Kaisen waited for the duo near the pool.


    He had sent Maximus and Llyod to check for themselves if their partners were the real ones or not.


    He had also told them to ask specific questions from the early days of meeting since that was how it was done.


    ''What am I even supposed to do?''


    He didn''t know the full extent of their enemies'' power, their leader if they had one, and most importantly, how long he had before these creatures decided it was time to start the sacrificial ritual.


    All he had was his power and the hope that an early boss like Nightshade should be way under level 100.


    While he was contemting this, he heard two footsteps approaching.


    He turned around and saw Maximus and Llyod, both wearing sour expressions.


    Llyod, in particr, looked devastated, as if he had just lost his entire family.


    "So..."


    Kaisen asked, standing up and dusting off his pants.


    "I asked her questions from our early days... things only she and I could know. And... well... you were right."


    Maximus said in a low tone, not daring to look Kaisen in the eyes.


    Kaisen then gazed at his best friend, who was on the verge of tears.


    "Sh-she doesn''t know...m-my..."


    "My what?"


    "M-my big girthy penis''s size."


    "..."


    "..."


    [...]


    Even the system was speechless.


    "Wh-why are you guys looking at me like that? It''s only something the real Elfie would know, and... and I also asked her some questions about her old ce, and she was fumbling with words..."


    Llyod shook his head, embarrassed for a moment, but quickly sadness washed over him.


    "What should we do, Kaisen? What should I do to get back my Elfie?"


    Llyod stepped forward and clutched Kaisen''s cor like he was hoping Kaisen had answers.


    Well, he did know something, but they were just useless tidbits.


    "Well, since it''se to this and we don''t even know when we will find our girls, I say we should climb the trees and watch their base."


    Kaisen suggested, looking up at therge, imposing trees.


    "Trees?"


    Llyod raised his eyebrows. This was the first time he was hearing anything about this. Maximus, too, was looking at him strangely.


    "Oh? Ah, that. For some reason, I believe they are in the trees. I don''t know why, but I have a strong suspicion that they are in the trees."


    Kaisen casually said, stroking his nonexistent beard.


    Llyod and Maximus looked up, and sure enough, therge trees had interconnecting branches that looked like tforms or floors if you were agile enough to jump a little every minute.


    "It''s worth a try."


    Maximus said.


    ''Worth a try? This is the only thing I am sure about.''


    Why would there berge, imposing trees like this in the first ce?


    This is a game world. An open world game without any linear story structure.


    A forest full of shapeshifters that doesn''t live on the ground? Where could they probably be hiding then?


    A 100-meter tree that has interconnected branches forming tforms across the whole forest or on the ground that everybody who just waltzes in can see and find them?


    The answer was obvious.


    "Should we interrogate the three? Grab them by their necks and threaten them to spill everything they know?"


    Llyod suggested.


    Kaisen raised his eyebrows.


    He didn''t expect this dude to think about such tactics.


    "No. Not now, at least. We don''t need them to know that we know their secret just yet. If they have some kind of rm artifact with them, ourpanions could be in danger."


    "Then what are you suggesting, Kaisen-kun?"


    Maximus asked.


    Kaisen raised a finger.


    "One. One of us should climb the tree while the others watch over the fake trio."


    This was a start.


    ...


    Ten minutester, Kaisen was halfway up the tree.


    He looked up and saw that he had a bit more to go before reaching the interconnected branches.


    Out of the three, being the strongest and the most curious one, Kaisen decided he should be the one to climb the tree while the other two looked after the girls.


    Nobody was against it. They just wanted this mess to be over with.


    He looked down and estimated it was about a 40-meter drop.


    If it were the old Kaisen, he wouldn''t have suggested climbing at all.


    But now, at level 120, he felt like he could jump from there with minimal damage taken.


    ''Power is an aphrodisiac.''


    He could have climbed cautiously, but that wasn''t necessary right now.


