“Now, with the chests of spell books and the other ingredients acting as the premise, I can move these potions out with very little inconvenience. I will also have to draw some runes on the outside for concealment.”
Leylin opened a small box that was covered in runes. Sponges, silk and other such materials were placed inside to prevent the potions from rolling and being ruined.
After spending almost half the night, Leylin finally managed to move all the potions into the box. He then covered the box with some ingredients and placed spell books around it.
“It’s already past six!”
After hearing his alarm ring, Leylin switched off the clock in his room.
He hurriedly washed up and brought the two big chests to the highest floor of the academy, where he bought 3 fine, sturdy black horses and a carriage. Leylin took a deep breath and rode the carriage to an elevator-looking mechanism.
“Take out your exit pass!” A man’s voice sounded. Leylin hurriedly took out the red metal card that he received yesterday.
*Bang!*
The elevator-like mechanism rose slowly and when it finally reached the top, the sound of gears could be heard.
The two stone doors opened, and a beam of resplendent sunlight came shining in.
Leylin squinted his eyes, “The academy indeed has other exits. The original entry must be for people to use as a passage. However, the one here is for large items to go through.”
“Hyaa!” Cracking his whip, he urged the horse carriage forward. Only then did Leylin realise that his current position was at the back door, right behind the central graveyard that they had entered from in the beginning.
Afraid of being inconvenienced, he had told Bicky and the others that he was preparing to leave in the next few days, but did not specify an exact time. Hence, his departure was a quiet one.
Leylin gave the academy one last glance and then began his journey.
“Alright. Why does my luggage make it seem like I’m escaping from something, not the appearance of someone who is carrying out a mission?”
Leylin could not help but smile bitterly as he looked at the horse carriage he was driving and the heavy chests behind him.
“A.I. Chip! Bring out the map!”
At Leylin’s command, a map came into view. It was more detailed than the one he had gotten from the old man yesterday and had a route carefully marked out.
“Based on the map that I obtained yesterday, compute the most optimal way to travel! Requirements: Convenient and safe! Also, it has to approach as many Magi assembly points as possible!”
Heeding Leylin’s voice, a red line showing the route surfaced on the map. It was a little different than the one he gotten from the old man. There were several more bends and they were all in the vicinity of Magi gathering places.
“Let’s go!” Leylin followed the route that was given to him by the A.I. Chip and drove the horse carriage forward.
“A.I. Chip! Increase the detection area to the fullest!” Because it was an individual trip, Leylin did not dare to lower his guard at the slightest.
[Mission establishing, beginning detection!]
The A.I. Chip loyally carried out its duties, and a 3D image of the vicinity was constantly projected in front of Leylin.
“The danger is the smallest when it is very close to the academy or very far away. The middle section is the most dangerous part of the journey!” Recently, the Magi protecting the academy had been cleaning up the area, but they were too lazy to pursue the enemies so it was likely that only the middle section would be littered with danger.
However, Leylin could only take a gamble. Harosi had also given them a lesson earlier, so he hoped that his journey would have more smooth sailing. After all, he might not be able to leave even if he wanted to, given enough time.
The horse carriage rapidly dashed on the road and the bird cries on either side of the road decreased from before.
As they got further from the academy, Leylin became more and more tense.
[Beep! Warning! Warning! A high-energy living organism has been detected ahead!]
The A.I. Chip’s voice sounded, and a red object was projected onto the screen. There were huge branches constantly spread across the area, with many red spots of lights also floating above it.
“This image? It’s a tree?” Leylin placed his hand into his waist pouch and reduced the speed of the carriage.
043 - Giant Tree Demon
With the horse carriage drawing nearer, the approaching scene entered Leylin’s sight.
In the middle of the road, there stood a huge ancient tree.
Its green branches seemed to extend endlessly in all directions, forming a very large canopy with numerous vines hanging down.
On the enormous trunk, there were a pair of eyes and a mouth, and it looked like a human face. However, it had green eyes.
Surrounding the tree were a few winged creatures that were continuously flying around. Their skin was green and they were shaped like a human. They were also stark naked.
“Giant Tree Demon!” Leylin exclaimed. He laughed bitterly, “Didn’t the academy clean up the area around the school already? Why is there still such a big fellow here?”
“An acolyte of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy?” The huge tree spoke, and the winged creatures growing on its back also turned their eyes to him.
