The next morning, the light once again tried to penetrate every corner of the forest. Last night was an unforgettable experience for Ari, she has never thought that even sleeping would be so difficult.

Her nerves are always in a state of tension, not knowing from which side the Pan will jump out, taking advantage of her sleep to tear her to pieces as they did with the ill-fated deer last morning, even the sound of insects rustling around also become scary.

Ari carefully checks her bow and arrows again, her father used to remind her that:

– If you fail to prepare, you are preparing for failure

So, at every important action, Ari tries to control her haste and prepare everything as the best she can. While she was standing guard, Ari suddenly smelled a threat, she sensitively sensed the slight shaking of the ground that the others had not yet noticed. She wakes everyone up from their sleep right away:

– Wake up guys!

Although other members are sleeping, they don’t loosen their minds, hearing Ari’s warning, they immediately get up even when they don’t know what is going on. Staring at the tree terrain nearby, they saw blue many savage eyes and claws of the small Pans lurking behind the rocks and wither trees.

They sniffed out the place of human by their smell and gathered a herd for chasing. She stands up and points her bow toward the direction of the tremor and warns everyone at the same time.

– They have arrived already!

Nic – who is closest to the pans drew the sword from behind her back to clear the decks for action. The ray of light reflects from the blade just passed, the pans break out, and the thorny black balls rushed towards the five people like crazy.

Even the big craggy rocks could not stop their advance, soon one of them rushed right in front of Nic. Nic raised her sword to the front of the group, she decided to keep the pans for everyone to escape.

The sword’s shadow flashed, only to see Nic lightly swing his arm and jump into the melee Pan. Many Pans were killed by Nic’s blade, but the whole group behind seemed fearless, they jumped at Nic with a fury fiercer than any wild carnivore.

One after another pounced and attacked directly, causing Nic to both slash and dodge, trying to stay firmly in the heart of the enemy, both hands swinging her sword without knowing where to stop.

-Too many of them still remain.

To face the chaotic situation, Rin rushes to support Nic, Ari also poured all her strength into shooting support for the two. Behind her, the doctor could no longer keep his gentle and calm face as usual. Fearful eyes look at the ferocious Pan, his hands clutching the medicine box held in front of his chest, he is shaking, but as a physician, the instinct to save people triumphed over fear.

-No worry, you have me here sir!

He shields himself in front of Duong – who is invited by them to destroy these Pans.

Constantly fighting with the dangers in front of them, they didn’t realize that the most dangerous place was still the one they were unable to see.

If before, Pan was just a slow gentle forest creature, when endangered only to dodge, now everything has changed. The inherent nature of the Pan species is also gone. The souls of the Pan species have been cursed, they have become a violent and cruel entity, the transformation not only robs the Pan species of kindness but also gives them more weapons that people do not know about – the cunning.

Now, along with strength, the Pans also know how to fight with calculations that humans do not anticipate. Seeing the targets that appeared to be incapable of combat, some Pans snuck back, they glared at Duong Duong and the doctor and then simultaneously attacked.

The nearest Pan is like a bullet that shot straight at Duong Duong. He started and prepare to fight back when the doctor in front of him turned around. The doctor, with a plump body, turns his back to Pan while his eyes are closed. He is shaking all over, he pushes Duong back cause him to Wobble unsteadily.

In a dangerous situation, a precise arrow pierced Pan’s back before its sharp claws left a scratching deep furrow on the doctor’s plump back.

– It’s not okay! We have to run. Nic, help me cover Rin, I’ll take Duong and the doctor first!

Ari shouts. She knows that if she continues to fight, wasting energy in this place is not a wise choice. So instead of continuing to fight, they withdraw their weapons and turn to run away.

They run life-threateningly recklessly without turning their head, regardless of the direction. They do not dare to stop and turn their heads, wherever there is a way, they run into it. The other Pans are equally fast, the sound of

Eek eek

always ringing in their ears. Not knowing how long to run, it seems that the sound from the Pans is much lower, Ari dares to turn her head to take a look. In dire straits, the Pans are still close behind, Ari nervously runs back to Duong asking for the next response plan:

– Mage, where are we going, we can’t run forever.

