Chapter 75 - 73: Great Tree-man Mage

Chapter 75: Chapter 73: Great Tree-man Mage

"They really are pretty weak."

"I didn’t expect it to be this easy."

"If I’d known, I would have just taken care of them myself."

Half a minute later, having failed to get the kill, Lu Wei could only resort to words to prove that he, too, was capable of easily dispatching the Tree-men.

But to his surprise, Mirana shook her head and said:

"No, the only reason you think they’re weak is because I’ve absorbed a Divine Blessing."

"A Tree-man’s bark is extremely tough. If your Power is below 10 and you haven’t mastered any Combat Skills, you’d probably have a hard time even hurting them."

"..."

’Alright, alright, you’re the best, happy now?’

Lu Wei took a deep breath. "Let’s keep going and check ahead. The remaining two shouldn’t be too far."

"Mhm."

Mirana gave a slight nod. Though her breathing was relatively calm, the fine beads of sweat on her forehead revealed that she had already expended a fair bit of stamina.

This was the downside of having extremely unbalanced Attributes.

It was like those "ultimate moves" in the anime from his previous life that required burning one’s life force to cast—at the end of the day, it was because their weak bodies couldn’t handle the strain of the technique.

’Damn it, if only there were a few more Tree-men. Then we’d see if you’d come begging for my help.’

Lu Wei glanced at her, thinking this rather dark thought, and continued walking forward.

He hadn’t gone far before he noticed a distinct change in the environment.

Compared to the territory of the last two Tree-men, the trees here grew much denser, and the air was more humid.

Given that conditions like water and sunlight were virtually identical, this meant...

’Just as I thought!’

Suddenly, Lu Wei stopped in his tracks. Behind a few clumps of dense ferns, he quickly spotted another Tree-man.

It still had the appearance of a tree stump, but it was slightly larger than the previous two. Its bark was no longer the grayish-brown of dead wood, but a deep, dark green, brimming with life.

"It looks... different..."

Lu Wei frowned, just about to warn Mirana.

But at that very moment, the Tree-man seemed to sense the threat and, without any warning, suddenly sprang into action!

Unlike the other two, it didn’t uproot itself. Instead, it remained rooted to the spot as its trunk began to tremble violently. Twisting, vein-like green patterns surfaced on its bark.

The next second, several tall oak trees nearby seemed to come alive. Their dense branches began to quiver, emitting a rapid and piercing RUSTLE.

"Watch out! It’s Activation!"

Shouting the warning, Lu Wei immediately drew Confession and sidestepped to a slightly more open area.

Mirana’s expression also turned serious. She brought her Longsword up in front of her, quickly assuming a defensive stance.

Undoubtedly, their initial reactions represented their different strategies when facing an attack.

One chose to dodge, the other to face it head-on.

Yes... it certainly matched the personalities they had shown so far.

At the same time, accompanied by a series of sickening CRACKS and SPLINTERS as wood twisted, an overwhelming assault rushed madly toward them!

The previously harmless oak trees were now like giants forcibly awakened, their branches twisting madly, whipping and coiling toward the two from all directions with terrifying shrieks that tore through the air, so dense that they sealed off nearly all room to evade!

According to the Introduction in the Adventurer’s Manual, a Tree-man that has mastered Activation Skills can typically activate two to three trees at once.

But the number now was at least double that!

’So it could be two Tree-man Mages, or... one Great Tree-man Mage...’

Lu Wei narrowed his eyes. The fact that he still had the presence of mind to analyze the enemy in such a critical moment showed he wasn’t panicking.

And indeed, he wasn’t.

Although the rapidly attacking branches looked dense and chaotic, they were actually full of openings. He had instantly spotted several paths to dodge through with ease.

His superior Perception allowed him to track every single attack. Combined with his already high 14 points of Agility, Lu Wei wasn’t necessarily fast, but his every move was precise. He dodged the incoming branches with ease, even managing to steadily close in on the large, green-glowing Tree-man.

Mirana, on the other hand, had a completely different approach.

"To dodge is the shame of a Warrior!"

This was the motto Furen used to say all the time... though lately he’d changed it to Lu Wei’s saying, "The truly strong test their blades against the even stronger."

It was unclear if Mirana also aspired to become a Warrior, but her attitude at the moment was certainly the same.

Facing the siege, she met the challenge head-on. Horizontal slashes, downward chops, and upward swings followed one after another. The arm-thick branches were as fragile as reeds before her, and the sight of severed limbs flying everywhere made it look like she was playing some kind of stress-relieving lawn-mowing game.

"SNAP—SNAP—!"

The sounds of snapping blended into a continuous stream. The activated branches, which would have exhausted an Ordinary Adventurer, broke and fell one after another under Mirana’s Sword.

But as time went on, her breathing grew more and more ragged.

’No, this isn’t sustainable!’

’I have to take out the main body as soon as possible!’

