“Elis… that forest is over a hundred kilometers wide, and it’s filled with dangerous creatures.
I want to make it to the other side in one piece, not get torn apart halfway through. I don’t think it’s possible to cross all that distance in just fifteen minutes,” Leon said seriously, glancing at Elis with a doubtful look.
“Prer. Prrr..?”
“Prrr. Prrr..”
The slime and Elis started communicating again, exchanging soft, strange noises between them.
They continued their conversation for nearly two full minutes and suddenly Elis turned towards him.
“Master, the slime says it has crossed the entire forest within fifteen minutes before-without encountering any dangers during this time of day.
It also claims that all the truly dangerous monsters only come out at night. The slime is asking for your trust, Master,
It says, if you trust it… You will be able to cross the forest within 15 minutes.” Elis explained calmly, her face completely neutral.
Leon eyed the slime, watching it bounce eagerly up and down on the ground.
“Fucking hell… Fine. Let’s just get this over with. Meet me outside the dungeon,” Leon said with a sigh, before disappearing instantly into the thin air.
He then reappeared at the dungeon’s exit. Just a few seconds after, the slime came bouncing out, landing softly on the ground beside him.
“Wait… Let me do something first,” Leon said as he activated his skill.
<Skill Crafter>
(Please pick a name for the skill…]
“Silent Steps,” Leon spoke quickly, not wasting time.
[Skill ‘Silent Steps’ has been created.]
(Rank settled at ‘F’ by default.)
[State the use of the skill.]
‘I am making this type of skill for the first time… Please don’t get fucked up,’ Leon thought nervously as he started speaking.
“When activated, this skill will immediately mute the sound of the user’s footsteps and with every ten steps taken, the user will gain one stealth stack, but lose 100 mana for every stack gained.
Each stealth stack will increase the user’s overall stealth by 1%. All accumulated stacks will disappear once the skill is turned off.”
(Processing…]
(Description accepted.]
Leon’s face lit up with a grin. “Fuck yes… System always accepts mana hungry skills.”
[Please select the chant for the skill {Silent Steps}.]
“Stealth,” he answered without hesitation.
[Chant ‘Stealth’ has been selected.)
[Estimated mana cost: 20 mana to activate, 100 mana per stealth stack.)
[Cooldown after use: 5 minutes.]
[Would you like to learn the skill or destroy it?]
“Learn it,” Leon said immediately.
[Congratulations! You have successfully learned [Silent Steps}!]
“Good… Let’s move out,” Leon said as he pointed at the forest.
Boing-Boing
The slime happily bounced forward, leading the way into the dense forest.
Leon activated his new skil immediately.
“Stealth.”
A faint shimmer surrounded him as the sound of his footsteps disappeared completely. Every ten steps, a subtle notification popped up in front of him.
[+1 Stealth Stack (1)]
(-100 MP)
(+67976 MP)
10 minutes passed as they moved deeper into the woods, the slime bouncing happily ahead while Leon silently gained stealth stacks step after step.
Boing-Boing -Boing
‘I haven’t seen a single monster yet.. Seems like this slime actually knows the safest route through this forest,
These guys are more useful than I thought’ Leon thought with a growing smile—until suddenly, the slime took a sharp right turn, heading west instead of south.
“What the fuck…? Hey! I need to head south, not west!” Leon shouted, pointing toward the direction he needed to go.
Boing-Boing-Boing
The slime bounced rapidly in place, stubbornly insisting Leon to follow it.
“Fucking hell… I should’ve crafted a skill to talk to slimes,” Leon grumbled as he reluctantly followed after the slime.
Five more minutes passed. The forest remained suspiciously quiet.
‘Is this forest really supposed to be dangerous? I haven’t seen even a single monster yet, even if this slime knows safe routes, there has to be some monsters.’ Leon thought, glancing around cautiously.
Suddenly, the slime stopped in front of a massive tree, looking around as if searching for something.
“Huh…? What are you looking for?” Leon asked, puzzled. He noticed the slime wasn’t reacting to his voice at all.
“Ah… right. My stacks,” Leon muttered, quickly checking his status screen.
[Stealth Stack (107)]
“No wonder he can’t see or hear me,” Leon said to himself as he immediately deactivated his skill.
“I’m right here,” Leon said aloud.
Boing-Boing-Boing-Boing
The slime started bouncing excitedly once again as it noticed Leon.
“Prrr. Prrr… Prrr….”
“Still can’t understand a word you’re saying, are you telling me to follow you?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
*BOING*
The slime then launched itself toward the tree— and instead of colliding with it, it vanished right into the trunk.
Leon blinked, rubbed his eyes, and stared harder. “No way… That just happened.”
He hesitantly reached out to the tree’s trunk— and his hand slipped right through the bark as if it wasn’t even there.
Without delay, Leon used his inspecti skill on the tree.
< Inspect >
[Name: Worldroot Tree]
[Race: Tree)
[Rank: Unknown]
[Description: A mysterious tree that continuously moves throughout the forest.)
‘Unknown rank… and what do you mean it moves?’ Leon thought with a very confused expression.
*Boing-Boing-Boing*
The slime came out of the tree once again, trying to get Leon’s attention.
“You want me to go inside?” Leon asked, pointing at the tree.
Boing!
“Well, Fuck it..” Leon muttered, stepping forward.
As soon as he entered inside the trunk, he was pulled down a slippery tunnel.
“AHHHHHHH-!” Leon shouted as he tumbled helplessly through the darkness, trying to grip the things around him but it was too smooth to get a grip on it.
After a sharp curve, he was suddenly flung out by the tree, hitting soft grass with a loud thud.
*THUD*
“Fuck…” Leon groaned, feeling the ground beneath him.
Boing-Boing- Boing
The slime bounced around happily as if nothing had happened. I
Leon stood up, looking around — and froze when he saw that the tree was completely gone.
“Where did the tree go..?” he asked, bewildered.
Then a loud, urgent voice shouted nearby.
“Get him back to the tent—hurry!”
Leon quickly turned toward the sound and saw human soldiers dragging injured comrades toward a cluster of tents.
His eyes widened in realization.
“I-I’m… already at the southern border?” Leon asked, his voice filled with shock.
