Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System
Chapter 95: Beyond The Oak

A freshly cooked, homemade meal was always a welcome in such times, leaving the guests to finish up the meal within minutes. It felt more pivotal with the fact that there was undeniably another long day ahead of them, requiring such energy before setting out.

After a helping of eggs and bacon, it was time to head out as they took their leave out of the tree manor's front. Though Finn wanted to replace the old elf to give his thanks, the elder was nowhere to be seen.

As Magnus hoisted up the bag of supplies, the cannoneer was stopped as though the bag was unexpectedly heavy.

"What's up?" Jasper asked, glancing back.

Magnus opened up the bag, "...It seems that old elf had given us supplies–quite a bit, actually. There's a note, too."

The inside of the bag was filled with wrapped-up pieces of break, fruit, vegetables, and even some dried meat, though Finn found himself more curious about what was written on the note: "Head east of the tree until you replace the broken landmark, from there you will replace your path to the keep."

"East?" Jasper repeated what was written.

"Guess he's helping out even more. Least we can do is follow through," Finn said.

"That's right," Charlotte agreed chipperly.

Eastbound they were with the light of the gold-leaf trees above, with Finn leading the way as he carefully listened to the woods with each step. The threat of skulking beasts and fiends brought him to be cautious while walking.

Jasper placed his hand against the bark of a tree while passing, "How far off do you think we are now?" The knight asked.

"It's been three days now. I'd like to think we're getting closer towards that castle, though I'm not sure if that's even a good thing," Magnus remarked, stepping over a bundle of twigs that crunched beneath his boot.

"Maybe…what do you think, Finn?" Charlotte asked from not far behind the assassin.

Finn kept his eyes out on what lay ahead of the subtle trail carved into the woods while answering, "Being realistic, I doubt we're up to par to confront the lord here. We barely scraped by against that beast on floor ten, and that was with the help of others."

"If that's the case, what do we do? We're stuck here 'till that bastard is dealt with," Jasper asked.

"For now, all we can do is keep moving and do what we can to level up. Hopefully replace others who made it here," Finn answered.

The given plan was set as the woods trail led to a small bridge that gave passage across a running river. An old, rickety bridge that definitely seemed long overdue for repairs that would never come; planks were missing, making it all too easy to fall straight through, and chunks of wood were missing as if bitten out by a beast with a taste for timber.

Finn had no trouble traversing the bridge with his light steps, nor did Charlotte, though the same couldn't be set for the knight who was so abundantly equipped in heavy armor.

"Easy does it…" Jasper said to himself, taking cautious steps as if he was an infant taking his first strides as each step taken seemed to test the stability of the creaking bridge.

"Come on, it's not going to brea–" Magnus began to say.

Just as the cannoneer opened his mouth, the very next plank that the knight set his foot down on gave out from underneath him.

"--Woagh!" Jasper let out.

Finn dashed back in that split-second, managing to catch the hand of his friend before he could take a dive into the raging river.

A nervous laugh left from Jasper's helmet, "Thanks, mate. I wasn't trying to take a swim."

"Could've fooled me," Finn said before hoisting the knight out with the help of Magnus taking his other hand.

"Yeah, yeah, got jokes, mate," Jasper brushed off with a playful chuckle.

The bridge led to the other side of the radiant forest, though only some strides in found it to be noticeably different; many trees were left scarred as if stricken by lightning, though still standing.

As he walked, he found rusted swords that were plunged into the leaf-covered ground, with some blades and arrows even stuck into the trees.

"What's all of this about?" Jasper wondered out loud, passing by a tree as he poked at one of the arrows.

"Looks like some sort of battle happened," Charlotte answered.

"It looks more like a war to me," Finn said.

The opinion was settled as he came to a stop amidst a clearing in the scarred section of the forest, replaceing a graveyard of swords that left it more covered in steel than bark. The skin of the surrounding oak was painted in dried red, though it didn't simply look like remnants of blood, but as though the trees were infused with it entirely.

"In any case, it looks like something far in the past—these swords are practically brittle by now," Magnus remarked, grabbing hold of one of the plunged sword's grips.

Right as it was plucked from the ground by the curious cannoneer, Finn turned around, "Wait, put that back—"

"Ah?—" Magnus looked at him.

He couldn't explain why, but the assassin felt as though removing the old sword from its resting place was a serious offense. It was most likely due to his experience watching many supernatural movies that he was aware of such a concept, though even so, it proved itself.

The graveyard of blades began to rumble as the group looked around in a hurry.

"Put it back, mate!" Jasper shouted at the cannoneer.

Magnus didn't hesitate to stick the rusty blade back into the dirt next to the others, though the tremors didn't stop.

"I don't think that fixed it!" Charlotte called out.

"Well, what else can I do?!" Magnus responded.

Amidst their panic was the unknown situation, the soil in the center of all the blades parted as something erupted—a hand.