Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: World Tree's Sprout (1)
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The Tekalona Forest where the half-elves had issued the quest was truly far from Crossroads. Even riding a horse that boosted movement speed by more than double, it still took a good thirty minutes.
Feeling his butt ache, Rokan immediately used Mark as soon as he reached the destination. The Rune Book's storage space was small, but since he'd already crossed over to Crossroads, he just needed to save three more spots and deleted the rest.
"Good work."
Piiik!
After blowing the whistle to unsummon the horse, Rokan hefted his hefty battle axe.
The Slaugherer's Axe, which would now become his prized weapon.
It was only reinforced to +5, so no enhancement effects had appeared yet, but somehow it seemed to emanate a sinister red aura as he gripped it and stepped into the forest in search of the half-elves.
No one seeing him would think he was heading off to save someone, though.
"The entrance is mostly neutral mobs, so it's a bit boring."
But contrary to that murderous aura, no monsters charged at Rokan.
At the entrance to Tekalona Forest, only so-called neutral monsters appeared—ones that wouldn't attack users first unless provoked. Rokan found that unsatisfying.
Having fully upgraded his gear, his body itched for action. Normally, he'd charge anywhere and swing first, but right now, the quest came first.
Exercising uncharacteristic patience, he first searched for the missing half-elf gathering team.
"It was around here... Found it."
What Rokan found wasn't the gathering team. It was the traces they left behind.
From what he knew, the gathering team hadn't gone missing—they'd gotten greedy, ventured deeper into the forest, and gotten stranded.
He already knew their approximate location, but finding them directly might arouse suspicion, so he tracked their traces first.
"Now I just need to follow the footprints."
The trace they'd left was 'shoes.' More precisely, one of them had lost a shoe while fleeing from a powerful monster in this area.
After that, they'd found whatever they were after and, driven by greed, gone even deeper—and hadn't come out yet.
Thanks to that setup, he could now track them by following the half-elf footprints left at intervals.
What about the monster they'd fled from?
"Peekaboo, you bastard."
It became Rokan's sandbag, especially since his body was already raring to go.
The tree monster known as the Polluted Forest Spirit was level 115—higher than the mine kobolds—but it had a serious flaw.
The prefix 'polluted' sealed its combo skills.
Its physical specs were boosted instead, but its opponent was Rokan. Against him in a contest of raw power, he wouldn't yield even to something tougher than a tree monster, so one strike shattered its sturdy bark, and soon its base was severed, toppling it.
"Clean work."
He'd chopped and slashed, even deliberately taking a few hits to test his reinforced gear's performance—and the results were very satisfying.
The overwhelming attack power that felt like a critical hit even without one was to his liking, and so was the defense that had risen enough to mitigate life loss.
No frills, just damage and crit chance—it was exactly his style.
At this point, he wondered if it was too strong and might get patched.
'Probably not. It's not like I got it for free.'
But Rokan was certain. That wouldn't happen.
This was all part of what The Lord had arranged and pursued. Whether he cut down 100 or 10,000 alone, it wouldn't directly affect anything.
'This way.'
Far from stopping, Rokan resolved to push even further and hurriedly searched for footprints.
Half-elves resembled elves more than humans, so spotting footprints required close inspection, and they were spaced far apart, demanding sharp focus.
Not only tracking footprints but also dealing with monsters ambushing midway.
'Tracking first. I'll fight to my heart's content later...'
Even with overflowing confidence, skill, and boiling battle instincts, Rokan stayed ice-cold while tracking.
Using Stealth to minimize fights, focusing on finding the gathering team.
All to conserve consumables.
He had plenty of money and consumables, but a fierce battle loomed soon. Potions had a different use anyway.
'Bingo.'
The footprints' direction matched his known location, revealing three half-elves.
Wounded and bandaged variously, Rokan cautiously dropped Stealth and appeared before them.
"Who are you!"
"I'm Rokan, a human True Berserker. Teril-nim was worried about you all since contact was lost and sent me."
"Teril-nim sent a human?"
He stowed his weapon in inventory and spread his hands to show no hostility, but their wariness didn't fade.
They reacted slightly to Teril's name—the half-elf leader of Crossroads—but eyed him suspiciously again.
'We're the same faction, trust me a bit.'
He didn't like their open suspicion toward their rescuer, but what could he do? Until he completed the recognition quest, it'd stay like this.
Thinking he'd better finish it quickly even if it soured things, Rokan added,
"Right, Teril-nim wouldn't send a human. Correct. I took this mission to earn recognition. But look—I've already earned the dwarves' recognition."
Sniff sniff.
As Rokan spoke, their expressions changed as they sniffed like puppies.
The moment he earned the dwarves' recognition, their scent had partially rubbed off on him.
