Both sides noticed the uninvited guest at the same time.
The Serpent-kin apprentice’s vertical pupils contracted sharply, and a flash of surprise and joy crossed his face.
“Brother, help me out! I’ll give you a Wizardry Tool!”
His voice was sharp and cut clearly through the whistling of the arrows.
The Amons warrior’s reaction was equally swift.
Without even getting a clear look at Ethan, he had already turned his longbow toward him.
The bowstring vibrated, and three energy arrows shot toward Ethan in a triangular formation.
The arrows tore through the air with a piercing shriek.
The emerald green light wrapped around the arrows grew brighter as they flew, with fine energy particles constantly scattering from the edges.
Ethan stood his ground, a thought flashing through his mind.
The shrubs whose branches had been snapped by the flames of war, the pines whose trunks had been tilted by shockwaves, and the old vines coiled around rocks—all of them extended their branches at the same moment.
Thick branches swept past Ethan’s side, precisely intercepting the three arrows.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Three explosions erupted against the branches.
The shockwaves blasted the branches into a cloud of debris, with wood splinters and emerald green energy residue splashing in all directions.
However, the branches had absorbed the full force of the arrows. The aftershocks of the explosions didn't even brush against the hem of Ethan’s clothes.
The old pine tree that had contributed its branches shook its crown, and the wood fibers at the break points began to regrow at a speed visible to the naked eye, with new shoots sprouting from the stumps.
The Amons warrior’s pupils contracted suddenly.
He had never seen such a technique.
How could those trees move to protect this person on their own?
But his combat instinct suppressed all questions. He kicked off the tree trunk, flipped in mid-air, and drew his bow again.
Five arrows condensed simultaneously, and five streaks of green light tore through the air.
“Brother, be careful! That’s his killing move! It almost took my life just now!”
Ethan took a glance.
Boom!
The ancient tree beneath the Amons warrior suddenly came to life.
Thick branches snapped out from the trunk like the tentacles of a living creature, ensnaring the warrior’s legs, waist, and bow-wielding arm.
Before the warrior could release the string, he was yanked down from the branch by the foliage.
He struggled desperately in mid-air, his war tattoos distorting as his muscles contracted violently.
But the branches only coiled tighter, biting into his flesh until his bones groaned under the unbearable pressure.
The arrows slipped from the bowstring, flying haphazardly into the sky before exploding hundreds of meters up. The emerald green light dyed half the sky green.
The ground erupted.
Wooden stakes burst forth from the soil, skewering upward.
The Amons warrior’s limbs were held fast by the branches, leaving him no room to even struggle.
A stake pierced through the soles of his feet, passing through his calves, thighs, abdomen, and chest cavity before finally emerging from the top of his head.
Pale green blood flowed down the wooden stake, pooling into a small puddle at the roots.
【Life Energy +50, Current Life Energy: 2,525,873.】
The surrounding plants retracted in sync, lifting the war bow from the shattered remains of the corpse and delivering it into Ethan’s hand.
The bow felt slightly heavy. Glowing vine patterns were etched into the surface of the dark green wood, and the bowstring was woven from a semi-transparent thread that shimmered with a pale gold luster in the sunlight.
Ethan gripped the bow and injected a sliver of mana.
The bowstring vibrated automatically, and an emerald green energy arrow condensed out of thin air. Its tip was razor-sharp, and its tail trailed fine specks of light.
“Interesting. I’ll study the operational frequency of this wood attribute when I have the chance.”
He casually stowed the war bow into his ring.
At this moment, Snake, who had been watching in a daze, had yet to recover his wits.
The snake tail of his lower body slithered slowly across the mud in an unconscious reflex. He felt as if he had been pinned to the spot by a binding spell.
He had just been suppressed and beaten by that Amons archer for quite some time. Several scales on his tail had been blasted off, and the wound on his left shoulder was still seeping blood.
He had exerted all his strength just to avoid being turned into a pincushion, yet this guy who had suddenly appeared killed the archer in just a few moves.
He hadn't even seen clearly what kind of method the other person had used.
The trees had acted as if they were alive, with branches actively ensnaring the archer’s limbs and wooden stakes drilling out from the ground to skewer him through.
The entire process was clean and efficient, without even any excess mental power fluctuations.
Was this a wizard apprentice?
Good lord, only his own mentor should be able to reach this level, right?
Was this guy even human?
“Hey, snap out of it.”
Snake jerked violently, his vertical pupils refocusing.
The apprentice had already walked up to him, dragging an Amons native bundled up like a cocoon behind him.
“Holy crap, brother, you’re strong,” Snake said, his voice carrying the relief of someone who had just escaped death. “I’m Snake, from Thousand Beasts Academy. What about you?”
Ethan didn't answer. He simply reached out.
He held his hand out, palm up. The meaning was as clear as day.
Snake’s tail stiffened for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but his gaze swept over Ethan’s face and then over the corpse still hanging on the wooden stake. The words he was about to say were swallowed back down.
He reached into his robe and pulled out an amulet.
The amulet was only half the size of a palm, pale gold in color, and its surface was carved with dense runic patterns.
“This is the Blessing of Faith. It can withstand attacks totaling three hundred and fifty degrees,” Snake said as he handed over the amulet, his voice laced with the pain of parting with it. “Great expert, what do you think...?”
Ethan casually took the amulet, didn't even look at it closely, and shoved it directly into his storage ring.
“Do you know the direction of the Sacred City in this world?”
“Huh?” Snake’s vertical pupils were filled with confusion. “What’s the Sacred City?”
Ethan gave him a look.
“Never mind.”
He grabbed the end of the vines behind him and slammed his foot against the ground.
Boom.
The soil exploded, and gravel flew everywhere.
The two of them shot toward the north like arrows from a bow, vanishing into the depths of the dense forest in the blink of an eye.
The violent wind pressure whipped up the dead leaves on the ground, sending them spiraling through the air.
Snake was blown backward by the force of that wind pressure.
He remained there with his mouth half-open, his vertical pupils reflecting the figure that was getting further and further away.
After a good while, Snake’s tail finally began to slither again. He looked down at the wounds on his body that were still seeping blood, then looked in the direction where that figure had disappeared.
“Crap, wait.” He suddenly realized something, his pupils contracting slightly. “That guy couldn't really be heading to the Sacred City, could he?”
How could he not know what the Sacred City was?
He just hadn't reacted in time.
A Third-Tier Apprentice, dragging a captive, just charging straight toward a place like that?
“Is he really that brave?”
Snake’s voice echoed through the empty mountain forest, but no one answered him.
He stood there for a few breaths before eventually shaking his head and slithering toward the direction of the War Fortress, soon disappearing into the shadows of the forest as well.
After traveling for two more days, the forest finally came to an end.
The trees thinned out, the waist-high shrubs turned into low grass hugging the ground, and the soft humus soil beneath their feet changed into dry gravel.
Ethan grabbed the end of the vines, dragging the tightly bundled Roly as he stepped out from the last stretch of shadows.
Rate on N.U.
