Chapter 20 Part4 (2/2)
”Are we finally doing it?”
”Yeah. When I hit intermediate level 8, it didn't seem like my Acid Resistance would level up no matter what I did, so it can't be helped.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo said stiffly. All that was behind them was a vast plain. For a month and half, which seemed both short and long, they started from the outskirts of the forest and completely cleared out all the other areas except for the center of the forest where the Dryads ran off to.
When killed, the trees would turn into mana and vanish, leaving only their loot behind, which was characteristic of this world; there were no traces remaining that indicated that this was a forest, and if one were to walk past this area, they would be oblivious to the fact that there was originally a forest here.
”It's time to open the box of chocolates. [2]”
”That's from Forrest Gump! You really were from my world, weren't you?”
How was this possible? Jin didn't react when he referenced animation, but as he thought, movies were a no-go! However, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo acted two-faced, even in a situation like this.
”Maybe. The name of the book I read was different.”
”A book...?”
As expected, he was able to fool him with a simple lie! Lee s.h.i.+n Woo acted as though he didn't see Jin's puzzled expression, and activated Bone Armory. Then, his body was completely equipped with a helmet, upper body armor, and lower body armor. He unsummoned one of his axes, but he still retained three other axes, excluding his own.
”...But will it really be ok?”
”Yeah. By reducing the number to three, my control's gotten a lot better.”
”You're such a scary b.a.s.t.a.r.d...”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had started training his Rule of Bone skill in order to perfect his defense zone, and had become even more powerful than before as a result.
To sum it up, awareness and control. If he was able to control his equipment with Rule of Bone, then he would be able to use them to attack his enemies, even in the midst of an intense battle. Moreover, if there was only one target to attack, he could control them as one, making it twice as easy to control them.
”I leveled up my resistance as much as I could, but I don't know how high of a level the enemy is. So you have to concentrate on our connection as much as possible.”
”You're the one who let all the Dryads go.”
”Haha, that's all in the past.”
The final Dryad had fled just a few minutes ago, but Jin couldn't retort.
”There shouldn't be any more Dryads left in this forest.”
”Yeah. If we exclude that area, that is.”
The deeper Lee s.h.i.+n Woo followed the Dryads into the forest, the drearier and more frightening the energy became. At the end of it, the area was explicitly black, incomparable to the other areas of the forest.
It seemed as though the essence of the forest was gathering in one spot, like a slime being burnt to a crisp and leaving behind only its core.
”If the other areas were a level 2 danger zone, then that area seems like a level 3 or 4 danger zone...”
”We're level 5, so it's ok. It's not as scary as it looks.”
”Can you stop trying to calm me down like I'm a kid...”
They carefully began to move. With every step, they became more in sync, and their a.s.similation rate became even higher than before.
Their respective Acid Resistances combined and became one, increasing their effectiveness. They shared their stats, senses, and the advantageous parts of skills. They were changed.
Now that it'd been about two months since he'd learned the a.s.similation skill, they didn't sleep as they were undead, and would maintain the skill in most situations; therefore, they were in complete sync.
[Don't come...]
”Ah, what a typical starting line for a boss fight...!”
[You'll get hurt...]
”Doesn't it sound like their voices are overlapping?”
”As I thought, it looks like they're fused together.”
He'd let not one, not ten, but more than a hundred level 5 Dryads go. How monstrous would they become if they were to combine all their strength together into one body?!
”s.h.i.+n Woo, the outer trees are...”
”I see them.”
Though the trees would attack with their branches or their roots, they would never move on their own accord. However, they were uprooting themselves right now and going deeper into the forest!
”No, they're not moving of their own accord.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo denied in the next moment. To him, it looked like the mana the Dryads' spewed out was controlling and moving the trees.
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo trembled. He realized that they were responding most splendidly to his decision to let them go.
”Most people would collapse, saying that they're screwed...”
”Jin, I said that they were level 5 before, right?”
”Yeah.”
Though Jin didn't want to keep moving forward, he had no choice; Jin walked forward with a tearful face and replied. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo (inwardly) smiled in satisfaction and spoke.
”That was a lie.”
”Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Jin screamed with such great timing. The trees all around them uprooted themselves and walked towards the center of the forest. After that, a huge living being stood up from within.. No, it was because the trees had exposed it.
[Lv6 Corrupted Tree Golem (Elite)]
[You have encountered a fused monster. This gatekeeper was created through the acc.u.mulation of countless Corrupted Dryads' wills, as well as the mana from the remaining withered trees! The Empire's curse will weaken if you destroy it!]
Though they had prepared for it, a large scale, nonstandard boss fight had begun.
[1] E/N: In case you forgot (like I did), Bone Armory only allows him to summon 5 pieces of armor or weapons at the moment (4 flying axes and the Melting Bone Double Axe).
[2] T/N: I believe this quote is loosely referring to the ”life was like a box of chocolates” quote from Forrest Gump, which means they don't know what's coming next.
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