It was dark, there was no sound, no light, no feeling, just emptiness. I floated in the darkness without form, without direction, without a body, but I could feel a strange and calming feeling. 

Am I dying again? If so, I'm starting to feel like my life's death system is getting too repetitive. I try to move, but I can't. I try to speak, but there's no sound. Then something appears, a small, faint green light floating in the distance. 

One dot like a firefly, I stared at it and the dot started to slowly get closer and closer, getting bigger until finally I realized it wasn't a light but a leaf. 

A dark green leaf floated in front of me and then a voice came not through my ears but directly in my head or maybe within my being.

“Fragment.”

I froze. Okay, voices in the void are never convincing.

“Who?” I asked.

Or think it's hard to distinguish here, the voice is back.

“What's left.”  Samar.

Of course.

“Can you be more specific?”

Silence then the light around me changed, the darkness began to crack I saw something that was a fragment of a giant tree that was very big, so big that its branches felt like they were supporting the sky, its roots penetrated the land, its leaves were like stars. 

Beautiful, ancient, terrifying, I knew without explanation that it was the real World Tree. Then the image changed to a red sky, a fire, and a large black shadow. Something attacked the tree; I couldn't make out its shape clearly, only a silhouette and fear. A very primal fear.

Trees cracked, branches snapped, roots uprooted, the whole world seemed to be screaming. Fragments flew and scattered, one of them heading towards the darkness, towards me. 

The vision stopped, I was back in the void my heart was beating faster or I was just imagining having a heart.

“So my class…” I muttered.

The voice answered.

"Fragment."

“From the World Tree?”

“Yes.”

Well confirmed cool and a bit worrying, I stared at the leaf.

"And now?"

There was silence for a few seconds. Then:

"Grow."

Simple but straight to the point very structured in tree code, I sighed.

“Everyone in this world likes to talk like a riddle, right?”

There was no answer the leaf slowly approached touching my forehead and suddenly PAIN, I screamed.

“AAAAARGH!”

Consciousness hit me like a truck again, all the pain that had disappeared came rushing back to my bones, muscles, nerves, and mana. 

Everything burned as I opened my eyes, my body suddenly arched in pain, and I was back in the Core Room. Stone floors, roots, green light, and the most illicit pain.

“Cancer!” 

Nara's voice was faint, I could barely focus my body was covered in greenish black roots wrapping around my arms, chest, neck as if my body was being rewritten. 

The thorny branch in my hand cracked, broke, lengthened, the wood hardened, thorns grew and then its shape changed completely.

Notifications appear in succession.

Evolution successful.

Class upgraded.

Weapon evolved.

Thorny Branch → World Thorn Sword

Skill evolved.

Devour Root → World Root Devour

New skill acquired:

Root Domain

Corruption Resistance

Level increased. 13 → 16

I almost laughed. 

"Hah, hah..."

The roots slowly pulled away from my body the pain subsided little by little I fell to my knees, Breathing heavily, body covered in cold sweat but I could feel the difference very clearly much stronger. 

The mana in my body feels denser and more stable. Minor Mana Sense has grown drastically. I can even feel the entire room. Every root, every energy flow, every vibration. So many but amazing. 

I stared at the new weapon in my hand and for a few seconds I was completely speechless. It was no longer a branch. It now resembled a thin sword with a dark ebony texture, long and elegant, with small spikes running down the sides of the blade, with green veins glowing faintly on the surface. It looked so cool, and I smiled broadly.

“Now we talk.”

Ultimately, the aesthetic upgrade was important. Nara stood a few meters away from me, her gaze sharp and wary. Fair enough, I might have just turned into something questionable.

“Are you still conscious?” he asked.

I looked at him thinking about the answer.

“About... eighty percent.”

Nara let out a small sigh I guess that was her version of relief from high praise, I opened the status.

Name: Lock

Class:

World Tree Trunk Fragment

Level: 16

Weapon:

World Thorn Sword

Skill:

World Root Devour

Ember Slash

Root Snare

Nature Assimilation

Root Domain

Corruption Resistance

Oh the class name also changed, it's very interesting, so I'm the one who evolved not only the weapon but the Class as well, dopamine progression was activated, I read the new skill.

Root Domain

Creates an area of ​​root influence within a specific radius.

Users can detect, control, and strengthen roots within the domain.

This is very useful. Area control and detection of potential battlefield domination, I love it.

