Chapter 81 – Forest of the Dryads (2)

Three days after entering the forest of rotten trees under the Dryads’ control, Lee Shin-Woo found himself trapped deep in the forest with no idea about where he was, or where he came from—that was without looking at the minimap, of course.

"It still looks the same even though we’ve been cutting down every tree we encounter..."

"I want to set this entire forest on fire," Jin grumbled.

"No. Well, not yet, at least."

[Kyaaaaaaaaaaahk!]

The Dryads screamed just as they finished with their conversation. As if waiting for that signal, a group of Acid Trees clawed at them from all directions with their sharp branches.

Lee Shin-Woo tightened his grip around his axe with both hands and swung it while staying on horseback; he cleaved through the attacking branches, prioritizing the ones closest to him.

"Hoo... Hah! Lightning Scatter!"

To cut down every branch, he must maintain his speed. No, he had to go even faster! Lee Shin-Woo’s defense zone had been incredibly clumsy in the beginning, but he’d fine-tuned it so significantly that he could now instinctively tell which part of his body he had to reinforce.

[Intermediate Bursting Thunder is now Lv4. Strength and Magic have increased by 10.]

"Holy crap. I had a feeling that this would happen, but my Bursting Thunder actually leveled up! I came here to train my Acid Resistance, but I ended up training my weapon skills."

"What are you talking about? You're training your Acid Resistance and Regeneration plenty."

Jin was right. For the past three days, Lee Shin-Woo and Jin had been constantly bombarded with Acid Poison by the Great Trees without even a second of rest. It was like a mist sauna!

A spectator might have thought the two of them weren’t in any pain, but they did feel pain despite being undead. Not just a tingling, but the feeling of getting pierced by thick metal thorns all over one’s body. The pain hadn’t subsided even now.

"Kuuuuuu.... Doesn’t it hurt for you?" Jin asked.

"It does hurt. But I knew what to expect before coming to the forest."

"Ah, seriously."

Although Jin had a strong urge to run out of the forest by himself, he managed to endure it out of sheer spite like the athlete he was, thinking he shouldn’t complain when Lee Shin-Woo was enduring the pain just fine.

Their effort bore fruit. Lee Shin-Woo's Acid Resistance had become intermediate level 2, while Jin's was now low rank level 7. Even Lee Shin-Woo’s Regeneration, which was quite difficult to level up, had already reached low rank level 9.

This guy couldn’t have been ordinary back in his homeworld, Jin thought.

He suddenly recalled the pain he'd endured over the past three days, but he resolved himself with gritted teeth when he saw Lee Shin-Woo calmly swinging his axe from atop him.

Although Lee Shin-Woo was an undead with a skill that protected him against mental debuff, it still didn’t make sense for an ordinary salaryman to take such horrific pain without complaint! That was the case in Jin’s original world anyway!

I wonder what Shin-Woo did in his world? Was he like me? Damn it, we're partners, yet there's too much we don't know about each other. No, am I just too concerned about the past when it's completely meaningless here?

"Jin, one step to the left... Jin?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Nice... Ha!"

[Kyaaaahk!]

Despite his building frustration, Jin continued to move with optimum timing to assist Lee Shin-Woo. It was as if they were moving as one. The connection established through Assimilation was developing by the day.

[Intermediate Assimilation is now Lv3. Agility and Magic have increased by 5. You can now match your breath with your target’s. You can guess what the other is thinking without even saying it.]

Because his Assimilation had risen from level 2 to 3, Lee Shin-Woo's own Acid Resistance was almost fully applied to Jin, and Lee Shin-Woo succeeded in sharing Jin's impressive dynamic visual acuity and reflexes that came from his high agility.

"Hah!"

[You have acquired 17,220 Perium.]

[You have acquired two Melting Bone Roots.]

In the beginning, Lee Shin-Woo had wanted to train his defense zone in order to maximize the effectiveness of his sluggish movements; as a result, the range at which he could perceive attacks with his dynamic visual acuity became wider. Moreover, due to his improved reflexes, he was able to stop attacks with minimum movements. His defense zone had improved significantly, to the point that even a senior knight would click his tongue in surprise at the progress he’d made.

"I was right to pick this location," Lee Shin-Woo congratulated himself.

"Are all heroes like this? They go to strange places to train?"

"Uh... Maybe?"

Fighting an undead corps was one thing. Lee Shin-Woo was pretty sure other heroes would like this forest for the invaluable training opportunities—Lee Shin-Woo was able to train his Acid Resistance, Regeneration, mana, and weapon techniques—and its relative low level of danger as long as one possessed Acid Resistance, that was what he believed anyway. Lee Shin-Woo considered telling the others about this place, but…

"It’s pointless since this place will be gone by the time we leave..."

Jin muttered, "You say such scary things in such a nonchalant way."

[Ggiiiiiiiiiiiiik!]

"Hmm, maybe I should train my fire element as well," Lee Shin-Woo said as he swung his axe, completely unfazed.

"And now you’re doing what I suggested,” Jin muttered, passing by a tree inhabited by a Dryad. “You’re burning down the forest…"

His change of mind surprised Jin. Lee Shin-Woo didn't hate the other heroes, though. He simply prioritized himself first!

[You have acquired 16,800 Perium.]

[You have acquired a Melting Bone Root.]

In the beginning, Lee Shin-Woo had needed to take a few swings with his axe to get past the trees, but now they always died after one hit. While Lee Shin-Woo had figured out the most effective way to deal with them, the fact that he was killing every tree in a single blow meant each and every one of his attacks had been a critical hit.

