Mist-Spewing Ash Oak

Since Ruby had requested reinforcements, we were following the saying "More haste, less speed" and making our way around the mist. If we went straight through it, we were certain to be attacked by Mist Balls and Ashen Dirty Slimes and waste time.

"We'll enter the mist from here. I'll use Magic Sonar just in case, but I'll inevitably miss things. Stay alert. Karu, look after Eiji."

There were monsters everywhere that had adapted to the dense mist and ash underfoot, so the danger of an ambush was ever-present. However, monsters skilled at ambushes generally had extremely high 【Assassination Arts】 levels. If so, my Magic Sonar might not detect them.

A scout's role was to find such enemies, but Ruby was presumably in the middle of a fight. We would have to manage with those who were here.

"Sorry for causing trouble..."

"You're completely unsuited to stealth, after all."

"It would be easy if I could cut them down in one stroke, but things don't work out that neatly."

Eiji's armor made a noisy clanking sound whenever he moved. That was why Karu carried him. Karu grabbed him with his forelimbs rather than letting him ride on his back. Apparently, Karu disliked it because Eiji was so large and heavy.

Then we proceeded straight through the mist toward Ruby and the others. We didn't get into a single battle along the way. Not only were we never ambushed, but not a single shadow showed up on my Magic Sonar. The complete lack of anything during our journey was deeply eerie.

"So this is the reason..."

We discovered the reason when we reached Ruby and the others. There were fourteen Mist Balls and one enormous tree. We hadn't simply been lucky enough to avoid an encounter; all of them had gathered here.

Besides, there was no way the enormous tree towering in the mist was merely an object that could be chopped down. In fact, it had a bizarre appearance. Its bark was marbled with gray and burnt brown, and it stood about eight meters tall, I supposed. Its branches spread beautifully, but it didn't have a single leaf.

Instead, there were numerous hollows not only in its trunk but also in its branches, and mist poured out of them in billowing clouds. It almost seemed as though the mist itself were its leaves. What in the world was this huge tree?

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Mist-Spewing Ash Oak Quality: Good Rarity: S (Special Grade)

A subspecies of oak native to the Luxresia Continent that emits mist.

Its entire body is streaked with gray due to the influence of death-miasma ash.

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It apparently wasn't a monster, but a tree with the property of emitting mist. Yet that trait created the perfect environment for Mist Balls.

"Thank goodness! Reinforcements!"

"Much appreciated!"

Ruby and the others cheered when we arrived. Their party consisted of Ruby, Shio, Moc-san, Nanakou, Shishu, and Wool—a six-person party. Their defense was a little low, but they had high mobility. If not for that, surely one of them would have been lost.

"The reinforcements will handle the front line. Everyone else, fall back and resupply for now!"

"Leave it to us!"

"Man, you really saved us."

Ruby and the others had lost a considerable amount of HP, perhaps because they had been entirely on the defensive with no time to recover. Even Shio, who had taken the least damage, was receiving replacement arrows from Ruby. It must have been a fierce battle.

Since we'd come as reinforcements, this was our chance to hold the line. Fortunately, everyone had already been strengthened by Enchantment Arts. Rather than merely protect them until they finished resupplying, we would reduce their numbers!

"Ahaha! It's easy when we have resistance!"

"Now I can charge in without holding back."

On our way here, I had increased everyone's Agility. Thus, Toji and Genjurou, who prioritized speed to begin with, could keep up with the Mist Balls. In addition, yesterday's Enchant Resistance had increased their resistance to the Smoke Mist attribute. As a result, whether the mist was hot or acidic, they took almost no damage. It was a perfect demonstration of the importance of preparation.

"GROOOOON!"

"Hnnngh!"

If Genjurou and Toji attacked with techniques, their sharp blades flashing, Eiji and Karu attacked with sheer power instead. The two shared a style of dynamically smashing their enemies to pieces.

Karu seized a Mist Ball in his claws and hurled it at Eiji with all his strength. The Mist Ball, desperate to avoid the collision, instantly sprayed mist to deflect its trajectory. However, Eiji wasn't holding a bat. Iris had made the Spike Shield in preparation for battles like this.

The shield, sized for Eiji, was large, and its spikes were long and sharp. The Mist Ball was impaled and rapidly lost HP. It tried to create distance by spraying mist, but Karu's tail struck before it could. Many were unable to dodge and were cut down, steadily whittling away their numbers.

"All right, everyone's buffed. I really need to recover my mana... Mana Gathering Array."

"Me too—I'll refresh them. Baa, baa."

I buffed Ruby and the others, who had temporarily fallen back, while Wool also strengthened them with his cries. Enchant Resistance consumed a great deal of mana, and using it on this many people nearly left me empty. I had no choice but to recover mana with the Mana Gathering Array—which I hadn't used during battle in some time—and somehow continue supporting them.

"They're almost at the point where they can make fakes!"

"A little sooner than expected, but... we have no choice. Grand Magic Circle, Spell Adjustment..."

The most troublesome thing about Mist Balls was their ability to create fakes of their companions out of mist and run around while escaping. Even when we tried to restrain them, they escaped with their swift movements, and even if we managed to bind them, their 【Soft Body】 let them slip through the gaps. Once they began fleeing, the fight became long and grueling.

I had thought of only one way to prevent that. No matter how many there were or how many fakes they produced, if this worked, it should also prove useful in future battles.

"The fakes are here!"

"Not yet! Buy me some time!"

However, using the Grand Magic Circle took time. It was probably a necessary cost for increasing its power, but its inability to activate immediately made it difficult to use.