Duong also turns his head to look, Nic right behind him is the last runner, closest to Pan, she has just moved, and the place where the leg has just lifted is immediately scratched by Pans into the space. Nic has just taken a step forward, another one jumps to show sharp teeth wanting to scrape that little leg in half.

Duong doesn’t say anything, just turns ahead and keeps running, thinking for a moment, he comes up with a new plan for Ari:

– We’ve been exposed, we’ve got to hit fast. Go straight to their cave and kill the lord when it can’t take precautions and gather all the small Pans.

Looking back from yesterday morning until now, the whole group act emotionally and impulsively, everything was passive and derailed. But the fact that their team did not go to the forest and pray to the gods for helping destroy the beast, on the first night Duong stays in the tree house, and the group once gathered there to discuss the plan.

That night, after some discussion, Duong decided to show the group some pretty cool things that surprised them all:

– You can’t use normal weapons to fight the monster, so I have upgraded them with energy stones.

Power Stone – the tool that Duong has just talked about is a blue gem embedded in the middle of Ari’s bow. He said mildly:

– Ari’s bow, Rin’s whip, and Nic’s sword have all been upgraded for greater destructive power and damage. Now they’ve become magical weapon

In an instant, all three weapons glittered with the light of the magic stones. Picking up her beloved bow, Ari crooned, her eyes shining like a child who had just received a new toy, an unutterable joy raises in her heart:

– Awesome!!

The word of thanks came out in an amused manner. At that moment, she just wanted to experience the power of this bow as soon as possible.

Sitting beside Ari, Rin was equally interested, she is very curious about this weapon upgrade. Rin’s eyes and attitude were also different from the first time she meet Duong:

– So, is there anything different from normal use, mage?

Rin asked.

– I have used stones that are suitable for each person’s physical condition. In the battle, you need to pour energy into the weapon, the stone will amplify that energy to create super-strong shock waves. You will see that your weapon has changed, they are no longer ordinary whips or metal swords, they are sharper, stronger and contain power.

– Magic weapons are objects created from energy stones that are capable of receiving and amplifying original energy, creating important contributions to human life. However, the energy of the stone is limited and depends on the quality of their class. Therefore, magic stones are very precious and highly sought after by humans. Energy stones are divided in quality by color. The brighter colors such as yellow, pink, and orange,… the more valuable it is. White is the rarest kind which also cost you an arm and leg to own one.

Hearing Duong’s explanation to the doctor is in seventh heaven and has an itch for:

– Mage, what about me?

– You’re a doctor, you don’t need to fight.

Duong leaned over and looked at the doctor in surprise.

– I know, but at least I should have something to back me up, I’m afraid I’m going to entangle people

the doctor replied shyly, putting his hand to scratch his head. Thinking it makes sense, Duong holds out a small yellow tube to the doctor:

– Then take it, blow it once and you will see something worth seeing.

– Really? Thank you, thank you very much.

Although he does not know what would happen, the doctor feels reassured and somewhat more confident about the trip ahead.

– It’s nothing, this is worth nothing compared to 200 gold coins, ahihi.

Duong replies immediately, his voice full of victory.

Fut tt tt t! Duong’s words shocked Ari’s whole body, the sip of tea that she was drinking also spat out, a strange mood appeared on her face, hot blood rushed to her face.

The others didn’t say a word. They have no words to excuse Ari’s haste and bragging. Ari hasn’t told her father yet about Duong’s presence, let alone that her father will pay the money. But can’t help that, the four of them have to do everything they can save this village.

Back to the present, at this time, a pack of Pans came thickly around. One by one, they let out jangle to call on their herd and to show their prestige to the people in front of them. Thick scales rise up and sharp claws are exposed to warn the enemy that they are ready to tear whoever.

– It’s time! Activate the special function.

Duong shouts, his voice echoing like a signal to wave a battle flag. He knows only if he finds the Pan’s cave, the game is on! The whip and sword are upgraded from the stones that emit streams of blue energy and gradually the energy flows around them.

