Chương 6: Just Trees

With one last swing, the tree before me finally gives out. It topples over and falls into the clearing with a great thump.

"Hell yes!" I shout out, scaring a bunch of birds. Thankfully, it seems they are normal animals that don't try to kill me. I walk over to the fallen tree and try to put it in my storage. But I find I am unable to. I get the sensation that I don't have enough space inside. Perhaps it will get larger as I level up? Or maybe some objects are just too large to fit inside. It would be crazy if I could just like, pick up an entire house or something like that. Still, I really love this magic stuff.

Unfortunately, it seems my hammer training isn't giving me any experience towards my class. Which does make sense, as the class is mostly about smithing. It is strange that it provides experience for combat at all, just swinging a hammer around would be even weirder. But now, I can use my hammer reasonably well. I still fail to manipulate the energy occasionally, and I do have limited stamina. But I can do it well enough to fight something at least.

Which is good, because just as I am preparing to set off into the forest, a roar shakes the trees. The ground rumbles and I can hear something large crashing through the forest beyond the clearing. Just as I am about to start running, dozens of trees are uprooted and shot around the clearing Where the trees used to be, a beast now stands, which I identify. [Lesser Ent - Lvl 2] The beast is a living tree. I don't know how else to describe it.

It seems to have two main branches with which it is currently ripping a tree out of the ground. Fuck, guess they arent just trees after all… But, it is only level two. While it is massive and I am totally scared shitless, I might as well try to fight it. After all, I have a big hammer, and I have proven that I can destroy trees pretty well. The ent takes the tree it picked up and chucks it at me. You know, as one casually just throws an entire tree–very normal stuff.

Of course, its an entire fucking tree, so I dodge out of the way. Already I feel a whole lot better at fighting, must be those stats I got. Or perhaps it's just because I had some food and a nap. Could be that too. The ent seems upset at the fact that I dodged the tree, and charges right towards me. Which is a really bad idea, cause as stated earlier, I have a big hammer. I draw my arm back into a massive swing and pump forty stamina into my attack.

A sizable portion of my reserves, but I have found that it is worth it. The ent charges right towards me, and meets the blow of my hammer right in the center of its trunk. Boom Splinters of wood go everywhere, many of them giving me minor cuts. I grimace at the pain, but keep my focus on the ent. It lets out a deafening roar. You have heard the roar of a foe. You are paralyzed for 5 seconds. Fuck, my body locks up and I am unable to move. I guess earlier it was far enough away that the roar didn't impact me.

I watch helplessly as the ent regenerates and then its mouth starts to glow red. Fire, my instincts warn me. By some miracle, the paralysis wears off right at that moment and I duck just enough to avoid a jet of red-hot flames that soar over my head. My hair gets a bit of a scorching, though and I frantically pat my head to put out the fire. What the fuck!? Since when can trees breathe fire? Hell, why can trees breathe fire? How can they?

Questions as to the mechanics race through my head, before I settle on the simple explanation of: It's magic. Though, even with such bullshit trying to kill me, I won't give up. As I spring back onto my feet. I hold my hammer tightly and stand my ground before the ent. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I charge forward myself. I put as much weight behind the hammer as I can and swing.

Aiming for the point I hit earlier, I make contact with another explosion of splinters. This time, my hammer goes straight through its already weakened body. Suddenly, the violent intent fades from the air and I hear a ding in my mind again.

'Ding', You have slain [Lesser Ent - Lvl 2].

'Ding', Magic Smith has advanced to level 3. Stat points distributed. I collapse to the ground, gasping as I try to gather breath. I am not nearly fit enough for this shit. Monster slaying is one heck of a workout. But damn, I actually fucking did it. My training paid off massively, that fight was way easier than the wolf. Still dangerous, and I nearly died from that paralysis… But I am alive in this new world. I can fight, survive, and adventure. That means I can learn magic, skills, and craft things.