Even as this went on, more and more fakes of the front-line fighters began to appear. Genjurou and the others fought desperately, but they couldn't handle them all. Even with their increased resistance to the Smoke Mist attribute, they would be crushed by sheer numbers if this continued.

"A little more... All right! Go, Black Hole!"

I created a Black Hole directly above the Mist-Spewing Ash Oak, strengthened to its maximum. A pitch-black sphere, as though painted over with ink, appeared and began sucking in everything around it. Directly below, the Mist-Spewing Ash Oak shook its branches violently as though buffeted by a typhoon.

"The Mist Balls are running away... but this is enough."

"The mist...!"

"Ooh, it's getting sucked in."

The Black Hole didn't suck in and crush the Mist Balls themselves, but the mist they used was another matter. It was swallowed into the Black Hole in ever-increasing amounts, and the silhouettes of the fakes began to crumble!

The fakes that had completely reverted to mist disappeared into the Black Hole. The Mist Balls tried to create new fakes, but the mist they released flew away before it could take shape, so no new fakes appeared.

"Now's our chance!"

"Let's pile on!"

Moc-san led a charge, accompanied by the flock of crows Nanakou had summoned. The crows and Moc-san had the advantage when it came to maneuvering in the air. Moc-san could take on one alone, while Nanakou's crows attacked in groups, leaving the Mist Balls no chance to escape.

"Hoho! This is easy."

"My hair's blowing around, so it's a little annoying."

"So any magic is all about how you use it."

"I'll chop you to pieces!"

With the mist being forcibly sucked away, Genjurou and the others seemed able to fight with renewed vigor. Aside from Agility, the Mist Balls' stats weren't particularly high. Moreover, everyone had resistance to their primary means of attack, 【Smoke Mist Magic】. Once we dealt with the fakes, they could hardly be called a threat.

"Ugh, my arrows are veering! Correcting!"

"It's amazing you can still hit them after that. Baa."

The Black Hole seemed to throw off the trajectories of Shio's arrows, but she corrected them immediately. Beside me, Wool expressed his admiration in his usual flat voice and calmly supported us with 【Windstorm Magic】 between bleats. He wasn't the type to charge to the front, but he always contributed in his own understated, masterful way.

"GUGOGAAAAAA!!!"

"BWOOOOOOOOO!!!"

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You won the battle.

――――――――――

Finally, the enraged Dragon and Eiji finished off the last two. Even with the resistance from Enchantment Arts and the sustained recovery from 【Soul Arts】, both of them had continued rampaging on the front line and drawing attention. Their HP had fallen to nearly thirty percent, a testament to the ferocity of the battle.

The log made it clear that we'd somehow managed to overcome the situation. Apparently, none of our Skills had reached a nice round number this time. Things like that happen.

"I only meant to take a break from studying for exams, but I'm exhausted!"

"Seriously."

"Students have it rough. I'm tired too!"

"That takes me back."

Perhaps relieved to have escaped the critical situation, Shishu collapsed onto the ground and began venting. Nanakou and Moc-san, who had fought alongside Shishu, joined in with wry smiles.

"We're done harvesting the drops, but what do we do with this tree?"

"Cut it down, of course. Eiji, can you handle it?"

"Leave it to me."

Ruby seemed unsure what to do and asked me to decide. It was obvious that this huge tree was the source of the mist. We couldn't leave it alone.

Eiji raised his beloved great axe overhead with both hands and brought it down with all his strength. It seemed extremely hard, as one would expect from a type of oak, but Eiji's axe gradually sank deeper into the trunk. After several dozen swings, the Mist-Spewing Ash Oak fell with a loud, creaking crack.

"Oh? We can collect this as an item."

"It'll make a souvenir for Iris. Take it back with you."

"I understa...!?"

When Eiji collected the fallen tree as an item, the remaining stump vanished in particles of light. The mist hanging around us thinned.

This was probably the way to conquer the mist area. We had to fell the Mist-Spewing Ash Oaks that produced the mist, thin it out, and then aim for the Black Wall farther in. We could probably ignore them and push ahead, but doing anything reckless while blinded by the mist would be far too dangerous. We would carefully fell the Mist-Spewing Ash Oaks as we went.

"Um, Izam-san. When it was turned into items, this tree became two items, a large one and a small one..."

"Oh? Hand them over to me via Trade."

According to Eiji, two types of items had been obtained from the felled tree. Since Eiji didn't have the Appraisal Skill, he could only tell that they were large and small. This was where I came in.

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Mist-Spewing Ash Oak Log Quality: Good Rarity: S (Special Grade)

A log from a Mist-Spewing Ash Oak that emits mist containing magical energy.

It is extremely hard and resistant to the Water, Fire, and Smoke Mist attributes.

Even after being felled, it can generate mist through magic.

Mist-Spewing Ash Oak Sapling Quality: Good Rarity: S (Special Grade)

A sapling of a Mist-Spewing Ash Oak that emits mist containing magical energy.

If cultivated, it will grow into a magnificent large tree.

It can only grow when planted in soil containing a large amount of death-miasma ash.

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So, a log and saplings. There are five saplings. If we plant and grow them, we should be able to obtain more logs. For now, we'll fell the trees, but once we have some breathing room, perhaps we could try replanting them. Of course, we'd have to negotiate with the natives first.

Though we'd made it through a difficult battle, even we, the reinforcements, were considerably exhausted. It was much earlier than usual, but we decided to call it a day. We returned to Shiratsuki together with Ruby's party.