[Scan of ‘Moss Man’ Complete]

Name: [##ERROR##]

Gender: Male

Age: 82

Cultivate Stage: Unknown

Level: 39

[Notice: Due to the user having no definite information about power scaling, the target's power can not be put into a format that the user understands.]

[Recommendation: Gather data regarding any power system and its stages. Every entity's “Cultivation Stage” can then be extrapolated and converted to a format that the user will understand.]

‘Is the system calling me stupid?’, was Renard’s gut reaction to the system’s notice.

‘Wait, no, that’s stupid. It hasn’t shown real signs of being sentient as of yet. It hasn't even had the typical annoying loli demon lord or something like that either so it must not be.’

Renard sighed, ‘I don’t think I would be able to put up with both a broken system and one of those.’

‘It seems that I need to gather some information about cultivation before the system will tell me anything about cultivation, which makes sense really, I guess it’s not truly omnipotent.’

‘I was able to learn that cultivation apparently makes you not age though. That eighty-two year old dude looked like a kid, only some mystical power could do that. Even the advanced skin care routines on my old planet could compare to that difference between looks and age.’

‘Level thirty-nine is information I can work with though. I’m level two right now, which means there are only thirty-seven levels between us. If it’s anything like leveling in my old world, the first levels are usually easy but get progressively harder as your level gets higher. So far that seems to be the case, Status.’

[Status]

Name: Renard

Occupation: Peasant

Level: 2 - Experience: 5/300

[Stats]

Stamina: 1

Strength: 1

Defence: 1

Agility: 1

Intelligence: 1

Luck: ???

[Skills]

Battle Techniques: 1

Observation: 1

Public Speaking: 1

Boosted Colour-Type Mastery

Beginner Colour-Type Mastery: 10

‘If I remember correctly, I only needed 200 XP for level two. Now, I need 300 XP for level three. If it follows the same trend, I would just need 3900 XP to get from level thirty-eight to thirty-nine. That seems way too easy though, surely that sort of strength doesn’t come from simply killing a couple thousand boars.’

‘Actually, I’m assuming that level directly relates to strength. It could be that all his strength comes from his cultivation and that his level has no bearing on his strength.’

‘Sigh, there's no point thinking about it now, I don’t have enough information to be sure of anything. If only I thought sooner and got a chance to scan the others. It should be fine as long as I’m able to finish a few quests. Then I’ll be able to get that cultivation technique and find out myself.’

Renard’s focus went back to the road in front of him. ‘It can’t be long now until I find that tree that she was talking about, I’ve already been walking for about an hour.’

It didn’t take long after Renard’s encounter with the real life adventures for the third third farm to come and go. Nothing was noteworthy about it, the layout had been slightly different but it was essentially a copy of the second farm.

Renard’s interest in the farms had quickly diminished now that he had the adventurers on his mind. The wild thoughts of what he would be able to do once he could cultivate, easily keeping him occupied.

However, once Renard had passed the third farm, he made sure to pay more attention to his surroundings as there were a few trees dotted around. He didn’t want to miss the one tree with three bushes.

After walking for a little longer, the original lush planes turned into a more rugged terrain with rock outcroppings breaking through the surface of the grass. The terrain on the right side of the road was starting to get a lot higher than on the left making the path a little uneven. Now that he had passed the final farm, the road was less maintained than it had been prior.

As Renard started to investigate the small hill to his right, he spotted a large dead tree at the top of it. Thick roots had broken through the stone and grass that littered the hill. In its prime, the entirety of

the hill was the tree’s domain, but it seemed that some unfortunate event must have befallen it, as it was now dead.

The environment seemed still very suitable for life however, as three distinct large bushes were around the base of the tree. One seemed to be a slightly different species, it looked like an ivy. The majority of the growth had covered the dead tree with thin stems, each having lots of small leaves, the rest was tangled up in a large bundle at the base of the tree.

The two other distinct bushes were very dark in colour and sat very low to the ground, they seemed more like a type of grass than a type of bush. The smaller of the two, grew around the base of the tree, blocking access to the trunk. It also grew entwined with the ivy plant but they didn’t seem to interfere with each other. The second was slightly larger but didn’t have any contact with the tree itself, it was just a small distance away from the other patch.

The leaves of these flat bushes looked like holly leaves, and were also dark green in colour with a brownish-yellow edge to them.