Second skill:

Corruption Resistance

Increases resistance to corruption, poison, decay, and mental influence.

Okay the system basically says:

“You'll need this.”

It wasn't calming, so I stood up slowly, my body feeling light, strong, and much stronger than before. Very addictive and dangerous, I stared at the fragment in the center of the room. 

The crystal was now much dimmer, some of its energy absorbed but not yet destroyed. Very interesting, Nara approached and said

"Succeed?"

I nodded.

“I guess so.”

“Pages?”

I picked up a new weapon.

“If this fails, my standards are very high.”

Nara saw my sword for the first time, her expression actually changing slightly in surprise. Nice, open feat: impressing a girl with a straight face, rare, but before we could talk further, the whole room shook once, twice, dust began to fall from the ceiling, I frowned.

“Oh.”

“This is usually a bad sign.”

A notification appears.

Warning.

Instability detected.

Core collapse imminent.

Time remaining:

05:00

I looked at the timer then looked at Nara, she had already turned her body towards the door, practically as usual.

"Run." he said.

Good advice, we immediately ran out of the room. The timer ticked to 5:00, and for the first time since entering this place, I began to think that maybe grabbing power-ups while triggering dungeon collapses was too consistent a tradition.

[END CHAPTER 13]

04:52

The timer in front of me kept ticking away, the red numbers feeling like a personal insult. We ran as fast as we could down the hallway. The ground shook violently, dust fell from the ceiling, and cracks began to appear in the extremely unstable walls. 

Nara and I ran without saying much because when the entire dungeon was deciding to collapse deep conversation wasn't a priority.

04:31

A loud cracking sound was heard behind him.

KRRAAAK!

I glanced around, seeing the poor condition of the passageway, which was starting to collapse, with large rocks falling and blocking part of the path. Okay, my motivation to run increased dramatically.

“Faster!” Nara shouted.

“I was considering a leisurely walk actually!” I replied.

I still had to maintain mental priority over sarcasm. I could feel the changes in my body after the evolution. All my sensors had increased. I could feel the vibrations before a rock fell, the roots in the wall, the flow of mana, and even the air pressure. This was very useful. A large rock fell from above, and I reflexively raised my hand.

Root Domain!

Roots coming out of the wall push the rock aside.

DUAK!

The rock hit the floor next to me, I blinked. Oh that's cool, so cool, I'm starting to like this skill emotionally, Nara glanced at me while still running.

"Good."

Short praise detected rare event of open achievement again.

03:48

We arrived at a narrow intersection, the problem was that the path we had been on had now partially collapsed and the exit was blocked by large rocks, I stopped suddenly.

"Good."

“There's always a part like this.”

Nara immediately checked the right side looking for a gap but there was none, the rock was too big and the time was too short, the timer kept running.

03:31

I stared at the wall thinking quickly Mana Sense activated there was something behind the left side of the empty space, I pointed.

“Over there.”

Nara immediately understood.

“Can it be destroyed?”

I looked at the World Thorn Sword in my hand, a small smile appearing.

“I think this is a good time for a skill test.”

I raised my mana flowing sword, the sword glowed dark green then I slashed.

Ember Slash.

Fire and root energy unite. 

BOOM! 

The wall cracked, dust flew, a large crack appeared but it wasn't enough, I slashed again. 

BOOM! 

The shattered wall opened up a new, narrow passageway leading upwards. Good, Nara went in first, and we continued running.

02:54

The new passageway was narrower, rising and winding like an old-fashioned emergency escape route or perhaps a very uncomfortable escape route. 

The ground shook more and more violently until a crack opened in the dark floor behind me, the bottom of which was invisible. No, I jumped over the cracked part, Nara was already far ahead. How could she be so fast? It wasn't fair.

“Do you secretly have a teleport skill?” I shouted.

"No." he answered without looking back.

“What a pity.”

We continued to breathe as my body weight became stronger now, but running while being chased by the ruins of a dungeon was still not the ideal training for improving abilities.

01:47

Finally, light appeared ahead, coming out, beautiful, so beautiful. Our motivation for life was restored, and we ran faster. A few more meters before the ceiling collapsed, a large rock falling right in front of Nara.

DUAAR!

Closing the path, I stopped. Damn, Nara took a step back.

Timer: 01:29

I stared at the closed path, no time to turn around, no way. Okay, the brute force way is how, I advanced, raising my sword, Root Domain activated, roots from all over the wall gathered on the blade, Mana flowed wildly, the sword trembled, Nara slightly retreated very cleverly, I took a breath.

