Chapter 100: Splitting The Forest In Two
Although Valor was strong, he wasn’t able to lift the entire trees. Instead, he used his greatsword to split them into two even pieces before driving them deep into the ground.
Following Leonard’s instructions, Valor made sure there were little to no gaps between them through which monsters could slip through.
The plan was to use the wall to prevent the monsters from heading toward the city.
Leonard had to make the wall long enough so the monsters wouldn’t simply go around it.
Of course, depending on the type of monster, some might be able to jump over it or simply power straight through it, but it should prove invaluable during the early stages of the monster wave.
The Lumberjack Title made it easy for them to quickly expand the cleared area.
"My mana has increased a lot, but it’s still not unlimited. Supporting Valor for too long may strain me in the future when I’m forced to rely on my skills against powerful opponents." Leonard mused, throwing a glance at the knight.
When the length of the wall surpassed fifty meters, Leonard called Valor back into his soul. The makeshift wall was more or less complete, so he sought to clear the trees ahead to improve visibility.
Meanwhile, Callum was happily feasting on the monsters’ remains. Until now, only weak goblins had the misfortune of entering their territory, only to fall under the might of the Griffin.
After a few hours of manual labor, Leonard decided to check up on how his familiar was doing.
Name: Callum
Familiar: Griffin [Level 1]
[Experience: 1 → 87/100]
Rank: Heavenly
Growing Stage: Fledgling [20 → 21%]
Condition: Starving
The results were... underwhelming, to say the least.
Callum had slain 87 goblins, yet he was still Level 1! Not to mention, his Growing Stage had barely increased by a measly 1%!
"How come you devour so many creatures, yet you’re still starving? Where did all that food disappear to?"
Leonard heaved a deep sigh and massaged his temple, feeling a headache creeping in.
Thanks to his familiar, he had come to learn firsthand just how slow leveling up really was.
In reality, Leonard had been the abnormal one, raising his level quickly so soon after awakening.
"Last time I fed you a Wyvern’s Scale, your progress jumped by 20%, and your status changed to Overeaten..." He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"It seems that the volume of your food doesn’t matter as much as its quality. Only by devouring truly powerful monsters will you evolve once again."
Raising a familiar, a Heavenly ranked one at that, turned out to be much more difficult than he had anticipated. Suddenly, Nathan’s offer to adopt him and join the Tameless household began to make more sense.
Still, Leonard wasn’t disheartened in the slightest. He knew that, with time, Callum would grow into a proper Griffin.
"Master, something is wrong with this food! They don’t fill me up, and they aren’t tasty at all!" Callum said, his eyes sparkling like little stars as he looked on the verge of crying.
"Here, here. We’re going to find you more delicious food soon enough." Leonard comforted the little creature.
Despite how fearsome Callum looked to the goblins, it hadn’t been long since he hatched from his egg. In a way, he was no different from a kid.
"Wait a second, doesn’t that mean when you evolve again, you will be equivalent to a teenager? You won’t suddenly develop a temper, will you?"
Callum blinked innocently, having no idea what his master was talking about.
"Forget it..."
[Grade 2 Monster Wave is approaching!]
Their conversation was cut short by the announcement. The moment Leonard had been waiting for had finally arrived!
Just like with Grade 1 dungeons, monsters up to Level 10 could appear. However, now that the wave had risen to Grade 2, that limit had jumped all the way to Level 30!
"The scholars who rushed in will soon be overwhelmed and forced to fall back. Or at least, that’s what I suspect."
Thanks to the cleared area, soon enough his eyes landed on a monster madly charging through the forest.
Puzzled by the sudden change of environment, the creature stopped and made eye contact with Leonard.
It was a Minotaur. He bore a muscular physique and was naked from the waist up, with two leather straps crossing his chest. He lowered his head, his horns aimed toward Leonard, and tightened the hold over his axe.
Leonard was partially amused. This was the first time he had ever seen someone other than himself wielding an axe, and it turned out to be a Minotaur of all things.
"Great weapon choice. However, don’t think this is enough to spare you!" He declared.
The Minotaur snorted, steam escaping his nostrils, and charged straight ahead.
Leonard met the monster unfazed.
***
Deep in the forest, a party of three elves was traversing the wilderness.
Princess Arabella glanced at the two following behind her.
"Plamen, Izabella, didn’t I tell you not to follow me? Your presence is reducing our final scores." She said in an even tone.
Plamen shook his head.
"With all due respect, my Princess, your safety is my priority. I don’t care what games these humans are playing, nor do the results of this exercise matter. Your safety can’t be compromised for any reason."
Izabella nodded eagerly.
"Sir Plamen is correct, my Princess! We elves wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of anything happening to you!"
Arabella exhaled deeply. She knew that they both meant well, but she was getting tired of the princess treatment. Every so often, she longed to escape her lifestyle and experience the life of an ordinary elf.
Still, now wasn’t the time for daydreaming. The three were currently withdrawing.
After the rise in difficulty of the monster wave, they found themselves overwhelmed by the onslaught of numerous monsters and were forced to fall back.
"Something is wrong..." Izabella exclaimed, her delicate nose twitching. "The smell of iron is before us! It’s a bloodbath!"
Plamen’s eyes burned in ember color. "Maybe monsters have overtaken us? No matter. We will burn them all to the ground."
"Keep your eyes peeled." Arabella gripped her bow.
The three prepared for anything, or so they believed, until they came across a wide, cleared area with cut trees and monsters littering the ground.
But the most shocking thing was the towering wooden wall that stretched so far it was almost as if it cut the forest in two!
"What did we just walk into?"