Chapter 124

Advanced Magic
While we were progressing through the Great Forest, I stepped firmly on a large tree root, and suddenly a branch shot out, wrapped tightly around me, and began swinging me side to side like a pendulum.
Looking around, I saw that several knights and magicians were in the same situation as me.

Just as I was thinking something was off about this treant, Brother Chris used wind magic to free me from the branch.

The treants I learned about are nocturnal. During the day, unless provoked, they’re supposed to stay motionless, camouflaged as trees. On top of that, treants usually drain mana from anything they wrap up, which means you have to cut the branch and escape immediately—but this one showed no sign of draining mana.

“You fool, Hardt! Why didn’t you cut the branch and escape? This is the Great Forest—one wrong decision can cost you your life,” I was scolded.

That was careless of me. I got caught up in my thoughts, trying to figure out what was strange about the situation.
Even if it wasn’t a treant, you never know what might happen deep in the Great Forest. Maybe I had let my guard down somewhere.

Since treants usually travel in groups, we started cutting the branches of nearby trees with magic to locate the others—once cut, treants start to move. It turned out that the surrounding area was entirely made up of treants.
Once identified as treants, using fire magic to cut their trunks would stop them from moving, so Brother Gerald, Young master Rainhall, Ripka, and Ripka’s parents, all skilled in fire magic, were currently in action.

Normally, treant wood sells well as a high-quality building material, so we’d collect it in magic bags to bring back. However, the felled treants had jet-black trunks, which was different from the norm.
A magician who could appraise it examined the wood and said it was cursed.

“The bark of a regular treant is closer to dark brown, but these ones have bark and trunks that are completely black. I’d heard that the trees near the dragon’s location are withered, so this area might be affected as well.”

“If it’s cursed, we need to purify it. But how should we go about it?”

“Mind if I try purifying it?” Young master Jarrett joined the conversation between Brother Chris and me.

Young master Jarrett took out a water-filled bottle and a stockpot from his magic bag.

“That water—”

“Holy water I got from the church,” he answered Brother Chris’s question.

Young master Jarrett used magic to fill the stockpot with water, then poured the holy water into it. He placed his hands in the pot, chanted a spell, and the water began to sparkle.

He formed the water in the stockpot into a water sphere, launched it into the sky, and spun it like a sprinkler, scattering water as it rotated.
With each sprinkle, the water sphere grew smaller and eventually disappeared.
The treant bark and trunks that absorbed this purification water changed from jet black to dark brown.

“Jarrett, that’s amazing! Purification is advanced healing magic, right? When did you learn it?” said Young master Maxwell.

“I heard we were heading into the withered lands of the Great Forest and figured I wouldn’t be much help in battle, so I trained hard in purification magic.”

“Do you still have more holy water?” asked Young master Rainhall.

“There’s still some left, so we’re fine. I wanted to test it out before heading to the dragon’s withered territory. I’m glad it worked.”

Young master Jarrett is really amazing...
Even though we’re heading to the dragon’s territory, all I’ve done is read a few books on purification and curses—I hadn’t even considered learning any new magic.

We decided to take home the treant wood that had been confirmed as purified through appraisal. The knights stored it in their magic bags.

Since the surrounding treants had been taken down, the area was now treeless and designated as tonight’s campsite.
We used earth magic to dig up some of the stumps so tents could be pitched, then used wind magic to gather the uprooted stumps into a pile and dried them thoroughly.
Looks like they’ll be used as firewood.

They also cast protective magic around the area, so I offered some curry powder.
With the scent sealed off by the protective magic, it should be fine.
If all goes according to plan, we’ll reach the dragon’s location tomorrow. I figured curry would help boost morale.

What do you think about this chapter?