I appeared in a forest. The trees around me were as thick as redwoods, glowing densely with mana. I could sense small rabbit-sized creatures all around me, along with larger creatures the size of foxes. But there was nothing that seemed particularly dangerous—no larger mammals that could pose a threat to me.

The trees’ leaves around me were a blood red color, and many of them had already fallen to the ground, making it seem as though the whole forest were coated in a sea of blood.

I opened up my notifications, and checked my minimap.

Use the mini-map provided to predict the progression of General Viya Asar’s army. General Veya Asar must die before she reaches Hunter’s Point City.

According to my mini-map, General Veya Asar’s army was about ten miles away from me, and I was standing directly in their path, between them and Hunter’s Point City.

Samantha said.

I jogged through the blood-red forest, towards Hunter’s Point City, each step on the fallen leaves breaking the silence of the forest.

Samantha had me stop at a grassy clearing just eight miles or so from Hunter’s Point. I could sense that the ambient mana was slightly denser here.

Samantha explained.

Wouldn’t they have warships and Aviatons? If they are only 20 miles away, they should be able to close the distance in just a few minutes.

Samantha explained.

Samantha said.

Samantha, of course, had already selected the tree. It was just a few dozen yards away from the clearing that had the densest ambient mana. The tree was certainly large—the trunk’s diameter was more than six feet—but it wasn’t the largest tree around.

I took my C-rank sword and started digging near the roots of the tree. It was insane, how easy it was to break up the dirt with a C-rank sword.

First, I made a hole large enough for me to crouch in, underneath the trunk of the tree. Then, I dug up, into the tree’s trunk, hollowing out a section of the tree from below it.

The hardest part was hiding the signs of my digging afterwards. I shredded the wood from the trunk into small bark chips, and buried the bark chips by a nearby tree.

From directly underneath the tree, I poured dirt out of my Interdimensional Pouch to block off the small tunnel I had dug. Then, I climbed up to the hollow area I had made inside the tree, and opened my Interdimensional Pouch again, filling up the hole below me until I could stand on the dirt that I had poured out of my Interdimensional Pouch.

It was incredibly uncomfortable. For some sadistic reason, Samantha had insisted that I not give myself enough space to stand up properly. I was forced curl in a ball, inside this tree that gave me almost no space to move. Worst of all, there was no air flow.

How am I supposed to breath?

I was completely sealed inside the tree now, and it was starting to feel incredibly claustrophobic.

Samantha said.

Once I had my air holes, I settled in for a long wait. I barely had any room to move my arms from side to side, and I was stuck in a perpetual squat, with almost no room to adjust.

Samantha said.

Following Samantha’s instructions, I took a Plant-attributed Mana Shard out of my Interdimensional Pouch, and then used the Mana Cannon to spread Plant-attributed Mana around my body and inside my body.

The first time I tried it, it burned, just like the backlash of firing a Mana Crystal.

It took some adjustments, figuring out how to send Plant-attributed Mana into my own body without harming myself. But eventually, I was able to.

I did as Samantha suggested.

This was literal torture. I was in a tiny, cramped space without enough to stand up properly. On top of that, I couldn’t even move to distract myself from the random pains and itches I was feeling.

Samantha kept nit-picking, until I finally handed control over to her.

Samantha said, once she had control of my body. She made a few slight adjustments, and then froze in position.

I hadn’t been wondering that—I had been wondering how long we would have to wait, buried in a tree-like coffin.

Samantha continued,

I tried to wrap my head around that. So, whenever I attack her, then she will already be anticipating my attack?

Samantha said.

So, that doesn’t sound too hard.

Samantha said. But there have already been several attacks on her life, remember. She will be heavily guarded, and under so many watchful eyes, it will not be easy for our soul to reach the General. For all we know, she may never leave the bridge of her warship, which would be under two different sets of Mana Shields.>

In the sky above us, I could sense two warships, each about a block in area, traveling towards us. Surrounding the warships were dozens of Aviatons, flying close to the trees, presumably searching for any humans or dangerous life forms. Or, as Samantha had mentioned previously, they were looking for sufficient ambient mana to set up a Teleportation Circle.

Just as Samantha had predicted, they settled down in the large clearing near where I hid.

The leaves flew up in the air as the massive warships landed, granting a dramatic, Star Wars-esque entrance to the first of the Fey soldiers that disembarked from the warships.

With only Mana Sensing to observe them, though, I could only imagine the full visual effect of hundreds of soldiers flying out of the massive warship.

For an enemy that was capable of endangering the Human Empire, my first impression of the Fey soldiers was that they were small. It made sense, since Mrinda, the only Fey I had seen so far, was also four feet tall. None of the Fey were over five feet tall, and they all had small, lithe bodies and pixie-like translucent wings.

The Fey flew out of the warship with practiced ease, fast enough that I could barely track them with my Mana Sensing skill.

After the first Fey scouts flew out, even more Feys came out, this time at a slower pace, exploring the landing area in a grid-like formation. I could even feel waves of mana pulse from several of the Fey, as they searched for signs of anything suspicious.

Soon enough, I was able to watch as the Fey began to quickly construct several buildings around the warship. Several dozen Earth Mages and Magicians worked quickly to create a massive wall around the two warships, leaving plenty of space for what I could only imagine would be the army that would soon appear through the Teleportation Circle, which was also being constructed just yards from where I was.

It should go without saying, knowing Samantha, that I was well within the base’s defensive perimeter.