Chapter 74 - 72: The Powerful Mirana

Chapter 74: Chapter 72: The Powerful Mirana

"Mr. Furen, it’s morning..."

At dawn, a fresh morning breeze swept through the high canopy of the Dome Tree. Sunlight pierced the densely-packed leaves, casting golden specks of light on the sign of the Golden Sword Hu Grocery Store.

"Ngh..."

Furen groggily opened his eyes, glanced at Zovir squatting beside him, and slowly sat up.

He had taken the first half of the night watch, while the second half was handed over to Zovir and Anna.

Even though they were children, their Perception was bound to be higher than Bai Ya’s.

With the Alarm Bell set up as well, he had managed to sleep soundly enough.

"Smells good."

Taking a deep breath of the air, which was filled with the aroma of bread, Furen instinctively turned his head toward the campfire.

But he was surprised to see Anna was the one cooking.

And Bai Ya, of all people, was still curled up in her sleeping bag, sleeping like a log.

"Um, I just went to wake Miss Bai Ya."

Zovir explained in a hushed voice, "But she said she was too tired from last night and wanted to sleep in a little..."

"Too tired?"

Furen froze for a moment, then it dawned on him.

It was true. After he’d taught Bai Ya the most basic swinging stance last night, she had taken that "Simple Practice Sword" and practiced nonstop. She must have been at it for at least three hours.

Furen knew the consequences of training at that intensity, so he had advised Bai Ya to take it slow.

But she wouldn’t listen, just saying things like, "I have to work hard," or "I need to get stronger as fast as possible." They sounded inspirational, but Furen couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

’She used to have a "just having enough to eat is good enough" mindset. Why the sudden urgency?’

’Women are so hard to understand.’

Furen shook his head and shifted his gaze to the direction Lu Wei and Mirana had left in last night.

’They’ve probably arrived by now.’

’They might have even started fighting monsters already.’

’And here I am, just wasting my time... No! I have to work hard, too!’

’Today, I’ll complete three times my usual training volume!’

A passion suddenly ignited in his heart. With that thought, Furen immediately scrambled out of his sleeping bag and stretched his body, planning to get in a round of "special physical training" before breakfast.

But just then, Zovir asked at a rather inopportune moment:

"Mr. Furen, aren’t you supposed to be digging the foundation for the grocery store today?"

"I was wondering if there’s anything I can do to help you?"

Furen: "..."

’The greatest Warrior of the Future Continent, now reduced to manual labor!’

’What a tragedy! How utterly tragic!’

...

...

"Hmm... I smell irritability."

Meanwhile, as a gloomy Furen began digging the foundation, Lu Wei had his eyes closed, carefully sensing the surrounding "fluctuations."

He had invented the word "fluctuations" himself.

After all, he couldn’t think of any other term that could integrate sight, hearing, smell, and even intuition.

His 18 points in Perception were like a massive fishing net. With a single cast, it could detect information in the environment that Ordinary people couldn’t, which would then rapidly converge and be filtered in his mind, ultimately constructing a three-dimensional image based on his "sixth sense."

And the feeling given off by abnormal "objects" that didn’t quite blend in with the environment was like ripples on a calm lake—clear and distinct.

That was why he called them "fluctuations."

Right now, he was sensing an "irritable" fluctuation.

"Southeast, about forty feet."

Suddenly, Lu Wei’s eyes snapped open, and he pointed to a seemingly ordinary patch of woods to their front left.

It was overgrown with a tangle of trees and crisscrossing vines. On the ground were a few moss-covered dead stumps. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But Mirana’s gaze immediately locked onto those dead stumps.

Just like a "puji" with legs, Tree-men would usually stay fixed in one place, disguised as tree stumps.

It wasn’t quite "mimicry," just a form of camouflage at best.

But because the resemblance was so uncanny, many Adventurers would accidentally wander into their territory.

And then be viciously attacked.

That’s right. Although Tree-men rarely attacked humans proactively, they were extremely sensitive to any creature that intruded on their territory. When they encountered one, they’d fight.

