"Ah, the forest, the dangerous forest! Not like the others, no, no. This one breathes, it watches, it waits. The trees, they whisper—whisper secrets, whisper lies. Every shadow hides a trap, every path twists and turns, leading nowhere. Or worse... leading you right where it wants you!" Parroting the Wise.

Hilke was right. We were split up. If we hadn’t formed parties, we could have been scattered individually. Our party found ourselves at the base of a ginormous tree. The trunk was bigger than some city blocks and disappeared above us, further than we could see. The forest floor was relatively open, but similar trunks were visible. It was dark. Very little light made it this far down. It was also damp, and the humidity was high. It would probably be better the higher we went.

We all scanned our surroundings for threats.

“This is a safe zone,” Hilke said, “but it is disappearing fast. We might have less than an hour.”

“Any idea what we are facing?” Alistern asked.

“Hunters, certainly,” Myantha said, doing something with a box she had retrieved from her storage, “sometimes there is a truce between challengers, but I don’t think that is the case here. Everybody is hunting everybody, and there will be more challengers than just us. There will be trial monsters and beasts from the world looking to get stronger. There could be other hostile people.”

“The other group is in that direction,” Alistern said, pointing. He had an item as well, which must be paired with one his sergeant had. “I can’t tell how far.”

I was using my Seekers Intuition, “I think there are exits in those two directions,” I pointed, “but they probably move. One has the sense of a Boss.”

“The first objective is to join the other group,” Alistern said.

“My Pathfinder Skill is indicating the best way is to go up,” I said.

Alistern nodded like that was not unexpected.

Class Quest (Optional):

Hunt a Hunter. Seek out and hunt another Trial Challenger.

Reward: 1000XP, A Stealth-enhancing Skill.

That was interesting. Was this a Seeker Class Quest or a Slayer Class Quest, possibly both?

“The Trial will throw Challengers at us, and they will challenge us.” I was pretty sure this was Alistern warning the academics. The Guard seemed to know what they were about. I assumed they were trained in other permanent Trials. “The Guard will help you, but you will have to defend yourself. Is anyone going to have difficulty with the trees and moving and fighting at height?”

Walter spoke up, “I don’t have the Climb Skill.”

“Private Ryan will watch out for you, but I imagine you will pick it up quickly here,” Alistern said, and one of the Guards moved to Walter. Walter didn’t look happy. If he were afraid of heights, he would have a terrible time.

“Right, Marvin and I will scout ahead,” Alistern continued. We won’t go far. Suda,” he indicated to the other scout, “will lead you and follow our signs. Pok will watch our backs. Everybody ready?”

He got no dissent, so he nodded to me. I grabbed onto Rob’s harness, and Rob ran up the trunk with his suction paws. I stayed on with Bronc Riding. Rob engaged his Adaptive Camouflage, and I went invisible with my Spectral Cloak.

I was looking around, with all my skills. Spectral Vision (Heat) was the most useful, but Observant Eye and Mana Sight were on full alert. I also had Mana Web at a moderate distance. This was a Trial of Hunters, and some of those will have stealth abilities that get around many senses. For Close Range, I definitely relied on my perception.

Conversely, I hunt by sight, heat, and mana, but there are other methods by which I will be hunted. Smell and sound are only two. Vibrations in the tree and air are two other obvious ones, and there are wood sensing and other more esoteric ways.

Alistern was not far behind us. He had Stealth, but it was not more than normal stealth. He probably has camouflage skills when he is stationary.

We went up past various branches that spread out, some as wide as roads. I stopped at a likely branch, and Alistern caught up. We were probably almost 200m above the forest floor, but I couldn’t see it through the foliage of the branches I passed.

“This one?” he asked.

“This is one, but it will be fluid as it will also depend on the route the other team takes.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I got off Rob, and we went slower as Alistern marked the branch for the other Scout. The foliage was denser on the branches, blocking sightlines.

As we moved along, I was cautious. I had a half-second warning, and I was struck on the side hard and fell toward the edge of the branch. I felt blood and activated Rejuvenating Aura in a close area.

I stopped myself from falling and was glad of the Sure-grip enchantment on my gloves. My feet were hanging over the drop. I sensed Alistern’s arrow chase my attacker but didn’t hear the result. It had hit me regardless of my Spectral Cloak.

As I pulled myself back up onto the brunch, another fast-flying animal came at me. I ducked as Rob’s tongue flashed out, knocking the animal off course. He didn’t catch it due to its speed, but it would be poisoned.

Two more shapes flashed toward me. Alistern's arrow pierced one of them, and it dropped away below. The second, I sliced with Lightreaver as I rolled to the side. Small, with brown feathers and a flash of red, is all I have been able to pick up.

