Arvell kicked off the branch he was standing on and accelerated deeper into the jungle.
From the growing trend of the nearby beasts, it was safe to assume that the stronger, higher-ranked beasts could be found deeper on.
While he had no idea just how strong the strongest beast in the jungle was, Arvell wanted to test his luck and find an opponent which could at least entertain him for the majority of the exam's allotted time.
The only place he could hope of finding such a beast was deeper in the forest.
More specifically wherever the center was.
Arvell didn't really have a clear direction where he was heading to find the 'centre', but he just continued in a relatively straight line from where he entered the forest.
He left markings on certain trees to find his bearing whenever he veered off course, so even with interruptions such as the incident with the group of boys assaulting the girl, he was able to quickly get back on track.
Deciding that he might be able to get a better grasp of the forest area, Arvell was on the lookout for any particularly large tree or rock on his path, which he could to properly survey the land.
Luckily he didn't need to travel too far before he found just what he was looking for.
Only a few metres before him, he found a specific tree that appeared to tower over its peers, being over 20% taller.
Arvell smiled to himself when he saw this.
'Jackpot.'
Jumping at the tree, he attempted to land on its branches, but instead of landing properly, the branches moved right before he could land.
Momentarily surprised with what just happened, Arvell kicked off of the tree's bark in mid-air.
Backflaping onto one of the nearby trees, before retreating out of sight.
'What happened?'
Arvell trained his senses on his surroundings, looking for any signs of life.
Maybe someone was using plant magic to take him out without attacking him.
This was a brilliant idea, to say the least.
In this kind of scenario, it would look like Arvell tripped and fell to his death or got injured on his own.
They just needed to rob a defenceless Arvell, and they could walk away with every coin he owned.
Following this thought pattern, Arvell was almost certain that a nearby examinee had manipulated the tree using magic to injure him.
Surprisingly, he wasn't able to find any nearby examinees.
'Are they able to hide their presence to the point where even I can't sense it? This makes no sense. What do you think Lykos?'
Lykos shook his head when he heard Arvell's question.
'You should try to figure out an enemy's strengths and weaknesses on your own. It's an essential skill for any warrior. Relying on my knowledge to solve every problem is nothing more than a crutch that will bring you to harm in the long run.'
Finding reason in Lykos's words, Arvell nodded.
Since he couldn't find his enemy through conventional means, Arvell decided to use his trump card.
[Status]
Arvell began to scour his environment for any hint of life.
[Status Information]
Structure name: Yirn Tree
[A tree that normally grows in abundant forest environments. The fruits produced by this tree have powerful antioxidant properties]
[Status Information]
Structure name: Erasis Bush
[A bush with characteristic spiral-shaped thorned leaves. While this bush is primarily found in arid climates such as deserts, it's spread to other ecosystems as well.]
[Status Information]
Structure name: Ruan Tree
[A tree with sap that is said to be comparable to honey. This tree is normally found in extremely dense forests]
No matter where he looked, all he could see was the status information for the local flora.
There weren't even any beasts around either.
Something that struck Arvell as quite odd.
That was until something caught his eye.
It looked like it was a small white rock protruding from the ground.
However, its shape was quite familiar to Arvell.
It was something he saw quite often while living in the wilderness for 5 months.
To verify his suspicions, he focused all of his attention on the white rock.
[Status Information]
Structure name: Surio Leopard Skull
[A Skull that belonged to a first-rank Surio Leopard]
'I was right, that's a bone. A Skull no less.'
After focusing on the singular bone, Arvell begins to see other similar white-shaped objects protruding from the ground.
'Why are there so many bones here?'
Strangely enough… All of the bones on the ground were nearby, forming what appeared to be a small circle surrounding the same tree from which Arvell had almost fallen off.
'What is going on here? Wait… could it be?'
A momentary realization dawned on Arvell, causing him to raise his head at the tree.
[Status Information]
Species: Lesser Treant
Beast Rank: Late First Rank
[A beast that mimics the appearance of a normal tree, feeding off any unfortunate soul that lets down their guard and gets within its killing range.]
Arvell's eyes widened in shock, but the shock was quickly replaced with a toothy grin.
'Late first rank? This will be far more fun!'
Knowing that he was up against a tree-like enemy, Arvell did what he perceived to be the only natural decision.
[Inventory]
Reaching into his inventory, Arvell produced several bottles with what appeared to be cloth sticking out of them, along with a matchbox.
His toothy grin contorted into a much more eerie sadistic smile.
Lykos shook his head with a disappointed sigh.
'Great… he's going into his pyromaniac phase again…'
Arvell ignored Lykos's inner dilemma and proceeded to light a match stick transferring the flame onto the cloths on one of the bottles.
Without hesitating another moment, Arvell chucked the bottle at the treant as hard as he could, sending the bottle flying at rapid speed.
Sensing something approaching at a fast velocity, the treant instinctively moved some of its branches to protect itself, but sadly its efforts were in vain.
The glass bottle shattered on impact, spreading a roaring flame all over the treant's branches.
"KRYAAAAAH!"
A deep gurgled voice screamed out.
Arvell's smile widened when he saw the beast's cries of pain.
"Next time… Don't try to make me fall!"
Arvell wasn't the kind to forgive grudges easily… no matter how petty they were.
***
Author's Note:
Sorry again!
I mixed up ch 69 and 79 while editing chapter 79, so chapter 69 was not correct for awhile.
For those who didn't read the correct ch 69, its available to read now.
Thank you to the people who pointed it out!
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