Chapter 29: Blade of the Wind

With the emergence of the great tree, the surrounding monsters no longer pressed forward; instead, they simply stared at the people beneath the tree for a moment, then all retreated. Seeing this, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

The giant tree swayed gently, casting a veil of shimmering light over the group, as if bestowing a blessing upon them.

“So this is how you use the key to the secret realm!” Only now did Elia exclaim, walking straight beneath the tree and reaching out to touch it lightly. She seemed particularly intrigued, her eyes gleaming, lost in her thoughts.

“The key to the Forest Secret Realm became a tree. Then, what about the key to the Bear Island Secret Realm? Will it turn into a bear?”

“Uh…”

“Have you ever heard of someone getting a bug-shaped key to a secret realm?” The Wild Hunter asked with a peculiar expression.

“…”

“Stop it, I already have an image in my head!”

“Ugh, that’s disgusting!” Laughter and playful shoves followed; it was clear their camaraderie was strong and their usual interactions were full of joy.

Wendy, meanwhile, gazed at the giant tree for a long while, then looked toward the direction where the monsters had vanished, silent and thoughtful.

“We don’t need to leave the secret realm for now, but can we continue exploring?” asked the Storm Sorcerer.

“We should observe a while longer,” said the Barbarian Priest.

“This place is different from the outside. Let’s be patient—perhaps we’ll discover something,” Elia said, still facing the tree, not turning her head.

“But we can’t even scratch the monsters here!” The Wild Hunter sounded discouraged.

“Wendy, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about how to grow stronger in this intermediate secret realm, how to find secret arts, combat skills, or ultimate techniques.” She paused, scanning the group before continuing, “Maybe we’ll even find a divine or demonic inheritance!”

“A divine or demonic inheritance?”

Roy gently stroked the vibrant, life-filled tree, feeling its pulse, and was struck by wonder. Hearing Wendy’s words, he echoed her thoughts, doubting whether such things truly existed in this strange world.

So, what kind of world was this, after all?

Suddenly, as if responding to Roy’s thoughts, the tree radiated a hazy light. Within it, shadows and points of light appeared, some shining brightly—like coordinates, or perhaps a map.

Vaguely, everyone seemed to glimpse an overview of the entire Forest Secret Realm, and within it, a temple emerged.

“What’s that…”

“The Sanctuary of the Forest Goddess!”

“It’s right here, within the Forest Secret Realm!”

“And what about the other points of light?”

Exclamations rang out as everyone stared, transfixed.

After a while, when the display faded, Wendy had already drawn a rough map in the dirt with her sword, and Elia was quickly recording details on a coarse piece of linen.

The others were still caught up in amazement.

When the visions disappeared, they realized they hadn’t remembered anything at all.

Of course, Roy from Blue Star was not among them.

He had not only memorized all the patterns and positions of the points of light, but also their distances from each other, the surrounding environment, and confirmed their own location.

“There, there, and there—good things await in all these places.” When the group gathered around, Wendy indicated several spots with her sword. “Let’s explore these places next.”

Elia quietly tucked away her linen record, pretending nothing had happened, joining the others in looking over the map.

“But…” The Barbarian Priest glanced at the directions. “If I’m not mistaken, those are exactly where the monsters retreated to.”

“So what? We can’t beat those monsters.”

“Can this tree move?” The Storm Sorcerer circled the giant tree. “We could take it along—wherever we go, bring it with us…”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to Roy.

“It can’t move by itself. If you want to take it, you’d have to store it away, but then it can’t protect us,” Roy shrugged, helpless. He thought to himself: as a magic swordmaster, he could use necromancy to handle some low-level monsters easily, but he wasn’t truly powerful—certainly not like the elven enchantress, or even the two minotaurs they encountered earlier.

In this intermediate secret realm, he had no advantage.

Yet, unlike the others, he could walk freely among the monsters without being attacked.

That allowed him to explore as he pleased.

