Chapter 33 – Living Tree Ruler.

The entire party was running through the forest.

"I think we can stop. I don't see anything chasing us." – said Forge while looking back.

Party stopped in tracks and looked around.

"I think we are safe, somehow. I don't hear anything coming towards us." – said Phiul.

"Well, we are definitely safe. So far from what we seen, the living trees only chased us when they saw us. If they don't see us, they don't chase." – said Forge.

"Anyway, this part of the forest is definitely different." – said Forge.

"What do you mean?" – asked Try.

"Look around. See the wood we got from the bronze living trees? And look around at those tress. Every single one of these trees are bronze trees." – said Forge after taking out a piece of bronze wood from his inventory.

"Huh, now that you mention it, they do look different from the ordinary tree. I didn't noticed that until now because we were running away." – said Phiul.

"There is also another thing." – said Forge.

"?"

"There is no living trees nearby. Literally non." – said Avalanche.

"Yea. Considering that we just run into a small army of them, but now don't see a single one is definitely strange indeed." – said Forge.

"That is definitely strange indeed. Considering that we encounter the living trees nonstop, a sudden lack of any of them is definitely weird." – said Try.

"Maybe the living trees we had encounter were something like a final wall or something?" – said Forge.

"Wall? What does…... Oh! You mean all the living trees in the area weren't scatter around unlike before, but instead they all well put together to form that line of the defense. Is that what you meant?" – asked Phiul.

"Yeb." – replied Forge.

"I think this maybe confirm our guess about boss monster whereabouts." – said Forge.

"Then should we take a break? Me and Phiul did used most of our skills in that combat and we need some time for them to recover." – said Try.

"…. Honestly this is a good idea, but I like to for the boss right now." 

"We are probably in the most dangerous part of the enemy territory. Even if we don't see any living trees right now, there is no guarantee this is really the case. I don't want to deal with any groups of enemies as of right now and I want to deal with the enemy leader as soon as possible."'

"Drink any positions you have and get ready move out." – said Avalanche while taking out a potion from his inventory

(Honestly speaking, its bit risky, but I get what he mean. We manage to reduce the damage to the minimal from the encounter we had with that army of the living trees thanks to his plan.)

(if we were to get attacked by the same amount of enemies again when we are unprepared, we would sustain lot of damage. So, it's better to just go for the boss right now.) – though Forge.

"…."

"?"

"Shit." – said Forge.

"What's wrong? Enemy?" – asked Try.

"No. I'm running out of the potions. Does anybody has any spare HP potions?" – asked Forge.

"Let me check... I have some spare, but I'm almost out of MP potions. Do you have any?" – asked Try.

"I also am running low on the MP bottles. Can I have some if anybody has to spare?" – said Phiul.

"Well, I don't really have much MP bottles on me, but I think I can spare one for each of you. What about Avalanche?" – asked Forge.

"…."

"Avalanche?"

"Em…. I'm also running out of potions." – replied Avalanche.

"…."

"Fuck." – said everybody.

"…."

"This…. This isn't looking good." – said Try.

"Well, we were using a lot of potions ever since we got here, but I never imagine we used that MUCH already." – said Forge.

"We were also sometimes fought against big groups of the enemies at the same time as well." – added Try.

(We will probably be forced to use few potions during our battle against the boss, but with our current supply we maybe won't have enough if the boss is hard.) – though Avalanche.

"The question is, even if we beat the boss monsters, will we be able to return safely?"

[Complete Condition: Find and slay the living trees leader and destroy or bring back the device that allowed the monster to create the living trees.]

"It says "Destroy or bring back the device that allowed the monster to create the living trees." If by any chance we will get the device on our hands, its better to return it. Our rewards would probably get better if we do manage to get the device."

"But the problem is that the forest is still filled with the monsters. There is a chance that we will die when we would try to go back." – said Avalanche.

"Can't we just put the device in the inventory and just die to the monster? We will just respawn and get back to the outpost from the city." – said Phiul.

