My Skill Book - Chapter 70
Chapter 70
'Guardian?'
My confusion at the voice didn't last long.
"Oh! That!"
The man shouted and pointed his finger at the sky.
A huge portal was opening.
The moment I saw the purple portal opening in the air, I had only one thought.
'Field boss!'
Shortly after, a massive foot emerged from the giant purple portal.
'Wood?'
It looked as though it had been woven together from dozens of trees.
Finally, what revealed its entire body from the portal was a wooden humanoid.
"Ugh……"
Terror rose on Ms. Hyeri's face.
The wooden humanoid, taller than a five-story building, had no nose or mouth on its face—only eyeballs.
Its black pupils rolling around inside the whites of its eyes reminded me of a doll's eyes.
The wooden humanoid's pupils turned toward us.
Even though it had only eyeballs and no discernible expression, its hostility was palpable.
When the wooden humanoid swung its arm, the air split with a whoosh.
"It scattered something!"
The man shouted.
Oval-shaped objects were raining down densely from the sky.
'Are those…… seeds?'
As fist-sized seeds fell to the ground, green light spread from the wooden humanoid's body.
"Kyah!"
"The trees are growing at an incredible speed……!"
I heard Ms. Hyeri and the Vice Guild Leader's voices.
The seeds that had fallen to the ground cracked open, and in an instant they sprouted, extended their roots, and became trees.
They were the gigantic trees that had filled the forest just moments ago.
"Everyone, dodge!"
We scrambled about to avoid the massive trees shooting up from beneath our feet.
The roots of the gigantic trees writhed terrifyingly, as if trying to coil around us. They looked just like snakes.
"Ugh!"
The Vice Guild Leader's scream rang out. Roots were wrapping around him.
"Kuhk!"
The Vice Guild Leader's face turned pale. Red energy was being absorbed by the roots.
"Hup!"
I swung my magic spear wreathed in flames and severed the roots holding the Vice Guild Leader.
"Vice Guild Leader! Are you alright?"
"My apologies. The roots stole my HP."
I quickly cast a recovery skill on the Vice Guild Leader, and we fled together, dodging the trees.
The wooden humanoid ceaselessly scattered seeds and emitted light toward us.
'Is it trying to restore the forest?'
The absurd growth speed of the trees was a problem, but so was the massive barrage of seeds it kept scattering.
Unable to do anything but dodge the overwhelming assault, we were gradually getting farther from the circle.
"Everyone keep dodging! O Seoyeon! I'm counting on you!"
I used [Earth-Shrinking] to approach the wooden humanoid's legs.
'Bookmark!'
I placed the Bookmark at the wooden humanoid's heel and retreated.
'Book Summon.'
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-Status-
Guardian of the Forest
(Immune to fire, lightning, and poison attributes)
HP: 2000/2000 MP: 800/800
Vitality: 100 Strength: 60 Magic: 80 Spirit: 80 Sense: 90
Unique Skills: [Rapid Growth]
[Seed Scattering]
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'Its stats are no joke.'
The wooden humanoid had higher stats than the True Overlord in every category except Strength.
'And these attribute immunities…….'
I couldn't understand how something made of wood could be immune to fire and lightning, but asking a monster for common sense was itself nonsensical.
'Rapid Growth is a skill for raising trees, and Seed Scattering is exactly what it sounds like.'
After checking its stats and skills, I surveyed my companions.
The three of them were running for their lives, and O Seoyeon was cutting down the pursuing tree roots from behind.
'Damn it!'
Just as I was distracted worrying about the others, the wooden humanoid lifted its foot.
CRASH!
The moment I escaped using [Earth-Shrinking], the ground shook with a deafening roar.
"Hwajin! Where'd you go?"
When I regrouped, the man asked.
"I went to check that monster's abilities for a moment. It's stronger than the True Overlord."
At those words, expressions of dread spread across everyone's faces.
"But its skills are all about growing trees. We can take it down. Everyone, please follow my instructions."
I told each person what they needed to do.
"Then begin the operation!"
At my shout, the four of them nodded and scattered.
I removed the Flame Spear and Lightning Spear I had imbued on my spear.
And I moved in front of the wooden humanoid.
When I deliberately approached on foot, the wooden humanoid's pupils turned toward me. It felt as though I could hear a rumbling sound as they rolled.
The wooden humanoid scattered seeds toward me.
"[Earth-Shrinking]!"
I urgently closed the distance before the seeds could fall.
Arriving beneath the wooden humanoid's feet, I gripped my spear.
"[One Flash]!"
With a cracking sound, a wound appeared on the wooden humanoid's ankle.
'It's incredibly hard.'
Despite being [One Flash], which had pierced through a field boss in a single strike, against the wooden humanoid it had merely scratched a few trees on the surface.
It felt exactly like striking incredibly hard metal.
I circled beneath the wooden humanoid's feet and repeatedly used [One Flash].
Then the wooden humanoid lifted its foot. It seemed intent on stomping like before.
'As expected, it doesn't scatter seeds at close range.'
Earlier too, the wooden humanoid had only tried to stomp me rather than scatter seeds.
As if it were trying to avoid becoming nutrients for the trees itself.
I dodged the wooden humanoid's stomp with [Earth-Shrinking] and repeated my approach, using [One Flash] again and again.
Then a red light flashed into my field of vision.
"Now!"