Oh and perhaps travel the world and do whatever the goddess wants me to. Still not quite sure if I am going to follow these 'quests' of hers. But it does seem interesting, so I won't write it all off quite yet. After all, they are sure to take me to lots of interesting places. For now, I harvest the mana crystal from the ent – another lesser forest one – and then simply relax against a tree and eat some food to replenish my stamina. I skip out on using a health potion, as my injuries aren't that bad.

Though it is ridiculously painful to remove all the splinters, and my poor white hair is full of ash. Who the hell thought sentient trees that can breathe fire were a good idea? My Spirit Mage class hasn't done anything yet. But that is mostly cause I have no clue what spirit even really is. Hopefully I can find a book about it at some point. Otherwise I am completely stuck in that regard. My break is quite short, twenty minutes perhaps. After all, I have a town to find, and perhaps some beasts to hunt.

So, I gather myself and prepare to set out. Though, in what is quite typical fashion, a roar shakes the forest at that exact moment. This one is far greater than the one before. While I am no expert in the beasts of this world, I feel like that is a fight I cannot take. So, I run in the complete opposite direction. It's not cowardice, you see, it's actually this thing called self-preservation. It is very clear that in this new world, I am still at the very bottom.

I do not fancy learning what is at the top right about now. Not when it could probably smite me with a single glance. After about five minutes of running as fast as I can, I slow down to a brisk jog. I think I am clear of danger for now, and I do want to pace myself just a bit. My body may feel better than it has in a while, but it is definitely not used to all this exertion. Especially seeing as I don't even know if I am going in the right direction.

I don't want to waste energy exerting myself if I am going the wrong way. Though something tells me that I am heading in the right direction. This system thing is still strange, but I do have a gut feeling that I can only attribute to it. So, I shall continue going in this direction. After about three hours of running, I hear faint sounds of water in the distance. Which can only mean that there is a river up ahead. I pick up my pace a bit until I reach it. The river is fairly wide, about ten meters across.

After taking a moment to refill my waterskin, I realize that it is starting to get dark out. Guess It was a little hopeful to think I wouldn't have to camp outside. But oh well, it's nothing I haven't done before. Plus, when weighing the cost of traveling at night, camping is far more enticing. Travelling at night without proper gear is just asking to die. Whether it be tripping on something and getting injured, brushing up against a weird plant, or of course, wild animals or beasts.

I find some branches and a couple good rocks and start a small fire. Only to be shocked when a notification appears. Camp has been formed. While the fire still burns various effects will be applied. Effects: Weaker monsters will naturally avoid camps, +11% resource replenishment rate. Huh, neat. It seems like just building a campfire forms a 'camp' of sorts. That resource replenishment seems nice, and the part about keeping monsters away is too. Though I doubt it will keep stronger ones away.

The resource replenishment is especially nice, my stamina has been getting quite low. While it does refill without me resting, it is quite slow. Also I note that it is an eleven percent bonus, which must be from that title I have. {Competent Adventurer} improves camp effects by ten percent if I recall correctly. I wonder if there are other ways to improve the camp effects? Probably, after all, these wilds seem very dangerous.

While it is strange that just starting a fire can do such a thing, I am not going to complain about helpful magic. This is just another example of how awesome magic is. Unfortunately, while the goddess provided me some clothes, she did not provide any other camping equipment. Oh well, guess the grass is soft enough. Plus it will be nice to sleep under the stars and moon. I glance up at said stars and uh… I guess it's actually just moons. You know, since there are four moons and no stars.

One seems to be a bit reddish, the other blueish, another purpleish and the last is almost pure white. I can't help but think the colors are supposed to mean something, as is the lack of stars. I have never been much of an astrologer though, so that's not a mystery for me to solve. For now, I will just relax into my nice bed of grass and stare up at the stars until I drift off. Tomorrow I have a gut feeling that I will find this town. I honestly can't wait. While I may be a bit reclusive, people can be helpful.

Plus, I am a smith, and do kind of need people to trade with eventually. But that is all tomorrow's problem.