Gritting her teeth, Mirana realized this was just a slow death. She actually sped up her swings and began to push forward, inch by painful inch.

Because all of her focus was on the unending barrage of branches, she failed to notice that Lu Wei had already used a nimble roll to get right in front of the large, green-glowing Tree-man.

Without hesitation, he thrust his sword forward!

"CRACK!"

A splintering sound erupted. The tip of the sword, coated in Saracenic Steel, was incredibly sharp and pierced the tough bark with ease.

But just as Lu Wei was thinking that this elite monster wasn’t all that much, he felt an extremely strong resistance from his wrist.

’Holy crap!’

’It’s stuck!’

Realizing the blade was lodged in the wood, Lu Wei’s pupils shrank. He instantly understood that no matter how powerful his Weapon was, it couldn’t close the enormous gap in Power between him and Mirana.

Fortunately, the strike wasn’t entirely without effect.

"BOOM—"

Whether from pain or because its Magic Power circulation was disrupted, a dull boom suddenly echoed from within the great Tree-man’s trunk, and the flailing branches of the surrounding oak trees paused for a moment.

Immediately after, Lu Wei heard a shout from behind him—"Get out of the way!"—and then a Longsword came swinging straight down, grazing his arm.

"CRACK—CRACK—!"

"SCHIIIIING—!"

"..."

"Whew, that’s settled. Are you okay?"

"What the fu—"

...

...

And just like that, the battle was over. The area looked like it had been hit by a small storm, the ground littered with broken branches, shattered bark, and splinters of wood.

"Is it big?"

"Mhm, very big. The biggest I’ve ever seen."

"So, you wanna touch it?"

"No thanks, it looks kind of gross..."

A few minutes later, Mirana wrinkled her nose in distaste and averted her gaze, refusing to look at Lu Wei’s "big treasure."

"What’s so gross about it?"

Lu Wei pouted, found a large leaf to wipe the green crystal block in his hand clean, and held it up to the sunlight to admire it.

This was the core of a Tree-man—an Energy Crystal.

Tree-men are a type of Elemental Creature. They don’t have internal organs or anything; this little thing is the sole reason they can exhibit animal-like characteristics.

The one in his hand was clearly much larger than the ones from the first two Tree-men.

It was the size of a fist, an irregularly shaped crystal, and it emitted a gentle, pure fluctuation of Magic Power.

This was an "Active Energy Crystal." Its Value was much higher than an inactive one, selling for around 3 Silver Coins each.

"Speaking of which, can you be a little more careful next time?"

Shoving the Energy Crystal into his pocket, Lu Wei complained, "If that last swing had been just two inches off, my arm would be gone."

Mirana’s voice was calm. "I did warn you."

"You just said to get out of the way, you didn’t say which way to go!"

Lu Wei argued meticulously, "What if I’d dodged the wrong way? Wouldn’t I have been sliced in half?!"

"If that had happened, I would have stopped in time."

Mirana seemed very tired. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Besides, with your Perception, you should have been able to pinpoint my position."

"Alright, alright, I can’t win an argument with you."

Seeing she was back to refuting everything he said, Lu Wei plopped down across from her and couldn’t be bothered to say another word.

The two of them sat facing each other, recovering their stamina as the surroundings gradually returned to tranquility.

Aside from the wreckage on the ground and a few newly bald oak trees, it was as if nothing had happened.

Well... that wasn’t entirely true.

A few unlucky sparrows had their nests destroyed in the battle and were now chirping in helpless rage.

Mirana suddenly spoke up. "Your Agility must be high, too. At least 12 points, I’d guess. And you’ve mastered Stealth, so you should actually be able to pass the Professional Assessment for Minstrel or Ranger."

’Excuse me, all my Attributes are high.’

’And I’m already a Professional.’

’Didn’t see that coming, did you?’

Lu Wei glanced at Mirana, staying silent to maintain his expert persona.

After acquiring "Confession," all of his Attributes except for Physique had surpassed 10 points.

However, he was still a little short of meeting the standards for the Minstrel or Ranger professions.

That was because Equipment that increased Attributes wasn’t allowed during the Professional Assessment.

But right now...

[Power: 11 (+3) ↑1]

[Agility: 14 (+2+2+1)]

[Physique: 9 (+1)]

[Intelligence: 15 (+2+2)]

[Perception: 18 (+2)]

[Charm: 15 (+1)]

It wasn’t hard to see from the dense array of plus signs on his attribute panel that half of Lu Wei’s high Attributes were thanks to bonuses from his Equipment.

The Soul Pendant, the Forest Patrol Leather Armor, and Confession.

The three pieces of Equipment gave him a total of 16 attribute points... huh, wait a second?

Suddenly, Lu Wei froze for a moment, only then realizing his Power had actually increased by a point.

’Hmm? Was it because of the fight just now?’

’But it wasn’t that intense.’

’It didn’t go up last time when I killed the Kobolds, so why did it go up now?’

’I don’t get it...’