29. Big Bees

The four kids and Orion soon followed Runo and the others to the exit of the massive tree.

Outside, the colossal tree cast a dappled shade on the ground.

But Orion's attention was somewhere else. He stared in awe at a massive figure that loomed before him. The man's leather armour was too tight for his broad shoulders, and he carried a large crimson shield on one arm, as big as a doorway. A collection of weapons, shining in the sunlight, protruded from his back: spears, swords, halberds, and a menacing whip.

'What a big guy!'

Orion thought.

At that moment, Liira approached the big guy and retrieved three swords from him before turning towards Orion and making her way over to him.

When she got to him, she handed him the three swords as her eyes narrowed.

"Take it; you might need it, and don't turn it against us. Otherwise, the result will be worse than what Runo did to you last time."

Orion remained silent and accepted the swords. These swords were his source of strength, and the fact that Liira was handing them to him indicated that they were headed somewhere that wasn't likely to be peaceful.

He then noticed that the other four were also being equipped with weapons of their choice.

"Grrrr!"

Orion's stomach growled at this time.

'I am hungry. I hope I can get to eat something on our way to wherever we are going.'

When everything was prepared, the team promptly set off towards their destination.

Orion observed that they were heading in the opposite direction from where he, Famir, and Ryfin had come.

The journey continued with no end in sight, with the unforgiving sun shining through a thick layer of trees that blocked out the sky. The atmosphere was dense, filled with the smell of wet soil and rotting plants.

As they walked further, the previously scattered trees transformed into a dense barrier of green vegetation. Thick vines, as wide as a man's arm, twisted through tall tree trunks, casting moving shadows on the wet forest ground.

A disturbing silence surrounded them, interrupted only by the occasional movement in the bushes and the screech of a surprised bird. Orion felt a prickling of discomfort creeping up his back.

This made him question if they were going the right way, but seeing Runo refer to a map occasionally made him think otherwise for a moment.

"Buzz!" "Buzz!"

A soft buzz filled the air. The familiar hum of bees that usually peacefully buzzed around Orion, coaxing flowers to open, was absent. This noise had a lower tone—a threatening sound that made him shiver with fear. He held onto the handle of a sword Liira had provided, ready to attack at any moment if needed.

"Big bees are here! Everyone be prepared."

It wasn't until he heard Liira's cry that he realised these were not ordinary bees.

Liira's hand quickly rose, with her finger pointing upwards. Orion whirled around, his heart pounding in his chest. A wave of crimson rushed through the surrounding in their direction, a gathering unlike any he had previously witnessed.

These were not the same buzzing yellow bees that fluttered among the native wildflowers. No, these creatures were terrifying, their bodies shining like red gems, wings moving quickly as they hummed menacingly.

Orion was getting ready to wield his swords when he saw the large red bees coming closer, but suddenly they all fell to the ground simultaneously. A mere moment later, three fiery arrows showered down on them, leading to an explosion that ended up destroying the bees.

Their bodies were visible on fire, with fragments of body parts scattered everywhere. Just a moment later, the lifeless bodies glowed red and then vanished, leaving numerous cores and a few skill books in their wake.

Orion turned to see that it was Runo and Dion who appeared to have just utilized their talents.

'Runo's talent must be related to gravity.'

He thought looking at them.

At that moment, Liira went over to the area where the scattered items had been dropped and picked them up. Then, after receiving a nod from Runo, she made her way towards Orion and the other transmigrators.

Upon reaching them, she gazed at them before dropping all the items she had retrieved from the Big Bees near them.

"Take what you need."

The four other transmigrators displayed hesitation regarding whether they should take the items or not, but Orion did not hesitate. After exchanging a glance with Liira, he stepped forward and selected five cores from the items scattered on the ground.

Orion understood that in the situation they were in, they needed every bit of strength possible if they wanted to make it out of here alive. Even if it means taking things from their supposed enemies to get stronger,.

Seeing Orion take the initiative, the other four also went and took some items from the ground.

Gazing at the system notification that appeared in his vision, Orion frowned.

[Do you want to absorb the core?]

The reason he frowned was because it didn't say anything about which attribute the acquired stats would be allocated to. Last time he did this, the system automatically increased his agility by two point.

Recalling what Liira had previously told them, they needed to have one attribute of max level before they could upgrade.

But the system didn't ask for which attribute the acquired stats would be added to and just distributed them randomly previously. And looking at the notification, Orion had a feeling it would be like the last time.

He was confused about this and confronted the system directly.

"System, which attribute are you going to add the stats from the core to?"

[It will be distributed randomly.]

Orion's suspicions were right.

"No, first max out the agility attribute before adding to the remaining attributes."

[You don't need to do that since your body doesn't have limits, unlike others. Limits on a person's body depend on the amount of mana they have when they are born. But since your body doesn't have any mana to begin with because of your Null Body, you don't need to worry like others about reaching the potential of your body.]

His eyes shone at the system's answer.

"You mean I can have max stats in all my attributes before I upgrade?"

[Affirmative.]

Receiving the confirmation, Orion felt like jumping all of a sudden, but mindful of their situation and his surroundings, he didn't do that and silently congratulated himself.