Lee Shin-Woo thought it would be strange if someone couldn't land a critical hit when the enemies couldn't move with their roots embedded into the ground. However, it was actually difficult beyond imagination to cut a gigantic tree when there were hundreds of branches assaulting you.

I've grasped the basics of the defense zone. Now I have to more proactively use it... Fine, I can do it. Let's give it a try.

Lee Shin-Woo had only intended to train his Acid Resistance in the beginning, but somehow, it turned into a training session for his combat fundamentals as well. It was worth it, and quite a satisfying experience!

Lee Shin-Woo laughed inwardly, pleased. Jin seemed to have read him like a book and yelled desperately, "You idiot! The poison mist is still pervading our bodies! We're still training our Acid Resistance!" All the while, he’d been absorbing the surrounding mana frantically so that he could maintain Steel Heart!

Two more days passed. Lee Shin-Woo’s Acid Resistance had leveled up once more. So did another skill.

[Intermediate Acid Resistance is now Lv4. Magic has increased by 10. Your understanding of acid deepens, and you are now proficient in acid type skills.]

[Intermediate Acid is now Lv5. Magic has increased by 10. The acid's density control has increased.]

He had somewhat expected this to happen, but he was still pleasantly surprised when his Acid element leveled up after his Acid Resistance!

Still, he couldn’t wait to acquire Fire Resistance or Lightning Resistance. While he wouldn’t be hurt by his own elements, it made sense that he should create a situation where they could obtain those resistances, didn’t it? If Jin could hear his thoughts, he would’ve called Lee Shin-Woo a crazy bastard!

"You crazy bastard!"

Well, Jin cursed at Lee Shin-Woo even though he couldn’t read his mind. There was another valid reason for his condemnation.

"Why are you taking off a piece of your armor!?"

"Well, since my resistance has leveled up too fast, their poison isn't really working on me anymore... That’s why I took off a piece of my armor. See, my bone is melting. Now this is how you level up a skill."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Lee Shin-Woo was usually the calm and collected type, and sometimes he was even cool. Why did he become so crazy over skill training!? What pissed Jin off the most was that once he’d gotten used to Lee Shin-Woo’s seemingly stupid behavior, he began to see that Lee Shin-Woo had only made those calls because he was thinking about the most effective way to train!

[Low Rank Regeneration has reached Lv10 and evolved into an intermediate level skill. Severe injuries and status ailments can be restored. Endurance and Magic have increased by 10.]

As expected, maintaining a harsh training environment resulted in his Regeneration skill going up to the intermediate rank in about another day! Now, aside from Twin Horn Charge, which he'd gained recently, as well as his low rank level 8 Fire element, all of his skills had reached the intermediate rank!

"Ah, my Steel Heart became an intermediate skill as well..."

"See? It was effective training."

"Yeah, you're right..." Jin replied while gritting his teeth.

Lee Shin-Woo discovered something then. He stopped swinging the axe and said, "Look over there."

"...Huh?"

Jin looked up to see that a Dryad had fallen out of a tree Lee Shin-Woo just cut down, and was now flying deeper into the forest.

"Man, they're running away again. You're really not killing them?"

Lee Shin-Woo shook his head. "You're supposed to save the best dish for last. And..."

The Dryads always screamed and ordered the trees to attack him when they saw Lee Shin-Woo, but they had never once faced him themselves. After he destroyed all the trees in the vicinity, they seemed to retreat into the depths of the forest.

Lee Shin-Woo could stop them, but he didn't do so. The Dryads running deeper into the forest were essentially signposts for him.

"Signposts?"

"Yeah. The answer's there when you think about why the Dryads are protecting this dead forest and attacking trespassers."

"Isn't it instinctual? They've become completely corrupted, and their sense of self seems compromised."

"No. Though their consciousness has weakened, they're still spirits. Moreover, why would they so desperately attack trespassers, and why would they abandon all hostility to escape deeper into the forest when they failed in driving us out? That means..."

"That means…?"

It definitely meant there was something they wanted to protect deep within the forest. They wanted to protect it even after they had become corrupted! Lee Shin-Woo was absolutely sure of it.

"Wow, you're such an asshole," Jin muttered in awe.

"Why? I was just making a rational inference."

"You're letting them escape so they’d lead you to that valuable thing of theirs."

"Oh, you caught on already? You've really grown..."

Jin was right. Of course Lee Shin-Woo had come here primarily to train himself, but why not kill more birds with one stone if he could? Since the Dryads were so desperately trying to protect whatever it was, it must be something out of the ordinary.

"Maybe they intended for the rotten forest to spread. The undead corps tried to pass through here, yet they had to make a detour, remember?"

"Yeah. I'm sure they didn't expect a demented bastard would make this place a training ground and willingly enter it..."

It's much easier to run away than to face something dangerous and disgusting. That was the same for both heroes and undead. What others considered dangerous and disgusting, though, Lee Shin-Woo considered worth exploring.

"In our country, there's a saying that heaven assists those who help themselves..."

"There's a saying like that in our country too,” said Jin. “it also says that heaven protects those who are honest."

"I don't believe in God!"

"You liar!"

Would heaven aid Lee Shin-Woo, or would it abandon him? Lee Shin-Woo, who'd just decided to become an atheist, didn't really concern himself with the question, and instead quickly urged Jin to follow the Corrupted Dryads.

Jin stretched his legs and sighed before going back to running again.