Seeing that the power of the weapon in their hands has been doubled, both Rin and Nic clench their fists, feel the power of the energy radiated, and then pour all their strength into slashing at the Pans. But the Pans remain fearless.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Rin repeatedly whips wavy in the air, aiming directly at their head and neck, making it impossible for the Pans to approach her. Nic is free to cut through the scales of the little Pans, soon the blade was wet with fresh blood, but they still clung madly, as if they had only a life goal to tear these people apart.

Many attacks accompany by energy waves, sweeping swarms of small pans splatter through the air. The team quickly fought while continuously creating a gap to go deeper into the forest.

The support from Duong’s magic stones is truly amazing. Rin and Nic’s attack power had reached a level that neither of them expected, with only a third of normal strength enough to take down dozens of Pans at once. The Pans keep falling, different from this morning’s battle. At this rate, it won’t be long before the Pan lord will have to show up.

Ari doesn’t intend to keep out of the fight, she is already anxious to test the new power of this bow. But instead of rushing into battle like the others, she takes a step back, choosing a position with enough visibility and open space. She stretches the bowstring and great energies pull out as if to tear the space around it. Aiming at the target, Ari immediately let go of her hand and the arrow tore through the air straight to the Pans within her vision.

The Pans appeared like fountains. The forest road behind them was covered with a dense black. Wherever they run, the dust covers them. The scene behind them turns to hell, with only the greedy monsters showing cruel blue eyes and bloody pointy teeth.

Boom!

A loud explosion resounded as the arrow hit the ground. The ground cracked openly. An explosion with a super strong shock kicked all rocks and almost all of the small Pans within a radius of five footsteps. The conflict was temporarily stopped. Ari sees the damage from her arrow and rolls her eyes in surprise. The young girl glanced at the pans that had just been defeated, then rolled her eyes at the bow in her hand and silently exclamatory.

However, within seconds of the previous ones falling, other small Pans rush out from the center of the cave. Duong and the others attack with force as they enter the center of their lair. Getting deeper inside, the number of small pans becomes more and more know no bounds, looking down from above they are as populous as an ant hill rushing out into the air.

They also no longer rush to attack at the same time, but quickly split up to climb the surrounding cliffs to surround everyone. The five of them are outnumbered by the Pans and gradually gather in a corner. The place where the Pans make their nest is a closed place with lots of rock, and deep canyons in the forest, where many perennial trees and many obstacles are often chosen by them to create a safe place and easy to defend when being attacked.

Maybe after the transformation, the demonic aura from them has affected the surrounding area and harmed the growth of plants and animals around, so it seems that this is the reason why there are no living creatures around here. When everyone is surrounded by Pans, they don’t know how to move forward, Duong discovers a gap leading the way through a cliff.

Although the path is quite dangerous, the road surface is very small. But with no other choice, they could only quickly and carefully pass. On one side is a deep mountain pit that only needs to fall to be seriously injured, on the other side is a high cliff that the Pans are also quickly heading towards. Only a short distance but the doctor did not dare to look down. He just dares to follow in the footsteps of the Duong ahead and follow.

Safely crossing the cliffs, they entered a fairly large area, where the bare of this dead land became clearer, a fairly large area appeared with only a huge old tree stump that had ever died.

One sheer-sided tree was all dried up and dead, the trunk is so big, the bark is peeling and rough, and the black mold was in clusters, fortunately, it is very suitable as a defence against the massive attacks of the Pans. At this point, the situation is all very urgent, although the Pans are small in size, they are overwhelming in number.

If they counterattack like this even with the support of magic stones, it will be difficult to avoid casualties. It does not include, the whip and the sword of the Rin and Nic sisters also consumed a lot of energy, along with that, at too close a distance, Ari’s bow and arrow would react too slowly compared to the Pan’s speed.

Stay this way, how can they hold out until we find the Pan lord? They have no time to think, when the Pans get closer to the middle of the land and gained space, they became more and more frantic trying to surround the group of people.

-We’re surrounded!

Ari whizzes, her hands still back-to-back shooting arrows, sweat was wet on both temples and her teeth were clenched together.

