I set out a little later than usual the following morning. Having rested well the night before, I was in excellent spirits and peak physical condition.
I had clearly reached a depth in the Sea of Trees that even the people from that frontline base never dared to visit. All traces of paths had vanished entirely, replaced by overgrown grass and tangled vines that formed impenetrable natural barricades. To make any progress, I had to hack my way through the jungle myself, which inevitably slowed my pace.
Simply navigating the terrain was labor-intensive enough, but the monsters were not known for their patience.
"Ge-gehh!"
I immediately heightened my vigilance as a strange, grating noise approached from the distance. Simultaneously, my Mana Perception picked up a single monster sprinting at high speed, followed closely by a massive swarm of Raptors.
"Wait, is that—"
"Ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-ge!!!"
Just as I identified the creature based on the local lore, an ostrich-like monster burst from the undergrowth. Without even glancing in my direction, it sprinted right past me. Naturally, the pursuing Raptors immediately locked onto me as their new target.
"Paralyze Mist. Spark Ball."
Striking first, I deployed poison and lightning-attribute magic. A cloud of fast-acting Paralytic Poison filled the air, followed by orbs of electricity that discharged upon impact. While both spells were designed for wide-area suppression, forming a magical wall across the swarm's path, their effect was underwhelming.
Tracking the swarm with my Mana Perception, I saw that while the Raptors inhaling the Paralytic Poison mist were visibly slowed, it wasn't enough to stop them in their tracks. Nevertheless, the sluggish creatures were unable to evade the electrical discharges that followed.
I only managed to cull about thirty percent of the pack. A Spark Ball is potent enough against humans, but it lacks the stopping power needed for monsters of this caliber.
Still, reducing their numbers by thirty percent served its purpose. The Raptors at the rear, who appeared less frenzied to begin with, came to a halt. Seeing their kin fall, about half the swarm turned and fled. With only twenty percent of the original group remaining, I could manage them easily as long as I remained methodical.
I continued to dispatch them with clinical efficiency to ensure they didn't suffer. By the time the assault ended, the area was thick with the copper scent of blood and the mounds of fallen predators.
"Whew... There are roughly fifty of them lying around here. I wonder how many there were in total. So that was a Take Ostrich."
That ostrich-like monster inhabited these dangerous depths despite having almost no combat capability. Instead, it relied on its incredibly powerful legs to survive—and a far more insidious trait. It released excitatory pheromones that lured other monsters into a frenzy, directing them to attack targets on its behalf.
It was nicknamed the "weakest yet worst monster in the Sea of Trees." Having just been targeted by a flood of Raptors weaving through the jungle with terrifying momentum, I understood exactly why. If a traveler lost their composure for even a second in the face of that onslaught, they would be torn apart without a chance to fight back.
"It’s a waste, but I’ll move on without harvesting them this time."
Given the Take Ostrich’s habits, it would likely return to scavenge the remains soon. I had no desire to be there when it brought a fresh swarm of Raptors with it.
I walked straight through until past noon, at which point a natural boulder—not one of my Huge Rock Slimes—came into view.
"If I head southeast from that rock, I should find the lake."
I checked the directions to the village provided in the letters from Gain and the others. After advancing for a while, the Heat-Radiating Trees and dense undergrowth abruptly vanished, opening up my field of vision. This was likely the "lake" they had mentioned, but...
"Actually, this looks more like a swamp than a lake."
Puddles and aquatic plants dotted the landscape, but the area was far too marshy and shallow to be called a lake.
Regardless, the footing was atrocious. It wasn't very deep yet, but even now, a single step sent me sinking up to my ankles. One wrong move and I’d be hopelessly stuck. Rather than struggling through it on foot, I decided to use my specialized gear.
I summoned my Mad Slimes and the small boat I’d used for snow removal at the end of last year from my Dimension Home. I made sure to load the boat with any tools I might need for the crossing.
"Preparation complete! Let's go!"
Using Slime Magic in tandem with the Mad Slimes, I manipulated the mud, propelling the boat across the swamp on a controlled torrent. Perhaps due to the density of the sludge, I couldn't reach the speeds I achieved with Water Slimes, but it was still remarkably fast.
