DEFEATING THE UGLY TREE

LUO YAN carefully observed the surrounding, thinking of a tactic on how to beat the creepy tree.  But aside from the Blights that were slowly crawling near, there was practically nothing here.  Then he tried to remember some information about the plant based type monsters in Arcadia.  The only thing that came to mind was that their weak against fire.  

But not just any fire.  It needed to be a player's fire based skill.  Or it could also be an item with fire spell.  Attacking using a fire based weapon would also do.  But since he didn't have any of those, thinking of a tactic with any of those three in mind was simply useless.

Should he just let this tree kill him and be respawned back at the Origin Village?  Then he could just buy a fire spell there.  After that, he'd return here and burn this tree.  He immediately refused the idea.  Nah.  Doing that would almost be the same as giving up.  It's like saying that he couldn't defeat this ugly tree with just his own current power alone.  How could he just take that?  

If Luo Yan really was just a beginner in this game, he probably would not have any problems doing just that.  But he's not.  Long ago, he was also a well-known player in this game.  Well, not really that long, since even if this body was in a coma for seven years, for him it was only like yesterday.  So for him, choosing to respawn just so he could defeat this tree was like a big insult to his skill.

He could put down his pride for a lot of things.  But when it came to things he was really good at, he just couldn't.  So he had to kill this ugly tree right here and now.

Luo Yan took a deep breath and ran forward to attack.  He needed to do this fast before those slow-moving Blights really surrounded this area.  Then it would be much more difficult to fight with this tree because he also had to deal with those monster vines.

The Origin Village and the area around it was literally a beginner's stage.  No matter how scary and powerful this ugly tree might look like, the game developers would surely not design it in a way that a level 10 player could not defeat it.  He just needed to work hard.

When he entered a certain range, one of the big branches of the tree attack him and he immediately dodged.  Then another branch fell to where he was supposed to land.  He jumped and landed on the said branch.  The tree lifted the branch and he went up along with it.  He didn't lose his balance because he already expected it.  He ran across the branch and slashed the tree's face.  But before his knife could reach, another branch already moved to his direction.  It was too late for him to move away and it hit his stomach.  

He flew backwards and hit the ground hard.  He felt that particular spine breaking pain again.  He was even sure that he coughed up a bit of blood.  Damn.  How could this game be so real?  He hadn't had time to ponder about anything when two branches came crashing down on him.  

Shit.

He immediately rolled to the left and picked himself up.  He took a small red potion from his Items Tab and drank it.  Then he slashed his long knife to the tentacle like roots that was trying to entangle him.  Another branch tried to attack him, this time, the moment he dodged, he also slammed down the knife he was holding and cut the branch.  It fell to the ground and disintegrated like dust.  When it did, the tree let out a blood curling shriek.

Luo Yan didn't have time to put his hands on his ears because two branches attacked him at the same time.  He jumped and then slashed on one of the branches that tried to attacked him.  He didn't stop there.  He spun mid-air and cut the other one.  Both fell on the ground.  And the tree let out an even mourful shriek.  

He jumped away and raised one of his brows.  He looked at the ugly tree's branches, there were only seven left.  He grinned.  Looked like he just found a way to defeat this monster.  He ignored the violent shieking of the tree and started his assault.  

He moved agilely - dodging all the incoming attacks and then slashing and attacking every chance he got.  There were no extra movements in his actions, everything was under perfect calculations.

With this dreary setting and only the big moon on the dark sky as a source of light, a beautiful elf was fighting with an ugly tree monster in the middle of the forest.  His long white hair was swinging with his every movement, his pair of blue eyes with golden specks on it were bright with excitement.  His rosy lips were curved in a playful smile.  He was obviously having a lot of fun.  Because of that, instead of fighting, he looked more like he was dancing.  And what a beautiful dance it was.

When Luo Yan managed to destroy the second to the last one of the branches, a notification screen suddenly appeared in front of him.  

[Attention!  The monster in front of you is currently in its last blood.  With this dear player, you can now easily capture it and train it as your own pet.  Would you like to capture it now?]

The a yes or no options appeared below.

Oh.  So this was how a monster could be captured as a pet.  The player needed to weaken it first until it reached the last drop of its HP.  That bit was probably written in the Monster Index but he hadn't had the time to fully read it yet.  Because he hadn't thought of capturing any monsters here.  Well, it's good to know about this now.

Luo Yan didn't hesitate to press the 'no' button.  Who would want this ugly tree to be their pet?  It totally didn't match his beauty at all.

He looked at the tree.  Its movement was now sluggish, it couldn't barely move at all.  The shrieking it was doing earlier was now turned into pitiful whimpers.  Of course he wouldn't pity it.  Instead, he rushed towards it and slashed the remaining branch.  He easily cut it.  The tree gave out a one last shriek before it started to disintegrate into tiny particles.  When it died, the Blights around also suddenly stopped moving.    

The a notification screen appeared again in front of him.

[Congratulations!  You just finished the additional task.  Please go back to the village and get your reward from the Elder.]

Luo Yan smiled.  So he was right.  The ugly tree was really the source of the Blights.

After that, another notification sounded.  This time it came from his Monster Index.  He took it out and checked the information of the monster he just defeated. 

Gulthia Tree

- A type of treant that could only be found at Crescent Woodlands.  It could control the Blights and start an invasion in the forest.  Its attacks usually involved its branches and roots.  Its ten branches were the source of its life.  Cut one and it could bring unmeasurable pain to it.   

Level: 10

Type: Rare

He closed the Monster Index and looked at the time.  It was almost near noon.  He stretched his body a little and decided to log out.  

It was Sunday today, his father and elder brother were both home.  If Luo Yan didn't eat lunch with them, they would definitely throw a fuss.  He smiled helplessly just imagining that.  

And then, he finally logged out.