"Now, what dumb bitch said that I was dead?" Jack's voice echoed in the deathly silence.
The elves would have probably been less surprised if he had spontaneously sprouted seraph wings. Their eyes kept going from the human to the submissive Griffin in disbelief.
"Y-you're alive?!!" Before she knew what she was doing, Leaf had dashed toward him, sobbing as she embraced him. "You're really here, not a ghost!!"
Even their apparent leader, the YGG priestess, was going insane. At this moment, the countless hours she had spent to get close to the Griffin flashed before her eyes.
The same Griffin was now bowing to some random human after a short flying session. What the hell?! To make matters worse, said human didn't especially look hurt either.
Player —> Easy healing + Access to Inventory
How long would they keep staring? Jack broke the silence. "What's next? Are we done?" He fearlessly inquired.
"N-next? Ah, there's still one Trial. We'll have to head to the Arena for that one."
"I see, lead the way. Let me guess. This one too will be simple, right?" He playfully used what seemed like her favorite sentence.
He was escorted by utterly confused elves, having seemingly lost their souls. Pfft— They sure were fun to tease! Should he anger them a bit more?…
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They so wanted to murder him!
Their next destination wasn't too far away, yet the human had used the Griffin to fly over very, very slowly.
The creature knew the way and could have instantly brought him, but Jack insisted on hovering near the elves as they made their way there as a group.
They stared at the creature with awe, wishing they could be in his place. But, he then started spewing infuriating comments.
"Tch— Why are your feathers so uncomfortable?"
"Why are you hiding in this village? Bird riding is fun…"
"I wonder what Griffin tastes like. Do you think you'd be delicious?"
While they were dying of jealousy, he was freaking complaining?! Uncomfortable feathers? Bird?! Asking the creature about the taste of its meat?! Yet the Griffin didn't mind it one bit.
When the group finally reached the Arena, they all felt like they had aged a few centuries in an instant, their entire bodies suddenly feeling feeble.
— Welcome to the Arena! —
It was HUGE and shaped like a wooden nest. The walls were made of living branches that even seemed to be breathing. One noticeable detail: there was no entrance.
It was one of those, wasn't it?
Just as the priestess was about to instruct him, Jack walked straight up to the wall. A second later, the wooden wall seemingly swallowed him.
The branches soon brought him to a new world. Blue sky, greenery, a bunch of trees, soft wind, and even a warm sun. This place was its own little ecosystem.
[Welcome to the Elven Arena!]
[Survive Three Waves to Claim Your Reward!]
First, it was 3 trials, and then 3 waves. Hopefully, it would really be the end afterward. Jack's aura turned sharp as he positioned himself for battle.
"Let's get this party started, shall we?"
Green light suffused across the entire Arena, the air seemingly heating up. The first enemies were already spawning. As Jack saw them, he gave a wry smile.
< Young Treant Protector 25! 🍃✨ >
Tons of living saplings had appeared, now slowly moving toward him. They were as slow as sturdy…but he sure had lucked out on the type!
"Really, they are sending wood creatures against me? Ridiculous!" He chuckled as he instantly sent fireballs their way, lighting them up.
It didn't take long for them to start wailing, unsuccessfully trying to extinguish their bodies. Before long, they were all turned into ashes.
Still, Jack knew this had just been the warm-up (literally). As the next enemies spawned, his face turned solemn. Wooden humanoid-shaped golems, a whole lot of them!
< Wooden Elven Guard 45! 🍃✨ >
Level 45?! At this rate, wouldn't he face level 65 enemies during the third round?! But, he quickly regained his spirit, barely side-stepping an attack.
— Twang! —
The sound of arrows being fired echoed all around him. Crap, he had to run!! Volley after volley were heading his way. Arrows, wooden spikes, and even spinning logs!
As he evaded, he sent a few fire spears toward the enemies, the effectiveness limited this time. The creatures too could evade, and they were damn good at it!
They were like monkeys in the jungle as they leaped from walls to trees, to walls again, even doing flips and backflips. They were like ninjas!
Also, it seemed like they could learn but were excruciatingly slow. So slow that it was hard to believe. Did this mean he had a time limit?
Jack instantly realized that simply firing spells at them wouldn't work. He'd have to either launch one large AOE attack or find a way to restrain them.
"Seems I'll be relying on you guys again," Jack murmured as he prepared to use his trump card.
But he suddenly stopped…how much of this Trial could the Elves watch from the outside? He'd have to rely on his peerless disguise techniques!
That's when he began the plan Pumpkin.