The Water Slimes are like a racing motorboat, whereas the Mad Slimes are more like a standard engine-powered boat... though I’ve never actually been on a motorboat, so I’m just guessing.
In any case, it was significantly faster than wading through the mire. I had plenty of Mana Recovery potions on hand, so my plan was to push straight through to the far shore.
Of course, the Sea of Trees was never that accommodating.
"Seriously, nothing is ever easy!"
I sensed something massive approaching from beneath the mud in my path. I banked hard to the left just as a pair of jaws bristling with teeth the size of human arms lunged out of the muck. A beat later, a rock-like head and torso followed.
It was a giant crocodile roughly four meters long—a C-Rank Garomos Alligator. Those jaws were powerful enough to snap an armored man in half with ease.
"I'm ready for you!"
"Guafuh!?"
Despite its bulk, the creature was incredibly fast. As it lunged to swallow me whole, I used Teleport to blink the boat and myself out of its path. In my place, I left behind a Special Adhesive Ball.
"!?... !... !?"
The crocodile chewed the ball instinctively, but as the adhesive set, its jaws became glued shut. It began to thrash frantically in the mud, surprised by its inability to open its mouth.
A crocodile’s bite is immense, but the muscles used to open its mouth are surprisingly weak. I’d worried the effect might fail if it swallowed the ball or if its saliva diluted the adhesive, but it worked perfectly.
Taking advantage of its confusion, I teleported directly onto the Garomos Alligator’s head and drove my katana through its skull, killing it instantly. Its jaw strength was a lethal threat, but once I dictated the pace of the fight, it was manageable.
It took another four hours to navigate the rest of the swamp and collect my prize. Since I had reached a natural breaking point, I decided to set up camp for the night.
The following day.
I had hoped I was done with the wetlands, but an hour into my trek, a second swamp appeared. It seemed what I had taken for dry land was merely a large sandbar or island in the middle of a vast marshy network.
I’m starting to feel like I’m traveling up the Amazon... not that I’ve ever actually been to South America. Then again, exploring this forest is basically nothing but traveling and killing monsters.
After two more hours of silent boating, I finally cleared the wetlands for good.
"!?"
Just as I landed and was preparing to put the boat away, a sense of profound wrongness washed over me. I threw myself backward instinctively as something plummeted from the canopy with a violent rustle of leaves.
"Maybe I really do have terrible luck."
The falling object hit the boat with a massive splash of mud, its log-like body coiling and shifting restlessly. It was a gargantuan green serpent, large enough to swallow several men whole. While several species of snakes inhabited the Sea of Trees, only one grew to this size: the A-Rank Immortal Snake.
However, I should have been nowhere near its natural habitat. According to the records, I would have had to travel toward the forest's center for at least another week to encounter one. But there was no point dwelling on geography now.
"I’ll just have to accept my bad luck and deal with it."
As if reacting to my voice, the Immortal Snake abandoned the boat and slithered across the ground toward me. It reared its head and struck with the speed of a bullet. Its movements were far faster than the Garomos Alligator’s, but they were within my ability to track.
"Kuh."
The real problem was its sheer durability and regenerative speed. I evaded a strike and lashed out with my katana, but the flesh was so tough the blade barely bit into it. The snake didn't even flinch; instead, it tried to coil its massive body around me to crush the life out of me.
I used Qi-reinforced legs to leap high, escaping the encirclement. Upon landing, I delivered a heavy, Qi-infused strike that bit significantly deeper than before. I was certain I’d inflicted a serious wound, but the snake immediately lashed out with its tail to force me back.
In the brief moment I spent creating distance, the wound vanished before my eyes. This thing was going to be a nightmare to put down.
"Tornado Cutter."
I used the wind magic to clear the surrounding vegetation, securing a wider arena for the fight. I also made sure to mark a nearby tree so I wouldn't lose my orientation.
"Shaaa!!"
The serpent hissed and lunged again. It was the same strike as before. Having seen it once, I evaded it effortlessly and countered with a katana cloaked in ice-attribute mana.