    If the Nightshades were indeed up there, he was going to burst in and go straight towards Alice''s marker that was marked on his mind map.


    He also could use Veil of Shadow if necessary.


    So he climbed on, heart pounding hard for what he would see up above.


    Would there be an army of shapeshifters waiting for him with their weapons ready? Or were they not aware of hising?


    ''It will be fun either way.''


    With those thoughts, Kaisen climbed the tree and didn''t stop until he was at the highest point possible.


    Just above him, therge branches sprouted from the tree, each one looking like a normal tree itself.


    ''What kind of abomination lives up there?''


    Bracing himself, he reached up and held onto a branch, his body hanging in the air.


    Slowly, he hoisted himself up and finally stood on the branch.


    ?!


    ''Holy fuck.''


    His eyes widened, and he had to use his hands to shield them from the zing sun overhead.


    It had been many days since he had seen the sun.


    Although sun rays did prate through the tree branches, this was the first time he had seen the actual sun.


    He held his breath for a moment, forgetting to release it as the view was absolutely stunning.


    The ground was a in of wood and leaves, like t wooden nks lined up on the ground, with some peaks of trees about a meter tall.


    Clouds floated in the sky, a bird chirped nearby, and the breeze blew gently.


    "Beautiful."


    He had to take a second to bask in this sight.


    ''The chirping of a bird and the sun—wait a damn minute! There''s a bird here now?''


    He had never seen a living creature down there, but a bird was here all along.


    Just as he was pondering this, suddenly a system message appeared.


    No, it wasn''t a system message. It was a health bar.


    [Demonic Vulture of Vha, the Night Bloom]


    ''What the fuck now?''


    A high-pitched sound pierced through his ears.


    He looked up, forced to shield his eyes from the zing sun, and saw the silhouette of something big against the bright sky.


    It wasing down fast. Its wings pped and its beak was wide open.


    "Oh shit."


    He jumped just in the nick of time as a sharp beak pierced through the wood and destroyed the tform where he had been standing a second ago.


    The vulture continued downward, and Kaisen had to skip between branches to get away.


    The creature was at least four or five meters tall, with ck feathers, red eyes, sharp glinting nails that looked like des, and a broken beak.


    He paused for a moment, uncertain if he wanted to use the Talisman of the Eclipse Breaker. With its cooldown of five hours, he didn''t want to waste it now.


    Then he felt a movement beneath him.


    Quickly, he dove to the side as a beak, almost as big as his body, shot up from the wood and tried to grab him by the torso.


    The vulture screeched again and leaped into the sky, circling above him with its blood-red eyes locked onto him, filled with disgust and hatred.


    ''Focus, Kaisen. Focus. This must be a mini boss or something. Just stay cautious and that thing is done.''


    It indeed was a mini boss, and he could end this fight fairly easily if only it wasn''t flying. He couldn''t fly, so unless it came down—


    And it came down again, screeching and diving straight at him with its broken beak.


    Kaisen took a deep breath, nted his legs firmly on the branches, and prepared himself.


    He was going to end this.


    His feet moved.


    He jumped just before the beak could grab him. The vulture flew past him and was now beneath him.


    Kaisen felt power coursing through his hands and grabbed onto its thick neck.


    Unlike before, this time the vulture did not go down.


    Instead, it used its force to propel itself into the sky in one swift jump, taking the poor Kaisen, who was holding onto its neck like a g on a pole in a windy day.


    Kaisen was now up in the air, legs kicking as the Demonic Vulture tried to shake him off by flying wildly.


    The wind whipped around him, making it hard to hold on.


    They were really high up now, over 170 meters from the ground.


    If he fell, even if he somehow survived, he''d definitely break more bones than he can counts.


    The vulture twisted and turned, screeching loudly.


    Kaisen''s heart pounded as he held on tight, knowing that letting go meant certain death.


    The ground below was a blur, and the wind roared in his ears as the vulture kept trying to throw him off.