Then there were three, and I Dodged, but a fourth slipped in from another angle, and my Perception was too short a range for the speed. I spun as it glanced off my shoulder, and Lightreaver spun away below. I ignored the Soul-bound weapon and grabbed Rob’s Tongue with one hand and the edge of a branch with the other, thankful for Sure-grip.

My Helping Hand started throwing Death Darts. I Shadow Phased a hit by a Woodpecker, but it still spun me around, and I pushed a bit with my hand on the branch and let Rob retract his tongue as I fell.

I let Acrobatics and Cat Reflexes guide my landing on the branch 20m below, but it was a hard landing with nowhere to roll to eliminate the momentum. The smaller branch broke, and I jumped for another as the Woodpeckers came at me.

I couldn’t tell how many there were, but the trick was to keep moving as they attacked with swift dives but had limited manoeuvrability during the attack. It was similar to my Charge Skill. I survived with my Perception, Steady Footing and Climb, enhanced by the Sure-grip in my boots and gloves.

My images did not fool them, but I Dodged and had one slam into the branch behind me, and I finished it. I was jumping and dodging while throwing darts. Nights Embrace didn’t seem to work as they were already in their charge skill, but Umbral Cold had an effect. The Death mana was also effective.

My Cutting Light and Burning Light were too specific to be accurate on such fast-moving and small objects. I pulled out a round shield and started using it to protect myself, then tried to head back to where Rob was.

Rob was making his way to me. These dark trees were good for him, and his body's length and flexibility, along with his suction paws, made moving easy for him. He was being attacked as well and was regenerating several punctures his scales couldn’t stop. If he died, I would lose my Summons, which is why most people keep them stored safely in their Tattoo.

I was trying to think what I had that would be effective in this situation. The Woodpeckers would punch a hole in my armour where there was no bone plating. These things were denting the shield, and they would still fly away.

Then I remembered Slyhill. I had a mountain of sticky web from the matriarch, and I grabbed some and slammed it on the outside of the shield. That might hold them for a few seconds, enough for my Helping Hand of Death to infect it with Death Mana. I just used the hand with claws.

Then I saw the sticky lizard tongue whips. I chose a short one with multi-prongs and lashed out with it. This was less effective as the speed of the Woodpeckers tore through the prongs, but it slowed them down and sometimes changed their trajectory.

The Sticky web on the shield was more effective with the Death mana.

The attacks were slowing down when I finally connected with Rob. I asked if he wanted to go into the Tattoo to heal. When I say asked, it was more impressions as he couldn’t speak. He wanted to fight with me, which was the impression I got.

I mounted him and tossed my latest ruined whip. I had to hold on to his harness, as the shield was the most useful part, and I put Agility Riding into action.

Rob’s tail was a mess as he was using his Tail Smash Skill to swat the Wood Peckers, but they were causing a lot of damage to it. I wasn’t too worried, as a tail was the easiest part that he could regenerate.

I switched to the Shadow hand, reapplied the sticky web to the shield, and then switched back to the Death hand with claws. On Rob, we really started to move, and the diving Woodpeckers couldn’t keep up.

We started to be more offensive, Tail Smashing them into branches and then twisting so I could Shield Bash and Death Claw them. Rejuvenating Aura really boosted Rob's natural healing.

I started trying more things with Agility Riding and dipping to the ground to scoop up the loot from the ones Rob ate. I would stand briefly on Rob to stretch my shield into place. Steady Footing and Agility Riding working together.

The Woodpeckers slammed into the shield, some dropped off, and I only got a quick claw strike with my Death Hand, and some would be stuck for longer. If I killed them, I could get loot drops, but a lot fell away, and the drops were lost to me.

The flock was thinning, and I guided Rob back to where we were. The Map had a three-dimensional view that was quite intuitive, so I could tell how far I had fallen. The Woodpeckers were less frequent, and my Observant Eye was better at spotting them. I dismounted and moved alongside Rob.

I jumped to an adjacent branch, and Rob just stretched across. There was about four meters between his front and rear paws.

I had not been attacked for a little while now, so I stored the battered, sticky shield and did a quick scan through the loot drops. There was a Skill stone. I Appraised it—Diving Attack. It was probably the Woodpecker main attack. I debated learning it, but it seemed to require some sort of vertical movement, and I already had Charge, which didn’t require that. The only use I could think of was if I grew wings, or dived at something from a higher branch, or if I were in a water environment. Even then, Charge might work. I stored it.

I decided to summon Lightreaver back from wherever it had fallen. It turned out it was not far below me, probably caught on a branch. There was a squawk of protest when it came back. It probably disturbed a creature. I prepped for an attack, but it didn’t come.

We moved to a branch sloping up, and I hadn’t been attacked, so we sped up. We met the main group and stayed with them to the right branch. They had not been attacked yet.