《The Dungeon Of A Forest God》 V1 | Ch 0 | Prologue Darkness enveloped the world. It was a world with nothing but pure blackness. The sky was pitch black with no clouds, stars, nor moon. The earth was ebony and so barren that nothing grew on it. A white cloud suddenly came out of nowhere. It gathered and formed into the shape of a boy with white hair and skin in contrast to this dark world. A strong gust of wind enveloped him. Then, as if the air could wash away the darkness, it sucked all the black matter of the world and enveloped the boy with condensed ink. Before long, the dark world vanished and left behind a bright blue sky and fertile soil. Small buds sprouted and rapidly grew into a healthy forest. The black wind that enveloped the boy like a cocoon slowly dispersed. Floating in the air, there was nothing that changed in him except 2 black horns that appeared among his white hair. ¡°You are indeed quite a promising child,¡± an old man¡¯s voice came from behind him. ¡°This is my first time to produce 2 god-class children in the same century. I wonder if combining 2 different elements together really helps with the success rate, hmm?¡± The dimension distorted and showed an old man with his long gray beard. He slowly approached the boy and carefully inspected his body.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. He let out a sigh when he pinched the boy¡¯s arm, but then his eyes grew wide when he noticed the horns on the boy¡¯s head. ¡°Really, your physical power is merely on the level of a human child, but what is this condensed magic power? How can this immense magic power be stored in this weak vessel? Is it because of these horns?¡± The black horns were still small, but the tremendous dark-elemental magic was overflowing from it. It was as if the horns were made out of pure darkness. ¡°This smoothness and this shape. It¡¯s different from demon¡¯s horns. Are these¡­ antlers? But there is no deer beastman in this world. Oh right, you must be a new species. I see... I see... Since you are like a deer, let¡¯s call you Oscar. It¡¯s from ¡®Os¡¯ that means deer and ¡®Car¡¯ that means friend.¡± While touching the boy¡¯s antlers, he looked at the surrounding forest. ¡°You have this immense power of darkness and the power of governing over forests. Truly befitting the name of a forest god. Your power materialized splendidly.¡± With a swoosh, he produced a cane from thin air and swung it sideways blowing the forest along with the dimension away. What was left was only a pure white dimension stretched to no end. The boy twitched a little as if he was having a bad dream ¡°Now, I¡¯ll send you back to the outside world. Considering your nature¡­ let¡¯s set it in a forest somewhere. After that, find your home and we shall talk again.¡± While still half asleep, the boy tried to open his eyes and sat up, but the old man tapped his cane on the forehead of the boy creating a black hole underneath. ¡°Well, see ya.¡± The power that made the boy float suddenly disappeared and he fell into the black hole while trying to grasp what was going on. ¡°Oh and don¡¯t die too quickly. You got it?¡± Was what he heard before his vision was once again dyed black. V 1 | Ch 1 | Oscar, alone(?) in a forest
Skills received: [Authority of a forest god], [Mind link], [Growth acceleration]
Titles received: [God-class child], [Newborn one]
¡°Where am I¡­ and who am I?¡± the white-haired boy groaned while caressing his temples. ¡°Was that just now perhaps a dream? Nah¡­, that can¡¯t be it.¡± It felt as if he just had a lucid dream. Still, the scenery was too real and he could remember every single word that the old man had said while he was asleep. ¡°I felt like I had a long dream even before seeing that gramp¡­, but somehow I can¡¯t remember it.¡± The weird feeling of holding knowledge, but knowing nothing about himself struck him and made him feel uneasy. It was like trying to remember what dream he just had last night after he woke up. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t remember his past at all. ¡°Ah, forget it!¡± Giving up on doing something meaningless, he lied down on the fluffy grass floor. He looked up toward the sky where the bright light came from the gaps between leaves and branches. A cold breeze blew past him flickering his white hair along with the green grass floor. The scent of the moist dirt and the grass touched his nose as he closed his eyes and immersed in pleasure. His short, pointed ears twitched in pleasure. Leaving that weird dream aside, this place is nice. The air is fresh and the soil is fertile. Yes, I can feel it just from this scent alone, he thought, sniffing and raising his nose in the air. He flipped over, buried his face in the fluffy grasses, and began to rub his cheek on them as if they were a high-class fur. ¡°Ahh, this is the scent of a fertile forest. I can¡¯t bear it. This is just too gooood!¡± The boy lifted his body up on all fours and raised his nose high. He filled a big chunk of air into his lung, slowly let it out, and opened his eyes. This place is moist and cold. It means the tall trees can fully cover the floor and the small plants can healthily maintain the moisture of the ground. Right, there must also be a water source nearby! Turning his head left and right, he found out that he was left alone deep inside a forest. The trees were tall and sturdy blocking most of the strong sunlight while the small plants were leafy and seemed healthy. Moss grew here and there where sunlight couldn¡¯t reach, and there were even lichens on the tree barks. They were green and fluffy like feathers. These lichens look so healthy! There are uncountable species of lichens in this world, but these guys here only grow in an unpolluted environment. They are the best indicator of a clean environment. Right now, the boy¡¯s eyes were sparkling like a little child¡¯s. What he had seen wasn¡¯t only a fertile forest, but rather a precious treasure, a new comfy home, or maybe new friends. Yes, friends. With his [Authority of a forest god], he could communicate with plants, small animals, and herbivores through mutual understanding. This was somewhat similar to a skill called [Telepathy], albeit an advanced one. With his authority, he didn¡¯t really talk with plants using languages, but he somehow understood what they wanted to tell him and vice versa. He once again looked around himself. What he felt was the kindness from the trees which slowly melted his heart down. They were competing in talking with him and asking him about this and that. They were like a group of aunties who first saw their nephew after a long time.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The trees were so excited to have a small visitor whom they could talk to. On top of that, they somehow felt attached to this boy as if he was also one of their kin. A nearby tree bent its thick branch down and shook a handful pile of berry onto his lap. ¡°Take these. Birds and monkeys also love them,¡± the tree told him. ¡°Eh, can I really have them? Thank you.¡± He bowed to the kind tree and stuffed berries into his mouth. Their sour-sweet juice gushed out after he took a bite on. ¡°Wow amazing, they are so sweet and juicy!¡± One by one, the nearby trees continued to barrage him with questions and hospitality. ¡°Are you still hungry? You can have my fruits until you are full.¡± ¡°Do you have a place to sleep? My trunk is hollow. You can sleep here for tonight.¡± ¡°If you feel sick. You can chew my leaves and you will feel better. Just don¡¯t pluck my root out and I will grow my leaves again. It took quite some time for him to talk with them until they were satisfied. Most of them insisted on giving him something useful like their fruits or medicinal ingredients. They were forceful to the point that they would pluck their leaves and fruits out and placed them in his hand if he refused to take them by himself. ¡°Wait, how could you guys move like this? Are you guys a magical tree¡­ what they call a treant?¡± Treants were a plant-type monster. They were originally normal trees. But once they had absorbed a large amount of mana for a long time, the mana crystallized in their body and turned them into a monster which can move on their own will. However, after a few questions and experiments, he was sure that they were still just ordinary trees. From their perspective, they were still normal trees. But his skill [Authority of a forest god] provided them with his excessive mana. It allowed them to slightly move and made them more intelligent. [Authority of a forest god] is a racial skill of a forest god who can govern over forests. As long as he stays in a forest, the entire forest obeys his will. This is an unexpected ability. Just who exactly am I? He then recalled his recent dream with the old man. ¡°That¡¯s right. That old man called me Oscar and also a forest god. So am I a forest god? But with only these clues, it doesn¡¯t really answer who I am¡­¡± Oscar, who had leaned onto a tree trunk, started inspecting his small body, especially his smooth antlers. ¡°That old man also spoke something about my antlers and¡­ Oh, he talked about finding a home or something and he will see me agai- Ouch!¡± A hard object hit his antler, making a *pock* sound, and fell nearby. He stared at it. ¡°A nut?¡± Looking up at the tree branches, he saw a squirrel looking down at him while making a *chi-chi* sound. ¡°Ah, you also want to give me this? Thank you very much,¡± he talked to it using his skill. It seemed the squirrel meant no harm to him as it just wanted to give him his spare food, but the little guy was just too shy so it just hesitatingly dropped the nut down from the branch above. The squirrel bowed his head once in apology and nervously sprinted into its nest. ¡°I see. So that is your home.¡± He looked around himself once again and pondered. ¡°Then where and how should I make mine?¡± Skill received: [Mind link] Titles received: [The one loved by mother nature] <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill Encyclopedia: [Authority of a forest god] Type: Racial skill, obtained since birth. [Authority of a forest god] is an [Authority] set skill which gives the power to govern over a forest. Other skills in the same set are, for example, [Authority of a forest king], [Authority of a death god], [Authority of a fire god], etc. The same type of [Authority] set skill can have different authority level, for example, [Authority of a forest king] has a lower authority level than [Authority of a forest god] and can be less practical. [Authority of a forest king] had a charming effect over several species. As for Oscar, his skill works on all kinds of plants, fungus, beasts with a size smaller or equal to a wolf, and herbivores. Noted that all of which must be wildlife, born and grown in a forest. The effect scope of [Authority of a forest god] is very vast. Several branch skills can be derived from this skill alone and it can generate new, unseen skills based on the user¡¯s strong desires. V 1 | Ch 2 | They just simply vanished! With the determination to find himself a home, Oscar sat down, crossing his legs and leaning onto a tree trunk. ¡°If I can make my own home, maybe I can meet that old man again and I can ask him about my identity. And also...¡± He looked up toward the tree branches where birds were happily feeding their chicks. It was still in the middle of spring and their eggs were just hatched, so it was in the middle of their busy time to raise their children. Somehow my heart yearns for this kind of thing. A home and a warm family. I wonder if I can have one. He had no memory of his past. And in the first place, he was not sure what he was either. Maybe, he might have a family somewhere. Maybe they were also searching for him. Still, he didn¡¯t have a single clue leading to his past besides the old man whom he had met in his dream. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t just a dream. According to him, he will meet me if I make myself a home, but what kind of home do I want?¡± He closed his eyes and tried to use his brain. ¡°Firstly, there needs to be water. Water is the source of life and I would want it in daily usage. Next is a steady shelter to fend off strong beasts and covering me from storms. And lastly¡­¡± He looked at his own hands and then he lifted his head up looking toward the trees. ¡°That place shouldn¡¯t be far from people so that I may find some clue about that old man.¡± If his memory was correct, that old man was also similar to him, standing on 2 legs and having no fur except hairs on his head. It was unfortunate for Oscar since his memory and knowledge of the world was still broken and muddy. He knew everything about a forest including names of every species within it, but he knew next to nothing about civilized races. As the result, he could only describe himself and the old man as such without knowing a proper name to call. ¡°Neh everyone~ Do you guys know somewhere close to a water source, have a strong shelter, and close to places where people walking on 2 legs live?¡± Sadly, the answer was ¡°no.¡± The reason was the fact that trees can¡¯t move, so they barely knew anything about the places where their roots couldn¡¯t reach. As for the birds and squirrels, they rarely traveled too far away from their home because they have their babies to care for. ¡°Well, that can¡¯t be helped. Now I wonder if it¡¯s possible to speak with other trees in the forest from this spot.¡± He placed his hands on the ground and closed his eyes. He tried to feel the entire forest from his palm. His sensation stretched as if his hands grew uncountable roots which stretched to no end. Trees have no mouth or ears. They communicate through their root contact. Several trees in the same area entangling their roots together forms into a ¡°tree community.¡± That is how trees normally send words to each other. However, this tree community doesn¡¯t stretch infinitely. The longer the distance is, the severer the message will become broken. It is similar to the way ¡°telephone game¡± works. Each tree has their own will. If a tree on an edge of a forest wants to send a message to the tree on the other edge, it must pass the message through several tree communities. With how long the distance is, the message would become broken to the point of unreadable. However, it¡¯s not entirely impossible for a forest god such as Oscar to talk to the trees located several kilometers away from him. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. That was because Oscar was using his authority as a forest god with the help of fungus colonies. In this forest, the fungus could healthily grow everywhere especially underneath the fertile soil. They had a weak will, but they strongly connected to each other like a massive spider web that covered the entire forest. A fungal colony has extremely low intelligence even when compared to a small plant. When he tried to talk with them through his [Mind link], they never could send back even a single word although his power should surely connect the link between him and them. However, they were a perfect communication system for Oscar. With how low their will was, he could order them to pass his messages to a faraway place without damaging the content inside. And thanks to them, he could easily contact any single tree in this forest with ease. ¡°Thank you, everyone. I think I now understand the shape of this forest, more or less." He stood up. According to what he learned, there were quite a number of places that met his criteria. So what he had to do was just going to the closest one. ¡°Ah¡­ I almost forgot it. How should I deal with these gifts?¡± Next to him was a pile of fruits and herbs, the gifts from his new friends. It was impossible for his thin body to bring a huge baggage around But it was also a bad idea to leave them behind given that they were literally body parts of his new friends. He would want to avoid doing that. He looked back at the trees. Since the trees could move if he orders, maybe if he asked them to carry the luggage for him¡­ was impossible. Even though the trees could move according to his will, they were still normal trees. Their movements were limited and moving too much as a normal tree can permanently damage their roots. And even if they were turned into treants, a treant¡¯s speed was still as slow as a turtle. Their nature was unsuitable for traveling a long distance. ¡°Umu¡­ what If I neatly tie these things up? Will they be easier to carry?¡± He put a stack of herbs on both hands and squeezed them into a thinner stack. But strange enough, there was not a single leaf left inside when he opened his palm. ¡°Eh!?¡± Shocked by the strange phenomenon, he looked around for the herb he was holding just now. However, they just simply vanished without a trace. ¡°I swear that they were still here just now¡­¡± He once again repeated what he had done and once again did the herbs vanish. ¡°Just where did they went to?¡± He then tried his third attempt. But this time he was extremely careful and observant. ¡°Wow, they just sank into my palm!¡± Or rather it¡¯s the shadow created by folding his palm. Oscar had unconsciously unlocked and used [Shadow Storage], a skill related to shadow element. He repeated his experiments a few times and quickly understood what had happened. When he realized that it was actually his shadow not his palm that sank the herbs in, it didn¡¯t take him long before he learned to retrieve it back. ¡°It must be related to what the old man said about my antlers containing darkness power. Anyway, I will just dump everything inside my shadow for now and get going.¡± After that, it was a trivial matter to walk around the mountain of gifts and absorbed everything into his shadow. And when everything was packed, it was time for his journey to begin! ¡°I wonder what will the first destination look like~¡± Skills received: [Share perception], [Shadow storage] <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill encyclopedia: [Mind link] Type: branch skill [Mind link] is a skill derived from [Authority] set skills. It works by creating a ¡°link¡± or ¡°connection¡± between the skill holder and the subjects under his jurisdiction. This connection can be used to communicate; however, it works differently from a skill called [Telepathy]. Using [Mind link], the skill holder can transmit a message between his subjects by conveying its pure meaning without using wording language. With this method, the communication becomes faster and can break through the barrier of language and knowledge. Another notable difference between [Mind link] and [Telepathy] is the ability to convey emotions and sensual feelings from one end to the other. If the skill holder connects the link to a subject who is currently angry, he would realize the degree of rage in the subject. The only cons for [Mind link] is that the skill holder can¡¯t connect the link if the other end is too far away. However, if he connects the link beforehand, the connection will not be broken through distance unless the skill holder wishes to. Ch 3 - The skull With a strong heart, the white-haired white-skinned boy started his long journey¡­ ...or so it should be. ¡°I¡¯m tired and my feet hurt!¡± It wasn¡¯t even an hour since his journey had begun, but now he was totally out of breath and his soft white feet were now swollen red. It was a miracle that he didn¡¯t sprain his ankle yet. Giving up on tormenting his poor small feet, he sat down on a rock nearby tending to his legs with the herbs he was given as gifts. He smashed them with a small stone and applied the paste onto his skin. Physically-wise, he was but only a child. If he was a human, there was no way a weak human child could stroll around in a forest with bare feet and¡­ naked. That¡¯s right. Even though Oscar still didn¡¯t realize, a normal human or any civilized race should wear a cloth on to keep himself warm. He did compare himself with squirrels and rabbits he found along the way and pondered why didn¡¯t he have fluffy fur like them, but never in his dream did he realize the existence of clothes. ¡°And now I feel a bit cold¡­ It¡¯s still good that I have fruits to fill my belly, but eating doesn¡¯t help me fend off this coldness. Ah, it would be better if I can have fluffy fur like you guys.¡± He stared at the rabbits with jealous eyes. Look at those fluffy white and brown fur! Just how good would it feel if he had touched them? Feeling the depression in Oscar¡¯s mind, the nearby rabbits looked at each other and decided to cheer him up. They approached him and hopped on his lap one by one. ¡°Woah! You guys¡­ want to comfort me?¡± He gave a surprised look at the group of rabbits that suddenly surrounded him. The rabbits also stared back at him with their round black eyes. They raised their nose high and let out a small cute sound *kuun~.* ¡°T-Thank you. Please allow me to hug you guys. Ahhh, your fluffy fur is so warm and soft.¡± Leaving his harsh journey aside, he decided to rest here a bit longer. Also, since he just applied some herb to his legs, it would take him a while before the effect took place. He casually spent his long break eating the fruits he stored and feeding the mountain of rabbits he was buried in. This felt like riding on a cloud, he thought. Losing to the cuteness of the rabbits and the warmness of their fluffy fur, he felt more relaxed and started to doze off. Feeling that falling down from this rock would be hurt and scary, one by one the rabbits started to fled away from his hug and tried to warn him. However, they were too late. Before they could wake him up, he had already rolled down from the rock. The rabbits hid their eyes behind their small paws all together until the boy crashed into a bush below. Hearing the groan coming from Oscar, they ran after him to see if he was fine. ¡°Ouch ouch, that hurts a lot. Ah, but I¡¯m glad that I didn¡¯t drag you guys down with me.¡± He felt relieved from seeing that he didn¡¯t cause harm to the rabbits, but still, that was so dangerous. He must be more cautious in the future, else he might unintentionally hurt them. Trying to get away from the bush, he tried to lift himself up from the ground. He placed his hands on the ground to support his weight. But then instead of the sandy sensation of the ground or the rough sensation of the bush, his palm felt an odd smooth surface out of all. Surprised by the weird object in his hand, he turned to look at the thing. ¡°Eiii, why is a skull here!?¡± His hand was placed on the upper skull of an animal. It had a long face, hollow eyes, and a pair of beautiful antler on top of its white smooth bone. ¡°It must be from a deer. Maybe a predator hunted him and brought his head to eat here.¡± Or it could be here by a scavenger given that normally a predator prefers meaty parts over the head.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Still, that scared me. I should leave this place, it might be a hunting ground of some predator.¡± He quickly stood up and turned on his heel. ¡°Wait!,¡± a small and weak voice urged him to stay. ¡°Eiii!¡± Being scared and surprised, Oscar turned back to see who called him. ¡°Eh, he was connected to me¡­ in that state!?¡± What surprised him was that the upper skull of the deer was unexpectedly connected to him via mutual understanding. He knew that he could connect a communication link with plants and small animals, but a dead body¡­ not even in his wildest dream! ¡°A-Are you a ghost?¡± The skull didn¡¯t reply. Instead, it gave off a sad and sorrow feeling through the connection. ¡°I have something to protect. I can¡¯t die just yet!¡± The emotion that he felt from the connection now began to fluctuate. It shifted from sorrow to depression and then anger. ¡°C-Calm down. Can you tell me your story from the beginning? And if there is anything I can do, I will help you out.¡± The skull once again went into a long silence. The rage and hatred aura it gave off quickly scared the rabbits away even though they shouldn¡¯t hear him talk. As for Oscar, he was sweating all over his body. Even his palm was soaked wet. He was really scared. Right in front of him was but a single inanimate skull; however, the pressure it gave off was like having a big boulder placing on top of his shoulder in an extremely hot sauna. Be it as it may, he couldn¡¯t move an inch from the spot though he truly wished to run away as far as possible. It was not because he was too scared, but rather because he had unconsciously asked the skull to tell his story and even promised to help him. If he run away even before the other party spoke his first word, it would be very rude. Fortunate enough, the rage of the skull was quickly suppressed afterward, and it gave its first word after a while. ¡°Green warts,¡± he spat it out with a hoarse, hatred sound. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°We called them the green warts. they appeared out of nowhere. Before we realized it, they multiplied like weeds. From a small group, they became a pack and then a horde. They trampled everything in their way and devoured every life on their path.¡± What kind of monster was that!?, Oscar screamed in his mind. From the story of the skull, the so-called green warts must be an alien species, a species that somehow slipped away from its usual habitat to a new one and caused an ecological crisis in the new land. It was nothing strange, but it was a very bad news. An alien species can permanently damage the new habitat it set foot in. They may compete with the local species in securing foods or they even eat all the local species to the point of extinction. Worse, they usually grow faster in number than the local species in cases that there is no natural predator for them in the new land. The only ways to stop the destruction of the entire ecosystem is killing every single alien species or driving them back to their original habitat. But in normal circumstances, the later one is almost impossible. ¡°My herd took the role of protecting this forest for generations. When a strong predator grew too large, we trampled and scattered them to other lands. When a drought came, we begged for the water spirits to provide rain. And when we faced a forest fire, we evacuated the other beasts into a safe place. Never in my wildest dream did I think that every effort we took would become worthless in my generation¡­¡± He once again returned back to giving off a sorrowful aura. Oscar was dumbfounded. Surely, he thought that this forest was so fertile and all, but he never thought that it actually has a protector. No wonder why the forest has so few predators and the soil looked unreasonably moist even though the water sources were so far away. Gradually, the fear lingering in Oscar¡¯s heart was slowly replaced by a new opposite emotion. It was ¡°admiration.¡± The entire forest could live happily because of the efforts of a single deer and his herd. Just how much responsibility did he shoulder to make everyone happy? Even when he had died, he couldn¡¯t just cast away his duty. To Oscar, this guy truly worthed the title of a forest protector. The skull went silent for a while. Oscar knew that the skull''s story wasn¡¯t over yet, so he simply sat and patiently waited for him. A hint of rage could be felt from inside the skull. It burnt as though a fire was lit there and it grew fiercer in every moment. ¡°Those bastards! They used some cheap trick to hide their stinky smell and sneaked in when we were deep asleep. Before I realized it, half of my herd was put to their eternal sleep! And then, they even chased us during the night with no moon. I swore that I couldn¡¯t notice even a hint of their usually disgusting smell, but their voices were everywhere. Their creepy, happy yells chased after us. Above my head, they jumped around like a monkey. In the bush on our sides, their red eyes and sharp fangs bared at us like we were already their dead meat. And at the edge of my vision, my partner fell down before my eyes!¡± Like pouring cold water on hot oil, the fire fueled with the rage of the forest protector erupted. As though the storm was formed right before Oscar¡¯s eyes, strong wind swayed the trees and the rabbits that hid far away were blown into the air. The fire of rage materialized in the hollow eyes of the skull. They stared fixedly at Oscar''s face, then the skull roared with a powerful voice. ¡°O the small one who was loved by the mother forest. I beg you. Please bestow disaster upon those dirty Green Warts and let my hollow eyes see their utter end!¡± Ch 4 - What is a forest god? Hearing such a responsive request, Oscar made a troubled face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I think I can¡¯t do that.¡± The raging fire in the skull''s hollow eyes had died down after hearing the heartbreaking answer. Together with that, the furious storm had also calmed down. ¡°W-Why?¡± ¡°Because I can¡¯t do what I can¡¯t do,¡± he shook his head in refusal, ¡°As you can see, my body is weak. Just walking in the forest had almost killed me. How could I fight against such a horde of scary creature.¡± The skull was dumbfounded as though he couldn¡¯t believe what he had heard. ¡°You can trick anyone but me, my lord! Even though you are still young and immature, but aren¡¯t you a forest king¡­ no, a forest god? There is no way the head of the white stag herd such as me mistook you for only a mere kid.¡± Shocked by what the skull had said, Oscar couldn¡¯t help but held his breath. ¡°Did you just call me a forest god?¡± ¡°Of course, my lord. It¡¯s said that a forest god has a unique kind aura like the first flowers in the early spring and is loved by the mother nature. There is no way I would mistake my lord for some random child.¡± ¡°Do you know what a forest god is?¡± ¡°Well,...¡± According to the knowledge passed down in his herd, forest gods and forest kings depicted the very existence of the forest itself. Naturally, a forest god is higher in ranking than a forest king and it¡¯s said that a forest king is actually a servant to a forest god. This forest also had a forest god in the long past, but he had abandoned it for who knows how many centuries ago. After that the white stag herd had protected this forest ever since, waiting for their beloved lord to return. ¡°Forest gods and forest kings are very important figures for a forest. They turned a barren land into a fertile one and gave birth to us plantations and wild lives. To us, they are nothing less than deities.¡± Somehow the skull became calmer whenever he talked about a forest god. ¡°A forest god is a divine existence that, with a swing of his hand, he extinguishes the severest forest fire in an instant. With a single stomp of his foot, he tramples anyone damaging the forest no matter how far away they are. And with a single drop of his blood, he reinvigorates the burnt trees and rewinds the death of his followers who are burnt into the finest ash.¡± Every single word of him was full of praise and admiration, like a little child talking about his hero. However, the more Oscar heard the words of praise, the uglier his face became. How could he do such absurd things? Let alone extinguishing the forest fire, the sunlight would be hot enough to burn him dry. Trampling his enemy would be impossible if he can¡¯t even properly walk in a forest. And rewinding the death¡­ this was too much of a joke. ¡°As if I would know how to do that!¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Oscar unconsciously screamed for unable to bear the misunderstandings, but this time the skull didn¡¯t look so surprised. ¡°I see, my lord might still be immature so you don¡¯t fully understand your potential. In that case, why don¡¯t my lord ask a favor from spirits?¡± ¡°Spirits?¡± An unfamiliar word was heard, making Oscar frowned and narrowed his eyes. ¡°Yes, spirits are everywhere. Though we can¡¯t see them, we can ask for their favors from times to times. Well, they are picky and lazy so we usually need to offer something to please them, but as a forest god I think they would at least abide my lord¡¯s requests.¡± ¡°What can a spirit do?¡± ¡°It depends on which kind of them. A water spirit can produce water and control it. A fire spirit can ignite a fire and extinguish it at its will. Even forest spirits exist where they can even grow trees overnight.¡± Although he was not too sure about what the skull had said, he started to believe that his existence was exceptional. He could talk to both trees and animals and they, in turn, felt unreasonably over-attached to him in return. If a forest spirit existed, there was no doubt that it will be kind to him. They could help him or not was another story, but they should at least listen to his request. Oscar frowned and used his head. If¡­ Just only ¡°if¡±... If what the skull said was true and I can ask the spirits to help getting rid of or casting these monsters away, what will I do?, he wondered. He had no grudge against these green warts or whatever, but leaving them like this and they would destroy this forest. If he asked himself whether he wanted to let them live in this forest or not, the answer would be shifted toward their extermination. However, there were still problems restraining him from helping the skull. Firstly, he couldn¡¯t just trust every word of the skull blindly. He felt admired toward the skull that he had protected and maintained this forest well, but listening to the whole story from one side was an unjustified act. There was a possibility that the green warts just attacked the white stag herd for only territorial reasons which was pretty normal in every forest. Secondly, revenge can¡¯t bring back the dead. Even though he can exterminate the monsters, the forest protectors won¡¯t come back. As the result, there was still no guarantee of the good future of the forest in case that the green warts were to be all exterminated. And lastly¡­ He looked straight at the skull. Lastly¡­, he felt admiration toward the skull as a forest protector. Although the skull was currently in that poor state, Oscar still hoped to see his hero do his jobs until his last moment. Is there no way for the skull to gain his body and fight again?, he wondered. Oscar let out a long sigh. He was 100% sure that reviving the dead with just his blood was impossible. And even if that was possible, the skull that had lost once in his last battle against the monsters probably can¡¯t fight back alone after his revival. Then what could he do to help the skull? Was there really no hope? Oscar massaged his temples and racked his brain. He closed his eyes and looked toward the sky which was covered with leaves and vines. The skull kept silence during this whole period. In his heart, he truly wished that his lord would help him avenging his herd and took control of the forest in his place, but speaking it out loud and driving his admired lord into a corner was an unrespectful act. I will just calmly accept it if my lord foresees that it is impossible and decides to abandon my hope, the skull determined. ¡°Vines¡­," Oscar mumbled, staring at the vines hanging on a tree branch, "That¡¯s right, the vines!,¡± Oscar suddenly shouted out, snapping the skull from his thought. ¡°If¡­ If I do that and following with this¡­ Then theoretically, it¡¯s possible. Though I don¡¯t know how to do it in detail if I ask the spirits¡­ this is highly possible!