Chapter 49: Traveler Tree's Leaf
Charles didn't even have the time to think as he saw hundreds of skeletons with different appearances sprinted in his direction like mad dogs. Unlike the grey-robed skeleton's eyes, these skeletons' red eyes looked ruthless and maniac.
Clicking his tongue, Charles took out the Arcane Card of Nature magic spell and activated it by crushing it a little.
Like the last time, hundreds of vines popped out from the ground and started obstructing those skeletons' paths. Each vine moved at Charles's thoughts and slithered around those white bony skeletons. Some were turned into power instantly, while the other skeletons stood struggling like a dying animal.
Using this opportunity, Charles started flipping the pages and soon stopped on the seventh page. Then, he cast [Fire Wings] spell on himself and soared up towards the gloomy dusty sky. Charles soon stopped soaring when reaching 20 meters high and then zeroed his gaze on the grey-robed skeleton. At that time, he also curled his mouth and started chanting a weird incantation in Runal Language.
While chanting, he also cast [Inspect] skill on it and got confused in a second. He noticed that his [Inspect] skill wasn't working on the skeleton at all!
'What is going on here...' He didn't dare to delay any longer and flapped his crimson wings to fly towards the grey-robed skeleton while pointing his forefinger at it.
A moment later, a crimson ray of fire came out from his forefinger and soon reached the skeleton's chest area.
To his shock, the grey-robed skeleton suddenly moved its bony staff and blocked the ray with it!
For a moment, Charles felt that he should escape from this strange creation. He once again flapped his wings to suspend in the mind air and grew anxious.
Shaking the uneasiness from his heart, Charles continued his chant loudly and soon finished while turning his face solemn.
After that, he closed the book with both hands and spoke two words in Runal tongue.
"Crusade Strike!"
It was a Rank-2 Light spell!
A single long sword made of pure light gathered in front of him and soon flew towards the skeleton at an unimaginable speed!
In a blink, the long sword tore through the air and appeared in front of the grey-robed skeleton's forehead.
A second later, the 'Crusader's Strike' spell directly entered the skeleton's forehead and exploded along with the grey-robed skeleton's head!
Upon seeing the scene, Charles's lips curled upward subconsciously. But the next instant, his expression turned gloomy!
'Why didn't I receive any battle experience?' He glanced around cautiously and soon noticed that the summoned skeletons also disappeared, leaving only strange vines behind on the battlefield.
'Does that mean I won't receive battle experience when killing an imaginary creature?' He stared at the place where the grey-robed skeleton stood before in a daze and soon sighed.
'I still need to learn more about this Dream-world.' He then let out a wry smile and noticed that three dark goblins were rushing towards the battlefield from the nearby street road. Squinting his eyes, Charles descended from the sky and soon dismissed the [Fire Wings], [Nature's Hand], and [Crimson Robe] spells.
'It looks like my earlier battle drawn these creatures' attention.' He thought to himself and then brushed off the dust from his shirt. Following that, he combed his messy dark-blue hair using his hand and noticed that his hair had grown longer!
'I wonder where I can find the barbershop in this magic world.' He muttered inwardly and then shook his head.
Without waiting for the dark goblins to notice his presence, he cast [Conceal] skill on himself and stood near the streetlight post like an invisible statue. He almost turned invisible due to the concealment effect and soon blended with the shadow itself!
Meanwhile, the three goblin creatures looked at the battled area in vigilance and started discussing in an unknown language. One goblin went near the spot where Charles stopped before battling the imaginary skeleton and measured his footprints! After that, those three dark goblins started analyzing the skeletons' footsteps, and one dark goblin even began to take some notes using a pen-like utensil.
After some time, those creatures went to the nearby houses and began to search using various methods. Thankfully, Charles hid his tracks in the concealed form and started studying those creatures' movements.
'They are well-equipped and even using some strange artifacts to communicate. These goblins are not stupid. No, these dark goblins are exactly like humans from the Earth. They are not afraid of dangers and even would dare to explore other worlds without knowing the consequences.' While he was in muse, he noticed that the dark goblin trio finally gave up on searching the nearby areas and started moving towards the east.
Charles also stalked them and soon saw that one dark goblin separated from the other two after a few minutes and went in different directions. From his observation, Charles concluded that this dark goblin was going somewhere to send the observed details about Charles's earlier battle. At this time, he also noticed something odd about these creatures.
'They are not using any skills or magic at all! What are these creatures doing here?' He felt that he was missing some key information, so he thought of tailing the lone dark goblin instead of the other two. Moreover, he sensed that he would gain something if he follows after this dark goblin. It was the same future prediction-like feeling he had felt earlier.
'Does this have something to do with my Sub-Class? [Sixth Sense] skill?' A question appeared in his mind. Hiding his curiosity, Charles carefully maintained a 20-meter distance and followed after the dark goblin.
After a few minutes, the lone goblin walked out of Riverdale City and soon entered the nearby mangrove woods. When walking in the dark, gloomy forest, the dark goblin would sometimes change its direction and went in different directions like a clueless fool. But Charles knew that this creature was actually trying to observe if someone was tailing it from behind!
'This guy is overly cautious like an assassin.' Charles thought inwardly and soon noticed that he actually forget to cast [Inspect] skill on this creature at all!
Without alerting the goblin, he cast [Inspect] skill on it from the dark and waited patiently.
A second later, a row of data about the dark goblin appeared in front of his eyes.
