Chapter 87: The Living Bridge

  Emilia stepped closer to the golems along with Elion, and they exchanged a portion of the magic crystals entrusted to them for various types of herbs. Chief Nikos had committed a total of 100 mana crystals and numerous monster cores to the task, providing a long list of lower-grade herbs to be purchased. These supplies would ensure that the stronger hunters, who ventured deep into the forests, could use invaluable healing pills or have their weapons significantly enhanced by mysterious enchants.

  Emilia couldn't help but wonder how many houses in the city center she could buy with such wealth, and whether it might be enough to pay for the best trainers to unlock various combat skills for her brother, Kael.

  However, this money did not belong to her. it represented the sweat and blood of generations of hunters, saved at the cost of unimaginable sacrifices. These herbs were what would allow their people to continue their very existence.

  In truth, this was one of the reasons Chief Nikos had agreed to send Emilia here instead of his friend's nephew. Emilia had proven her capabilities in two divine quests already; she possessed excellent magical skills and had stocked up on countless talismans and formations.

  She possessed a natural intelligence that was often the most vital asset in private dimensions like this. After all, she wasn't just young — she secretly came from Earth, and the experience accumulated over a lifetime was something almost no local genius could easily match. Chief Nikos had sensed and appreciated all of this, deciding that Emilia was the better horse to bet on.

  He had made the mistake of explaining all of this, however, specifically the part about the "horse," and Emilia had been sulking for three days. She decided to get even by comparing "Uncle Nikos" to a donkey. They had argued for a long time, with Emilia even threatening to steal the fish from his pond.

  Nikos had laughed for ages at the thought of young Emilia struggling with the demonic fish that came from the depths of the earth. Eventually, Chief Nikos's third wife had appeared, feeding them fresh lemon sweets and warm pear nectar. She secretly whispered to Emilia that she didn't look like a horse at all—it was just that Chief Nikos was as stubborn as an old ox and there was no need to pay him any mind.

  Once they finished one of the primary reasons for being in this space, they continued forward.

  They trekked through various tunnels, periodically spotting small creatures. Some of the children even strayed from the path to look for monsters against which to test their strength.

  Soon, a massive abyss appeared before the group. Spanning across it was a long, kilometer-wide fallen tree. Over centuries, its branches had taken root in the surrounding surfaces, holding it stable over the chasm.

  Emilia looked uncertainly at the drop and took a small step back. Rumi appeared out of nowhere and nudged her forward with a slight, mocking smile.

  "Don't tell me you're afraid of some tree. You, who's always bragging about your exploits with the hunters in the dark forest. Every time I asked you about one thing or another, you'd always tell me, 'You'll understand when you're older, Rumi.' 'You're too little for these things, Rumi.'"

  "I'm not afraid at all. You're the one who's afraid," Emilia snapped back.

  "No, you're the one who's afraid. Because you have chicken wings."

  "Well, you have chicken legs."

  "You were born from an egg!"

  "Well, your father is a rooster!"

  "Stop it, you're embarrassing us in front of the others," Elion hurried to intervene.

  Rumi took one more look at the tree, then gripped her spear—which was capable of firing lightning—more tightly. She stepped forward and shouted mockingly at the top of her lungs.

  "Last one there is a chicken!"

  She dashed forward, her loud laughter echoing as she ran.

  "Teenagers," Elion muttered, watching them charge toward the tree.

  Several of the others rushed to join Rumi, eager to scavenge for rewards further along the trunk.

  Emilia steeled herself and stepped carefully onto the wood.

  She had spent a long time training her mana control and immediately began channeling energy into her feet. The tree's aura was uniform, allowing her to quickly attune her own aura to match it. Even so, the rough bark was thin and slippery in places, and she had to be mindful of every step.

  Suddenly, strange shrieks began to echo above them. Emilia stopped instantly, activated her skills, and scanned the surroundings.

  From various directions, small birds made of paper began to emerge. They closed in rapidly, launching air magic at the participants running across the tree. Some of the paper birds dove straight down, attacking their faces at close range.

