Chapter 100 On The Way
The forest was cheerful as always and the festivals of night, screams, blood, and lights were still going on as he passed through everywhere.
It was a night that was normal, and the day would shin upon them shortly.
"Celes looks like we will reach there tomorrow." He said and jumped on another tree branch as silently as a feather.
Looking at him from the air, a beautiful butterfly replied in his mind while dancing in the air.
[[ Master~! We will finally see that beautiful trees. ]]
Her voice was filled with excitement, and that was because she wanted to taste the flowers of the willow tree.
It was surprising, but now, she can taste the flowers... or more precisely, the wavelength of the different lights of the flowers.
She was fascinating, and we were traveling through the jungle for the past five days now.
After parting ways with Fern, we just stayed with each other and continued towards the lake.
Thanks to her, I could avoid many dangerous situations and there was also the skill that I got from the chibi ninja.
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[Shadow Dive]
-Melt inside a shadow for ten seconds.
(Mana: 25)
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This was an amazing skill, and it saved my life three times in these five days.
I was attacked many times in this forest by (Orange) and (Yellow) ranked beasts and my paths crossed with three (Green) ranked, and one (Blue) ranked creatures.
These were some dangerous encounters, as there were some very dangerous beasts among them.
One was a brown bear with poisonous purple, long claws.
It had blank, white eyes, and just being near it was enough to tell what it was.
Even though it was a green-ranked beast, it was in a berserk state.
Maybe it was also a mother and there was something that separated her child, but it was some of the most dreadful experiences of my life.
This is the first time I have felt it and… I understood.
I saw the sheer difference in power against the (Green) ranked beast in its full power.
After that was a calm lizard or... a lizard that breath fire?
It was something like a fire spirit and it was something between a spirit and an energy beast.
I never saw this thing before but the appraisal called it [Monoya Lizard].
Its Mana was that of a green ranked beast. There was also a special stat that I had never seen before in its status window.
[Blaze], something that showed its flame\'s powers.
From my understanding, it was something that can grow despite staying at the (Green) stage of Mana.
I didn\'t know this was a discovery or something but, this was indeed amusing.
Thankfully, it was a calm lizard, bathing in sunlight in an open grass area.
Other than that, the remaining two beasts were part of a pack, a wolf pack, to be more precise.
Its leader and his sidekick chased after me for almost half a day and if I didn\'t have Celes, I knew I would have been dead for sure.
These all creatures were ultimately much more powerful than me and I was still much weaker than them.
I don\'t know what I would do in situations where I couldn\'t use any skills like with that Ent, but now, with these experiences, I was sure.
I was still lacking in my archery skills.
But, only experience could solve that issue as there was nothing new for me to learn in basic techniques.
All I could do about this was make different use of the knowledge I already had and gain experience in real fights in this jungle.
So, I did some battles with normal and possible opponents and won every one of them.
Three to be more precise.
It was unfortunate that I got neither a core nor a skill stone, but I improved a lot from that.
I could feel it. I was a step near that thing.
This was night, and I was near the willow tree.
I survived and reached the place I had aimed for all this time.
It might be difficult when I reach there and there might be many challenges, but I was ready to face all of them.
It was difficult, and some scars were still healing from previous fights. I knew I could take care of them if there was an emergency.
[[ Master! I see light ahead~! ]]
The night forest was filled with colorful, different lights, but it was still a dark forest at the night.
Seeing bright light here only meant that the destination was just ahead of us.
"On, be careful from here," I said, slowing down my steps.
It would be difficult if something bad comes up and destroyed my fresh attempt to take the flowers and fruits from the tree.
It wasn\'t any normal fruit, and they weren\'t any normal flowers.
I could see the bright blue light ahead, and a smile appeared on my face.
It was difficult reaching here and the people I met on this journey were something very memorable that I won\'t forget, even if I wanted to.
But...
The path that was just within our reach started getting longer.
I was getting pushed back, and some dark lights were clouding my vision.
This one was strong, and I almost failed to resist it but... I managed it in the end.
This was the toughest illusion I had faced, and it took me more than a minute to get out of that dark place while slowly maintaining my footing on the tree.
I managed to escape from its bounds and returned to the world just before the light was closest.
[ "Oh? Looks like you are indeed special, little one." ]
A deep, beastly, female voice entered my mind, and I blankly stared in front of me.
Looking at me while laying on a tree branch, the black jaguar from some days ago greeted me with its strong presence.
This was powerful, and it did not restrict it at all.
I was feeling this for the first time.
The pure strength of a (Blue) ranked beast that was seeing something very interesting in a long time.
I knew there might be something like this and here it was.
\'My trial...\'