Chapter 121 - Colossal Trees (Part 1) (1/2)

— Skdødsgen Forest, Suzano Region. Half an hour after the mass teleportation. —

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 in their right mind would laugh in a situation like that?' 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 bird of evidence, 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 like he did 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>.