Village Chief’s Room…

“Excuse me? Can you repeat what you just said?” Ian asked Jacky with a very angry expression.

“Ian, my friend, listen, this is not a bad deal. I will give back every single penny from your loan, and all you have to do is tell your son to save all the parents and children inside that forest, or at least as many as he can save. Please, Ian, I’ll lose my position if I let them die… I can’t take that. If I lost my position, someone else will take my place, and you don’t know what bastard takes it, right? He can be even worse than me. So please help me. Your son is the most powerful contestant in that forest; I saw it with my own eyes. Your son tore apart over 50 hellhounds in less than one hour. Please-”

“Wait, wait, wait… He did what?” Ian asked, interrupting Jacky. 𝙚𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝙜

“H-He killed 50 hellhounds?” Jacky spoke.

“Are you sure? We are talking about Jule, right?” Ian asked.

“Do you have any other son as well?” Jacky asked.

“Don’t play games with me, Jacky. Just tell me. Did you see him kill the hellhounds?” Ian asked.

“Yes, obviously.”

“So why didn’t you show it on the screen?” Ian asked.

“Listen, you see… Y-Your child… He is a very talented Elf. He can easily become a knight commander’s right hand at this age; he has a very bright future ahead of him, and I can’t reveal that to everyone, can I? If everyone saw this diamond, they won’t sit still. Everyone would want to take him as a student. He will receive a lot of attention.” Jacky explained.

“Okay, so what’s wrong with it?” Ian asked with a confused expression.

“Ian, how can you be so naive? Those who receive too much attention are the first ones that get killed. So, do you want your son, or do you want your dead son?” Jacky asked.

“Ah, yes. Well, thank you for that, but I don’t think he can save that many people.” Ian replied.

“Oh, he can. I’m not forcing him to save everyone; I’m just saying save as many as he can. I will call off the event and declare your son as the winner. You win, I win. It’s a win-win deal, right? Please say yes, Ian. This is the only way to do this thing. And, if your son saved them, he will become the village hero. He will be loved by everyone. I will personally award him with a B-grade artifact… What else do you need? Just tell me, but please, Ian, save those villagers, please. I beg of you.” Jacky spoke with big hopeful eyes as he grabbed Ian’s hands tightly.

“Ah, I can’t say. How do I contact him?” Ian asked.

“Oh come on, Ian, don’t play with me now. I saw you when you met your son inside the forest; you gave him a secret crystal ball to contact you if any emergency comes, right?” Jacky spoke, smiling at Ian.

“You saw that, huh…?” Ian asked as he looked at Jacky.

“Well, I have to keep an eye on a villager who escapes into the jungle to save his son, who is already safe,” Jacky replied.

“Okay, I accept the deal, but with one change.” Ian spoke as he took out the crystal ball.

“Anything, just speak up,” Jacky spoke with a smile.

“I want you to pay his and my daughter’s academy fees for the full course too,” Ian spoke.

“Huh…? Yeah, okay. I-I will do that, although it will cost me some of my hard-earned money, but it’s worth it. Let’s do this. Now contact him and tell him to help the villagers,” Jacky spoke with a hesitated expression.

‘What a foolish man. I have so much money that I can pay this amount four times over, and I will still only lose about 50% of my total worth. Hahaha…’ Jacky thought as a smile appeared on his face.

“Okay,” Ian replied as he started supplying mana to the crystal ball.

Suddenly, the ball started shining.

Evensong Forest…

Suddenly the tree stopped attacking Anon, and Anon stopped attacking the tree because his mana was now depleted.

“What’s happening, Link?” Anon asked Link.

Link, who was standing beside Anon, was observing the tree carefully.

“Master, please get behind me. I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Link spoke.

“Why? What is happening?” Anon asked.

Suddenly, a leaf stopped shining and fell from the tree.

Zzzzzzzzzzz

Its roots started shining golden and blue, just like Anon’s Thunder Javelin.

“Master, behind me. It’s going to attack,” Link spoke.

Anon immediately hid behind Link.

Suddenly, more tree roots started popping out of the ground and surrounded them as they started throwing Thunder Javelins at Link and Anon with double speed from all sides.

Your pet Link has used a defensive skill

Suddenly, a dome of a green hue covered both of them and started absorbing the javelins rapidly.

“What the heck? You can absorb them too?” Anon asked with a surprised expression.

“I can, master. But unlike the tree, I am not that good at absorbing. Look at the top of the dome; it’s already starting to crack,” Link informed.

Anon immediately looked up and observed that the dome was really starting to break.

“Ah, darn it. What do we do after this breaks?” Anon asked.

“Master… Grab my tail. I will recover your mana to full,” Link instructed.

Anon grabbed Link’s tail.

Suddenly, his mana started filling up.

In just a few seconds, his mana was full.

‘Heck… My head is hurting due to the sudden mana influxes.’ Anon thought as he grabbed his head.

“Master, the attacks are getting heavier. This tree is using its saved-up mana and the life force that it sucked from its victims.”

“…and that’s just the power of one leaf.” Anon spoke as he started thinking about what to do.

Zzzzz

Suddenly, he felt the crystal ball vibrating in his inventory.

“Why the heck is he contacting me now? I don’t have time, darn it.” Anon spoke in a very angry tone as he decided to ignore the crystal ball.