“Hopefully this works.”

Then slash horizontally.

WORLD ROOT SLASH

A new skill appeared spontaneously at an interesting time, a dark green slash shot out.

BOOOOOOM!

The large rock shattered into pieces, opening the passageway, I blinked.

…

Okay that's a lot stronger than expected, I like it of course.

“RUN!” shouted Nara.

Oh well admiring our own strength later on we ran out, the sun hitting our eyes as we jumped out of the rubble door the next second,

BOOOOOOOOM!

The entire back area collapsed, the ground collapsing, and the rubble partially sinking. Dust and roots flew into the air, and the shockwave hit us on our backs. 

Nara and I were thrown to the ground rolling dramatically as per the silent tradition only the sound of falling dust and our breaths, I lay on the ground staring at the sky in wonder to be alive again. 

The timer disappeared and the Quest was safely completed. I laughed a little, then a little louder, a little hysterical, a little justified. Nara sat beside me, still calm. How could that be?

“Why are you laughing?” he asked.

I looked up at the sky.

“Because my life in the last fourteen chapters has been very tiring.”

Nara was silent then said,

"Makes sense."

A high level of empathy was detected, and I slowly sat down, gazing at the ruins, now nearly level with the ground. The dungeon was gone, the earth's core had collapsed, and the White Council must be furious. Oops, I opened the quest.

Quest:

Survive 7 days in the Forbidden Forest

Progress:

Day 4/7

The fourth day is still three days away, I sighed.

“Somehow it feels like I've been living here for months.”

Nara stood up and dusted off her clothes.

“We're not done yet.”

Of course not. Why did I even hope? I got up.

“What else?”

Nara looked north, her expression more serious.

“The collapse of the core will attract surrounding monsters.”

“And maybe something worse.”

I squinted.

“Worse than fanatical organizations and collapsed dungeons?”

Nara looked at me.

“Yes.”

Oh, it was incredible, as if summoned by something, a loud roar echoed from a distance. The ground shook, I recognized the sound. A rock gorilla? Not bigger, just heavier.

A notification appears.

Boss Monster approaching.

Target:

Unknown

Threat:

Extreme

I looked at the screen then looked at Nara then at the voice, I took a deep breath.

"Okay."

“I think today still has bonus content.”

In the distance the trees were starting to fall one by one something was coming and its size was definitely not good news.

[END CHAPTER 14]

Trees fell one by one the sound of breaking wood echoed like giant dominoes.

ALL.

ALL.

ALL.

The ground shook every few seconds, as something was approaching, something very large. I stood, gripping the World Thorn Sword even tighter, my body still exhausted from running out of the collapsed dungeon and still not fully recovered. 

The enemy's timing was either absolutely terrible or perfectly consistent with my life. The fog ahead began to shift, the trees parted, and finally, the creature appeared. 

I automatically tensed. Its shape resembled a deer, if a deer were experiencing an evolutionary nightmare. Its body was nearly five meters tall, its antlers branched like dead tree roots. Its skin was greenish-black, its eyes glowed red, living roots sprouted from its legs and back, and its aura of corruption was so thick that the air felt heavy.

A notification appears.

Guardian Beast — Cervaros

Level: 22

Status: Corrupted

Threat: Extreme

I stared at the number.

"Twenty two?"

I'm level 16, and the difference isn't funny at all. Nara also seems more serious than usual, which is a really bad sign. 

Cervaros lifted his head to take a breath of air then his eyes locked on me specifically me, I pointed at myself.

"Why is it always me?"

Cervaros roared, a low, distorted roar that moved the surrounding roots. Oh, and he was also a plant-themed, large, natural boss fight. 

Cervaros attacked without warning, no warm-up, the monster immediately shot forward for its size, its speed was strange, I barely had time to avoid its horns sweeping the area where I was standing.

BOOM!

The ground exploded, I rolled to the side, and dust flew up covering the area. Nara came in from the left, slashing the monster's hind leg with her dagger.

CLANG!

The sparks that came out didn't penetrate the natural armor too hard.

“Good,” I said. 

“Even this deer's legs have plot armor.”

Nara didn't respond to focus mode. Cervaros swung his tail, a large root sweeping the area. Nara jumped back and I advanced. 