  The leaders of the group were forced to defend themselves immediately, striking back at the avian constructs. The air filled with magic and the scent of smoke from fire spells, underscored by the sharp tang of ozone from countless lightning bolts.

  It soon became clear who possessed the better armor and more powerful attacks. The best-protected and most experienced mages managed to push forward, periodically stopping to pluck mana-rich fruits from the tree. Rumi, shielded by excellent defenses, didn't stop laughing as she blasted lightning from her spear.

  Emilia, positioned in the middle of the pack, looked around and saw that those at the very back were also being relentlessly targeted. They were being forced to burn through their defensive resources on this relatively simple trial.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "If I stay in the middle, I won't be able to pick a single fruit," Emilia thought desperately.

  She broke into a full sprint. Almost immediately, two flying birds attacked her—one from the left, one from the right. Emilia gritted her teeth and activated a defensive talisman, then used her armor's enchantment to trigger an additional barrier. She paused for a fraction of a second to steady her power and unleashed a fireball. The talisman, crafted from tree bark, disintegrated instantly as the magic materialized above her and streaked toward one of the paper birds.

  Emilia focused her mana to guide the flame, but the birds were fast, maneuvering through the air with ease.

  In that moment, two ice shards slammed into the bird, sending it plummeting into the abyss. Emilia looked back, nodded to one of the guild youths, and kept running.

  She soon noticed that not all the fruits were visible. Some were hidden among the leaves or hung low behind thick branches.

  She used her skills continuously to track them. The fruits emitted a slightly different aura in her soul-vision. Because of this, she managed to gather a dozen fruits in a short time, stowing them away in her magic ring.

  However, a thick fog began to rise ahead of them, and the birds suddenly became far more aggressive. Emilia was forced to stop more frequently, and her supply of talismans began to dwindle significantly.

  By the time they reached the halfway point of the tree, she had to stop, half-hidden behind a cluster of branches. She hurriedly replaced the bone marrow core of her armor's formation and repaired several damaged lines in the enchantment. This caused her to fall toward the back of the group, and she had to double her efforts to keep up.

  The others were advancing quickly, and the fruits they were gathering were becoming larger and more saturated with mana.

  Lagging behind, Emilia was forced to rely constantly on her senses to detect the incoming paper birds early and dodge their strikes.

  Soon, however, she noticed something very strange. With her soul sense, she detected several different branches veering off in various directions. They were always hidden behind a dense screen of leaves and twigs, and the fog made them nearly invisible. Only because the life force of the branches was so different from that of the thick, ancient trunk was she able to faintly distinguish them in the chaos.

  Emilia rushed forward, greedily watching the fruits disappear one by one. Since they were larger now, they stood out more easily, and almost no one missed them.

  Emilia cursed under her breath, her mind racing.

  "I have to take the risk of falling even further behind to check those side branches!" she finally decided.

  "Dispel Ignorance." Emilia activated her skill instantly, and the fog before her immediately became almost transparent. She began scanning the area and soon picked out three massive, well-hidden branches. She sprinted toward the nearest one, and as she reached it, she leaped into the thick foliage of the offshoot.

  She continued forward more cautiously, never stopping her search for danger. For a moment, she was distracted by the attacking birds; she slipped on a patch of soft bark, stumbled, and nearly plummeted into the abyss. Somehow, she managed to grab hold of one of the many surrounding branches.

  "Too close," she whispered to herself. Streaks of sweat ran down her forehead from the exertion of the run. She felt mentally exhausted, as she was constantly forced to activate one talisman after another. This was rapidly draining her spiritual energy, and the continuous circulation of mana in her feet added to the strain. Emilia ducked to avoid another attack, and that was when she suddenly spotted a strange seal on one of the branches.

  "It's the same as the seals from the first trial!" she recognized it instantly.

  Without hesitation, she pulled one of the seals from her bag and approached the branch. Harassed by the birds, she slammed the seal onto the wood with a sharp strike. For a moment, a dense bluish barrier flickered into existence around her.