‘Finally! Progress! I guess the description of the tree really did match huh. I was sure that it would be impossible with such vague details. If Jem actually meant another tree then the instructions were truly terrible. I’m sure I will find out once I climb up to the top, I should be able to see a forest once I get there.’

After confirming to himself that this was the correct tree, he climbed up the small hill and stood just outside the weird holly bush which was around the base of the tree. Now that Renard was at the foot of the tree he could see more clearly its condition. The ivy was interwoven in the bark of the tree, in some places it looked as it had dug through the body of the tree.

There were a lot of exposed roots near the tree, it was interesting to see that there was also ivy on each of these roots. Even a root that was a good three metres away from the trunk had ivy interwoven into it.

‘I wonder if the ivy is what killed the tree, it looks almost as if it has dug its way along all of the roots. Perhaps it steals the nutrients of the plant it is growing on by taking over its roots. If that’s true, that harmless looking ivy is truly a scary being for a plant.’

‘I’m not sure why this holly is still able to live though, they are occupying some of the same space, but the ivy doesn’t seem to be affecting it. Very weird.’

Renard stepped back as he had a little bit of a realisation.

‘The fact that they are still growing here despite being so close to the main path, means they are either super common, not useful or kill whoever tries to harvest them. So I should just keep my distance and look for that forest.’

Past the crest of the hill in the direction away from the path, a small forest could be seen in the valley of the hill. It looked no larger than 200 metres in diameter, and there also seemed to be a gap in the centre of the forest where no trees were growing.

‘I guess that is where Jem’s brother is supposed to be. Hopefully, I will be able to just get in and out in about an hour. That way I should be able to get back to Littlefeather in about two hours. Best get started.’

Renard started to make his way down into the valley, the signs of humans had quickly disappeared once he left the path. ‘Seems like humans haven’t managed to claim as much of the wilderness of this world yet. I guess the stronger monsters have really stifled human expansion.’

On his way down, Renard took stock of his adventuring gear and adjusted every to sit properly. He wasn’t sure what he was going to face after entering the forest, so it was important to be as ready as possible.

After carefully scaling down the rocky surface of the hill, Renard stood at the edge of the forest, looking into the overgrown shrubbery.

‘Cmon, chill out. This is going to be easy, just get in, grab the brother and get out.’

“Sigh”

‘Damn, it's not good. I just can't stop myself from feeling a little nervous.’

After failing to steel his nerves, Renard pushed the shrubbery apart and stepped into the forest.

[You have entered the quest area 'Fungus Forest' for 'Find Jem's Brother' quest!]

[Quest details updated!]

[Search the centre of the forest for Jem's Brother]

[Find Jem's Brother: 0/1]

‘Well that makes it easier. Now, I don't have to waste my time looking around this whole forest, only the centre. I didn't think the system would give me such useful hints.’

The update from the system had helped calm Renard's nerves. However, he was still being vigilant as there was no way to tell what could be lurking around him.

Renard started to walk forward, pushing the shrubbery that was around his waist apart so he could move. He felt confident that he was aimed towards the right direction to get to the centre of the forest. He felt he only needed to keep walking straight and he would quickly find it.

The growth around him was thick and was starting to get even thicker as he went deeper into the forest. It didn't take too long before parting the shrubbery was taking too much of Renard's energy and patience. So, Renard took out his knife and started cutting the plant life instead.

The trees were actually quite distant from each other not causing much trouble for Renard other than obstructing his vision.

One of the particular trees that was blocking his vision was directly in front of him. So he had to take a detour away from his line to get around the tree. To Renard's surprise, the tree had actually hidden a small clear patch behind it.

After stepping into it, he quickly felt relieved to have the pressure of the plant life all over him. Renard felt like it was also a good time to take a little break and regain some energy.

He rested his back against the tree and let himself slide down until he was sitting on the floor. Unfastening the water skin from his belt, he took a big gulp to stave off his thirst.

Although Renard was having a nice reprieve from his hard work, he was still keeping vigilant, never once letting go of the knife in his other hand.

‘It does seem a little strange for there to be no growth in this spot, best not let my guard down.’

Had Renard been able to see just inside the growth at the far end of the clear patch he would have seen a hole in the ground. He would also have seen the creature that had left it a little earlier too.

“GROWWLLLL," came from the creature's mouth.

Renard read the box that was floating above its head.

[Lone Wolf - Lvl 5]