Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 20
Chapter 20: The Forest of Spirits
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
In front of the ?Forest of Spirits?, far from the royal capital Yggdrasil, Sora collapsed onto the ground for a short rest.
As if linked to reality, the surroundings were pitch dark.
It seemed that monsters become more active at night than during the day.
I had a tough time fighting 30 high slimes that were shooting acid at me. I had to use my ?Sword Guard? and ?Sonic Sword? to defeat them.
Thanks to that, my level went up by ?1? and is now ?18?.
Defeating those 30 High Slimes earned me 900 El, so my current amount of money is 7,850 El.
By the way, the normal slimes that appear in the ?Starting Grassland? drop 10 El each.
High Slimes drop 30 El each.
Metal Slimes drop about 500 Er.
The level 10 High Lizard where my master is currently located drops 400 El each. Apparently, the high lizard skin that it drops sells for 100 el each.
…So, if I hunt 10 of them, it’s 5,000 El!?
I definitely have to participate in this.
“Anyway, I won’t be able to go to Yggdrasil for a while.”
Due to the effects of the article and rumors among players, that place has turned into a dangerous pit for me.
“Those guys, they chase around a defenseless girl without hesitation…”
When Sora logged in, she was greeted by various adventurers with different intentions—recruitments, friend requests, duel challenges, and more.
Especially the newly formed small-to-medium-sized clans were desperate and had even set up a siege to capture a strong asset like me.
Sora broke through the siege with ?Sonic Turn?, left the royal capital, traversed the ?Starting Grassland?, and arrived here in one go.
Because of that, she hadn’t had a chance to visit any shops, so she didn’t have any recovery potions, wasn’t wearing any armor, and was still in her starting outfit.
“Well, I guess I can manage because my partner is strong?”
Touching the ?C-Rank? weapon, ?Silver Sword?, at her waist lightly, Sora directed her gaze forward.
There, in front of her, was the only path in this forest.
The ?Path of Vows?, a road through which adventurers are permitted to travel by the spirits.
On both sides, massive trees stood like walls, making even the narrow gaps difficult to pass through.
At night, their presence was even more pronounced. During the day, there were many players seen from a distance, but now, with monsters getting stronger at night, not a single one was in sight.
Wasn’t the sunset in this game random?
It seems that sometimes, what feels like morning can turn into night within an hour.
At those times, the sun moves incredibly fast, so everyone is always careful about the movement of the sun.
Before entering, Sora used her observation skill to check the path in front of her.
?Path of Vows?.
A road through which passage is granted by making an inviolable vow between spirits and humans.
Those who stray from the path are unconditionally returned to their original location, and if they exceed the allowed number of infractions, they will be attacked by monsters “20 levels higher than themselves” as a penalty.
“A monster 20 levels higher is a seriously dangerous penalty.”
If I fought one now, I’d probably be killed with a single hit.
Thinking that, Sora activated her ?Perception? skill and cautiously stepped onto the ?Path of Vows?.
Strangely, Sora did not encounter any monsters.
According to prior research, at night, level 15 ?Trent? are supposed to attack, but despite walking for about 30 minutes, she had not encountered any.
This was clearly suspicious.
As Sora walked cautiously, she heard a girl’s scream from somewhere.
“!?”
Was a player who had also entered the ?Path of Vows? being attacked by a monster?
What came to mind was that if the ?Life Point? reached zero, it could mean death in reality.
But if she hesitated here, it would tarnish the name of the world’s strongest disciple!
She wasn’t intending to protect every player, but if someone was in danger right in front of her, she wanted to help.
If she abandoned the source of the scream out of fear for her own life, she would definitely regret it.
Drawing his sword, Sora ran toward the direction of the voice, but then he stopped.
“…In the forest?”
Players who enter the forest are supposed to be forcibly returned to the original path.
However, no matter how hard she listened, the girl’s scream was coming from within the forest.
This meant there were two possibilities: either some event was occurring, or a player who had accidentally entered a path that did not return them was being attacked by a monster in the forest.
In either case, there was no time to hesitate.
Without hesitation, Sora squeezed her small body between the trees and stepped into the forest, careful not to damage the branches.
Then, the path she had come from was blocked by branches as if to say she wouldn’t be allowed to return, leaving Sora with no escape.
“…Fine, I’ll advance as you wish.”
There was never an option to retreat.