¡± Seeing his lord overjoyed, a spark of hope was lit inside the skull¡¯s inexistent heart. ¡°M-My lord what happened? Do you perhaps decided to help us exterminating the evils?¡± Oscar shook his head while grinning broadly. ¡°That¡¯s not it, but I have a better idea. I will make you a new body, a stronger one!¡± Ch 5 - Forest spirits After calming the scared rabbits, Oscar relayed the skull¡¯s apology to them. Fortunately, the rabbits were lucky enough to fell onto a bouncy bush so their wounds were minimized. At first, the rabbits still feared the skull, but their feeling changed into sympathy after Oscar told them the tragic story of the skull. Some of the rabbits even approached the skull and patted his forehead. It seemed they recognized him when he was still alive. After that, Oscar quickly listed what he would do and prepared what he wanted for his plan to help the skull. First, he asked the birds around there to gather an essential material for him. What he wanted was deep inside this forest according to the information he obtained from connecting to the fungus communication network; however, since he traveling that far is impossible for the current him, he must rely on the birds instead. Next, he needed to prepare for the ritual to call forth the spirits¡¯ power. ¡°Say, mister skull, how can I talk to the spirits?¡± ¡°My lord, spirits are everywhere. If you want spirits to do something for you, just say the name of the spirits, tell them what you want them to do for you in detail, and offer them something in return.¡± As easy as that?, Oscar was surprised. ¡°The effects mostly depend on the details of my lord¡¯s requests and the offerings.¡± ¡°What kind of offering is good?¡± ¡°Well, actually I don¡¯t know spirits¡¯ mind.¡± Oscar made a blank face. What was this vague and unreliable answer? ¡°It depends on spirits to spirits, but in general their sense of value is weird. For example, different spirit loves different type of stone and jewel, but forest spirits like none of them. Rather, they tend to choose rare and seasonal forest products instead.¡± ¡°This may prove to be troublesome¡­¡± He knew next to nothing about the stones or jewels and it would be impossible for him to excavate them if required. As for the rare forest products, it¡¯s hard for him to tell which one was rare. To him, every single plant and tree is all important and extraordinary. It¡¯s like asking him which needle is the sharpest in a sea of needles. And even if he knew what he would need, his only choice was relying on the birds and rabbits to gather them for him. ¡°Whatever will be, will be. If none of the gifts I received is enough, let¡¯s think again about the offerings.¡± . . . Oscar spent his waiting time talking with the skull while the rabbits cuddled around him. As expected, the skull was very knowledgeable about this forest. He taught him about effects of herbs and what kind of environment each plant required. ¡°Eh, I thought that fireglow ferns love living in a place with a little more shade than that. They did tell me that themselves,¡± Oscar asked, curious about the contrast of info between two sources. ¡°Indeed my lord, the fireglow ferns grow faster on a shaded and moist ground, but the ones growing in a harsher environment give off better medicinal effects and it will be many times more difficult to face their usual rotting root disease with that. It may be true that a colder place suits their taste better, but a hotter place is better for their growth in the long term. Sometimes, things need a harsher place to grow into a proper adult.¡± ¡°I see. I¡¯ve learned a lot from you, mister skull.¡± As an animal with no absurd skill like ¡°authority of the forest god¡± of Oscar, the skull had no way to communicate with the trees. What he had was only the knowledge from observing and experimenting over several years. However this knowledge of his had proven practically useful as Oscar only knew what do trees like, but the skull even knew what is good for them. If someone was to call him, the skull would be a veteran herbalist. As expected for someone who had protected this forest for years. ¡°Ah, they finally came.¡± Before dusk, the birds came back from doing their assigned task. Hooked in their talons were a few glowing pale-yellow berries. ¡°My lord, those are...¡± ¡°Moonlight vine¡¯s berries. Mister skull must be familiar with them, right?¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Moonlight vine is a type of creeping vines that grew in a deep forest. Their notable characteristic is their glowing berries which gave off mild light similar to that of the moon. In the dark, they would be pretty much outstanding.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Their vines were tough and flexible because they have several sets of unique tissue made out of biotic steel stretched along deep in their vines. The moonlight vines might look just like a normal weed, but underestimating their toughness was a bad idea since a normal knife would never cut through their bionic steel tissues. Their monsterized form, moonlight snakes were said to be the scariest terror of a traveler who trekked through a deep forest since they looked just like a normal vine and a normal blade would never be enough to harm them. ¡°They are perfect for what we¡¯re gonna do! Mister skull, just wait and see and I will make you a stronger body which can avenge those monsters!¡± Oscar¡¯s eyes sparkled. What he wished more than the skull¡¯s revenge was the come back of his admired hero who protected the forest. . . . ¡°Let me confirm you again, but this is not even close to a revival. I will simply make a permanent connection between you and the moonlight vines and then monsterize you so that you can move them as your legs. You will be completely turned into a monster. Are you fine with this? Still, I¡¯m not sure either that this will be a success since I¡¯ve never done it before. It¡¯s only possible in my theory.¡± ¡°As long as you are the one doing it I¡¯m ready to follow you wherever you wish me to go, my lord. Be it heaven or hell, I will run there without even a single thought. On top of that, avenging my herd and protecting the forest is the only selfish thing I can ask for. So if this is the only possible method to do so, I will gladly give all my soul to it.¡± ¡°T-Then please leave it to me!¡± Oscar was pumped up; however, in his heart, he felt deeply nervous. What will happen to the skull if he was to fail? In his theory, nothing will happen even if it totally failed, but he can¡¯t be certain because right now his knowledge is so little. There may be several flaws in his theory. Even so, leaving the skull like this was unacceptable. He must do something to help the skull return to his peak and maintain his honorable duty. After strengthening his heart, Oscar placed a few moonlight berries on the ground and covered it with the skull. He then walked back a few steps and piled all the herbs and fruits on the floor before starting his chant. ¡°O spirits of the forest, heed my words and obey my wills. With my authority as a forest god, I shall bestow this skull and his poor soul with a solid soul bond to these moonlight vines.¡± The wind began to whirl bending the grasses around Oscar and the skull. As for the rabbits and the birds, they had fled to a safer place a while ago since they had a premonition that something like this was gonna happen again. ¡°My mana shall be bestowed upon this poor soul to change it into a magical creature. O spirits of the forest, I shall compensate your efforts with these offering of mine.¡± The wind grew stronger and stronger. Shining green particles appeared here and there out of the void. They glowed and floated around like fireflies in this fierce storm. ¡°...Not enough,¡± a sweet, childish voice whispered. ¡°Hm, did you say something, mister skull? Mister skull?¡± But the skull had become silent, even the fire flickering in his eyes had disappeared. ¡°These offerings aren¡¯t enough,¡± it repeated with a louder voice. ¡°N-Not enough?,¡± Oscar surprised. Surely he had also thought that maybe these offerings might be insufficient, but still the ritual had begun and he had offered all of the gifts he had received. If he didn¡¯t do anything, it will end up failing. If that was the case, what would happen to the skull? He had become silent ever since. If it failed, would he disappear forever? What should I do? What should I do?, Oscar¡¯s mind became chaotic. ¡°T-Then take my mana and if they aren¡¯t enough I¡¯ll offer my blood!,¡± He shouted, pleading. He remembered the story that the skull had told him. A single drop of a forest god could rewind the dead. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was true or not, but there was no way to test it except trying. Clenching a sharp rock in one hand, he made a straight cut on the other hand. Fresh blood bleeded out from the cut and dripped down to his backhand. A single drop of blood fell on the earth and on the spot, a sapling suddenly grew up and bloomed an elegant flower with seven-colored petals. ¡°Thank you for your gifts. That is plenty enough~,¡± the sweet voice whispered in his ears. The particles of green light gathered in his wounded palm. His hand shone with the cluster of green. Quickly after, it formed into a sphere and the light then died down. What was left in his hand was a small woven ball with green particles floating inside. His wound was also closed and healed with not even a single bloodstain left behind. ¡°Wow, this is mysterious¡­ And what is this ball?¡± But that¡¯s not all. A big change developed around the skull and the woven ball. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill Encyclopedia: [Authority of a forest god] Type: Racial skill, obtained since birth. [Authority of a forest god] is an [Authority] set skill which gives the power to govern over a forest. Other skills in the same set are, for example, [Authority of a forest king], [Authority of a death god], [Authority of a fire god], etc. The same type of [Authority] set skill can have different authority level, for example, [Authority of a forest king] has a lower authority level than [Authority of a forest god] and can be less practical. An [Authority] set skill is different from magics. For magics, anyone can use them as long as he has enough mana and does the required process properly (Note: better compatibility only helps in increasing efficiency and reducing required procedures.) However, an [Authority] set skill can¡¯t be used without the skill itself. [Authority of a forest king] works on several species which are different in each skill holder. As for Oscar, it works on all kinds of plants, fungus, small animals including birds, and deers, and herbivores. Noted that all of which must be wildlife, born and raised in a forest. The effect scope of [Authority of a forest god] is very vast. Several branches skills can be derived from this skill alone and it can generate new, unseen skills based on the user¡¯s strong desires. People holding [Authority of a forest god] are not guaranteed to get the same skill effects and it¡¯s still unknown as to how to get each skill of its branch or whether someone can get the same branch skills or not if he passes the same conditions. For the current Oscar, [Mind link], [Share perception], [Growth acceleration], [Treant creation] are already obtained at this point and he will realize it afterward. Ch 6 - The rebirth of a forest protector A black cloud of storm appeared above a forest out of nowhere. The strong wind whirled around a small area swaying the trees and blowing leaves into the air. In the middle of the storm appeared a single deer skull. Its jaw was missing, but that¡¯s nothing worthy of note. The strange part was that it can weirdly stay solid on the ground like the surrounding storm was mere illusion. In front of it was a boy with white hair and pale skin. On his hand, a small woven ball containing particles of green light was afloat. At the moment, the green aura was gushing out of the boy¡¯s hand and entering the woven ball. It was his mana. The boy¡¯s mana was constantly drained into the woven ball at tremendous speed. It was so condensed to the point that just the spilled bit of this green mana alone could instantly lengthen the surrounding grasses to reach his waist. Good enough, the boy didn¡¯t show any sign of fatigue from losing too much mana, left alone fainting. Instead, he felt curious of what happened. What exactly is this ball, he wondered, what should I do? However, with every moment of mana supplied to it, the green particles flowing inside the woven ball shone brighter and brighter. Then it stopped sucking the boy¡¯s mana. Leaving not even a moment for the boy to be surprised, the woven ball floated toward the skull on its own will. It entered the skull¡¯s hollow eyes and enlightened the dark interior. A moment later green particles left the skull¡¯s eyes, but the green light still mysteriously shone from deep inside the hollow eyes. The situation grew weirder when the skull began to shake like something was crawling underneath it. As if they were coming out from a terror story, several long green tentacles crept out from the skull¡¯s shadow. They grew longer and longer, thicker and thicker. Every foot along their long arms appeared a pair of green leaves. Observing the situation closely, those tentacles were in fact only vines. Inches, feet, meters, the vines grew longer and longer. And once they grew long enough to be able to reach the top of an average tree, the vines stopped growing. However, the mysterious phenomenon didn¡¯t just stop at that. The vines then folded and spiraled into a big round lump. The lump of entangling vines then changed its shape. It stretched longer horizontally, then it grew two legs on each end. On an end with a pair of slimmer legs, another branch of entangling vines appeared stretching toward the sky and then the skull appeared on top of it. ¡°Ohhhhhh!,¡± Oscar let out his surprise cry. If one had looked at this scene from afar, he would have recognized it as a weirdly green deer. However, it actually gave off a powerful aura. Its antlers were large and fanned out magnificently like a coral. Its build was large and strong with muscle-like bulging on its thick limbs and neck. And it stood still, looking into the crimson twilight sky. As if the heaven was blessing for its birth, The wind suddenly calmed down. The cloud slowly disperseed and a tiny ray of golden sunlight bathed the beast¡¯s majestic presence. Birds began to gather after the storm was gone. Their chirping blended into a song welcoming the birth of the beast. Rabbits, squirrels, and other wildlives came out from their hiding to witness the return of their friend. ¡°Mister skull! Are you still there?,¡± Oscar called it out. The beast slowly turned its face toward the boy who gave its new life. In its dark and hollow eyes, green flames were flickering inside. It didn¡¯t return a single word back. Instead, it lifted its front hoof up and¡­ collapse, the entangling vines scattered into four directions.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Eh? Wait, what happened? Are you alright, mister skull?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord, it seems these vines were too soft. I can¡¯t remain my original shape just yet.¡± It appeared that there was nothing dangerous happened to the skull, however controlling soft vines and turning them into a big figure was too difficult for the current him. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped since they are creeping vines. Even though they are so tough and hard¡­¡± Creeping vines was still creeping vines no matter how stronger it became. In nature, they can only creep on the ground except there was a tree nearby to work as their holding place. ¡°It may be possible in the future, so don¡¯t give it up! Also, leaving that aside, do you feel weird somewhere? Do you feel the vines refusing you?¡± ¡°No, my lord. Everything is fine. I¡¯m happy that I can move again, but it still feels a little bit weird like growing hundreds of legs.¡± His vines twitched and wiggled as if saying that he was alright. Oscar approached and touched the green skin of the vines. He didn¡¯t feel the separate will of them which was concerning him before the rebirth process. Back then he was not sure if the vines will grow the will of their own and refused to connect with the skull, but his nervousness was proven to be futile. From his understandings, plants were just like animals. They gained their will after their birth. Then what will happen if he fused them with another being before their birth? The answer was, their will would be consumed by the host¡¯s stronger soul. That was the reason why Oscar had chosen to fuse the skull with the seeds of the moonlight vines before accelerating their growth with magic. And it was proven to be successful. ¡°That is good to hear¡­ Umm, calling you mister skull is no longer good I think? Because you have more than just a skull now.¡± Oscar pondered for a while. ¡°How about Lunus? ...Ah, I didn¡¯t ask if you already have a name or not. I¡¯m so rude to don¡¯t ask you.¡± ¡°No, my lord. We beasts don¡¯t have naming culture and it¡¯s my honor to be bestowed with such a beautiful name from you, my lord.¡± The skull gathered his vines and raised his face up from the ground. He looked at Oscar as if waiting for his reply. ¡°I see. Since you gained the body of moonlight vines, I think a name related to ¡°moon¡± should best suit you. From now on, you are ¡°Lunus¡± and your existence will be called a ¡°forest protector.¡± Lunus bowed his skull head down as if accepting a blessing. ¡°I, Lunus the forest protector, shall pledge my loyalty toward my lord Oscar for giving me my second life. I swear to use this new body of mine to protect this forest and smash the evils until the end of my life.¡± It was a little bit embarrassing to hear someone pledge something this serious, but Oscar decided to make a poker face and just follow the flow of the event. ¡°I admire your determination, Lunus. Please take care of me from now on.¡± He stretched his hand forward and smiled at Lunus. In return, Lunus raised one of his vines to coil around his lord¡¯s hand. ¡°Likewise, my lord. I will work hard to quickly be of use.¡± Both of them shook their hands under the last light of the day. The vowing oath was witnessed by the forest as trees and beasts were there as eyewitnesses. Birds sang and beasts cried as if applauding to the beginning of a dramatic relationship between a newborn forest god and his first loyal follower. Quickly after, the news of the event would be transmitted throughout the forest. Birds and beasts would tell the stories to their children and the trees would transmit the story to the other ends of the jungle. In this forest, the only ones that couldn¡¯t glimpse the chain of events were only those who lurked inside the darkness¡­ and the fools. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill encyclopedia: [Mind link] Type: branch skill [Mind link] is a skill derived from [Authority] set skills. It works by creating a ¡°link¡± or ¡°connection¡± between the skill holder and the subjects under his jurisdiction. This connection can be used to communicate; however, it works differently from a skill called [Telepathy]. Using [Mind link], the skill holder can transmit a message between his subjects by conveying its pure meaning without using wording language. With this method, the communication became faster and can break through the barrier of language and knowledge. Another notable difference between [Mind link] and [Telepathy] is the ability to convey emotions and sensations from one end to the other. If the skill holder connects the link to a subject who is currently angry, he would realize the degree of rage in the subject. The only cons for [Mind link] is that the skill holder can¡¯t connect the link if the other end is too far away. However, if he connects the link beforehand, the connection will not be broken through distance unless the skill holder wishes to. Ch 7 - The talk inside a flute tree In a silent night, most of the lives in the forest had gone into a slumber. There were only the sounds of insects ringing in this dark night and the voices of owls hoo-hooing under the starlight. However, a faint light came out from a flute tree, a big tree popular for its trait of having a hollow cavity inside its trunk and giving out a drum-like vocal upon knocking on its bark. Today, this flute tree seemed to accommodate a group of guests inside. ¡°A spirit that can talk?,¡± the guest who was but a single deer skull hanging down with vines asked, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that, my lord. Are you sure that the words didn¡¯t come from your [Mind link]? They are forest spirits after all.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure that I heard it with my own ears. Besides, I can¡¯t connect the link with those light particles,¡± another guest who was a white-haired boy answered. After the ritual had ended, it was almost dark so Lunus had led him and the rabbits to find a shelter. They arrived at this tree just before the night came and decide to sleep here for the night. It seemed these rabbits also fled from hearing the news about the green warts before joining Oscar, so they had decided to follow him since it looked safer this way. Of course, the person himself didn¡¯t mind to have living fluffy things around. ¡°By the way, my lord. What are those cloth?¡± ¡°Cloth? You mean these vines? I¡¯m interested in how you can control vines so I try to do the same as you. Maybe we can help together to improve your controlling skills.¡± The warm light shone from the berries grew on Lunus¡¯ body uncovered the shape of another group of moonlight vines and leaves that coiled around and covered Oscar¡¯s body. They were neatly attached to his bare skin leaving almost no white to be seen. In the ritual, Oscar got the glimpse of how to accelerate the growth of plants: it was to pour just the right amount of mana into it. However, he must be careful as to not monsterize it from injecting too much mana. From understanding this trick, he experimented in recreating the ritual¡¯s effect on his body. He fused with the leftover seeds of the moonlight vines and made it cover around him like a cloth¡­ or rather an armor. The vines now stuck to his skin forming a thin membrane between them. He could even felt the sensation from the vines as if they were his own limbs. ¡°Still, what are clothes?¡± ¡°My lord, I¡¯m not so knowledgeable about it either, but I appeared to know that they are an invention of a race called human. I met one of them years ago by chance. That one said that they wrapped themselves in a thin layer of fur-like product to keep themselves warm.¡± ¡°Heh~, so these are similar to those clothes? No wonder why I feel a little bit warmer now that I cover myself in these vines.¡± Still, the coldness of the night in a forest was too severe. A simple leaf cloth could never perfectly keep his body warm. Every single breeze passing through the huge entrance made him shudder and rub his body to warm himself up. Seeing that, the rabbits who were feeding on Moonlight berries began to cuddle around him to warm him up. ¡°Thank you, everyone. If I don¡¯t have you guys, I must die from this coldness for sure.¡± He petted the rabbits as he plucked some of the berries grew on his vine cloth to feed them. He then shifted his gaze toward Lunus who went silent for a while as if thinking about something. Oscar couldn¡¯t read his face since it was just a solid skull, but somehow he could feel some nervousness in Lunus¡¯ eyes. It might be an effect from the [Mind link]. ¡°Lunus, don¡¯t you feel cold?¡± Hearing that snapped Lunus back to the reality as he turned to face his lord. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, my lord. It appears that this state of mine is unable to feel hot nor cold. How should I put it? Although I can feel that it¡¯s cold from the sensation of these vines, the coldness just doesn¡¯t make me feel pleasure nor painful. It might be because I had turned into a being similar to undead. Now I can¡¯t even feel sleepiness nor hunger.¡± Dumbfounded from the fact he had learned, Oscar¡¯s face turned ugly as he pitied Lunus. ¡°It¡¯s my fault for pushing you into this state. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°No, it¡¯s not my lord¡¯s fault!¡± Lunus got nervous to cheer his lord up as his vines wiggled and pushed his face down from the ceiling. ¡°Rather, I¡¯m happy that at least I can move around like this! Look at my past self. I can¡¯t even talk to anyone left alone moving just an inch, but with these vines, I can do whatever I want. It is due to my lord that I could regain my hope and goal, so please don¡¯t feel down.¡± Hearing that, Oscar felt delighted. It was not his fault that Lunus had lost his senses of pain and pleasure, instead, he had helped him regain his hope. A pleasure of successfully doing something good rose up in his tiny heart. ¡°I¡¯m glad that my power can help you. I will try my best to perfectly revive you in the future!¡± He gave Lunus a wide grin. As if an illusion of smile appeared on Lunus¡¯ face, he embraced Oscar who gave all of his spirit in helping him. His vines enveloped Oscar and the rabbits into a round loose cocoon. Their branched stretched out reaching the walls to support the sphere. ¡°With this, you will not get cold,¡± he said to his lord together with giving off a heartwarming aura. His other vines stretched and filled the huge entrance, blocking the cold wind to enter. ¡°Thank you. Also, your skills develop so fast. You must be able to take your original form in no time!¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Now, please rest, my lord. I might not feel sleepiness, but your body needs to rest else you won¡¯t grow.¡± ¡°...Yes, that¡¯s right. Good night, Lunus.¡± ¡°Good night, lord Oscar.¡± Lunus stopped sending his mana to his berries, making them slowly dimmed down. Darkness enveloped the room and soon after everyone was deep asleep¡­ ...except for one person. The green flames within Lunus¡¯ hollow eyes were lit within the darkness. In front of him, his lord was there. He could feel his lord¡¯s sounds, the warmth, and the presence. His beloved lord was alive and well. He admired his lord, a forest god. However, his lord was still growing; his current control over his power was still limited. On top of that, his physical power was only that of a child. If he was to face the green warts, he might die within a single strike. The green light in Lunus¡¯ eyes flickered. Back when he pleaded to his lord, he lost all of his reasoning to revenge and responsibility as the previous ruler of the forest. However, when he had calmed down, he had time to carefully rethink and learn about his lord¡¯s current ability. Then a question floated up in his mind. ¡°How could I let my beloved lord fight in his immature state like this?,¡± he blamed himself. If his lord, a forest god, die during a future fight with those green warts, how could he defend his acts in front of his herd and his partner in heaven? My lord must not die from those lowly green warts!, he cursed. An existence called a forest god is exceptional. No matter how severe the crisis a forest was facing be, he could eliminate the causes and rebuild the forest in but a moment. Even the death was said to be rewinded. However, his current lord still couldn¡¯t control his power. Letting him fight in this state was no different from pushing him off a cliff. ¡°It was my responsibility as the ruler¡­ no, as a forest protector to get rid of any existence that can harm this forest and my lord.¡± He once again stared into the darkness where his lord was. His eyes were way better than when he was alive since he had become a half-undead. After seeing his beloved lord for the last moment, he swung a vine at a tremendous speed. The vine he swung cut down the branches of vines that enveloped his lord in a cocoon, separating them from his body. The cocoon shook a little, but it seemed his lord who was sleeping inside didn¡¯t notice it since he was still sleeping soundly. ¡°Well then please excuse my rude acts, my lord. But seeing your pure smile made my heart ache when I thought about bidding you farewell...¡± He pushed his way out of the hollow tree and once again cut his vines that covered the entrance out. However, after applying his overflowing mana to the severed parts, the vines quickly grew back in seconds. ¡°...because you remind me of my dead unborn children.¡± With a swoosh, a deer skull attached to a cluster of vines leaped into the air. Its vines caught and coiled around tree branches hurling its gruesome body from tree to tree. Not even the trees noticed him since they were also asleep in the night time; however if someone saw such a scene with his own eyes, he must have several nights of terrorful nightmares. Still, not everyone was in his slumber at the time as a pair of slanted eyes stared fixedly at what Lunus did. Its tail flicked as if it foresaw a fun thing going to happen. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill encyclopedia: [Growth acceleration] Type: Branch skill [Growth acceleration] is a skill derived from [Authority of forest god] skill. For a forest god, this is a common skill that everyone must have though the condition to unlock this skill normally takes some time to pass. [Growth acceleration] helps the skill holder to manipulate the growth of a living being under his jurisdiction. By applying his mana to the subject, it will accelerate the growth of the target without turning the target into a monster. This skill can be used on both plants and animals; however, it takes several folds less mana to accelerate the growth of a plant than an animal. In addition, the damage that a plant take or the severed part of a plant can be easily regenerated through this skill. The condition to acquire this skill is to slowly observe a plant from seed to fully grow and bear fruits. For other forest gods, it might take them months or years before acquiring this skill. Ch 8 - The shadow casted by a light The dawn was over and the first light of the day came. Golden light was spread onto the scenery, casting and stretching the shadows of the trees long on the grassy ground. It was said that light could eliminate and purify the dark; however, in reality, long, sharp, and dark shadows like these could be born only when a bright light came. One could also say that light was the origin of darkness. Below the dark shadow of a tree appeared a big entrance to its hollow trunk. Vines were grown and entangled together, blocking the sunlight to reach the darkness inside. Suddenly, a white hand pushed its way out and casted the vines aside. The golden sunlight bathed the face behind the wall of vines in gold, except for his black small antlers. ¡°Lunus! Lunus! Where are you?,¡± Oscar shouted, calling Lunus¡¯ name while searching for him. The rabbits also helped searching inside the bushes, behind the trees, and underneath the rocks. However, they got not even a single clue regarding the whereabouts of Lunus. ¡°Just how and when did he leave without us noticing? Did he leave when we were all asleep?,¡± Oscar pondered. ¡°That¡¯s right, nyan. He left in the middle of the last night, nyan,¡± an unknown sweet voice came out of the void. ¡°I see. I see. Ah, maybe he just went out searching for foods since I had lost all of my fruits and herbs.¡± Oscar didn¡¯t notice that someone was talking to him since he was racking his brain and losing deep in his thought. He even thought that the voice was his own subconscious voice. ¡°That¡¯s not it, nyan. He was so scary, nyan. It was like he was going to kill someone, nyan.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he was planning to go dealing with the green warts alone!? Wait, whose voice was that?¡± Snapping out from his deep thought, Oscar looked around searching for the source of the mysterious voice. No one was around there, not even other animals. Then, Oscar¡¯s gaze suddenly caught the strange behaviors of the rabbits. They gathered around a tree and stared at its branch above. He shifted his line of sight onto the branches and saw a black cat lying there brushing its tail on the tree branch. It narrowed its slanted eyes and stared straight at him. ¡°I¡¯m merely a normal cat who appears to pass by, nyan. So, don¡¯t mind me, nyan,¡± it teased him before licking its paw. ¡°As if a normal cat can speak like that! Tell me how do you know that Lunus had left!¡± Yes, the cat wasn¡¯t talking to him via his [Mind link]. Rather, she used her own voice to speak. ¡°Hiya, don¡¯t give a scary face like I am a culprit here, nyan, since I was only sleeping here while that weird guy came out from the tree trunk, nyan. At first, I even thought he was a scary undead, nyan. He looked just like a skull with tentacles.¡± ¡°That must be him! Where did he go? I must quickly follow him before he goes too far.¡± ¡°It¡¯s that way, nyan,¡± the black cat pointed her paw toward a direction, ¡°But it was hours ago and he was super fast, nyan. It¡¯s impossible for you to catch up to him, let alone tracking his trails, nyan. How about you letting this sis-¡± Not listening to the cat¡¯s warning, Oscar placed his palm on the ground and used his [Mind link] to contact the trees in that direction via his fungal communication network. The cat¡¯s eyes opened wide in astonishment before she narrowed them back down, staring unblinkingly at the boy. Heh, this might be more interesting than I expected, she thought. However, the outcome didn¡¯t please him as he wished it to be. Not a single clue of Lunus could be heard from the trees in that direction. He gave a fierce glare at the black cat while thinking that he must be tricked as he tried to ask the trees on other sides. Still, no matter in which direction he asked or how further away he sent his message to, there is no one having even a single clue about Lunus.