The Human Giant



The only ones that could deal with a threat deep inside the Endless Forest would-be immortals. While they couldn't be sure that these immortals were here to help them, General Blood Stone still felt that their appearance was a good sign.

While General Blood Stone was starting in the direction that Immortal Patty and Miessy were traveling in, a strange bush with blue leaves and purple fruit on its branches went on a frenzy as it used its hundreds of thousands of thin roots to occupy land faster than the plants around it. 

Within less than a few seconds, a large percentage of the frontline became covered by the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of this single blue bush. Once General Blood Stone confirmed that the immortals had left his vision, he turned his attention toward the frontline that had nearly become a blue field.

"I could become an ultra-wealthy man that could feed three generations from this amount of Char Berry Bushes. But, unfortunately, they appeared here," General Blood Stone thought to himself after he saw the number of Char Berry Bushes on the frontline.

If this was in regular times, each Char Berry Bush would produce 100 silver worth of Char berries that were fantastic for many types of food and were frequently used as a replacement ingredient for many medicines. Unfortunately, the growth of these Char berry bushes was slow, and they tended to die easily, so the number of farmers who could successfully harvest this plant was small.

With the amount of Char Berry Bushes in front of him, General Blood Stone imagined that he could be wealthier than the richest man in New Swamp Town. After daydreaming, General Blood Stone took a deep breath and adjusted his thoughts.

Within an instant, an oppressive and bloody aura exploded out of General Bood Stone's body, causing the rapid expansion of the frenzy Char Berry bushes to slow down as they found it difficult to move their roots. The previous blood claws that he formed between his knuckles quickly grew until they transformed into several feet-long blood blades.

Without hesitation, General Blood Stone dived straight into the Char Berry bushes and began to spin rapidly. Then, at a speed that the naked eye couldn't see, the long frontline of Char Berry bushes was shredded into pieces with no hope of revival.

After pushing the front line back a few inches, General Blood Stone retreated as he allowed his mind to experience the refreshing sensation that came from killing such a large amount of plants. Countless thoughts related to the mission, his grandson's future, the hatred he had in his heart, the promise he made so long ago, and improving his martial art techniques swirled around in his mind.

He couldn't help but feel a deep regret covering his heart as he was reminded that he had so much more that he had to do. Not only to protect his family but also to satisfy his revenge and his heartfelt wish to become a Martial Grandmaster.

He wanted to experience more and want to do much more, but he knew that his time limit was approaching soon. Even without this battle that might take away his life at any moment, he knew that he only had a few more years ahead of him before he died.

"I might as well take out my frustration on this war." 

Even as General Blood Stone's mind became increasingly refreshed, his body became increasingly restless as he felt his emotions slowly overwhelming his cautiousness. Knowing full well that this was one of the signs that the refreshing and energizing sensation that plagued the army was beginning to show its side effects, he suppressed his frustrations as best as he could.

"Inform everyone to take caution when killing the plants and animals from the Branch Forest! If they begin to feel the need to go wild or throw caution, tell them to retreat toward the backline even if they aren't injured or tired!" General Blood Stone shouted towards all the soldiers that were nearby.

Understanding that their general wanted them to temporarily leave the battlefield up to him to inform every single soldier, all of the elite soldiers gave a stern nod to General Blood Stone before quickly retreating. Watching his soldiers leave, General Blood Stone sighed as he wished that this war be over as soon as possible.

While the war between humans and the Branch Forest continued and became more brutal, Patty and Miessy arrived at their previously chosen location for the third test. After landing on the soft soil of the forest covered with trees, bushes, vines, and all sorts of plant life that were several hundreds of feet tall, they were given the impression that they were in the forest of giants.

"Patty, you must have noticed that massive crater back in the Branch Forest. That crater shows visible signs that it was left behind by Welse, meaning that he was here and was fighting something." Miessy said casually with no urgency in her voice to find Welse.

"Whether or not he died is none of our concern. He shouldn't have been so greedy to try and get an early start on collecting materials." Patty said in a cold, emotionless tone showing that he genuinely didn't care about Welse's fate.

"He might have been greedy, but that doesn't mean we can't be concerned with what was powerful enough to destroy Welse's body enough that he can't even contact us after his death," Miessy said.

"Are you suggesting that instead of a demon, it was a monster from inside the Endless Forests that killed Welse?" 

"I have a feeling that the monsters deep in the Endless Forest are getting ready to mate and expand their population, so they went out to get some food. Especially when there was a fool dumb enough to enter the forest by himself." Miessy calmly explained to Patty while waiting for their last three members to arrive.

"That is highly probable... Still, I believe that he may be only pretending to be dead and is waiting for us to do all the work before swooping in at the last minute."

"Nevertheless, it is still better to have him around than someone like Scotty. He will only slow us down and make this mission harder for us." Patty said with a friendly smile as he turned toward Miessy, trying to convert her to his side.