  Some of the leaves began to curl away, gradually revealing a hollow that was slowly opening its entrance. When the tree had fully opened, Emilia reached in boldly and pulled out a small porcelain bowl. She hurried to open it, and an enormous smile suddenly lit up her face.

  "This... this... this is one of the herbs for breaking through to the first level!" she couldn't believe her eyes.

  She immediately closed the bowl and placed it in her ring. Then, she pulled out a very small amphora and took a large gulp of the spicy liquid provided by Chief Nikos's third wife.

  Her throat protested immediately as the burning liquid slid down toward her stomach. Emilia, however, swirled her mana and began absorbing the herbal energy, feeling instantly refreshed. A portion of her mana restored itself, and she looked toward the other branches she had marked.

  After resting for about a minute under the protection of the barrier, she hurried toward the next branch. Strangely, most of the birds suddenly noticed her and began attacking with renewed intensity. She was forced to perform all sorts of maneuvers, and her body began to accumulate wounds from the air attacks. Her armor, reinforced by formations, offered excellent protection, but the strange magic of the paper birds often managed to find the weak points in the plating.

  Emilia ran with all her might, never ceasing her prayers to her patron goddess, Hecate, that she wouldn't step on a hidden patch of soft bark and fall into the abyss.

  She continued using her talismans and soon found herself at the fork leading to the second hidden branch. She had already completed nearly 80 percent of the obstacle and would soon emerge from the thick fog. She had no time to celebrate, however, and without delay, she turned aside, guided by her "Dispel Ignorance" skill.

  She found the second seal almost immediately and activated it without wasting a single second. If she delayed for even another heartbeat, a barrage of air attacks would have slammed into her armor and dealt even more damage.

  Once again, just like the time before, a bluish barrier rose around her and halted the birds' strikes. As Emilia waited impatiently for the hollow to open, she began launching fireballs at some of the birds. They, too, were finding it difficult to maneuver between the leaves and branches, and soon many of them fell with charred wings.

  Emilia smiled victoriously and hurried to claim her reward from the hollow. It was another small porcelain bowl, and after opening it, she nearly fell into an ecstatic state of happiness! Inside was the second of those priceless herbs.

  "I have to reach the third branch and get one more!" Emilia vowed, continuing to fire off fireballs. After she rested for about a minute, the barrier before her slowly began to weaken, forcing her to step out and press forward.

  Soon, however, she was surrounded by even more birds. She ran ahead, forced to utilize every trick from the training Cassian had put her through in the practice labyrinths, periodically using up her talismans.

  She was approaching the third fork, but suddenly she realized she was now the last one in their group. More and more birds began to focus on her, and her body started to grow wet from countless small wounds.

  "I have to hurry, I have to hurry!" she ran with all her might, twice grabbing onto different branches to keep from slipping and falling.

  But just as she had almost reached the final large branch, an entire swarm of birds suddenly converged on her.

  "These must be the birds that were chasing the frontrunners until now," she thought desperately.

  She was forced to slow her pace and take cover among the branches. One by one her talismans dwindled, and her spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

  Finally, Emilia was forced to realize something very simple—she just didn't have the strength required to reach the third branch! Furthermore, if she lingered here any longer, she might even lose her life.

  Decisively, Emilia abandoned the idea of the third reward. Instead of saving her talismans, she sprinted with everything she had toward the final stretch of the tree. Countless birds attacked her with their magic, and she barely managed to evade them. She soon emerged from the fog, and things became a little easier, but she still had to fight for every step, for every single breath of air.

  "Emilia!" Rumi shouted, waiting at the end of the tree. She charged back to help her. Immediately, half of the birds turned toward the brave Rumi, surrounding her and launching their air magic. Rumi gave a shout, activated a defensive wall in front of her, and instantly fired a series of lightning bolts into the swarm.

  Emilia thanked her in her heart and, filled with relief, ran toward the end of the tree.