“I am merely a lowly acolyte who is preparing to leave. May I ask if you might give way for passage? I can pay a price for it!”
Leylin made a last attempt.
“Only death awaits any living organisms who try to make any futile attempts to leave!”
The giant tree let off a reverberating noise that even made Leylin’s ear hurt. At the same time, a green vine was slowly lowered, and hanging from it was a human corpse. Its whole body was withered, and it was wearing the grey robes of an Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolyte.
“Big Brother! Stay behind and play with us!”
At this moment, a little sprite that had been flitting around the Giant Tree Demon flew over. To Leylin, it sounded like the very pleasant voice of a girl’s, the sound of her voice intoxicating him. It was as if this voice belonged to his most important person in this world. Gradually, Leylin began to feel that staying here might not be such a bad idea.
[Warning! Warning! The Host is affected by a demonic charm!] The A.I. Chip’s voice prompted, bringing Leylin out of his hallucination.
“They actually charmed me!” Anger coloured Leylin’s face.
“A.I. Chip! What were the scan results?”
[Shuger Giant Tree Demon. Strength: 5, Agility: 0.5, Vitality: 9.8, Spiritual Force: 3.5. Skills: Leech, Vines]
[Green Tree Sprite. Strength: 0.9, Agility: 2.5, Vitality: 9.8, Spiritual Force: 3.1 Skills: Charming on living creatures]
[Rumours have it that the Green Tree Sprite and the Giant Tree Demon have a mutual relationship. Normally, the Green Tree Sprite will seduce the target into the attack area of the Giant Tree Demon and then the Giant Tree Demon will commence its hunt!]
The A.I. Chip’s voice sounded.
“The Giant Tree Demon’s Strength and Vitality are too high, and its body is extremely huge too. There is simply no way to go around it!” Leylin’s face was calm, “It seems like I can only fight!”
“The first will be you! You actually dared to charm me!”
[Critical point confirmed! Calculating wind power, adjusting trajectory!]
Leylin suddenly raised his hands, and revealed the hidden crossbow as he pulled the trigger.
* Xiu! * A black line streaked across the air and flew directly into the Green Tree Sprite from earlier.
The arrow pierced the right side of the Green Tree Sprite’s chest, causing its eyes to tear. Green fluid, what appeared to be juice from the tree, was flowing out of its chest as it fell onto the ground.
“Dyrisse! That human actually killed Sister Dyrisse!” The enraged and shocked voices of the other Green Tree Sprites came from th
e treetops.
“You actually dared to kill my daughter!” The Giant Tree Demon let out a furious roar, its huge vines racing towards Leylin.
“Hyaa!” Leylin moved the horse carriage backwards, avoiding the vines.
“According to the A.I. Chip’s calculations, the Giant Tree Demon’s vine’s greatest attack range is only 20 metres! Its movements are also extremely slow, which is its greatest weakness!”
Leylin drew his cross blade and steadied the carriage before getting off.
“I only asked to leave, but since you refuse to listen when talked to nicely, it seems like a fight is the only means of resolving this!”
“You actually killed my lovely Dyrisse! I’m going to turn you into a shriveled corpse and hang you on my body for a hundred years!”
The Giant Tree Demon’s roots emerged from the ground and stood up like a human before chasing Leylin.
“At this speed! Are you kidding?” Leylin laughed loudly and dodged as he clashed with the Giant Tree Demon.
A dark green tree shadow whipped at Leylin, but he dodged by rolling away, easily evading the attack.
* Pa! * The green vine was like a whip, and it smashed a very huge hole into the ground.
Leylin slashed with the cross blade and chopped at the vines. The silvery white blade had made contact with the surface of the vine, but ended up leaving no more than a mark on it.
Leylin felt a huge force coming towards him, and a few black shadows appeared behind him.
[An attack has appeared from behind. The most optimal way is to turn right for 50 degrees and jump right!] The A.I. Chip’s voice sounded.
Leylin deflected a vine and turned to his right and jumped immediately, avoiding the sneak attack from the black shadow behind him.
“Great Father! We will help you!”
Roughly 7 to 8 Green Tree Sprites swooped down, and they even carried small bows in their hands that looked like toys. However, when Leylin saw the dark green liquid on the arrow head, his expression changed.
“There’s poison!”
