Erich narrowed his eyes, sizing up the trembling Treant before him.
An affinity for life magic sounded like a good thing. He had been practicing elemental magic quite well recently and had dabbled in spatial magic, but with his limited time, he hadn't started practicing life magic yet.
“Elaborate on that,” Erich said.
Seeing him relent, the Treant's branches became a bit more lively as it quickly wove a line of words:
【We can bestow a blessing upon humans, which can help you better understand life magic.】
A blessing—a permanent buff—was something that could only be chanced upon but not sought. Erich was a little tempted.
“On top of that,” he raised a finger, “you also have to draw me a map of the second floor.”
【A simple task.】
“Lead the way.”
Having reached an agreement, the human and the trees set off. The Treants fanned out around him, their branches clearing away dead twigs and leaves in their path while smoothing out the tangled vines. They were the perfect trailblazing vanguard.
Erich walked in the middle, staff in hand, saving himself a great deal of effort.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly spoke up:
“There are so many of you trees, yet you can't beat a few spiders?”
The Treants fell silent for a moment, their branches rustling against each other. It took quite a while before they wove another line of text:
【Those are no ordinary spiders. They are very powerful spiders.】
“How powerful?”
【We cannot defeat them.】
Erich felt he shouldn't overestimate the Treants' intelligence. After all, they were only second-tier magical beasts.
But spiders... a dungeon... Erich suddenly felt a spark in his mind, as if a memory was on the verge of emerging but remained stuck in his throat. It seemed like a plotline from the game, but what exactly was it?
He thought for a long time but simply couldn't remember.
Forget it. Erich shook his head, casting those lingering thoughts aside. Regardless of the plot, he, Erich, had always been a helpful soul. Helping the Treants was an inescapable duty.
It was definitely not because of that blessing.
To avoid alerting the prey, Erich extinguished the illuminating flame on his staff. Darkness closed in once more, leaving only nameless fireflies drifting through the air.
The surroundings were filled with the rustling footsteps of the Treants and the sound of his own controlled breathing.
Strangely enough, while traveling alone in the dark had been rather creepy, being surrounded by a circle of Treants actually made him feel secure.
Be it human or tree, having living things around boosted one's courage.
With the Treants leading the way, they moved much faster. For a moment, Erich felt like a young master being pampered, lacking only a sedan chair to carry him.
After walking for about ten minutes, the path ahead suddenly opened up.
It was a small valley. The valley floor was flat, with a winding river flowing through, its source and destination nowhere in sight. Not far from the river stood a cave, its pitch-black mouth revealing nothing within.
Erich and the Treants hid in the woods at the edge of the valley. He crouched down and lowered his voice:
“Where are the spiders?”
【Inside that cave.】
“Then how did they occupy your habitat? Do you live in caves?”
【No, we live at the entrance of the cave.】
A Treant stretched out a branch, pointing toward an open clearing beside the cave entrance.
Erich followed the branch's direction. The clearing was flat and spacious, with broken branches and withered leaves scattered on the ground. He had originally thought it was a natural clearing, but looking at it now, those broken branches and dead leaves were clearly the remains of the Treants' bodies.
Erich asked no further questions. Making an “OK” gesture, he used the cover of the woods to crouch low and creep toward the cave entrance.
The cave entrance was wider than he had expected. Pressing himself against the wall, he slowly aimed his staff deep into the cave. Mana began to flow, channeling down his arm and into the staff, condensing at its tip.
A fireball began to take shape.
At first, it was only the size of a fist, but as time passed, it grew larger and hotter. The color slowly transitioned from deep red to a brilliant blue-white. The surrounding air warped from the intense heat, and even the light itself seemed to shimmer.
Erich channeled another stream of mana to stir the air currents behind him, gradually drawing in the oxygen from the air to form a dense pocket of gas behind his back, waiting for the moment of ignition.
That should do it. Erich compressed the fireball into a conical shape. The blue-white cone spun at the tip of his staff, carrying a terrifying aura.
In the next instant, he thrust the staff forward.
A sharp whistling sound pierced the silence as the cone of light dragged a long trail of flame and plunged deep into the cave.
In his mind, Erich counted his heartbeats. One, two, three...
Boom!
An earth-shaking roar exploded deep within the cave, making the ground beneath his feet shudder. Immediately after, Erich funneled the concentrated oxygen into the cave entrance. Fed by the pure oxygen, the flames surged violently, triggering a series of thunderous explosions that rumbled through the cavern.
A pillar of fire erupted from the cave mouth, carrying shattered rocks and soot, spewing straight into the sky.
Fortunately, Erich had been prepared. The moment he unleashed the fireball, he had slipped away, returning to the woods. Now, he was crouching among the Treants, watching the spectacle.
The Treants were so terrified by the soaring flames that their branches shook violently, and the patterns on their bark twisted in fright.
The roaring continued for quite some time before gradually subsiding. Once the smoke and dust cleared, silence returned to the cave entrance, with only a few wisps of dark smoke curling out.
Erich waited for a moment. After confirming there was no movement inside, he pointed at one of the Treants.
“You. Go in and take a look.”
The Treant shuddered, its branches curling inward instinctively. Ultimately, taking stiff steps, it shuffled toward the cave entrance with extreme reluctance, moving one slow step at a time.
Rate on N.U.
