When the light disappeared, Carlos found himself at the edge of a massive forest.
Thousands of Lords and their troops were spread across separate areas in every direction. Transparent walls divided the forest into territories large enough that no two groups could interfere with each other.
He saw the silhouette of another man with two wolf-like beasts beside him, but he couldn’t see them properly because of the distance.
Three pieces of equipment appeared on the ground.
A woodcutter’s axe.
A stone pickaxe.
And a gathering basket.
--
[Select your event equipment]
--
Carlos grabbed the axe.
The other two tools remained on the ground.
"Only one of each?"
--
[Each participating territory will receive one set of event equipment]
--
Carlos looked at Rowan.
Then at the three tools they had to share.
Blue and One had received nothing.
The system had allowed residents and troops to enter, but it had not promised equipment for each of them.
--
[RESOURCE HUNT STARTED]
[Time Remaining: 09:59]
--
"Rowan, take the basket. Pick up anything you recognize. Blue, stay with him."
Carlos threw the basket toward the Farmer and pointed at One.
"Follow me."
He ran toward the closest tree.
Its trunk was wider than his body.
Carlos planted his feet and swung the axe with all his strength.
The blade sank deep into the wood.
--
Event Oak
Durability: 82/100
--
One strike had removed eighteen durability.
Carlos pulled the axe free and swung again.
Then again.
His fourth strike made a loud crack spread through the trunk.
On the sixth, the whole tree fell.
[Wood x6 obtained]
Carlos grinned.
One tree did not give much, but with ten uninterrupted minutes, the amount could still pile up.
"Next."
He rushed toward another.
Behind him, One aimed at a low branch and fired a Water Shot making the branch shake.
Its leaves fell everywhere.
[Greenleaf x3 obtained]
Carlos looked at the slime.
"Keep doing that."
One bounced and fired again.
Carlos attacked the second tree.
This time, every strike landed in the same cut. His movements became faster as he learned the weight of the event axe.
[Wood x7 obtained]
[Time Remaining: 08:31]
Thirteen wood in less than two minutes.
Carlos moved toward the third tree, but a flash of golden light deeper inside the forest caught his eye.
It came from behind a line of ordinary oaks.
Blue suddenly flew away from Rowan and rushed toward it.
"Bloo! Bloo!"
Carlos stopped.
Blue’s frantic behaviour and the way it pointed toward another location immediately told him that it had detected something.
The Sprite disappeared between the trees.
"Blue, come back!"
Carlos tightened his grip on the axe and ran after it.
He passed the first row of trees and entered a small clearing.
Blue floated in front of a golden tree no taller than Carlos.
Seven silver fruits hung from its branches.
--
Young Silverwood Tree
Rare Resource
Durability: 500/500
Time Remaining: 07:54
--
Carlos looked at its durability.
Then he lifted the axe.
"Wait, my lord."
Carlos stopped before the blade could strike the golden trunk.
Rowan entered the clearing with the gathering basket in his hands. It was already half-filled with different leaves, berries, and thin branches.
"What?"
The Farmer ignored the tree at first and looked at the seven silver fruits hanging from it.
He gently pressed one with his thumb before checking the small leaves around its stem.
"These are ripe."
"Do you recognize them?"
"No," Rowan answered. "But ripeness leaves the same signs on most fruit. The skin has finished changing colour, the stem is beginning to dry, and the fruit separates easily."
He twisted it once.
The silver fruit came away from the branch.
[Silverwood Fruit x1 obtained]
--
Silverwood Fruit
Rare Grade
The fruit of a young Silverwood Tree. Its flesh contains a small amount of purified mana.
Multiple Uses.
--
Carlos looked at the other six fruits.
"Take all of them."
Rowan started picking them while Carlos moved toward the trunk.
"Blue, did you sense the tree or the fruit?"
Blue floated around the highest branch.
"Bloo!"
"That still tells me nothing."
The Sprite slapped both hands against one of the silver fruits.
"The fruit, then."
Blue nodded.
Carlos planted his feet and swung.
CLANG!
The impact travelled through the axe and made both of his hands sting.
--
Young Silverwood Tree
Durability: 491/500
--
Only nine damage.
The ordinary trees had taken eighteen from his first strike. This one was more than twice as tough and had five times the durability.
Carlos looked at the timer.
[Time Remaining: 07:36]
He would need more than fifty strikes.
"Rowan, once you have the fruit, keep gathering. Don’t wait for me."
"Understood, my lord."
Carlos swung again, making the axe strike the same cut.
Then again.
And again.
The golden bark barely moved, but its durability continued falling.
One circled the tree and fired a Water Shot at the trunk.
SPLASH!
--
Young Silverwood Tree
Durability: 458/500
--
The Water Shot had only removed one point.
One bounced as if it had done something impressive.
"Good. Keep going."
One fired again.
Each shot did almost nothing, but almost nothing was still more than zero.
Carlos stopped looking at the durability and focused on his movements.
His hands were still damaged from the conquest. The Recovery Potions had restored his HP, but the memory of the injuries remained in his muscles.
After twenty strikes, his palms started burning.
After thirty, his shoulders felt heavy.
[Time Remaining: 04:51]
--
Young Silverwood Tree
Durability: 209/500
--
Carlos took one breath and swung again.
The event axe was sharp, but it was not helping him move. Every point of damage still came from his own strength.
Blue flew in front of Carlos and touched his arms.
Cold water wrapped around his skin, making Carlos look at the coating with widened eyes.
The burning in his muscles lessened.
--
[Blue has used Water Control]
[Muscle temperature stabilized]
--
Carlos looked at the Sprite.
"You can do that?"
"Bloo."
"Keep doing it."
Carlos swung faster.
The axe struck the widening cut again and again. One continued shooting the opposite side of the trunk. Blue kept a thin layer of cold water over Carlos’s arms.
The timer dropped below three minutes.
[Young Silverwood Tree Durability: 101/500]
Carlos’s breathing became heavier.
He could stop now and cut two or three ordinary trees before the event ended.
That would guarantee another twelve to twenty-one wood.
If he stayed, the Rare tree might give him only five pieces.
But he could find ordinary wood anywhere.
Carlos tightened his grip.
"We finish it."
He put everything into the next strike.
[Durability: 89/500]
Again.
[Durability: 76/500]
One fired between his strikes.
[Durability: 75/500]
Carlos swung again without waiting.
[Durability: 61/500]
The cut had become deep enough that every strike dealt more damage.
[Time Remaining: 01:42]
[Durability: 45/500]
Carlos’s hands slipped on the axe.
He caught it before it fell and immediately swung again.
[Durability: 28/500]
[Time Remaining: 01:08]
"FALL!"
The blade entered the centre of the trunk.
A loud crack spread through the clearing.
[Durability: 9/500]
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