He withdrew a purple potion from his waist pouch and viciously flung it at the Green Tree Sprites.
* Ping-Pong! * The test tube broke, and a gust of purple misty smoke rose, turning into the shape of a harpy. The harpy opened its mouth and let out an ear piercing scream!
“The Howling Witch Potion! I spent 20 Magic Crystals on it!” Leylin covered both of his ears. Although he had made preparations ahead of time, he still felt uneasy. As for the Green Tree Sprites, they had all fallen to the ground long ago.
Using potions to mimic the effects of a magic spell was the normal fighting technique used by a Potioneering Master. With Leylin’s current abilities, he could not brew the Howling Witch Potion yet, so this potion had been bought from Kroft instead.
Not only were these potions extremely expensive, they only had a one-time use, which made Leylin’s heart ache.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Giant Tree Demon and Green Tree Sprites were still under the effects of the Howling Witch Potion, Leylin hurriedly stepped forward and lunged at them with the cross blade.
“A few Green Tree Sprites were easily cut into two just like this.”
“The eardrums of these Green Tree Sprites are extremely strange and they are more sensitive towards sound waves. However, the Howling Witch Potion was obviously their bane!”
Leylin’s eyes flashed, and he stomped on a few more of the Green Tree Sprites who were lying on the ground until they were dead.
“Oh! No! Julie, Delia……”
The Vitality of the Giant Tree Demon was extremely high and it quickly recovered from the shock caused by the Howling Witch. Looking at Leylin torturing its daughters to death, it could not help but howl loudly. More of the vines came snaking over, and the remaining Green Tree Sprites were carefully moved and kept amongst the crown of the tree.
“That human’s spells are extremely evil, don’t come out!” The huge tree’s voice buzzed.
“A good chance!” Leylin’s eyes flashed, and he hurriedly chanted an incantation.
“Acidic Aqua Shot!”
A green-coloured sphere appeared, and with Leylin’s control, it avoided the vines and hit the left eye of the Giant Tree Demon perfectly.
* Sssii! * White mist rose continuously, and green thick fluid flowed out along with the cries of the Giant Tree Demon accompanying it.
After the white mist dissipated, the Giant Tree Demon’s left eye was completely gone, leaving only a charred hole.
“I will kill you! I will kill you! Hancus will kill you!”
The Giant Tree Demon trembled and the vines around it continuously weaved around, forming a net.
“Who are you speaking to?” At this moment, Leylin had already arrived at the bottom of the tree. Its crown completely blocked the sunlight, leaving only a huge black shadow.
While the Giant Tree Demon was howling, Leylin had already reached the trunk of the tree.
“Go and die!”
The Giant Tree Demon roared, and countless vines interweaved, forming a huge green palm, making a grab at Leylin.
“Goodbye!” Leylin laughed lightly and threw the remaining dozen or so potions at its trunk before taking flight.
* Bang! * A fiery flame rose up, engulfing the Giant Tree Demon whole. What followed next was an even stronger explosion and black smoke.
“The effect is indeed excellent when using ten explosive potions together. Moreover, it is even more advantageous against a tree type Tree Demon like this!”
Although Leylin ran away quickly, he was still scorched by the flames from behind. Even the hair on his head was tinged and burnt .
“Ah!” The Giant Tree Demon screamed and howled in agony, falling to the ground with a crash, its body still set ablaze.
As for the Green Tree Sprites that were hiding in the treetop, they too were not spared and were all burnt to charcoal.
[Beep! The target has lost all signs of life!] The A.I. Chip’s voice sounded.
Leylin nodded his head and returned to driving the horse carriage, going around the Giant Tree Demon’s body.
Looking at the huge branches that were charred and the corpses of those Green Tree Sprites, Leylin suddenly thought of something and went up to extract some of their cells and remnants.
“Only one battle and I have already used almost half of my stockpiled potions!” However, the Giant Tree Demon and Green Tree Sprites combo is a threat to even a Level 3 Acolyte. Having an outcome like this is already considered not bad!”
Afraid of the arrival of reinforcements, Leylin hurriedly drove the horse carriage away, until the three strong horses were frothing in the mouth. Travelling as fast as the wind, he disappeared from the horizon.
Half an hour later, a grey-coloured owl swooped down and landed on top of a branch.
“Hankus is dead!” The owl let out a human’s voice.
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 35