Sora pushed forward through the dark forest, guided by the sound of the scream.
On the other side, she found a large open space with five skeletal soldiers armed with swords.
The ?Insight? skill immediately provided information about the enemies.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
?Skeleton Soldiers?
Level 15
Attribute ?Darkness?
Minions of darkness that appear at night.
They drop Skeleton Bones when defeated.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
In front of the skeletons, a girl with jade-colored hair illuminated by moonlight cowered in fear.
From the looks of it, she was not wearing any armor.
Receiving an attack from level 15 enemies would likely reduce her life to ?0? in one hit.
I have to save her!
Before she could even think, her body moved.
Activating ?Sonic Sword II?, Sora surprised an unaware skeleton from behind and cleaved it in two.
To another skeleton that was raising its blood-stained sword, aiming to reduce the girl’s life to zero. Sora cast the ?Attack Power Increase Enchantment? skill on her sword, consuming 50 of her MP, which had been fully recovered to 180 beforehand.
Activating the dual strike skill ?Dual Nail?, she intercepted the skeleton’s downward sword swing and deflected it back.
Then, she spun around and swung her sword from right to left, cutting down the two skeletons that were trying to strike her.
That left one skeleton that had been deflected and another that charged forward, trying to take the girl down with it.
“You won’t get away with this!”
Activating ?Sonic Sword II?, Sora sliced through the skeleton from the lower left to the upper right with a single clean cut.
The remaining skeleton turned its back and tried to flee.
Sora sheathed ?Silver Sword?, picked up the skeleton’s sword lying at his feet, and used 40 MP out of 130 to activate the ?Light Attribute Enchantment?.
Brandishing the sword imbued with dazzling light, she threw it with all her might.
The thrown light sword pierced cleanly into the back of the skeleton’s head, depleting its life and turning its body into dust.
With that, the enemy was no longer responding.
Sora checked within the detection range of 10 meters to see if there were any enemies left, but there was no response from the ?Perception? skill.
Confirming it was safe, Sora turned her gaze to the trembling girl, who was still in a prayer-like posture with her back against a tree.
Oh, on closer inspection, her ears are long.
Could she be one of the fantasy popular races, an elf?
From the looks of it, she seemed to be around the same age as her.
Her jade-colored hair, which reached down to her knees, shone under the moonlight, and she had a truly beautiful face.
The clothes she wore had a princess-like feel to them.
In that case, let’s proceed with chivalry.
Deciding this, Sora extended her hand to her and said:
“I have defeated all the enemies. Are you hurt, miss?”
“…Ah, you are…”
“I’m Sora, an adventurer. I rushed here because I heard a scream.”
“I’m glad I made it in time,” I said, and for some reason the girl looked up at me blankly.
What’s wrong with her?
Tilting her head, the girl widened her gem-like blue eyes and murmured in a small voice:
“Could it be that your shining silver hair belongs to Lord Lucifer?”
……Huh?
That’s the name of my unique skill, but how does she know that?
Sora wondered.
Suddenly, the girl stood up quickly and grasped Sora’s hands.
“I heard that a long time ago, you went to defeat the Demon Lord with the Four Great Archangels but failed. I had no idea you were still alive!”
“Uh, well. Sorry to interrupt your excitement, but I’m not Lucifer. My name is Sora.”
“So, you are someone who inherited the power of Lord Lucifer!”
“Hmm, I guess you could say that.”
Under the pressure of the girl’s enthusiasm, Sora’s tone shifted back.
Meanwhile, she suddenly became composed, quickly pinched the edges of her skirt, and bowed politely.
“Lucif—Sora-sama, I apologize for the late greeting. I am Aria Titania, the first princess of the Fairy Kingdom on the other side of the mountain.”
“The Fairy Kingdom’s princess?”
…Wait, could this girl be the princess Shiori mentioned?
It matches with the fact that she disappeared after entering the ?Forest of Spirits?.
If that’s the case, then taking her back might allow the group to proceed further.
Thinking this, the girl stopped her greeting posture and looked at Sora with a pleading expression.
“Sora–sama, I have a request. I want you to come with me to the ?Wind Spirit Village?.”
A quest appeared in front of her.
It was a unique quest.
???The Four Star of the Lord of the Rings?
TL Note:
The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It’s considered one of the most influential works of fantasy literature, inspiring countless other stories and worlds. The story is set in a fictional world called Middle-earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings