Each step they took brought them closer and closer to the grand tree at the forest’s center, and by the time the sun was beginning to set they arrived at its base. The massive tree was illuminated by the orange light of dusk and cast long evening shadows across the forest below it.

  There was a clearing that surrounded the tree, and several large stone obelisks stood around it seemingly placed at random. Some were broken, shards of stone laying on the ground around the remains of the pillar, but most were intact.

  Not far from the tree there was a lake where the river they had been following terminated, filled with aquatic plant life and no doubt fish of monstrous size.

  Lucian saw a large archway grown into the side of the tree, holding an engraved door at least 10 feet tall. As he took in the scene and looked around, Annabelle had her head craned up, staring up at the tree, “Woah…” She muttered, “The view from afar really doesn’t do it justice…”

  “Yeah, it really doesn’t.” Lucian agreed as he continued to scan the area for threats. When he saw nothing after the third sweep of his vision, he sighed and looked towards a spot near the edge of the tree’s clearing, “Shall we set up camp for the evening?”

  “That’s probably a good idea!” Annabelle looked back down, her eyes also falling on the door in the side of the tree. She could barely see it through the evening shadows, but she made out the shape, “Is that a door?” She glanced at Lucian.

  “Yup, that’s a door. If I had to guess, the tree probably has a dungeon inside of it.” Lucian laughed as he walked to the spot he had chosen for their campsite.

  “That would fit, yeah…” Annabelle followed along behind him, “I can’t wait! I’m so excited.” She giggled.

  “Same. But right now, I’m hungry.” Lucian said as he began to take out their camping supplies, “I say we investigate further in the morning.”

  “That’s fine with me!” Annabelle readily agreed before helping him set up their tents. The tents didn’t take as long to set up as they did the first time, and they moved onto setting up the portable stove to make dinner.

  They settled on ramen again, simple and effective.

  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for a bored Lucian, the evening was not going to be without event.

  Lucian’s ears twitched as they ate and he put his food down, holding up a hand to stop Annabelle mid sentence as they chatted, “I hear something…” Lucian stood up quickly as he heard another sound, the faint cracking of a twig and the rustling of grass as something slid against it, “Something’s definitely coming.” He wheeled around, eyes scanning his surroundings. His eyes snapped to a large serpentine shape moving towards them - he had almost missed it because of its camouflage pattern. “That way, giant snake.” He gestured to Annabelle who stood up as well and put her food down. This one was even bigger than the last one he had tangled with. He activated [Manifest Weapon] and summoned his blade into his hands, its blue glow illuminating the surroundings with a strange light and wreathing him in the a faint aura from [Spirit Shield].

  As the two of them readied themselves, the snake decided to give up on its stealthy approach, rearing back and hissing loudly.

  “[Poison Bolt]! We were eating, fuck off!” Annabelle shouted, flinging a glowing bolt of light at it. The bolt collided with the snake’s underside and the glow seeped into its scales.

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  Lucian moved as Annabelle began the fight, dashing forward to meet the serpent head on. It swung its tail across the ground at him and he leapt up over it to avoid being sent flying. The snake capitalized on his mid air motion, lunging forward at him while he had no surface to push off of to dodge a second time. Lucian’s pupils dilated and he twisted himself, swinging his sword at the approaching jaws and activating [Slash].

  The blade collided with the serpent’s fangs, and sent both it and Lucian backwards. He landed on the ground and shivered, “Smarter than the last one too…” He frowned.

  As Lucian landed, Annabelle reached her hand out towards the snake, “[Witch’s Hex],” She cast her curse and a purple glow briefly enveloped the snake before she gestured down and shouted “[Banecloud]!” Her hand flashed with a sickly green light as a swirl of green mist began to take shape around the serpent before exploding into a cloud of poisonous fog.

  The serpent hissed painfully as it was enveloped, moving itself to the side and quickly pulling its entire length away from the fog, glaring at the pair with murderous intent. Its eyes flashed with a dull blue glow and a wave of energy erupted outwards.

  Lucian felt his body start to lock up as the blue light flashed past him, artificial fear taking root in his heart, “Fuck…” He groaned, glancing at Annabelle, hoping she wasn’t affected.

  Annabelle briefly stiffened up, before her Willpower broke through the effect. She immediately pointed at Lucian, “[Minor Cure]!” She then gestured to the snake, “[Poison Bolt]!”

  Lucian felt the skill’s fear vanish into the wind and let out a breath of relief before immediately launching himself towards the snake. Annabelle’s spell shot past him, impacting the serpent as it moved to reposition itself. He raised his sword up and brought it down against the snake’s scaled body, using [Slash] again. He cut deep into the snake before a thrash of its body sent him back. [Spirit Shield] absorbed a fair bit of the blow, and so he broke no more bones as he tumbled backwards.

  The snake followed up by opening its mouth, a glow forming at the back of its throat as it swiveled its head towards Annabelle, away from Lucian as he landed on the ground.

  “Hell no!” Lucian shouted, [Quickstep]ping towards the snake and leaping up at its head, cleaving at it with both [Slash] and [Penetrating Strike], swinging with all his might. His blade passed through its scales and hit its skull, cutting into it like a knife through butter. The blow knocked the snake’s head around enough that the torrent of flame that exited its mouth missed Annabelle, and instead burnt a patch of grass to ash. Lucian’s followthrough cleaved the snake’s head in two, cutting the gout of flame short and covering him in a spray of blood. He landed beside the snake as it fell to the ground and dismissed his sword.

  He flicked his hand and some of the snake’s blood flew onto the grass, “I need a fucking shower…” He groaned.

  Annabelle laughed, “Thanks for the save… And yeah, you definitely do…” She looked over to the lake, then back to Lucian, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah… At this point, I’m gonna risk the lake. If some fish tries to fuck with me so help me God.” Lucian began to walk towards the water’s edge, and Annabelle laughed again, smiling as she watched him, before turning away and heading back to her tent to give him privacy.

  Lucian didn’t end up fighting any fish, but the water was unpleasantly cool.