Trials (15)

Even with all the preparations, Ash still didn't want to fight against the stag.

He was quite confident now. 

But it wouldn't even surprise him anymore if the stag somehow had more hidden abilities that it hadn't shown before.

Running away to save his life for two times in a row from the same being really did give Ash a slight trauma.

But to discover what the mysterious entity in the banyan tree meant by him becoming savior and ruler, Ash must defeat the stag.

And he had made a lot of preparations this time.

Ash was ready.

Finding the stag was harder than finding the Titanbark and the slug.

It moved all around the Verdant Necropolis.

Not rooted like the Titanbark or had a predictable appearance like the slug.

It was a pleasant surprise that Ash didn't encounter it at all in his quest to fight the Titanbark, maybe due to the banyan tree's influence.

But he couldn't avoid it anymore.

It was harder, but not that hard.

Ash now had a flying raven as his companion.

Keen just flew high above the forest. Considerably high when Ash told the guy that they were searching for the stag, then scanned the forest from end to end.

Something Keen was able to do easily with the slug's DNA, keeping his whole muscle in top condition all the time.

He soon found the stag on the other side of the forest, near other deers that had flowers growing on their backs. similar to the verdant wolf.

To the little guy's surprise, the Verdant Stag also noticed Keen flying high above the sky.

Which caused Keen to do a 180 in record time and disappear using the cardinal bird's ability.

The group, now with the addition of the crimson vines and the woody vines doppelganger, then made their way towards the Verdant Stag.

The effect of being stared at by the stag was apparently strong enough to deter Keen from completely flying in front and leading the group.

He was adamant about giving the directions by perching on top of Ash's shoulder, only flying occasionally to check the direction they were moving to.

While occasionally muttering, "Animal-like plants were even scarier than plant-like animals…"

Honestly, Ash completely understood the little guy with the stag's case.

Even now, after making it halfway to the stag, Ash still had doubts lingering in his heart.

In fact, his doubts had birthed an idea where Ash could maybe avoid fighting the stag altogether.

From what had happened so far, it should work.

But Ash wouldn't put his hopes in anything other than another fight to the death with stag.

He just needed to try out the method without any expectations in mind.

Keen checked the location for one last time. And he was sure now that the stag was now only about 100 meters ahead.

Ash had to think this through. He can't just barge in and start throwing his vines towards the spell.

It had never worked before. Why would it work now?

Ash then began giving his commands, "Viney, you go there. Crimsy, you a little bit over there. And Woody, you go here."

He had given names for his three doppelgangers to make it easier for him to give commands to them, and the three of them quickly followed his instructions.

As for the little raven? Ash didn't have the heart to give the little raven anything to do with the stag.

Just finding the stag was already very helpful for him.

But surprisingly, though, Keen himself asked Ash what he could help with.

Saying he wanted to do something to help him. Not just watch from the sidelines.

"Just make sure no other creatures come close while we're fighting the stag. 

And I trust you that you will come in at the last second if my life is in danger."

With that and a head rub, Keen began patrolling the area earnestly from above.

His eyes scanned the ground with all he had, making sure no other scary creature would be butting in on Ash's fight against the scary huge deer.

He even ignored the occasional stare from the stag that could now see him flying in circles around the area.

With his preparations ready, Ash walked forward. Straight to the direction of the Verdant Stag.

The last ruler of the forest that he needed to defeat to finish his last trial from the banyan tree.

Ash walked. He didn't run or activate any skills.

For his initial plan. The sliver of hope he had was to avoid any fight at all. He didn't want to show any aggression towards the stag at all.

The walk took a couple of minutes. Every step that Ash took caused his heart to beat faster.

His fingers fidgeted. And every ten steps, his feet froze, rethinking whether his preparations were even enough.

It's as bad as walking through an immigration office with a forged passport.

He could only pray and hope that it would work just fine.

Fortunately, the feeling didn't last long.

When he appeared near the small clearing where the Verdant Stag was just standing guard around other deer, it didn't go into battle mode immediately.

Maybe it was due to Ash bringing both his hands up. Or it was more likely that it didn't want the other deer to get caught up in their fight.

The stag made a bleat. All the deers around the area bolted, running away without making a single sound.

When all the deers were gone, the stag squared itself against Ash, who didn't move a finger when all the deers were making their way out of the area.

But now, Ash started walking, very slowly, towards the stag. Still with his hands above his head.

The stag also didn't start attacking.

It most likely saw Ash's gesture as a sign of surrender.

The stag, of course, welcomed Ash if he ever wanted to walk into its mouth willingly.

But when Ash was about a meter away from the stag, he stopped.

His hope to avoid the fight relied on the seed the banyan tree gave him.

All creatures that had been touched by the silvery green mana from the banyan tree became docile.

They could even understand Ash's intention when the mycelium connected to them.

If he could put his mycelium onto the stag, then he wouldn't even need to defeat the stag in the first place.

With a silent prayer in his heart, Ash activated the seed.