Chapter 55 - Encounter in the Desolate Woods

"So this is the Desolate Woods," Bryan muttered while looking at the vast forest in front of him.

"Yeah. Be careful a lot of powerful monsters inhabited this forest." Souta said to Bryan.

"Yeah, yeah." Bryan nodded.

"First, we will scout the outer area of the forest," Souta said. "Come, follow me." He walked forward and entered the forest.

"Okay." Bryan nodded and he followed Souta while looking at his surroundings.

Yuko was also observing the surrounding around her. Her senses were higher than a human and a goblin. Her level was also higher than Souta and she was in her second evolution, so it's not that surprising if her stats were higher than Souta.

When Souta met her for the first time, he knew that this bear was much stronger than him. Her stats were clearly higher than him and he was exhausted at that time because he ran over 600 km that day. In fact, Yuko would be able to kill him that day if she only used her trait skill. He didn't have much stamina to move his body that day. She just underestimated him and it caused her downfall.

Souta's group walked for a few minutes before Souta stopped. Souta looked at them and raised his hand signaling them to stop.

"What's wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked curiously.

"Shh!!" Souta placed his finger on his mouth and he pointed at the bushes twenty meters away from them.

Bryan looked ahead and saw a two meters tall spider.

The giant spider had eight sharp-pointed limbs. It has a hard exoskeleton that looks like a metal plate and its color was glossy black. It shone brightly as the sun rays hit the exoskeleton.

"What's that?" Bryan asked in a low voice while looking at the giant spider.

"Grr..." Yuko growled in a low voice. She felt danger coming out of that giant spider.

"That's a Black Tusk Spider," Souta said and he explained to them what it is.

Black Tusk Spider was a powerful monster that inhabited the Desolate Woods. The spider hunted their prey using their sharp limbs. They rarely used their web in battle as they mostly used it in building their nest. Their level was between 20 and 39, just like Yuko, a Red Fur Bear, the Black Tusk Spider was a second evolve species.

Souta explained to them that it was most likely a male Black Tusk Spider because of its size. The female Black Tusk Spider was larger than the male ones. It was also stronger and it possessed traits that males don't have.

"So what should we do?" Bryan asked.

"Wait here for a while. I will scout the area first. If it's the only monster here then were gonna hunt it." Souta said.

"Okay." Bryan nodded his head.

"Yuko, you also wait here." Souta looked at Yuko. He then turned at Bryan and added, "If I attack it then you can also start attacking."

"Okay." Bryan nodded.

"Good." Souta was satisfied that Bryan was following his command. He was worried that Bryan would suddenly attack the spider but fortunately, he was worried for nothing.

Swoosh!!

Souta jumped in the branch of the tree and looked around. He moved to the other tree to see the area around him clearly. He moved in a circle around the Black Tusk Spider.

"Okay, good. There's no other monster here." Souta muttered before he looked at the Black Tusk Spider.

He opened his palm and silently casted [Shadow Bind].

Swoosh!!

The spider was surprised when the shadow beneath move. The shadow strangled the limbs of the spider.

Bryan who was hiding in the bushes jumped forward when he saw Souta casted a spell.

"Ah!!" He gathered his mana on his fist and threw a punch on the abdomen of the spider.

Bang!

Souta followed Bryan as he threw a punch towards the spider.

Bang!

He then grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out. Since no one was here, he could freely use the Vajra Sword.

Kiek!

The spider broke free from the shadows. It quickly moved its limbs and it aimed at Souta's head.

Swoosh!

Souta tilted his head and sharp limbs grazed his cheek. He tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and swung it.

Putchi!

His sword sliced the limbs of the spider like a hot knife cutting through a butter.

Kiek!

The spider screeched loudly as it felt the pain from its limbs.

"Hmm?" Souta saw flames behind the spider and he jumped away. He saw Bryan used the [Blazing Strike].

Bang!