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. What is happening exactly, he thought. A white rabbit sensed depression and nervousness in his eyes as it slowly approached him, jumped onto his shoulder, and patted his head. ¡°Do you want to comfort me again?... Thanks. You are so kind¡± He realized that it was always this white rabbit that noticed his feeling and came to comfort him before the other ones followed it. Thinking that asking the trees for help is futile, Oscar gave up and decided to find another way. But before that, he must clear his messy mind from this nervousness first. He sat down under a tree shade and fed the rabbits his moonlight berries where the rabbits ate them from his palm. ¡°Are these really that delicious?,¡± he wondered, ¡°Come to think of it, I still didn¡¯t have breakfast and all my fruits are offered to the spirits.¡± He tossed a few duplets into his mouth and chewed. It¡¯s sweet and bitter, but the taste was mild and the juice was sticky. The only good point was its sweet, honey-like aroma. ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s not the worst,¡± he thought, tossing a few more berries into his mouth. A flash of idea run across his mind as he suddenly stood up, sending the white rabbit on his shoulder rolling onto the ground. ¡°That¡¯s it. If I just connect to the fungal colonies with a stronger link like what I did to these vines, then maybe¡­¡± He suddenly stopped his mumbling and racked his brain searching for the possibility. The white rabbit recovered from the ground and tilted its head sideways. A ¡°?¡± sign appeared on its head. The other rabbits quickly followed after. ¡°...There is no other way to confirm it except trying.¡± He placed his hand on the ground once again and sent his sensation to the fungal colonies on the ground. He focused his concentration as his sensation grew stronger and stronger, further and further. He imagined that the fungus was a part of his body. Their colonies were his external nerves. Soon after a weird sensation approached as information flooded into his head. It started from feeling presences on the ground. He felt the location of each tree around him. Then he felt the locations of the rabbits. Further away, he could grasp the location of several more existences. Trees, animals, even insects were felt as if they were walking on his palm. It was a weird and painful sensation. It was like being itchy, but he couldn¡¯t help but only stay still and concentrate. When a huge beast stomped on the ground, he would feel pain from being stepped on. Right then, Oscar was concentrating his [Mind link] beyond its original limit which became another skill entirely called [Share perception] which he and Lunus used to extend their perception to the vines. And on top of that, he used it on the largest possible target, the fungal colonies that covered the entire forest. After minutes of the painful experience, he finally got the location of who he was searching for. ¡°Finally¡­, that must be him. Hiding in an underground cavity like that¡­ No wonder why no one had found him,¡± he groaned, looking painful, ¡°However, how could he go that far in a single night? I must quickly follow after him to not be left behind.¡± Oscar decided to set out immediately to make up for the huge gap between them. However, he couldn¡¯t bring all of the rabbits together with him if he chose to use a faster traveling method. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I must leave you guys here,¡± he apologized placing a huge pile of moonlight berries grew from his vines inside the tree trunk. The hollow trunk of this flute tree was the safest spot around here. It was hard to be spotted and the entrance was still covered with the vines from Lunus. Only small animals like a rabbit can push its way in and out. ¡°I¡¯m going to a meet with Lunus and help him fight against the green warts, so you guys shouldn¡¯t follow me. Instead, this place is rather safe so you all should be found here. When everything is over, I will come and get you guys.¡± After making a promise with the rabbits, he turned on his heel and slung from tree to tree using his extended vines. His heart was straightened to fight the monsters whenever he saw them with whatever he could think of; however, he didn''t notice the existence of a white fluffy lump that was holding onto his back and a small black tail that grew out from his shadow. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill Encyclopedia: [Share perception] Type: branch skill [Share perception] is a skill derived from [Authority of a forest god] skill. It is a skill further developed from [Mind link] which linked the mind of the skill holder and his subject together. [Share perception] works by letting the skill holder and his subject who was already connected with [Mind link] to share their 5 senses: touching, hearing, tasting, smelling, and sighting. This skill was uncommon and useful. It¡¯s said that someone with an authority of a king can also acquire this after several hundreds of years, but it appears to be just a myth since no ¡°king¡± alive has shown this skill around these days. The condition to acquire this skill is to concentrate on making a link connection in [Mind link] and successfully in extending one¡¯s perception on to his subject first. The difficult part is, normally it is almost impossible to start from using this skill on a subject with strong will since the subject¡¯ will can interfere with the link connection. However, in Oscar¡¯s case, he had once concentrated on connecting to the fungus with low intelligence and will. That made him easily acquire this skill Ch 9 - The night when the moons fall Tonight was strange. Not even the sounds of insects nor night lives could be heard. It was as though every life had died and only trees remained. It was 2 nights after Lunus decided to part away from Oscar. At the moment, he was slinging his way through the forest, searching for something. ¡°I am close to them. I can sense it, this feeling of every life being devoured.¡± He whipped his vine over a tree branch as his body flew forward. His shadow moved from tree to tree as if he was soaring through the sky. He had become more familiar with his new body. Right now, he didn¡¯t have to even catch the tree branches to sling his body since he could just give them a light touch to send his light body forward. He¡¯d never been able to do something like this back when he was alive since his body would be too slow and heavy. Comparing to that, he felt that he had a better chance against the green warts than when he still had his old body. ¡°I must hurry. I couldn¡¯t travel in the daytime because I want to avoid being trailed by my lord, but sooner or later he must find me somehow¡­¡± Lunus had learned about Oscar¡¯s ability to talk with plants and animals, so he had traveled only in the nighttime to avoid being detected. And when the sun rose he would hide underground, training his controlling skills over the vines. *Woosh!*, he gave another light touch to the tree branch as he leaped forward. In front of him was a wide opening where trees were sparse and the ground was solid. ¡°There it is!¡± He dropped his body full of vines down, slapping the ground loudly. He then crept toward what he was searching for during these times. It was the remnants of a crude fire camp. Some of the green warts were smart enough to know how to set a bonfire and they usually made a camp like this for their meat party the night after their hunt. ¡°This placereeks of death.¡± Lunus approached the remain of the bonfire as his vines crept on the ground. Then he felt a hard object under a branch of his vines. When he looked around, there were several more things like this everywhere, varying in shapes and sizes. They were all bones. These were the remains of the foods the green warts had in their meat party. Normally wherever there were corpses, scavengers were there, but strangely there was not even one here to get rid of the rotten meat. The answer was easy. It was because they were also hunted or fled away. Meats were stapled food to green warts. They hunted everything that moved and lived. It was as though they were born to be greedy and gluttonous by nature. When they felt bored from the taste of meat in their hands, they would seek out for a newer and fresher one. With this, they always left more than half of their hunted preys behind. However, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if this was only a hunt for feeding their gluttonous bellies. But when Lunus looked further in, he could see several rotten beasts lying around the campfire in gruesome ways. Next to a big tree, a rotten bull tied there had its flank carved with a knife. Its dark rotten flesh painted its white hide with circles lapped into a shooting mark. On there, the trace of its hide being pierced by knives and arrows was left behind. This poor guy was used as a shooting target, and most probably while alive! There were even trails of its last attempt to live left on the ground. Hanging down from the tree were the bodies of small animals like rabbits and squirrels. Seeing from the height and the wounds on the corpses, they were used as sandbags until their last agony breath.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. On a big rock, the remains of heads being cracked open and rotten brains were scattered around. And next to them was a wooden club soaked in dark sticky liquid. They must be what was left from the green warts twisted games. These were barbaric acts! The green flames in Lunus¡¯ eyes flickered as his vines coiled and twitched in anger. It was acceptable if a predator hunted their preys just for food since it was the way of nature; however, killing and torturing just for fulfilling their twisted desires like this was intolerable! Don¡¯t they have any respect for lives? Killing to feed their greed like this is an act of evils!, he cursed. ¡°They must be around here last night. It¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t save these ones¡­¡± The corpses were all rotten and already gave off stinky smell due to being left outside during the day, but there were still no worms and maggots on the meat even though there was an army of flies around. With this evidence, he could roughly estimate the time when this meat party took place. Lunus crept toward the body of the bull that was tied and used as a shooting target. He raised and placed his vine on its rotten flesh, sweeping the cluster of flies aside. ¡°I know that it is a selfish request, but please lend me a hand to protect this forest together and avenge your misjudged death. Glowing berries grew at the tip of the vine was dropped onto the rotten wound. Lunus poured his mana into them, making them quickly sprouted and grew long. The growing vines stretched around as they sunk into the rotten flesh and crept underneath the tattered hide. A moment later the bull¡¯s body shook strongly as the flies hiding around its body flew away altogether, creating a buzzing black cloud. Then the bull moved. It twisted around, pulling the ropes tying its feet and shaking the trees at the rope¡¯s ends. Fearing that the bull might pull the trees down with its monstrous strength, Lunus decided to cut the rope down to avoid the worst outcome. Being set free, the bull stomped as it supported its heavy body up. The vines crept underneath its flesh wiggled and bursted out from its worn-out hide. They coiled around the bones and scraped the rotten meat out. Soon after, its flesh was all scraped out and piled on the ground. The vines coiled and extended along its bones like muscles leaving no white bones to be seen except its skull and the green flames that ignited and flickered in its hollow eyes. The sturdy transformed bull stood firmly showing off its new body. Then it bent its knees and lowered its head to the ground. ¡°Greeting, master,¡± it said through the connection of [Mind link]. Not speaking a single word back, Lunus¡¯ body froze still. The tip of his vines coiled around and the flickering flame in his eyes grew smaller indicating his disappointment. After calming down, he looked up at the moon hovering over the tree top. ¡°Oh heaven¡­, why?,¡± he mumbled. The silence approached as he was immersed in the recent event betrayed his expectation. *Whack!*, his vines strongly slapped the ground as his body leaped high into the dark sky. The moon was said in an old story to be a holy child of a great god. It always floated high in the sky letting no one touch its majestic figure. Then there appeared a king of a powerful nation who truly admired the moon¡¯s beauty from his heart. So he sent an invitation message attached on an arrow to the sky hoping that the moon would catch it and come to visit his castle. But the moon was so prideful of its gorgeous presence that it would never touch the dirty ground no matter who asked it to. As the result, the arrow which couldn¡¯t get even a tiny bit of attention from the moon returned back to the heart of the king as it took his poor life away. However, the old story would be rewritten tonight as hundreds of small moons had appeared over the dark sky. They glowed in pale yellow as they scattered over an abandoned camp. And like shooting stars, they fell down to the earth only to be received by rotten meat. A soft green hand broke them from inside as it stretched outward and grew longer every second passed. The hands grew leaves as they turned into vines and sunk into the stinky rotten flesh. A moment later, a scary scene where every dead body in sight suddenly stood up and twitched as their rotten meat was discarded on the ground took place in front of Lunus¡¯ eyes. When his vines touched the ground, all of the standing bodies turned their meatless skull to face him and lowered their head on the ground. ¡°¡°¡°Greeting, master!,¡±¡±¡± Their sounds sent to him via the connection echoed in his head as his nonexistent heart twitched in depression. ¡°Where have their memories gone?¡± Ch 10 - Before a disgusting short sword can return to its scabbard Lunus had wrapped up all the forest protectors that he had made. There were around 60 small-sized bodies of rabbits and squirrels, 30 medium-sized bodies of wolves and boars, and 10 bodies of the bull and its herd that he could turn them into forest protectors. Altogether, they made up a hundred man army with Lunus as the commander. Right then, they were gathered in the forest a little bit away from the abandoned campfire to let the flies had their feast peacefully. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t maintain your past selves like what my lord did to me; however, we can¡¯t just selfishly ask my lord to help us bring your memories back right now since we had our duty to accomplish! We must protect this forest from those barbaric green warts. This is our duty as forest protectors!,¡± Lunus gave his speech via his [Mind link] ¡°¡°¡°Oh!!!,¡±¡±¡± the army of forest protectors cried out full of vigor. Good grief, he thought, why did the beasts turn out to be reliable warriors like this? I really have no idea. Lunus was disappointed that he couldn¡¯t bring back their previous selves and memories. He thought that he could save them like what his lord did to him; however, things didn¡¯t go well as he thought and he had lost his forest friends as the result. However, there was no loss without a gain. The newly born forest protectors may lose their memories, but Lunus could tell with a single glance that he could see the presence of a strong warrior in their hollow eyes. Even a small squirrel had given out a powerful fearless aura, one that even rivaled a strong predator. He was sure that if he threw it into a tiger cave, it would fight to its end without taking a single step back. ¡°Having reliable comrades are good and all, but I also have to prepare myself for the fight.¡± In front of him was a pile of bones. There were several bodies that couldn¡¯t be made into a forest protector since their skull were too damaged. For a being like them, their skull is their weakness that contained their core and binded their soul with the new body. As the result, it was impossible to transform the bodies that missed their head or having their skull cracked open. And if he urged to do so, the thing he created would become just a normal vine treant with low intelligence and movement capability. It would be hard for them to prepare for the upcoming fights with that. Still, it didn¡¯t mean that the remains of those who had lost their head would become useless. Lunus had prepared to use whatever he could to accomplish his goal of eliminating the green warts. And the first thing he must do before leading these fearless warriors was strengthening his fighting abilities to become a worthy commander. Even though these warriors had acknowledged him as their master, he couldn¡¯t just accept that. As a former beast, the leader of a pact must be the strongest one. As such when he compared himself, a bodiless skull, to the bulls, he couldn¡¯t help but felt down in his own inability. Having that thought, he crept over the pile of bones as his vines slowly search through, selecting suitable ones for his purpose. Soon after, his shape slowly turned into a majestic deer like when he was still alive. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s better to move with 4 legs like this.¡± Even though he had learned how to use vines more efficiently, Lunus still felt more comfortable when he could move with his legs and feel the sturdy ground with his hooves. It seemed there were deers mixed in among the headless preys. They weren¡¯t his white stag herd, but the size and shape of their bones weren¡¯t far off. As such, it was easy for him to take his original form with these bones. After regaining his familiar shape, Lunus proudly walked toward his new comrades. The male bull that was used as a shooting target now had regained his fascinating muscular body. His heavy hooves stepped out from the gathered army as the representative and he stopped in front of his new master. He stood firmly, boasting his elegant curved horns which can easily pierce through a metal plate with ease. When Lunus approached him, he lowered his head as the sign of submission. ¡°Master, order?¡± Lunus turned around, checking his new comrades. ¡°We move out immediately. Then we will track those barbarians until the edge of this forest!,¡± he issued his first order. ¡°Master, what we do with bones?,¡± the bull asked. Lunus gave the pile of bones another glance. Surely, it was a waste to leave these bones alone just like this.¡± ¡°We will take them with us. Ask others to help.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± The bull stood up and helped relay the order. ¡°Good grief, this one is more reliable than expected. He must be another holy beast like us white stags,¡± Lunus murmured. .This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. . . In this world, an uncivilized race is commonly classified into two types: beasts, and monsters. A monster is a beast that is transformed by receiving a considerable amount of condensed mana. Its body crystallizes excessive mana into a hard object in its body called mana stone and its body changes physically into a stronger being. Most monsters cannot keep their sanity as their mana were excessive for their original body to the point that their brain will be damaged by mana intoxication. However as the result of losing their sanity, their strength is also raised several folds including their magic capability. Still, although a monster is generally stronger than a beast in several aspects, there is another way for a beast to become strong rivaling a monster. The beast born or passed through the said processes are generally called ¡°holy beasts.¡± A holy beast is a beast that is said to be a creation of a god. However, most of the holy beasts are born from the spirits¡¯ power. One can also say that they are beasts loved by the spirits. Holy beasts are more intelligent than a normal beast, but they are also as strong as or stronger than a monster. Most of them can use magic and can ask the spirits for help. For Lunus, he could sometimes ask forest spirits for help and could originally use some basic forest magic like the simplified version of [Growth acceleration] and [Mind link]; however, he couldn¡¯t use the later skill with plants like what he currently could. ¡°Then what about yours?,¡± Lunus asked the bulls¡¯ leader. ¡°Me? I¡¯m good with earth, master,¡± he replied. ¡°I see, then we must rely on you to track them.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± In contrary to Lunus¡¯ abilities that were limited during nighttime, the bull¡¯s earth-attribute abilities were more versatile in this case. Earth-brown aura gathered around the bull as dirt and stones hovered around his body. His sensation was sharpened around his four feet as what they want to track was sensed through the ground. ¡°This way, master. Behind that mountain.¡± He turned his meatless head toward the direction of a mountain shrouded in the darkness of the night. The deep blue hue of the sky above the mountain indicated the approaching rising sun. ¡°Then let us cross that mountain at once.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± . . . Not so long after they crossed the mountain, the sun rose from the horizon. Its golden ray penetrated through the thick fog creating a golden milky scenery as the dew on the grassy floor sparkled like stars. Today was the third day since he had left his lord behind, but Lunus didn¡¯t stop his army from moving forward just to stop his lord from tracking him since it was pointless anyway. There was nowhere for him to hide this huge army and there was no reason either since his enemies were just in front of his eyes. ¡°There are footprints on this soft soil. They must be around here just a moment ago.¡± He had tracked the green warts¡¯ trailed for a while. Now he was certain that they were just in his hoof¡¯s reach. ¡°Master, opening ahead. Smell bad,¡± the bull leader told him. ¡°Yes, there should be an opening in front of us. And I can also sense this rotten smell,¡± Lunus affirmed. It was a perfect place for the green warts¡¯ firecamp. He was sure that they must be around there. If that was the case, it would be a perfect chance to perform a morning ambush. ¡°We will send a squirrel team to take a look at the enemy¡¯s camp,¡± he decided and turned toward the squirrels, ¡°Warriors, we must leave it to you guys.¡± The forest protectors in squirrel form nodded and sprinted toward the direction of enemy¡¯s camp. The green flames in their eyes shone brightly as well as their determination. A moment later, they heard groaning sounds coming from up ahead. Looking at each other, they began to spread out using bushes and trees as their cover. A squirrel sprinted over a tree. It hopped on a thick branch and lied in wait for the owner of the approaching footsteps. ¡°Gah ga ga ga ga!,¡± The footsteps came closer and closer as the time between each step became shorter and shorter. A shadow sprinted across the fog toward the tree while groaning and holding its groin in pain. It stopped just before the tree unknowing about the presence of the squirrel and unleashed its disgusting short sword from underneath its tattered loincloth. The nasty yellowish liquid came out from the sword tip and splattered around the tree trunk. ¡°Ga heh heh~¡± Its awful smile and trippy eyes showed just how much pleasure it had felt while the liquid was slowly draining out from its round belly. This shameless monster was covered in green hairless skin with wart-like lumps growing here and there. Its fangs were sharp and yellow, its ears were large and pointy, and its nose was big and crooked. It walked on two feet, but its back was bent and its height was only that of a small child. The squirrel was certain. The monster in front of its eyes was a member of the group that they were tracking. ¡°The green wart!,¡± it screamed in its mind as it stared dagger at the goblin below. Vines were unleashed from the squirrel¡¯s back and coiled around the goblin¡¯s neck, taking its worthless life before it could even return its disgusting short sword to its scabbard. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill encyclopedia: [Treant creation] Type: branch skill [Treant creation] is a skill derived from its core skill, [Authority of a forest god]. It is a rare skill that every forest god must have and is common among the forest gods; however, it is an extremely rare skill for other races. [Treant creation] is a skill that allows its skill holder to instantly turn a normal tree into a monster called treant and make it strictly obedient to the skill holder. Treant is a plant-type monster that resembles a tree that can move around. Treants are different to each other based on the type of the plant that is used as its base. A big tree that is turned into a treant can¡¯t move so much since its hard body is difficult to bend and fold, but its hardness is proven to be a big problem for its opponents if they have only physical power as their only choice. A vine can also be turned into a treant. Its flexibility is proven to be troublesome for adventurers as it is literally a snake in disguise even though its vitality is tremendously less than a tree treant. A moonlight vine treant, however, is different from a normal vine treant since its base plant is filled with biotic steel tissue inside as its fibers. These fibers are hard and flexible, making it difficult for a normal knife to cut through. Ch 11 - A nasty loincloth The red cloud that had fanned out over the hills had slowly lost its hue. Soon, the golden ray of light was brushed on the forest. Still, even with the brightness of the light, the scenery is blurry due to the thick fog that covered the entire forest. A green-skinned creature walked on two feet rubbed its distorted jaw filled with sharp fangs as if it was in pain. ¡°Gu gah...,¡± it groaned. Among the goblins which were said to be the lowest class of demihumans, this ugly one was even ranked the lowest in its horde. It was slow, weak, and never be able to hunt even a small rabbit. What it could do was doing labor works and being a punching bag for others. ¡°This tooth¡­ hurt.¡± It rubbed its tooth which was chipped due to a punch last night. Now the tooth was loose and hurt to the point that it just wanted to yank it out. The goblin walked on the wet grassy floor while rubbing its jaw. Several corpses of the beast that they had hunted, feasted, and ¡°played¡± with during last night meat party showed up and disappeared into the golden fog as it walked on its way. The goblin looked at the body of the horses that lied still on the ground and sighed. Last night they found a group of human camping in the forest with these horses, so their boss killed the men and captured the girls to play with. Sadly, the goblin never had a chance to play with them as it was kicked out from the circle. Only those who had accomplished enough achievement to please the boss could have their hands on the loots. This was a general rule. As for this goblin, only when the girls died could a low ranking like it have its hand on them. A while after it walked past the place where the last night party took place, a big crude tent came to its view. That¡¯s the only tent in this camp and only its boss and his aides could enter. ¡°Please stop it! I can¡¯t take it anymore!,¡± a girly voice came from deep inside the tent where the sounds of meat hitting on meat could be heard in rhythm. Oh, rotten worms! Boss still have fun?, it got surprised. Just how good this play be to make him play with them until this morning? The goblin was both jealous and curious. It didn¡¯t want to eavesdrop, but the lewd sounds coming from the tent is too alluring for its small heart as something hard was pushing its ragged loincloth from inside, soaking the already dirty fabric with sticky fluid. ¡°Gu¡­ just a bit.¡± It turned right and left, but the guards couldn¡¯t be seen on the sight. Maybe they were changing the shift or the boss had ordered them to do some errands. With no one to stop or punish it from peeking, the goblin crept toward the entry cover as a nasty smile appeared on its face. Its sharp nails slowly open the cover for its big red eyes to peek inside. *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* There, it found its boss stood on the fur sheet, turning his back to the entrance. He was a gigantic goblin who was even taller than a grown-up human and between his thick arms was the hip of a tan-skinned girl. She was already limp as she let her legs and upper body stopped resisting the gravity. Her arms covered her crying face as sweat and the sticky liquid was all around the place. ¡°I said stop it and just kill me already, you damned goblin!,¡± she cursed while crying. The goblin boss smirked as he heard the insulting words. He dropped the girl on the fur sheet and put his thick and rough hands on her neck, squeezing it hard until the girl¡¯s eyes rolled back and white foams appeared on her pale lips. ¡°Damn human, just stay silent and do your duty as a sex toy for this Gugaga then you will feel nothing but pleasure, so why must you do something annoying? Do you want to die that fast? Fine, I¡¯ll give you a terrible one!,¡± the goblin boss told her as he quickened his hip. The girl tried hard to survive from this monster. She grabbed his thick arms and tried to push them out, but it was all for naught as they didn¡¯t budge an inch. ¡°You know what? I will also toy with your friends like this. A female pig like you lots always become tighter when they are going to die, mu ha ha!¡± He shoved his thing deep inside the girl, spraying dirty white liquid into her womb. With his big hands, he raised her lifeless body up, letting the white stuff flowed down from her tanned thigh, and tossed her sideways. A pleasure smile appeared on his face as he combed his sweaty hairs. And as if noticing that someone was watching him, he turned toward a corner of the tent. ¡°You again, huh? I really hate that peeking habit of yours. If you want to join, just join.¡± The weak goblin shuddered from hearing his boss¡¯ words. Just how could its boss know that it was there? ¡°Keep your joke for yourself, Gugaga. It¡¯s not a good idea to kill her just like this. Our king will be displeased,¡± a hoarse voice came from the shadow inside the tent. There, a black goblin cloaked in black appeared as if it came out from the shadow. The weak goblin, upon realizing that it was not the one being found out, let out a sigh of relief. Still, its legs were already numb and paralyzed due to the intense pressure. ¡°Gogin, don¡¯t accuse me. King ordered me to feed the core, so I obeyed. How could I be wrong?¡± Gugaga pointed toward a white crystal ball on a cushion which was entrusted to him by his king. The black goblin, Gogin, let out a sigh while shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s true that the king ordered you to prioritize feeding the core; however, didn¡¯t he also order you to bring soldier factories like this back if you come across one?¡± ¡°Gu...¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°So you really forgot it¡­ This muscle brain of yours is incurable.¡± ¡°Who did you call muscle brain!?¡± The dead body of the girl flew toward the face of the black goblin; however, the corpse simply passed through the image as if the black goblin was made out of smoke. ¡°Damn coward! If you are a man just let me hit you once!¡± ¡°As if I would let you¡­ If you still have that much energy left, just get going and lead your men to kill more. Oh, and I will help you bring the other girls back to the king.¡± ¡°Hmph, if it¡¯s not king¡¯s order, I¡¯ll just simply kill you here.¡± ¡°...Just keep those words for the time when you are worthy enough.¡± And like that, the black goblin vanished into the shadow. Having no one to let out his anger to, the goblin boss made a furious roar, ¡°Guards, Give me a towel!¡± ¡°Ga !?!¡± Being snapped from its boss¡¯ furious aura, the weak goblin unconsciously let out a surprised cry. Can I¡­ run?, it cried inside. ¡°I know you¡¯re there, guards! If you don¡¯t give me a towel, I¡¯ll smash your useless skull into a pulp!¡± But I¡¯m no guard and there¡¯s no towel!?, the weak goblin screamed inside as it hurriedly tried to find a cloth. Even if it was not a guard, it didn¡¯t think that its boss would care about that. And if it didn¡¯t hurry and give him what he wanted, it would be killed terribly like that girl for sure. It looked left and right, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any towel, let alone a cloth. Then, a weird idea crashed into its stupid brain. Yes, it was the worst idea that it would regret ever choosing it. ¡°You hear me, guards? How long are you planning to let me wait?,¡± the boss shouted. ¡°I-It¡¯s here, boss.¡± The weak goblin stretched its hand inside the tent, grabbing into a brown-colored cloth. ¡°Yeah, just like that!¡± The goblin boss snatched the cloth from its shaking hand and wiped his face with it. ¡°Da heck is this!?¡± Smelly and viscous fluid stuck to his big nose as he wiped the cloth on his face, creating a disgusting feeling. ¡°A loincloth¡­? HOW DARE YOU!!!¡± ¡°Gu gah!?!¡± A huge arm reached out from within the tent and grabbed the naked goblin¡¯s throat, raising it high into the air. ¡°Hoh, a lowly foot soldier like you dare to have me wipe my face with your dirty loincloth? Fine, I will give you a merciless death later, along with the guards that let you trick me like this!¡± With the rage mixed in his strength, the boss threw the naked goblin high into the air. It flew high, spun, and landed into a water keg. The water inside splashed into the air as the goblin¡¯s face hit the bottom painfully. ¡°Have that keg tied!,¡± the boss ordered, kicking the goblins that lied around everywhere to do its duty. Being ordered by the boss, the goblins hurriedly woke up and tied the keg with ropes to ensure that the weak goblin wouldn¡¯t be let out. ¡°Boss, I¡¯m sorry! Boss, mercy!,¡± its pity cried echoed from within the keg. Not listening to its pleading, the goblin boss picked a sword keg with only one hand and made a distance from the goblin keg. Then, he picked a sword and held it lightly in his hand. The goblins in the camp began to gather around the scene, knowing that their boss was gonna show them something interesting. Among them was a strange one, a goblin that just stood still there creepily as if it was a mannequin. A vine grew out from its loincloth and stuck into its back as if it was a parasite. Still, no one noticed its strangeness as they focused solely on the show. ¡°Let me see how many swords can you endure?,¡± the boss shouted. With a light swing, the sword left his arm and stuck deep inside the goblin keg, having only the handle to be seen outside. ¡°Yaaaa!¡± ¡°Did it die? Did it die?¡± ¡°One more time! One more time!