NOVEL NEXT Book 2, Chapter 52: Trees (2)
The blue leaves, which were calmly drifting in the wind, all froze in mid-air at the same time. The tree emitted its mana. Michael cursed under his breath and lowered his center of gravity as all the leaves turned to point at him with their tips. For a moment, this delicate standstill was maintained. Then, almost simultaneously, both Michael and the leaves moved.
Without activating his Dragonheart, Michael shot to the side. The leaves pierced through the air toward him, all aiming at vital spots. Three aimed straight at his forehead, ten went for his throat, and over a hundred more went for different areas of his entire body. Each sought to kill him outright or cripple him. The only saving grace was that the leaves weren't too fast, nor did they seem to be backed up by much power. Of course, that was only relative to Michael himself.
Michael threw away his thoughts, something that had become extremely easy to do after the Abyss, and focused on dodging the projectiles. They cut the air like blades all around him, but he didn't let any of them even graze his skin. They went by the sides of his head, next to his torso, and between his legs, creating a small hurricane of sharpness. Meanwhile, Michael watched the tree attentively. It was because its mana's movements had changed.
Suddenly, all the leaves around him started glowing, ever brighter. Michael slightly widened his eyes and decisively shot toward the tree. After a second, the leaves behind him flew toward his back, even faster than before. Still, they failed to reach him. He leaped over a thick tree root, making a few of the leaves strike it, unable to change course in time. It was as if the tree root had been sliced by the world's sharpest blade. It was divided into pieces in less than a second, while the leaves continued to fly toward Michael, not even slowing down. He glanced over his shoulder and clicked his tongue.
How are people supposed to deal with those? What kind of Mana Shield can an ordinary person even create?
He had his stupidly high Constitution stat and everything that came with his draconic lineage. It was to the point where he was confident that the leaves wouldn't even be able to slice through his skin, even if they managed to hit him. But what about other people? What about his friends and mother? How were they supposed to survive against it? He looked back at the tree, which had far fewer leaves than before they started this fight.
The core must not be very durable at all.
Because his firepower was so great, he had been able to simply destroy the trees, but no matter how he looked at it, they were too strong an enemy for an ordinary team. Therefore, it stood to reason that the cores should be fragile enough for ordinary fighters to damage them. It was the only way for a Party composed of the people he'd seen back in the Safe Zone to defeat a lifeform like this.
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Michael's honed senses expanded, focusing entirely on the tree, making him able to perceive the throbbing, beating globe of mana at the tree's very center.
He grinned and sped up. In less than two seconds, he arrived before the snow-white tree trunk that hid the 'heart.' Without hesitation, Michael swung his fist, punching forward with some strength, about as much as he guessed an ordinary person would have at this point.
His fist crashed against the trunk, making it shake. Michael narrowed his eyes and pulled back his fist again while also avoiding three of the blade-like leaves.
I guess that wasn't strong enough.
He punched forward again, this time much faster than before. The attack connected. The wood-like exterior crumbled with some resistance as Michael's punch drilled through everything in its way to reach the middle of the tree's core. It felt cold, but also sharp, as if it were trying to slice past his skin.
The tree vibrated, the roots wriggling. The blue leaves, which had almost reached his back, stopped glowing and fell powerlessly to the ground. The entire tree wilted in real time, withering away and turning gray. In nothing but a few moments, a System notification rang out in Michael's mind.
[You have slain Tree of Minor Sharpness (Level 44).]
Michael pulled his arm out of the Tree's interior and nodded at the notification in front of him.
Damn thing's Level is as high as some of the Forgotten I fought.
It was a testament to how much weaker the Forgotten had become after they were consumed by the Curse of Darkness. Still, his second punch had only been three times stronger than the previous one. With some effort and good Skills, ordinary teams would be able to defeat the trees, or, at least, the Minor Trees. Nodding to himself, Michael looked around at the withered Tree, which was slowly coming apart, its pieces drifting in the wind.
This proves that not all Trees have the ability to manipulate a creature's mind, but… this one is dangerous enough as it is.
It was a bittersweet realization. Then, he took a deep breath and looked back in the direction of the Dungeon he'd chosen. He started running again, going between and under two collapsed buildings, which had touched each other.
He marched on.
On his way to the Dungeon, more of the evolved animals tried to attack him, but they were all easily dealt with. The remaining three Trees were all different from each other. The first one was capable of utilizing fire and fire spells, much like a Mage, while the second one was much sturdier than the others and utilized its roots as whip-like tentacles that could smash through concrete. The third tree was larger than all the previous ones, but it behaved much like the second tree. Naturally, to make things easier, he targeted their hearts. Not all of them had been at the Trees' center, but they couldn't fool his senses.
Finally, after defeating all enemies in his way, Michael arrived in front of the Dungeon's entrance.