Our Dharma Masters are like this.

Chapter 85 Disastrous Failure
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"

The tree spirit, scorched by the flames, began to wail, while the two eerie green lights struggled violently within the flames.

The tree spirit frantically waved all its branches and lashed out at its surroundings, but all to no avail.

Soon, the Flame Breath spell destroyed its outer structure, revealing the demonic core hidden inside its body.

With a piercing wail, all the frenzied movements came to an abrupt halt, and the tree spirit was reduced to charred remains in the raging flames.

Tree spirit, dead!
A strong wind blew, stirring up a sky full of gray-black embers, which drifted and scattered.

"call……"

Zellir then withdrew the magic output of the Flame Breath spell and breathed a sigh of relief.

Get it!

He subconsciously focused his mind and checked the panel, but his brows furrowed slightly.

lv.8（55/275）-lv.8（207/275）。

The tree monsters and tree spirits I just killed only gave me 152 experience points in total.

It's not enough to upgrade it.

The battlefield situation has stabilized. With the tree spirit eliminated, the remaining tree monsters lost clear commands and their movements became sluggish for a time.

Furthermore, the flames Zellir had previously created were still spreading among them, and the tree monsters' resistance was basically broken. Some even had their branches burned off and fell to the ground in half. Death was only a matter of time.

Gray swung his longsword, preparing to go up and smash those wooden blocks to pieces.

However, just as he took a step, several completely different spells rushed past him, whistling past him!
A sharp wind blade precisely severed the roots of a treant that was trying to stand up again. Immediately afterward, an ice spike shot down, completely shattering the core of its shattered trunk.

Gray looked back in confusion.

Zeliel was still casting his spell, and he swiftly and decisively destroyed all the struggling tree monsters.

“Hey, Zellir…”

Gray looked at the scattered wreckage and spoke up, somewhat bewildered.

"You don't need to waste your precious magic on these finishing touches, right? Just leave them to us."

"It's out of the way."

Zellir put away the ash wood and replied vaguely without batting an eye, "It's a good opportunity to get used to the feel of connecting different spells, a good way to practice."

After defeating the tree monsters, Zellier glanced at the panel again.

lv.8（207/275）-lv.8（247/275）。

I still lack some experience.

Ugh……

Zell sighed inwardly.

Okay, it seems I can't level up this time. I'll have to do another mission.

The fighting in the forest clearing finally subsided, and the area returned to peace.

The scene before me was a mess, with large, broken branches and scattered, charred pieces of wood everywhere, and a strong smell of coke permeating the air.

“It’s finally over…” Marcus leaned on his sword, panting heavily.

“They’re all easy-rated monsters, but tree monsters are much more troublesome than goblins.” Gray plopped down and lay flat on the forest floor.

"We need to control the fire over there, otherwise it could spread to other places." Vales pointed to the remains of several trees still burning in the distance, with smoke rising continuously.

"This is easy to handle."

Zellir raised the ash wood, charged up his energy, and then unleashed several water ball spells, all of which were accurately projected.

"Bang bang bang..."

The water balloons exploded on the still-burning tree debris, creating large amounts of steam and ash, and the fire was quickly brought under control.

After a short rest, the team began assigning tasks. Gak and Gray went to check the surrounding area for any trees still infected by the tree spirits, to prevent the re-emergence of tree monsters and their subsequent rampage.

Marcus and Vales began splitting open the tree monster's remains, then extracted the magic cores from them and collected them one by one.

The magic core of an ordinary tree monster is about half the size of a fist, and it is irregularly shaped with wood grain patterns like tree rings.

The tree spirit's magic core is smaller and has a much smoother surface. It has an overall emerald green color, and you can feel a strong sense of vitality just by holding it in your hand.

A moment later, Gray returned to report.

"We've checked everything. The trees around here are all normal and haven't been infected or assimilated by the tree spirits."

"That's good."

Marcus nodded.

He has basically finished mining the magic cores on his side, and has reaped a considerable harvest.

The magic cores of tree monsters and tree spirits are more valuable than those of other monsters of the same level because they are rich in vitality.

A tree monster can sell for ten silver coins, while a tree spirit is worth around eight gold coins.

After packing up, the team set off again, and everyone seemed particularly relaxed on the way back.

I've made another small fortune.

However, as they passed through a forested area, Vales' ears twitched, and he suddenly stopped and looked behind him.

"Wait a minute... something's up."

……

Kaden felt like his lungs were about to explode.

He ran frantically through the woods, like a startled rabbit, completely oblivious to the bloody scratches left on his body by the thorns around him.

Kaden's leather armor was tattered, and there was even a large hole in his chest that had been violently torn open by sharp claws, with blackened bloodstains stained around the edges.

He didn't dare turn around, even though he was almost out of breath, he didn't dare stop for a second.

The monster's ferocious and hideous appearance was etched deeply into Kaden's mind like a brand, and every time it appeared, it made his heart race wildly.

The screams of his companions, their eyes, and the desperate scenes before their deaths.

These scenes haunted Kaden like a nightmare, making him want to escape, to escape as far away as possible!

This place is hell!

Finally, the light ahead brightened, and it was no longer a dangerous, dense forest!

Hope ignited in Kaden's heart, and he accelerated with all his might, bursting out of the thick bushes!

In the instant he charged forward, Kaden lost his balance due to exhaustion.

He fell heavily to the ground with a "thud," the rough gravel causing his palms to bleed.

However, before he could even get up, a cold command rang in his ears.

"do not move."

Kaden looked up, somewhat bewildered.

What came into view was a cold and stern face. The other party had already drawn his bow and aimed an arrow at him, with even the arrow faintly flashing with electricity.

Seeing that only one person rushed out of the bushes and posed no threat, Zellir breathed a sigh of relief and deactivated the Wind Blade spell that was charging up.

Ever since the incident with Drake's team, Zellir has been on high alert for any activity in the wild.

The young man in front of me looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, and I could tell from his attire that he was an adventurer.

However, the other party's terrified expression, his face covered in blood and dirt, and his tattered leather armor all indicated one thing—he had just experienced a crushing defeat.

(End of this chapter)