Bear School Astartes

”Are you a... Demon Hunter?”

A slightly awkward Common Tongue echoed from within the woods.

Lann naturally dropped the arrow in his hand, then pulled back the hood on his head to show his cat eyes to the tree spirits in the forest.

”Genuine, folks.”

As he made a turn, suddenly, from somewhere in the dense forest, emerged a small squad of tree spirits.

Just as Lann had learned before, they had grass-green skin, and agile and graceful figures, akin to the nymphs of the woods.

Their ability to hide in the forest was remarkable, as long as they wished, the rustling of the forest could cover their own movements.

Even when sweating, their bodies emitted a scent like tree sap, devoid of human pheromones.

The extraordinary senses of a Demon Hunter also found it hard to detect them in the forest.

Lann witnessed firsthand a brick-red-haired tree spirit emerging from behind a spruce, holding a bow, though judging by the width of the spruce, it shouldn’t have been able to conceal her.

Then, an olive-green-haired tree spirit emerged from the underbrush Lann had just seen but hadn’t noticed anyone was there, wielding a bow aimed at him.

There were likely more tree spirits in the woods, but for a conversation, this group seemed sufficient.

The brick-red-haired tree spirit looked at Lann for a moment, her expression too serious to discern if she was beautiful or not.

Ancient language rolled off her tongue, her expression one of urgency.

Of course, Lann wasn’t the one being hurried. A honey-haired tree spirit reluctantly stepped out to act as a translator.

”Demon Hunter, your name.”

From the voice, Lann figured she was the one who called out to him earlier.

Lann understood well why the tree spirits were hesitant to interact with outsiders; if his scalp had a price tag on it, he wouldn’t want to talk to someone who might take up that job either.

But Lann knew very well—he would never take such a job in his entire life.

So, in response, the young Demon Hunter appeared quite open-hearted.

”Lann, Lann from Sintra. And your name? Sharing names is necessary as a basis for conversation.”

”That’s not important...”

The honey-haired tree spirit initially refused but then pursed her lips. ”Bryan. If you think exchanging names is essential for a conversation, then call me Bryan.”

”Alright, Bryan. I’m a Demon Hunter who doesn’t go after intelligent creatures for money or missions, whether you believe it or not. I’ve come to Brokilon only to deal with that Day Demon Spirit. It’s been lurking here for two years, and you must have heard something about it?”

Bryan stood seven steps ahead of Lann, while Lann casually found a fallen rotten log to sit on.

”The Day Demon Spirit is a nuisance, to both humans and you. If I can get rid of it, there’s no reason for you not to give me some convenience, right?”

Bryan looked back, and although the brick-red-haired tree spirit had remained silent, she gave a barely noticeable nod at this moment.

Then Bryan turned back to Lann and said.

”I’ve heard your Demon Hunter code, not to hunt intelligent beings... I hope you’re a rule follower. What do you need to release the demon spirit?”

Lann nodded, willing cooperation was always nice.

Immediately, he briefly introduced the method for hunting the Day Demon Spirit to this tree spirit translator and the story behind the incident.

”So...” Bryan furrowed her brow after listening, looking quite troubled.

”You’re looking for that woman’s remains? Remains that have been lying in this forest for two years?”

The tree spirit translator shrugged, feeling like the Demon Hunter in front of her was speaking nonsense.

No one knew the degradation power of the forest’s lifeforms better than they did. The lushness of Brook Leon Great Forest far exceeded human imagination, and even a fully grown griffin’s corpse wouldn’t last more than three days here.

Let alone a woman just over a hundred pounds?

”Let’s not talk about that for now. I’m more curious... Aren’t you interested in the voice that twisted the woman’s curse and dragged away her body once it was fulfilled?”

Lann rested his elbows on his knees and bent over as he sat, looking quite relaxed.

The tree spirits who had been holding bows warily behind Bryan also eased their vigilance a bit, leaning against the trees as the conversation became smoother.

Bryan seemed indifferent to Lann’s curiosity.

”This is a vast forest that has existed since the Ancient Era, Demon Hunter. The size of this forest is almost equivalent to Videns and Brugge combined. And how many do you think we have? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Do you think tree spirits are Brokilon’s managers and protectors?”

Bryan gave a somewhat sarcastic smile.

”Don’t measure us by human standards, Demon Hunter. Brokilon has no managers, no protectors. The tree spirits are the daughters of Brokilon, not its masters.”

”The appearance of some ancient power or unknown creature is entirely commonplace here. If you like, I could tell you six or seven different stories about them.”

”No, thank you for the invitation to your storytelling.” Lann nodded, expressing his understanding of the tree spirits’ matter-of-fact attitude towards supernatural forces.

”I just hope that when I’m searching for the remains, there’s not a well-made arrow aimed at the back of my head. As long as that can be guaranteed, I can release the Day Demon Spirit for both humans and tree spirits.”

”I promise you, Demon Hunter,” Bryan nodded from a distance towards Lann.

-----------------

The forest returned to its eerie silence, the tree spirits vanishing in a flash as if they never existed.

Lann pushed himself up from the rotten wood with hands on his knees.

Having temporarily gained Brokilon’s passage rights, it was time for him to get to work.

It was nearing noon, and he planned to spend the afternoon finding the remains, then summon the Day Demon Spirit at night.

At night, the power of the Day Demon Spirit would be weakened, making it easier to handle than a Night Demon Spirit.

Night Demon Spirits couldn’t even be summoned except during the peak of their power at midnight.

Mentos started projecting onto Lann’s retinas. It would organize the environmental conditions and highlight potential clues for Lann’s Demon Hunter vision.

However, even with this privilege ordinary Demon Hunters wouldn’t dare imagine, Lann’s progress was not smooth sailing.

Indeed, as Bryan said, the vibrant biological activity in the forest, whether plant or animal, naturally covered all traces.

Lann had to rely on the Roaring Bear Head Pendant on his neck, unable to find the remains through trace skills, but only by following the residue of Chaos Magic Power.

The highly effective cormorant curse, and the vine-driving spell... the remaining tremendous Magic Power would leave traces for within a decade.

Lann wandered near the interface between this forest and the outside world for a while, eventually finding a vine with residual Chaos Magic Power.

He followed the vine, advancing about half a kilometer in the forest, finally locating his target inside a large dead tree that was hollow inside.