That was exactly why Teril had trusted Rokan without checking.
"...We'll trust you for now."
'And if you don't?'
Rokan clicked his tongue inwardly at these weaklings acting tough, but outwardly showed nothing. Instead, he greeted them with his most amiable salesman smile.
"Shall we head back then? Don't worry about safety. On the way here, I took down five Polluted Forest Spirits with ease. I can handle all the local monsters alone, so just follow comfortably."
A bit of exaggeration mixed in Rokan's words—to reassure them, to distract their thoughts.
'Ask it. Ask it.'
Then they started glancing at each other. Instead of following, their gazes shifted elsewhere—deeper into the forest.
"Is it... really true? That you took down Polluted Forest Spirits easily?"
"Of course. Take a look."
As one half-elf hesitantly spoke, Rokan immediately pulled an item from inventory: 'Polluted Spirit's Aura.'
Useful later for quests or crafting, but now proof of his ability.
"It's real. Then, could you do us one favor?"
[Young Half-Elves' Resolve][Quest]
The plea of young half-elves who came to gather in Tekalona Forest. Before escorting them to Crossroads, they want you to take them to their desired location.
-Success Condition: Reach Tekalona Forest's center
-Failure Condition: Abandon trip to center or half-elves die
-Reward: Combined with gathering team's safety quest reward
'Perfect.'
Exactly what Rokan wanted. Escorting three rookies was risky, but now it seemed fine.
'No interferers.'
There wouldn't be any interferers.
Tekalona Forest, north of Crossroads, doubled as a quest spot near an undead area, so later, enemy faction interferers often showed to sabotage quests.
Not a conflict zone, but the first spot to encounter enemy factions.
But with no third-city players yet, no interferer worries. Just focus on monsters.
"It'll be dangerous. You sure?"
"We're fine either way."
"Then from now on, follow my orders precisely. Otherwise, I'll drag you back by force right then."
"Okay."
Even if they refused, Rokan wanted to grab their collars and drag them, but he set the relationship first. Otherwise, who knew where these scatterbrains would bolt and pull aggro.
'Leash secured. Let's go.'
This was where many later messed up. Indulging NPCs or quest-givers led to half-elves running wild, drawing monsters, causing wipes or wasting consumables.
So Rokan prioritized securing command.
"Mark your desired spot on this map."
He showed the map, pinpointed the location, then issued one-way orders. Move, and they moved; hide, and they hid; even detouring instead of straight lines.
At one point, the half-elves refused orders for the first time and stopped.
"Wait a sec."
"What."
Glancing back, Rokan instantly knew why. He already knew their goal.
"We need this."
They pointed to a small, blue sprout.
Something he'd ignore as a weed, but up close, it seemed to emanate an aura.
Their expressions turned serious.
"It's a World Tree sprout. More precisely, one with the potential to become a World Tree. No one knows if it'll grow properly into one, but if even a single one does... Anyway, we came here to gather these potential sprouts."
He knew. He knew full well. And he knew his role perfectly.
"Then get started. I'll handle any monsters that appear."
"How did you..."
Sprouts with World Tree potential had guardian spirits.
And with the forest tampered by undeads now, some guardians were polluted, endangering gatherers.
One such was the Polluted Forest Spirit.
"I studied up beforehand."
The half-elves felt flustered yet reliable seeing Rokan's grin. If he already knew, things sped up.
They nodded to him and carefully transplanted the sprout with tools.
"Who dares steal the forest's vitality!"
Then space compressed, and a massive something appeared. A huge tree monster with green madness rose, trying to crush the culprit.
"Me, asshole!"
"Eek!"
Boom!
Rokan's charging body, like a tank, uprooted and shoved the tree monster—several times his size.
It even burst part of its body, exposing pale innards. Not a normal Shoulder Charge, but the combo skill, Charge of Destruction.
"Force! Strike!"
[Critical!]
It didn't stop there—a Force-infused axe blow followed. The Polluted Forest Spirit's massive body crumbled like holey cheese, exposing its core.
"Bro's busy. Let's end this quick!"
Rokan tore it out without hesitation. Bigger and higher level, but the basic strategy matched 'forest monster.'
Carve the body with overwhelming firepower, then take the core—he executed faithfully, toppling it in seconds.
"You there, hold up!"
He spun back, stopping the startled half-elves mid-harvest of the World Tree sprout. Something to do first.
A method discovered by a curious user.
Grow the World Tree sprout right here.
Taking it as-is limited rewards no matter the quantity, but growing it further here boosted rewards massively—less growth time needed.
Failure risked a beating and enmity from half-elves, but he persuaded persistently, executed, and succeeded.
And now, that fruit was about to bloom in Rokan's hands.