V2.C9 The Great Tree

Half an hour later, Leo stood in an open ground with Blau Waiss in his hands standing face to face with Shea  stood carrying a serious expression.

"So you know how to smash stuff, right?"

"I'm very good at it~"

"Back off a little."

He raised Blue Waiss in the air. "If you need extra damage or you don't have enough time to fully swing the hammer. Imbue you mana in it with a mental image of a burst of wind, like this!"

He swung down the Warhammer. A compressed wind bullet shot in opposite direction of the swing, abruptly boosting the speed of swing with its recoil.

Boom~

"This thing can destroy a Cyclops defense like a thin piece of paper."

Shea gulped audibly at the crater in the ground, it was almost 2m deep and it appeared to be a casual swing from her eyes.

"As for next, it has a function to send shock waves to annihilate group of enemies. You might be undefeatable in one on one, but group fights don't work this way… Just swing it on the ground while imbuing mana with a mental image of sending ripples through ground and leave the rest to it."

He demonstrated it after sending them more than 100m away.

He tapped the end of the handle. "And last one is the best, you can shoot a bullet of any element through here."

Thud

He took out a pair of white boots and a necklace from his inventory and gave it to her. Yue had the same equipment with a dozen of catalyst inside her ring which acted as battery for mana, they recharged themselves from the mana in atmosphere.

"The boots will let you create plates in the air to reach aerial enemies and this necklace is enchanted with telepathy and spirit blessing. You'll be a valuable partner when we decide to go Raisen Gorge."

"Yessh!"

She equipped everything and picked up Blue Waiss and ran to who knows where.

Leo and Yue smiled at her childishness.

"This girl…"

"...I don't get it."

"What?"

"...Nothing."

His senses picked up several presences approaching.

"Ulfric is here."

Leo didn't forget the presence of the old man, even though he looked old, his body was brimming with vitality.

He took Yue's hand and walked toward the village gate.

Ulfric came inside with a smile, five other people followed him. A short looking guy with a wrinkled face and a large beard. A Tigerman in his fifties. A young looking man with fox ears and tail. The bear bastard he thrashed before and a woman with claws instead of hands and lower half of a bird and white wings growing from her back. He curiously used 'Analyze' on her.

[Mao]

Level 74

Age: 55 Female

Race: Harpy

Strength: 150

Vitality: 230

Defense: 150

Agility: 250

Magic: 200

Magic Defense: 150

Skills: [Rush] [Sonic Scream] [Wind Blades]

'Her stats are rather good for an old beastmen. She would be one of the elders.'

He formed a polite smile and asked, "So what brings you guys here?"

Bearman gritted his teeth in anger, while every other elder responded with a polite smile.

"Ara~ Ara~ I can't believe the human who conquered the dungeon is such a young and handsome man."

His lips curled in a mischievous grin. "Call me Leo, Oba-san~"

Her face twitched visibly in response.

'Haha, old hag. Trying to flirt with me, I have seen enough of this teasing from Maria.'

She looked to be in a beautiful beastman in her thirties, but the truth couldn't be far off.

(Yue is 323 years old.)

'No, Yue is eighteen.'

"We are here to confirm things about Liberators," the fox guy said in a polite tone.

"Ask away, I don't have much time."

"Did you really clear the Orcus Labyrinth?"

"Ask Ulfric, I already showed him every proof you need," he shrugged. "Believe it or not. As for my request for Sea of Trees, I'll go there, whether you give me permission or not."

"Insolent human."

The Bearman lost his temper and charged at him. His 2.5 meter body was already in front of him the next moment. The Bearman fists went straight for his face.

'Bastard, you shouldn't have messed with me.'

A vicious smile appeared on Leo's face as he ducked the punch and smashed his fist in Bearman stomach. He held back properly, otherwise, Bearman might blow up in meat pieces.

"Guggh!"

A strange cry escaped Bearman's mouth and he flew out through the gate.

"I'm sorry, I should've held back more."

Their lips twitched hearing his arrogant words. But they couldn't deny it.

"Alright, I'm giving my permission. Elders?"

