Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 668 Divine Art Gift Pack! The Cruel Banyan Forest!
【...Gwendolyn...】

The ethereal, distant sound jolted the Witcher awake.

In the blink of an eye, all the noise disappeared.

The wind rustled softly, and all he could see were towering aspen trees and a golden carpet covering the earth. In the distance, faintly visible, was a dense, continuous expanse of dark green.

The sacred voice whispering in my ear seemed like nothing more than a dream.

But the Witcher knew that it was definitely not a dream; he had indeed heard the voice of a great being.

The deity that exists is Gwendolia, the daughter of spring, the chief goddess of the four seasons, who survived the Great Cataclysm of the Ancient Elves and called upon the great prophet Islinne Egri Epp Evinion.

"Is She... Mother Nature?" Erin muttered to himself in a daze.

The autumn wind blew bleakly through the sacred grove, and no one answered.

But who else but Mother Nature could be the great being in the sacred forest?

"But why Gwendolyn?" Erin asked, puzzled.

He knew, of course, that Jerón Morlü's mother, Lydia, had lived in the Ring of Maidalui for a long time until Thomas Morlü arrived and killed her.

It is also known that Lydia is the priestess of Gwendolyn, the Daughter of Spring, and that the resurrected spirit of Gwendolyn is suspected to have always been carried by Lydia.

But he always believed that Lydia had come to the Ring of Maidalui for refuge.

After all, elves have been persecuted by humans for decades, and even today, the Druid Circle is one of the few friendly forces, apart from the camps of free elves, that are willing and able to accept elves.

Since Lydia possesses Gwendolyn's resurrected spirit, she must be planning to revive Gwendolyn. It's normal for her to appear in the Ring of Maidalui instead of staying in the Free Elves' camp forever.

So he never thought about it much.

But now...

In the sacred grove of the Ring of Maidalui, Mother Nature calls to Gwendolí, the Daughter of Spring.

Does this mean that Lydia's long-term residence in the Ring of Maidenaurui is not merely to escape persecution by humans, but that the Ring of Maidenaurui, especially the Sacred Grove, is indeed related to the resurrection of Gwendolia, the Daughter of Spring?

And the reason Mother Nature called upon him, called upon a witcher...

Erin thought for a moment, then a thought struck him.

The ancient pages of the Witcher's Handbook unfolded before his eyes, and the Witcher's gaze quickly locked onto an irregularly shaped piece of gneiss among the cluttered inventory—Gwendolyn's Resurrection Soul.

The Witcher hesitated for a long time, staring at the unremarkable stone, but ultimately did not retrieve Gwendolyn's resurrection essence from the Sacred Forest.

He knew too little information.

Therefore, in the special place of the sacred forest, one must be careful in whatever one does.

Vinsenna of the Ring of Maid saved him, and his mentor Zebi Ortega, Simmons, and Olga spared no effort in guiding him onto the path of druidhood. He couldn't let his carelessness lead him astray.

What if the way Gwendolyn, the daughter of spring, is resurrected is by parasitizing Mother Nature and reviving from her...

Wouldn't he be harming those dear and respectable druids of the Maidalud Ring?

Although this possibility is not very high, after all, Lydia spent a long time in the Ring of Maidens Rui, if the resurrection of the Spring Maiden Gwendolía were really that simple, she would have been resurrected long ago.

However, we must be cautious.

“Professor Zebi Ortega said he would give me Lydia’s belongings before he leaves, which is tomorrow,” Erin thought. “After sorting through the belongings, I should be able to find some clues about Gwendolyn, the Daughter of Resurrection… right?”

He was a little unsure.

If Lydia really left behind some important relics, her mentor Zebi Ortega would not have handed them over to him so easily; instead, he would have become wary.

Since Zebi Ortega hasn't shown any unusual behavior these past few days, and hasn't even made any attempt to probe or confirm anything, it means that at least in Zebi Ortega's eyes, Lydia's relics are really just unimportant relics.

"Don't overthink it, we'll find out tomorrow," the Witcher shook his head. "Hopefully Lydia will leave something useful behind..."

He stopped dwelling on it and didn't rush to organize his findings; he simply raised his head slightly.

The carpet of golden leaves from the aspen forest was clearly demarcated not far away.

That is the Great Banyan Forest, the next area of ​​the Sacred Forest, and the final realm that a gifted druid can reach—the Archdruid.

