Chapter 244: The Largest and Most Dangerous Forest in Promethia: The Active Forest.

[New Map Acquired: Active Forest — Area 1]

The transition from the sunlit plains to the interior of the Active Forest was instantaneous and jarring. Above them, the canopy was so dense that the sky vanished, replaced by a ceiling of shifting, bioluminescent moss and interlocking limbs that pulsed, sickly green light.

Maddy’s eyes narrowed as a massive shadow detached itself from the surrounding trunks. A towering Ent, its bark thick with jagged thorns and its "eyes" glowing like dying embers, stepped into their path.

[New Monsterpedia Entry Added: Ent]

[Ent (Base Form) — Habitat: Ancient Forests / Sacred Groves / Overgrown Ruins]

[B RANK — Magic: 220,000 | Might: 380,000]

[A towering, sentient tree like being that serves as a guardian of nature. Ents possess immense strength, capable of uprooting themselves to move and striking with heavy, branch like limbs. Their bodies are composed of hardened wood and living bark, granting them high durability and natural regeneration when rooted in fertile soil. Though typically slow and peaceful, Ents become fiercely aggressive when their forest is threatened. Some are capable of manipulating surrounding vegetation, causing roots and vines to entangle intruders. Considered ancient beings, they are often tied to the balance of nature within their domain.]

Maddy watched the sawdust settle, her eyes fixed on the floating data hovering in her vision.

"So, this is what that upgrade looks like... Rank, Magic, Might... it’s all laid out like a blueprint."

A wave of melancholy washed over her as she looked at the detailed entry. This wasn’t just a system update; it was a ghost of the girl who should have been here.

[Because you ingested Hoppy’s notebook and assimilated her unique trait, her obsessive, detailed observation of the world, the Monsterpedia has evolved. It no longer just provides raw data based on the Guild’s standards. It now captures the very image and essence of the creature as you encounter it, preserving the information exactly as she would have recorded it.]

Maddy tightened her grip on her shield. Hoppy had wanted to see the world and document its wonders. Now, Maddy was doing it for her, but through the lens of a predator measuring its prey.

Her blood began to hum with a violent rhythm at the mere thought of Hoppy. Her fingers twitched toward her blade. She wanted to tear into the wood and let the splinters fly, but a sudden shout broke her focus.

"GET BACK!"

Johnn leaped in front of her, his cape snapping in the stagnant air. He struck a heroic pose, his eyes fixed on the towering wall of moving bark.

"Stay at a safe distance, partner!" he yelled over his shoulder. "These things look slow, but their roots can sprout from the ground and impale you in a second! And I won’t let them impale you first, before me! Leave the wood carving to the man who can handle it!"

Maddy stopped. She looked at the SSS Rank hero, then at the Ents. To her, these monsters were just piles of firewood with high numbers. To Johnn, this was a stage.

"Fine," Maddy muttered, crossing her arms. "Show me what an SSS Rank looks like, ugh!"

Johnn grinned, his teeth flashing in the green gloom. He reached to his belt and drew two heavy, Tonfas.

"Watch closely!" Johnn shouted.

He lunged forward. He didn’t move like a normal human. He ducked beneath a massive sweeping branch of the first Ent and slammed his right tonfa into its "knee." The wood shattered with the force of an explosion.

He didn’t stop there. He used the momentum to spin, his body a whirlwind of steel.

"Dual Strike Cross!"

His tonfas hitting the chest of a second Ent so hard that a shockwave cleared the moss from the nearby trees.

"One!" he barked.

He leaped into the air, twisting his body to avoid a volley of jagged thorns. While mid air, he spun his tonfas with a speed that created a defensive shield of gold. He landed on the head of a third Ent and drove both handles down. The massive guardian split down the middle, its embers-eyes flickering out instantly.

"Two! Three! Four!"

He was performing. Every strike was theatrical. He used the environment, jumping off trunks and swinging around vines to deliver crushing blows to the Ents’ vital points. He moved with a cocky, effortless grace, treating the B Rank monsters like practice dummies.

One Ent tried to surprise him from behind, its roots erupting from the soil to trap his legs. Johnn didn’t even look back. He slammed his tonfa into the ground, sending a pulse of shockwave through the earth. The roots shriveled and blasted before they could touch his feet.

"Is that all you’ve got, you overgrown toothpicks?" Johnn laughed.

He stood in the center of the clearing, surrounded by the falling debris of ten shattered Ents. The remaining ten roared in a deep, wooden harmony, but Johnn just beckoned them forward with a flick of his wrist.

Maddy watched him, her divine eyes tracking the flow of his mana. He was powerful, and his movements were clean. But she also saw the "Monsterpedia" updating in real time, capturing the image of the broken bark and the spilled sap just as Hoppy would have drawn it.

"He is good," Maddy thought. "But he is too loud. He fights like he wants the world to love him... I mean me, obviously."

Maddy stood at the edge of the clearing, her arms crossed, watching the golden sparks from Johnn’s tonfas fade. The last of the twenty Ents had been reduced to a pile of smoking lumber. Johnn let out a long breath, spinning his weapons one last time before holstering them with a loud, satisfied click.

"And that is why you never go into an Active Forest without an SSS Rank partner. You see how they tried to pin me? Even monsters want a piece of me... haha!"

He stood tall, chest puffed out as he waited for the praise he assumed was coming. Behind the shadow of her hood, Maddy’s expression was a mask of boredom. She looked at the smoldering remains of the tree.

"Even the monsters want a piece of me... this boy is a complete narcissist."