Tekalona Forest, where the half-elves had given the quest, was really far from the Crossroads. Even riding a horse that doubled their movement speed seemed like they ran well for 30 minutes.
As soon as he reached his destination, Rokan, who felt his butt ache, put on the mark and looked at it. The rune book's storage space was small, but since it had already crossed over to the crossroads, only three points had to be left, thanks to the deletion of the rest of the places.
"Good work."
Beep!
Blowing a whistle to reverse summon the horse, Lokhan wielded a heavy battle axe.
A slayer's ax that will now become his favorite soldier.
It was only the 5th round, so the strengthening effect hadn't appeared, but somehow it seemed to have a dark red aura, and I took a step towards the forest in search of half-elves.
Although no one would see him and think he was going to save someone.
"It's a bit boring since most of the first-timers are neutral mobs."
However, unlike the bloody momentum, there were no monsters that attacked Lokhan.
At the entrance of Tekalona Forest, only so-called neutral monsters appear that do not attack the user first unless they attack first. Rokhan didn't like that.
Wouldn't your body itching in the yard where you upgraded your equipment? If you were like your usual personality, you would have run out and hit one, but now the quest came first.
Exercising unmatched patience, he found a half-elf gathering group that was said to have gone missing.
"I think it was about this… … . found."
What Rokhan found was not a gathering group. traces they left behind.
As far as he knows, the gathering team did not go missing, but became isolated after greedily entering the depths of the forest.
I already knew the approximate location, but I started looking for their traces, thinking that if I found it right away, I might be suspicious.
"From now on, I just need to find the footprints."
The traces they left behind were 'shoes'. It's exactly what one of them left behind, but the shoe came off while running away from a powerful monster here.
After that, they found something they were aiming for, and greedily went further inside, but they still haven't come out.
And thanks to that setting, from now on, if you find the footprints of half-elves left at regular intervals, you can track them.
What happened to the monster they escaped from?
"It's a peek-a-boo, you son of a bitch."
It became a punching bag for Lokhan, who was already very hot.
The level of the tree monster with the name of the spirit of the contaminated forest was 115. It was higher than the mining kobold, but it had serious problems.
The modifier 'contaminated' was attached and the combination skill was sealed.
Instead, the physical specs have gone up significantly, but the opponent is Lokhan. In terms of strength versus strength, he was not a wooden monster, but he had no intention of being pushed back even if something more came.
"It's neat."
The result of measuring the performance of the reinforced equipment by cutting and beating, and even hitting a few on purpose, was very satisfactory.
I liked the overwhelming attack power that seemed to explode even without a critical hit, and I also liked the state of the armor, which increased defense power and reduced health loss.
It was just his style that only had damage and critical strike chance without trivial options.
At this point, it was so powerful that I thought I should worry about not being patched.
'Wouldn't do that. I didn't get it for nothing.'
But Rokan was convinced. that it won't happen
In the first place, all of this was arranged and pursued by The Lord. Whether you cut 100 or 10,000 by yourself, there will be no direct influence.
'this way.'
Far from stopping, Lokhan, determined to take a leap forward, hurriedly found the footprints.
Half-elves resemble elves more than humans, so it's hard to find even their footprints unless you look closely, and even those are quite far away, so you have to keep your nerves sharp.
Not only did I have to find the footprints, but I also had to deal with the monsters that attacked me in the middle.
'First of all, from tracking. It's a battle, I'll do it without a fight after a while... … .'
Rokan, who had overflowing confidence, skills, and even a boiling battle instinct, was cold-hearted while tracking his footprints.
It is to use stealth to minimize combat and focus on finding the gathering team.
It was none other than to save consumables.
Money and consumables were overflowing, but a fierce battle was soon scheduled. Besides, there was a separate place to use the potion.
'bingo.'
The direction of the footprints and the known approximate location matched, and three half-elves appeared.
Each of them was bandaged, as if wounded, so Lokhan carefully broke his hiding and appeared in front of them.
"What kind of guy are you!"
"I am the human Jean Berserker Lokhan. Terrill sent me because she was worried about you who couldn't be reached."
"Terrill is a human"
They put their weapons in their inventory and stretched out their hands to indicate that they had no intention of fighting, but their vigilance did not let go.
Hearing the name of Terrill, the half-elf head of the Crossroads, he reacted slightly, but he gave a suspicious look.
'It's the same camp with the same name, but I'll trust you.'
I didn't like their attitude of being openly wary of the person they came to rescue, but what can I do, it will continue to be like this until I finish the Recognition quest.
Rokhan added, thinking that it should be finished quickly even if it was dirty.
"You must be saying Terrill couldn't send a human. That's right. The reason I took on this mission is to gain recognition. But look, I have already been recognized by the dwarves."
sniff sniff.
Their expressions changed from sniffing like puppies at Rokan's words.
The moment they were recognized by the dwarves, some of their scent permeated them.
It was for that reason that Terrill trusted Lokhan without even checking.
"… … Believe me."
'What if I don't believe it'
Lokhan clicked his tongue as he looked at them pretending to be weak, but he didn't show it at all. Rather, he treated them with the most benevolent commercial smile.