¡± Loud cheers echoed throughout the place. And when the audience saw that the liquid flowing down from the piercing spot was only translucent water, they started to ask for another round. Seeing that, the boss ordered his subordinates to rotate the keg. He threw the second blade out, but the landing was too high, so it probably missed. ¡°Boss, mercy! I won¡¯t do it again! I beg you!,¡± the poor goblin cried from within. Right then, the goblin was in a strange position. It must avoid the two swords that stuck deep in its keg while trying hard to breath over the remaining water. It heard a loud cheer, then the third blade penetrated through the wooden wall. ¡°Gu gah!?¡± The blade stuck into its shoulder; however, it seemed this one had been given lesser force on purpose as it didn¡¯t cut its arm out. Still, it hurt so much that the goblin just wanted to die here and now. It might be because they saw the hue of blood in the water flowing out, so the noisy cheering sounds grew louder and louder. The goblin gritted its chipped teeth. If this painful torture continued forever, it¡¯d better ask for the next blade to take its life away. It closed its eyes in fear. Its body shook while the blood slowly gushed out from its wound, tainting the water in red. However, its awaiting death didn¡¯t come. The last blade wasn''t thrown into its keg. Still, the sounds grew noisier every second passed. Then its keg was kicked with a great force. It felt its weight suddenly vanished as the water inside floated in the air. Before long, its heavy feeling came back together with an intense pain from the impact. ¡°Gugagugagua!?!¡± Its keg rolled around as the blade sunk deeper and deeper into the wound. Just what happened outside?, the goblin had no idea,isthis perhaps the boss¡¯ new torture play? Having a better idea of its awaiting fate must be better than just suddenly die unknowingly. The goblin decided that as it used all of its remaining force to push the blade that sunk deep into its shoulder out from the keg, leaving a small hole for its shaking eyes to peek outside. However, the scenery in front of its eyes was not the crowded goblins cheering for its death nor the angry face of its boss wanting to smash it into pulp. What appeared in front of its eyes was a surrealistic scene where tens or hundreds of beasts with vines growing out from their body trampled their comrades under their hooves. Several goblins flew into the air or were skewered by the beasts¡¯ horns as they ran away, having no chance to fight back. A huge bull which had a goblin pierced on each of its horn charged at the defense line of the goblin guards who held their big iron shield firmly only to be added into the skewer. A huge deer ran wild as if all the goblin¡¯s head were its stepping stone. The vines growing out from its back like tentacles penetrated several goblins and used them like a bat to sweep the running goblins down. The wolves and boars, running faster than the fleeing goblins, tackled the ones turning their back on them down and had the squirrels and rabbits on their back finish the tripped goblins with vines. In just a short moment, the scenery had turned chaotic as the goblins couldn¡¯t fight back and decided to run away for their lives. They had fallen like ants being trampled underfoot as none of them even had time to prepare their equipment. ¡°Oh, rotten worms! What da heck¡­ happened?,¡± the goblin asked from inside the keg; however, no one was there to reply to its question. Ch 12 - Charge! After sending the squirrel team to scout the enemies, Lunus was informed about the encounter with a strolling goblin a moment later. ¡°Master, sorry. I killed it...,¡± the squirrel apologized after it reported. It seemed even when their memories were gone, the squirrels still had a subconscious hatred toward the goblins. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s alright. Just hide the corpse¡­ Wait, can you use your vines to control that green wart?¡± ¡°Will try, master¡­ Yes, I can at least move it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. Then make sure to hide your vines and use that body to sneak inside.¡± It was fortunate that the squirrels could use their vines to control the goblin¡¯s corpse. Now they had obtained a good spy to observe the enemy¡¯s camp. Several minutes later, the squirrels had finished checking the layout together with the states of the camp and right now was the best chance to make an ambush. ¡°Brave warriors, the dirty green warts are right in front of us not knowing that we are all ready to trample them into dust!¡± ¡°¡°¡°OHHHH!!!¡±¡±¡± Lunus gave his speech in front of his underlings as they prepared the ambush. He arranged an easy formation that his white stag herd had used for a long time: they called it a ¡°boar charge formation.¡± By arranging the strongest warriors in the first line of the formation, they could cover the weaklings¡¯ weakness and maximize the charging impact. Right now, the bulls were arranged at that honorable charging line following by the wolves and the boars that could move faster but had a lower charging impact. The rabbits and the squirrels were placed on the other beasts¡¯ back to help cover the beasts¡¯ blind spots while increasing their mobility. ¡°All you need is following me and stomp them under our heavy hooves! Leave none of them alive and rescue any beast they had captured!¡± ¡°¡°¡°OHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡±¡±¡± Lunus walked in front of the formation as he stood firmly alongside the bulls¡¯ leader. Having two most powerful warriors leading their charge is the best course of action. ¡°Everyone, get ready!¡± Vines loosened from Lunus back as they fluttered in the air like a mantle. Golden light sparkled from the berries illuminated the thick fog and gathered the attention of his men. Next to him, the earth-brown particles appeared around his body together with the dirt. Soil and small stones gathered around his huge body and strengthen his huge build. The beasts were all ready. Their hollow eyes showed neither a tiny bit of fear nor nervousness. ¡°Now, CHARGE !!!¡± Leading by Lunus and the bulls¡¯ leader, the entire pack of a hundred beasts sprinted at full speed. Soft soil flew into the air as they kicked the ground. Even when the fog was this thick, the only thing they must do was following after Lunus¡¯ lead which illuminated brightly inside their blurry scene. A moment later, a big crowd of green creatures came into Lunus¡¯ sight. They didn¡¯t even notice him and only focused on cheering something inside their circle. Then, it was his best chance to strike first and clean the floor with their dirty blood. Lunus continued charging at them and landed his hoof on the head of the closest goblin, cracking and scattering the content inside like a smashed pumpkin. However, he didn¡¯t stop just at that as his body continued diving into the crowd of the green warts. Flesh and blood scattered around whenever his hooves kicked down. The goblins then turned their attention toward their fallen comrades. Seeing their friends got smashed into minced meat, all they could see was the death gods in the form of beasts covered in vines. ¡°Guah, enemy attackkkk!!!¡± ¡°Runnnnn!!!¡± The fear of being smashed under those hooves was instantly carved into their heart as they ran away in all direction while screaming noisily. Before this sudden charge, even the tricky goblins had no way to resist, let alone finding their weapons.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Looking sideways, Lunus also saw the bulls¡¯ leader and his men mercilessly pierced the goblins with their curved horns. Blood dripped down from the skewered goblins soaked the earth-strengthened body of the bull and dyed it red. With this, I can entrust the charge¡¯s lead to him, Lunus thought. He jumped high into the air and ran on the retreating goblins, using them as his stepping stones. He then unleashed the vines on his back to pierce and entangle them along the way he ran to, and used them like a bat or throwing stone to tackle the further goblins down. Lunus moved fast like a wind and the countless tentacles of vines on his back hit the enemies like crazy whips, making anyone witnessing this scene misunderstood him as a moving hurricane From his followers¡¯ eyes, tens of enemies had fallen just because he ran past them. However, in reality, he had refrained from making a sure kill as it would take him too much time. As the one furthest from the charging line and as the one with the greatest speed, he chose to just knock as many enemies as he could to avoid them from running away. Then the real finishing blow would be entrusted to the charging line behind him. ¡°Here they finally come out, as expected of the green warts who killed my comrades.¡± Before he could finish the remaining enemies, the goblin guards appeared from behind. Held in their hands were a big metal shield and a short sword. The shields were arranged as their defensive line was formed to stop the charge. ¡°As if this could stop us!¡± Paying the shield line no attention, Lunus casually hopped past them as he continued sweeping the fleeing foes. With just an unexpected move, nervousness grew in the guards¡¯ face. An enemy had broken through their defense line without caring about their presence. And right now, they had been sandwiched, not knowing where to face their shield to between the charging line of bulls in front of him or the monstrous deer that was right behind them. Taking an advantage of the small opening in the enemy¡¯s defense line, the bulls charged straight through the guards. Some of them got lucky that they had died from being trampled and squeezed to death together with their armor; however, those that got pierced by the bulls¡¯ horns were unfortunate as they slowly died while being dragged around the place. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!!!,¡± a raging roar echoed from behind the fleeing green warts. Then, the source of the shouted appeared as a gigantic green creature appeared. It looked just like other goblins, but its size was comparable to a huge bear. Its limbs were full of muscles and its face was boiling red from its anger. In its hand was a boulder rock which it threw toward Lunus who was the closest one. Seeing the projectile coming toward him with a great speed that was impossible to dodge with his four legs, Lunus whipped his vines on the ground as his body dodged sideways, escaping the hit by a hairbreadth. He landed safely on the ground, but when looking back at the spot he had been before he could see a few bodies of the goblins being crushed and buried there. Don¡¯t this giant feel shame for killing his own men?, he wondered. However, it seemed like such a thing never crossed its mind as it only glared at Lunus with bloodshot eyes. ¡°What is this? A monster? I¡¯ve never seen such a thing like this, but well whatever. I¡¯ll just crush it to death and feed its soul to the core!,¡± the green giant shouted. It threw a bigger boulder toward him and once again he dodged it. But when his hooves touched the ground and his vision shifted back from the boulder, a huge green lump of muscles was right in front of his eyes. ¡°I got you!¡± The huge goblin leaped and grabbed Lunus¡¯ skull before he could react in time. The creaking sound created from the monstrous strength that expressed on his bare bone warned him of his death. ¡°Tch!¡± Knowing that shaking this monster off was already impossible, Lunus sent his vines to coil around the green arm. He tightened it and tried to lift its fingers out, but he couldn¡¯t compete with this monster in pure strength. Then I just have to do it more serious!, he shouted in his mind. Suddenly without increasing the strength in the coiling vines, something weird happened with the huge arm as the monster¡¯s face twisted in pain. Unable to endure whatever happened to its arm, the huge goblin released its grip and shook the vines off. Lunus also retreated several steps back as he took his vines back. The vines loosened and splattered red blood on the ground as countless small holes appeared along the huge goblin¡¯s arm. Lunus had grown roots along the coiling vines and sent them penetrating the goblin¡¯s skin. The wounds were by no mean deep as the roots weren¡¯t that strong, but the sudden pain had proven to be effective as veins were popping on the monster¡¯s head. ¡°Now you did it! I, Gugaga, swear to crush you into pulp and then I will urinate over your corpse!¡± Not caring about his wounds, Gugaga unleashed a huge mace from its back as it stared at Lunus¡¯ hollow eyes. Rumbling sounds could be heard as the bulls and other beasts ran past them like a wave while avoiding the area around this fighting zone. This monster is dangerous, Lunus thought, how could I kill it? <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Magic Encyclopedia: [Shadow Storage] Element: Darkness Level: Intermediate [Shadow Storage] is an intermediate darkness magic that grants the caster¡¯s shadow the ability to hold and keep things inside. As a principle of dark-elemental magics state that shadow is a mysterious space as it contains an unreachable depth of darkness that mysterious things could lurk inside, a shadow can also be used as a storage as long as the caster has his own shadow. This magic is similar to the well-known storage magic, [Space expansion] of space-time element; however, there is a limit of requiring a shadow in [Shadow Storage] as races that have no shadow, vampires for example, can¡¯t use this spell at all. Ch 13 - A duel The fog had slowly dispersed and the sun could finally be seen as hundreds of goblins¡¯ bodies were visible on the ground. They were trampled to death, having their crimson flesh and guts scattered over their green skin. A running big bull was looking at a place among the mountain of corpses where his master was there facing a huge green monster. That monster looked dangerous. He knew it. The feeling deep inside his heart told him as such when he looked at that huge green lump. When he first saw it, anger and fear which he shouldn¡¯t feel as a half-undead appeared. He knew that he couldn¡¯t defeat it, let alone being of use to his master. However, if it is his master, it must be possible, he thought while speeding up his feet to quickly wipe the goblins out. . . . Lunus and the goblin boss, Gugaga, had been glaring at each other for a while. In Gugaga¡¯s hands was a huge mace made out of a metal rod and a stone head. It looked extremely heavy, but he casually tapped it on his palm times and times again like it was a mere stick. He slowly sidestepped, walking in a big circle around Lunus while looking for an opening. As for Lunus, having four limbs made him difficult to sidestep and follow the monster¡¯s direction. He needed to slowly walked back while rearranging his position toward Gugaga. Seeing that, Gugaga¡¯s lip curled into a smirk. This thing is no different than a mere beast!, he was sure. Without any further thought, he leaped toward Lunus with the huge mace in his hands. ¡°Guahhhh!!!,¡± he roared. Lunus dodged with the help of his vines just before Gugaga reached his previous location; however, the green monster suddenly followed after him as he swung his heavy mace upward at Lunus¡¯ flank. Lunus was sent flying into the air as several bones inside were creaking. Even though he could run fast in this form, dodging attacks aiming at his flank is so difficult as his bone structure didn¡¯t support the movement. ¡°Tsk!¡± Without letting Lunus have a chance to make a countermeasure, Gugaga barraged his mace and punch toward Lunus¡¯ flank. As the result, Lunus was forced to avoid every single attack which could easily break his bones. I can¡¯t gain an advantage if I continue dodging like this, he pondered. The mace was swung downward aiming at Lunus¡¯ unprotected flank, but this time he leaped toward Gugaga instead of taking a distance. The mace missed its target and hit the soft ground with a dull sound while Lunus finally approached under Gugaga¡¯s arms. He unleashed his vines and swung them like whips aiming at Gugaga¡¯s face, trying to push him away from his mace and knock him dizzy. The vines gouged out the green skin on the goblin¡¯s face and blood dripped down along the chin, but Gugaga didn¡¯t move an inch from his spot. Seeing that his plan came out in a failure, Lunus quickly jumped away from under Gugaga¡¯s arms, but it was too late as the thick arms had already embraced his neck. A chill of terror ran down his meatless spine. ¡°I finally got you!¡± With a herculean strength, Gugaga kicked Lunus¡¯ chest down as he pulled Lunus¡¯ neck away from his body. A cracking sound echoed as the deer¡¯s head and vines were sent flying in the air and left a pile of bones on the ground. ¡°What!? Are you some sort of undead?,¡± Gugaga got surprised.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Not letting the chance escaped, Lunus jumped into the air and whacked his vines on the goblin¡¯s body, gouging Gugaga¡¯s skin once again. Lunus didn¡¯t care much about losing his body. His goal was fixated in the annihilation of the goblin horde, so as long as he could buy this monster here until his men finished routing the enemies, then he could get the reinforcement. And it didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t fight when there was only his head and vines left. Because, in exchange for a higher running speed and a stronger physical body, he had gained a greater agility as he could freely move in all direction, not being limited by his bone joints. Lunus then had changed his plan to buy more time enough for his men to finish their job. He kicked the ground whenever his body fell and sent whips whacking on Gugaga body who had tried to use the nearby goblin corpses as a shield. ¡°Damn you monster, flying here and there like a wisp!,¡± Gugaga cursed. His body was now full of bruises and cutting wounds. Blood dripped down his green skin and dyed it with a red hue. Still, not a single wound was severe enough to endanger his life or hinder his movement. He lifted the body of a fallen goblin up as another wave of whips came down from above, cutting the corpse¡¯s abdomen open and scattering the guts around. Being pissed off, Gugaga then used his free hand to catch the vines before Lunus could fly away. ¡°Now, I caught you again!,¡± he smirked. Using the vines as a rope, he swung Lunas around and hit him on the ground and boulders several times. If this crazy attack continued, Lunus¡¯ horns would be broken for sure. I must quickly deal with this!, Lunus thought as he cut the vines that were grasped and flew away with the centrifugal force. However, being high in the air with nothing to hold onto meant being an easy target. Not letting the prey that he had finally caught escaped, Gugaga grabbed a nearby water-filled barrel and threw it toward Lunus at a greater speed. The projectile precisely hit the mark as the barrel exploded in the air scattering the water content everywhere and sent Lunus flying further away. After spending his time in the air, Lunus landed onto the only tent around there, crushing it to the ground. ¡°GRRRRRRAAAAHHHHHHH!¡± Gugaga felt proudful for his precise hit and made a victorious roar as his face and hands raised high in the air, trying to encourage his fleeing men and engrave fear into his enemies¡¯ heart. However, he felt that the usual cheering voices that he had trained his stupid men to do was too silent. So he turned his gaze downward only to meet mountains of green corpses everywhere. ¡°What the¡­ How could it be like this in a short mome-, Gah!¡± A sharp pain came from his back as he felt something big hit him with a great impact. When he looked back, he saw a bull with red dirt all over its body trying hard to penetrate him with its curved horns. But strange enough, the sharp-looking horns didn¡¯t pierce as deep as one would expect. ¡°It¡¯s futile!¡± Gugaga quickly turned back. His big hands grasped onto the twin horns as he expressed his inhuman strength on them. And with a cracking sound, one of the horns broke. ¡°Hmph, this is what truly deserve you, undead beasts! There is no way you lots could penetrate my invincible body strengthened by [Steel muscle]!¡± With the unbroken horn in his hand, Gugaga spun his body and used his momentum to send the bull flying toward the collapsed tent where Lunus was sent to. Gugaga was not a normal goblin. True, his huge build came from a rare mutation, but that alone didn¡¯t make a muscle head like him differ much from other goblins. Gugaga¡¯s invincibility came from the skill bestowed from his king, [Steel muscle] which made his body as strong as steel and granted him a super herculean strength. His king had gone through a lot of trouble to prepare this for him, but this could also prove just how important he had been given expectation as a warrior and a commander. Though the later position was granted just because Gugaga complained that he wanted to have subordinates. That was why he didn¡¯t care much if half of them were killed. But when all of them were annihilated, it meant he had also lost his servants. ¡°Just wait and I¡¯ll crush every bone in your hollow body!,¡± he shouted while looking for the other enemies. Even so, none of them were on his sight. Where did they go?, we thought. Then his gaze turned toward the collapsed tent where a big cluster of vines was wiggling there as if thousands of snakes were entangled together. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> Skill encyclopedia: [Steel muscle] Type: passive skill [Steel muscle] grants the skill holder a strong body with strengthened muscles. The skill holder¡¯s body turns harder as steel weapon can hardly penetrate through the muscle layer. [Steel muscle] is also a racial skill of strong creatures like dragons and giants. It¡¯s said that this skill can also be acquired from continuously strengthening one¡¯s body through pain and wounds, but the truth is still uncertain. Ch 14 - Thousands of worms under ones skin ¡°What da heck is that?,¡± Gugaga unconsciously let out a question. However, no one was there to answer him. Over the wreckage of his tent, a big lump of vines was there as they wiggled like snakes that got entangled together. ¡°Oh hell no! The core is still inside that tent!.¡± Realizing his stupid mistake, Gugaga hurriedly rushed toward the huge lump of vines. The core that his king had left in his care must still be there and he would get really angry if he were to lose it. But when he got closer to the collapsed tent, the lump of vines suddenly extended like a huge basilisk and wiped him away in a grand swing. ¡°Gah!¡± He flew back a dozen of steps away and rolled on the ground. Focusing too much on quickly retrieving the core, he got distracted and lost his focus on the surroundings, making him an easy target. He stood up and glared at the lump of vines which was changing its shape. The lump began to extend its limbs and in a moment later a tower-sized humanoid made out of vines stood in front of Gugaga. It got a pair of troll-like feet, a pair of handless arms, and it got no neck nor head. However, when Gugaga strained his eyes at the place where its neck should be, he found a single skull there, a deer skull! ¡°It¡¯s you!,¡± he roared in rage. The deer skull glared at him without speaking a single word just like before and extended its huge arm toward him. He didn¡¯t know what this meant to be, but when he was going to recklessly charge straight at the vine giant, the vines on the tip of its handless arm loosened and an out-of-place crystal ball appeared from among the vines. ¡°God damn it! Give me back the core in your hand!¡± That was right. The core was in the giant¡¯s palm as it was showed to Gugaga in order to enrage him. Not listening to him, the giant put the core on its chest in which it got slowly pulled deep inside the vines. ¡°You want me to beat you and get that back? Fine, I will thoroughly crush your hollow body into smithereens!¡± Gugaga leaped toward one of the giant¡¯s huge leg as he swung his mace with all his might. It hit the green vines as a chunk of them got blown away, leaving some thick fibers hanging down from the upper severed end. He smirked and dodged behind the giant¡¯s leg to avoid the incoming attack as he prepared to give it another blow. This thing is no different from its deer form, he thought, I can easily defeat it just like before. He made a detour toward the giant¡¯s front where he had given it a hit. However, when the spot that he just blew away came back into his sight, the chunk that he had gouged out had disappeared as if nothing had happened. What is this?, he got confused. But he had no choice, the chance was right in front of his eyes so he hit it with his mace and dodged back just before the giant¡¯s arm blew the ground that he had stood before away. This time, he didn¡¯t charge right back, but he chose to focus his gaze on the giant¡¯s leg that got damage from his swing. And he got surprised in what he saw. The damaged vines quickly stretched out and merged with the other severed end before the part that was gouged out was fully healed in an instant. Seeing such a scene, Gugaga¡¯s jaw dropped in disbelief. ¡°Hmph, if that is the case, I will crush you until you are thoroughly destroyed!,¡± he grunted. He leaped toward the giant with the mace in his hands. He swung, dodged, swung again, and dodged. He aimed at the same point again and again, trying to reach the leg bone of this giant. However, his effort was all for naught as the giant¡¯s regeneration ability was faster than his speed. ¡°Damn it! Then I will crush your skull instead!¡± Thinking that the skull must be this monster¡¯s weak point, Gugaga climbed the monster¡¯s leg after he put the mace on his back as he aimed to crush its head directly. But that was his worst possible move ever. When he finally reached the waist of the giant, vines stretched out from around him and entangled his limbs altogether. ¡°Gah, these vines are so annoying!¡± He quickly pulled the vines out, yanking them with brute force. However, he couldn¡¯t pull them out fast enough and his body was devoured before long.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He tried to escape this hopeless situation, but the vines tightened and pulled him down every time he tried to move. His super herculean force couldn¡¯t do anything inside this swarm of vines. Then a sharp pain suddenly ran through his body. ¡°Uuuuu!¡± He groaned in pain, but his voice couldn¡¯t go out as the vines also coiled around his head and tightened his mouth. He remembered this torturing pain. It¡¯s the feeling of being pierced by these vines¡¯ roots. He felt them piercing him from every corner of his body. His limbs, his head, or even his little cock were all in pain. It felt like an army of bees had stung him with their sharp needles. Then he felt the disgusting sensation of having something crawling underneath his skin. They squirmed around like earthworms being poured with hot water as the roots tried to extend their branches. ¡°GUUUUUUUUUUU!!!¡± Gugaga put a greater force to escape from this hell. But every time his arms could move an inch, the vines that had extended their roots under his skin would pull him back with a greater force, making him suffer as the roots wiggled wilder and yanked his arms back. ¡°Gu-!!!¡± Cold sweat ran down his spine as the roots finally crept on his face. The roots¡¯ soft tips gently brushed his eyes from underneath his skin as though a death god was touching his heart. At that moment, Gugaga was possessed by a feeling that he had never felt since he was born. It was ¡°fear.¡± He realized that to this monster, he was nothing more than its food. His heart pounded faster and faster as the death came closer every time he felt the vines move. Gugaga¡¯s mind had gone wild. Instead of defeating this monster, now he only thought about how to escape this hell. His tiny brain quickly searched for how to escape and how to feel less pain. Right now he could feel this disgusting pain even when he breathe, so he tried to breath slower and shorter to make his chest pounding as slow as possible. It was fortunate that when he stopped resisting, the vines also stopped stretching their root. Gugaga sighed in relief as he thought that maybe this monster was more intelligent than he previously thought. Maybe if he promised it to introduce it to his king, it might release him and accept the offer obediently. However, the monster had shattered his illusion into pieces as he suddenly felt the roots in his flank, neck, limbs, and groin cutting deep into his flesh like having thousands of small blades under his skin. The places where his steel muscles are thick like his flank and arms were barely tolerable, but the pain of being cut into his groin is utterly painful. It was like his dick and balls were tied with thin ropes and there was someone pulling that rope with full force. Then his back got tightened as if the roots were pushing it. Before he could react to the sudden pain, all the roots under his skin increased their force and pulled him to the front at full power. They cut deep in his steel muscle and yanked him like there was a giant pulling them. ¡°GUAAAHHHHH!!!¡± He felt like his entire body was burning as the bright light finally returned to his eyes. The shining blue sky shone brightly as the scenery slowly shifted toward the earth as he felt his body falling down. He wanted to blink in surprise, but somehow he couldn¡¯t. Everything happened too fast and he didn¡¯t prepare to be thrown out like this, so he lifted his guard up to protect his face from the fall. ¡°GA! GU! GA!¡± He felled on the ground, bounced, and rolled over the corpses of his fallen men. He was finally stopped by a mountain of corpses as he slowly gathered his consciousness. The burning sensation was still all around his body, but the creepy feeling of having thousands of worms creeping underneath his skin was gone. Realizing that, Gugaga sighed in relief. Then he placed his palm on the corpse under his ass to lift his tattered body up. ¡°GUAH!!! Why?¡± At the moment that his palm gently touched the corpse, he felt as if his palm was burning in a bonfire. And when he looked at his hand... ¡°NOOOOO!!!¡± From what he saw, his palm, his arm, and his shoulder were all skinless as he could see his bare muscles covered in dripping red blood. He looked all over his body and found out a scary fact: his green skin was gone! A soft wind blew and he felt as if his entire body was burning in hell and having thousands of needle piercing him altogether. Power left his body as he was in a deep pain. Having no force to support his body, he rolled down from the mountain of corpses like a ragdoll. Every time his skinless body hit the corpses with a splashy sound of his dripping blood, he felt the burning pain grew hotter and hotter. Then he rolled on the ground as he was received by a soft grass floor; however, the soft grasses felt like sharp blades of broken glasses now that he had no skin and was sensitive to everything. The dew on the grass that should be cold now felt like molten metal as they burnt his wounds. The soil that should be soft now was like a rasp scraping the tiny bits of fat layer on his bare muscles. He crept on the ground as he groaned in pain and looked up toward the vine giant who gave all this hell to him. In its handless arm, a green cloth fluttered there before it threw that cloth to him. The cloth dropped on the ground as he could see the outline of a face and the four limbs on the green cloth. Gugaga knew from the first sight that it was his own skin. ¡°M-My skin¡­¡± He held it in his hands and try to wear it back, but the moment that his bare muscles touched the inside of his skin, his blood was sticky to it and he felt an intense pain when he tried to move his skin to the correct position. ¡°Uu¡­¡± But Gugaga couldn¡¯t endure the severe blood loss that continued to pour out from his skinless body and flooded the ground red as he let out his last breathe while trying to cover his skinned body. And the one who had witnessed all these things happened, the vine giant, was looking down on him like an ant beneath its foot. It gave the skinned goblin a light kick as the corpse rolled on the ground showing its gruesome face. Now that it made sure that Gugaga had died, the vine giant slowly returned to its original form as the vines slowly loosened and reformed into several figures. Bones rolled on the ground as a bull made out of vines and a bull skull on top approached a deer that looked similar to it. ¡°You did it, master,¡± it said through the [Mind link]. The deer then looked at the skinned goblin and turned to face the bull. ¡°No, we did it,¡± he said. Ch 15 - The aftermath The fight was over and the forest protectors came out victorious. They dissolved their giant form and assumed their original shapes as the vines slowly formed into beasts. Piles of excessive bones were scattered on the ground as the forest protectors were organizing them and storing them in their abdomen. Back when they left the abandoned camp, Lunus had ordered them to store these bones inside their body as spare parts. This was a countermeasure for cases that their bones got damaged since Lunus couldn¡¯t fix broken bones even if he could easily regenerate his vines. He never thought that he must use all of them in a fight against that goblin Gugaga. He got this idea during the fight, ¡°If my enemy is bigger and stronger, why don¡¯t I change into an even bigger and stronger shape?