Zeke thought as he was running away from a huge creature behind him. The creature looked like a tree trunk but with eight roots serving as feet as well as several branches serving as arms. Its body is covered in loose folds of skin which made it look just like any other old tree. It also had two slits in the middle of the trunk and Zeke a.s.sumed it was the fellow's eyes.

It was Zeke's second day in the nearby forest. After Esteban escorted him there, Zeke only had with him some newly crafted weapons, some potions, and a hundred silver. He didn't ask for more since he figured he wouldn't really stay there for long. He only decided to go to the forest because of the new quest the system gave him.

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Progression Quest "System Upgrade III"

Awaken your Dragon Bloodline and transform your core into a Perfect Dragon Core.

Hint:

-Life or Death battles simulate the sleeping dragon bloodline.

Condition:

-Complete before reaching 10 years old.

Difficulty: B+

Reward: 1000xp

System Upgrade (New Features available)

Access to quest "System Upgrade IV"

*Optional Rewards (if any) based on performance*

Quest Penalty: -1 Backup Life (Current Backup Life: 2)

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This meant that Zeke will only have a time period of one year before his mission fails. Zeke initially planned on fighting smaller monsters first, but when he entered the forest, he was surprised to see not even a single monster after exploring for a day. He was a bit reluctant in going deeper into the forest since there were strong monsters lurking in there, bud Zeke had no choice. There was no monster to hunt in the outskirts, so he gritted his teeth and went deeper.

He then realized why there was no presence of lower monsters. It was because the outskirts of the forest now had a King!

The King of the outskirts right now was the big tree creature chasing Zeke. He was actually going deeper when he suddenly got entangled by its vines. Thankfully, Zeke had the [Spatial King's Domain], or else he'd be gobbled up by the tree now.

Zeke, even with his [Feline Grace] and [Breath of Lightning] combined could only outrun the tree for a minute. After the [Breath of Lightning] ends, the tree would catch up to him if not for the [Spatial King Domain]'s cooldown lower than a minute.

Zeke started to worry as his mana is getting consumed faster than it could regenerate. He was working his legs off to the limit as he constantly ran towards the exit of the forest. Along the way, some branch from the monster's head will elongate and strike Zeke in the back but Zeke would deflect it and curve off its trajectory. Doing this consumed more mana and endurance for Zeke than just dodging but Zeke took it as extra training for him. To others, it'd be a daredevil move since once one got hit by that, the branch would then drag you back to the monster. Such a move does not fit Zeke's underestimation should he have known about it.

Zake barely made it out of the forest before an extended branch could stab him in the back. As he looked back, he saw the giant tree monster hesitating to go out of the forest. After a few seconds, the tree seemingly shook its whole trunk and went back to its spot. Zeke heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that.

'Well that's a bit... exciting?'

Zeke didn't know why but he couldn't help getting excited over that. If this were to happen on Earth, Zeke would probably faint just by the sight. But now, he didn't know why but he was currently excited and there was even a feeling of wanting to fight deep inside his heart. Zeke wondered if he was getting crazier and crazier.

*No, Zeke. The excitement and fighting spirit you're currently experiencing is your inherent trait of Dragonborn. The Dragon blood within you gets stimulated the more intense the battle is and the more you struggle and exceed your limitations. You're not getting crazier, Zeke, your body is.* There was a hint of teasing from the System's voice. Even Zeke was surprised that the usual monotonous voice suddenly teased him.

'I see. So basically, my body wants to die, huh?'

*Based on the previous situation, I would say yes. Dragons are indeed the n.o.bilities and the top of the food chain, but even the fearsome dragons have or had something they fear. This fear is either caused by the severe difference in power or something like a traumatic experience. The Malevolent Treant you encountered there is almost twice your current strength, but your dragon blood still got excited. I must say, your Flamehaven family's bloodline sure is very n.o.ble. If it were any other lower bloodline, you wouldn't be feeling that right now.*

'Twice? Hmm... So direct combat is not preferable unless it's weakened...' Zeke pondered for a bit. He wasn't one who quickly backs out. Zeke wanted to try to kill it first and if it really isn't possible, then that's when Zeke gives up.

