The Bubble Breath that Set had acquired — or more accurately, enhanced — was clearly producing larger bubbles compared to when it was at Level 1.
Previously, the bubbles ranged from as small as one centimeter to three at most, but now at Level 2, the smallest were three centimeters and the largest reached five.
Naturally, the change brought about by the higher level was not limited to just the size of the bubbles.
When the bubbles burst and turned into an adhesive liquid, that adhesiveness was also clearly stronger than it had been at Level 1.
"This is quite a handy skill."
"Gruu."
Set nodded in agreement as Rei murmured, stowing the black panther's corpse into his Misty Ring.
It had no direct offensive power whatsoever, but it was a highly useful skill for capturing opponents and slowing their movements.
If the skill level continued to rise, that adhesiveness would surely become even more powerful.
If it gets a massive boost all at once at Level 5, I wonder what would happen. ...But then again, finding an enemy that uses Bubble Breath is difficult enough to begin with, and even if we do find one, there's no guarantee we'd conveniently be able to enhance Bubble Breath like we did with this black panther.
The enhancement through Beast Magic carried a high degree of randomness.
It was certain that one could acquire or enhance skills corresponding to the characteristics of the monster that had possessed the magic stone, but that was only a general direction — not an absolute.
In fact, when Set and Death Scythe had acquired skills in the past, there were more than a few instances where Rei questioned why they had gained that particular skill.
Alternatively, it was impossible to entirely deny the possibility that the original owner of the magic stone had possessed the talent for that skill but had simply never acquired it in life.
"Gururuu, gruoo?"
As they advanced through the Forest of Magic, Set came to a halt and looked around in bewilderment, purring in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
Rei asked, finding Set's behavior puzzling.
But Set only looked around in confusion in response.
Rei, growing suspicious of Set's demeanor, surveyed the surroundings himself... and realized why Set had stopped.
"There are no living creatures?"
Indeed, there was not a single sign of any living creature in this area.
Despite being called the Forest of Magic, it was naturally home to numerous animals and birds in addition to monsters.
Let alone insects — it would not have been strange for there to be countless numbers of them.
Until now, the cries of animals, birds, and insects had echoed all around them.
However, before they knew it, all such sounds had vanished from this area.
Of course, it was not as though they could not hear any such sounds at all even now.
But it was more accurate to say that what they heard were the cries of creatures in distant locations, rather than any from the immediate vicinity where Rei and Set stood.
"It seems we've wandered into another strange place."
"Gruoo?"
At Rei's words, Set asked what they should do, directing its question to Rei on its back.
For an area in the Forest of Magic to be so devoid of any sign of living creatures was far too suspicious.
Which meant this place was likely a special zone.
Though "special" in this case certainly did not mean it would be of any benefit to Rei and his companion.
Well, if there's a powerful monster here, I suppose you could say it's beneficial in a way.
Rei considered this as he surveyed the surroundings.
Alongside Set, he proceeded through the forest, remaining vigilant.
And the direction they were heading was certainly not mistaken.
As they advanced, both Rei and Set gradually began to feel a certain pressure.
That pressure was an overwhelming presence rivaling even the Giant Wolf they had defeated yesterday — perhaps superior.
In other words, continuing forward would mean encountering the owner of such an overwhelming presence.
Or perhaps the owner of this presence was radiating that pressure precisely because it wanted to discourage any enemies from daring to challenge it.
As he was thinking this, a sweet scent suddenly drifted toward them.
And it was coming from the very direction they were heading.
"What's this smell? ...It's a strangely cloying scent. Set, are you okay?"
"Gruu."
At Rei's words, Set also seemed puzzled as to why such a scent was drifting toward them.
Given that it was coming from their direction of travel, they might have suspected some kind of trap, but neither Rei nor Set experienced any apparent effects.
If that was the case, they judged the sweet scent was likely harmless for the time being and headed toward its source...
"Oh?"
"Gruu."
Rei and Set both made sounds simultaneously.
For right before their eyes was a familiar monster — the lower body of a snake and the upper body of an Orc.
Ordinarily, being a monster of the Forest of Magic, it would not have been strange for it to attack Rei and Set the moment it spotted them.
After all, Rei and Set had killed numerous Orc Nagas.
Even so, Rei had not believed they had killed every single Orc Naga in the Forest of Magic during yesterday's battle, and his expectation was proven correct upon seeing the one before them.
As far as Rei was concerned, he had already obtained an Orc Naga magic stone and did not need another.
However, even if the magic stone was unnecessary, the Orc Naga's meat had been quite delicious, and he definitely wanted more.
Despite thinking this, the reason he did not provoke the Orc Naga ahead was that it showed no reaction whatsoever to their presence — and he suspected that might be related to the sweet scent.
Rei followed behind the Orc Naga alongside Set.
Under normal circumstances, the Orc Naga should have noticed their presence, but it showed no signs of doing so as it continued forward.
Is this the effect of the sweet scent? But why doesn't it affect me and Set? Well, it's not like I want it to affect us, but...
Why were they unaffected?
That was a strong question, but at the same time, it was also true that a part of him wondered whether, if it had no effect on them, they could simply leave it be.
