Simultaneous travel: invincible from the beginning of the anime!

Chapter 788 Candidate Village Chief Seiya, Tree-Cutting Kirito
Lulit Village is located at the northernmost border of the "Nolancarus Northern Empire," one of the four great empires that divide and rule the "Human World," at the "End of the Human World."

Although the village has a history of 300 years, the residents live in poverty because it is surrounded by steep mountains on the north, east and west sides.

The villagers could only expand their farmland or grazing land by clearing the southern forests.

However, in the southern forest, all the nutrients were absorbed by the roots of the "Demon Tree" Gigas Cida.

To make the village prosperous, the "roadblock" Kijas Cida must be cut down.

It's not without reason that Kegiscedar is called the "Demon Tree".

Besides greedily absorbing nutrients from the surrounding soil, this tree's branches are also incredibly hard, far exceeding the hardness of steel. Only the "dragon bone axe" passed down through generations in the village can damage it in the slightest.

Kirito and Eugeo's "calling" is to be "carving hands," which means axemen wielding dragon bone axes... well, to put it simply, they are tree cutters.

In simple terms, a calling is one's profession in the Underworld.

When Underworld reaches the age of ten, it awakens to its calling, and when doing work that aligns with its calling, it achieves twice the results with half the effort.

There are combat professions and livelihood professions, with the former often having a better future than the latter.

Because if one possesses a divine calling such as a swordsman or knight, it is easy to leave such a remote mountain village and go to a big city to enlist as an imperial soldier.

If one's calling is a livelihood, then one can generally only honestly engage in farming.

Simply put, the moment one awakens their calling almost determines the entire life of an Underworld resident.

Eugeo and Kirito are both 11 years old, just like Alice. One has blond hair and blue eyes, while the other has black hair and black eyes. Both of them appear to be slender boys.

But despite their frail physiques, they were destined to be the worst of the lot, becoming what we now call "engraving masters".

"No, I can't lift my hands at all. I now seriously doubt that even the Dragonbone Axe can't cut through Kijas Cida."

Seeing Kirito lying on the ground panting, spread-eagled, Eugeo couldn't help but smile bitterly. Looking at the Dragon Bone Axe in his hand and the towering Demon Tree in front of him, he felt equally powerless.

Awakening to the calling of a profession is already considered bad luck, but he and Kirito are even worse off, as they have become "Engravers".

Compared to ordinary tree cutters, the "Engravers" who cut down the Demon Tree are undoubtedly at the bottom of the tree cutter ranks.

Why is it called "carving hand" when it's clearly cutting down trees?

That's because, although they are cutting down trees, the Demon Tree, Giga Siddar, has been cut down in their village for over two hundred years!

Before the two of them became Inscribers, the Demon Tree had already outlived several generations of Inscribers, yet now there was only a cut less than one-tenth deep on its thick branches.

This opening, less than one-tenth of the way through, is the result of over two hundred years of hard work by generations of engravers in their village.

Based on the previous progress, it would probably take at least a thousand years to cut down the Demon Tree, and if nothing unexpected happens, the two of them would probably have to keep cutting down the tree for the rest of their lives.

No, they weren't cutting down trees, they were marking the Demon Tree, that's why they're called the Markers!
While Kirito and Eugeo were complaining, Alice appeared carrying a food basket, along with Seiya, who was reluctantly forced to take up his post.

"Kirito, Eugeo, you two are slacking off again. If you don't work harder, when will you be able to defeat Gigas Cedar and get your new job?"

That's right. In the Underworld, while one's calling almost entirely determines their fate, that fate can be changed. Some special callings, like those of Kirito and his friends, are created with the purpose of cutting down the Demon Tree. Once they complete their mission, they can freely choose a new calling.

Kirito and Eugeo responded to Alice's encouragement with a wry smile.

Cut down the Tree of Devil? With their indomitable spirit, perhaps one day they really will be able to cut down the Tree of Devil.

Unfortunately, they probably won't see it in their lifetime.

"I really want to know if there are any other ways to cut down Gigas Cida sooner. I really don't want to be a tree cutter for the rest of my life."

Kirito wolfed down the sandwich Alice had brought him while looking at the towering Gigas Cedar and complaining.

"Yes, I'm so envious of Seiya's calling as a paladin. He'll definitely be able to leave our little village and see the bigger world outside, right?"

Eugeo looked at the dragon bone axe in his hand, then at Seiya beside Alice, and a look of envy appeared on his face.

Unlike Kirito, who is all alone, Eugeo's family is quite dissatisfied with the fact that his job is to be an "Engraver" and that he cannot help with household chores.

However, that's just how the world is; the rules are everything.

Even though Eugeo dislikes cutting down trees, and his family is unhappy about it, they have no choice but to obey since his calling is to be an engraver.

“Seiya will not go to the city! Father has already planned to have Seiya take over the position of village chief in the future.”

And Seiya definitely won't want to part with me and Seruka either!

Upon hearing Eugeo's words, Alice's expression clearly showed displeasure. She immediately snatched the sandwich from her childhood friend's hand and solemnly spoke on behalf of Seiya.

"Alice, I think it's not that Seiya is reluctant to part with you and Seruka, but rather that you and Seruka are reluctant to part with Seiya, right?"

Hearing Kirito's teasing, Alice's youthful face, rich in collagen, showed a hint of embarrassment and annoyance.

Just as they were about to snatch the sandwich from Kirito's hand, just like they had done with Eugeo, he easily dodged it, and then the two of them began to chase each other.

"Actually, there are ways to take down Gigas Cedar even faster, aren't there?"

Alice and Kirito, who were chasing and playing around, and Eugeo, who was watching them, were all stunned when they heard Seiya's words that he suddenly blurted out while looking at Gigas Cedar.

"Seiya, are you telling the truth? Is there really a way to defeat Gigas Cida faster?"

Faced with Kirito and Eugeo's excited questions, Seiya didn't say much. Instead, he waved his hands and soon a blue system window appeared in front of them.

This virtual blue window is known as the "Window of Stia" in the Underworld.

In the Underworld, any object existing between heaven and earth, whether it can move or not, will be given a so-called "destiny" by the creator god Stia, who governs life.

To observe the information and "fate" of an object, one needs to utilize this "Stia's Window".

(End of this chapter)