomes stronger by consuming spirits.
Duntuncho absorbs magic, and Spidecho uses the mana-use knowledge gained from spirits to cast various spells.
While magic should be handled with physical strength, this Royal Jelly Plant’s royal jelly, which is automatically restored, ensures a steady supply of fertilizer and mana.
“No way. You’ve created an infinite power source that exceeds mine, haven’t you?”
“Hehehe! How about that? This is how the power of money feels, right?”
“Hah. But you’ve messed with the wrong opponent. You think your cowardly tricks for tearing up the field are unique to you?”
Orcatch Senior’s prideful magic unfolded rapidly.
[Crack Formation]
[Mineral Dehydration]
[Levitation]
Dehydrating the moisture from the open ground and causing the ground to crack like a drought-stricken rice paddy, he forcefully lifts the nutrient-less dry roots.
The swiftness with which he reproduces the vacuum cleaner’s (+5) effects through magic was honestly commendable.
However, a critical difference exists between the senior’s build and mine.
“Duntun.”
Under the weight of both Royal Jelly and the fertilizers consumed from the inventory, Duntuncho had become significantly heavier.
Compared to the flailing Duntuncho and the rapid-fire combo of spirits, while the firepower may be weaker, the firmness of the formation and its weight holding the ground are on different levels.
“Yikes!”
Orcatch Senior poured more mana into his magic, trying to amplify the power of his levitation spell, but Duntuncho didn’t budge an inch.
Hack!
“Ugh, the manager is spewing blood!”
“It’s mana reflux. How much power did he use?”
“This guy is mostly self-sufficient, eating everything he thinks is good for his body while climbing mountains, so his mana supply must be immense for a third-year intermediate class…”
The outcome of the duel was practically predetermined.
Approaching the collapsed senior, I gently patted him on the shoulder to offer encouragement and said, “Remember, senior. No matter how useful a meta is, if you have money, you can craft counter strategies with rarer seeds. Life is all about money!”
“Damn, overindulgent pay-to-win brat…”
Orcatch Senior flopped down.
But what do I do with the plants used in the duel now?
“Duntun.”
Spapa
Zeruluru
The now enormous Duntuncho, alongside the gigantic Spidecho, which has been completely reduced to mush by magic, was plotting to stick with the reliable Royal Jelly Plant.
The three plants, like soulmates, gazed at the Plant Club members and me with drool-worthy triangular eyes.
“Oh no! I completely forgot that once plant mobs grow larger, they become aggressive monsters!”
“What do you mean ‘oh no’? You crazy junior! What are we going to do? After the duel, plant mobs rapidly exhaust their energy and naturally expire; this one instead has infinite power and keeps growing!”
“I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
“Let’s run away without looking back!”
The senior members of the Plant Club grimaced.
“You’re saying we should just bail after creating a vile combo here?”
“Besides, those are incredibly valuable! A plant of this size can yield amazing resources, can we just leave it behind?”
“Sigh. Honestly, I kind of want it. Can’t we just smash it and take the stem for resource gathering?”
One of the third-year seniors got a bit reckless.
Greed spread quickly among the seniors.
“Think about it in terms of points. If we sell the materials to the Production Department kids, we could easily make a thousand points per stem!”
“Holy crap. There are over twenty visible stems!”
“Since we have two Duntuncho and Spidecho combined, it’s at least 40,000 points. Opportunities to earn that kind of money without pulling ahead in lecture time are rare.”
Seniors, blinded by points, began tossing out rare materials worth dozens to hundreds of points without hesitation.
[Explosive Spore]
[Toxic Spore]
[Chain Explosion]
[Rapid Growth – Sword Wind Plant]
[Wind Cutter – Stem Cutting]
[Strong Wind – Amplifying Wind Magic Power]
[Rapid Growth – Claw Plant]
[Stealth Enhancement]
[Cutting – Root Carving]
Seniors of the Plant Club each executed elaborate attacks, dazzlingly inflicting status ailments while misleading the plant mobs with explosive tactics, slicing stems with the Sword Wind Plant, and stealthily advancing while carving roots with the Claw Plant.