Root Domain activated, the surrounding roots responding to my call, holding Cervaros's front legs for a split second, stopping the monster. Good enough, I jumped, the World Thorn Sword blazing. Ember Slash, I slashed at its neck.

SHRAK!

The incoming attack caused a small amount of black blood to flow out, Cervaros roared angrily. The damage had been confirmed, and I landed with a faint smile.

“Very much.”

“It can still be hurt.” Important information,

The monster stepped on the hard ground black roots burst from under the attack area, I jumped back but was a little too late one of the roots whipped my thigh.

BUK!

I was thrown, it hurt so bad.

“UGH!”

I rolled on the ground almost losing my grip on the sword, Nara appeared in front of me blocking the next root attack.

"Wake up." he said shortly.

I stood up grimacing.

“I'm doing it.”

Cervaros attacks again, this time his mouth opening, dark mana gathering. Oh no, a projectile attack.

“Get down!” Nara shouted.

We both jumped to the side, the next second a burst of black energy hit the center area.

BOOOOM!

The ground melted, I stared at the crater.

"No."

To avoid getting hit by the attack, I activated Minor Mana Sense. Focusing on analyzing the flow of mana, I saw the strongest corruption energy pattern gathered in the center of his chest. "Core? Most likely," I shouted.

“Nara!”

“Her chest!”

He immediately understood good cooperation, Cervaros attacked me again on purpose, I attracted perfect attention.

“Yeah, yeah, I don't like my face either.”

I ran in a circle, the monster chasing me, while Nara disappeared from view in stealth mode. Cervaros slammed into the ground, his roots chasing me, and I dodged as best I could, my mana dwindling. 

Too bad, I need bait now, Cervaros jumped his giant body down towards me, I stopped suddenly raising my hand.

Root Domain — Full Release

All the roots in the surrounding area rose up, dozens of roots wrapped around Cervaros' legs holding his body in the air for a split second.

“Now!” I shouted.

Nara appeared from above, I don't even know how long she's been there, she's kind of scary. She jumped from the tree branch, her two daggers blazing, stabbing straight into Cervaros' chest.

CRACK.

The sound of breaking. 

Good, the monster's cracked core roared loudly, but it wasn't dead yet. Damn, I ran forward, the last of my mana gathered, the World Thorn Sword vibrated, and the new skill activated automatically.

World Root Devour activated.

Compatible corrupted target detected.

Oh? Interesting, I stabbed straight into the crack in the sword core, Cervaros froze, his roar stopped, the roots on his body shook wildly, then the greenish black energy began to be sucked into my sword, I widened my eyes.

“Whoa.”

Cervaros struggled unexpectedly, but the process was already underway. The mana corruption flowing through my body was painful once again—of course, everything always hurts. The monster slowly weakened, its massive body beginning to crack and then collapse.

BOOOOM.

Dust rose into the silent air, I still held the sword stuck in the last of the energy absorbed.

Notifications appear in succession.

Guardian Beast defeated.

Corrupted essence absorbed.

Level 17 reached.

Level 18 reached.

New trait acquired:

Beast Vitality

New skill:

Corrupted Burst

I pulled out my sword, breathing heavily, my body trembling, but somehow still alive. Nara landed lightly beside me, looking at Cervaros's now motionless body.

“It worked,” he said.

I let out a short laugh.

“Yes.”

“A little overdramatic, but it works.”

Nara looked at me then at my sword, her expression changing to a faint trace of worry.

“The energy of corruption earlier,” he said quietly.

“You absorbed it all?”

I looked at my hand, and a thin black root line appeared on my wrist and then disappeared. Hmm, a bit of a bad omen.

“I think so,” I replied.

Nara didn't look like she could understand, I opened the status.

Name: Lock

Class:

World Tree Trunk Fragment

Level: 18

Condition:

Stable (?)

I stared at the question mark.

…

Your system is not helpful at all, I close the status then the quest notification appears.

Quest progress updated.

Day 5/7

Reward condition nearly complete.

The fifth day is only two days away, almost here, I took a deep breath.

“Maybe we can finally get out of this place alive.”

A sentence I shouldn't have said because the next second the ground shook again, not because of a monster, not from below but from the sky. 

Nara and I both looked up and saw something descending from the clouds, a large, winged, humanoid silhouette with a very terrifying aura.

A notification appears.

Emergency event triggered.

Executor descending

I stared at the screen then the sky, then my life and came to one conclusion: I was simply not allowed to rest.

[END CHAPTER 15]