The only drawback was that he couldn’t defeat monsters for loot.

“Maybe…” Wendy knew that the Forest Secret Realm was far larger than expected. It was impossible to drag the tree along, as the Storm Sorcerer suggested, all the way to the points of light.

Moreover, the monsters here were numerous and strong—even a seemingly harmless rabbit could easily cripple their combat power. Trying to push through would be extremely difficult.

Still, she refused to give up.

“The monsters here are tough, but not entirely unbeatable…”

“We can find a relatively safe spot and farm monsters tactically.”

“What counts as relatively safe?” asked the Storm Sorcerer.

“You’re not thinking of starting a fire and burning the whole Forest Secret Realm, are you? Then all the monsters would be yours,” said the Wild Hunter.

“Arson?” Elia narrowed her eyes, looking at Wendy with excitement, clearly eager to try.

“No,” Wendy shook her head, “the trees here are highly fire-resistant. It’s hard to ignite them, and even if you do, the fire won’t spread…”

“I’ll go scout for such a place, then you can farm monsters there,” Roy said.

“What about you?” The Barbarian Priest seemed concerned.

The key was, if others were injured, she could bless and heal them—as she always had. But if she herself was hurt, except for Roy, no one else could bless her, as had just happened.

“I’m stuck at my current level, so I need to look for opportunities, wander around, and seek my fortune.”

As he spoke, Roy remembered something, and took out a magical teleportation scroll from his ring, handing it to the Barbarian Priest. “Take this—use it when you need to, don’t worry…”

“Uh, will it work here?” The Barbarian Priest asked, surprised.

It seemed this secret realm wasn’t in the same space as the outside world, so who knew if the scroll would work.

“I really don’t know! But everyone has one, so take it…” Roy hadn’t finished his sentence, but as soon as the Barbarian Priest heard “everyone has one,” her face turned expressionless, quickly stowing the scroll. She made it clear it was only natural.

“Roy, my brother…”

Before leaving, Roy and Wendy exchanged a glance, silently communicating. Before they could say anything, the chubby guy stepped over and said, “How about I go exploring with you? I… I…”

With Roy in the party, he could comfortably hang around the beautiful women, but alone, he’d feel awkward staying for long.

Roy hadn’t expected that in this oddly permissive world, there were still people shy like this.

“Gale, I have gear to conceal my presence—I can move freely among the monsters, and they won’t notice me. But if I take you along, well…”

He didn’t finish; it was more than just risky—it was suicidal.

Who knew what the chubby guy was thinking.

“You’re best suited to guard here, just as your class dictates—a proper guardian of magic!” Roy patted him on the shoulder, then waved to the women, leaving alone to walk through the dark forest.

He had already stowed away his Angel of Holy Light. Though it could make him immune to all negative effects, the light would be too conspicuous.

Roy didn’t want to invite unnecessary trouble.

If there were monsters sensitive to light, even if they didn’t detect his presence, they might still attack or spit venom, which would be disastrous.

After walking for an unknown length of time, Roy’s eyes adjusted to the environment, and he could see clearly even at a distance.

He recalled the locations of the points of light and the patterns he’d memorized, and began to search slowly.

The night passed.

Though the secret realm had no sun, moon, or stars, there was still a cycle of light and darkness.

In the forest, most of the light was blocked by towering trees, but nearby objects grew much clearer, and the gloom receded.

Roy found a relatively clean spot to rest, not worried about being suddenly attacked by monsters.

After gnawing on two drumsticks, he took a magic scroll from his storage space.

It was the wind spell he’d obtained earlier.

After a flash of light, Roy gained a new class:

Wind Whisperer.

And his Necromancer class wasn’t replaced—the two did not conflict.

However, if he ever learned holy or blessing-based magic, it might just explode him outright.

Ahem.

After some study and contemplation, Roy stood up and tried casting a wind spell toward the distance.

Whoosh!

A wind blade, about a foot long, sliced into the trunk of a large tree ahead.