Chapter 13

Icicle traveled with Adian along the road, discovering various new creatures. After the wolves retreated, their territory was taken over by the original inhabitants – [Wild Boars] and [Maws] – giant earthworms that are slow but deal a lot of damage, applying various nasty debuffs.

The surrounding areas seemed to finally get back to how they originally were. With the wolf infestation gone, other creatures made their way into the light, providing a variety of new environments and equipment for the players.

At the exit of the forest, just before the grasslands and farms of Vilen Town, Adian stopped and nudged Icicle to transfer his items. “Here, that’s all the furs I collected. You can give me half of the money later.”

Chapter 12

Author’s note: Chapter 13 will be released tomorrow.

Red Devils’ Grove. An ancient patch of the forest where enormous, sturdy trees grew. Swaying from the weight of the acorns, they let out a refreshing scent. In the middle of this ancient place towered the king of the trees, 300m high tree, covering a large amount of space with its trunk and roots. Its treetop was so extensive that the area below it would be always shadowed.

Icicle looked up and felt overwhelmed. The tree was so large that even 10 men holding hands around it wouldn’t be able to cover its girth. How long did it have to grow? What tragedies did it have to go through? If only it could speak and share its knowledge…

Red Devil quickly ascended the large tree. On its treetop there was an overly large treehouse. The treehouse was made from dark brown wood. Even after experiencing countless weather trials its appearance didn’t wane in the slightest, retaining its gloss.

Chapter 11

GROWL!

The wolves circling Icicle glared at him and Leila, letting out menacing howls. Icicle seemed content, as if he was about to spar against a worthy opponent.

Icicle was remembering that one brutal paintball game fondly. It was supposed to be a “shooting practice”. It hurt. A lot.

Reminiscing the times filled with joy and hardship, Icicle’s mouth curled up into a smile.

Chapter 10

Author’s note: I wrote this almost 5k words chapter and felt quite spent, and since my schedule keeps getting delayed, I’ll just take this week off and prepare some chapters beforehand (and read… a lot.). The second (delayed) chapter should come out on Wednesday though.

Ding!

The [Ingrained Enmity] event has started.

Final number of player participants: 3283.

Notice: If you die during the event, you won’t be able to rejoin.

Have fun and good luck.

“So there are other players hidden nearby?” Icicle pondered. He looked around the huge clearing only to see a few silhouettes of some pretty well hidden players in the surrounding forest.

Chapter 9

Icicle and Adian were teleported to a primeval location. The trees all around were lush, their leaves dark green in color, as if their growth was unimpeded by the humankind. The wind flowing through the tree tops gave off a low reverberating hum. Its soothing sound create a serene atmosphere. Icicle finally understood why this place was called the “Humming Forest”.

The squirrel princess climbed onto Icicle’s palm and jumped through his legs, disappearing behind him. Turning around, Icicle found her sitting on a tall stump, bizarrely fenced in by large vertical black posts embedded into the ground.

Seeing that the little princess looked like she was there to stay, Icicle quickly brought up some acorns he gathered on his way here. He had to make sure that the little princess wasn’t in any mood for “patting” him approvingly.

Chapter 8

Author’s note: I’m still trying to deal with Chapter 9 since many things happen there. I’ll be tinkering with it tomorrow, so it should be released at Tuesday. I’m sorry for the delay. With chapter 9 getting transferred to next week, it will be 3 chapters total. Once again, sorry for the inconvenience.

Five minutes passed and Adian tossed everything back to Icicle. “Well, I have to say, my disciple’s luck is really outstanding.” he commended.

Icicle didn’t even hear Adian’s comment. He was itching to find out what kind of items did he really get.