You know, even in those ‘slow life’ stories, some kind of battle will always happen. Against bandits, monsters, jerk people, demons, shitty government officials, the usual stuff. So the moral of the story is, as long as you’re living, conflict is inevitable.

A few days ago, while being covered by the blood of the monster he just killed, Viers had an epiphany about the truth of the world.

And then this is not a mere slow life situation, I must search for treasures! Because in a little secluded place like this, there usually are a lot of hidden power-ups. MCs always get lucky in places like this. No reason I shouldn't check around.

Having Euryale Sight for precisely uncovering hidden power-ups opportunities, Viers was eager to search deep into the surrounding forest. But he was still injured and his Victa stockpile was worrying.

...I’ll do it later, after I’m healed, near the end of my stay here. I'm afraid I might trigger something if I carelessly move around. Let me enjoy this peace and quiet slow life for a little while longer. The wise will not recklessly seek danger.

***

“Big bro?”

“Luca, stand back!”

In the middle of his turnip field, now exists a strange plant. The green stem was lanky and long, branching to the left and right. On the top of the plant, there was something similar to a bundle of lettuce.

It looked oddly humanoid. The torso was thin, so were its ‘hands’. The lettuce part was like its head.

The plant reached the height of his chest. He was sure there was nothing like this yesterday so this plant must have grown that fast in one night.

Unlike trees swaying in the wind, this plant was really moving. Its torso shook left and right, while the hands went up and down. A truly bizarre sight.

Did a Groot sprout from my field?

“Luca, get my spear.”

Viers stood vigilantly and very wary. He asked Luca to fetch his spear from inside the house.

Luca obediently did as she was told. In the meantime, Viers continued observing the dancing plant.

Euryale Sight!

What he saw took him aback, the plant was brimming with life energy.

“Incredible, I haven’t seen something like this in a long while,” Clarissa commented.

“What is it?” Viers asked.

“Don’t know. But this plant is undoubtedly a precious life-extending mana ingredient. Even royalty would covet it.”

“And how come a mystical plant like that suddenly grew in my field!?” Viers refused to believe he was that lucky. There must be some kind of trick.

“Don’t ask me,” Clarissa looked helpless.

“Big bro, here.”

Luca came back, bringing his spear.

“Thanks, now go back to the house. Tell your parents to stay inside too.”

“…Be careful big brother Avel,” Luca said worriedly then went away.

Spear in hand, Viers approached the plant cautiously. He poked it with his spear but the dancing plant wasn't perturbed. After his extensive check and founding nothing wrong with the plant and his surroundings, Viers touched it.

As if reacting with the touch, the plant stopped dancing and the lettuce, leafy, part of its head bloomed as the rest of the plant withered.

“Gggiiiiiffftttt…”

Viers heard the plant saying something before it wilted completely. A green fruit the size of a cherry bloomed from the lettuce, it was all that remained from the plant. It was packed with more vitality than a hundred servings of monster meat.

“…What the fuck just happened?”

Viers took the green fruit after another check. After he was convinced it wasn’t dangerous, he kept it inside the house. He gave the house a once over, making sure the Irvings weren’t in danger then left to meet Shlomo.

Viers told the beastfolk about what happened but even he had no idea. He spent the rest of the day feeling restless.

Gift? Did I hear that right?

***

The next day, strange phenomena were enveloping the whole village.

Hundreds, thousands of flowers in all colors and varieties sprouted and bloomed all around the settlement. Ordinary grass grew as tall as wheat. Trees produced abundant fruits despite being the wrong seasons. Grass and fungi grew on the houses' walls and roofs. Crops matured and mutated. Viers’ supposedly ordinary white turnips turned navy blue.

And there was pollen in the air, lingering in the air thick enough like fog.

“Mister Avel, what is happening?” Arim asked worriedly.

“Don’t know. I must talk with Shlomo. Stay inside the house.”

Viers used a cloth to cover his nose and mouth but the pollen was too thick. The cloth proved to be useless so Viers had to do something he loathed.

“Water Barrier!”

The Arte enveloped Viers’ body with water from head to toe, giving him full-body protection.

What is happening? Is this an attack?

Viers made his way to Shlomo’s house.

What he saw was a jungle. Plants were growing all over the half-destroyed house, surrounding it. The most dangerous plant looked like a giant version of Venus flytrap. It seemed to possess awareness because it moved as if searching for prey. Viers was getting a dangerous vibe from it.

“Shlomo!” Viers shouted from outside.

