Ambush

Stefan instantly tried to explain, ''It's not that they purposely left you. They must be in grave danger and didn't want to risk your life. By the look of it, you must be placed in the center of the teleportation circle and teleported to a random place during an emergency''.

Li asked worryingly, ''Are my parents in danger?''.

''Maybe.... I am not sure yet. But, if, you want to meet your parents sooner, then you have to cultivate harder and become strong quickly'', Stefan told him seriously.

Li said solemnly, ''Aouli will try his best to become powerful and save Mom and Dad''.

''Li, brother, has to go outside for some work. Brother may come back by seven p.m. Will you be fine?'', Stefan asked nervously.

He was worried that Li might ask him to stay or take him with me.

But contrary to his thoughts, Li acted like a little adult and patted his chest assuring, ''Don't worry about me brother. I can take care of myself''.

Although Stefan was amused, Li really surprised him with his little mature thoughts.

Stefan told Li to continue cultivating, while he prepared lunch for them.

....

After both of them finished eating their lunch, which included rice and chicken curry, Stefan told Li to take a nap. He told that him that if by any chance he couldn't come back, he will send the brother who was there with them last night.

Li agreed immediately. He was curious about that big brother. Not only that, but he also wanted to know about the power which can make him disappear anytime and anywhere. He obediently went inside the bedroom and lay down to take a nap. Within a few minutes, he was snoring cutely.

Stefan tucked him in and started changing his clothes. He wanted to be prepared for everything. Because, he knew that the plan can never keep up with the changes, he asked Heli if he had any defensive equipment with him.

He knew that he was still weak and needed external support.

'Yes host. Although, we have many types of defensive equipment and power boosters, you cannot use it, because you have not completed the assigned quests and have zero points. But you can borrow the lowest grade of equipment, which is enough to protect you from attacks ranging to level three'.

Heli redeemed the defensive robe, which came with a wand, 'Host, this wand, although of low quality, can be greatly useful for you, as it can help you exert the power of a level two magician in the advanced stage'.

Stefan picked up the defensive robe and the wand. He wore the robe and hid the wand with his packaged suitcase in his space bracelet.

Yes, he packed everything necessary for an outing in his suitcase that was present in his room.

He closed the bedroom door and disabled the invisibility mode. After the house appeared, he walked out of the house and locked the door calmly. Last time Heli told him that when the house was in the invisible mode he could not go inside nor come outside. Stefan felt very grateful for this function, as Li would be safe in this situation.

After enabling the invisibility mode, he walked according to the target's location.

'Heli, nobody saw me coming out from the house, right?', Stefan asked uneasily.

'No, host, I have already scanned the area around your house. This is relatively a remote area, and no one will stay here for a long period of time'.

Stefan breathed a sigh of relief and asked Heli if he had a way to know the target's situation.

'Host, we are too far away from the target, I cannot judge the situation correctly. But, when the target's life is in danger, the notification regarding the side mission will turn from green to red and a small electricity current which is non-harmful to the body will pass through, in order to alert the host', Heli said informing Stefan about the special notifying method.

'That's great! Like this, if there is something wrong with the target, we will come to know about it immediately', said Stefan.

....

While Stefan and Heli were communicating about the target, the target person herself was walking deeper in the forest.

After walking for some time. She turned her head sharply towards a non-aggressive tree and swung her sword immediately after applying some mana on it.

There was a shrill scream and the tree revealed itself to be the 'Gigada tree'. It had a striking feature. Its branches were strangely twisted, like a human being who died a horrible death after being squeezed.

'Damn! I failed to notice it earlier. It seems that it has been following me for quite some time. I wouldn't have noticed if it didn't strangle the level two reptile, which made a strange noise before it was squeezed to death by the gigada tree'.

'This tree is a Level three tree. It kills the victim by entangling them in its branches and sucking all the liquid present in them. After the victim or the target is sucked by it, they quickly become nutrients for its roots'.

''I didn't expect my luck to be so bad. Just as I came out of the cave, I was soon followed by some level two beasts. After that, I encountered monsters one after another. It seems there is something really wrong here'', she thought aloud.

''What the hell is going on with me? Am I being targeted?'', she dodged the branches one after another.

She feared that she would be killed before finding the precious herb to cure her Grandpa. Earlier, she was confident she wouldn't die because she had healing potion with her. But now, just before coming here, she dealt with many Philanas and was injured by their horns.

Their horns contain poison that could kill the target within fifteen minutes. She had to use the healing potion in order to dispel the poison in her body.

'What should I do now?', she thought, panicked about her life and the herb.