[Name: Theyr Darwn
Race: Night Goblin
Age: 9 years old
Health: Normal
HP: 80/80
Rank: 1
Class: Level 5 War Scout
Sub-class: None
Attributes:
Strength- 11
Dexterity-13
Constitution-12
Wisdom- 13
Charm- 0
Class Skills:
Hiding
Planning
Instant memory
Tracking
Sub-class Skills: None
Unique Skills: None]
'Night goblin? Hmm, looks like a subspecies of the goblin.' Charles nodded thoughtfully and soon checked those four skills. Although they looked normal, he knew that they were perfect for scout-related jobs.
Dismissing the game interface, Charles continued to follow after it and soon noticed that this goblin suddenly stopped in front of a large sycamore tree. The tree stretched skyward in the lace of silent bark, the brown wrapping each as the most beloved of skin. Dried black leaves and flower petals fell from the sky as the dark-skinned Night goblin appeared in front of the tree trunk and muttered a few words in a weird singing tone. It looked more like a chant than a song!
After glancing around the surroundings for a moment, the Night goblin then placed its claw-like hand on the tree's trunk and soon revealed its ugly yellow teeth. An instant later, a suction force came out from the gem-like green leaf and pulled the Night goblin into it!
Charles was stunned by the strange scene and soon took a deep breath to calm his mind. He then went near the tree to take a closer look and circled it for a moment. He then carefully checked the tree's trunk area and soon furrowed his brows.
At the center of the trunk, he saw a strange leaf-like gem was embedded in it and got curious about the leaf's origin. Without any delay, he focused his attention on the green-leaf and cast [Inspect] skill on it.
[Inspect has been cast...]
[Wisdom Check...]
[Inspect is successful]
...
[Name: Traveler Tree's leaf
Item Rank: ???
Effect: This leaf can transport any living creature from its current location to its twin's location.]
'Traveler Tree's leaf.' Charles raised his right hand, moved his finger towards the gem-like leaf, and tried to touch it. But to his astonishment, an invisible power came out from the leaf and blocked his hand from moving near it!
'Force-field? Why is it blocking me? Is there any passcode to travel to the other side? It seems these goblins are using this leaf to enter this Dreamworld. Does that mean those creatures are entering with their physical bodies?' He thought of a possibility and soon noticed another notification popped out in the game interface.
[Host has triggered the Hidden Quest!]
[Hidden Chain-Quest]
[Quest No.1: Find out the cause of this Twin-Leaf's arrival]
[Quest Description: Due to someone's interference with the 'Time', a Traveler Tree's leaf traveled through Time and Space and appeared in the Woolgather World. Using the Traveler Tree's leaf, an unknown civilization arrived at this Woolgather world in the name of exploration and seemed to be invading this place. Find out the cause of the arrival of this Twin-Leaf and stop the civilization from invading this plane further. If not, they will conquer Riverdale City and might interfere with Riverdale citizens' dreams.]
[Quest Reward: A specific Fire-Elemental plane's coordinate.]
[Mission Deadline: 7 months, 23 days.]
[Accept/ Decline]
...
Charles stared at the quest window for a second and soon squint his eyes sharper.
'A specific Fire-Elemental plane's coordinate? This quest is not a compulsory one.' He thought for a while and soon chose to accept it.
'As I suspected, my [Sixth Sense] skill is a future prediction-related skill.' He nodded his head in enlightenment.
After that, he sat on the nearby rock and waited patiently to farm more exp using this place. Within a few minutes, another Night goblin in a weird black robe appeared in front of the tree and glanced around cautiously.
In the meantime, Charles silently crept behind the Night goblin and wrapped his hand around its neck before it could notice his presence. Like a snake, he moved his other hand and swiftly stole its short sword using his [Magician's Hand] skill. After that, he broke the Night goblin's tiny arms and released it from his grip.
In the meantime, the Night goblin stumbled forward as it wailed in pain, then turned around and glared at him fiercely in anger and hate. Shrugging his shoulders, Charles stared at the dark creature for a moment and asked in Runal tongue,
"Do you speak Runal?"
A silence answered, and soon the Night goblin started shouting at him in an unknown language.
"Looks like there won't be any use in talking now," Charles muttered in a cold tone and directly plunged his dagger at the Night goblin. A wailing cry echoed from its mouth as it tried its best to dodge the dagger. Unfortunately, Charles's dagger swiftly entered inside the Night goblin's chest area and wounded it severely. After that, Charles neatly pulled the Ghost Dagger and swiftly sliced its throat area. Dark blood oozed out from its neck, and soon the Night goblin fell on the ground with a thud.
[Target Eliminated! 150 Battle Exp obtained!]
Nodding his head with a smile on his face, Charles leaned on the opposite tree trunk and waited for more goblins. After an hour, Charles killed four more Night goblins and began to contemplate deeply about his next step. In total, he earned 700 Exp points and got tempted to stay here for another hour.
But soon, Charles gave up on that idea and went back to Riverdale City. He knew that these creatures must have some way to contact one another, so he felt that staying near this strange tree wasn't a good idea. After roaming in the woods for a few minutes, Charles soon arrived in front of the Riverdale City gate and entered.
In the meantime, a large type of mutated Night goblin appeared in front of the tree and looked at the Night goblins' corpses in silence. It then sniffed the air for a moment and soon followed after the footsteps of Charles.
On the other hand, Charles already went back to his house and soon exited the Dream World with the help of 'Nightmare Stone'.
...