"Shasha~Shasha~"

The leaves crunched underfoot as the witcher walked, observing the scenery in the distance.

The banyan forest was a deep, almost blackish green, with countless enormous aerial roots hanging straight down, then burrowing into the ground to take root and sprout, growing back into another robust banyan tree.

It's hard to tell whether it's a forest where countless banyan trees grow together, or just a single banyan tree that occupies all the living space in the vast forest...

The Witcher squinted to examine it closely.

The drooping aerial roots intertwine, forming a dense net in the sky above the woodland. Intertwined with the lush green foliage, they almost completely block out every ray of sunlight, making the banyan forest gloomy and sultry, yet also filled with nature's almost greedy desire to plunder.

It's a completely different style from the previous aspen, oak, and meadow.

But no matter how much the banyan forest deprives other life of its living space, the woodland in the distance is still more vibrant, more alive, and more like a real woodland than the aspen, oak, and grassland where no other plants grow.

Countless shrubs and weeds of indistinguishable species vied for every ray of sunlight left by the banyan tree, growing wildly upwards. Some even had menacing, thorny vines that tightened around the banyan tree's thick trunk, piercing the bark with their sharp thorns to suck out nutrients.

He even saw a thick banyan tree that had been strangled, decayed and white, like the withered bones in a cemetery.

Meanwhile, many dark figures appeared and disappeared intermittently in the shadows of the trees.

Standing at the edge of the aspen forest, the witcher could faintly hear the calls of deer, the howls of wolves, and the mournful cawing of crows…

It was truly barbaric, savage, and cruel.

However, Erin knew that, aside from the wild plants, the roaring beasts were the Archdruids standing at the top of the Druid food chain.

And it's not just the Archdruids of the Maidal's Ring of Ruines.

According to Zebi Ortega's encouragement to Simmons and Olga, the same "banyan forest" is shared by the Maynard Ruid Ring, the Kad Dud Ruid Ring in Anderin, and even the Kad Mikvid Ruid Ring on the border of Toussaint.

[Ding! The will of the Mother of Nature has been detected. Do you wish to accept the Mother of Nature's divine spell, "Vine Armor Technique"?]

……

【Name: Rattan Armor Technique】

[Type: Veteran Druid Divine Spell/Prayer]

[Active Effect: You can use Wood Armor to summon a tough magical vine armor against a single target, blocking physical and magical damage.]

……

The final system notification sounded, and the Demon Hunter stood at the boundary between the Aspen Forest and the Banyan Forest. He wanted to take a step forward, but an invisible barrier suddenly rose from nowhere. Thick white fog completely obscured the wild banyan forest, blocking his path. In the end, even the cries of creatures emanating from the banyan forest slowly disappeared.

"Isn't it true?"

Erin sighed softly and didn't insist any further.

Although it is unknown how he once traveled from the meadow, straight through the oak, aspen, and banyan trees, to reach the source lake.

But according to Zebi Ortega, Simmons, and Olga, to cross this boundary and become a Grand Druid, one must find their own spirit of nature to enter.

The so-called "finding the spirit of nature" actually means choosing a non-magical beast that is more favored by nature than humans, such as a crow, wolf, bear, or deer, and achieving a spiritual resonance through a certain ritual, so that the druid's soul essence is closer to nature and can be elevated.

Nature spirits are not found randomly. A druid can only find one suitable nature spirit, and even the same nature spirit is not suitable for every individual druid.

This will require a long search, taking decades or even twenty years.

So he had expected it, but he was just taking a chance.

Since the meadow, oak, and aspen trees pose no obstacle, perhaps the banyan tree will too?

Unfortunately, it's quite obvious that the banyan forest is different.

However, this inexplicably relieved Erin.

To be honest, he wasn't prepared to make an appearance in front of so many great druids in the banyan forest. Even if he could get in, he originally only planned to wander around the perimeter first and gather intelligence.

Of course, now that we can't even get into the banyan forest, we don't need to worry about that anymore.

“However, the spirit of nature, my spirit of nature is most likely the King of Kano…” Erin pondered with some distress, “The Ring of Maidalui, I haven’t even found the Kano Beast, let alone the king of Kano Beasts.”

"I don't even know how King Cano came to be."

"If it only occurs when the Kano Beast population reaches a certain size, then my Archdruid is probably in trouble..."

Erin sighed, but remained relatively calm.

For him, being a witcher is his primary profession.