¡± Then Lunus ordered his men to gather while having the bulls¡¯ leader buy him some time. As he thought, it was possible to tie the bones together and assume a giant shape; however, since he couldn¡¯t control bodies that contained a strong will, he must be the only one who controlled the giant body while his men coiled around him and worked as his armor. It was a monstrous task as he must manage a big structure all by himself. His vines must grow all along the giant¡¯s limbs and become its muscles and tendons which drove him to use [Growth acceleration] to its fullest power. And the moment when he dissolved the giant structure, there was a long length of his excessive vines needed to be cut before he could return to his deer shape. And it was also due to his [Growth acceleration] ability that they could endure Gugaga¡¯s barrage attacks since the other forest protectors couldn¡¯t use this ability efficiently. For Lunus, a big chunk of severed vines like that could be healed in only a matter of seconds, but for other forest protectors, they might take dozens of minutes to regrow that amount. Still, Lunus believed that their victory was also due to their luck for he couldn¡¯t control the vine giant that efficiently. The structure was too gigantic and only he alone could manage it. So it was tough to move the heavy body at will. It was true that he could make the giant walk and swing its arms, but its speed would dramatically drop in exchange for its monstrous attack power. And it could be a fatal flaw that Gugaga could easily dodge every swing which Lunus threw at him. During the battle, Lunus was afraid that it would be a long fight to see whether Gugaga would be tired first or Lunus would be out of his mana first. And he believed that the advantage must shifted toward Gugaga as his mana consumption was just too great when he quicken the regeneration process of the vines. But we are lucky that that green wart has a muscle brain¡­, he thought. Yes, since Lunus had used the vines¡¯ roots to pierce Gugaga¡¯s skin once, there was no reason for the big goblin to risk its life to climb the giant¡¯s leg full of needles like that. In Lunus¡¯ viewpoint, it was a suicide act. But at that time, Gugaga was possessed by rage and thirst to fight, so he had already forgotten the pain he had received. ¡°Still, that one¡¯s muscles are so tough. If we didn¡¯t go this far, it must be hard to kill it. Even the bull¡¯s horns didn¡¯t seem to penetrate its flesh,¡± he pondered. Even though Lunus could use his roots to pierce the goblin¡¯s skin with ease, he couldn¡¯t reach deeper than its tough muscle strengthened by [Steel muscle]. It was something similar to his [Steel fibers] that strengthened his vines, but when comparing the hardness, the roots of his vines were obviously weaker. Now that Lunus had learned the limit of his abilities, he felt that he must find a way to strengthen his body and his men to deal with any unexpected event in the future. He thought about this and that while inspecting his men who were busy sorting the bones by size and shape for an efficient transportation. ¡°Hm? Aren¡¯t there fewer rabbits and squirrels?,¡± he asked. ¡°Master, they died,¡± the bulls¡¯ leader stepped out and reported. ¡°I see¡­¡± During the charge, a number of small forest protectors had been killed by having their skull smashed. Since they had a thinner skull and also helped in close combat, it couldn¡¯t help that a few of them couldn¡¯t make their way back. The green flame in Lunus¡¯ hollow eyes grew smaller as he rethought about his act. Due to him calling them back to their lives, some of them even had to die twice. Was this really worth pulling them back from death? Wasn¡¯t the duty to protect this forest falls on him, a member of the white stag herd? So why did he let something like this happen? His gaze laid on his men. And then he noticed the horns of the bulls¡¯ leader that one of them got broken because of Gugaga¡¯s monstrous force. ¡°That, I¡¯m sorry about your horn.¡± The bull tilted its head in confusion.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°This? No worry, master. I¡¯m glad to help. Also feel good to kick the green warts.¡± ¡°Really? Are you really happy to kill those guys? Isn¡¯t it because I ordered you to do it?¡± ¡°No,master. Kick their ass - me happy. Because green warts are bad.¡± ¡°I-I see.¡± It seemed like they also had a grudge on the goblins from the depth of their soul as they also feel happy for the green warts¡¯ annihilation. Hearing that, Lunus¡¯ heart felt lighter as he knew that at least his men felt the same way with his ideal thought. Still, as he thought, this might also be the effect from his half-baked skill that created them with no memory attached. He couldn¡¯t be sure that they were glad in following him until their memories had fully recovered. ¡°Let¡¯s end this and return to my lord Oscar¡¯s side together.¡± During this battle, Lunus had improved his combat abilities by leaped and bound. He even gained his trustable followers. With this, it would be safer for his lord if he were to be by his side. Also, if he couldn¡¯t bring memories back to his men, then the only possible way was to ask his lord for help. Since his lord had done something similar to him and succeed, it was highly possible that he could do it again. With this, he had decided to bring these men back to meet his lord and rethink about the future acts together. ¡°Master! Master! I found these!,¡± a rabbit jumped back and forth as he stared at Lunus. ¡°Hm?¡± Lunus didn¡¯t only give order for his men to sort the bones as he also ordered the small ones to inspect the surroundings for any useful things. Then it meant that this rabbit had found something useful. ¡°Please wait a moment, I have to report lord Oscar about our success. I¡¯m sure that he must be angry that I left him behind without leaving him a word and not answering his call from the [Mind link]¡± In reality, the [Mind link] that Oscar had formed with Lunus since the beginning was still connected, but Lunus had decided to not answering his lord until he could deal with the green warts or he was strong enough to protect his lord. And now he was ready to receive his punishment. ¡°My lord, this is me, Lunus,¡± he said via his [Mind link]. . . . After contacting his lord and describing his circumstances, Lunus followed after the rabbit as he led him deep into the camping site of the goblins. ¡°Fufu~¡± ¡°Something good, master?,¡± the rabbit-shaped forest protector asked, curious about his master having a better mood. ¡°It seems like my lord also grew up quite a bit when I was not around. He is also worried about me. A good boy isn¡¯t he?¡± The rabbit turned around as he tilted his head while hopping backward and looking up at Lunus. ¡°My lord? Master of master? Whos is he? Who is he?¡± He hopped zigzag while asking his master to show just how much he wanted to know. ¡°Hmm, lord Oscar is a forest god. He is also a good child that I want to protect.¡± ¡°Forest god? Really? Really? Do they truly exist?¡± ¡°They do, of course. You would realize when you see him. He is so majestic, like the manifestation of a forest itself. Even the trees adore him so much.¡± Green flames shone and flickered in Lunus eyes as he talked about his lord. Every word he spoke was full of admiration. ¡°He looks awesome! Is he the one who gave you power, master? Is he?¡± ¡°That is right. His power is a lot more impressive than mine.¡± ¡°Wow! I want to see him. I want to! Will he rule this forest? Will he?¡± Lunus stopped walking and was lost in his thought. Seeing that, the rabbit also stopped. ¡°That¡¯s right, there was nothing to guarantee that he would stay here for long. Since the beasts were mostly slaughtered by those green warts and they were still not entirely eliminated. It would be good if he chose to help us, but¡­¡± He looked at the rabbit with a serious expression. It wasn¡¯t like he could express it through his boneless face, but one could tell from the air he was emitting. ¡°...But considering lord Oscar in his current state, I don¡¯t think he could exert his full potential now that he still couldn¡¯t grasp the limit of his power. Right now, it was our duty to protect this forest and our lord with all cost.¡± Hearing that, the leaves on the rabbit¡¯s meatless skull that were arranged like rabbit ears twitch as he could feel the power from his master¡¯s words. This short speech had made him eager to fulfill his job as a forest protector until the end of this second life. ¡°Yes, master. I will do my best. I will!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, we will do whatever we can.¡± Lunus lifted his front leg and gently patted the rabbit with his hoof. After that, the rabbit touched its head with its paw and hopped around happily. Somehow, talking to this rabbit was more satisfying than Lunus had originally thought. It was like his old day when he taught his energetic juniors about the duties of a member of the white stag herd in which he had ruled. ¡°Leaving our small talk aside, what exactly is the thing that you want to show me?¡± ¡°Ah! It¡¯s here, master. It¡¯s here.¡± The rabbit hopped a dozen steps away and stopped in front of an iron cage covered by a ragged cloth. With his curiosity, Lunus gently lifted the dirty cloth up to see whatever was imprisoned inside. Inside the dark shadow casted by the covering, ragged cloth, two small figures with humanoid shape sat there clinging to each other. They wore only light and tattered clothes that was obviously ripped apart by the goblins and could barely covered their feminine parts. In their eyes, fear and nervousness could be seen as they looked like a livestock waiting for their queue to be slaughtered. Their lips were dry and their body was full of bruises, indicating just what kind of hell they had gone through. Then Lunus¡¯ hollow eyes suddenly met theirs as both parties became frozen in shock. ¡°¡°Eiiiiii!!!,¡±¡± they cried out loud. ¡°Humans?,¡± Lunus exclaimed. Ch 16 - Humans? ¡°Humans?,¡± Lunus exclaimed. The two girls inside the cage clung and hugged each other as their body shook in fear like a scared rabbit. One of the girls or maybe both of them had probably pissed as he could clearly sense the strong stench of urine. ¡°M-Monster! An undead!!! We are doomed, Mina! Big sis Hilda must be dead already! I don¡¯t want to die unmarried like this!,¡± the one with cherry-pink short hair cried as she buried her face between the big breast of her friend. ¡°I¡¯m also scared, Cheri! And I¡¯ve already wet my pants! What should I do? What should I do?,¡± The curvy blonde hair girl closed her face with her hands while twisting nervously. ¡°Wait, you wet your pants!? No wonder why my thigh feels hot and stinky¡­¡± ¡°I-It can¡¯t be helped!!! Besides, won¡¯t it think like I¡¯m dirty this way and chooses to leave me alone?¡± ¡°But, doesn¡¯t undead just kill lives because they hate living things?¡± ¡°Then, are we already doomed?¡± ¡°We are already doomed.¡± ¡°¡°Nooooo, I don¡¯t want to die like thisssss!!!,¡±¡± they cried like a baby, clinging to each other. Seeing such a pitiable scene, Lunus¡¯ vine mouth opened wide in shock as the flame in his hollow eyes grew smaller. What is this mess!, he screamed in his mind. His vine that had lifted the covering cloth up slowly closed it back down as the screaming sounds of the girls inside got slowly deafened. ¡°Master! Master! What should we do? Should we kill them right here? They are also intruder, right? Right?,¡± the rabbit asked. Lunus who was still in shock was snapped back to reality due to his follower¡¯s scary idea. ¡°No, we won¡¯t do that. They are also preys of the green warts like us, so we¡¯d better release them. They might have their good reason to be captured here, but sadly¡­ we can¡¯t talk to them.¡± Even though Lunus could talk with plants and beasts like his lord does, he couldn¡¯t communicate with humans since he couldn¡¯t actually speak. What he could do was using his [Mind link] to communicate, but it had a limit that allowed him to talk to only plants, small beasts, and herbivores. Of course, humans were not included in the list. As such, he couldn¡¯t talk to the girls or ask them questions. And he didn¡¯t want to kill them with no reason either since his main objective right now was annihilating the goblins. If these girls were here to kill or investigate the goblins as he did, then he didn¡¯t mind to let them live. Since human was a curious race in nature, he believed that it was possible for them to start investigating this forest if something especially odd was to happen. And if they were to bare their fangs at the goblins, he didn¡¯t want to be in there way. ¡°Let¡¯s bring the cage back to our gathering point as it is. We will release them later.¡± ¡°Aye aye, sir!,¡± The rabbit stood on two feet to show its acknowledgment before hopping back to the gathering point to ask for help in dragging the cage back. Seeing that, Lunus wanted to let out a sigh, but he couldn¡¯t since he didn¡¯t actually have a lung. His eyes followed the rabbit until it disappeared into the crowd of the forest protectors. ¡°I¡¯ve got more reliable followers than I initially thought. I wonder if I can actually push them to their highest limit¡­,¡± he pondered.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Lunus threw some leftover food of the goblins and a ragged cloth around there into the cage. The girls must be treated poorly by the goblins, so it was possible that they were starving. And they must need the cloth to wipe their face and the pool of their stinky urine. Making sure that he had provided them with every necessary thing, he turned on his heel, leaving the wrapped cage and the crying girls behind for his men to transport them back. As he walked back to the gathering point, he realized that his men had done their jobs well while he went inspecting the cage. The bones were already arranged and more than half of them had been stored in his men¡¯s abdomen. The goblin corpses were all checked and piled into a mountain. And the corpses of beasts hunted and eaten last night by the goblins were also gathered per Lunus¡¯ order. ¡°...There seem to be more corpses than what we found last night. Damn the green warts! Just how many more beasts do they want to slaughter before their bottomless greed will be fulfilled?,¡± he grunted. Looking at the gathered corpses, most of them still had had their head attached. That was a good news since Lunus could still make them into a forest protector if at least their skull was in a perfect shape. Lunus didn¡¯t know this but the reason was due to Gugaga was busy with his ¡°new toy¡± last night, so he didn¡¯t want to spend his precious time playing around with the captured beasts. However, what made Lunus became tense the most was the headcount of the corpses. ¡°This time there are more than 200 of them¡­ If this thing is to happen every day then...¡± he groaned, scratching the ground to ease his mind that became down all of sudden. In this camp, they had found the corpses of 12 saddled horses, a family of bears, a herd of mountain goats, a big flock of birds, and some other animals. They numbered between 200 and 300 in total. ¡°Master, also, human corpses,¡± the bulls¡¯ leader reported. Lunus looked at a distant corner. Lied there were ten bodies of humans. Nine of them were male and they wore a set of leather armor that was full of cut and holes from a fierce battle. And the other one was a naked female that they found under the collapsed tent. ¡°...Hilda?,¡± a name slipped out from Lunus. ¡°Master know this one?,¡± the bull asked. ¡°Ah, no. Mmm, where did I hear this name, I wonder?¡± Lunus was lost in his thought. As the rabbit who was a little further away and was preparing the transporting team for the cage saw that, it poked its tiny head out from among the crowd. ¡°I think! I think it¡¯s a name that the humans in the cage spoke out, master!¡± ¡°I see, so those humans and this one are acquainted.¡± Lunus turned his face at the body of the girl as he inspected her. Her body was full of wounds from being tortured. There was even a black and blue mark from being squeezed to death on her neck and her body was dirtied by a certain nasty fluid. But her face and shape still look good as a female human. Although her limbs were muscular due to her ways of life, her delicate face and her chestnut-brown hair were so beautiful that they could even charm Lunus who wasn¡¯t even a member of the human race. ¡°...Let¡¯s make them a funeral,¡± said Lunus. ¡°Funeral?,¡± the bull asked curiously. ¡°I heard that it¡¯s a human ritual for the dead.¡± ¡°Master, why for intruders?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just feel sympathize for their poor fortune. And also¡­¡± He looked back at the girl. ¡°...she reminds me of someone I know.¡± ¡°If you wish, master.¡± Lunus took a short walk and picked up a ragged cloth to clean the girl¡¯s corpse. He rearranged her hairs to get rid of the mess and then covered her naked body with pieces of clothes. It seemed the simple-minded bull could read the mood as he kept silent all along and behaved as a good observer. When Lunus was done with his business, he turned toward the bull as he gave him an order. ¡°Please use your power to dig 10 holes that can put these bodies into. I will go wake up our new comrades, so make it finish before the caged human arrives. Oh, and if it tends to take you too long, you can ask your men for help.¡± Just like that, Lunus left the bull to deal with his assigned job as he walked toward the place where the corpses of beasts were gathered. Long vines extended from his back like a pair of wings as a spring breeze blew thousands of tiny white petals into the air. Glowing berries quickly grew in the places of the fallen flowers as Lunus flapped his vine wings and threw the berries into the air. The white petals flew past Lunus¡¯ eyes as they reminded him of an event that happened in the long past. ¡°I wonder¡­, what is that girl¡¯s name again?¡± Lunus was lost in his past memories as he witnessed the rebirth of his new comrades. Vines sprouted and quickly grew in front of him as they assumed the shapes of big and small beasts. Ch 16.5 - Before the hunt begins The sky slowly grew dark as lamps were slowly lit one by one along the roughly paved road. A tavern was full of customers as it ever was for its acceptable food quality at a low price that beginner adventurers could afford. Inside the said tavern, a pair of girls were preserving a table in a corner as they waited for the third person to return. On the table, there was only a bowl of grape that gradually became more empty as time passed. ¡°Big sis Hilda sure is late. I wonder if she was picked up by a handsome boy.¡± a cherry pink hair girl grumbled as she leaned onto a dining table, resting her white cheek on her palm. The bored girl tossed a grape drupe into her mouth as her eyes swam around the tavern, searching for a good looking man who was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Don''t joke around, Cheri! In our group of three, there is only you who want to hook a boy that much! Besides, Big sis Hilda would never pick up a random guy like that!, ¡± The girl with curly blonde hair who sat on the opposite side argued as she let out a sigh. They were Cheri and Mina, a pyromancer and a hydromancer. When included Hilda who was once a royal knight into the party, they were called the Three Roses of Terario city''s adventurer guild. It wasn¡¯t like they were recognized by their true ability as they were only silver rank in their adventurer guild, the third lowest rank out of seven. However, they were treated as a mascot of this city''s adventurer guild due to being a rare girl group among the adventurers who generally relied on men as a vanguard. But in the case of this Three Roses party, their leader, Hilda had covered that position all by herself as she had acquired several useful vanguard skills since the time when she was a royal knight. ¡°Jeez, a popular girl like you has no right to blame me! Look at this huge breast! Just how many men did it charm into your fan club?¡± Cheri jumped forward and sunk her small fingers into Mina¡¯s breast as she massaged it without minding the surrounding gazes of the men that looked at them with a blushed face. ¡°Nooo, stop it! It''s not like I want to have that fan club thing. They were all crazy and scary like a wild beast. And stop touching it already! Don''t you also have yours?¡± Not wanting to be touched one-sided, Mina extended her hands to grope Cheri''s flat chest. Being shocked by her friend''s counter-attack, Cheri looked down back and forth between her none-existed chest and her friend''s enormous boob as her cute face suddenly turned ugly. ¡°Mu! This vile cow is so vile! I must thoroughly punish it with my hands!, ¡± said Cheri as she exerted greater force into her fingers. ¡°Nooooo, just stop it already! Why did big sis tell me that doing this will make you stop for sure!? Big sis Hilda, why do you betray me!?, ¡± Mina cried as she frantically retrieved her hands to protect her chest from the old man in a girl form. All the men eating in the tavern had their eyes glued on the girls¡¯ catfight as they tried to shift get face slightly away so that the girls won''t notice them and continue her play. Then the wooden door was opened without anyone noticing it as a person in his chainmail and with a bastard sword hanging on his belt entered the tavern. He walked straight to the table that had gathered everyone''s attention and chopped his hands on the girls¡¯ head. ¡°¡°Ouch! That hurts¡­ Big sis Hilda!?,¡±¡± they cried out together.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Yes, it''s me. Can you two stop playing around? We must hurry to prepare necessary stuff, ¡± the girl who wore the chainmail said. Her long, slightly curly hair rested on her shoulder as she leaned her hand on the table. In her other hand held a rolled parchment as she showed it to the girls. ¡°Aww, big sis Hilda, what''s the quest this time?, ¡± Cheri asked while rubbing her head with a drop of tear in her eyes. ¡°It isn¡¯t a slime extermination quest, right? I really hate them. They are sticky and slimy and I don¡¯t want to prepare a spare cloth to change in the forest again¡­,¡± Mina complained as she remembers a painful quest in her memory. ¡°And I hope that it isn¡¯t a merchant escort quest either. The last time we escorted that Brudo firm, our reward was unjustly deducted! They blamed us for damaging the goods even though we had made sure to not let anyone or anything inside the cargo. Who knows, they might use an initially damaged product as an evidence to put the fault onto us! The merchants are all vile and tricky after all,¡± said Cheri. Hilda shrugged her shoulder as she made an ¡°It can¡¯t be helped face.¡± Even though Hilda was the eldest of the three sisters and was more experienced in combat, they began their lives as an adventurer around the same time. So they were all counted as an amateur when it came to completing an adventurer guild¡¯s quest. Still, in this party, Hilda who was most experienced in combat and had the strongest aura of an adult was chosen as the leader. The other girls would never put the blame onto her even though they had complained all this time around. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We are just a rookie in the adventurer guild so we all lack the secrets and tricks to complete the quests. Maybe we should join up with a more experienced adventurer, but you two don¡¯t want that right?,¡± She asked the other girls while making a troubled face. ¡°Of course!,¡± Cheri answered as she hit the table with her palm, slightly lifting the grape in the bowl, ¡°The male adventurers were all self-centered. I always wanted to burn them with my magic whenever they bragged about their abilities.¡± Mina nodded in confirmation, ¡°That¡¯s right. And they also look at us with a lewd face. All of them only care about our body and just want to flirt around us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because your useless lumps of fat lure them to us! So we should just cut them out and feed them to the hungry men!¡± Cheri glared at Mina¡¯s chest as she made a scary face while extending her hands toward Mina. Seeing that, Mina knew in an instant for what Cheri meant by the lumps of fat as she hurriedly raised her arms to protect her breast. ¡°Noooo, you can¡¯t cut them! They aren¡¯t just lumps of fat! Big sis Hilda, please help me~!,¡± she begged Hilda while giving her a pitiful face. ¡°You two¡­,¡± Hilda sighed as she stopped Cheri from jumping at Mina, ¡°Now stop playing around and listen to the quest detail.¡± Both Cheri and Mina obediently listened to Hilda as they became more serious about the quest matters. ¡°So the quest this time?,¡± Cheri asked. ¡°It¡¯s an investigation quest. A forest investigation!,¡± Hilda answered, unfolding the parchment in her hand to show the detail of the quest written inside. ¡°¡°A forest investigation?,¡±¡± Cheri and Mina repeated the words at the same time. ¡°That¡¯s right. We just need to go there, investigate the oddity inside, and come back to report. It¡¯s an easy task right?¡± ¡°But traveling inside an unfamiliar forest is a little bit¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, in the quest, there will be the other two parties beside us. And I will tell you since you two heard this for the first time, but I had lived in a town nearby that forest when I was young, so the place that we are going to was something like a backyard for me.¡± ¡°Eh, I didn¡¯t know that big sis had been around here before,¡± Cheri got surprised. ¡°That is because my family had moved to a city near royal capital when my mom remarried... Putting that aside, this is a suitable quest for us isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Is that forest dangerous?,¡± Mina asked, looking worried. But Hilda just casually shook her head, ¡°There is nothing to fear. There are very few dangerous beasts in that forest. And besides¡­¡± She made a broad smile that showed just how happy she was to speak the following words. ¡°That forest is protected and taken care of by someone,¡± Hilda said confidently. Ch 17 - The funeral inside a forest ¡°Why does it come out like this¡­,¡± Cheri groaned. The mood maker of Tree Roses party now made a gloomy face as she sobbed and hid her lifeless face between her knees. Her back leaned onto the hard and cold bars of the cage as she could feel the vibration from being transported through her back and buttocks. They didn¡¯t know where they were carrying to or why the undead covered in vines had appeared. All they had known was that the undead had given them an edible-looking chunk of grilled meat and some ragged clothes. ¡°Mina, that undead might not actually want to kill us, right? That can happen, right? That¡¯s why it had left us this edible-looking meat after all,¡± Cheri asked. She did her best to be optimistic as much as she could and forced a smile toward Mina who was also having a gloomy face, but she had failed to conceal her true emotion as fear and nervousness could be felt from her watering eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t mind using the clothes to clean our legs, but don¡¯t you think this edible-looking thing is dangerous? It must be poisoned.¡± ¡°P-Poison!? Cheri looked back and forth between the thing that the undead had given to them and Mina¡¯s face. In front of her, there was a chunk of grilled meat placed on top of a ragged cloth. They didn¡¯t know what kind of meat this was, but it looked and smelled like goat meat if they were to guess. ¡°...I don¡¯t want to think about this, but what if this meat is from a human? It¡¯s just too scary to eat something you don¡¯t know where it comes from.¡± ¡°H-Human meat!?,¡± Cheri¡¯s face became pale, ¡°D-Do you mean they grill our friends and feed them to us? U-Uuu¡­¡± Her stomach got upset as soon as she imagined the gruesome scene of her acquaintances being slaughtered and turned into this grilled meat. Even though she still didn¡¯t put the mysterious meat into her mouth, she had already imagined just how disgusting it would be if she ate it. Her eyes spun into circles as she sought help from her close friend. She grabbed Mina¡¯s shoulder with her weak, shaking hands as she made a crying face while looking at Mina¡¯s eyes. But Mina only returned Cheri with the same crying face as she also felt as hopeless as her. ¡°M-Mina, what will happen to us?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t know. They may just slaughter us, or they may also feed us until we are fat before slaughtering us, or they may just bring us to their boss to decide who will they slaughter first.¡± ¡°Why are there only options where we are slaughtered!?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that normal? Since we are already doomed anyway¡­¡± Mina sighed as she pulled her friend to hug. In return, Cheri also hugged Mina back while burying her face between Mina¡¯s breast. ¡°I hope a prince riding on a white horse will come to save us¡­,¡± Cheri muttered. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too much of a story? There is no way an unknown prince will come to help us anyway since we are in the middle of a forest with a horde of goblins and a fearful undead,¡± Mina objected. ¡°...Any handsome man is fine. Just one is alright,¡± Cheri said as she wiped her tear on Mina¡¯s breast. ¡°But I prefer to see big sis Hilda being safe and alive¡­¡± Both of them went into a long silence and the cage continued to shake during the transportation. ¡°...Is big sis Hilda still alive?,¡± Cheri asked, trying hard to break the ice. ¡°Who knows¡­¡± Both of them clung to each other, not saying a single word as all they could hear was their breathing sounds and their heartbeats. Soon the cage finally stopped as the vibration that they could feel from the iron bars suddenly disappeared. A portion of the tattered cloth covering the cage was lifted up and they could see vines fidgeting around the cage¡¯s lock as if trying to open it. Mina¡¯s hands grabbed onto Cheri¡¯s as she exerted her force onto them due to her nervousness. ¡°Cheri, I¡¯m scared...¡± ¡°...I¡¯m also scared, Mina.¡± And a moment later, the lock was cracked open as it dropped onto the ground with a thud. The two girls held their breath as the cage door slowly opened, revealing the bright light in front of them. Cheri held Mina¡¯s hands back as she made up her mind.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Mina. No matter what kind of hell was awaiting us, I will go through it together with you. And also, I¡¯m sure that big sis Hilda must be there, waiting for us...¡± ¡°...Mmm.¡± They held each other¡¯s hand tightly as the two girls walked out of the cage on their own trembling legs. The bright sunlight bathed the girls as they strained their eyes to look at their surroundings. ¡°¡°W-What is this!?¡±¡± In front of them, an army of undead beasts covered in vines was gathering around in a wide arc with the girls at the center. The green flames flickering in their hollow eyes were glaring at the girls like a predator looking at its preys. ¡°W-What should we do, Cheri?¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know, Mina.¡± The girls were nervous and dumbfounded. At first, they thought that these fearful undead beasts would jump at them and tore their limbs into small pieces, but they didn¡¯t. Unlike other undead they had ever seen as an adventurer, these undead beasts were calmer and more collected than even humans. They didn¡¯t do anything beside glaring at the girls. Then a deer undead walked out from among the crowd as it slowly approached the girls. Cheri and Mina gulped. They could tell from the majestic aura alone that this deer undead was different from the others. This must be the leader of the other undead in this place for sure! And like the surrounding undead, the deer behaved too calm and collected as an undead should be. It stopped in front of the girls. And with its head still high and pride, it suddenly turned its head sideways as if beckoning the girls to follow it before it turned on its heel. The girls looked at each other and decided to follow after the deer. They walked while still holding their fear and nervousness in their heart as the undead beasts slowly made way for the three of them to pass. Dozens of steps had passed and they had finally arrived at an opening. There the girls saw ten bodies of humans lying down on the floor. Next to each of them was a deep hole that can fit each body inside. ¡°¡°Big sis, Hilda!,¡±¡± the girls cried out as they ran toward the only girl body on the ground with tears in their eyes. However, their face became pale and ugly as soon as they saw the state of her friend. They collapsed on the ground as tears streaked down their cheek and dripped on the soft soil. ¡°What happened to you, big sis? What did they do to you?,¡± Mina cried when she saw Hilda¡¯s neck turned black and blue due to being squeezed to death. In contrast, Cheri glared dagger at the deer. ¡°Why did all of this happen? Why do you only keep us alive? So, you all want to make us suffer and torture us to death, don¡¯t you? If you want to kill, just kill us already!,¡± she shouted toward the deer. Having no one around to put the fault to, Cheri blamed the deer one-sidedly as she threw her trembling punches at the deer. However, the deer didn¡¯t budge an inch as it stood still to receive all of the punches threw at it. Before long, Cheri had run out of her remaining stamina as she collapsed on the ground, holding onto the leaves on the deer¡¯s leg. ¡°Why did you do this to big sis Hilda? She is a good girl¡­*sob* She doesn¡¯t deserve this! *sob*¡± Not answering to the girls, the deer took a step forward as it slowly approached Hilda¡¯s body while leaving Cheri lying on the ground behind. Mina raised her head from Hilda¡¯s corpse as she saw the deer stood right next to her. A vine on its back extended toward Hilda and Mina as it hovered in the air like a flying snake. ¡°!?!,¡± Mina held her breath, preparing to accept her fate. ¡°S-Stop!,¡± Cheri cried out from behind, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touching Mina!¡± But the vine didn¡¯t reach Mina at all. Instead, small white flowers started to bud and bloom along the vine as it turned out into a magnificent white bouquet. Then another vine grew out and cut the bouquet down in a swing as it caught the bouquet before it fell on the ground and gently put it on Hilda¡¯s corpse. Then the deer turned on its heel and continued to place a bouquet on each body on the ground, not caring about the presence of the girls that it had left behind. The two girls were flabbergasted, not understanding the train of the event as they could only curiously watch the scene in front of their eyes. Then after noticing the mutual link between the bodies, the bouquet, and the holes, Mina turned to face Cheri as she asked her. ¡°Cheri, is this perhaps¡­ a funeral?¡± . . . The girls had received flower bouquet from the deer as they put them on each body before returned to stay by Hilda¡¯s side. The other undead beasts lined up and came to put the flowers on the corpses one by one. Soon, every corpse was covered in white flowers as they looked like a big fluffy blanket from afar. ¡°Mina, why do all of these undead beasts set up a funeral for big sis Hilda and the others?¡± Mina shook her head, ¡°I also have no idea.¡± Cheri looked inside the crowd of undead beasts as she saw the deer stood there with a bull. ¡°They are truly mysterious¡­,¡± she murmured. Just what are they? How are they involved in this incident? Who exactly is the one that killed big sis Hilda? Questions after questions flooded into Cheri¡¯s mind as she tried hard to find the answers only to catch thin air. ¡°What if¡­ these undead beasts are on our side and the one who killed our friends are the goblins¡­ But why are they on the opposite side and why do they make a funeral for us? This doesn¡¯t make sense at all.