When three circular shapes were close enough together, it always reminded me of a face.  Like when I''d be baking late at night and my bread dough suddenly seemed like it wanted to talk to me.  That''s what these trees reminded me of right now.


    I''d let Boss lead the way here and he''d managed to avoid monsters for the most part, making our trip to this tree-filled jungle area pretty uneventful.  But now that we were here, I just couldn''t shake this feeling of unease.  The trees were downright unsettling with their gnarled branches stretched out like hands and the way I swore they changed positions whenever I had my back to them.


    But this was the area circled on the map, so this was where I had to get the wood for my cafe from.  The dense canopy overhead blocked out a lot of the light from the embers, casting shadows that played with my mind.  Leaves rustled without a breeze and it was too quiet, as if there were no animals that lived in this jungle.


    Jellybean bounced softly on my shoulder, apparently unaffected by the strange vibes surrounding us, which was actually pretty reassuring.  I let out a breath, determined to gather this wood and get back as quickly as possible.


    I searched the underbrush for fallen branches, but most of the wood I found was rotten, not something I wanted to expand the cafe with.  With all the monsters crashing around the dungeon, there had to be some freshly broken branches or fallen trees somewhere though. Even the crispy cluckers had tried to peck one down.


    The deeper I went into the jungle, the better wood I found though.  Excitement filled me as I picked up branch after branch, fulfilling half my quest in record time!  Boss delved into the jungle with me, but his bounces were getting slower as we went.  He kept staring at the trees, sometimes bouncing at them with enough force to make a thunking sound.


    "Calm down," I told the big slime.  "We''ll be out of here soon."


    Was he claustrophobic?  His bouncing got more intense the closer the trees got, so maybe he should head back while Jellybean and I finished up here. Not that Jellybean was helping much either as he munched on a grilled cheese I''d given him, crooning happily.


    We stepped into a clearing that looked like the heart of the jungle according to my map.  In the center was an ancient tree, twisted and gnarled with a lot of its bark missing.  Large branches littered the ground, perfect for the cafe.  I rushed forward, but Jellybean bounced hard, hitting me in the cheek before I could collect any of it.


    "Hey!  What was that for?"


    I rubbed my cheek as the groan of bark rubbing against bark filled the air.  My eyes widened as the trees shifted, moving with a life of their own.  All those circles that had looked like eyes before turned toward me, staring at the intruder in their jungle.


    [Living Trees: Level 9]


    I swallowed hard, backing up until I ran into Boss.  His doughy body stood firm next to me, as if willing to fight whatever came at us.


    The trees were alive.  Holy hell, the trees were alive.


    "Hello, my name''s Hazel." I cleared my throat, trying to stop my voice from shaking.  "I''m a baker with a cafe on this floor.  Any chance you like tasty treats?"


    I took the leftover veggie stir-fry out of my item box and offered it to the trees, laying it on their roots as my pulse raced in my ears.  The food sank into the ground with an earthy crunch.


    "Mooooooorrrrrrreeeee."


    The tree''s voice was so slow I could barely understand the word, almost sounding like a moan instead of language.  But if it wanted more, then I''d make more.  Except, I was out of my stir-fry leftovers and didn''t have the right ingredients to make more.


    I forced a smile on my face.  "Okay, more is coming right up.  Just give me a few minutes to make it."


    What was I supposed to do now?  I somehow doubted trees would like pudding as much as the slimes.  What did trees even eat?  Fertilizer?  I frowned, swiping through my item box.  I did have all the debris from the garden cleanup in here, plus some food scraps and other odds and ends that I hadn''t known what to do with.  I bet I could actually make a decent fertilizer...


    Okay, I''d make that work somehow.  I took out some plant clippings, grass, food scraps, and eggshells, grinding them all up in a pot.  I''d never actually made fertilizer before though.  What was supposed to come next?  Did I cook it?  Compost would have to sit out for weeks to decompose, but I definitely didn''t have that kind of time.


    Trees drank water from the ground, so maybe a fertilizing tea would be good here.  I poured water in the pot, heating all the ingredients up together until it made a grassy, kind of ugly, brown soup.  Mixing this up in the middle of all these trees made me feel like a witch in the woods.  I resisted the urge to cackle though because now was not the time to break down and start laughing.  The tree monsters were watching me.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The fertilizer smelled earthy and dank, not the most appealing thing I''d ever made, but I took it off the heat once it started bubbling.  I turned back to the older tree in the middle of this clearing, sensing that it was important to the others since it had all this room around it.  Once the mixture cooled, I carefully poured it around the tree''s roots.


    The soil around the tree glowed with a warm light as the tree slowly absorbed the fertilizer.  The glow moved through the tree as new growth sprouted from every branch, straightening the broken pieces and regrowing the missing bark.  The tree shook its branches, opening its eyes for the first time since I''d gotten here.


    Then it stood up straight, towering over all the other trees by far.  Its strong rootbound legs broke free of the earth, standing tall and proud amongst the other trees.


    My mouth dropped open.  "How did simple fertilizer do all that?"


