The general was beyond true to his word. These mountains alone were extraordinarily beautiful, but there was more to this horrendous place.
As the group climbed a couple hundred meters up the first mountain, they met with a scene of which a normal pair of eyes simply could not comprehend.
"This... how can all of this even be possible?" William mumbled, as he tried to get a proper view.
Almost instantly, the general followed along with a hardy holler. "Ha-ha! I knew you'd like this place!"
What blessed their view, was in short words, a massive tunnel which pierced the mountainside.
This structure was over three-hundred meters wide, and perhaps had the most unique architecture known to snake-kind!
The young man simply struggled to believe all of this, but he still tried to understand every structural pattern of this place.
Which was why he muttered, "All of these trees have been perfectly put together... but how?"
What he specifically referred to, were the countless tree roots that were spread across the tunnel's ceiling.
These roots held the entire place together, there was no doubt for that matter; and the scene they created was beyond marvelous.
Different layers of green had covered these roots; moss was the most widespread partner in this case.
It either grew half an inch from the roots, or spread its cousin down to create a unique scene. In other words, moss which was a few feet long, hung all around the place.
"Amazing," The younger one finally gave in.
This place was simply too beautiful, so he chose to live in this moment rather than be overly analytical.
At that same time he had a small itch on his eye, and had to rub it away. But of course, that gesture could be understood differently.
"Don't get all sappy about it," The army general interrupted.
And then he continued, "Save it for the dragon saplings, they will make all of us cry."
"I wasn't crying, don't you see all of that sunlight?" William specified as he pointed towards the ceiling.
"Oh right," Hakoon could only agree right away.
If one peeked up for too long, they would eventually be struck by countless sun beams.
They breached through the thousands of holes across the ceiling, as the arm-thick roots were constructed in a web-like manner.
The scene was interesting at least, and William could notice something unique in the far distance. He could figure out that a few portions of the tunnel had no ceiling at all!
Which meant that a great view of the sky could be easily provided, that is, if one walked deep enough in these tunnels.
This place was truly massive, so there were certainly numerous pieces of natural architecture to explore.
Although the seemingly endless source of light was a literal eye-sore, the team felt comfortable that they had enough illumination. It would be far less convenient if they had to fight some murderous bugs, while in the deep dark.
This scene was beyond wonderful, but William's thoughts were quickly occupied by another worry, and he most definitely took a couple of steps to tame his anxiety.
For that matter he asked, "What upgrades can I buy, system?"
This seemed like a question that came out of the blue, but it wasn't nearly so. He was supposed to face some deadly insects soon, so he didn't want to feel ill-prepared.
Sure he didn't plan to participate in the battles at all, but he still wanted to play it safe.
[You have purchased both of the primary upgrades already, so naturally, we have to move towards the secondary ones now]
"I'm all ears," William assured as he wanted to speed this up a little bit.
[Purchase option number one = Unlock the iron-knuckle attribute]
[Price = Two-hundred and fifty system points]
A few seconds after, he had to ask. "That sounds useful... or is it? Does this upgrade give anything good, or would it just let me punch a little harder?"
[I can't give you much information, since you need to buy this upgrade first. But one thing is for sure, iron-knuckles can help you a lot!]
"I'll take your word for that," He thought as he patiently lent an ear towards what came next.
Likewise the system cooperated, [Purchase option number two = Unlock the visual charts and maps]
[Price = two-hundred system points]
"Now I have no idea what this is, but it probably won't help me hit harder." William theorized.
[Correct,] The system agreed.
And then she explained, [This upgrade's name is rather self-explanatory. Although it's not so useful in battle, it can still make your life easier in the long run]
[In fact that's what all secondary upgrades are meant for. They seem random, but their actual use is to fill the gaps of needs you would have; specifically, these gaps would be related to the aim of survival]
"You keep proving yourself smart, system. All of what you said makes perfect sense." He felt obligated to compliment.
And then he was swift to demand, "But I'll get the first upgrade for now, give me the iron knuckles."
He understood that danger was inevitable one way or the other, so it was best to have such an attribute that at least sounded dangerous.
[Confirmed]
At that instant, William felt strong pinches on his hands. It felt as if someone had bashed a couple of nails on each palm, and aimed to shatter his every bone.
Considering those details, this surely was the most painful event he had to endure yet!
The effects had forced him to drop his sword down, and a scream had inevitably been unleashed as well!
Such reactions had pushed the entire platoon towards a fright, as they thought that the dragon saplings had been smart enough to unravel a sneak attack.
But as they looked around, they did not find any flaw in the perimeter. They just saw a boy who had fallen down on his knees, and wiggled his wrists in a funny way.
Eventually Hakoon rushed towards the younger and shouted, "What's the matter? Did you get bitten or something?"
William wanted to speak, but the sharp pains that struck him through every ticking second, didn't allow him to do so; he simply was forced to stay silent.
He had to do so until the system confirmed, [Upgrade complete]
[Two-hundred and fifty system points have been consumed,]
[Two-hundred and ninety system points remain.]
Although he could not speak for another couple of seconds, the boy still cussed with a thought once he heard how expensive that one upgrade seemed.
It felt odd, because he had to kill a couple of deranged snakes for these points, yet a great portion of them had already been spent with just a few upgrades.
Eventually he stood up and answered the general, "I'm okay, my hands just burned a lot for some reason."
"Let me see," The latter insisted.
William was hesitant of course, he didn't even know how this upgrade looked like, so it seemed dumb to directly show his palms to anyone else.
But the general was blunt, he simply grabbed the other's wrists and forcefully took a peek of what went on.
"By the name of our king... well this is, this is amazing!" The general celebrated.
In all ways imaginable, everyone else was clueless regarding what this man meant, so their anxiety did spike up as their crave for knowledge deepened.
Thankfully this same buff man decided to expand the topic, as he slightly hollered. "You've grown your iron knuckles already! This shouldn't happen now, aren't you like fifteen-years old?"
"Eighteen actually, I think?" William corrected.
[Correct,] The system confirmed.
As joy grew immensely through his tone, the bulky man explained. "All of the trainers in our army, confirm that any youngster who grows the iron knuckles, carries incredible strength and skill."
Before a thought could have been added regarding this manner, the general heeded out a firm command.
His tone grew louder even, "You'll definitely be in our front lines in this mission, I can't think of a better bug squasher than you!"
"Oh hell," William complained.
He wanted to figure out several excuses regarding why he could not heed that demand, but then he swiftly understood that it was pointless. These snakes were bathed in their customs, so they firmly believed that the boy was, in one way or the other, superior.
Instead, he peeked at his fists and tried to observe the details.
The upgrade's name was truly self-explanatory, and literal as well. A layer of smooth, grey iron had been laid across one side of his hand, specifically, the side which featured the knuckles.
That and small spikes had also grown on those same knuckles, which in exchange had created quite some useful weapons.
Yet before he could have fully observed the details, they heard a horrendous, high-pitched scream. It spread across one side of this massive tunnel.
Skree!
Those types of hollers swiftly grew numerous, and in a matter of moments, the platoon men could see what was nothing less than a wave of insects!
They spread across the air unapologetically, and the naked eye could guess that this group of approachers, spread at least a hundred meters wide!
"Well shit," William expressed.