After a minute, Zeke stood and walked to the forest with a firm expression. He seemed like he was steeling himself to fight the monster out of fear, but it was actually different. He was actually suppressing the intense excitement he feels inwardly for having a tough opponent.

Zeke explored for a bit then found a small clearing in the middle of the forest. The clearing is a bit wide, and Zeke felt it was a good place for him to execute his plan.

After a few minutes, Zeke went deeper into the forest to find the Malevolent Treant. Seeing it on its previous spot, Zeke smiled and threw a [Fireball] at it.

The seemingly asleep treant suddenly trembled after being hit by the fireball, and it furiously looked around to find the attacker. Seeing the familiar figure of Zeke, the treant suddenly charged at Zeke. Fortunately, Zeke already knew that the Treant's senses are very good so he quickly ran after seeing the Treant look around. Like the previous chase, Zeke utilized [Feline's Grace] and [Wind Step] constantly, [Wind Walk] when he felt a branch coming from below and [Spatial King's Domain] if the Treant got too close. Soon, Zeke was already on the side of the clearing as he used Spatial King's Domain to teleport on the other side. He looked back and saw the Treant trampling over other trees while madly rus.h.i.+ng at him. Zeke couldn't help but smile at this Treant's imminent doom.

Soon enough, when the Treant stepped in the middle of the clearing and is only a few meters before Zeke, the earth underneath it suddenly crumbled, forcing the Treant to fall down the pit. What's more depressing for the Treant is that the human it was hunting was looking down on him with a smile. The only thing in the Treant's mind right now is to kill the intruder and get rid of this shame. However, it soon found out that this 'shame' isn't just a simple prank.

Zeke snapped his fingers, and the whole pit suddenly burst into flames, burning the Treant's whole body. Although the tree bark of the Treant is st.u.r.dy and thick, it was being burnt by the fire at a visible pace. One could clearly see that the Treant was actually getting thinner by the minute. The Treant was panicking and it randomly lashed its tree branches in the air, hoping to swat down the human who did it. Unfortunately, the pit was too deep for its branches to reach as it just laid there helpless and angry. Zeke previously dug up a pit here while casting a bunch of [Flame Wall] inside. Zeke activated [Thought Processing 10x] as he had to prevent 8 Flame Walls from casting before the prey comes in, to run away from the Treant towards the clearing, as well as to sense the surroundings for imminent danger. It was very taxing for Zeke's mind but he felt it was worth it after seeing its effects.

Seeing as its actions were futile, the Treant then focused his efforts on extinguis.h.i.+ng the fire. It was of the Earth Element, thus having no access to Water Skills, so it decided to wrap itself with soil in hopes that the fire all around its body would be extinguished.

However, it was futile because a fire made of mana could be kept going so long as the caster had enough supply. Right now, Zeke is a full-fledged Tier 2 Magician, add to that his t.i.tles as well as his Perfect Mana Core, and it could be said that Zeke already had the mana pool of a Mid Tier 2. Zeke continued the fire while he bombarded the Treant from above with different skills. [Fireball], [Dark Slash],[Wind Blade], [Electric Discharge], all kinds of projectile spells that Zeke knew was being released. What Zeke was currently doing is the epitome of the saying, 'Pulling out his bag of tricks'.

Suddenly, as if the Treant couldn't hold it in anymore, its aura surged and its appearance looked twisted. An evil aura surrounded it as its height slightly grew while its branches slightly became thinner. Zeke noticed that the power inside the branches was actually increasing. Zeke inferred that it was compressing its power and preparing for a life or death battle. However, what puzzled Zeke is the sudden surge of power. Where did the Treant get that?

*The Treant is currently burning his own vitality to exert enormous power for a short time.*

'So it's kind of like a berserk skill, huh.' Zeke inferred. He put out his spear and prepared for a head-on fight seeing as the Treant was climbing the pit while removing the residual flame around its body.

Zeke couldn't consume more mana from the flames so he released it while he waited for the Treant to go up.

Soon enough, even though the Treant's body frame is still not visible, it already started attacking Zeke using its elongated branches. Zeke stabbed the ones he can't dodge while slowly approaching the pit.

[Tremor]!

