Chapter 186: Druid

Vivian went to inform Lady Kali and Xiao Ke, then used 【Tree Walker】 to vanish.

The two of them, the former being knowledgeable and the latter skilled in divination arts, could always find clues in the withered forest.

Especially Xiao Ke's divination art, which had extremely strong various applications.

Rod had wanted to infuse her with 【Growth Spirit】 to strengthen her, but she was too shy, so the two of them never had the chance to be alone together.

Little Pony Girl Little Little Bangde was Xiao Ke's weakness; using that to say a few words, she would surely take the bait.

Rod nodded silently in his heart.

Deciding to find an opportunity to push her a bit more later.

Soon.

Rod, accompanied by the giant squirrel Cui Qian, arrived at the withered area first.

Unexpectedly, they were not far away, right at the edge of the Oak District.

This place was far from the forest's center, and the distance between the trees was not too tight, so not far away was the designated route of the Land Naga rebels.

They only dared to walk this route planned by the Shi Ying Town City Hall, because not long ago, the seventh-tier Tree Spirit of the forest had scared them out of their wits, and they did not dare to offend at all.

"Like last time?"

Rod said in a deep voice.

Observing the withered area, one could discover that they all radiated outward from a certain tree as the center; the center was withered most severely, then gradually weakened.

Residual fluctuations of mana were present; obviously, not much time had passed.

Unfortunately, Rod did not know any spells for mana tracking, so he could only wait for Lady Kali to handle it.

"It is 【Plant Wither】 again; it seems to be the work of the same person."

The giant squirrel Cui Qian was very angry, her small claws grasping wildly at the void.

"Despicable! Shameless! A disgusting villain!"

Rod: "Can you tell the direction of the culprit from this? You are a servant of the World Tree; you should be able to talk to trees and such."

"I, I just happen to not understand the dialect here."

"..."

At this moment, fluctuations appeared within Rod's perception range.

He turned his head to look and suddenly saw a cyan-white giant wolf on the opposite side of the withered circle; at this moment, human-like anger flowed in its eyes.

The giant wolf possessed quite good mana accumulation inside its body, estimated to be at the early stage of the seventh tier.

Clearly, this was the werewolf Druid who had transformed.

Rod: "A Wen Yi Fa is behind this; the spell is 【Plant Wither】. They did the same thing not long ago on the other side of the forest."

Druids have many means, especially in the path of transformation; perhaps they can find a way.

Hearing this, the cyan-white giant wolf pondered for a moment.

It looked deeply at Rod, then twisted its body, transforming into a red kite with beautiful feathers, flapping its wings and flying out above the treetops.

Then it went east at an extremely fast speed.

Rod frowned, knowing she might know something.

"Cui Qian, wait for them here; I will go chase her."

"Oh! Don't worry!"

However, she immediately called out to Rod, who was about to leave.

"What is it?"

Cui Qian was somewhat embarrassed: "Mr. Rod, can you lift me up onto the tree? I am afraid of the ground... It's all because the gravity in the real world is too strong..."

"... Then how did you get up the tree just now?"

"These past few days, that werewolf Druid has been helping me..."

Fine.

Rod was too lazy to talk much with her, so he directly threw her onto the tree, then hurriedly chased in the direction the Druid had flown away.

You don't say, this guy really flies fast.

Rod activated 【Swift Step】, but still failed to close the distance with her.

After a while.

He had already run out of Shi Ying Town and arrived at the edge of the Twilight Hills.

Finally, the red kite overhead changed direction, folded its wings, and dove downward like a fighter jet.

Just as it was about to land, it suddenly transformed back into the cyan-white giant wolf.

As if defying the laws of gravity, it landed lightly.

And almost at the moment it landed, a spell trap on the ground suddenly activated.

Sharp fangs composed of mana suddenly pierced upward from the ground.

Rod was no longer a novice who knew nothing about spells; he recognized this as a spell called 【Sharp Fang Trap】.