Ulfric gave his consent.

The others also agreed hurriedly and went out to check on Bearman Elder.

Ulfric smiled bitterly. "You might have crippled him with that punch."

"I don't care. I'm going to check the Great Tree and get the hell out of this place."

Other Haulias also came out after hearing the commotion. All of them growled at Ulfric like some dog, Ulfric raised his hands in surrender.

Cam stopped them and looked at the broken gate. "What happened here?"

"I'm sorry, I broke that gate and get ready, we are going to the Great Tree."

"Okay."

"Yaaaa!!!"

Shea ran through the air with a cheerful smile. Her Large Warhammer scared the shit out of Ulfric. The old man ran back before he got a heart attack from Haulias.

Leo laughed at the scene of Noble Elf running with tail between his legs.

After walking inside the fog for a few hours, the group arrived at the Great Tree.

Leo kept his senses focused for any ambush. Haulias also spread around and cautiously scouted the place. The fear of death was still ingrained in every fiber of their being. The monsters in Raisen Gorge left some trauma in their poor minds.

"Shea… Can you stop smiling while hugging Blau Waiss like that? It is creeping me out."

It was really strange seeing a girl hugging a large hammer with a smile on her face.

"Hehe, It is the manifestation of Leo-san love for me~"

"..."

He ignored the stupid rabbit and looked in front.

'My ignoring skills might reach Irene's level at this rate. I wonder how she is doing after that incident?'

A certain blue-haired sneezed while decimating tens of Traum soldiers with ice spears.

Her back straightened if she had bunny ears they might be standing erect on her head.

"Eri~ My Leo senses tingled just now."

"The fuck? Focus on the fight, you horny mage."

"..."

***

The group finally reached the Sacred Tree, the sight really confused Leo.

"The fuck!"

Yue also gazed up with a bewildered face. Their expectations were smashed by a giant withered tree. It spanned for more than fifty meters. The surrounding trees and plants were lush green, yet the Giant Tree beastmen considered Sacred was actually a half-dead tree, it looked like life was sucked out of it.

"That's how it's been even before Verbergen founding. Still, it never rotted away always looking the same and the way fog acts around here is the reason it is considered Sacred. It's now only a tourist attraction for beastmen."

Cam explained their confusion from the side as they walked near the base of the tree.

Leo's eyes fell on the stone tablet planted near it. He walked over and noticed seven different crests carved on it, each had an indent on the back of the stone tablet.

The tree also had seven different symbols. His eyes opened wide to see a familiar symbol.

"Yue… this symbol… I saw the same carved underneath… the stone block that sealed you."

Yue froze in her steps and asked, "...What does… that mean?"

He continued, "Orcus symbol is here too, so all of the others are crests of Great Labyrinths, it might be something important left by… your family."

Yue still stood there motionless.

"Yue-san~"

Before he could do anything, Shea hugged Yue tightly and placed Yue's head on her chest.

"It'll be fine."

"We'll need the proof of conquering that Labyrinth with that crest. It makes conquering them all the more important."

Yue snapped out of her thoughts and wriggled her way out of Shea grasp.

"Give me Orcus ring."

Yue took off her the ring and passed it to Leo. He placed the ring inside the Orcus crest's indent, it fitted perfectly. The tablet began to glow a few moments later.

Everyone watched the process with an astonished face, the light began to fade and few floating letters appeared in the air above the stone.

-Four Markers of strength

-The power of restoration

-A beacon woven from bonds

-Only with those three ingredients in hand will the path to a new trial be opened.

"It looks like we got scammed, didn't we?"

"...Yeah, we need three more crests."

"The power of restoration doesn't look like your regeneration. A beacon woven from bonds should be having beastmen's help in coming here? Well, we got a good clue for something here and a hopeless rabbit as a new companion."

"I'm not a hopeless rabbit!"

Yue stared at her. "...But you are perverted."

"N-No I-I'm not, It wasn't me who sni-," she covered her own mouth to silence herself.

"Let's go back, we'll head out now, we don't have time to waste. Cam! Guide us to outside the fog."

"Roger!"