He'd dodge the attacks while casually dropping pumpkins at times. After every drop … Splatter! The food exploded from the projectiles.
But after a very long while, they finally learned that the Pumpkins did nothing at all. That's when they stopped targeting them entirely. Oh, this would be great!
"Arise, my minions."
Suddenly soiled bony hands pierced out of the ground, grabbing the pumpkins above them. A few seconds later, Pumpkin-Wearing Skeletons came out, ready to fight.
They swarmed toward the enemies at a pace that was relatively slow. But, the dumb creatures ignored the Pumpkins they "knew" not to be a danger.
Jack had given his minions the order not to attack any of the enemies either, so they didn't emit the slightest bit of killing intent. That's how they sneaked in plain sight.
Then the skeletons all reached their targets. Attack? Nope! They simply embraced them. They were literally grabbing their heels.
"Good, that's perfect! Give them more hugs. Gotta spread the love! Hey, buddy, this should help warm you up!" Jack shouted as he threw fire at the enemies.
One after the other, they fell, their aura filled with incomprehension. Why had the moving Pumpkins suddenly turned dangerous?! They all realized their mistakes too late.
This was only possible because he had great control over his troop and battlefield awareness. He'd always execute each enemy during the first grab.
[Updating the Arena!]
[Pumpkins = Mortal Enemies!]
"….Bruh."
What kind of silly mortal enemy was this?! It was even worse than when Moon Moon had tried killing snow. Jack readied himself for the third wave, his palms already sweaty.
Mana suddenly filled the entire place, lots of mana! He had an awful feeling about this, so much that he was already backing off from the spawn point.
This time, there was only one monster, but it didn't make it less terrifying. Oh no!
< Giant Ghostly Carnivora 65! 🍃✨ >
What the hell was this doing here?! Why would elves even have something like that?! It didn't make any sense whatsoever!
This thing was half-physical and half-immaterial. It was a gigantic bluish glowing carnivorous plant with a gaping toothless maw and countless thornless vines.
It didn't look particularly menacing, but Jack knew this was only an illusion. It would bait adventurers to approach as it looked harmless and even valuable.
Nope! Big F-ing Red Flag!
Simply being in contact with this thing would transmit negative energy, similarly to his Ghoul Touch. It really wasn't something one could endure!
Jack instantly got to work, trying to find the monster's flaws as the fight resumed once more.
— Slam! Spit! Whoosh! —
The plant would slam its tentacles at him, rupturing the ground where he'd been a second earlier. Jack stayed near the Arena's edge, as far as possible from the thing.
He tried to use his spells to damage it, but it had no effect whatsoever. He was akin to a man trying to thaw a block of ice with a single match.
"Tch— This won't work." He grumbled.
Attacks? Ineffective.
Flaws? None that he could exploit.
Surviving? Barely because it was toying with him.
Was there still hope? Not really, the thing devouring him would be a fatality and…wait, devouring?! He could always use that…or that?
There would be consequences for sure, but would the pros outweigh the cons? Jack's brain was going full throttle.
"Ah, why not…."
That's when he stopped running, charging at the creature and then…plunging in its maw?! Only he knew what he was thinking…
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
"Go on, kill him!!!" As soon as the challenge started, the elves instantly started cheering for the monsters.
When they witnessed the treants getting steamrolled, they grumbled about how he really had a bad affinity. Why did it just have to be fire?! But then they quickly calmed down.
"It's fine. The Elven Guards won't be as easy."
"For sure! So what if he counters them? He has to hit them first!"
They chuckled as they saw Jack's expression, his face pale. It was evident that he couldn't cope with their speed. It seemed like he too had realized this problem.
He was doomed, utterly doomed!
Except something strange suddenly happened.
"Why is he tossing Pumpkins everywhere?"
"More importantly, where is he taking them from?!"
They couldn't understand what he was doing at all. Had he lost his mind? It really seemed to be the case, making them snicker.
But then the big reveal happened.
It all happened so fast that they barely saw it.
Pumpkin Golems came out of the ground, and he quickly worked with them to annihilate all the enemies. This was possible?!
They were still in shock when the plant spawned. Seeing Jack struggling to survive sure cheered them up. But then it became even better as he was gobbled up!
"What?!"
"He finally gave up, haha!"
"He'll be dead from the negative energy in a few seconds!"
They were embracing one another, tearing up in joy. But suddenly, one of them pointed at the screen. "Guys, what the hell is this?!"
The plant was trembling, seemingly from the inside….
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