"Then shall we go back? Don't worry about safety. Even after that, I easily caught 5 'Spirits of the Polluted Forest' on the way back. You can solve all the monsters in this town by yourself, so just follow me comfortably."
Rokhan's words were mixed with a little goof. To reassure them, to make them think differently.
'Ask, ask.'
Then they started looking at each other. Instead of following Rokan, he shifted his gaze elsewhere, further into the forest.
"really… … Is it that you easily caught the spirit of the contaminated forest?"
"of course. Look at this."
When one of the half elves spoke with difficulty, Rokhan immediately took out an item called 'Contaminated Spirit's Energy' from his inventory.
It would later be used as a quest item or production item, but now it was used to prove its ability.
"Really. If so, could you please do me a favor?"
[The determination of the young half-elves] [Quest]
A request from the young half-elves who went to the Tekalona Forest to gather. They want to take you to the place they want before escorting them to the Crossroads.
- Success condition: Arrive at the center of Tekalona Forest
-Failure conditions: Stop moving to the center of Tekalona Forest or death of half elves
-Reward: Combined with the quest reward for securing the safety of the gathering team
'It was good.'
It was what Rokan had hoped for. I wouldn't know if I was alone, but having to escort three kids was a risk factor, but it seemed like it would be okay now.
'There must be no hindrance.'
Because there will be no intruders.
Tekalona Forest, located to the north of the Crossroads, is also a quest location in the undead area located not far away, so later on, saboteurs who try to ruin the quest of the enemy camp often appear.
It is not a disputed area, but it is the first place to encounter the hostile camp.
However, now that there are no 3rd city advancers, there is no need to worry about meeting blockers. It was enough to pay attention to the monsters and concentrate.
"It will be dangerous, but will it be okay?"
"We're fine no matter what happens."
"Then, from now on, please follow my instructions exactly. If not, I will take you back by force immediately."
"great."
Even if he didn't like it, it was Rokan who wanted to drag him by the collar, but he made it clear from the setting up of the relationship. Otherwise, you don't know where these idiots will pop out and draw aggro.
'The reins are filled, so let's go'
It was at this point that many later made mistakes. NPCs and quest givers, who followed everything they wanted and then went out on their own, caused monsters to be swindled and annihilated or consumables to be splattered often.
So, Rokhan made securing command a top priority.
"Please mark the place you want to go on this map."
After showing them a map and specifying the location, they unilaterally gave instructions to them. If you want to move, hide, if you want to hide, move around even if you keep a straight distance.
Then, at one point, the half elves refused the instructions for the first time and stopped.
"wait a minute."
"What is it?"
Rokhan looked back at them and immediately realized why. He already knows their purpose.
"We have to get this."
What they pointed to was a small, green sprout.
If it wasn't for them, it was a weed-like sprout that I would have just ignored and passed by, but when I looked into it, I felt like I could feel something like an aura.
Seeing that, the half elves' expressions became serious.
"It is the sprout of the world tree. To be precise, it is a sprout that has the potential to become a world tree. No one knows if it will become a world tree if it grows properly, but if even one tree becomes a world tree... … . Anyway, we are here to gather the buds of this potential."
Know. every know And he clearly knew his role.
"Then let's begin. I will take care of any monsters that appear."
"How to… … ."
A kind of guardian spirit dwelled in the sprout that had the potential to become a world tree.
And now that the undead have been playing 'some trick' throughout the forest, some of the guardian spirits have been contaminated, putting the gatherers at risk.
One of them was the Spirit of the Tainted Forest.
"I did some research beforehand."
The half-elves were taken aback by Lokhan's smiling face, but felt somehow reliable. If you already know, the story is fast.
I nodded at him and immediately started to carefully transfer the sprouts using the equipment.
"Who dares to steal the spirit of the forest!"
At that moment, space condensed and something huge appeared. A huge wooden monster with green madness rose up and tried to crush the culprit.
"It's me, man!"
"Oooh!"
Fuck!
At that time, Rokhan's body, which had collided like a chariot, pushed the wooden monster, which was likely to be four times its size, to the root.
Not only that, but part of the body was burst and the immaculate flesh was pulled out. It was not a normal shoulder charge, but a combination skill, a rush of destruction.
"Force! strike!"
[critical!]
It didn't stop there, and the force-infused ax continued. The large body of the tainted forest spirit was horribly ruined like cheese with holes, exposing its core.
"Brother is busy. Let's finish it quickly!"
Rokhan tore it apart without hesitation. It's bigger and the level is higher, but the basic attack is the same as the 'forest monster'.
After shaving off the body with overwhelming firepower, he faithfully carried out the strategy of taking the nucleus and knocked it down in an instant.
"Hey, wait!"
Then he quickly turned around and stopped the half-elves from gathering the buds of the world tree with a surprised expression. There is work to be done before that.
A method discovered by a curious user.
It was to grow the buds of the world tree right here.
If you take the world tree buds as they are, there is a limit to the reward no matter how many you take. That's because the time you have to wait for growth is reduced.
If he failed, he might be beaten and mocked by the half-elves, but he persevered, practiced, and succeeded.
And the fruit of that was about to bloom in Lokhan's hands at this moment.