On the fifth day after entering the Great Tree Sea, the expedition drew closer and closer to the forest's core—and the monsters grew stronger at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Monsters rarely "break past their potential" in the way adventurers do, but the amount of ambient magic in their habitat made an overwhelming difference in speed, power, and stamina. The simplest example was also the most infamous: the same species in the Dungeon was always far stronger than its surface counterpart.
As the days passed, injuries began to spread through the team.
Unlike the Dungeon, which had safe floors where a party could breathe, the terror of the Great Tree Sea lay in this: there was almost nowhere you could call safe. You had to anticipate an attack at every hour, from every direction. Under that kind of pressure, Level 1 adventurers took heavy wear and tear in repeated clashes with high-intensity foes.
In an expedition, manpower was as precious as food.
An injury didn't just mean one person couldn't fight—it meant additional hands were needed to protect them. With the combat pressure rising, the Level 2 members replaced the Level 1s along the outer line, while the Level 1s pulled inward to guard supplies and shield the wounded.
Beneath this endless canopy lay the bones of countless adventurers.
The forest struck again.
A new swarm surged in, and from deeper within the trees came two deafening roars—like the owners of this territory announcing their claim, or like commanders driving the lesser beasts forward.
"Great Bears!" Letsa barked the moment she recognized it. "Everyone fall back and hold formation! Duncan—one for you, one for me! We intercept them away from the main group—do not fight near the others!"
Then she turned and snapped at her goddess, voice leaving no room for protest:
"Lady Artemis—get back into the formation now! If anything happens to you, we all lose our blessing and die!"
She wasn't sparing anyone's feelings. A Great Bear's size and abilities were an absolute nightmare. If those two reached the party, the Level 2s might endure the shockwaves… but the Level 1s would suffer casualties just from the collateral damage.
"Yes," Duncan answered.
Before Letsa's order even fully landed, Duncan's spear swept away a few lunging monsters and he plunged into the trees.
"Seriously… even the kid works this hard," Letsa muttered with a self-mocking grin as she cut down two more attackers and sprinted toward the second roar. "Makes it hard for an adult to slack off."
As the captain of Artemis Familia, Letsa wielded a slender one-handed rapier. In theory, a rapier demanded precision—light, piercing, elegant.
In her hands, it also carried a strangely bold, almost brutal streak. Horizontal slashes, leaping cleaves—moves a rapier "shouldn't" be used for—came out like they were second nature.
Artemis had complained about that habit more than once. In the end, she'd commissioned Hephaestus Familia in Orario to forge an unusual rapier from high-grade metal—something that could endure the way her captain fought.
The bears weren't far.
To better control their herd and ensure their wind-blades could reach the team, the two Great Bears had positioned themselves within striking distance. For a Level 3, it took only moments to close in.
And this time, as Duncan faced the mountain-sized beast, he felt nothing like he had before.
Last time, he'd been running for his life—Bell at his side, too many bears behind him, nowhere to stop and fight. Even then, he'd managed to kill a few.
Now he was Level 3. Now it was one-on-one.
The difference was night and day.
"Now," Duncan said, smiling at the towering bear, "it's time for a little payback."
Unfortunately for the bear, it wasn't a survivor from that earlier chaos. It didn't know what stood in front of it. To the creature, this was a pest that refused to die under a stampeding swarm.
Its pride flared.
It raised both enormous paws and slammed down, intending to crush the "insect" into the soil.
A gentle warmth rose from Duncan's back—flowing through his body, down both arms, and into his weapon.
The spear became a silent blade wrapped in invisible force.
Before the paws could fully descend, they were cut cleanly in half—two massive limbs severed with such perfect smoothness that blood hadn't even had time to spray.
Duncan was already above.
He stepped on an air-plate—Sky Step—and, twisting his body midair, swung once.
The bear's head fell like a boulder.
No counterattack. No struggle.
The beast crashed down, and foul blood erupted across the ground.
The power dispersed. Duncan exhaled slowly.
Half a year of relentless training had brought him much farther with this force—yet the more he refined it, the more he sensed its depth. Compression, duration, physical and mental drain—every element was its own discipline.
The stronger the output and the longer he maintained it, the more it consumed him—much like sustained magic consumed mana. The price, however, was simple:
overwhelming destructive power.
Duncan didn't bother to harvest the magic stone. There wasn't time.
He spun his spear and bolted toward Letsa.
With a monster that large, extracting the stone was a hassle. Even if decapitated, most monsters wouldn't turn to ash until the stone was removed. Great Bear stones were valuable enough that no one wanted to shatter them unless they had no choice.
When Duncan arrived, Letsa's fight had ended too—though hers looked far less "clean."
She was drenched in blood, and there were visible wounds on her body.
"You're done too?" she asked, breathing hard.
"Captain Letsa—are you okay?" Duncan frowned. With all that blood, it was hard to tell what belonged to whom.
"I'm fine," she said, sounding unconcerned. "Got clipped once when I slipped. The blood's all hers—"
Then she stared.
"Wait. Why are you so clean?!"
"…Skill," Duncan answered vaguely.
"Lucky," Letsa muttered, wrinkling her nose. "This stinks. Cleaning up is going to be a nightmare."
"Now is really not the time to complain about laundry," Duncan said flatly.
"…Yeah. Fair." Letsa wiped at her face, flicked the blood off her rapier, and steadied her breathing.
"Let's finish the cleanup," she said.
And together, they turned back toward the battlefield—because in the Great Tree Sea, killing the monster was only half the work.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it