"But would that really work? We are doing the quest right now and would that kind of loop hole work in the first place? What if the item just get dropped automatically when we die?" – said Try.

"True. We better not try and find out with this method." – said Forge.

"Maybe we should focus right now how to beat the boss? We still don't know if we will win the fight. Its better if we focus all out attention on the matter in front of us first, instead of worrying about something else."

"…. Em…. Fine. You are right. We should focus on the boss right now." – said Avalanche.

Shorty after the contestation was concluded, the party headed straight towards the lake.

While walking towards their destination, they did not came across any monster, however they kept their guard up just in case.

"!"

"Stop." – said Forge while peeking behind the tree.

"What is it?" – said Phiul while moving towards the Forge.

"Hm? Hey, what is that thing in the middle?" – said Phiul.

In front of the party in the wide open space and in the middle of it, a giant weird grey like tree.

"Don't know. The map just got updated when we got here. The lake dispersed completely from the map and instead this thing got added. That means that thing wasn't there before." – said Avalanche.

"It some kind of throne made out of the tree and look up there on top." – said Forge while pointing his finger.

On top of the tree like structure that resembles a throne, there was a giant humanoid looking monster sitting on it. The monster dd not had a face or eyes or even a mouth.

The limbs of the monster were resembling more of the beast and on top its head there were many branches that took a shape of the crown.

"This is obviously not normal living tree. I guess this is the guy were looking for." – said Avalanche.

"But how do we get that guy down from there?" – asked Try.

"Probably when get near the him, the fight will start. Well, if he doesn't get down, we can just shot him down." – said Avalanche.

"Anyway, everybody ready?" – asked Avalanche.

Everybody in the response titled their heads.

"Well then. Go."

The entire group left the forest and headed straight towards the mysterious grey tree.

After getting closer to the tree, the entire group took the battle positions.

"…."

"…. Em…. Did he not noticed us or something?" – asked Phiul.

"Maybe its sleeping?" -said Try.

"Well, maybe it will come down if you just hit it?" – said Forge.

"Got it. [Fire Arrow]" 

Phiul fired an arrow made out of fire straight at the monster. The attack flew and it hit the monster directly.

"Huh. He didn't blocked or anything?" – said confused Phiul.

Moment after being hit by Phiul attack, the monster turned its head towards the group and four red eyes appeared on the creature face, looking directly at the group of the enemies that just attacked it.

"Oh. I think he noticed us now." – said Phiul.

The tree monster stood up and picked up an axe made out of the tree roots, before moments later falling down from his throne, straight towards the ground and then landing next to the grey tree base.

"...Oh. He is way bigger than I though." - said Phiul after the tree monster stood up after landing.

The giant tree monster that stood 6 meters tall confronted the group.

[King Of The Living Trees Az– Level 86 – Unique Boss Monster]

"Unique boss?! Just like the kobold chieftain?!" – said Forge.

(Fuck. Now this is bad. Forge told us him self that the unique bosses are big deals. Even after Quicy order us to look for any bosses with "Unique", we couldn't find one, but now there is one in front of us.) – though Avalanche.

(This quest maybe even harder than I though.)

(But, its also an opportunity to see how powerful the unique monster really is!) 

"Everyone! Don't hold back at all! Use everything you have!" – shouted Avalanche.

"Don't need to tell me twice." – said Forge.

The giant tree monster swinged his wooden axes straight at Avalanche.

"[Shield Block]!"

[Shield User] skill.

[Shield Block]

[Skill level 5/5] [Cost: 50 MP] [Cooldown: 2 minutes] [Category: Weapon/ Equipment - Shield]

[Create a shock absorption barrier on the surface of your shield. The shields blocks all the damage taken and lasts for up to 10 seconds, however when the shield is active, the character movement speed is slowed by 50% and can't change the direction of the shield is facing more than 30 degrees. The skill can be deactivated at any moment. The shield endurance and defense is influenced by the user [Physical Defense] and [Magic Defense] as well as weapon [Block] stat.]

[This skill can only be used with a shield.]