On the brink of death, the Pans are gathering more and more towards all, they have smelled the scent of raw meat near at hand and heard the sound of blood rolling off of their bodies in waves, which is their battle signal-the origin of the frenzied hunger. Rin and Nic moved forward using their weapons to continue holding out, stopping the Pans to buy time.

Being pushed too hard, the arrows, the swings of whips and swords are about to be unable to keep everyone safe, Ari hastily turned around and asked Duong:

– Danger!! What should we do, mage?

– Everybody comes up here quickly

Responding to Ari’s question is not Duong’s answer, but the doctor’s voice coming down from above.

Ari looked in the direction of the voice and saw the doctor with a chubby body who did not know when he had climbed the big tree behind them, he threw down the roots to pull everyone up.

Immediately, everyone split up to fight against the Pan’s assault while taking turns climbing the tree. Only Ari’s horse is entangled with bulky limbs, so they decide to hang him dangling with a piece of vines. The horse’s face sounded alarmed, its mouth is twisted, and its help-entreating eyes looked towards the owner.

Five men and one horse – six lives as hanging by a thread, the crazy little Pans have gathered, the danger close to the forehead, and the sharp black lumps below were constantly bobbing up and down.

The claws of a series of Pans scratch the dry tree trunks, making unpleasant sounds, like someone is grinding a wooden stick against their ears, one after another, some even step on their companions to climb up.

– There is no time like the present.

The doctor didn’t think much of it, so he took out the small tube that Duong had given him before. He took a deep breath and turned to the pans below to blow hard. From the tip of the tube, a burst of blue flames shot out.

The fire rushes down and blazes up furiously, engulfing the small group of Pans that are dense around the base of the tree. The sporadic ones that manage to climb to the middle of the tree received the first burst of fire, falling one after another, and those on the ground cannot help but struggle in pain.

The tall tree trunk burst into flames, creating a pillar of fire several meters high that hinders the progress of the little Pans. Although there were still countless numbers of Pans trampling their comrades through the firestorm, they were all pushed back by the much more intense fire from the doctor’s tube.

They roll and writhe in the firestorm, finally turning into fuel for the fire to continue to rise, and then becoming part of the flame. After a while, when the fire is burning down, There are only the Pans lying motionless, in abundance on the ground.

Seeing the results in front of her, Ari is very appreciative, she turns to head praise the doctor:

– You got no kick coming this time.

Although he knows that it is thanks to Duong’s fire tube, he is still very happy, shyness is stamped all over their faces. Afraid that people would lose their vigilance, Duong immediately reminds the whole team:

– The fire can only paralyze them for a while. The Pan lord is still alive, I’m afraid their powers will return soon.

Hearing that, everyone doesn’t dare to go on neglecting, they look around carefully from the top of the tree branch to see if there were any Pans still alive or now.

The atmosphere around them is suddenly frighteningly quiet, a stench mixes in the wind rushing up to their faces. Although they are high up, it is very convenient to see around, but there are places they will not be able to see.

All the time since then, in the distance, hiding in the dark, there is a pair of eyes that are constantly watching everything. It has witnessed, watching its children being taken down at the hands of a bunch of strangers, it’s madly transformed!

Graooooo

Right now, a roar resounds. From the underground near the tree, a Pan that is four times larger than an adult break through the gravelly soil and emerged. It opens its red mouth and lunge. Its large scales are erect like it wants to pierce everything. Its footsteps shock the entire surrounding land and head straight in the direction of Duong’s group. The moment the huge monster came into view, everyone keeps staring at it in bewilderment.

The Pan rushes over and immediately slams “Aoo Aoo” into the trunk making deafening sounds. The tree affected by the Pan trembled, and the whole group above can’t help but be afraid:

– Is it the Pan Lord?

Duong looks puzzled when he sees the size of this Pan. The remaining four pairs of eyes are also scared to death, although their purpose when entering here is to destroy the Pan lord and save the forest, when they face it and see that massive body, the gigantic sharp spikes, a muscular and sturdy tail like it could smash everything, making them feel bewildered.

The person most afraid of is the doctor. Having saved healers for many years, many times taking other people’s lives from the hands of death but this is the first time he understands how they feel, the feeling that death can come at any time. His legs turn soft, his voice trembles:

– It’s doomed, it’s doomed.

