Is this really a Game?!

Chapter 803 The Jungle's Wrath: A Perilous Encounter and Aelrinder's Evolution

As Reign and the group continued their exploration of the vast jungle, their path led them further and further into uncharted territory. They were vigilant and cautious, well aware of the menacing presence of Tier V monsters all around them. The air was heavy with tension, and the eerie sounds of the jungle only added to their unease.

As they ventured deeper, they began to notice subtle signs that something was amiss. Strange markings on the trees, unusual scents in the air, and an increasing sense of foreboding suggested that they were not alone in this hostile wilderness.

Their senses, honed by countless battles and survival instincts, tingled with growing unease. Reign gestured for the group to slow down, and they moved quietly, weapons at the ready.

It was then that they encountered an unexpected and terrifying presence. The trees and foliage rustled ominously, but there were no signs of a physical threat. Instead, the jungle seemed to come alive with a sinister, invisible force.

Suddenly, the very ground beneath them shifted and trembled. Massive roots burst from the earth, snaking around their ankles, and threatening to immobilize them. It was as if the jungle itself was a sentient, malevolent entity.

Panicked cries filled the air as the group fought to free themselves from the entangling roots. The invisible force continued to assault them, trying to drag them into the depths of the jungle. It was a perilous situation, and their efforts to break free were becoming increasingly desperate.

Reign's mind raced as he attempted to assess the situation. It wasn't just a matter of facing Tier V monsters; this jungle had a new and horrifying threat they had never encountered before. The very environment had turned against them, and the power behind this phenomenon was unknown.

With a surge of energy, Reign activated his ability, his body crackling with lightning as the roots started charring. The roots that had ensnared him groaned under his newfound strength, but it was still a struggle to break free. He roared, a thunderous sound that echoed through the jungle, and the roots recoiled for a moment.

"Dammit, hold on you guys!" Mia's voice called out, filled with urgency. She too was struggling against the relentless force of the jungle. Her frost froze the roots, but even when frozen, they still continued slowly moving and constricting the movement of Mia and the angels

Reign turned his attention to Mia, his heart pounding. He knew they couldn't stay in this place any longer. With a determined effort, he unleashed his full strength, tearing the roots from the ground and freeing himself. The others did the same and charged toward Mia and the angels in order to help them free themselves from the roots.

As Tier V combatants, the roots were unable to hold them for a long time, but the angels who were Tier IV combatants had a hard time getting out of them.

The rest of the group was also locked in desperate battles against the jungle's mysterious power. Tier V monsters in the vicinity sensed the chaos and began to converge on their location, drawn by the sounds of the struggle.

Reign's team fought valiantly to break free and fend off the encroaching monsters. The jungle had become a battleground, and their survival depended on their ability to overcome both the natural world turned hostile and the Tier V creatures that sought to take advantage of the situation.

It was a chaotic and life-threatening battle. The invisible force of the jungle seemed relentless, continuously trying to ensnare them. As they fought to regroup and make their escape, they realized that this jungle was no ordinary place. It was as if nature itself had been corrupted, and the dangers lurking within were beyond anything they had ever encountered. Even the Tier V monsters, normally formidable opponents, were not as horrifying as what they had just fought against.

Desperation and fear hung in the air as they finally managed to get far away from what was chasing after them. Reign couldn't help but wonder if this was a unique phenomenon in this region or if similar threats existed elsewhere in this transformed world.

He had used his mana sensing previously and sensed a large mana signature below the ground. It wasn't a monster, at least not a normal one as there was quite some difference between how he would sense the mana of a monster or other humans and whatever was below the ground when they were attacked.

'Do you have any idea what that was?' Reign asked Aethion who shook his head.

"The universe is vast kid, there are an uncountable number of beings in it, what I can say for certain is that it wasn't really a monster, more like a piece of corrupted land or a plant that was corrupted somehow and gained some sentience."

"It moves slowly, as you have noticed, and it can control all plant life some 400 meters around it, even if you were to go all out, you would need to expend quite some energy to dig deep enough and locate whatever that thing is and defeat it, so for now, I recommend you simply go around it if you sense it in the future."

"It could also be something similar to the golden tree you have in your territory, as well as the other trees you managed to find in the past and fed to your tree."

'Yeah, it's been a while, so I kinda forgot that those existed, we haven't come across them lately.'

"That's because you took down most of the ones that existed near your territory, don't forget, as long as mana exists, such beings will exist as well, and contrary to how it is for you and monsters, they don't need to level up and go through challenges, they simply need to take in mana and grow, becoming more and more powerful."

Reign nodded his head before telling the others what he just talked with Aethion about. The others merely nodded as they remembered just what kind of magical properties some plants could have, and most of them already believed that what attacked them previously wasn't a monster, but one such plant.

"I guess we should wrap this up for today, huh?" Reign asked with a chuckle as he glanced at the angels who were drenched in sweat.

It really wasn't an easy task for Tier IV combatants to be present in such an area and fight against powerful monsters for a long period of time.

"Come on, there's a good chance that 'he' has already evolved, we should also go ahead and take M'azgara's elites with us the next time, but only the elites, the other ones are not really needed here." Reign said as the others all nodded while making their way outside the forest.

Aelrinder had notified Reign and the others that he was going to start his evolution today, which made them all happy. His challenge had been a hard one, needing him to travel outside of the areas they had already mapped to a place the system had marked for him.

There, he had to investigate a settlement that another group of elves had created, a group that was annihilated some time ago.

His challenge was to play a detective and find just what had destroyed them. Upon doing so, he was tasked with killing them, which was not easy considering the fact that the party that had slain the elves was a group of cannibal marauders, corrupted humans who lost their minds when the game started.

They had become cannibals, they ate the flesh of other people, but also other monsters and beings. They specialized in blood magic, which was a kind of magic that needed blood as the medium to be activated.

The group had 50 people, and out of those 50, 2 were peak Tier IV combatants, 1 was a high-grade Tier IV, 2 were mid-grade Tier IV, and 1 was a low-grade Tier IV combatant.

Aelrinder had to carefully observe the marauders, mapping out where they usually went, what they usually did, how they fought, when they rested, and more.

He spent quite some time doing that as the challenge clearly stated that he had to do it himself, if he called for help, the challenge would be deemed as a failure.

The process of locating the marauders and then the investigations took him over a month to complete. Finally, he attacked, successfully ambushing one party of 8 that was led by one of the 2 peak Tier IV combatants.

He then had to slowly chip away at their numbers, attacking them as a ghost from time to time, causing them to be stressed out, but also to turtle up in their base, which made the next part more or less difficult depending on how one acted.

He managed to finally eliminate all of them a couple of days ago before returning. He didn't want to evolve in the wilderness as one could never know what might happen to them there. It was only after he returned last night that he rested and was ready for the evolution.