Any achievement he could make on the path of druids would be an unexpected bonus, not to mention that even if he couldn't become a great druid, his current level was already something that many druids could never achieve in their entire lives.

And he only spent two days.

If word got out, even a druid who values ​​inner peace would probably be green with envy.

Moreover, the three attributes of agility, physique, and perception are at their maximum here, and there is still a chance for the future.

With that thought in mind, Erin stopped worrying and opened the Demon Hunter's Notebook.

Name: Erin

【生命值：100%，体力值990/990，魔力1500/1500】

【属性：力量99，敏捷99（+5），体质99，感知99（+2），神秘150（+13】

【亲和：水16（魔源·水6%）、地19（魔源·地9%），风11（魔源·风1%），火24（魔源·火14%），空间2，自然38（+11）】

Divine Arts (Nature):
Novice Druid Prayer Spells: Blood Boil, Nature's Sight, Concealment, Beast to Friend, Gift of Nature, Curse of Disease
Experienced Druid Prayer Spells: Primal Call, Blessing of Healing, Lifeline, Cloudfall, Windfury, Entangling Threads, Vine Armor

Aside from its mystery, all attributes reached their "limit and initial state" at this moment.

The surge of power throughout his body, along with the clarity and sensitivity of his senses, made the Witcher feel as if he were a god.

It's fair to say that, aside from Zoe and Jerón Morlu who underwent a second mutation, he is currently the strongest Witcher in the world.

Even Eran of Lalvik, the Grandmaster of the Griffin School, Anahad of the Bear School, and Iva the Evil Eye of the Viper School would never be stronger than him at this moment.

They may be able to unleash tremendous power in a short period of time because of the Great Enterprise Container.

But as Vera said, the Great Vessel is less of a next level and more of an explosive skill like "Beast Roar: Berserk," only without such strong side effects, it just consumes the accumulation of power over time.

Under normal circumstances, no witcher could achieve such a perfect physique as him.

They may reach the limit in one or two aspects, but it is impossible for them to reach the limit in all four dimensions: strength, agility, physique, and perception.

Moreover, his mysterious attributes are not far from "Limit · Initial".

As for the mysterious, it can basically access the essence and purifying spirit of all large monsters. Perhaps there won't be enough time during the expedition to the Ten Thousand Demon Cave, but after the trip to the Ten Thousand Demon Cave, it will definitely be able to collect them all.

But at the same time, that invisible boundary and barrier were also crystal clear, causing his blood to throb restlessly, his muscles to tremble, and his brain to swell almost constantly...

This is the body and soul urging him to transcend the limits of the "mortal world" as soon as possible.

Thinking this, the Witcher lowered his gaze to the newly acquired Prayer spell.

The newly acquired divine spells are all very practical. The Healing Blessing, which can cure minor injuries and even fatal wounds, is the core ability that allows druids to navigate the world and gain the respect of the people and the ruling class.

Cloud and wind spells are very useful against ranged attacks such as arrows and magic.

Entanglement is especially valuable for melee fighters like Witcher; if used properly, it can at least elevate Erin's progress by one level.

Moreover, whether it's the Primal Call, Healing Blessing, Lifeline, Cloud Mist, Wind Creation, or Entanglement, they are all powerful support spells.

Strengthen, heal, weaken, block...

These divine spells are very suitable for small-scale operations, or more precisely, for demon hunter legions.

However, its drawback is that it is too supportive.

The Oak Forest stage also features offensive spells like Curse of Disease (which causes a single target to become ill), while the Aspen Forest stage consists entirely of support spells.

Of course, given Erin's attributes and expertise as a demon hunter, he has no shortage of offensive methods; what he lacks are skills that can assist the demon hunter legion in hunting monsters.

"Perhaps, all the offensive divine spells are in the banyan forest..." Erin thought to himself.

After all, the atmosphere of a banyan forest is very aggressive.

"However... the banyan forest..."

The Witcher looked at the thick white fog before him.

With his attributes almost at their limit, unable to enter the Banyan Forest, and King Cano nowhere to be found, the Sacred Forest is of little value to him at this stage.

However, he had a premonition.

Perhaps the next time I stand on the edge of the poplar forest, everything will be very different.

“It’s time to go back,” the Witcher said, glancing around one last time, taking a deep breath, and closing his eyes. “The memory crystals of the immortals haven’t been touched yet…”

(End of this chapter)