“Avel, is that you? Don’t come closer. My seeds turned berserk. They were the ones with magical properties in them. They are now akin to plant monsters. One of them is particularly dangerous. The Haukosoh plant is a carnivore plant that eats any life forms approaching it. Stay away, it’s a Rank 3!” Shlomo’s voice came from inside the house.

“What about you? Are you safe?” Viers was concerned.

“I sort of turned my body to sand so I’m not flesh… I’ll be fine but I can’t move from here.”

“It’s crazy out here. What the hell is happening?”

“You should already have a guess. Mana concentration is rising rapidly, this is a Biome Outbreak!”

“…Biome Outbreak, hsssshhh,” Viers hissed nervously.

Sometimes, places from other dimensions become connected to the material world. The connection was called the Rift, a crack in space. The other side was a place called Biome.

Biomes were separate worlds from this one, residing in their own independent pocket dimension. The size varied from Biome to Biome, some could be bigger than a whole continent.

Biome Outbreak was no different than a natural disaster. Whatever the reason was, a Rift had been opened in the vicinity and the mana from the Biome seeped outside. That meant whatever resided inside the Biome, could now come out. Monsters, most likely. The richer the Biome with mana, the stronger the monster.

“The mana quality must be very high because it provoked such potent reactions from the plants. This particular Biome should be closely related to wood affinity. You might encounter plant monsters soon, strong ones at that.”

This mana concentration… an environment like this could breed Rank 3... no, should be Rank 4 and 5! If even one such monster comes out, this place is finished!

Viers had suddenly encountered a crisis, and a major one at that.

“…Avel, you still there?”

Viers was silent for a while so Shlomo asked.

“Yeah.”

“…What should we do?”

No doubt Shlomo also reached the same conclusion as him.

“…I’ll scout first. Perhaps the residents of the Biome are the benevolent kind.”

“Ehm… Yeah, you might be right. I’m sorry, it seems I am stuck here.”

The chances for such a thing were small but not impossible, Viers and Shlomo both knew this. They were both out of options.

“…I’ll go now. I’m afraid I can do nothing to this Haukosoh flytrap.”

“I understand… Avel, in case we don’t meet again, just know I consider you as my friend,” Shlomo’s voice was filled with regret.

“Me too, Shlomo… Let us meet again.”

“Friend Avel, be careful.”

Viers scanned the surroundings using Euryale Sight. It was harder than usual, the thick mana was obscuring his effort, but he succeeded in determining the place where the mana leak came from.

“Farewell.”

Viers bid his goodbye, fully aware they might not meet again. Pecan Village might be doomed. Viers wanted to scout first, to see what he was dealing with but at the first sign of trouble, he would run.

…If it comes to that, at least I’ll try to bring Luca with me.

Should the worst-case scenario come to pass, Viers had already made a cold-blooded decision.

In a miserable and somber mood, Viers made his way to the forest. He saw many monsters entangled by tree roots, shriveled as if all the liquid in their body was sucked out. The pollen and dangerous situation made Viers maintain the Water Barrier the whole time.

Hegh!?

After traveling for a while, Viers saw life signs using his super sight and heard some kind of voice in the vicinity of the source.

Viers moved closer to the source, step by step. Finally, he stopped behind a bush. Viers’ heart beat fast, he had a cold sweat. He stopped a moment to take a deep breath then split the bush slightly so he could see forward.

…Alright, I’ve prepared my resolve. What kind of monster am I dealing with here? Viers’ throat was dry from nervousness.

He saw the Rift, it was a portal located in the trunk of a big tree. It was as if the tree was a gate, grown for sustaining the portal. The portal looked like a galaxy and swirled with energy, thick mana radiated from it.

And a naked little girl was panicking in front of it.

“Awawawa… Close! Close I say! Auauau… Everything is messed up now and it’s all my faaaaault! Ei! Ei! Please close! Uuuuu… What should I do?”

The naked girl was… seemed to be trying to close the portal.

“…Girls, what am I looking at?” He sought the opinion of his council.

“This is unexpected. I didn’t think I would see one here,” Farley spoke.

“Oooh! I’ve never seen one before,” Clarissa was curious.

“She’s the one causing all of this?” Paina sounded dubious.

“…Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes Lord Viers. That girl… is a dryad.”

While Viers was still making heads and tails over this, the naked little girl suddenly looked in his direction, as if she could sense his presence despite Viers hiding very carefully.

“Kin! I’m so, so sorryyyy!”