Avalanche lifted his great shield and activated his skill before the monster giant axes striked him, taking on the giant tree monster attack head on.

"Fuck!"

When the monster was focused on the Avalanche, multiple spheres of fire flew straight towards the monster and hit it straight in the head. After that it was followed up with the Forge attacking the monster leg with his giant axe. However, when the Forge landed his attack, his axe did not sinked deep into the monster body.

(Okay. He is definitely way tough than the other living trees.) – Though Forge while looking at his axe.

Forge noticed the giant fist of the tree creature coming his way, he quickly recovered his axe and blocked attack, but he ended up being thrown away.

Forge quickly spread his wings to slow himself and then landed on the ground.

"Okay. He is tough and he is strong enough to throw me around." – said Forge after landing on the ground.

Avalanche manage to push away the giant axes with his strength and quickly retreated.

"No kidding. I think my [Shield Block] can only take up to 2 or 3 of those attacks." – said Avalanche.

"Anyway, what do we do now. This guy isn't definitely a weakling." – said Forge.

"Honestly, I don't know. His movement aren't that fast, but also aren't that slow, however that guy reach and attack zone is the real problem." – said Avalanche.

"We also have watch out for any other attacks it has in store." 

"…So, do we have plan or something?" – asked Forge.

"Fight and watch out for any suspicious movement or actions it takes, it maybe try to use a skill or something. This is the only thing we can do right now." – said Avalanche while lifting his shield up.

"I will continue getting his attention, you just all focus on hitting him!" – said Avalanche while charging at the enemy once again.

"…. Well, it's not like we have choice." – said Forge before joining in with the Avalanche.

The giant tree monster lifted his axe once again and swinged its once again and once again Avalanche stepped it and blocked the attack.

[Orc Warrior] skill. 

[Orc Spirit] 

[Skill level: 2/2] [Cost: 100 SP / (150 SP)] [Cooldown: 15 minutes] 

[Increase the [Physical Defense] and [Strength] stats of the user by 10%/(15%) for 1 minute.]

Avalanche activated the skill before taking on again the tree monster attack, however this time Avalanche didn't completely blocked the shield, instead he manage to slightly change the trajectory of the attack and hit the ground next to him.

(Fuck. Even though I didn't took full force of the attack, it did left some damage.)

Moment after the axe landed on the ground, a lance made out of the fire hit the tree monster right in the cheats and exactly second later the lance exploded.

[Advance Fire Mage] skill.

[Fire Spear]

[Skill level: 2/2] [Cost: 200 MP] [Cooldown: 3 minutes] [Category: Spell / Fire Element]

[Create a spear made out of the fire. Upon being created, the user can aim the lance and fire it at any direction. The lance deals 200% damage equal to the caster current [Intelligent] as a fire magic damage. Second after the lance hits something, it will explode and deal 50%/(100%) fire element magic damage equal to the caster current [Intelligent].]

After explosion happened, the next thing that the monster saw was Forge right near its chest with his wings out and a white halo behind his back.

[Priest Of Light – Path Of Hope] skill.

[Moment Of Hope]

[Skill level: 2/2] [Cost: 100 MP] [Cooldown: 10 minutes] [Category: Spell / Light Element / Blessing]

[Increase the stats of the chosen target by 5%/(10%) for 30 seconds. This effect doesn't stack with the others [Moments Of Hope] and the target can't be affected by this skill after the duration ended for 5 minutes.]

Item Skill - [Necklace Of Kobold Chieftain Azruk] 

[Might Of The Kobold]

[Skill level: 1/2] [Cost: 200 MP 200 SP] [Cooldown: 3 hours]

[Call upon the might of the kobold race and let it into your body. Upon activation increase all user stats (5%)/10% for 15 minutes. When the skill is active, a black tattoo of the kobold race will appear on the user back.]

Forge with the help of the Try blessing, his necklace skill as well as wings manage to leap quiet high before swinging his axe right in the monster chest and hitting it, making his axe somehow sink a bit into the tree monster chest.