¡± However, one of her questions was suddenly answered at the moment. Dark blades coming out from everywhere among the crowd of the undead beasts as their skull started flying into the air like using a knife to scrape kernels out of a corn stalk. In the middle of the crowd, a black goblin sat on the headless body of the deer as the knife in its hand beheaded the deer in a single swing. The deer skull was sent flying as it drew a curve in the air and dropped on the ground next to Cheri and Mina. The green flame flickering in its hollow eyes looked at the girls as the girls also looked back at it in fear of the sudden event. ¡°¡°Eiiiiiiiiiii !!!¡±¡± Ch 18 - Lord Oscar is back! *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* A humanoid shadow traversed from trees to trees as the forest gradually grew darker. He extended his hand toward a tree branch, then a rope-like vine extended from that hand of his and coiled around the tree branch. In the next moment, he let his body get pulled down by the gravity as the vine held him back while swinging him forward. The tree branch made a creaking sound as it bent downward due to the weight applying on it. But the vine that had coiled around the branch had been suddenly loosened and extracted back to the figure, making the tree branch swung back to its original position with a slight vibration after effect. The figure that had shot himself into the air due to the leftover momentum from the centrifugal force had once again extended his hand to the front and extended his vine toward that direction. However, the vine could only grab thin air as there was no branch for it to coil around. He didn¡¯t realize that due to how dark the forest had become. And with nothing else to grab ahold, he then quickly fell down due to the gravity. ¡°Uwahhhhh!,¡± he cried out while swinging his arm wildly only to find nothing to help him from falling. He fell onto the ground below and groaned in pain. ¡°Ouch, that hurts so much!¡± Oscar rolled down from the bush before checking his body. He touched and tapped along his limbs to find whether his bone was broken somewhere or not. And he found out that his leg was bent in a weird angle. His leg was probably broken when he fell. Letting out a long sigh, he forced his eyes closed and gritted his teeth to endure the upcoming pain. His both hands grabbed on the broken leg as he counted a number in his mind. ¡°1¡­, 2¡­, OUCH!!!¡± He forcefully bent his leg back to the correct position as he felt the pain running through his entire leg. A dim light glowed around the wound and he could feel the pain slowly faded down. His finger traced on the leg as he made sure that his broken leg was really healed. He tapped his leg. Yes, it was back to its original shape, he thought as he let out a sigh in relief. During the time that he had used the vines to sling his body from trees to trees, his shoulders were dislocated several times, but he had learned that they would be healed if he was to force them back to their original position. Still, although this extraordinary ability to heal himself is great and all, it couldn¡¯t heal his fatigue both physically and mentally. Right now, his original white delicate skin had turned deep red due to overexerting his force for an entire day. Sweat streaked down his body like a stream and the hotness like being burned in a bonfire indicated that his body was already at its limit.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°*pant* *pant* It seemed I have to stop here today although the distance between me and Lunus is still this great¡­ I can¡¯t keep up with his speed at all.¡± Oscar buried his face between his knee while trying to calm himself. After a while, he looked up at the dark sky as he took a deep breath. ¡°How did he travel that far in just a single night? What should I do to meet up with him again?¡± He kept asking questions that he didn¡¯t know how to answer. ¡°There should be a way for me to travel faster and become stronger than this.¡± He threw questions and curiosity toward the pitch black sky; however, there was not a single reply from the void except a cold wind that swept his body as if it wanted to soothe his heart. Right now Oscar was tired, very tired. He had slung from trees to trees since when he decided to tush after Lunus this morning. He didn¡¯t even have a proper lunch as he wanted to make up for the huge gap between them as much as he could. Taking a break here might be a good idea, he thought as his back slowly lied down while feeling the pain on his back from the muscle fatigue. But when he put all his weight onto his back and dropped it on the ground, he felt a fluffy object on his back that lifted the center of his back up from the ground. ¡°W-What is this?¡± He got surprised and sprung back up, not caring the aching muscles all around his body that were crying out. He reached toward his back and brought the fluffy thing into his front. There, a fluffy white rabbit was staring at him with its round, black eyes. It raised its front paw up as if saying hi while making a cute sound *Kyuu*. ¡°Why are you here? Didn¡¯t I told you to stay there?¡± *Kyuu~* ¡°You are worrying me? Don¡¯t worry, my vines are so strong. I think I can somehow fight monsters with these.¡± *Kyu, kyu, kyuu* ¡°The green warts are strong so you want to help? That¡¯s why you should wait for me at the tree trunk! It¡¯s dangerous for a rabbit out here!¡± *Kuu¡­* The rabbit gave Oscar another pleading face as tears began to gather at the corner of its eyes. ¡°Gu¡­ Do you want to stick around me no matter what? Then just do whatever you want, but I don¡¯t guarantee that I can perfectly protect you so run away as soon as it looks dangerous, alright?¡± *Kyu! Kyu! Kyu* The rabbit twitched as if wanting to hop around in pleasure due to being allowed to follow Oscar. As for Oscar, he had sighed deep in his heart as he couldn¡¯t bear to see the white rabbit crying in front of him. To him, the rabbits and especially this one was important to him. They had hugged him when he felt cold and soothed his heart when he felt down. So he didn¡¯t want to be the reason to make them cry. However, he didn¡¯t want to drag them into a fight either. And right now, his reasons were contrasting against each other in his head. Should he bring this rabbit with him? Or not? This had become another reason that made him a headache. *Guruguruguru* ¡°Is your belly rumbling?¡± He looked at the rabbit which was nodding wildly before opening its mouth wide to show that there was nothing inside. *Guruguruguru* ¡°Ah¡­, this time it was mine¡­¡± Their stomach had been empty for an entire day. And right now was a right time to find themselves a shelter and fill their growling belly with food. Ch 19 - The black cat and the white rabbit A flute tree was common here and could be found throughout this forest as its hollow body was perfect for small wildlife to make their nest. It was mysterious as to how a big tree like this could stand tall with its heartwood gone missing, but it was a fact that its sapwood was hard enough to support its massive weight. A flute tree was called with such a name because of this odd characteristic. When a flute tree fell, it looked like a giant flute because the cavity inside its wood stretched along its trunk. When a wind blew inside, it could sometimes make a flute-like melody. And when its trunk was tapped, it gave out a drum-like beat. And currently, both Oscar and the white rabbit were eating the moonlight berries inside a flute tree¡¯s trunk as their supper while Oscar was combing the rabbit¡¯s fluffy fur. He never thought that these moonlight berries were delicious. They were bitter with only a hint of sweetness and its sticky juice would only make his mouth dry. But he didn¡¯t have a leisure time to search for other sources of food, so these berries that he could grow as much as he wanted was his currently only possible meal. Besides, it seemed that the rabbit also loved the moonlight berries for some mysterious reason. ¡°You sure like these berries a lot, don¡¯t you?,¡± he said while throwing drupes of glowing berries into his mouth while looking at the rabbit munching on its portion happily. Hearing that, the rabbit held a moonlight berry between its front paws as it stood on two legs, showing its fluffy belly. It hopped on two legs, unbalanced, as it approached Oscar and offered him the berry? ¡°For me? Thank you, but I have had it enough.¡± Not listening to Oscar¡¯s refusal, the rabbit took a huge leap toward him aiming to stuff his mouth with the berry between its paws. ¡°Eh?¡± *Kyu~!* But jumping in an unnatural poster for a rabbit is too difficult for it as its aim was off the mark. The rabbit lost its control mid-air and bumped onto Oscar¡¯s face. Their mouth collided for a short moment before the rabbit¡¯s head hit his nose and they stumbled on the ground together with Oscar lying down as a mat. ¡°Aww, are you alright? You shouldn¡¯t suddenly jump like that, you know?¡± *Kun¡­* He rubbed his nose while groaning. His other hand caressed the rabbit to make sure that it was still fine. Still, Oscar was perplexed. When the rabbit¡¯s forehead hit his nose, he felt like it was poked by something hard. ¡°What is¡­ this?¡± When he touched the rabbit¡¯s forehead, he felt an odd sensation. Something solid was hidden under this fluffy white fur. He stared between the rabbit¡¯s hairs and found a small sparkling crystal there. ¡°Why is there something like this on your head?¡± The rabbit tilted its head in confusion as it tried to touch its head with its forefeet, but couldn¡¯t reach it. Oscar stared harder at the crystal while rubbing it. The crystal gave out a dimly glowing yellow light, just like the hue of moonlight berries. He could also see yellow sparks floating inside the crystal as if the crystal was a liquid. ¡°It seems she had turned into a monster, nyan,¡± a sweet voice came out of nowhere. The rabbit got surprised by the unknown voice. Its long ears stood straight in alert before its beloved feet unconsciously brought it behind Oscar¡¯s figure and hid there. In contrast, Oscar didn¡¯t look different from before as he casually asked the owner of that unknown sweet voice back. ¡°It¡¯s you again. Where are you? And what do you want?¡± Suddenly, two black triangular-shaped ears protruded from his shadow. They twitched a little before the other parts slowly floated up from the darkness. ¡°I¡¯ve been hiding in your shadow since then, nyan. It¡¯s quite comfortable there, nyan, wayyyy better than bathing under warm sunlight.¡± ¡°So you have been trailing me this whole time. So what do you want then?¡± Oscar gave the black cat a serious look while the rabbit faint-heartedly peeked from the vines that covered Oscar¡¯s body. ¡°Nya? I just follow you because it¡¯s interesting. Isn¡¯t that enough, nyan? Besides, you still didn¡¯t thank me for giving you the direction, right? You are so rude to look at me like your sworn enemy after I had gone through trouble in helping you, nyan.¡± Oscar¡¯s eyes turned big and round. That was right, he had already forgotten that the black cat didn¡¯t do anything wrong and had even helped him pointing out where Lunus went to. It was all his fault that he didn¡¯t thank her in return and even looked at her with a dangerous gaze like that. This was because he had engraved his angry feeling when they first met into his memory which made him unconscious thought that this black cat was untrustable and dangerous without minding the reasons behind. But when he realized this from listening to the black cat, he felt really guilty for returning her kindness with an unfriendly welcome. His shoulders dropped as he looked down at the floor with a shameful expression.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s my fault that I didn¡¯t properly thank you and returned you with an unfriendly welcome like that. Then, do you want anything in return? I will gladly help you if you can, but I¡¯m currently chasing after Lunus so I might have to postpone it until I can meet up with him.¡± The black cat sat down in front of him. It raised one of its front paws to cover its mouth and gave Oscar its bewitching eyes. ¡°Fu nya~, it¡¯s not like I want something special, you know. Something like a human-made dried fish would be fine, nyan.¡± ¡°What is that¡­?,¡± Oscar asked back in confusion. ¡°Never mind, nyan¡­ Then, I wanted to ask you a small favor instead, nyan. It¡¯s easy, nyan.¡± ¡°What is it then?¡± Oscar gave the black cat a serious face as he focused on what she was going to say. ¡°Give me a name, nyan.¡± ¡°A name?¡± Oscar¡¯s eyes blinked twice as he couldn¡¯t fully understand the meaning behind this. ¡°That¡¯s right, nyan. Since you could name that one Lunus, then it¡¯s not too big of a task, right?¡± ¡°Just name you?¡± ¡°And a beautiful one, nyan.¡± Oscar made a troubled face. He didn¡¯t think that the small favor that she had asked for would be naming her. ¡°Since you are a black cat then¡­ how about Pepper?¡± ¡°Rejected, nyan.¡± ¡°Ash...ley¡± ¡°Rejected, nyan.¡± ¡°Ink¡­ No, Inky.¡± ¡°Rejected, nyan.¡± Oscar now massaged his temples as stress had built up in his head. ¡°Look, it¡¯s almost midnight and I-¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice nyan!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± He couldn¡¯t grasp why she suddenly looked so energetic after she had rejected the names he gave her several times. ¡°W-What is nice?¡± ¡°The word you said, nyan. Can you repeat it, nyan?¡± ¡°I ?¡± ¡°Before that, nyan.¡± ¡°Midnight?¡± The black cat nodded as she seemed happy. ¡°I like its sound, nyan. From now on please call me Midnight, nyan, master.¡± ¡°M-Master!?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, nyan? When someone names a pet, it becomes his pet doesn¡¯t it, nyan?¡± I was trickkkked!, Oscar screamed in his head. He once again massaged his temples to ease his built-up stress. ¡°Hang in there! Why do you want to be my pet that much?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it easy? Because your shadow is so comfy, nyan. I love it. And besides, you already have that rabbit, so isn¡¯t it fine, nyan?¡± He looked at the white rabbit that had hidden behind him all this time. ¡°This one isn¡¯t my pet! Our relationship isn¡¯t something like tha- Ouch!¡± He turned around and saw the rabbit headbutted him in his flank as the crystal on its forehead accurately hit his rib, making the pain ran through his spine. ¡°W-Why did you headbutt me?¡± The rabbit didn¡¯t answer. Instead, it turned its face sideways and repeatedly kicked the ground with one of its hindfeet. ¡°Are you angry? Why?¡± ¡°Fufufu nya~, isn¡¯t it easy? It¡¯s because she also wanted to be your pet, nyan. She seems to love you so much, so why don¡¯t you accept her, nyan? She is also not a normal rabbit after all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Before this, did you tell me that this rabbit had turned into a monster?¡± ¡°Yes, nyan, it seems like she had eaten too much of those magic-filled berries, so she had transformed. Well, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s common to transform into a monster this way, nyan.¡± Oscar was shocked. So the rabbit had turned into a monster because of him. He shifted his gaze between the angry rabbit and Midnight as he asked a worrisome question. ¡°Will she be fine like this? She won¡¯t turn into a crazy monster, right?¡± ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be, nyan. Monsters are not all crazy and mindless. I know that because I¡¯m also a monster, nyan. Even so, our elements are different.¡± ¡°Element? Like a magic?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, nyan. Monsters are different from normal beasts that they contain magic power in their body, nyan. For me, it¡¯s darkness. But for the rabbit, it seems to be a moon element, nyan.¡± ¡°I see. Well, as long as she won¡¯t go crazy, I think it¡¯s fine.¡± He looked at the still-angry rabbit and extended his hand to pat it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know that you also want to stay close to me that much. As an apology, I will also give you a name. Is this alright?¡± Hearing that, the rabbit¡¯s ears twitched as it turned around and started hopping in circle energetically. ¡°You seems to like the idea, eh? Then let me choose a good name for you.¡± He closed his eyes and racked his brain. ¡°Well, since your element is the moon, let¡¯s stick with moon like Lunus then. So your name is Luna. Is it alright?¡± The rabbit, now named Luna, jumped at Oscar and clung to him like a snowball. Witnessing such a scene, Midnight also joined in as she slowly approached Oscar and rubbed her face on him. She leaped onto his lap and gave him another bewitching smile. ¡°Now, since I have become master¡¯s pet, I will show you how shadow magic works, nyan. With this, you might be able to catch up with Lunus if you are talented enough.¡± Oscar returned her with a weird smile. It was good that he could learn a new technique and got a step closer to Lunus, but having both Midnight and Luna on his lap at the same time made him so stressful as they started pushing each other out of his lap. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, but let¡¯sleave it here for today. We are all tired and it¡¯s not like we can immediately follow Lunus in this dark night either. So¡­ both of you should rest up and stop fighting on my lap!¡± He carried both Luna and Midnight by their neck and placed them on his sides. He then lied down while hugging both of them under his arms to make sure that they wouldn¡¯t wake up and fight each other during the night. ¡°Well then, good night.¡± ¡°Night, nyan.¡± *Kyun~* Ch 20 - The shadow peeker Shadow magic is a branch of darkness magic that focuses mainly on manipulating shadows. When this magic is mastered, it will become a useful and versatile ability as long as shadows exist. A shadow magic caster can dump anything into his shadow and uses it as a walking chest by using [Shadow storage] spell. If he wants to travel unnoticed or stalk someone, he can use a spell called [Shadow dive] to move inside a shadow. And if he wants to attack someone, he can also change shadows into weapons by using [Shadow blade] spell. For Midnight who had been turned into a shadow cat after living for decades, she was very proficient in shadow magic. In fact, she could also use other branches of darkness magic if she had enough knowledge in the field. But when she was transformed into a shadow cat, she had learned how to use shadow magic by her natural instinct with a little help of some of her useful skills. [Shadow manipulation] and [shadow dweller] skills that she had acquired in the past had made up her name as the ¡°shadow peeker¡± of the forest. [Shadow manipulation] provided her with a power to control the shapes of shadows to some extent with very little mana consumption. This skill might not seem to be useful, but it had helped her a lot when she wanted to connect the gap between shadows together so that she could dive from one shadow to another in a single step. [Shadow dweller] was a skill that made her able to stay inside a shadow as long as she wanted without feeling even the slightest unpleasant. Normally, a living creature couldn¡¯t live inside a shadow for too long due to the difference in the conditions between the inside and the outside of a shadow. Inside of a shadow, gravity was several times higher than the outside and it contains much thinner air. With this, one could stay inside a shadow for an hour at most if he had gone through a proper training; however, to Midnight, the dark and cramped space inside a shadow was like a comfy home. Staying in there, she felt like being massaged by the high gravity and the thin air was drier and more refreshing for her than the air outside. As the result, she had spent most of her time dwelling inside shadows while observing the events around the forest in her safe zone. As time passed by, members of the forest had remembered her as ¡°shadow peeker¡± as she would know almost anything that had happened inside this forest without anyone noticing her. However, being a ¡°shadow peeker¡± for decades had built up boredom inside her heart as she grew accustomed to the forest that had almost no change from the time when she was just transformed into a monster. In spring, life would come back from the cold and deadly winter. Small and big beasts would start to mate and raise their offspring. In summer, grass and plants would become dry due to the heat and the wildlife started to part their parents. In autumn, leaves on the trees would fall on the ground while the beasts started to stock up their food for the long winter. And then there came a long and boring winter. After that, things would just repeat itself and it was so boring for Midnight who had lived for decades to watch them over and over. Although there was a problematic horde of intruding goblins this year around, she wasn¡¯t interested in fighting them since she already knew that this forest had already lost to the goblins even if she were to give the wildlife of this forest a hand. Nonetheless, things had changed that night when she met this interesting bunch. At that time, she was strolling in the dark night when she saw a dim light coming out from inside the trunk of a flute tree.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. At first, she thought that they might be humans which were rarely seen deep in this forest, but that wasn¡¯t the case. While she was betting if they were human, a strange undead with the skull of a dear came out from the trunk. She was so surprised. The shape of that undead was by no mean similar to what she had ever seen in the past. And she knew that there was still someone left inside the trunk when the undead came out, so she patiently waited for them until the morning. Then she found an adorable boy. His hair was white, so is his delicate skin. He looked weak and powerless, but he gave off a powerful and attractive aura that made her felt attach to him. His small ebony horns emitted a pleasant dark-element aura while his shadow felt so comfy and made her crazy like the pleasant smell of a silver vine. (Author¡¯s Note: cats are addicted to silvervine and catnip plants) It was like she had found a fated person whom she had been waiting for to help her get rid of this boredom. At that time, she had decided, if she followed this boy, she must be able to see more interesting things happened. So she offered to be his pet in order to forcefully make him allow her to follow. And he had given her a name. It was midnight. She loved this. Shadows and darkness of the night was a good description for her glossy black fur. And in return, she was practicing him to use shadow magic as she knew that he had a good affinity to it, but he didn¡¯t know how to use the spells. ¡°Concentrate, nyan, if you get distracted like that, you won¡¯t be able to feel the shadows, nyan!,¡± Midnight lectured as she lightly slapped Oscar¡¯s face with her mushy paw. ¡°You said that, but how could I do it?,¡± Oscar asked as he sat crossed leg and turned his face back to stare at his own shadow. ¡°You feel it like your own body, nyan, then you make it move like pwoooooosh and swooooosh, nyan!¡± ¡°That¡¯swhy it hard to follow!¡± It seemed learning from Midnight didn¡¯t help Oscar much as she only knew how to use a spell from her natural instinct. She could grasp the way to use her spells by her feeling, but teaching others to do the same as her was another story, especially when both parties had a different image in their mind. ¡°Will we really be able to follow Lunus at this rate? Isn¡¯t it better to just rush after him like yesterday?¡± Midnight gave him a sigh before hopping on his lap and lied down there. ¡°It depends on your progress, nyan. If you could use [Shadow dive] by tonight, we will catch up with him by tomorrow morning, nyan. But if master was to just rush there like yesterday, you wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to him, nyan. Since that guy was very very fast, nyan.¡± Oscar made a gloomy face, ¡°And now I fear that I won¡¯t make it at all. Let alone using [Shadow dive], I couldn¡¯t even move my shadow an inch¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, nyan¡­,¡± Midnight frowned, ¡°Then we should find another way to train, nyan.¡± ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. We can also rush after Lunus like yesterday and start training while we take a break¡­ Hmm? What¡¯s it, Luna? Are you hungry?¡± The white rabbit, Luna, tugged his vine cloth as she stood on her hindlegs and patted her tummy to show him that her stomach had been empty since this morning. ¡°Alright, wait for a sec and I¡¯ll immediately bring your favorite berries out.¡± He folded his palms while giving them a loose gap before imagining the image of things being decompressed. Then berries that he had prepared beforehand came out from the shadow of his fold palm as if they had appeared out of the void. Seeing that, Midnight¡¯s eyes grew wide while Luna was happily munching on her favorite berries. ¡°That¡¯s it, nyan!¡± Ch 21 - The shadow roads ¡°Look, I¡¯m here!¡± Oscar said as he emerged from under a tree¡¯s shade. Luna hopped after him. But the moment that she almost reached him, he sank into the ground and emerged from under another tree afterward. ¡°Now, I¡¯m here. Can you catch me?¡± They were playing a game of tag. Luna was the one who ran after him while Oscar must run away from her by using his [Shadow dive] spell to move from shadows to shadows. ¡°Nya~. That should be enough, nyan. You are surprisingly talented, nyan.¡± Midnight had changed her advice by letting Oscar use his own style of imagination. For [Shadow dive] spell, the imagination process was similar to [Shadow storage], but the caster must imagine his own body being compressed into a shadow instead. And what made it more difficult was how to move inside shadows. ¡°And you seem to have no problem in moving inside the shadows, nyan. That¡¯s good, nyan.¡± If Oscar couldn¡¯t move from shadows to shadows, his [Shadow dive] would let him only able to hide inside something¡¯s shadow. And it would be impossible for him to run after Lunus. ¡°If that is the case, let¡¯s start searching for Lunus right away!¡± The flame of excitement to make use of his new ability grew ablaze inside his heart as he wanted to meet up with Lunus even a little bit faster. He raised his small fist into the air while making a courageous cry, showing that he was ready to do get going at any time. Seeing that, Luna also hopped around him to show that she was also ready to go... ¡°It¡¯s still not the time, nyan.¡± ...But Midnight had shattered his spirit into pieces and played with it like a yarn ball. ¡°W-Why? I¡¯ve already mastered [Shadow dive], haven¡¯t I? So why don¡¯t we quickly go?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still not a good time, nyan. The shadows are still weak and blurry. So, rushing things now and we will only waste our time, nyan. We should wait for the golden time¡­ right before the twilight comes, nyan.¡± Oscar and Luna tilted their head upon hearing Midnight¡¯s advice. ¡°Is there a time restriction for shadow magic?¡± ¡°Of course, there is, nyan. The darker and sharper the shadows are, the stronger a shadow magic could show its performance, nyan. There are also restrictions for other magic and the conditions to maximize their power, nyan. So, this isn¡¯t something strange.¡± The conditions of the environment were as important for spellcasting as the imagination process, and the compensation spent to cast a spell. In a proper environment, a spell could be excelled at its greatest potential. On the other hand, if a spell was cast in the places where it was environmentally disadvantaged, its power would be dramatically reduced. An example here was casting a fire spell in a water. ¡°That is why, we should spend our time training before the golden time comes, nyan~¡± Midnight gave Oscar a bewitching smile as a black aura gushed out from her shadow. Somehow, Oscar felt like he had just acquired a strict teacher¡­ .This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. . . It was already evening and the sun was quickly descending. Its warm light slowly shifted its hue from white to a warmer tone. Finally, the scenery was changed into a golden color as the golden rays of light bathed the scene with their presence. The light stretched shadows of the already-tall trees to no end. The shades drawn on the ground were long, dark, and sharp like a refined blade. Under such a beautiful sight, 3 figures were there, witnessing the scene. ¡°Finally it¡¯s time to get going¡­,¡± Oscar mumbled as he showed a tired face. ¡°Why are you so lifeless, nyan? Don¡¯t you want to find your friend?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that¡­ It¡¯s because of your training. Imagining shadows doing this and that makes me get a headache...¡± Even at this very moment, Oscar was still rubbing his head due to how much pain he had gone through. Seeing him acting like that, Luna also hopped on his shoulder and gave him a pat on the head. ¡°But master did well, nyan. You can learn several spells in a single day without depleting your mana even in the slightest. No one can do that, nyan.¡± ¡°I hope that they will be of use¡­ Now then, can we go?¡± ¡°Nyan~¡± The golden time where sunlight turns into golden rays and stretches shadows to no end happens only 10-20 minutes after the dawn and another 10-20 minutes before the dusk. It is the best timing to use shadow magic since the thickness and sharpness of the shadows grow strongest at this time. As the result, they must make use of this precious time as much as they could. Together with Midnight, Oscar with Luna in his sank into the shadow as their presence swam along the lines of shadows like a fish swimming in a stream. Leading the team was Midnight who was most proficient in shadow magic. Following that, Oscar had used every branch of his vines to push himself forward and trail behind her. Streaks of golden light and scenery of the forest above them showed and vanished at a high speed, indicating how fast they were. Sometimes, shadows of the trees weren¡¯t connected due to the sparseness of the trees in some area, but Midnight had used her [Shadow manipulation] skill to connect them and clear the paths for Oscar. Still, no matter how rush they were, Oscar and Luna must take a short break every few minutes to clear their lung and take a deep breath. They didn''t have a convenient skill like Midnight¡¯s [Shadow dweller], so the conditions they had met inside the shadows were too severe for them. ¡°Hah...Hah¡­Hah¡­It must be better if you can carry us over, Midnight. You are just too fast,¡± said Oscar as he was panting. ¡°Nya!? There is no way I could do that, you know? How could a cat like me carry you two alone, nyan? And how could you just ask a lady to carry you over, nyan? I didn¡¯t expect master to be so sadistic, nyan,¡± Midnight said while taking a few distances on purpose just to tease him. ¡°Hah, stop teasing me¡­ Still, we sure came so far in just a few minutes. It must take a few days for me to reach here without shadow magic¡­¡± Midnight walked back and tapped her paw on the shadow, ¡°I call them shadow roads. nyan. We can¡¯t come this far without relying on the shadows in this specific time, nyan. But we can travel from an edge of this forest to its center in just a leap if we are fast enough, I guess.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too convenient!¡± But Midnight shook her head. ¡°Nya~, but the cons is that we can only do this two times a day. And that will also place a great burden on you two, nyan.¡± ¡°Come to think of it¡­ Are you alright, Luna?¡± Oscar looked down at the rabbit in his arm. It seemed Luna was still healthy since she wasn¡¯t the one who ran in this travel. Still, breathing thin air inside the shadows had made her need to take a few deep breaths when they took a break. ¡°She looks alright, nyan. So, let¡¯s end this break and continue. The sun was going to sink into the horizon at any moment, nyan. And that would mean the end of this golden time and the shadow roads.¡± ¡°...Alright then. It¡¯s just the last leap. I will endure this a bit longer and take a deep sleep tonight,¡± Oscar said, massaging his shoulder, ¡°My muscles are going to cry after this.¡± And once again, the three figures sank into the ground as they ran along the road laid down by the dark shadows. Oscar¡¯s destination came closer each time his muscles cried in pain and his lungs burned from suffocation. But he still kept going no matter how much pain he had felt because his friend was waiting at the end of these shadow roads. Ch 22 - The head that was sent flying into the air Oscar, Midnight, and Luna had stopped their journey after the golden hour was over. They had covered most of the distance they needed to reach Lunus and with another run tomorrow morning, they would surely meet up with him before the golden hour ended. And right after they stopped their pace, they searched around and found a flute tree to make themselves a sleeping place for tonight. Oscar didn¡¯t forget to barricade the entrance to protect them from the cold breeze during the night. He extended his vines to the walls inside the tree trunk and produced moonlight berries along them to illuminate the dark room. He leaned onto a wall and placed Luna on his laps. His hand groomed her fluffy white fur while making sure that she was still alright. ¡°Are you fine, Luna? Traveling inside the shadow roads didn¡¯t make you feel sick, right?¡± He gave her a handful of her favorite moonlight berries, but she didn¡¯t seem to be hungry at the moment and just curled into a ball on his lap. Seeing that, Oscar made a troubled face as he didn¡¯t know how to make her feel better. ¡°It will be alright, nyan. She just got a shadow sickness and it will be naturally cured in an hour or two, nyan,¡± said Midnight as she walked up from Oscar¡¯s shadow and lied down while leaning onto his leg It seemed like she didn¡¯t want to compete with Luna over Oscar¡¯s lap for tonight because she also worried about her sickness. ¡°Shadow sickness?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a motion sickness, nyan. If someone who has a bad affinity in darkness goes into a shadow, he will feel dizzy and nausea, nyan. Just leave her like this for now, and she will feel better, nyan.¡± ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Luna. It¡¯s because I want to quickly meet up with Lunus that you become this unwell.