Ari pats the doctor’s shoulder to comfort him, she is as cool as a cucumber and looks somewhat calmer in the face of danger than the previous times, it seems that her spirit has been tempered through the past tribulations:

– Calm down! We’re going to take it down like these pans down there!

Realizing its thrusts aren’t working, the Big Pan immediately spins around and slams its spiked tail into the trunk.

Zip! The wind’s moan was as baleful as death.

BOOM!

The Pan throws a landslide tail stroke, and immediately the trunk trembles and begins to make a cracking sound. The monster seizes the opportunity and adds a series of tail strokes in the same place as the previous hit.

Above, the whole team has wavered violently, trying to cling to the tree trunk. Unlike the small Pans earlier, instead of trying to climb up, the big Pan wants to bury them under the tree.

Roaring! The crack keeps getting wider and wider. The hideous monster continued to thrash and open the red mouth with slimy teeth. It seems to know that the prey can’t hold out for long in this situation.

Now, keeping themselves from falling is already difficult, let alone using weapons. At that moment, Ari, Nic, and Rin all felt that they had become useless.

Then, trying to scavenge the last bit of courage, the doctor risks his life, he raises the bellows once more and used all his strength to blow out the longest blast of fire toward the monster.

But the result is so disappointing, even the big fire that reduced the large group of Pans to ashes, did not harm the Pan lord in the slightest. The difference in size is also accompanied by the difference in strength and rank. The big Pan is quickly engulfed by blue flames, its whole body like a great burning lamp, whose main wick is the giant Pan, a wick that cannot be burned.

It stands unresponsively as if the flames are but a light mist surrounding it. The only effect of that fire was to make the big Pan even angrier. It only took a moment to pause to witness what had defeated its kind, but with an attitude of enjoyment, and to show off at the daredevils who dare to come to its territory.

A few seconds later the Pan begins to repeat back its actions. Notice that Rin immediately reminds everyone:

– WATCH OUT!

The whole tree begins to shake violently, the people on the tree like sitting on a broken boat in a storm, causing the group who are in the high position to cling even more tightly to the branches to save their lives.

Boom! Boom!

The monster throws an indignant gaze upward, widens its red mouth full of sharp teeth, and continues to thrash its hard steel-like tail at the tree trunk non-stop. After a couple of minutes, the blue flame cools down and then dies out, and the hindering visual barrier completely disappeared, immediately followed by a series of ear-splitting growls.

The surrounding air arose a strong smell of keratin which was the scorched smell of the burning monster’s scale layers. Ari instantly shudders a moment, she immediately understands that compared to the small Pans in the forest yesterday, today’s giant Pan is far beyond her prediction.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

As soon as the big Pan stops for a moment, Ari doesn’t miss the chance, she immediately sits up straight, boldly shooting a barrage of magic arrows at the big Pan. Even though being attacked by magic arrows, the armor-like thick scales covering the Pan’s body still remain.

Without a flinch, Ari narrows her eyes to shoot more accurately, this time she aims for the head, which she considers Pan’s weakness.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

A rain of arrows madly flying down.

Bang! Bang!

crack! crack!

A sledgehammer lash of the tail to hit, causing the five people clinging to the tree to bounce up a distance, each of them brain reels, trying to keep balance.

Next, the tree trunk, which is already tattered, is leaning more and more. No one understands how these forest dwellers remain safe after that concussion, maybe they had a protective ancestor. Unfortunately, Duong is just a wandering traveller, no ancestors have followed him here.

SKRRRR! A sudden slip happens.

But it seems that, instead of damaging the monster, Ari’s attacks only make the big size Pan go through the roof, it hisses more madly and slams its tail in all directions, causing the arrows that strike in broke in half totally.

Then, the monster shrinks back and immediately arches its body, scales raise up and point to Ari while emitting a menacing growl, everyone is in a cold sweat, and clothes are attached to the skin. The monster takes a few breaths to regain its momentum, and then resumes its attack.

This time, Pan is more cunning than before, it delivers a powerful blow to the cracked tree trunk. The old, stubborn tree finally gives in and falls to one side.