Side story (Part 3): The Search (Souta POV)

The next couple of weeks after that scene with the whale-like undead were busy.

Right now, we only had 10 percent left of our original supply stocks when we set out on this journey.

Recent changes have made it possible for us to survive, though.

We would get into caves and kill a lot of monsters inside. We consume food and water only once a day, but when we get a , we don't need to eat and drink for quite some time.

This phenomenon was something new to me, but I had Alno explain it to me.

Also, we thought it would be hard to get drinking water, but there are a lot of wells intact in this region.

The caves that we were clearing out as we made our way to the south region contained valuable treasures and potions that would recover our health and even our mana.

There were rare drops too. I got this excellent Dagger of Illumination, which helped us find our way in the caves.

I just had to fill it up with some mana, and then it glowed brightly.

Roln got an enchanted shield, and Lea got a new staff. I don't know how these things even get inside the caves. Monsters were everywhere.

Having chests at the end of every one of these caves was weird.

It was so out of place that I checked it every time for traps, but so far, it was all safe.

Alno: "Souta, you're glowing... It's different from a ."

Just when Alno said that to me, A spirit told me about some things.

Souta: "Class change? What? Forest Guardian or Lesser Druid?"

Alno: "Ah, you're speaking to the class spirit." You should choose carefully."

Humans have this unique way of changing classes.

It is done by a class spirit who visits humans when they are at the point of evolving into monsters.

Even though humans cannot evolve, they can change classes to get higher stats and more powerful skills.

Souta: "Oh, thanks, Alno. Eherm. Mr. Class Spirit. I want to choose."

Even though he told me to choose carefully, I already have the class that I would want in mind.

Souta: "Forest Guardian!"

Once I said the word with energy, a mysterious light covered my body. Some small plants grew around me, and grass filled the ground.

Class Spirit: "You have chosen Forest Guardian. Would you like to view your current stats?"

Souta: "Yes, please."

By the way, Harry popped up from a magic circle that appeared on its own. He was watching my class change.

Harry grew a bit, though. He was as big as an adult dog now. Alno told me because it also leveled up when we were clearing caves.

Class Spirit: "Your current stats are..."

Name: Souta Race: Human

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Overall stat tier: 6th tier

Str: 5th tier

Agi: 7th tier

End: 6th Tier

Wisdom (Mana): 4th tier

Int (Magic): 4th tier

Skills:

Nature magic, sense allies, sense enemies, Summon Spirit Animal, Animate Tree, Summon Tree, Cover of Nature, Nature's Blessing

Passive:

Agile, Scout, Tree Dweller, Nature's Protection, High Evasion.

Title:

Responsible: Be a responsible person. (Experience earned +5%)

Champion of Nature: Live in the forest for a while and vow to protect it. As long as you keep your promise to be a champion of nature, you will keep the bonus. (Move faster on trees and when near trees.) (The trees

and vines sometimes join you in battle.)

Forest Ranger: Finish training under a Druid's supervision. (Granted the owner, Special Class Forest Ranger.)

...

Harry: "Good job, Souta." Harry praised me."

Wow. It's a massive jump from my original stats! Humans are indeed fast learners!

Lea: "Why didn't you choose the Druid path? I heard they were crazy strong!" Lea suddenly spoke up.

Souta: "I would never have chosen that class. It would change my race and fighting style. There aren't many forests around too, so it would be a bad choice."

Lea: "Hmm, I see. Well, you're still strong, so it's good both ways. Ahhhh! I want to change the class too!"

This girl.

Hmm. Why didn't I choose Druid? I just kind of made up those reasons on the spot.

Maybe I don't want to be a creature tied to somewhere? I know that if you're a druid, you'll need to spend the rest of your life protecting the forest.

I still have much to do and discover, so that should be the reason.

Souta: "Wait a minute, guys! I'll try out my skills!"

I went to a spacious area without any rocks. It was just sand.

Suddenly, a small area of sand turned into soil, and a tree suddenly sprouted from the ground!

Souta: "Woah..."

The group suddenly made a circle around the tree. It was an apple tree. It even had fruits!

We picked the fruits quickly and put them into our recently emptied sacks. With these spells, we won't have problems with food!

And-

While they were still picking some of the fruits that were left, I used .

Lea: "Ahhh!! It's moving!"

Lea screamed. She ran behind Roln, who had his shield up.

Roln: "Scary... Tree."

Alno: "Amazing... To think that your class had a skill like this."

The tree became a tree. It was not an ancient type, but it was big and strong enough to be a great help to us.

Alno: "Look over there, Souta. There's some Rock Golems; go test out your combat abilities."

Souta: "Gladly."

I climbed on top of my tree. It was about 9 feet. I could see the surroundings while I was riding it.

The Rock Golems noticed us. There were two of them.

These rock golems have a massive variety of sizes and strength levels.

These guys that were charging at us now were 3rd-tier ones that had a height of 7-8 feet.

A punch came from the rock golem. The other rock golem continued its charge and rammed the Treant directly.

The force of the attacks almost shook me off, but the traitor did not back up. Not even a step.

The punch did some damage to the surface of the Treant, but now that it's close, the Treant has grabbed the Rock Golem's arm so that it won't be able to move.

The other one, which used its shoulder to charge, got stuck inside the bark of the treant.

The regeneration skill of the Treant allowed it to close out the hole that was made from the charge, trapping the Rock Golem's shoulder in the process.

Now that they aren't able to move anymore,.

I drew an arrow on my bow and aimed it at one of the golems. I shoot it straight in the head. I used an arrow enchanted with my natural magic.

Once it hit the head of the rock golem, a large number of vines suddenly entangled it. It is bound to the rock golem’s head.

It quickly tightened up after a few seconds, crushing the head of the rock golem.

Woah. "I'll call it then."

For the other one, I tried hitting it with regular arrows, and surprisingly, I was able to destroy its body with around five arrows.

The stats increase made an enormous difference. I was not the only one that got strong, though.

Even though the others don't have class changes yet, Roln and Lea have around 6 already.

Alno only had 2. He told me it was because he already went through two class changes in his life, so triggering the phenomenon would take a lot more experience than usual.

Now we are proceeding smoothly in the Dead Lands; I believe we will reach the South Region in 2 weeks. We already see the rocky mountains and the blue sky above them.

Still, it took us at least 2 or 3 months to get here. I knew I was right in thinking that the Dead Lands were much larger than what's on the map. Good thing Alno never stopped mapping our locations.

As we continued our travels toward the South Region, something unsettling caught my eye.

In the dark skies of the Dead Lands, I could see stars. They were moving. And they were moving fast. I wondered what they were but decided to ignore them.

Just a few more weeks before we see each other. Mister.