F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 326: Tree Dwellers

Daru had just learned that, in Yggdrasil, Stamina is equivalent to life, and running out of stamina potions would eventually lead to death.

He was not about to wait for that to happen before moving in search of a solution.

It was better to try the idea in his mind now.

So, he hadn’t left the area yet, circling the perimeter first to ensure his attempt would be as safe as possible.

There were a few Sap Traps around, along with what he suspected was a predatory tree, but it was rooted quite far from where he was.

The current location should be safe.

Walking closer to a random, harmless tree, Daru pulled out his tachi.

A second later, a spinning cross slash tore through the air, landing squarely on the bark of what looked like a Beech.

His Sword Skill cut deep enough to make the evergreen bleed.

But to his dismay, no sap leaked out of the wound.

Daru frowned.

He tried again, this time with Mountainsplitter. Onimaru Kunitsuna’s blade bit deeply into the trunk, but the results were still the same.

No sap.

’Hmm...maybe only those types of trees give golden sap?’ he mused as the appearance of the thick-trunked trees on the other side of the small forest flashed in his mind.

Daru would rather not cross the darned forest again, though, so he tried chopping down the other species of trees in the area first.

Pines, Firs, and many others he didn’t know, albeit only the young ones.

The mature ones were simply too tough for the current him. He tried, of course, but only ended up lightly damaging the bark, even with Mountainsplitter.

Still no sap.

Daru sighed, investing time in carefully roaming the area to see if there were species of trees he hadn’t tested yet, or if there were some similar to those protected by the Sabre Aphids.

He only found a strange cypress — the only one of its kind in this area.

Daru was a bit disappointed, but he still tried his luck.

He drew Onimaru Kunitsuna, veiling its blade with a black aura, then slashing hard at the trunk.

’Unlucky, I guess...’ Daru lamented inwardly, about to turn and leave to contemplate his next actions, when suddenly, he felt it.

Danger.

He quickly turned, looking up at the leaves of the cypress and striking a fighting stance.

A red blur emerged from the upper parts, crashing down at him like a meteor.

It wasn’t that the Swordspawn was too fast.

It was just that Daru had just used his most reliable Sword Skill in a direct clash, and he had no time to dodge, so what he did was strike a rather ridiculous pose instead.

A translucent, golden shine covered his body at the same time the scarlet blade chopped down on him.

A piercing clang rang as the ambusher’s weapon bounced back.

At that moment, Daru had a clear view of his attacker. It was another half-bird.

However, this one was smaller than the Rift Birdy. It has striking red feathers and a proud scarlet crest atop its head.

Its shiny black eyes, hidden within a small mask of black feathers, gleamed with territorial fury.

==

Bloodscarlet Cardari Lv.82

HP: 75,000 / 75,000

==

Realizing its ambush had failed, the Bloodscarlet Cardari flapped its wings mightily, muscles straining as its sword legs morphed back to talons.

Daru was about to pursue the Swordspawn with a Full Moon Assault, but he caught something in his peripheral vision.

Another Bloodscarlet Cardari, this one a bit smaller.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue, erupting into a somersault to avoid the deadly swoop.

As soon as its attack failed, the smaller half-bird turned its legs back to talons, then flew up, temporarily perching on a high branch.

The larger Bloodscarlet Cardari, meanwhile, seemed to be a bit more aggressive.

It dove back in.

However, Daru was more prepared this time, summoning the saya of his tachi and sheathing Onimaru Kunitsuna as he waited in a stance.

The moment the half-bird was within striking distance, he lashed out with seven swift strikes. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The Bloodscarlet Cardari was fast and strong. However, the Seven Glasswind Slash was on another level of deftness.

The third and sixth strikes got through, wounding the half-bird on its right leg and another on its waist.

[-385]

[-420

The other slashes were defended by its sword talons, though.

This, however, only slowed the crashing descent of the larger Bloodscarlet Cardari.

Daru had to use Swift Tumble to barely evade the incoming attack.

His Perception was barely keeping up, and he had to strain his eyes and focus, or he wouldn’t be able to react.

Daru had barely settled with his feet, yet another red blur was already on him.

’They work well together...’ he mused, countering with a Mountainsplitter that sent the smaller Cardari reeling back. ’Are they...a couple?’

He quickly followed up with a Double Strike, but a violent gust from the larger half-bird blew him away before he could deal even a small amount of damage.

Daru used the momentum of the roll to quickly get back to his feet.

He quickly searched for his opponents, finding them both perched on high branches, seemingly communicating with harrowing chirps.

’This is not a good fight to take...’ he thought to himself.

Daru tried to turn and flee, but the Bloodscarlet Cardari pair wouldn’t let him go. They dove down almost simultaneously.

Daru was displeased, but he wasn’t fazed, quickly sheathing Onimaru Kunitsuna once more.

Then, he waited with narrowed eyes.

The moment the two half-birds crossed paths to try and confuse him, his sword lashed out into a vicious thrust, winds rattled as they made way for the Sword Skill.

The larger Bloodscarlet Cardari panicked.

Its eyes were sharp enough to react, and it could dodge, but chose not to, protecting the smaller one behind it. It lashed out with its sword legs, but Spectral Thrust directly pierced through its waist, damaging the larger half-bird quite heavily.

[-4,150!]

But it was far from enough to take down the Bloodscarlet Cardari.

The smaller one screeched in fury, rushing at him, but Daru killed its momentum with a Crescent Dicer, then dodged out of the way, a standard stamina potion in hand.

He gulped it down, wincing inwardly at the expenditure.

This...was not a good situation. He had hoped that the half-bird pair would let him go if he showed intent to leave, as he thought that they were merely mad that he attacked their tree.

The truth turned out to be different.

The Bloodscarlet Cardaris wanted to kill him.

What else could he do except fight?

But then, just when he was preparing to clash with the half-birds again, both looked furiously in another direction, seemingly sensing something he didn’t.

Soon enough, a blue blur arrived, crashing onto and sending the larger Bloodscarlet Cardari reeling, blue blood — not red cubic particles, flowing from the wound Daru inflicted upon it.

He soon realized that it was another species of half-bird.