This was the first enemy I encountered in Robebia, a monster that Julius called the Demon Wood.
According to its explanation, the magic tree is simply a tree transformed into a demon; it is a creature that mutates whenever it absorbs magic power.
This is no different from man-eating trees. It seems that any tree that mutates into one that attacks humans and is extremely aggressive is collectively called a demon tree.
The man-eating wood is just one of the many branches of the demonic wood, and it is considered the most common mutated species. The demonic wood we just encountered was an extremely rare species.
—A magical tree with the ability to move.
Furthermore, one must not underestimate its seemingly fragile, withered trunk. This is merely a disguise; it has actually mutated into a very thick shield, which is why my fireball could only burn it.
But from Julius, I also learned about the existence of another kind of magic wood.
—A magical tree that can use magic.
Unlike the simple physical attacks of the man-eating tree, it is an entity that uses magic, just like a magician.
In places like Robebia, where magic is extremely concentrated, it is said that through this power, a very small number of magical trees can mutate into such things.
"That's absolutely terrifying!"
Of course, most of the magical trees are small ones, which are magical creatures transformed from young trees. They can disguise themselves as trees to attack humans, and they are not very strong or fast. Even an ordinary person can catch them with an axe.
However, even with so many variants, their attack methods are basically the same: they disguise themselves as harmless ordinary tree trunks or dead wood, and then suddenly attack passing prey and humans.
Because these plant-type monsters are troublesome to deal with, I didn't learn much about them when I was in the guild. It's all my fault for being careless, which led to Lilith getting hurt.
Even though he used the "Azure Crown" to reattach Lilith's severed right arm, he still felt a sense of guilt.
"Next time we encounter this kind of magical wood, we must set it all on fire."
Yes, even as the well-behaved and sensible eldest son of the Cabinet family, he is extremely vengeful.
~~~
After that, I encountered monsters similar to the magic tree almost every night. They were probably monsters that relied on magic to survive and did not generate magic themselves.
Therefore, even if they appear within sight, Lilith and Julius cannot detect them in time.
"Giant Fireball", "Burning Stream", "Heavenly Thunder"...
In short, I vented all my resentment on these ordinary magic trees. After all, those wretched mutated magic trees were really too tough. Apart from Julius's attacks, even Lilith couldn't do anything to them.
Among them, we also encountered another kind of monster we had never seen before.
That's Sekiro, the wolf who can spit venom from his mouth.
Unlike ordinary wolves, this is a lone wolf, not one that lives in packs.
Even Julius had never seen such a monster before.
"Sekiro, whose mouth is filled with a malignant tumor!"
Let's just call it that for now.
It's worth mentioning that the creature's blood is also poisonous; just a little bit will cause complete paralysis and weakness. Furthermore, it's incredibly fast, darting around and making it difficult to hit with magic.
In the end, the problem was solved thanks to Lilith's beast form.
Don't ask me how I know this. I'm a King-level mage who can cast spells without incantation. I won't be defeated by such a low-level monster.
"Great goddess of life, in my name, by your power, grant those who have lost their strength the power to stand up again—Azure Crown."
"Thanks, Katya. Being unable to move is really awful."
"Mmm! Thanks to Leon, we found out that guy's blood is also poisonous! You deserve the most credit!"
"Mind your own business!"
In short, I insisted on participating in all subsequent battles, because I could indeed learn a lot of combat experience from constantly fighting monsters.
~~~
Afterwards, we went camping again.
Dinner was still tortoise meat, which had cost a fortune to buy from the village. Although it had been preserved for a long time thanks to Lilith's method, only a third of it had been eaten along the way.
It's not because tortoises have a lot of meat, but because tortoise meat tastes good.
I think I'm the only one who doesn't like it very much.
Even after air-drying, the residual fishy smell is still very strong, and the meat is tough and dry. It is probably difficult to eat without cooking.
I think I now know what the girls in the village were cooking that day; it was most likely related to tortoise meat.
It was around this time that I really missed the fried rice from Boerjeni.
"Speaking of which? Leon? I didn't see you using a wand or anything like that, meow! Even for a king-level mage, without a wand, the power of magic doesn't increase much, meow..."
Julius, on the other hand, absolutely adores tortoise meat. Even if given a piece of meat larger than her own body, she would devour it completely within minutes.
Lilith is the same; they really are birds of a feather flock together.
"A magic wand?"
Hearing Julius's question, I suddenly recalled all the magicians I had met before, and it seemed that everyone had their own magic wand.
However, no one mentioned anything similar, so I didn't take it seriously at all.
"A wand? What will it do? I feel that even without a wand, the power of a King-level spell wouldn't be too small... That kind of thing wouldn't really boost the power much, would it?"
After all, I am someone who can kill a Sword King with just King-level magic.
"Hmm... Meow... To put it simply! Take the magic tree from before as an example. If you had the power of a magic wand, you might be able to defeat the magic tree like I did. Although it would take some effort, you have a huge amount of magic power, so defeating it shouldn't be a problem!"
"...!"
"Does the wand hold such an important place?!"
"Of course, meow. Have you ever seen a magician without a wand? Hmm... except for you."
"I see"
I think I've found the reason why, despite being a King-level mage, I still can't play a significant role in the team.
—No magic wand.
Even Ilotti's former teacher, whom they had encountered before, was holding something that resembled a magic wand. And it wasn't just him; the man named Silas and the magician beside him were also doing the same.
A swordsman's strength is inseparable from his sword, an archer's from his bowstring, and a fighter's from his gauntlets; by that logic, a magician is naturally inseparable from his wand.
"I can't believe I only realized this now. There's probably no magician in the world more of a half-baked than me."
Hmm...? *Stare*
"Julius, don't you also not have a wand?"
"I don't need that kind of thing. I can use powerful magic even without any external force... How about it, aren't you very envious of me!"
—Your nose has gotten longer! Julius.
"Really..."
"However, Julius is indeed like that; even without using a wand, he can still wield powerful magic. I truly envy him!"
"A wand? When will I ever have my own wand? Buying one with magic crystals sounds like it would cost a fortune."
In short, let's put this matter aside for now, after finding our family. After all, we have a companion like Julius, so there's no rush to improve our combat strength.
With this in mind, we continued our journey, and three days passed quickly. We finally arrived at the nearest town to Robebia.
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