"Now I felt that!" – said Forge.

The giant monster tried swatting away Forge again, but Forge noticed the monster hand and quicky put his feet on top of his axe and jumped up before the monster hand got him.

"[Horn Charge]!"

Forge flew straight towards the monster face and pierced the monster left eye with his horn.

(Got him!) – though Forge.

The giant tree monster didn't waited and reach for the Forge while he was still stuck. The monster struggled with Forge a bit before being pulled out by the tree.

The tree monster then tried to crush Forge in his hand, but Forge fought back.

"Fuck! You piece of SHIT!" 

While Forge was struggling with the tree monster hand, he suddenly bit one of its fingers.

[Insectian Warrior] skill.

[Insect Bite]

[Skill level: 6/6] [Passive]

[Increase the biting power and attack power of your teethes, jaws and mandibles by 100%/120%/140%/160%/180%/(200%). Also increases a chance of triggering the effects of the bite type attacks and skills used by you.]

(Fuck me! He is hard!) – though Forge while trying to bite off part of the finger.

(By the way, its worth mentioning, why the heck they give the skill that about biting to the players? Is this more like a monster skill?)

"Phiul! Aim at that guy hand and help Forge get free!" – shouted Try.

"On it."

"[Fire Ball]!"

"[Shadow Light]!"

Phiul and Try shot a magic projectiles straight at the monster arm that was holding Forge, however even upon hitting the arm, the monster grip didn't lose up.

After that, the monster lifted its hand while still holding Forge.

"?"

(What is it-)

"!"

"Phiul! Try! RUN FOR IT!" – shouted Forge after immediately stopping biting into the creature finger.

"?" – Phiul and Try wondered what is going on.

"Wait! He is going to-"

Before Try could finish his sentence, the giant tree monster threw Forge straight at the Phiul and Try.

Forge flew straight at his allies. He tried using his wings to slow him self down, however it did not helped at all.

Try and Phiul beginned running in the opposing directions and exactly moment later, Forge ended up landing on the ground like some sort of cannon ball. 

"…. Fuck me. That was so freaking close." – said Phiul while laying on the ground after barely not getting hit by the Forge.

"You okay there Try?" – shouted Phiul.

"I'm, okay? What about Forge?" – replied Try.

"…."

"Em…. He is kind of buried into the ground and his legs and ass are only sticking out, but I don't think he is dead." – said Phiul while looking at the Forge that had half of his body buried.

"Anyway, he will get out on his own. Focus right now on helping Avalanche." – said Try.

Meanwhile, Avalanche was being attacked again and again by the tree monster. He dodge some of the monster while also blocking or redirecting its attacks.

(Fuck. The problem isn't that guy speed. The problem is how big his attacks are. I can probably use my skills to tank his hits, but I can't carelessly waste them.)

(On top of that guy base [Strength] stats are probably quiet high considering how it manage to throw Forge like this just now.)

While Avalanche was focused on fighting against the tree monster, a roots suddenly sprouted from its right shoulders before seconds later covering the monster right arm and fusing with it, transforming and making the arm of the monster bigger as well as making its weapon bigger as well.

(SHIT!) – though Avalanche after just witnessing tree monster doing something.

"[Stand Ground] [Shields Up]!"

Avalanche active two skills, one of the [Soldier] class and second of the [Shield User], both of them increasing his defense before giant axe hit him head on.

Avalanche tried to withstand the attack of the monster axe, however before Avalanche realized he was getting pushed back before moments later getting completely blowed away.

[King Of The Living Trees Az– Level 86] – [HP: 82% ->83%]

"…."

"…F…uck!" – said Forge after finally managing to unbury himself from the ground.

"Damn fucker. He buried me. Now it-"

When Forge looked behind him, trying to look towards the tree monster, he saw Avalanche flying straight at him.

(Oh bolloks.) – thought Forge when Avalanche ass was right in front of his face.

Avalanche ended colliding and hitting Forge that just manage to get up.

