Leon fell to the ground, his head bleeding and all his muscles hurting like hell.
[I would advise for you to quickly get up, partner]
"Fuck off…" but Leon wasn't unconscious, so he immediately retrieved his stance as to not allow for another sneaky attack.
The branch that had surrounded his leg was torn off from the attack, meaning that he was free to move again.
"Argh…" Leon's head felt like it was splitting, and he was holding it as his pupils kept darting in all directions, trying to see who or what attacked him.
And yet…
[There's nothing?] even EGO was confused.
Even though they had been attacked by an unknown entity from afar, the very thing that had attacked them disappeared or went into hiding.
Which meant that Leon couldn't see the enemy, and this was a massive problem, since having a long-ranged fight where they could see him but couldn't was suicide.
'Think, Leon, think…' Leon kept looking around for ANY sign of movement, but nothing.
And it could be anywhere, probably hiding in the shadows of the trees, maybe in the leaves, underground…?
But as the visions of the attack returned to Leon… he suddenly realized.
"Wait a minute…"
[What?]
"A tree branch attacked us, right?"
[…Oh,] and EGO realized as well.
Leon squinted at the trees, his heart racing. "If a branch attacked us, then…"
~FWISH, SLAM~
[Behind you!]
But this time, Leon sensed it before EGO could even say anything, and so he crouched down, avoiding the branch that was aimed at his head to decapitate him.
"I see you now…" his eyes burned with crimson aura as he traced the place the branch came from, and he began to rush in that direction, the branch pointing toward the monster as it wasn't destroyed.
And so…
"GOT YOU!" Leon focused his aura on his fists before punching a random tree among all those in that forest.
Anyone would think that he was crazy for punching a tree for no reason, but Leon knew what he was doing.
And as expected…
~FWISH~
A circular black eye opened in the trunk, its crimson pupil on Leon's body as he fell to the ground.
[Fake Tree - Level 8]
But Leon wasn't dumb, and he would OBVIOUSLY not let it do anything.
And so right as it began to summon dozens of its branches to kill the human…
~SLAM~
Leon punched its eye, and it immediately closed, all the branches going limp and the tree not moving anymore.
[Wow!] EGO was surprised, [Good strength, Host!]
"Thanks, now devour that thing."
[Alright.]
~SWISH~
[You have devoured 'Fake Tree', gaining 6 stat points!]
[+3 Souls!]
[You have regained all your HP!]
"Is this skill really that overpowered? I mean, being able to regain all my HP every time?" Leon questioned.
[Yeah,] EGO informed him, as he was the one that knew best, [I basically devour the enemy's life essence and transfer it to you, meaning that most times all your HP will be healed.]
But this wasn't all… because right afterward…
~DING, DING~
[EGO has leveled up to level 6!]
[You have leveled up to level 6!]
[Obtained 5 stat points!]
[Souls (Experience): 1/18]
"Endurance," at this point he was just saying the name of the stat he wanted to upgrade, as the talent understood it anyway.
[Your Endurance Stat has increased by 11 stat points!]
"…"
And so right afterward, Leon continued walking through the forest.
He met up with another horde of darkness wolves, but this time knowing how to take care of them, it went very well for him as he didn't take any damage.
Then two [Fake Trees] tried to ambush him, but the moment they were punched, their eye would open, and so another punch in their "weak spot" was an instant death no matter how weak his attack was.
And anyway, each time he was hit, he would devour the enemy and then regain all his HP, so he was basically a killing machine that couldn't be defeated as long as he devoured an enemy.
Plus, EGO's assistance revealed itself to be a blessing in disguise as the small ball of fire would warn him whenever something was coming up, and it did its [Devourer] job to perfection.
"Oh," and after a while, he finally met the third and final type of monsters in this forest.
[Branch Monkeys - Level 10]
"Level 10…" he mumbled, these were the first monsters he encountered that were in the double digits, although some of the other participants should already be at the level, specifically those that had an "easy" experience system.
And yes, to Leon, souls was NOT an easy way to gain levels, it was actually probably one of the hardest ones.
When it should take people 3 darkness wolves to level up, it would take him 9!
But anyway:
There were three [Branch Monkeys] in front of him, brown and slightly bigger than he was, each holding a giant tree branch twice their size.
"AGrhh…" they were making typical monkey noises too.
But they weren't alone.
Because right when Leon was getting ready to fight…
~FWISH~
A tree branch came hurtling toward him, which he easily avoided thanks to his speed.
And then, the tree right beside the monkey on the left opened its eye, staring deeply at Leon.
"Ah shit…" Leon knew this was bad: he usually took care of the [Fake Trees] because they could attack since he feared that their branches would overwhelm him, yet this time it was being protected by the three other monsters.
"What should I do-" he wondered, but before he could even think about it…
"AGHHH!" the monkey beside the [Fake Tree] roared then pierced the tree's eye with his branch, pulling it out almost instantly, its tip filled with dark blood, then pointing it at Leon as a threat.
[Nice, it helped us!] EGO was not surprised by any of this, somehow.
"I guess monkey do not have brains, huh…" Leon shrugged as he got in his fighting stance again.
And then…
"MONKEY CHARGE!" all three [Branch Monkeys] suddenly dashed toward Leon, using their four limbs to run as fast as they could, yet still holding the sharp stick in their hands.
"HIHIHIHI~" one of the monkeys laughed as it jumped in the air, pointing its branch down as to impale Leon.
[What the fuck is that noise?!]
"I literally don't know, but they're annoying, let's make them shut up," these monkeys were constantly making noises, and it was extremely annoying.
[Couldn't have said it better, partner!] EGO smiled as the monkeys finally got into attack range.
And this time, Leon was ready to deflect and counter it all, refusing to run away.