"What is this damned sticky..."
Daru gritted his teeth in frustration, dismissing his weapon and pulling hard with both arms.
Fortunately, it seed that, although the rate was abysmal, he was managing to extricate himself from the literal sticky situation faster than the sap could seep out of the porous floor.
He would appreciate it if he could leave faster, though, since being in the middle of dozens of trees after having lost a life to a hostile one didn’t feel too nice.
Yet, he kept on looking around while pulling his leg out, fearing that soone or sothing would co and "help" him.
Then he caught it as his vision passed an area.
Sothing in the distance was shifting, subtly at first, as if shaking, until he realized it was a tree uprooting itself, looking in his direction.
"Why am I so unlucky today?" he sighed.
Fortuna’s Frown...is it finally starting to do him in?
Has Luck actually been mattering all those tis, working in the background? Has his once sufficient Luck finally beco insufficient?
If so, then does every location in the Myriad Sword Realm actually take Luck into consideration before deciding how the environnt would treat a Bladeborn?
So many questions struck his mind like a tal chain, but unfortunately, he had no ti to ponder them.
The darned tree had already finished morphing into a humanoid shape and was now barreling towards him.
Had it not been avoiding the tough flora in its path, it would’ve arrived already.
Daru gritted his teeth, pulling harder.
Unfortunately, "help" ca just in ti.
He hurriedly summoned his tachi, dark aura creeping from its handle and veiling the blade as he slashed at the two and a half ter tall humanoid tree, green aura burning at the back of its head, shoulders, elbows, and ankles as its wooden cleaver arms aid to sunder him in two.
A heavy clack echoed as the blades of differing materials clashed.
To Daru’s bewildernt, he was "helped" out of the sticky situation, almost losing his balance as he was sent staggering a few steps back.
There was strangely no naplate above the Swordspawn, but after clashing with him, one appeared:
==
(Elite) Verdant Runebark Lv. 85
HP: 112,350 / 112,350
==
Daru scrambled to regain his footing, slashing forward another ti to et the pursuing, sweeping cleaver arm.
Following another clack, this one a bit duller, he felt his entire arm go numb as he was sent flying this ti, forced to use his divine blade to assist in quickly recovering his footing.
The situation turned out a bit better this ti.
There was sufficient space between him and the approaching Verdant Runebark, allowing him to reset.
Thankfully, the humanoid tree’s speed was manageable.
Daru, having enough perception and agility, sidestepped the wooden blade as it turned into a straight sword and stabbed at him.
He then pivoted his foot and chopped down at the Verdant Runebark’s forearm.
A dull clack sounded.
[- 69]
His eyes widened in further disbelief, and he quickly used Swift Tumble to dodge the incoming counterattack.
His mouth went dry, cold sweat trickling down his spine.
Daru could not believe that his full-powered slash, a standard attack as it may have been, dealt so little damage, especially after his recent power-up.
He gulped, heart racing.
In the past, he had believed that as long as his eyes were sharp enough and he was fast enough to react to the opponent’s attacks, there was always a winning chance.
That belief of his had been ruthlessly torn apart today.
Daru learned sothing new: an enemy could be so tough that even though he could react to its attacks and counterattack effectively, there was still no chance of winning because his stamina was bound to run out first.
It would be better to use it to flee.
So, flee Daru did, wisely choosing to retreat. His heart was naturally in turmoil, suddenly finding himself at the bottom of the triangle.
It was quite an uncomfortable, humbling experience.
Unfortunately, a decisive attempt doesn’t automatically an success.
The Verdant Runebark fiercely chased after him as he ran east, weaving through other, normal-looking trees that could very much also be the end of him.
Daru was fast, slightly faster and nimbler than the humanoid tree. However, the gap wasn’t so huge that he could disappear from his elite pursuer’s sight in re seconds.
The Verdant Runebark also knew the surroundings well. It occasionally cut corners and closed the distance.
Sotis, it would stab its hand into the ground, then roots would suddenly spring out in front of Daru, forcing him to change directions.
He was gaining distance at an extrely slow rate.
The verdant chase went on for a few minutes until, finally, the inevitable happened. Daru’s approach roused a few slumbering spawns.
Two more trees uprooted themselves in the distance, and roots from an immobile tree nearby snaked towards him.
"Tch!"
Daru clicked his tongue, heart pounding. This was his first ti being in deep trouble from both the environnt and the Swordspawns that dwelled in it.
He felt so small, so weak.
A tree spat sticky white sap at him, almost gluing him to the ground, had he not reacted fast enough and skidded to a halt for a mont.
Daru paid the close call not much attention and continued running. Doing so was a luxury he could not afford.
After every few minutes, a tree would uproot itself and add to his pursuers. He gritted his teeth as he noticed that one was en route to block his path from the front.
To his bewildernt, the vines hanging down from a massive tree suddenly moved, catching the seemingly weaker version of the Verdant Runebark.
The lesser humanoid tree struggled fiercely as it was suspended in the air.
Daru, his heart beating out of his chest, decisively turned west.
He glanced back instinctively, only to find the tree’s struggles grow weaker as it withered at a rate visible to the naked eye.
He wished he hadn’t witnessed that before knowing more about his surroundings...
Still, Daru didn’t give up and continued fleeing.
Eventually, the forest ended, and while there were still trees, most of them looked normal, and there was definitely less danger.
Daru evaded another Sap Trap as he continued running in a straight line, confused as to why the winds seed to be stronger in this location.
There were also way fewer flora.
Since the front was temporarily clear, he looked back. He was a bit comforted by the fact that, while the Verdant Runebark was still there at the forefront, it was the most impressive among his pursuers.
So humanoid trees sohow didn’t like each other, too, erupting into random scuffles at random tis.
But not all of them.
More than half remained adamant in killing him, for so reason...
Daru took his ti observing them before shifting his attention back ahead. His eyes widened as he slowed to a halt.
He had almost slid into what could have been another of his deaths.
Before him...the bouncy brown lands began rounding, sloping down, and disappearing into the clouds.
He also noticed random fissures and patterns. It was as if...as if the land he was on was a colossal branch.
Surely not.
After all, how could one tree be so preposterously gargantuan?
In any case, he had run into a dead end.
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