"Ow." – said both Avalanche and Forge.

"Hm? Forge?!" – said Avalanche after noticing Forge underneath him.

"…. Yea?" – said Forge while having his face buried into the ground.

"Are you okay?"

"No." 

"Oh."

 "Can you get off from me?" – asked Forge while still having his face buried.

"Oh! Yes." – said Avalanche while quickly moving away.

"Fuck me. This guy is very annoying." – said Forge while getting back up again.

"Yea and he probably is even more annoying that you think." – said Try.

"?"

"When he manage to land that solid attack on the Avalanche just now, his health just got restored. It suddenly got changed from 81% to 82%." – said Try.

"Wait what?!" – said Avalanche.

"So that bastard can heal himself? Just perfect." – said Phiul.

"No. This is first time he healed. I can probably guess that guy weapon possess a lifesteal effect." – said Try.

[Lifesteal – dealing damage to the opponent will restore the user health based on the % of the damage deal to the target.]

"So, not only he is tanky, he has lot of strength and has a big reach, he has on top of all of it lifesteal weapon that can heal him. Isn't that just plain unfair at this point?" – asked Phiul.

"I don't think so. That guy hit me a lot of time, but he only recovered 1%, right? This is obviously because I focused on the defense the entire time. If that guy focus on the me or Forge with his axe, he won't recover much, but the problem would be if he hit either of you. He will probably deal way more damage and heal for even more since both of you are not tanks. Both of you can't get hit by him no matter the way or he will just heal by a lot." – said the Avalanche.

"But he still heals, that is the problem. And on top of that my axe is still stuck on him." – said Forge.

"Should I just go up and stab his other eye out or something? It did a lot of damage." – said Forge while taking out a health potion.

"Nope. You probably end up being throwed again." – said Try.

"True. That did ended up taking WAY too much of my HP. Now I barely have any potions left." – said Forge after finishing drinking a potion.

"Things are not looking good at all." – said Phiul.

"I think we maybe fucked."

"Well, I did fuking tell you that kobold boss strong as fuck. So, we should have expected that guy to be way more powerful than average boss when we saw the "Unique Monster" thing." - said Forge.

"Things are looking pretty grim right now." – said nervous Forge.

{{EXTRA}}

[Insectian] – [Race]

[Insectian are a race of the half insect – half humanoid beings. By the appearance, they resemble more their insect part. Insectian were once a mindless creatures created by the "False Lord" A.K.A "False Prophet" many years ago. However, after his death, the grip he had over insectian was permanently gone. After insectians stopped being the mindless puppets, they developed themselves and developed ego, becoming a real living being.]

[Insectian Warrior - Beetle]

[Insectian Warrior – Beetle is a race class that can only be picked by the person who belongs to the insectian race and posses sub race of the insectian beetle.]

[Insectian Warrior – Beetle is a class that specializes in the combat and showing off the might of the beetle insectians. However, this class is unable to show its true poetical of the beetle insectian, but it allows user to grow step closer towards reaching the true poetical of the beetle insectian.]

Max level 20.

Grow per level:

[Strength] +1.5

[Agility] +1.2

[Intelligent] +1

[Physical Defense] +1.5

[Magic Defense] +1.5

[Health] + 1.3

[Mana] + 1

[Stamina] + 1

Skills:

[Insect Exoskeleton – Level 2/2] [Passive] 

[Increases your [Strength], [Physical Defense] and [Magic Defense] stat by 2.5%/(5%).]

[Insect Bite – Level 6/6] [Passive]

[Increase the power of your bites by 100%/120%/140%/160%/180%/(200%) and increases the chance of triggering the effects of bite type attacks and skills.]

[Beetle Armor – Level 4/4] [Passive]

[Increase user base [Physical Defense] and [Magic Defense] by 2.5%/5%/7.5%/(10%), also increases your negative status resistance by 2%3%/4%/(5%).]

[Working Beetle] – Level 1/1] [Passive]

[Unlocks at the level 20. Increase the user max weight limit by 10%.]