Published: August 25, 2025
Today, two chapters posted simultaneously.
This is the first chapter.
As Glen and I pressed forward through the Tree Sea aiming for Korumi Village, we came upon a wide, murky river.
“Do we cross here?”
“No, from here we’ll follow the river upstream for a while.”
“So this way, huh?”
After he showed me the direction to go, I hurried after him.
“This is pretty far. It’s my first time coming this deep.”
“Do you come to the Tree Sea often, Glen?”
“Not often exactly, but it’s easier to find strong magical beasts here, so it’s good for making money.”
“There aren’t many places with so many C-rank and above, B and A-rank magical beasts living in such numbers... Now that I think about it, this place is truly a hell.”
“Hah, what’s a guy who walks through hell like it’s normal saying?”
“Having actually come here and seen it for myself, I can say no sane person would come to a place like this.”
To put it bluntly, it’s no place for humans to live. Now I truly understood why everyone was so surprised when I said where I was from and where I was heading. It’s only natural that they reacted with strange expressions.
While we were talking, branches as thick as logs fell from above, and roots like stakes attacked from below. I dodged using spatial magic and swung my sword to cut the massive tree before me. The ki blade released from the sword ran along the trunk and cleaved the bulge near the top. At the same time, a heavy thud rang out from a neighboring tree, and the writhing branches and roots abruptly stopped moving.
“Ah, I messed up.”
I heard Glen’s murmur as he came down. It didn’t sound too serious, but I wondered what had happened.
“You okay?”
“No injuries. I just put in a bit too much strength.”
He lifted the giant hammer he’d been using. That thud earlier sounded like a cannon blast—he must have hit with a lot of force. The metal handle was bent halfway through.
“That’s a clean break.”
“I bought the toughest one at the Royal Capital’s weapon shop, but it’s still fragile.”
Apparently, because he unconsciously and efficiently enhances his body, he’s not skilled at consciously enveloping his weapons with ki. As a result, weapons often can’t withstand the power of his enhanced body.
Watching him toss the broken hammer into his pouch with practiced ease, it seemed this wasn’t unusual for him.
“Do you have a spare?”
“This was the spare. Don’t worry, if I don’t have a weapon, I’ll fight with my fists.”
It seemed he had already broken at least one before. Like the saying “if you don’t have bread, eat cake.” Judging by the crazy things he’s done on this journey, I was sure he’d be fine.
“But this time, both broke at once, huh?”
“We’re not competing or anything. Anyway, what about the materials? Treants... no, given their size, elder treants maybe…”
“They’re too big either way. And two of them. I’ve got some magical beasts from earlier, but there’s no way I can carry all of this.”
“Even with my spatial magic, I can’t fit all of them.”
These twin treants? They were originally huge Heat Dissipation Trees. Two of those would be a hassle to collect. We decided to leave them for now and maybe retrieve them later… or wait?
“Let’s rest here for today.”
“? Yeah, some magical beasts probably know these territories and avoid them.”
“The roots are deeply entrenched in the ground, so they won’t fall over. The river is nearby, so water supply won’t be a problem.”
“Got it. I don’t know the way or where you want to go, so I’ll leave it to you.”
Saying that, Glen pulled a sturdy cloth from his pouch and draped it like a cloak, then laid down right on top of the raised roots of the Heat Dissipation Tree treant.
“…You’re planning to just sleep like that?”
“Yeah.”
Such a careless way of camping. Any normal person would quickly be swarmed by insects and leeches. But Glen always handles situations wild-style. For example, when it rained earlier, he didn’t do anything and got soaked, then shook his body dry when it stopped. I almost asked if he was a dog.