"Ah, I seem to have forgotten to tell her that the Wen Yi Fa's routine is to deliberately lure people out of the forest and kidnap them."

The strength of this 【Sharp Fang Trap】 was very high; obviously, the person who set it up enhanced the spell components and mana.

After all, it was someone who dared to target a seventh-tier Tree Spirit.

The sharp fangs pierced through the giant wolf's fur, carving several bloodstains on her body.

But the wounds were very shallow.

At this moment, warriors and mages jumped out one after another from behind the hillside on the side.

Their tiers were actually quite good, all above the sixth tier, and there were even two who were half-step seventh tier.

"Eh? Is it a wolf?"

"A tree spirit who has mastered Shapeshift! We're gonna be rich!"

"Idiot! Tree spirits can't learn Shapeshift!"

While they were speaking.

The blue-white giant wolf inside 【Fang Trap】 let out a furious roar.

Then its body began to swell; the wolf's torso grew bloated, its limbs shortened and thickened, shifting from four legs to standing upright on two.

A towering four-meter-tall, powerfully built owlbear burst up from the ground, its fur so tough that the magical fangs could barely harm her.

With a surge of tremendous magical power, it shattered 【Fang Trap】.

"It's 【Wild Shape】—this is a Druid!"

"A Druid? What's a Druid good for?! We're here to catch a tree spirit! Why didn't anyone tell me there was a Druid in Windwall Forest!"

"Couldn't we sell a Druid for money too?"

"Sell my ass! A Druid is a class, not a born race! No distinguishing trait means it's not rare, and if it's not rare, it's not worth money, you idiot, get it?" This person was clearly the leader of the gang.

"Then what do we do? Everything we prepared was treasure and ritual specifically for dealing with tree spirits. We can't beat a seventh-tier Druid."

"Damn it! Don't waste spell materials, pack up and run!"

While they were speaking.

The owlbear had already charged into the crowd.

A burly sixth-tier crocodile-man warrior who foolishly tried to take her head-on was the first to go, slapped flying with a single backhand.

Given the owlbear's physical resilience, combined with the crushing tier gap, every spiritual warrior present stacked together wouldn't be enough for her to slap twice.

The back-line mages could only cast frantically, trying to block her advance so the others would have a chance to escape.

But the half-wolf Druid wasn't about to let them off that easily.

The moment she saw most of them had put distance between themselves and her, no longer fighting in close quarters, she immediately swung her massive paw and slammed it hard into the ground.

Boom—

A violent tremor followed.

Countless thorned vines imbued with magic burst from the earth, fanning out rapidly ahead of her in a wide arc.

Several spiritual warriors who hadn't managed to flee in time immediately suffered for it, their bodies twisted into human fragments by the thick vines.

Her combat power was tremendous.

Even with Rod watching from the side, the outcome would be decided within five minutes.

But the enemy had sheer numbers on their side, so someone was bound to escape.

Moreover, Rod was very interested in the things they mentioned—those "tree spirit counters."

"This Druid Young Lady is early seventh-tier, and you lot couldn't even put up a fight. Vivian is mid seventh-tier, and you actually had the nerve to rely on treasures to try to kidnap her. Heh."

The next instant, he vanished from where he stood with a hum.

That leader was quite capable—he actually sensed something.

He whipped his head around as if by premonition, instantly locking onto the spot in midair where Rod had appeared.

Someone else?

"Who's there!"

But seeing that this person who had suddenly appeared had only mid sixth-tier spiritual accumulation, he couldn't help but sneer.

He swiftly drew his blade and slashed; the spiritual might contained within was quite powerful.

Screech—

Sparks burst and sprayed from the blade's edge.

It was like a blade striking rock. Rock was hardly some unyielding object—he'd been able to slice through it easily ever since reaching fourth-tier.

Yet at this moment, he felt the pale, helpless absurdity of a small child gripping a wooden stick and declaring he'd split a boulder.

(End of this chapter)