These three seniors’ teamwork was impressive enough that it made me doubt if they were the same ones who had been mercilessly beaten by the Mandragora.
As expected, they had genuinely fought their hardest against the goo.
“Duntun.”
“No way, it just absorbed the explosion directly? And its size means the status ailments don’t affect it much!”
The seniors realized the specs of the plant mob were unexpectedly high and belatedly called for a cessation of attacks, but the Sword Wind Plant and Claw Plant had already launched their attacks.
Spapa.
Normally, a regular stem wouldn’t be able to endure the sharp cutting power of Wind Cutter, but it didn’t stand a chance against the Spidecho, which had grown strong after devouring spirits.
[Sticky Trap]
[Pull-in]
“Oh no, my plant!”
“Come back, don’t get pulled away!”
Despite the seniors’ frantic calls, Spidecho’s webs had now grown powerful enough to pull in distant attackers.
In the end, the plants caught by Spidecho drooped like decapitated corpses.
[Magic Absorption – Wind Cutter]
[Magic Absorption – Earth Cutting]
With murky eyes like a sinister ghost, Spidecho unleashed the abilities it had absorbed from Wind Cutter and Earth Cutting.
Just like our Howling Mandragora, Spidecho had a high talent for [Attack Mimicry] capitalizing on those rare plants.
“Shield!!”
“This is insane. It even pops out of the ground!”
Having recklessly attempted an attack and unwittingly enriched Spidecho’s arsenal, the seniors hastily erected barriers and retreated.
At least we should be thankful it wasn’t throwing out explosions and toxic spores.
“Sigh. I told you to run away sooner!”
What a cluster of rare plant mobs sprouted right in the middle of the open ground.
As the spider webs rose high into the sky, enveloping the main body and expanding its territory, nearby vegetation withered, and bushes were uprooted and devoured.
If you get too close to the area, you’ll be met with flying Wind Cutter and Earth Cutting targeting your waist and ankles, and the growing strength like an infinite power source.
These are some truly vicious creatures I’ve created.
But wait, didn’t I forget something?
Gasp. I nearly forgot the warning!
━━━
Warning! Do not use the above combo unless the Weird Professor is observing the duel.
This combo creates a plant mob with infinite growth potential, giving birth to a field boss with chapter boss-level potential.
If this combo is used outside the Academy, it must be eliminated within a month or it will severely damage the progression of the game.
━━━
Sweat began to bead on my forehead.
Thank goodness it wasn’t unleashed outside the Academy, but if caught by the Weird Professor, I’d be in big trouble, as he might praise the sprout and haul me off to the lab.
I don’t want to relive the five years spent stinking of sabotage research on a vile plant mob!
“Hey, first years! What are we going to do about that?!”
“Can we really just run away?! If other students linger nearby, they might end up losing an ankle and getting dragged off to be devoured!”
“Um… well… that could definitely happen!”
“What then?!”
“Ah! The fine!”
“We need to call a professor. If it’s Professor Weird, he’ll definitely do something about it.”
“If we report it to the student council, won’t they handle it for us?”
“Wait! There’s still a solution beyond the professor or student council.”
I’m just as scared of having to pay fines for summoning such a vile being.
But since nobody’s been hurt yet, we still have an option on the table right now.
“We can sell the location information of the rare plant colony to the fourth-year Production Department seniors!”
The fourth-year seniors could gather the rare materials, and we can handle the aftermath, making everyone happy.
“Hold on, we? This is your responsibility!”
“Exactly. Don’t drag us into the mess you made!”
“Because of the plants absorbed by those seniors who didn’t flee, they learned some nasty techniques!”
“Oh.”
“Geez, you idiot! Why get flustered? You should have kept playing dumb until the end!”
It’s already too late.
“If I have to pay the fine, I’ll definitely report the incident involving the seniors. We’re dying together!”
No matter how much the seniors wanted to pull their legs back or pretend nothing had happened, it would be impossible.
If they leave me behind and run, then we’re going down together in this Water Ghost Meta!