At my shout, Ms. Hyeri revealed herself from behind a tree.
"[Ice Explosion]!"
Ms. Hyeri's skill was fired at the wooden humanoid's leg planted on the ground.
BOOM!
With the sound, ice spikes poured down on the wooden humanoid's leg.
"O Seoyeon!"
"I know!"
Immediately after, O Seoyeon leaped out from behind the wooden humanoid. O Seoyeon's longsword struck the wooden humanoid's hamstring.
The frozen leg of the wooden humanoid shattered into pieces.
THUD!
Losing its balance, the wooden humanoid toppled and crashed into the ground.
The wooden humanoid hurriedly tried to stand.
"Uwooooooo!"
An incredible fighting shout echoed from the sky.
The man was descending, holding an axe enveloped in a blood-red light.
***
Behind the gigantic tree, which no longer extended its roots having fully grown, two people were present.
"Is the preparation complete?"
Jinhan asked. At the end of his gaze was Hwajin, fighting at the foot of the wooden humanoid.
"No, 10 more seconds."
Gangil, holding the axe, spoke. The color of his axe was gradually changing to red.
A moment later.
"Alright, it's ready."
Gangil's axe had turned completely red. He slipped out from behind the tree and brandished the axe.
"Then let's go."
Jinhan wrapped his arm around Gangil's waist.
"[Supergravity]!"
Jinhan altered the gravity applied to the two of them using his skill.
Their bodies seemed to lift slightly before settling back down on the ground.
The two stomped the ground simultaneously along with the signal.
As if they were in outer space, the two floated up into the sky.
Just then, a commotion broke out below and the wooden humanoid fell on its rear.
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
At Gangil's shout, Jinhan answered energetically and then increased the gravity.
The two who had floated up like balloons suddenly began to plummet at a rapid rate, as if they had turned into iron ingots.
"Uwooooooo!"
The falling speed was tremendous. As if trying to erase his fear, Gangil put all his strength into a shout.
"Take this! A piping-hot new skill I'm using for the first time after buying it with RP!"
He raised his axe.
"[Blood Explosive Slash]!"
CRACK!
The instant the man's axe struck down on the wooden humanoid's head, red energy coursed through the creature's body.
The Vice Guild Leader took the man and pulled away from the wooden humanoid.
Explosions occurred in succession wherever the red energy passed, and the wooden humanoid's body became riddled with wounds.
I checked the book.
The wooden humanoid's HP, which had been 2,000, had fallen to nearly half.
"It's not over yet! Keep attacking!"
Ice spikes, sword strikes, and axe attacks relentlessly targeted the wooden humanoid.
If the opponent had been the Overlord, this tactic wouldn't have worked. It probably would have dodged with ease.
But the wooden humanoid couldn't avoid our attacks. Simply put, its massive size made it easy to land hits.
"Everyone, that's enough! Get behind me!"
Confirmed that the wooden humanoid's HP had fallen to 500, I shouted. Everyone stopped attacking and got behind me.
The wooden humanoid staggered to its feet. Its leg, which had been destroyed at the beginning, seemed to have recovered somewhat.
I gripped my spear with both hands and shouted.
"[Extreme Light Flash]!"
A brilliant white light pierced through the wooden humanoid's torso.
It was the strongest 9-word attack skill, which I had been saving due to its 1-hour cooldown.
The wooden humanoid's body fell backward, shaking the earth.
[You have defeated the Guardian of the Forest!]
[The title 'Ruler of the Forest Layer' is bestowed upon all party members!]
[Vitality permanently increases by 10!]
[You are rewarded with 10 million RP!]
Surprised by the voice, we quickly checked our statuses.
The Vitality stat had changed from 16 to 26. Accordingly, HP had also increased by 200.
"Well now, this is a gift I never expected!"
The man laughed heartily, seemingly in a good mood. The others also looked extremely pleased.
Then something sparkling slowly floated down in front of me. I reached out my hand and received it.
A brown bead rested on my palm.
--------------------
[Essence of the Forest]
Proof that you have defeated the Guardian of the Forest Layer.
Enter a teleportation magic circle with this to access a special location.
--------------------
***
[You have entered the Guardian's Garden.]
[HP and MP are restored.]
[All abnormal statuses are cured.]
[The RP Shop is available.]
"My goodness."
Ms. Hyeri muttered.
Currently, our party was in a garden filled with flowers and trees. Water from the fountain in the center flowed along grooves in the floor, spreading everywhere.
The garden was filled with a sweet fragrance. Simply smelling it eased our minds and relaxed our tension.
Moments ago, as written in the description of the brown bead, we had headed to the circle with the bead in hand.
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You can move to the next location.
- Forest 2F
- Guardian's Garden
--------------------
When we selected the Guardian's Garden, we were sent here. The bead didn't disappear; it seemed we could come here multiple times.
While the others looked around the garden, I opened the RP Shop.
'What?'
A 'Special' tab had been added to the shop categories.
'This is the first time I've seen this.'
When I tapped the tab, two items were visible. I checked the elongated gem-like one first.
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[Guiding Crystal] (2,000,000 RP)
A crystal that locates the teleportation magic circle of your current floor. The end of the crystal points toward the magic circle.
--------------------
Without hesitation, I bought it immediately.
This would significantly reduce the effort of finding the circle leading to the next floor.
'As for the other one…….'
Next to the item below the crystal was a picture of a seed.