No one knew why they had this trait.

"It should be those two."

Creeping closer, Lu Wei pointed at two stumps about seven or eight meters apart—

Their cracked bark was covered in thick moss, their shapes twisted and archaic. They were about chest-high on an Ordinary human.

You couldn’t see the kind of noses and mouths from the anime of his past life, so they were indeed very difficult to identify.

However, Lu Wei was quite certain at this point.

The feeling these two stumps gave him was clearly different, and as he drew nearer, that feeling became even more distinct.

He had probably already angered them.

"Alright, I’ll take care of the one on the left first. Stay close to me and watch out for the Activation."

Mirana whispered a warning, then gently rested her hand on her sword’s hilt. Her body slightly hunched, she slowly closed in on the Tree-man closer to them.

When the distance between them closed to about five meters, she suddenly drew her sword and charged. Her speed wasn’t particularly fast, but her force was staggering.

"BANG!"

With a dull thud, the dirt beneath her feet was instantly kicked up, leaving a shallow crater.

Mirana had no flashy, superfluous movements—only the ultimate Thrust that condensed all her strength into her sword. It let out a sharp whistle as it cut through the air, and in the blink of an eye, it struck the center of the dead stump’s trunk with unerring accuracy—

the central point between its two branches, which was also the location of a Tree-man’s Energy Core as indicated in the Adventurer’s Manual.

"CRACK—!"

The force generated by 31 points of[Power]was terrifying. Even though Mirana wasn’t using her full strength, her Longsword still tore through the tough bark with ease, plunged into the trunk, and let out a crisp cracking sound like splitting firewood.

The poor Tree-man didn’t even have a chance to stand up. The branches on either side of its trunk had only just begun to rise before they fell limply back down.

Then, its round body swayed once before crashing to the ground, sending dead branches and rotten leaves flying. Just like that, it became a lifeless, truly dead stump.

The entire process took only five seconds.

"..."

’Holy shit! She’s too strong!’

’Having high[Power]is the real deal!’

Eyes wide, Lu Wei was honestly a little stunned by the scene.

And just then, the other Tree-man finally reacted. Its thick roots tore themselves free from the soil, ripping up large chunks of turf. It then immediately charged at Lu Wei, who was closer, brandishing branches as thick as whips!

Well...

It was called a "charge" because the Tree-man was indeed giving it its all.

But in Lu Wei’s eyes, it was about the level of a kindergartener running a 100-meter dash.

And it probably wouldn’t even win first place.

’Wait, is this thing’s combat power really higher than a goblin’s?’

With a strange expression, Lu Wei executed a simple sidestep and easily dodged the "Barbaric Tree Charge."

He even had enough time to draw "Confession" and slice away a few of the branches attempting to whip him.

’Confession is undeniably sharp, but this thing is just too weak...’

’Its branches feel no different from ordinary tree branches.’

Realizing how weak his opponent was, Lu Wei grew excited, wanting to try killing one himself.

But before he could make a move, Mirana suddenly executed a turn as smooth as a dance transition. Her Longsword followed the rotation of her body, carving a perfect horizontal semicircle that landed squarely on the second Tree-man.

"CRACK—!"

Amid the same cracking sound, a deep, if not entirely clean, gash appeared on the second Tree-man’s trunk. The single strike had nearly cut it in two at the waist!

Due to inertia, its upper half tilted and fell backward, while its lower half continued its forward momentum.

The two halves were connected only by a few remaining wood fibers. If it could still be alive after that, he’d have seen a ghost.

"..."

’Hey, at least give me a chance!’

’You’re making me look like a total weakling!’

A moment later, Lu Wei stared at the two dead stumps on the ground—one subjected to "One Sword Piercing the Heart," the other "Divided in Two"—with a very dissatisfied expression.

Mirana, however, calmly shook her sword, flinging off the few drops of murky sap and wood chips clinging to the blade. She said flatly:

"Done."

"..."

???

’What are you doing?’

’There are only two of us here, right?’

’So who are you trying to act cool for???’