The spider flew away and it crashed in the trees.

Souta quickly chased after the spider. He raised his sword and threw it towards the spider.

Swoosh!!

The sword pierced through the body of the spider.

Pak!

In an instant, Souta arrived as he grabbed his sword and swung it upwards slicing the body of the spider in half.

*Ding!*

[You've received 478 exp from defeating a Black Tusk Spider!]

Souta heard the system prompt in his mind while putting back his sword in the scabbard.

"I hardly do anything from that," Bryan complained.

"Yuko didn't even move. It's better if you save your strength for the upcoming battle." Souta said to him.

"Okay. I hope we finish this quest soon." Bryan's shoulder dropped.

"Don't be disappointed with this. There's a lot of monsters here so don't worry. You will fight later even if you don't want it." Souta smiled.

...

Souta's group wander around the outer part of the Desolate Woods for about an hour. They hunted down every monster that they met.

Souta was using the Vajra Sword without minding his surrounding. He did it because he wanted Bryan and Yuko to save their strength as much as possible. Also, he did it because of the exp he will receive from killing those monsters.

The monsters were getting stronger the deeper they went in the Desolate Woods.

But Souta wasn't bothered by this because he saw traces of battle here. From the looks of it, they were using magic and sword. It seems that the people who were after the Mystical Light Cherry fought here.

"We're getting closer..." Souta muttered.

"Closer?" Bryan looked at Souta asking what he meant by that.

"Closer to the dungeon. We will get a rare fruit there in the dungeon to complete the quest." Souta explained to Bryan.

"Ah, I see..." Bryan nodded.

"Whew~" Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead. He looked up at the sky. "We should find some food for lunch."

"Ah! You're right, Souta! Now that you mention it. I notice that I'm hungry." Bryan looked at his stomach and he caressed it.

Yuko's ears twitched. She turned her head on her left side and growled angrily.

"Graaa!!"

Souta and Bryan stopped talking when they heard her.

"What's wrong?" Bryan asked.

Souta ignored him and he looked at Yuko. He jumped in the tree beside her and followed her line of sight.

He then saw a girl with long green hair. The girl was wearing a white outfit that looks like a robe. Behind the girl was a group of people wearing a black hooded robe. The group of people was chasing after the girl.

"Is this some sort of encounter?" Souta muttered. He didn't move and just observed the scene. He waited for a while to see if he would trigger a quest.

After five seconds, Souta hasn't heard any prompt inside his head.

"Huh? Why? I don't want to bother myself if this wouldn't give me a quest." Souta sighed.

"Huh? That's a girl! Let's go save her, Souta!"

Souta turned his head and saw Bryan beside him. 'Is Bryan some kind of hero of justice?' He thought while looking at Bryan's face which was filled with concern for the girl.

"Hais... Suit yourself." Souta sighed and said. He looked at Yuko and said, "Yuko, go help her."

Roar!!

Yuko roared loudly and it shook the trees around her. She then rushed towards the group of people wearing a black robe.

"Yosh! I couldn't turn away when I see someone in need." Bryan said before he disappeared.

"Hmm... I will just watch them." Souta said as he crossed his arms. He then leaned his back in the tree behind him and looked at them with an amused expression.

...

Roar!!

The group of people including the girl stopped moving when they heard the roar of some wild monsters.

A huge figure emerged from the trees. It was the wild Red Fur Bear.

The giant bear looked at them with fury in her eyes. The bear opened her mouth and once again roared loudly.

Roar!!

"Let's kill this bear quickly before we capture the girl."

"Okay."

"Let's go!"

The group of people talked to each other. They agreed to rid the bear first before they capture the girl.

Swoosh!!

Swoosh!!

Swoosh!!

They moved and surrounded the huge bear.

"Grr!!!" Yuko rushed towards the person in front of her and waved her hand.

"What's happening?!" The girl was shaking. She subconsciously took a step back while looking at the huge bear that appeared.