¡± *Kun¡­* Luna raised her head and gave him a shaking sound. Through their [Mind link] she told him to not worry about her since she was the one who asked him to tag along. But that still made Oscar feel uneasy for her sickness as he gently patted her to make her feel better. His fingers slowly combed her hairs when he noticed the glowing crystal on her forehead. ¡°...It seems to be bigger, isn¡¯t it? Will this grow to be a horn?¡± ¡°There are monsters called horned rabbits, nyan. Maybe she will grow up to be one?¡± ¡°But the horn of a horned is made from bone, not a crystal¡­ So she is something similar to a crystal rabbit? Still, I have no idea about a crystal rabbit that has a glowing horn.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it because she had absorbed the moon element from the berries, nyan? Maybe she was a new species.¡± ¡°That should be the case, I think.¡± A crystal rabbit is a subspecies of horned rabbits, its horn which should be made from bones are replaced by its crystalized mana. This crystalized horn also works as its mana reservation like a mana stone of every monster. And just like a mana stone, its crystal horn should be clear blue with no light inside, not a glowing warm yellow one like Luna¡¯s. ¡°New kinds of monsters are born every day, nyan. It¡¯s not strange if she is also similar.¡± Oscar looked at Luna while patting her. Even though she had turned into a monster, she was still an adorable rabbit to him. All he could pray for her was that she wouldn¡¯t turn into a mindless monster. Sometimes, a monster can goes crazy after its monsterization process takes place. The cause of this symptom is the excessive mana that is too strong for the body of a living being to withstand and results in brain damage. It¡¯s not like all the monsters are frenzy since Midnight, a shadow cat, can also remain her consciousness. But, the frenzy monsters also exist and most of them usually attack whatever stands in front of them like a mad dog. ¡°... I think we should let her rest for now. Tomorrow we will depart as soon as Luna feels better. In the worst case, we will have to wait here a bit longer¡­ But, that¡¯s fine! We will catch up with Lunus either way if we can hop into the shadow roads just one more time.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it *Kun¡­* Oscar gave Luna a heartwarming smile to make her feel less guilty in dragging them down. To Oscar, finding Lunus was an important goal. But right at this moment, Luna was more important since she was feeling unwell. He couldn¡¯t just abandon her like this. ¡°Well, let¡¯s sleep for now. Rest up and feel better, alright?¡± *Kun¡­* ¡°Then I will also sleep early, nyan. Teaching master today makes me feel tired. *yawn*¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, my arms and legs are hurt from running inside the shadows¡­ Then, let¡¯s sleep for tonight. Good night, you two.¡± ¡°Night, nyan.¡± *Kyuuu¡­* . . . The next morning, they woke up early for the morning¡¯s golden hour and found out that Luna was feeling a lot better than yesterday. She woke up with a rumbling stomach and ate all the moonlight berries that Oscar had prepared for her since last night. ¡°It¡¯s good that you are better. Are you alright for another run inside the shadows?¡± *Kun!* Luna hopped onto his embrace as soon as he asked her. Since everyone was ready, it was a good time for the journey to continue. ¡°It¡¯s good that Lunus¡¯ position didn¡¯t change much from the last night. But he seemed to have more friends than yesterday¡­ I wonder if he used his new abilities to create them¡­,¡± Oscar said while checking the conditions of Lunus by contacting the trees around him. ¡°Is he¡­ surrounded by a party of flying skulls with tentacles attached, nyan. Just thinking about it makes me shudder, nyan.¡± ¡°Rather than a party, it¡¯s more like an army¡­ Wait, what do you mean by flying skulls with tentacles!? They are vines, you know. And it seems their shapes are now close to a normal animal.¡± ¡°Fu~nya, it¡¯s a joke, nya, a joke. Don¡¯t look at me with those cold eyes, nyan. And we have to go, nyan, before this golden hour ends.¡± ¡°You are right, just another leap and we will meet them.¡± They sank into shadows and ran along them toward where Lunus and his new friends were. They passed through mountains in only a few minutes and Lunus was now closer and closer every minute passed. But, unfortunately, the three must stop just before they could reach him. And the reason was... ¡°A fog!?¡± ¡°Nya¡­, we are very unfortunate, nyan.¡± ¡°We are so close and yet¡­ Why must there be a fog here?¡± Right after they crossed the last mountain, a sea of fog greeted them with its milky presence. The fog was so thick that they couldn¡¯t see anything further than five steps. However, the poor vision wasn¡¯t much of a threat since Oscar could feel the presence of things around him by using his [Mind link] on the fungal colonies. Their true problem was the absence of the strong shadows that could be seen only during this golden hour. The thick fog had softened the strong light of the sun into a soft light. Under this soft light, no shadow could be found because the light reflected by the fog had scattered everywhere and erased the strong shadows that supposed to be there. ¡°It seems we have to use our own legs from now on¡­,¡± Oscar said while extending his vines to the tree branches. Since Midnight couldn¡¯t stay inside Oscar¡¯s shadow in this state, she hopped onto his shoulder and tagged along while he slung his body from trees to trees toward where Lunus was. However, while he was still in midair, a call from his friend had unexpectedly reached him. ¡°Eh, Lunus!?¡± ¡°Nya!? Did you see him?¡± Luna was also surprised by Oscar¡¯s sudden reaction as she looked around to find Lunus, but both her and Midnight could see nothing but a white fog. ¡°He¡¯s not here, but he just contacted me back through our [Mind link]... Let me talk with him for a moment.¡± Oscar decided that speaking with Lunus and confirming his conditions was a better choice than quickly rushing toward him. He slung himself onto a thick tree branch and sat there while talking with Lunus. ¡°I see¡­ So that is what happened.¡± ¡°What is it, nyan?¡± Following Midnight¡¯s question, Luna also tilted her head in confusion. ¡°They had just subjugated a group of goblins¡­ that they had called the green warts. It seems they took a minimal casualty and Lunus is still fine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, nyan. We should quickly go to see him, nyan, since they should be waiting for us.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s continue.¡± They continued slinging toward Lunus at their greatest speed. The fog slowly dispersed as the sunlight grew stronger every moment passed. And a while later, they finally see Lunus¡¯ group gathering in an opening of the forest. ¡°Neh, Lunus! I finally catch up with you!,¡± Oscar raised his hand while calling his friend. But the moment that Lunus turned his meatless face toward his lord, his head flew away... Ch 23 - Lord Oscar is angry! In front of Oscar¡¯s eyes, Lunus¡¯ head and the others¡¯ were sent flying away by countless shadow blades. Their head sprung into the air altogether like using a knife to scrape off corn kernels. Their vines, without their head to take control, spread on the ground motionlessly like entangled ropes. ¡°Lunus!?,¡± Oscar shouted out in panic. He sprinted toward his friend with an intention to help with every bit of power he could muster. However, just before he stepped into the opening space, black tentacles grew out from his shadow. They entangled him and forced him into a stop. ¡°Why do you stop me, Midnight? Don¡¯t you see that they are attacked? It will be too late if we don¡¯t help them right now!¡± Midnight jumped down from his shoulder, sat in front of him, and gave him a cold gaze. ¡°It is impossible for us, nyan. We know nothing about those blades that had killed your friend in a single swoop, so how could we win against them, nyan?¡± ¡°But Lunus is still alive! He must be alive!¡± ¡°Then that means master have a plan, nyan? Or do you plan to recklessly charge into that mess, nyan?¡± Not knowing how to change this the tide of this event, Oscar went on all four as he felt utterly helpless under this critical moment. He was depressed. But under that depression, he was still racking his brain to find a possible way to help Lunus. Luna who was released from his embrace hopped in between him and Midnight. She looked back and forth between the two not knowing how to change this awkward moment. ¡°...My lord, do you hear me?¡± ¡°!?! Lunus, is that you?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s this humble servant. It¡¯s a shame, but we are totally caught off guard.¡± Under this chaotic scene, Lunus had contacted his lord through their [Mind link]. It was fortunate that he was still alive. But considering the event before Oscar¡¯s eyes, he couldn¡¯t say that this could be considered a good news. Luna and Midnight couldn¡¯t eavesdrop the conversation between these two. But seeing a spark of hope was lit inside Oscar¡¯s eyes, they quickly understood that he must know something about Lunus¡¯ current conditions. ¡°Are you¡­ alright, Lunus? I saw that your head was sent flying into the air. What exactly is going on?¡± ¡°My lord, I¡¯m not quite sure either, but¡­ it seems these black-colored green warts are different from the one we had subjugated. They are strong and can hide inside our shadow. As for me, I¡¯m still well and alive, but somehow there is a black mist covering the places where we were cut. And this thing prevented us from regrowing our vines.¡± Oscar stared inside the chaotic scene. There, he could see around 10-20 black goblins with an ebony scimitar in their hand. They were jumping around and beheading the forest protectors that tried to fight back. However, the goblins had a clear upper hand since none of the vines had reached their body even once. On the other hand, the vines of the forest protectors that were cut by the scimitars were unable to recover. It was due to the black mist that enveloped the scimitars and spread out every time the goblins swung their arm. Not knowing how to deal with the goblins and their mysterious swords, Oscar turned toward Midnight and asked for her opinion. ¡°Midnight, do you know what are those weapons and the mist that they spread out?¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Nyan?¡± He briefly explained to her what he had learned from Lunus and his observation. ¡°As I thought, nyan. Those blades were magic weapon imbued with some darkness magic, nyan. And those black goblins also seemed to be proficient in dark element, nyan.¡± ¡°So, can you remove the mist if I can retrieve Lunus back here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible, nyan,¡± she shook her head, ¡°I might be able to do something if it¡¯s a shadow magic, nyan, but that black mist doesn¡¯t seem to be one.¡± Oscar¡¯s hopeful face turned grim the moment he heard what Midnight said. ¡°So that is impossible¡­ I see, but we can¡¯t just abandon Lunus here. Who knows what will the goblins do with him after this.¡± ¡°My lord¡­ I appreciate your kindness, but¡­ please leave us here.¡± ¡°Lunus!?¡± Oscar was perplexed. Why did Lunus say something so cold-hearted like this? How could he just abandon him and run away with his tail between his legs when his dear friend was in front of his eyes in such a terrible state. ¡°These green¡­, I mean goblins, are too dangerous. I know that my lord can heal yourself, but I fear that even your healing ability won¡¯t work under the effect of this black mist. And unlike our vines, if my lord are beheaded like us, you might not survive like me.¡± ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I should abandon you here and run for my life! How could I throw your life away to save mine?¡± ¡°My lord¡­, please cherish your life more than this. You are a forest god, the hope of all forests. If you die here today, it would be a big loss for us. If the goblins are going to kill us and continue pillaging this forest¡­ let them do it. But my lord must stay alive! You can¡¯t avenge us if you die here before your true power fully awakes. You can abandon this forest¡­ for now. Seek shelter in another forest and sharpen your fangs before taking this forest back from these hateful goblins. And if you feel like it¡­ you can even live in other forests for the rest of your life. As my lord is a forest god, I believe that there are uncountable forests worthy for your presence. So,-¡± ¡°Stop it at that, Lunus!,¡± Oscar shouted back through both his voice and his [Mind link]. Midnight shuddered from fearing that the goblins will find out their whereabouts. So, she had enveloped the three of them in a black dome and took all of them inside the shadow of the trees around that place to avoid being found out. ¡°Lunus, you know what? I can¡¯t simply abandon you and this forest just like this! You are one of my precious friends. And this forest¡­ everyone here is kind to me and it is the most perfect forest I could ask for. So why must I run away when I can still help you?¡± Over these past few days, Oscar had grown attached to this forest. When he used his [Mind link] to the fungal colonies to contact the trees in this forest, he was talking to every tree all at once. And that made him feel like every single plant here was his friend or family. Running away from the goblins to hide in another forest meant that he must abandon all these friends he had grown attached to. There was no way he would do something like that even if he had to risk his life to fight against the goblins. ¡°Please don¡¯t be childish and look at the reality, my lord. Our enemies clearly have an upper hand. They wield an unknown power, and their skills as a warrior can¡¯t be neglected either. This might be hard to swallow, but I think there is no way for my lord who are yet to awake your full potential to fight these strong goblins alone.¡± Hearing such a harsh word from his friend, a flame of rage was lit in Oscar''s eyes as he glanced around the battlefield with his sharp eyes. Under the shadow, the scene above the ground was reflected on their head like a water surface. His gaze laid on the mountain of the goblin corpses and then an idea popped up in his mind. ¡°Lunus, you misunderstood something. Who said that I will fight them alone?¡± The edge of his lips curved into a crescent moon as his childish face turned into a sadistic one. ¡°I will show them what does it mean to be a forest god. I will make them regret pillaging this forest and hurting my friend. And also, I will show you how much I had grown up during these past two days!¡± He dove inside the dark world of shadow, leaving Midnight with Luna on her back to follow after him. He jumped back onto the surface before his slim arm extended toward a small object on a tree branch and grasped it in his hand. ¡°What are you thinking, my lord. I thought that you can¡¯t control the goblins and their corpses. Are you going to make vines take control of their dead bodies?¡± ¡°Not the vines, Lunus,¡± Oscar said, ¡°Vines don¡¯t have memories to move on two legs. And since I have no authority to govern the goblins, I can¡¯t just turn them into a forest protector. But don¡¯t worry, I have a better choice to play that role.¡± He smiled while looking at the thing that he had snatched into his hand. In his small palm lied a mummified ant with a mushroom growing on top of its head. ¡°I will prepare a nightmare for them.¡± Ch 24 - When the rain turns into fruits and berries Gogin, the leader of the black goblin squad, walked over a pile of vines that were scattered on the ground. In his mind, he was grumbling over the utter failure of his muscle-brained friend who had pushed him to clear all this mess. Tsk! That bastard Gugaga, to think that he failed to do his job and let our precious soldiers die like insects. if he is still alive, I will cut his useless dick into pieces and report his failure to the king! But yeah, that gruesome death also serves him right. He glanced at the mountain of goblin corpses where the skinless body of Gugaga lied on the ground and smirked. To him, Gugaga was the biggest thorn that had snatched all of his achievements and rewards. To his king, a warrior with a big build and big muscles was worth several times more than a tricky killer like him and his squad. Right when Gogin had gained his king¡¯s trust as a reliable assassin and obtained a handful of men as his squad, Gugaga received an army of soldiers by just complaining like a child. But with the big idiot gone, I will become the only one who gains my king¡¯s trust! Yes, he might even promote me into his right hand if I can turn the tide of this event into my favor. He kicked a skull rolling on the ground like a ball and made a grinning smile. He didn¡¯t know what were these vine monsters, but they seemed strong. When they were united, even the herculean Gugaga was mercilessly skinned alive. But these monsters were no match for his [Scimitar of degeneration], a magical weapon bestowed on him and his men after a hard labor of building up his trust. This scimitar was very sharp and had the ability to cover the cut wounds with a cursed mist, preventing his enemy from regeneration. It was a perfect weapon for an assassin like him. Even though the vine monsters that he had beheaded were good at their healing ability, with a single swing of his sword, they became nothing more than a motionless skull. On top of that, he and his men had prioritized in getting rid of the ones that seem to be stronger than the others. Gogin feared that one with a deer skull the most since he saw it fight toe to toe against Gugaga who had a herculean strength bestowed by the king. But through his sheer luck, he managed to finish it before it could even notice him. It was lucky of him that the vine deer couldn¡¯t notice him hiding inside its shadow. ¡°Boss, these skulls, alive,¡± one of his men told him while holding onto a squirrel skull. In the hollow eyes of the skull, a pair of green flames were still flickering inside, indicating its strong life force. ¡°Yeah, they must be alive as long as they still have their skull. Collect the skulls! We will take them back to the king!¡± The origin of these vine monsters was mysterious. He didn¡¯t know if they would be useful for his king. But if they couldn¡¯t be of any use, at least they would be worthy as a food for the core. He searched inside the scattered vines and found the core that looked like a crystal ball buried there. It was a precious treasure that his king had ordered Gugaga to keep it safe. If he could bring this back to his king safely, he was sure that his king would be pleased. Then he turned toward the direction where two girls were shaking in fear while hugging each other like a pair of scared rabbits. On the edge of their eyes, a small drop of tear was forming and running down their cheek. Nice, these two will be another gift for the king and that will assure my promotion into the king¡¯s close aide. They will be put into good use¡­ in several ways. Especially the one with big tits, I believe she will become the king¡¯s favorite toy. He ordered his men to capture and tie the girls. The goblins in his squad then approached the girls with a long rope in their hands. ¡°¡°No, don¡¯t come any closer!¡±¡± Feeling fear from going to be tortured like their beloved friend, the two girls screamed while slowly crawled away from the black goblins. The girl with red hair, Cheri, raised her hand and mumbled a chant with her shaking voice. A spark of fire ignited in the air and quickly vanished¡­ together with her weak consciousness. ¡°If-If only I have my staff and mana left¡­¡± ¡°Cheri!,¡± her friend, Mina, received her limp body and panicked. Mina held her senseless friend tightly. Her teary eyes stared at the goblins that approached her with a smirking smile. Her heart raced wilder and louder until she could hear her noisy heartbeat. She bit her shaking lips and forced her eyes close, emerging into her imaginary dark and deafened world. *WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!* Then a long high-pitched voice rang out from inside her pitch black world and shattered her hopelessness into pieces. No¡­, actually the high-pitched voice came from somewhere further in front of her.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. She opened her eyes in confusion, totally forgetting about her hopeless situation. And she found out that the goblins that had approached her also looked back at the direction of the sound. Everyone in that place except for Cheri who had lost her sense looked at the direction where the mysterious sound came. Warm sunlight revealed the edge of the forest where trees provided a shade to the ground. But there was nothing other than that. *BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!* *OOOOOOOOOOMPH!!!* *WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!* Woodwind-like sounds echoed from every edge of the forest. Their voice ranged from the lowest possible key to a high-pitched one which could hurt anyone¡¯s ears. When they were separated, they might sound like a musical note. But when every note was played altogether, they became the most obnoxious noise in the world. Birds around this place flew away in all directions for unable to endure this sound pollution. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!!!,¡± Gogin yelled while crouching on the ground and closing his pointed ears in pain. Even Mina couldn¡¯t bear this noise as she tried her best to close her and Cheri¡¯s ears, but her two hands couldn¡¯t do two jobs at the same time. Lucky enough for all of them, the painful noises slowly died down. But they still heard the ringing sounds echoed in her ears and their directional senses distorted, throwing their head into a chaos. Mina felt like her vision became blurry and unstable when she saw the trees on the edge of the forest swayed like a wave¡­ But when she concentrated her eyes, it didn¡¯t look like she was hallucinating or anything. And in the next moment, small objects were shot out from the trees and covered the sky in black rain. They hit hard on everyone presented, including Mina. One of them hit on her shoulder with a watery sound and dropped on the ground. ¡°Ouch! What is this¡­ a berry!?¡± she surprised. Fruits and berries flew from the trees and rained down upon them. They might be small and lightweight, but when a rain of them poured down at a great speed, the goblins couldn¡¯t help but close their face to protect their eyes from the small berries ¡°SHIT! What¡¯s happening here? Why are fruits rained down from the sky!?¡± Gogin turned furious as he tried to dive into the ground and seek shelter inside his shadow. ¡°GUAH!!!¡± But the moment that he activated his skill, black bullets shot out from inside his shadow and sent him flying into the air. His clothes were ripped apart due to the impact and a few bones in his rib cage cracked. But only this much pain couldn¡¯t knock a devoted assassin out. Gogin swiftly rotated midair and softly landed on the floor like nothing happened to him. His eyes that turned furious glanced toward his men who were protecting their faces from the storm of berries. ¡°Come, you fools!¡± he ordered, ¡°Protect me!¡± The black goblins splinted toward him and became his meat shield. They joined their arms in a circle and made him a dome to stay inside. Fruits and berries that continued to barrage onto them became fiercer like they were focused only on this goblin group. Each time a hard fruit hit the goblins, they groaned in pain as their nasty saliva splattered on Gogin¡¯s face. What the fuck is this?, he grumbled, I¡¯ve never heard about anything like this before. Even I got attacked by [Shadow bullets] when I used [Shadow dive] a moment ago... Someone must be behind all of this mess! Through the gaps between his men¡¯s limbs, his gaze swept left and right to find the culprit of this mysterious phenomenon. Then he saw a pair of thick legs slowly approached him as if their owner felt no pain under this rain of fruits. The legs were skinless that the red muscles could be clearly seen along with white tendons underneath thm. A few bits of yellow fat layers spread here and there while dark red blood oozed and splattered on the ground each time the legs took a step. Gogin was surprised. And at the same time, he felt disgusted toward the one that approached him. Tsk! Why aren¡¯t you dead already, Gugaga? Even when those monsters skinned you alive, you still don¡¯t die? Cockroach! You are a cockroach! The skinless goblin finally stopped when it was close enough to the black goblins, but it didn¡¯t do anything more than that. Seeing that, Gogin went into a full furious mode. ¡°GUGAGA, what are you doing, you idiot! Quickly find the one behind all of this mess and kill it! Why are you wasting your time standing still?¡± But Gugaga didn¡¯t answer back. In its hand, a huge mace was clenched firmly. The wet sound of bare muscles rubbing on the metal handle could be heard even under this chaotic event. Blood that dripped down onto the mace head splashed on the ground as he swung the mace diagonally upwaed. ¡°WHAT!?¡± *BOOM!!!* The stone head of the mace swept the group of black goblins and sent their body into the sky. The ones that got directly hit from the mace had their abdomen and chest burst open. Their guts flew into the air and scattered on the ground just like the vines around them. There were only a few of them that were lucky enough to survive the blow, but most of them had their limbs bent into an unnatural direction. None of them had survived that blow without a scratch¡­ except for only one goblin. Gogin stared upward at Gugaga¡¯s skinless face. His face which was already black turned deeper black from anger together with his bloodshot eyes. He bared his fangs toward the traitor and pointed his black scimitar clad in a black mist toward him. ¡°YOU! Doing this! Are you prepared to die?¡± Gugaga didn¡¯t answer back. His expressionless and skinless face turned toward his former companion. His round eyes that had no eyelid to cover looked down on the black goblin. And the mace in his hand was readied again. Announcement I think I need to make a small adjustment in the skill system of this story, but I''m not sure if you guys would feel like it or not. As the result, I make this announcement to ask you guys for a suggestion. The changes won''t make any major changes in the story at this point because the skills and especially the magic system are still not introduced much. The reasons for making this change are: 1. The skill system and the magic system are overlapping too much. Sometimes, I''m not sure if I should put an ability into the skill system or the magic system. With the new change, this mess will become a lot clearer. 2. This change will make it easier to list the name of abilities a character can use. In the short future, a magical id card system will be introduced to reveal the name of skills a character can use. Under this new change, a big number of abilities will be categorized as skills thus it''s easier to reveal. 3. This change will make monsters and magical creatures differ from human. You know, if there is no limitation in using magic, how does a monster differ from a human? Under this change, humans won''t be able to use monster abilities. But in exchange, they will become a versatile race instead. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Here are the details of the current systems Skills A skill is an ability obtained by unlocking a certain condition or by race. It is less flexible than magic, but the user will know how to use it by instinct when he obtains it, so it''s easy to use but hard to obtain. Magics A magic is a process to change a natural phenomenon through ritual or spell. A magic is more flexible than a skill that the user can do almost anything as long as he has sufficient knowledge and compensation. And these are the new systems Skills not many changes. In addition: human can''t use skills that alter nature natural phenomenon. They can use skills that boost their physical abilities and strengthen their movements, however. For example, martial art skills, perception skills, self-recovery skills. Unique skills for monsters/ magical creatures can alter natural phenomenon. For example, [shadow dive] of Midnight, [Mind link] of Oscar and Lunus Magics are replicas of monsters'' skills that can alter natural phenomenon. Human and intelligent races use them through rituals and spells. Magics are still under development, so most of them can do only basic sets of control like making fireballs, creating a storm, or the like. The more complex a spell is, the more compensation and knowledge are required. Ch 25 - Itchy! The huge mace was swung downward, aiming at Gogin¡¯s head. It created a *Swoosh!* sound while cutting through the air at a great speed. ¡°Tsk!¡± He dodged sideways and rolled on the ground. The entrails of his fallen men stuck on his tattered clothes as he groaned in disgust. The mace which had lost its target hit the ground with a bang and a small crater was formed at the place where Gogin was a moment before. But Gugaga didn¡¯t just stop at that, he pulled his mace back and leaped toward Gogin once again. He jumped high into the air, pulling the mace to the back of his head andholding it with both hands. His bear-sized skinless body made him looked like a meteor that was falling onto the ground. And before he reached Gogin, the mace was swung downward coupled with the pulling force of the gravity. There was no way that the agile Gogin would fall for a big and obvious move like this. He leaped sideways into the air to escape from the deadly blow. However, when the mace hit the ground, a huge shockwave took place and sent dust and pebbles in all direction. He grumbled. Dodging this many objects while still in midair was impossible even for him. He activated his skill and let the flying pebbles passed through his body that became like a black mist for a very brief moment. [Mist transform] is his unique skill that made him different from his men. He was lucky to obtain this skill since his birth. When activated, it turned his body into a mist for a very short duration and made him invulnerable against physical attacks and even some magical attacks. However, this skill also has its weakness¡­ Tsk! This is the second time already. Just one more time and I won¡¯t be able to use it for a whole day. Back at the tent, I shouldn¡¯t use this just to dodge that stupid human corpse! Wait, is that Gugaga¡¯s plan from the beginning? Shit! I shouldn¡¯t let my guard down since he looked like just a muscle-brained idiot! He used this chance while his skill was still activated to take a distance from Gugaga. His bloodshot eyes locked at the skinless face of the traitor. He bared his fangs and pointed his proud scimitar at the lump of meat before him. ¡°You bastard! How dare you attack me and my men? Don¡¯t you fear the king¡¯s punishment? Fine, if you take a step further, I will chop you into pieces and feed you to worms!¡± Under normal circumstances, Gogin was never afraid of Gugaga. He was born much sooner and was prideful as an experienced assassin, unlike Gugaga who was doted on by his king. He knew well how to silently cut someone¡¯s neck before vanishing like a mist. And he never failed to finish his job¡­ not even once. However, this time, he was almost disarmed. He couldn¡¯t dive into his shadow and his trump card, [Mist transform] skill, could be used only one more time. On top of that, unknown enemies were lurking around here. They were so skilled that even an experienced assassin like him couldn¡¯t detect. Shit! If there wasn¡¯t someone attacking me from the shadow, it must be much easier to fight this bastard. The one that used [Shadow bullet] must be fucking skilled in its shadow magic, else I should know where it is by now. With this¡­ I can only hope that this idiot will stop this useless fight. Shit! I really hate being cornered like this! However, his persuasion was for naught. The skinless Gugaga clenched its mace firmly and leaped toward him as if his words never reached Gugaga¡¯s ears. ¡°I-Impossible!,¡± Gogin screamed while dodging the heavy blows, ¡°Don¡¯t you fear the king? I know that he takes a strong liking to you, but¡­¡± A thought ran through his mind as the black mist on his blade gushed out and slowly reached the ground. ¡°Shit! So that¡¯s your aim? You want to get rid of me because I¡¯m more useful than you and that I will take your achievement, don¡¯t you. I never thought that a muscle brain like you will be this vile, but fine!¡± He swung the black scimitar in his hand. The mist trailed behind it like an afterimage as he drew it masterfully to show off his sword skills.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°I will make you regret it, you bastard!¡± He dashed toward the gory goblin before him together with a scimitar in his hands. The mist oozed out fiercer as it made a black trail behind him. ¡°Guah!,¡± he shouted to call Gugaga¡¯s attention. There were two more steps before he entered the mace¡¯s reach, but Gugaga had already moved his hands to match up with Gogin¡¯s speed. The mace was swung horizontally, aiming to blow all of Gogin¡¯s upper half away. He smirked upon seeing that. Before the deadly blow reached him, he darted toward Gugaga¡¯s feet and cleanly cut an ankle before his enemy could react in time. Without his feet to support the massive weight and the momentum from a grand swing, Gugaga slipped and rotated mid-air before falling on the ground. His mace left his bloody hands and fell a dozen steps away. ¡°See, there is no way a rookie like you can win against me, a full-fledged assassin.¡± He was about to retrieve the blade back to its scabbard. But when he gave it another thought, why didn¡¯t he just finish this traitor once and for all? Yes, it would be better that way and he could just tell his king that Gugaga was slain by an enemy. He approached Gugaga who tried to stand up with only a single foot left. Each time he took a step forward, he felt as if he was becoming an executioner. He tapped his scimitar on his shoulder. His eyes glanced to Gugaga¡¯s ankle which was cleanly cut and now it was coated by the black mist of degeneration. With this, even if Gugaga was as tough as a cockroach, there was no way that he could heal and stand back ever again. ¡°You had made me enough troubles already. Now, just think about this as me helping you relieve your pain. I know, being skinless like that hurts you, right? So just die already!¡± He readied the scimitar and prepared to execute the traitor before him. However, before he could swing his sword, the edge of his eyes caught the movement of something. ¡°Huh? What the fuck is that?