"Kishaaaaaa!?"
The frigid strike was incredibly effective. Despite the wound being shallower than my previous one, the Immortal Snake recoiled, its gaze shifting from predatory hunger to blatant rage. It no longer saw me as a meal—it saw me as an enemy.
"Shaaaa!"
Incensed by the cold, its attacks became ferocious. It abandoned its simple lunges, instead using the surrounding trees to strike from all angles while trying to bite and constrict me simultaneously. It clearly had the advantage of the terrain.
I continued to evade and strike with my frost-cloaked blade, but no matter how many wounds I inflicted, none were fatal. At best, the cold only slowed its regeneration slightly. Slashing at its torso was a losing game.
In that case...
"Ha!"
"Shi!?"
I waited for the exact moment it transitioned from a bite to a coil. Holding my katana in an overhead stance, I brought it down onto the serpent's head with every ounce of my strength. I felt a surge of resistance through the hilt, but I forced the blade through with a burst of Qi, successfully severing the head from the body.
Even so, the Immortal Snake refused to die.
"Shaa!? Shaaaaa!!!"
To my utter astonishment, the severed head was still very much alive and hissing. The headless torso began to thrash violently like a worm on hot concrete. I moved in to crush the head, but I was forced back to avoid the torso's erratic, bone-crushing movements.
"...What is this thing made of?"
As I watched, the severed head began to spontaneously regenerate a new body from the stump of its neck. I knew A-Ranks were tough, but this was ridiculous. Is this thing a snake or a planaria?
I’d been told that every rank represents a massive jump in power, especially from C-Rank upward. Between this Immortal Snake and Lord Reinbach’s Ignis Dragon, it seemed every A-Rank monster was a walking natural disaster.
By the time I finished that thought, the head had already regenerated a body nearly the size of the original. At least the regeneration only seemed to work from the head down; no second head was growing from the old torso, thank goodness.
But I couldn't keep this up forever.
"Exchange."
Reluctantly, I sheathed my katana and used Space Magic to summon a silver spear to my hand. About 1.4 meters long and gleaming with a metallic luster, it was a specialized Iron Slime Spear I’d kept in reserve. It was my ultimate trump card—a weapon designed for the absolute termination of biological life.
"I’m sorry, but I really don't have time to play with you anymore."
The Immortal Snake froze, seemingly sensing a primal threat. I felt a level of wariness and hostility far beyond anything it had shown before. Yet, it didn't flee. It reared up, swaying its head rhythmically before launching one final, desperate strike.
"—!"
I evaded the blur of its motion by a hair’s breadth and thrust the spear into its side as we passed. I let go of the weapon, leaving it embedded. The serpent looked back at me, perhaps thinking I was now defenseless, but then it collapsed, its entire body wracked with violent convulsions.
The reaction confirmed my trump card had worked, but I didn't lower my guard. Only after I was certain the life had faded from its eyes did I retrieve the spear.
"Good job. You can come out now."
At my word, the spear lost its rigid shape, melting back into its original form as an Iron Slime. From the puncture wound, a massive amount of "blood" began to pour out—which was actually my Bloody Slimes emerging from the serpent’s interior.
Injecting Bloody Slimes into a target via a hollow-bore spear so they can consume the creature’s blood from the inside... it was a grisly tactic, even by my standards. But as long as a creature had blood in its veins, there was likely nothing this technique couldn't kill.
It was efficient and terrifyingly powerful, but it was also a dangerous crutch that could dull my combat skills if I relied on it too heavily.
"I’ll save this spear for when I truly have no other choice."
In a straight fight, I was still clearly outmatched by an A-Rank's raw power. I’d thought I’d prepared enough combat magic for this trip, but it seemed I still had plenty of training to do.
As I began to reflect on my performance, I moved to harvest the Immortal Snake’s carcass before other predators arrived. Suddenly, I sensed something approaching from deeper within the jungle. I immediately abandoned the harvest and dropped into a combat stance.
However...
"! You're—"
"Oh? If it isn't the kid from the other day."
Emerging from the dense foliage was no monster, but a familiar, towering man.