The ground in front of Zeke up until the pit suddenly quakes, and the soil was cracked into two. He was trying to foil the Treant's plan on getting up but it seemed like the Treant actually went up by slowly supporting itself to the earth using its roots. When Zeke wanted to cast [Tremor] again, the Treant was already out of the pit, looking at him maliciously. It then stretched out all ten of its elongated branches to strike Zeke in all parts of his body. The Treant rejoiced when it saw its branches piercing the human, but it suddenly noticed that it hadn't felt anything after piercing the human. Suddenly, figure blurred in front of him, pointing his long spear in front of the Treant. Zeke suddenly stabbed with his full force towards the Treant who could only try to recall his branches on time. It was too late, however, as the spear pierced a hole through the tree bark while it was left there, impaled.

Before Zeke could take a breather, the Treant suddenly moved and continued its attack on Zeke. Zeke was surprised as he hadn't gotten his spear yet, so he opted to switch into a sword.

'System! Why is this motherf.u.c.ker still alive? Haven't I pierced it already?'

*This Treant is different, Zeke. If it was a normal Treant, I'm afraid it couldn't defeat the previous King here and hunt all the other animals. This one is a Malevolent Treant, a Treant who got swiped by an extremely powerful demon. The swipe of the demon contained a bit of evil energy as it seeped through the Treant, turning it into a mindless brute like the thing in front of you. To completely kill it, you need to completely defeat them and dissect their whole body. Only then will the Treant lose all its fighting capabilities, making him powerless and slowly dying in front of you.*

'I see. Thanks!'

Zeke hurriedly cast [Breath of Lightning] as he circled around the vision of the Treant and executed several cuts and slashes in the back of its 'eyes'. Zeke succeeded in injuring the original bark of the Treant underneath the other burnt ones but this only caused the Treant to be more infuriated. It looked madly at Zeke while all of its branches surged towards Zeke faster than before. Zeke tried to change the trajectory of the others, [Deflect] the branches that are still coming to him, while also casting [Bone Strengthening] and [Mana Skin] to resist the brunt damage of the branches while also casting [Light s.h.i.+elds]. Thanks to Zeke's [Thought Processing 16x], he could focus on multiple tasks at the same time with much ease. On his right hand, he was receiving and deflecting the branches. On the other hand, he cast spells and s.h.i.+eld between him and the Treant to buy some time for the cooldown of [Spatial King's Domain] to finish.

Zeke now has slight injuries with his both arms. Although it wasn't deep, it was still bleeding profusely but Zeke still continued duking out against the Treant.

After a few more minutes of swordplay against the Treant along with some other tricks, Zeke started to feel exhaustion amidst his excitement. He then decided to end the fight and rest now that his body's already tired. He looked at the Treant while he somersaulted backward and readied his sword. Small wisps of electricity appeared around his legs as he suddenly charged and jumped with his arms swinging a vertical slash. The Treant seemingly sneered. It then sent forward half of its branches towards the human who was currently in mid-air. Was this guy in front of him already out of tricks?

However, before the branches could hit him, Zeke cast Wind Walk and evaded the branches with one step to the side while he stepped forward in the air to further increase the momentum. The Treant expected it so he sent the remaining of its branches towards the new position of the charging Zeke. However, Zeke's figure suddenly blurred and flash just in front of the Treant. Before the Treant could even react, the sword in the youth's hands suddenly had arcs of lightning surrounding it. Zeke seemed like a peerless G.o.d of lightning as his body was filled with currents of electricity around in mid-air launching a vertical sword attack towards the Treant who looked like it had frozen in fear.

Suddenly, both Zeke and the sword suddenly accelerated even more, further increasing the momentum. Zeke then slashed down his sword which released a wave of thick electric mana in front, completely cleaving the Treant into two. The strike was also accompanied by thin mana of ice as it pervaded inside the Treant, slightly slowing its movements. Before it could even counterattack, Zeke swapped his weapon into a dagger as he suddenly launched a flurry of attacks while in the middle of the cleaved Treant. Zeke utilized the Blood Berserker, a weapon style fitted for two shortswords for frontal fights, along with Firebreath Sword, a sword style. His daggers were coated with a thin amount of fiery mana as he launched a flurry of fire-enhanced attacks.

After just a few seconds of slas.h.i.+ng all parts of the Treant, it suddenly fell down, the light in its 'eyes' dimmed, lifeless.