¡± About an inch above the place where Gugaga¡¯s ankle was cut, white tentacles grew out from it and wiggled like a huge maggot. Their chubby head crept toward the severed foot and sank the place that wasn¡¯t coated in the black mist. And in a brief moment later, the tentacles pulled the foot back to its original position. With his foot returned, Gugaga stood back firmly and glared at Gogin who was dumbfounded with his jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. The scimitar in his hand shook slightly as he was dumbstruck. To an assassin like him, there was nothing more terrifying than an immortal enemy that his sword couldn¡¯t cut. ¡°H-How? But, my sword can stop you from healing. Then what the fuck¡­ did you do?¡± Gugaga didn¡¯t answer back. He took a short step forward. He raised his hands to cover his skinless face and started to scratch it as if it was severely itchy. White tentacles stretched out from the places where he scratched and grew into mushrooms. ¡°What the fuck have you become¡­?¡± Gugaga took another step and approached the frozen Gogin. They were only two steps away so one could clearly see the difference in their height. When compared to the bear-sized Gugaga, Gogin was only as tall as his waist. Gugaga bent downward and showed his face full of wiggling mushrooms toward Gogin. His hands were still covering his face, but his round eyes without eyelids stared at his former friend through the gaps of his fingers. ¡°Hey!¡± The round eyes grew bigger as if they were inflated. And with a *plop!* sound, the eyeballs popped out and dropped to the ground. Inside the place where they had been, a colony of white tentacles was wiggling and squirming like a cluster of fat maggots. ¡°Aaaaaaah~,¡± Gugaga groaned, opening his mouth full of white mushroom. ¡°SHIT!!!¡± Unable to endure the scene in front of him that had escalated too quickly, Gogin jumped backward several times. He didn¡¯t know what kind of monster his old friend had turned to be, but he knew that he must run away from it as soon as possible. However, jumping backward in panic wasn¡¯t a wise choice to choose. He quickly stumbled on an object that lied on the ground and fell on his butt. Fortunate or unfortunate for him, a soft and meaty cushion received him and prevented him from hitting the ground. ¡°Wait¡­ did I run all the way until this place?¡± He looked down at the cushion underneath him. Countless goblin corpses were lied there and piled up into a mountain higher than his head. They were sticky and stinky with blood and gore. The smell of entrails and the body wastes inside entered his nose and made him want to throw up. But before he could get up and quickly leave this disgusting place, he felt something wiggling and scratching his back. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± He looked up at the tip of the corpse mountain where it barely blocked the shining sun. Then as if he was hallucinating, the mountain tip swayed left and right like a tree under a strong breeze. Arms and legs of the corpses squirmed around as if they were reaching to find something to take a hold. And one by one, the dead goblins were crawling and rolling down the hill like falling boulders. Gogin screamed internally while running away from the pursuit of goblin zombies. Ch 26 - The one behind all of this mess ¡°You are unexpectedly cruel, nyan¡­ Now I feel pity for that black one, nyan¡± Midnight made a wry smile after hopping out from Oscar¡¯s shadow. ¡°Ah, wait a minute. I¡¯m still concentrating.¡± Oscar was sitting inside a flute tree¡¯s trunk. His figure was surrounded by wooden walls on four sides, it was weird enough that he could enter an enclosed place with no entrance like this. Both of his hands were placed on the ground while his eyes were shut tight. A flow of faint green light could be seen running from his arms into the soil. It was his concentrated mana that he had sent through the fungal colonies toward the mountain of goblin corpses. ¡°Fuu¡­, finally finished raising all of them into zombies. And thank you Midnight, I couldn¡¯t do this if you didn¡¯t offer to help me. You are a good girl.¡± Oscar opened his eyes and gently stroke the black cat that approached to rub her face on his chest. ¡°And don¡¯t forget my reward, nyan. I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡± ¡°Sure, after this mess is over. But for now, let me rest for a bit. My head hurts so much after using [Growth acceleration] and [Treant creation] consecutively. I might stumble somewhere if I go out right now.¡± Luna watched Midnight clinging to Oscar from the side. Her red eyes were dull with jealousy and depression. Deep in her heart, she also wanted to help him, but she was powerless. Even if she was already transformed into a crystal rabbit, her skills still showed no sign of waking up. Mu... I also want to become useful like that, she thought, I wonder when my skills awake, what kind of power it will be? It would be good if I can get a cool skill. B-But what if it isn¡¯t and end up becoming something useless? Aaaah! This is bad, really bad! She unconsciously tapped her hindfoot on the floor as she became nervous while thinking about her future power. During this short journey, Midnight had told her several things regarding a monster¡¯s life. Midnight had lived for years and was more knowledgeable than anyone else in this forest. She had seen hundreds if not thousands of monsters in her life. And for a monster, the first skills it got determined what kind of power it would develop in the future. For Midnight, a shadow cat, she got [Shadow dive] as her first skill which developed into [Shadow dweller] and [Shadow manipulation] afterward. And now, the skills related to dealing with shadows had become the Midnight¡¯s trademark. As for crystal rabbits, [Haste], [Air jump], and [Head butt] seemed to commonly appear as their first skill. [Haste] sounds like a good skill for escaping, but how can it be useful to master? No no no, it must be the worst idea if I run away while everyone is fighting! And [Air jump] is even worse! Why should I bother jumping into the air if master can ask birds for help? The rate on which her foot tapped the floor hastened as she used her brain. Ahhh! The only good skill is [Headbutt]! Yes, if I get that skill, I will headbutt anyone who comes close to master. And if my horn grows longer, it must be a deadly blow! She stood on two feet and raised her front paws to touch her small horn. There, her red eyes met Midnight¡¯s golden eyes. Midnight was still sitting on Oscar¡¯s lap while sweeping her tail left and right. She gave Luna a bewitching smile before her face nonchalantly rubbed on Oscar¡¯s chest. While doing so, her eyes still looked at Luna as if to say, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to come, nyan? If you don¡¯t come, then I will play with master alone, nyan. When master is tired, you can nyan-nyan with him as much as you like, nyan~¡± *K-Kyu!* Not wanting to be left alone, Luna also hopped on Oscar¡¯s lap and tried to find herself a place to lie down. ¡°Ah, Luna, you are also a good good girl~ here. Come, give me a hug~¡± He put her onto his shoulder and rubbed his cheek on her fluffy fur. ¡°Ahh, this softness! You know, Luna, your fluffy furjust relieved my headache.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. *Kun~* He lowered her and held her in his arm a moment later. Luna turned toward Midnight and gave her a victorious smile. In return, Midnight rolled her eyes for failing her teasing prank. ¡°Now, I think it¡¯s a good time to rescue Lunus. The goblins must be busy dealing with the mushroom zombies. So, there¡¯s no better opportunity than this.¡± He stood up and walked toward an inner wall of the tree where it slowly opened into a big entrance. Sunlight bathed him as he walked outside the tree trunk. ¡°Thank you for sheltering us. Your trunk is really wide and nice. Oh, and also thank you for the help earlier. You guys had helped me so much.¡± he said, slightly bowed toward the flute tree. *Hooooomph!* A woodwind-like note came from the tree as wind flowed into its trunk and exited through fist-sized holes on its body. Lunus had learned from Midnight that it was actually very rare for a monster to become frenzy and mindless. As the result, he had used his [Treant creation] to turn flute trees and fruit trees around this place into treants and had them help him distract the goblins. Flute trees had their core hollow, thus made them a huge woodwind instrument. The flute treants inhaled from their trunk and pumped the pressured air through their burrows, making a woodwind-like sound. ¡°...But those sounds were too loud, nyan. Not even the goblins, they also hurt my ears, nyan.¡± *Weeeee¡­* ¡°Shhh, Midnight, it would hurt them if you say that, don¡¯t you think? It¡¯s their first time doing something like this anyway, so shouldn¡¯t we just leave it be bygone?¡± ¡°...If master say so, nyan. But next time, you should help me plug my ears, nyan. I don¡¯t want to hear it again.¡± *Weeeee¡­* Since using the flute treant¡¯s sounds to distract the goblins turned out to cause damage to both party, Oscar had turned the fruit trees around this place into treants and had them throw their fruits instead. And since the number of fruits might not be enough to distract the goblins for long, he had gone out of his way to use [Growth acceleration] to grow more fruits on the trees. As the result, Gogin had been barraged by unending fruit projectiles until Gugaga zombie was completely prepared ¡°And don¡¯t forget me, nyan. If it wasn¡¯t for me delivering the mushroom to the corpses, it would be dangerous for master, nyan.¡± Midnight¡¯s [Shadow dweller] was an advanced version of [Shadow dive] that Gogin had used. With this skill, the current Gogin wouldn¡¯t notice her if he didn¡¯t sharpen his senses to the highest point. And that was impossible during all the chaotic events. ¡°You know, nyan, that goblin was about to turn tail and run inside its shadow, nyan. But I happened to see it just in time, nyan. Else, he must find me in the shadow, nyan.¡± ¡°Ah, I sawyou sent the goblin flying away. You are really really amazing, Midnight. I didn¡¯t think that [Shadow bullet] spell that you taught me would be that strong.¡± (Author note: Here, I need to change the past chapters a bit. Midnight had both skills and magics regarding shadow. She helped Oscar to unlock [Shadow dive] skill and taught him some human spell.) ¡°A cute girl like me must learn how to protect herself, nyan~¡± During the time where Midnight went out to delivery the mushroom to the corpse mountain, Oscar didn¡¯t only hide inside the tree. He had used his [Share perception] to oversee the events through birds¡¯ eyes and fungal colonies. He had prepared to order the treants to help her out in the case that she was caught by the goblins. In the first place he didn¡¯t want to send her out alone and just hide inside the tree trunk, but his position required high concentration and his [Shadow dive] also wasn¡¯t good enough to hide himself from the goblins¡¯ eyes, so that couldn¡¯t be helped. ¡°Speaking about that, what actually is that mushroom, nyan? Just how could it turn out to be a zombie, nyan?¡± ¡°Oh, you mean the zombie mushroom? It was fortunate that I can make it work on the goblin corpses.¡± A zombie mushroom was a parasitic fungus that could take control of its prey¡¯s body. Normally it could grow only on small insects like ants and crickets, but through Oscar¡¯s [Growth acceleration] and [Treant creation], he could expand its size to turn the goblins into walking corpses. ¡°The only problem is its low intelligent¡­ The zombies turn out to be simple-minded and can only follow simple commands. Well, that¡¯s not a big problem anyway.¡± ¡°The biggest problems are those blades and the ability that turned the black goblin into a mist, nyan.¡± ¡°Yes, those are dangerous.¡± ¡°But it didn¡¯t look like the zombies are affected by the blade, nyan. Isn¡¯t it weird?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s because mushrooms can grow in any direction, unlike a normal plant that can only grow from its buds. The black mist seems to prevent the mushrooms to grow on their cut surface, but they can extend their body from other sides to heal itself anyway.¡± ¡°So the only problem is that skill, nyan¡­ We can¡¯t catch it if it can vanish like a mist, nyan.¡± Oscar let out a sigh and extended his vine to coil around a tree branch. ¡°That¡¯s true, but right now we should quickly find Lunus first.¡± Midnight dove into his shadow as his figure flew into the air together with Luna in his free arm. His vision blurred as the figures of trees passed by his side.However, through his [Mind link] and [Share perception], he watched a single black goblin danced witha scimitar in its hand among a swarm of mushroom zombies while its friends were shredded into pieces. Ch 27 - Reunion Oscar ran passed trees and bushes as he approached the place where the chaos was taking place. While he was rushing forward, the trees that had turned into treants pulled their roots and made way for him to go. And finally, the opening space was right in front of him. He leaned and peeked from behind a tree together with Luna in his hand. Following that, Midnight jumped out from his shadow and crawled up the tree to have a better look of the scene before her. There, they found a swarm of goblin zombies with white mushrooms growing all along their body. And deep inside the sea of undead, a black goblin was jumping around with a black scimitar in his hand. Zombies¡¯ head and limbs were sent flying into the air each time he swung his arm. ¡°Seems like that poor goblin is gonna die in just a matter of time, nyan. There is no way to survive inside that army of undead, nyan. On top of that, their regeneration ability is very scary...¡± *K-Kun.¡± Both Midnight and Luna were shocked by seeing such a messy battle unfold before them. But Oscar was different. He had been watching this event developed since the beginning by using his [Share perception] with the birds around here. ¡°We must be very fortunate if it ends that way¡­¡± ¡°Nyan!? Are you saying that that goblin can survive from this? That¡¯s impossible, nyan!¡± *Kun! Kun!* Even Luna agreed with Midnight. Surely, anyone seeing this scene could only sympathize for the poor goblin. Even Midnight had shuddered in fear when she imagined herself being swarmed inside that mess instead. ¡°It may be possible,¡± he smiled wryly, ¡°That goblin is very skilled and his sword has a weird ability after all.¡± ¡°But the zombies can regenerate themselves anyway, right? So, why must it be an issue, nyan?¡± ¡°No no no, their regeneration isn¡¯t perfect. Look at their limbs closely.¡± Midnight strained her eyes and looked at the arms of the zombies that had just regenerated.¡± ¡°...Their arms are weirdly bulging, nyan. What are those?¡± ¡°The mushrooms can¡¯t extend their body from the severed sides which were coated in that weird mist. They grow out from the side of the limbs instead and this makes them weaker every time they were cut.¡± ¡°So, will they buy enough time for us, nyan?¡± ¡°I...don¡¯t know, but I think we should quickly go get Lunus.¡± He ran across the field full of fruits and berries. Oscar had ordered the treants to stop their assault since Gugaga engaged in the battle with Gogin, but there were surely many of these fruits lying everywhere. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that this grass field must turn into an orchard afterward, nyan.¡± ¡°Eh, they won¡¯t grow that easy, you know? The ground here is too malnourished and firm¡­ Come to think of it, I shouldn¡¯t throw them here in the first place.¡± ¡°But that can¡¯t be helped, isn¡¯t it, nyan? There is no way we can approach Lunus without them anyway. Maybe master can turn them into a treant afterward and move them somewhere else?¡± *Kun!* ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a good idea. Thank you, you two.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, nyan~¡± *Kun! Kun!* Every time Oscar stepped on the ground, he crushed the fruits and splashed their juicy meat around. He must be careful not to step on the skulls, especially those of the squirrels else he might accidentally kill them. And finally, he was right in front of Lunus¡¯ skull. ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re safe, my lord. I never thought that you would grow up this much during these past two days. I¡¯m really glad¡­¡± ¡°I said it didn¡¯t I?,¡± he gave Lunus a big, shining smile, ¡°Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you. This rabbit in my arm is Luna and this black cat is Midnight.¡± *Kyu~*If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Nyan, long time no see, White stag¡¯s chief~¡± ¡°Shadow peeker!?¡± Luna raised her paw from under Oscar''s arm and waved to Lunus. Following that, Midnight jumped out from Oscar¡¯s shadow and welcome him like an old friend. ¡°Eh, you two know each other?¡± ¡°That¡¯s of course, my lord. This shadow peeker has lived even longer than me and she is very knowledgeable about this forest.¡± ¡°Nya~, calling a lady older than you is a taboo, you know? I never thought that a little fawn who ran away from me and hid behind his mom would grow up this rude, nyan.¡± ¡°...Please stop teasing me in front of my lord, shadow peeker. And isn¡¯t that story from a very long time ago? Why do you still digging it up?¡± ¡°Nyan? Because it¡¯s fun, isn¡¯t it? And stop calling me shadow peeker, nyan. Master already gave me a name, so call me Midnight instead~¡± Seeing the two quarreling each other, Oscar quickly understood that they were old friends. He felt relieved from seeing that Lunus still had someone he knew. Back at the time when he met him, Lunus was very unstable from having his whole herd slaughtered over a single night. And he didn¡¯t want him to be like that any longer. ¡°Heh, come to think of it, who are these two?¡± Next to Lunus, there were two girls: a cherry-pink hair one and another one with curly blonde hair. And both of them were unconscious. ¡°It seems these two humans were captured by the goblins, my lord. They were knocked out by mana depletion and¡­ probably because of the fruit rain.¡± ¡°Eh? So the humans that you told me about their clothes were these? I see¡­ they were actually similar to that old man.¡± Oscar was distracted for a moment before he noticed that everyone was staring at him. ¡°Ah, leaving that aside, we should get going for now. I don¡¯t know when will that goblin make its way out of the zombies,¡± he said, lifting Lunus¡¯ skull up from the ground. He flipped him over. And on the severed end of the vines bundle, he could see black mist coating them and preventing them from regenerating. ¡°I hope that we can take this mist out somehow. Like this, I feel bad for you who just received a new body and yet-¡± Before Oscar could finish his words. The black mist stretched out from the severed vines. It spiraled in the air and approached Oscar who had became frozen from the unexpected event. ¡°Eh!?¡± ¡°Nya!? Master!¡± *K-Kyu!* ¡°My lord, what happened!?¡± The mist flowed straight over his head and was absorbed by his black antlers, leaving no trace behind. The severed vines were now free of the mist and were starting to regenerate themtself. Fresh and soft shoots were making their way out and spreading their leaves. While everyone was still dumbfounded, Oscar flipped Lunus¡¯ skull back and looking into his flame-flickering eyes. ¡°Err, right now, can you regrow you vines?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh, yes. Right away!¡± There, Lunus¡¯ vines quickly stretched out and grew back to its usual length in just a few seconds. Oscar slowly placed Lunus on the ground where he could finally support his body with his own vines. ¡°My lord¡­ My vines¡­ Just how?¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know either, but it seems my antlers had absorbed them all¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, nyan, I saw it with my own eyes, nyan.¡± *Kun!* Oscar hurriedly touched his antlers, but there seems to be no change in them at all.¡± ¡°This is weird. Just what are these antlers and how could they absorb the black stuff?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s your ability, my lord?¡± ¡°It might be¡­ Wait, if that is the case, it means that your vines won¡¯t be affected by the mist as long as you are close to my antlers, right? Then what if we do this?¡± Oscar raised Lunus up once again and placed his skull on top of his head, wearing him like a helmet. His black antlers that should be in the way turned into thick black mist and gently covered his head, absorbing all the weight of the skull. ¡°Wah, this black thing is all over my face... and I can¡¯t see anything. Wait, if I use my [Share perception] with Lunus, then that might work!¡± And as he thought, now he could see things from Lunus¡¯ eyes. The viewpoint was a little bit taller than usual, but there was no problem in that matter. ¡°Now master look really like¡­ a shaman, nyan?¡± Oscar had worn Lunus¡¯ skull as his helmet. Lunus¡¯ vines were covering his back like a mantle and the black mist that spread over his head made him looked even more mysterious. ¡°How is it? This way Lunus can fight the goblin without minding its sword, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad for your concern, my lord¡­ But fighting like this, I fear that it will cause too much burden on your body and it will make you into a dangerous spot¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I totally forgot about it. So this is no good, huh?¡± ¡°Yes, master would surely become a burden if Lunus have to fight like this, nyan.¡± ¡°U-Umu, that¡¯s too cruel, Midnight.¡± Just slinging his body from trees to trees could make his shoulder dislocated several times. With this fighting at Lunus¡¯ speed is absolutely impossible for the current Oscar. ¡°I guess this isn¡¯t a good idea then¡­ Eh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s it, nyan?¡± ¡°I-It won¡¯t come out! I can¡¯t take Lunus away from my head.¡± The event had turned awkward as everyone was trying to pull Lunus away from Oscar¡¯s head. And at that moment, none of them had realized that they were still in a hurry, not knowing that a murderous glare was aiming at them. Ch 28 - Against an agile assassin ¡°It won¡¯t come out, nyan!¡± *Kun!* Midnight and Luna were trying their best to help Oscar pulling out Lunus¡¯ skull from his head. They kicked his skull, pulled it, and when it showed no sign to move, they started to gnaw on it. ¡°...I know that both of you want to help my lord, but biting me like this will only make my skull chip and crack, doesn¡¯t it? Especially you, Midnight, it seems you¡¯re enjoying in this.¡± ¡°Me? Nyoway~ I didn¡¯t do this because it¡¯s fun, you know? You must be misunderstanding something, nyan.¡± They stopped wasting their effort and hopped on the ground. Oscar run his fingertip along Lunus¡¯ skull to make sure that there was no crack left behind. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lunus,¡± Oscar interrupted the quarrel, ¡°but it seems we have to stay like this for a while¡­ Until we figure out how to separate us apart.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my lord, I don¡¯t mind it in the slightest. Even though it¡¯s a bit inconvenient in this state, I can now protect my lord easier. So, that even out the cons, I presume. Still, I believe that my lord might have a harder time than I do.¡± ¡°No no no, it¡¯s not that severe for me, I guess. Since I can still see things through your eyes, it¡¯s not like I became blind or anything.¡± ¡°Nyan? But how will master eat or drink when this black mist covers your entire face, nyan?¡± ¡°Ah, I totally forgot about that...¡± *K-Kun!* Hearing Midnight¡¯s remark, Luna jumped back to his shoulder and tried to pull Lunus¡¯ skull again. Oscar knew that it was futile, so he put her back in his arm and calmed her down. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Luna, we should figure out how to manage this later on. Right, there must be some condition to separate me from-¡± ¡°Master!,¡± Midnight shouted, surprise and panic. An inky blade suddenly flew out from Oscar¡¯s shadow and aimed for his neck. Blood sprayed in the air and his head was sent flying...not. The blade only cut thin air as his figure already jumped into the sky and escaped an instant death by a hairbreadth. Midnight made a surprise face when she found out about her being coiled in a vine. *Kyu!?* ¡°Your reflection is quite something, nyan, Lunus.¡± ¡°... It was because of my lord¡¯s warning.¡± ¡°Nya!?¡± She looked back at Oscar where he was scratching his face covered in the mist. He had already linked her with his [Mindlink]. Before her voice reached him, the sudden change in her emotion flowed into his head. He realized that something dangerous was taking place and conveyed this to Lunus. In a split second before Midnight opened her mouth, Lunus¡¯ vines already whipped the ground and sent Oscar¡¯s body flying backward. There, Oscar didn¡¯t forget to shoot his vine to her and retrieve Midnight before they parted away. [Mind link] was one of the most effective communication methods. It could convey thoughts and feelings to the receiver in an instant without any time waste. And by using this, Oscar was able to get things done before Midnight could even warn him. They lightly landed on the ground by using Lunus¡¯ vines as springs and cushions. And as they had expected, before them stood a single goblin with pitch black skin. Beads of sweat ran down its small body and wet its tattered cloth. Its limbs were full of small bruises and wounds after continuous fights. And in its bloodshot eyes contained intense rage toward Oscar. It swung its scimitar in anger, sprinkling its sweat in the air. The sharp tip of the sword pointed toward Oscar before its wielder shouted toward him with a murderous intent. ¡°Damn you, necromancer! Now that you have no zombie left to play around, I¡¯ll cut you into pieces and let you die slowly!¡± Oscar glanced toward the zombie horde in the background. Their limbs and necks were all swollen from forcefully regenerating their body. The swellings were big and scary like they had grown tumors on their body. And these swellings were so severe that it¡¯s impossible for them to walk. They were just like a big lump of wiggling meat. W-Wait!? This goblin can manage to deal with those zombies alone within just a few minutes? How could that be? Oscar had totally forgotten to keep the goblin in check after he met Lunus. He gulped and kept silent. He had underestimated his opponent too much. And right about now, he felt like standing in front of a strong predator which was ready to jump at him at any time. ¡°Hoh? You don¡¯t wanna to talk? Fine, I will start with your arm!¡± The goblin sprinted toward him, placing the scimitar on its shoulder. It leaped into the air readied to unleashed its swordplay toward Oscar. But that was interrupted by Lunus¡¯ vines which were skillfully whipped on the goblin from four different directions. It didn¡¯t bother to cut them. Instead, it parried three attacks and jumped back by using the last hit as a jumping base. After making a double roll in the air, its small feet lightly reached the ground.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°That skull is the leader of those creepy vine monsters, right? Hmph, as expected, I should just crush it when I have a chance!¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± Oscar couldn¡¯t tolerate even a simple taunt like this. He raised his hand and started to chant a magic that he had learned from Midnight. Black bullets shoot out from his shadow toward the goblin. However, it could easily dodge a straight attack at this distance. The goblin landed smoothly and smirked as it had achieved its goal. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to its taunt, nyan! It just wants to probe your skill and ability.¡± ¡°But that goblin just said that it will kill Lunus! How could I let it go like this?¡± Midnight had hidden inside Oscar¡¯s shadow ever since she regained her footing. She didn¡¯t want to fight this goblin assassin recklessly since she didn¡¯t know if it could find her or not even if she was inside the shadow. A trick rarely worked when it was used for the second time, especially when the enemy could also do the same trick. As such, she dedicated herself to staying alert in Oscar¡¯s shadow instead. This way she could both help in counter-attacking the enemy and keeping an eye on the attacks from inside the shadow. ¡°Come on, necromancer bastard! Can you only do this much? The last shadow bullet was even more painful than this, you know?¡± It still continued taunting Oscar, knowing that he was a hot-headed target and his magic was surprisingly easy to dodge. It didn¡¯t know if he still had something up his sleeve. But toward an enemy that could give it a surprise attack and even dodge its sure-kill move, being more careful is better than none. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to it, my lord,¡± said Lunus ¡°You should never lower yourself to mind an insect¡¯s bite.¡± *Kun!* Even Luna was concerned over Oscar¡¯s mood. She bit on a vine leaf on his body and lightly yanked it to bring him back to his sense. ¡°Ah¡­ Luna, sorry for making you worried. Yes, I will act more calmly this time.¡± He lightly patted her head as she rubbed her springy ears against his palm. ¡°Hoh~ You still have time to play with your pet? Let¡¯s see if you can deal with this!¡± The goblin sprinted toward him one more time. But before it reached Lunus¡¯ attack range, an object was thrown to him from under its tattered cloth. Lunus quickly whipped the projectile before it could reach his lord, but it burst into a white cloud as soon as it hit his vine. The cloud quickly blocked his vision and separated him from the rest of the world. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lord¡­ It¡¯s my fault for falling into its petty trick like this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can still sense its footstep.¡± Oscar extended his [Share perception] toward the grasses around him. Although lightly, he could clearly sense the places where the goblin had stepped onto as though they were his upper hand. ¡°There it is!¡± ¡°Guah!¡± He turned back and raised his hand forward. Green particles left his palm and in a heartbeat, everyone could hear a scream from inside this thick cloud of dust. A brief moment later, the cloud quickly dispersed and a small figure was revealed before him. Its legs were restrained by tall grasses that had grown up to its waist. They coiled around the goblin and firmly stopped its legs from stepping forward. Oscar quickly chanted another spell that he had learned from Midnight while the goblin was still busy cutting down the tall grasses. Black needles protruded from the shadows under the grasses and pierced the goblin¡¯s skin. Blood sipped out from the gaps between the grasses and dripped down its legs. ¡°Guu¡­,¡± it groaned, cutting the last grass stem before trying to retreat back to its shadow. ¡°I won¡¯t let you, nyan!¡± However, black bullets shot out from its own shadow. This time, it could dodge and parry every single hit, but it had once again failed to run away. ¡°Tsk! Just how many tricks do you still have up your sleeve? That¡¯s right, use everything you have because your head will fly away after this!¡± Ignoring the pain on its legs, the goblin cast away its thought to retreat and rushed forward. It ran zigzag as its figure quickly approached Oscar at a surprising speed. Oscar tried to use grasses to stop its charge, but its movements were too hard to predict. Shadow bullets were already useless against it. Lunus quickly sent out his vines to intercept the goblin as soon as it came close. This time it didn¡¯t jump into the air and kept its posture low while dashing. ¡°If it¡¯s on the ground, these fucking vines don¡¯t have many ways to attack me!¡± With a swing of its blade, the vines were shredded into pieces. And right now nothing could stop it from killing Oscar. ¡°My lord, be careful!¡± ¡°I know!¡± Oscar thrust his hand toward the ground. A vine from his arm whacked the spot and sent him flying backward. Midnight also helped by sending shadow bullets to interrupt the goblin¡¯s charge. ¡°Stop playing your stupid tricks!¡± But that alone couldn¡¯t stop the furious goblin assassin. It parried every shadow bullet and follow after Oscar who was still in the air. Lunus tried his best to regrow his vines and used them to stop it, but his speed couldn¡¯t catch up with the swinging sword. ¡°This is your end, necromancer!¡± It swung its scimitar at Oscar¡¯s unprotected arm, aiming to cut it from the root. The black mist trailed after its swing as the sharp blade cut through the air. However, the cut was off for a small margin and the blade only grazed his white skin, making red blood zipped and run down his vines. ¡°Tsk! You¡¯re fucking desperate in running away like a scared rabbit. Just stand still and let me kill you already!¡± While still in the mid-air, Oscar extended his vine toward the ground. It grabbed the grasses and pulled him down to avoid the blade from sending his arm away. He landed on the ground and retrieved his vine back. He had made a short distance from the goblin and right now, they were glaring each other. ¡°See? When I¡¯m serious, a necromancer like you can¡¯t lay a hit on me at all! You¡¯re fucking weak! It¡¯s as expected from a mage who can¡¯t even hunt a beast.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Oscar was confused by the goblin¡¯s sudden remark in hunting things. What did it mean by that? Why did it speak something like this out of the blue? ¡°Master, don¡¯t listen to its taunt, nyan!¡± As though Midnight had remembered something, she tried to stop him from listening to the goblin, but it¡¯s too late. ¡°Hoh? What do you mean, you say? Don¡¯t play dumb! You can show that deer skull off to trick anyone but me. Its antlers are beautiful, right? You know, I never forget the faces of those who had a high value on their head. And isn¡¯t that the leader of those white deers? I can still remember the night that I sent its head flying. Ahh~ That night was really a great fun. So, tell me why do I have to fear a shitty mage who can¡¯t even hunt a deer by himself and just wear a leftover as his helmet?¡± Midnight was frozen still. She slowly shifted its gaze back to Oscar while thinking about a way to calm him down. However, none of her ideas would ever work at this point. ¡°Leftover? You called Lunus a leftover?¡± Suddenly, the world was enveloped by darkness. The wind stopped blowing and the birds stopped singing. It was as though the world was entirely petrified. And inside Oscar¡¯s mind, something just snapped off.