A restless and frail young man was sitting up against the tree, there was a silver crown atop of his head, his gaze was focused on the blue panel that floated in the air before him. Kaito clenched his teeth while looking at the mission he was tasked with in this trial. Anger and frustration boiling in his veins.
[Mission: Bring the spirit of the Great ElderWood Forest to rest, eliminate the Distorted Monarch, GrymWake].
[Remaining time: 1 Day].
'One day, all I have left to plan is one measly day?! How on earth do I do that in one day?! This is a Distorted Monarch we are talking about! The Wolf King was a few ranks above me, but this one ranks above me!'
The young man held the urge to slam his fist against the trunk of the tree. A few tears of frustration began to form in his eyes. Kaito quickly shook off the tears and stood up, his body was battered and bruised, and yet he ignored the pain and stood. He grabbed a few of the sharpened sticks beside him and began dragging his feet.
Kaito was heading towards the area where he first met the horrific beast he was tasked to kill. GrymWake, the mere thought of his name sent shivers down the young man's spine. As pain began building up once more, Kaito picked up a branch that had fallen off of a tree and used it to support his battered body as a makeshift cane.
"...Just wait... Wait until I meet you again..."
Those words were uttered through Kaito's gritted teeth as he continued to endure the pain and approached the area he first woke up in. However, right before he stepped into the open space where he had awoken earlier, he decided to sit down behind one of the trees. His eyes narrowed as he began to recall his first encounter.
'...That guy didn't follow me when I left... It did say protector of the Great ElderWood Forest... Maybe he can't follow me out of the Great ElderWood Forest?'
Kaito grabbed a rock that was nearby, clenched his teeth further while enduring the pain that was slowly subsiding. In one swift motion he threw the rock in the direction of where he first woke up. For a while, nothing happened, the young man was about to sign until he heard footsteps.
He turned his head quickly to steal a glance in the direction of the noise. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the same creature that he first encountered after being sent to this trial. The creature's body resembled one of a humans, it was covered in grayish wooden armor and seemed to be about two meters tall. A wooden Katana rested on its hip, the visor of the wooden helmet showed two red eyes that shined brightly almost like a fire.
'Here comes the bastard... Don't worry I will have something for you, soon...'
An idea appeared inside Kaito's head. He grabbed one of the wooden sticks and hurled it with all his might at the tree behind him. The forest seemed to be split as the Great ElderWood forest had gray trees and the other side where Kaito was in had brown trees.
'The description of the Crown I got after killing that wolf said that it would go mad after seeing members of its pack hurt. What if... he does the same? Surely attacking those Great ElderWood trees will do something, right...?'
Just before the sharpened edge of the stick made it to one of the trees, the armored figure moved swiftly and caught the stick with one hand. It looked at the stick with what seemed to be annoyance, it then crushed the stick by clenching its wooden fist.
A wave of fear washed over Kaito as he continued to look at the creature he was supposed to kill. It was furious, its gaze met Kaito's but it still didn't budge. Almost as if it couldn't, as if it was being held back by something.
A grin found its way onto Kaito's face as he glanced at the Wooden Knight. The young man clenched his sides while deciding to attempt something. He came out of his hiding place and looked directly at the Wooden Knight. However instead of attacking, the creature simply shook its head and turned around, walking back into the forest it came from. Kaito grinned and grabbed yet another stick.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're a scared, damned bastard!"
The young man threw the stick with all his might once more, enduring the pain from his battered and bruised body. The stick struck the creature's Wooden armor and snapped into multiple splinters. It paused and turned its head to meet Kaito's gaze.
'What the hell am I doing?! I have to find a way to win and fast! There's no way I'll beat that thing in combat!'
He shifted his gaze as a blue panel appeared before him once more, however there was something different. The mission seemed to have changed once he encountered the creature again. Kaito read the new mission with a grin.
[Warrior of Mankind, your mission has been altered due to the difference of strength between you and your foe].
[Mission: Reach the center of the Great ElderWood Forest].
[Remaining time: 3 Hours].
The young man grinned as the wooden creature kept walking deeper into the forest, as if already forgetting about Kaito.
'That's it! That's my chance! I can use an hour to study this place and then escape!'
The silver crown atop Kaito's head glimmered under the moonlight as the young man, while still beaming about his new mission, threw each stick he had left in his hands at the trees of the Great ElderWood Forest. Moments before they struck the trees a wooden blade slashed each stick in half as the creature from before descended from the air and landed gracefully on its feat. The Knight clad in wooden armor had appeared once again.
'I see, so its objective is to protect the forest as my old mission said... I just need to keep throwing things at the trees while running. But I need to have enough so I don't run out, not only that but I can't be weighed down or I won't escape...'
Kaito gave the Wooden Knight a smirk. A new idea had just formed in the young man's head. Rocks, that was the idea he had, he could use rocks.
'I'll use rocks it's simple! I can throw the small pebbles at the trees and due to their size it'll probably take that stupid Knight a few more seconds than it would to cut a stick. I've got you now bastard!'
The young man turned his head to the piles of rocks that were on the ground. The Wooden Knight stood tall, watching his every step. Eventually as Kaito began to pick up the rocks, the Knight turned and left. As if it was a waste of its time to watch the young man pick up some rocks, which to be fair most likely was.
Kaito was unbothered by the absence of the Knight and picked up as many rocks as he could without adding too much weight to himself. He put all of the rocks inside both of his pockets. The young man had a plan and was going to put it to action, this was his only chance anyway even if it was a risky one.