Chapter 121 Colossal Trees (Part 1)
<strong>— Skdødsgen Forest, Suzano Region. Half an hour after the mass teleportation. —</strong>
In many regions of the world, there are places with truly frightening and impactful scenery that are unlike anywhere else in the world. And the Skdødsgen Forest is one of these peculiar environments.
In this strange forest grows a kind of tree that can easily grow hundreds of meters tall. These trees often have trunks as thick as entire buildings and branches as long as whole roads, making it difficult for the sun to reach the ground.
This vile environment was chosen to host the first stage of the Tournament of Legends, where thousands of people were supposed to compete for a maximum of five hundred places in the second stage.
Luke moved quickly between the tall branches of the trees. To him, this was not much different than moving on the rooftops of the city of Oukiwa; in fact, this was just a lot higher.
Before looking for the birds, Luke thought he should first find Nathalia and help her. Above all, he still worked for her and wanted to help her prove herself to her family.
In that jungle, which should be silent for its vastness, the half-wolf kept hearing cries of despair and roars. He didn't care to help anyone, but he was curious when he heard loud laughter echoing.
'Who with a sane mind would laugh in a contest like this?' Luke wondered as he lowered the height he was on.
The thick branches of the trees formed different paths, which were often interconnected, making even the treetops a maze. Since Luke was curious, he just jumped between two branches of a tree and landed on the swampy forest floor.
Hysterical laughter obscured the noise of the half-wolf's landing. Luke turned his fingers sharp and snuck between the shadows until he saw four strong, tall men wearing light armor.
These individuals were watching a girl fight a huge boar, and as she tried to draw her one-handed sword from her back, the archer in the group shot an arrow in her direction. The young girl did not have enough speed to dodge the arrows, the boar's thrusts, and draw her sword at the same time.
Normally, Luke would turn his back on such a situation and go his own way, but he had two reasons for not doing so.
The first and main reason was the fact that one of the men had a dead bird tied around his waist. This bird was completely golden and no bigger than a brown sparrow. If this was the requested bird, Luke could not let an opportunity like this pass him by.
Second, and the least important reason, the person the men were pressing was none other than Livia Strogueher.
'Ah... She's not worth the risk, but she might be useful in the future.' Luke thought, trying to fool himself that he would not act just for the bird.
The half-wolf didn't know these four individuals, so he couldn't go off on them and knock them out as he did with the Hospital guards. Luke knew well that anyone brave enough to enter a competition where death is not against the rules was undoubtedly a strong and confident person.
Luke did not draw the Behemoth Axe, as it considerably decreased his mobility in most situations. Instead, he used his new skill, <Invisible Trail>.
Taking advantage of the fact that the four men were well separated by being at different heights on the terrain and in divergent directions, Luke concluded that he should be as stealthy as he could.
Using the dense woods of the area, he moved to the back of a log and began to climb it. At one point, he poked around with his head, and when he saw that he was at the same height as the archer, he climbed some more.
Thanks to the <Invisible Trail> skill, any trace that could expose his location was hidden. So he was able to walk through the bush without the vegetation swaying, just as he was also able to walk through the thin log over the archer's head without the wood swaying or creaking.
Luke's jump didn't even make a sound, and thanks to this, he was able to land behind the archer silently. Skillfully, the half-wolf covered the archer's mouth with his left hand and, with his right hand, slit the hooded man's throat. It would be too risky to leave him alive.
At that moment, Livia looked up to try to predict the arrow the archer would shoot, but when she saw a shadow with ears, she unconsciously smiled and focused on the rabid boar.
Livia drew her sword with speed and shouted, "<Thunder Razor>!"
The characteristic rumble of her skill echoed for hundreds of meters inside the jungle. However, this time there was something different. The sound came accompanied by a flash, and the sparks reversing the girl's sword were more active and faster.
"What the fuck is that?!" The man with the golden bird shouted, startled, after covering his eyes because of the glow.
The other two quickly drew their swords from their side scabbards. Both were using curved-bladed sabers, similar to the one Luke once had. The trio looked at the archer, who was hindering the girl so far; however, their partner had disappeared.
"Shit... she's got help! Spread out!" The one who seemed to be the leader and who carried the key to winning the first phase shouted. 'Fuck it... it was just an archer anyway. I'm not going to risk myself for foolish revenge...' He judged as he turned to run.
Livia managed to dodge an attack from the boar and struck the side of the animal's chest, killing it with the shock of her skill. The animal grunted and fell hard to the ground.
"Where are you running to!!!? Cowards! Bastards!" Livia screamed, panting and frustrated.
Beside the archer's body, Luke watched from above as the three men scattered off in different directions. 'Tsk! If only I was a little faster...' he thought.
The small group leader was running in an open region, and unlike the other two, he was not jumping with speed. Then Luke saw an opportunity.
Luke looked at the bow in the hands of the corpse beside him, took an arrow from his quiver, lined the arrow up with the thin string, and shot. The half-wolf heard the whirr of the arrow as it left the bow. Zimmm...
The arrow was quick as the half-wolf pulled the string tightly. However, the wood of the arrow wobbled a bit and just hit the ground.
"Sigh... there goes a shot." Luke spoke and reached down to check on Livia. He wasn't upset that he didn't hit it; after all, he had never pulled the string of a bow to draw in his entire life.
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