    Jellybean swayed side to side like he had no idea either as a message box appeared.


    [Your new passive gardening skills work on plant based monsters as well.  That tree is enjoying the benefits of Growth Boost and Green Thumb]


    "Oh that is so cool," I said, already hurrying to make another pot.  "If those skills worked on it, maybe I could try Buff Baking and Flavor Boost too!"


    Now I really did cackle as I mixed things up, adding ingredient after ingredient to really make these trees be the best trees they could be.  When it was cool, I ladled the fertilizer on as many trees as I could, grinning as the golden light whooshed through their trunks and into all their branches.


    Wood creaked and groaned as the trees grew taller, their branches thicker, and their leaves shinier.  It was like I was giving them new life, filling this jungle with the best trees it could possibly have.  The trees crowded closer, handing me more grass clippings and fruit, nuts, anything they could get their twiggy hands on for me to cook with.


    I made batch after batch, relishing in the feeling of being useful.  They were just so happy, bounding around with renewed vigor.  Jellybean and Boss were playing catch with a group of saplings, tossing an apple back and forth.  It was all so silly and awesome.  If this fertilizer could work this kind of magic on jungle monsters, imagine what it could do for my garden.


    [Alert to all adventurers in the area: Living Tree rampage commencing.  The trees are overtaking floor six and are now boss-level monsters.  Good luck]


    "Wait, what?"  I dropped the ladle in my hands, glancing at the massive trees surrounding me.


    They had to be at least two times larger than they were before, maybe three.  Some of them were even level 15 now.  I covered my mouth as a laugh bubbled up.  My cooking had caused a monster rampage!


    "Maybe it''s time to go," I whispered to Jellybean and Boss.  "Before the other adventurers get here and blame us." I turned to the trees, biting my lip.  What about them though?  "Um, maybe you should hide for a while until things calm down."


    The trees shook their branches, leaves rustling as if they were laughing.  I had a feeling they were too hopped up on my fertilizer, thinking they were indestructible.  Maybe they were.  Maybe my true skill was making crazy awesome monster food.  I had a feeling this was going to go horribly, horribly wrong.


    But, the trees seemed confident, so I''d have to trust them to take care of themselves.  I had to take care of my own monsters because the slimes needed me.


    I pressed my palm against the old tree I''d helped first, feeling the magic seeping through it like sap.  "Stay safe and don''t hurt anyone."


    The old tree held out gnarled hands filled with fallen branches.  The other trees followed suit, holding out enough wood to expand my cafe three times over.


    "Are those for me?"  Warmth blossomed in my chest as their kindness washed over me.  "Thank you."


    After I added all the wood to my item box, filling it up completely, I waved to the trees and started making our way out of the jungle.  The sounds of adventurers yelling and metal clashing filled the area.  I glanced to the side just in time to see a man flying through the air, tossed by one of the trees.  Another followed, screaming as he soared in a perfect arc, landing in a swamp nearby with a great splash.


    These trees weren''t messing around.  They were definitely too strong for this dungeon floor now.  I crept out of the jungle, trying to avoid anyone spotting us and asking questions about the slimes.


    "Of course this mess has to do with you," a woman''s voice called out.  I turned to find Fiona shaking her head at me.  "Any time something weird and dungeon breaky happens from now on, I''m just going to assume it''s you."


    I laughed, rubbing the back of my head.  "Uhhhh, hey Fiona, what''s up?"


    "What''s up?"  She laughed, staring at the trees playing catch with adventurers.  "What''s up is you''re going to tell me everything over some delicious cookies.  It took me way too long to find you and I''m not going to miss tasty food to deal with this."


    "Sounds good to me," I said, glancing back at the trees one more time.  "Thank you for your help."


    Their twiggy hands waved at me as they continued their assault on the adventurers.  I had a feeling they''d be all right and the adventurers would just end up back on the first floor if anything went too far.  They''d be fine...right?


    I rubbed my hand over my face.  "What the hell did I do?"


    "I have no idea, but it''s damn entertaining," Fiona said, clapping me on the back.  "I''m glad you''re doing okay. I was worried about you all on your own.  Dave told me you were fine, but I didn''t believe him. He mentioned something about a cafe?"


    "Yeah, it''s just a shack right now, but it''s going to be amazing once I fix it up."  I smiled as she greeted the slimes, holding her hand out for them to bounce against.  "Why don''t you stay with me for a while?  I''ll fix up the cafe and bake awesome food while you can go out adventuring and level up."


    Her eyes widened.  "Really?  You''d do that for me?"


    "Of course, we''re friends aren''t we?"


    At least, the closest thing I had to a friend who was human-shaped.  A grin stretched across her face as she nodded.


    "I''d love to see this cafe," she said, motioning for me to lead the way.  "I''ll help with repairs too if you need it."


    "Deal."


    Together our little party of slimes and people made our way back to my cafe, the sounds of screaming adventurers and creaking trees drifting away in the distance.  That was a problem for future me, right now, I just wanted to get back to my cafe and bake some cookies.