What concerned Rei more than that, however, was the fact that in the direction the Orc Naga was heading — guided by the sweet scent — he could sense a presence about as strong as the Giant Wolf they had felt earlier.
"Alright, Set. Let's try following that Orc Naga for now. It's probably being controlled by the sweet scent. If so, we should have a chance to observe the owner of that presence."
"Gruu."
Set purred in response to Rei's words.
It was likely thinking the same thing.
And so, Rei and Set each muffled their footsteps, suppressed their presence, and followed the Orc Naga while carefully ensuring they were not detected by the entity producing the sweet scent — an opponent that was probably an A-Rank Monster.
If it's an A-Rank Monster, it feels like they might spot us easily even if we suppress our presence and footsteps... well, it's still better than doing nothing.
If the opponent was an A-Rank Monster, it would not be so easily defeated even by Rei and Set.
If it were carelessly letting its guard down like the Giant Wolf, that would be a different story.
However, when it came to how many A-Rank Monsters would actually behave so blatantly dismissive as the Giant Wolf, honestly, there could not be that many.
In that sense, it was rather fortunate that the first A-Rank Monster Rei and his companion had encountered in the Forest of Magic was the Giant Wolf.
They continued following the Orc Naga for about twenty minutes.
It was a considerable amount of time, but the distance they had actually covered was not all that far.
Whether the Orc Naga was intoxicated by the sweet scent or simply drawn toward it, Rei could not tell, but its movement speed was by no means fast.
It was not quite staggering... but it moved quite unsteadily on its snake lower body.
Continuing forward in that state... the Orc Naga eventually arrived at a place where, despite being in the Forest of Magic, nothing grew — not even weeds.
Normally, seeing such a place would have been surprising.
But Rei and Set knew of the place where the Black Snake had been.
In that sense, it was not difficult to deduce that this place was likely similar to where the Black Snake had resided.
However... what was truly astonishing was the presence of a single giant tree in what could be called a clearing.
A tree clearly larger than the surrounding ones.
And not just slightly larger — it was roughly fifty percent bigger.
There were several reasons Rei was surprised upon seeing that tree.
For instance, despite being obviously larger than the surrounding trees, why had they not been able to spot it from outside the Forest of Magic?
Was it using some kind of illusion magic or skill, or did it possess magic or a skill that prevented recognition?
That said, that was a rather weak reason to be surprised at the tree before their eyes — a weak reason to be astonished despite having discovered and laid eyes on such a gigantic tree.
The sight that allowed him to declare as much was right before Rei's eyes.
Vines extending from the giant tree.
That alone would not have been particularly surprising.
But when the tips of those vines bore the faces of various monsters, it was impossible not to be shocked.
Wolf, Hippogriff, Hornet, Black Panther, Lizard, Cow... and beyond those, faces of various other monsters grew from the vines, including some Rei had never seen before.
The faces of such diverse monsters sprouted from the tips of numerous vines.
Counting the number of vines would have been quite tedious, but fortunately — or perhaps as a silver lining — since each vine had a face at its tip, counting them was not difficult.
At a glance, over a hundred. ...Should I count those vines by the counter for "sticks"? Regular vines would probably be counted as "sticks," but when they have heads growing from them, maybe I should count them as "individuals" or something.
Rei was thinking about things even he found absurd, but that was intentional — he was doing so to keep from being shaken by the tree currently before his eyes.
Perhaps sensing Rei's state and growing concerned, Set gently nuzzled his face against him.
Rei stroked Set back in gratitude and firmly gathered his resolve once more, turning his gaze not toward the vines... but toward the tree from which they sprouted.
The tree itself, at first glance, looked like nothing more than an ordinary tree.
Of course, an ordinary tree did not disguise its own existence through some means, nor did it sprout other monsters' heads from the tips of its vines.
Setting all that aside and looking at the tree, it was undoubtedly an ordinary tree.
There were no faces, no fangs, no roots moving freely like legs.
It was just an ordinary tree with none of those things.
What did "ordinary" mean again?
Rei recognized the tree before his eyes as an ordinary tree, but perhaps because he had thought so, the meaning of the word "ordinary" had become rather unclear to him.
Then again, given the current situation, whether the tree was ordinary or not made little difference.
"Ordinary" aside, when it comes to tree monsters... is it a Treant-type monster?
When hearing "plant-type monster," the first thing that came to mind was indeed a Treant.
Among Treants, there were various types — individuals that moved their roots like feet to travel, and individuals that stayed in one place to ambush enemies.
If so, there was a very high possibility that this eerie tree monster was also a Treant-type monster... and a Rare Species at that.
Of course, looking at the enemy before his eyes, he could hardly believe it could be described with a term as mild as Rare Species.
Toward that tree, the Orc Naga approached in a dreamlike, unsteady state.
Now, what would happen?
Rei watched the Orc Naga with that question in mind.
Then, several vines approached the Orc Naga... and one of them, with a wolf's mouth at its tip, held in its jaws a bright red fruit — one that could aptly be described as garish.
When it offered the fruit to the approaching Orc Naga, the creature happily brought it to its mouth... and the instant it finished eating the fruit, roughly twenty vines tore into the Orc Naga's body, ripping it apart.
All that remained was the head.
From that head, a vine sprouted... and the base of that vine stretched toward the tree.