The city passed by below, and the guards decelerated the further they went, paying attention to the citizens below. Soon they were traveling at a scant few hundred miles per hour, which felt cripplingly slow to Sam. Even though Sam and the guards could teleport, Dranus could not, and provisions were being made for him. Presumably, there was some sort of ritual that needed to be observed with the delivery of an outsider, involving the deliverer.
The city grew visibly older the further they went towards the center, fresh wood turning gnarled and dark as the original growth of the Locus Tree was revealed. It was here that Sam saw the first of the reclusive natural cultivators that the guards had mentioned. They were quite easy to spot, as they all had levels of one. However, swirling patterns of Dao energy surrounded them, and a strange sense of connection to the greater world greeted Sam when he looked more closely with his Dao sight. Despite all this, they were quite weak, only around F Rank in strength.
Eventually, the group landed in front of a massive building that looked somewhat like a longhouse. The noise of battle could be heard within, and plumes of metaphysical power erupted out every now and again.
The guards bowed and teleported away, leaving Dranus and Sam standing before the hall. With a deep breath, Sam stepped forwards and pushed the doors open.
Inside, about a dozen Forest Folk sparred and trained. They were even taller than the guards had been, around ten feet. The largest was almost a dozen feet tall. As soon as the doors opened though, they stopped.
“I present to the Council of Defenders the outsider known as Sam Atlas,” Dranus intoned, bowing low. “He arrived at my enclave less than a day ago, and has a mission from the World Tree to aid us against the Voidrot.”
“Doesn’t look like much-” One of the Defenders began.
“I’ve heard that too many times since coming here,” Sam interjected. “Let’s just hurry things up here.”
He proceeded to extend his aura, letting the others feel his strength for themselves. Most of them flinched slightly in surprise, except for their leader, who simply cocked what looked to be a plant’s equivalent of an eyebrow.
“A real outsider. How intriguing,” the man said. “I look forward to working with you.”
Sam was quickly introduced to the other fighters. Unlike with the general populace of the Forest Folk, many of them were women. There were still less than half, but considering how rare they were on Vallenar, it was quite unexpected.
The leader was named Bronvar, but the others didn’t bother to give their names. They knew that Sam was only here briefly, to accomplish his mission and leave with the boons that the System granted. Surprisingly enough, there were no challenges to his strength from the other fighters, a rarity in the strength filled world of the Boundless Expanse.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
When asked about this, he was simply informed that such things meant little in Forest Folk society. After all, those who refused to level at all were afforded great honor for resisting the System, even if pure necessity meant that most of the civilization had to.
He didn’t have to wait long for the first part of his quest to commence. A messenger blasted through the doors about thirty minutes after his arrival, screaming about a Voidrot invasion of a distant enclave. It was unusual in that it possessed two Guardians, rather than just a single one.
“Well, consider this your first test,” Bronvar said to Sam, a slight smile on his face. “If you’ve already faced four of the Guardians and emerge victorious, then one should be nothing to you.”
“Are you sure-” one of the others began.
“I can handle it,” Sam interrupted. “I’ve fought worse.”
“I sincerely hope so,” Bronvar replied.
About fifteen minutes later, the group stood in the air before one of Anavri’s Sentinels, currently under assault by a pair of the immense avatars of wood and decay that were the Voidrot Guardians.
Tendrils of corruption snaked up from the ground, wrapping around the tree. Others connected to points on the Guardians’ bodies, empowering them to the fullest of their potential.
“You can take the one on the left,” Bronvar declared. “We can deal with the other one.”
Sam simply nodded, and teleported above the monster. Like a shooting star, he descended, jets of power propelling him down towards his quarry. His hammer blossomed to its full size, wreathed in ethereal flames.
The Voidrot Guardian looked up at him, thrusting one bark clad hand towards him, a sphere of darkness already forming there. It was too late though, and Sam brought Terra’s Will down with a colossal boom as it broke through the sound barrier multiple times over.
The Guardian’s hand crumpled beneath the strike, Sam’s power blasting it into shards of wood. Scythes of Dao energy streaked across its form, slicing through the tentacles of decay that kept it in peak condition.
The monster tried to draw upon its resources to heal the wound, but to its surprise, they were not forthcoming. Sam took advantage of this distraction to strike, and his weapon impacted the Guardian’s head and torso in quick succession, blasting it backwards.
As he fought, the others surrounded the second Guardian, with some of them heading up to the beleaguered enclave to help its citizens escape. Bronvar had formed a titanic ax out of wood, seemingly from thin air, and every strike cut furrows into his foe.
Flickering teleportations brought weaker Forest Folk to safety as four of the Council of Defenders worked to transport their kin away from the fight. With the enhanced sense of E Rankers, they could do so hundreds of times every second, quickly draining the enclave of its inhabitants. Sam still hadn’t grasped group teleportation, but it was on his agenda. It seemed quite useful.
He still remembered Gordanus’ expertise in the area of teleportation, being able to transport himself a good portion of the way across an entire planet. The man likely had possessed a powerful Dao Seed, but his power had also been immense, likely at the peak of E Rank, or at least near there.