Classless Awakening; My Dragon Is Legendary-Chapter 25: Forest Wanderer

As soon as Derrick stepped into the forest, he could feel the call grow stronger, like a hunger that had grown from peckish to blinding.

"It’s now or never." Derrick had made his move, it would be foolish to turn back now.

[Dragon Flash.]

Derrick’s body blurred, his feet struck the ground silently, and with each step, he was pushed deeper and deeper into the forest.

His dragon eyes scanned through the forest, trying to seek out any danger that lurked in the shadows, but he couldn’t find any.

The faster he went, the stronger the force of attraction. Just when he thought he was getting closer, the call weakened.

Derrick’s feet came to a halt. He looked around him, but he couldn’t understand.

The feeling which had previously been at his fingertips, now felt even more distant than before he stepped in the forest.

’What’s going on?’ Derrick asked himself, unable to believe what he was feeling.

His eyes scanned the place, but he couldn’t find anything.

He took a moment to analyze his surroundings, looking for even the slightest trace of a clue, but nothing came to mind.

Derrick sped in the direction he came, the feeling growing stronger once more.

He leaped over a massive boulder, hoping to finally answer whatever had been calling him, but was met with the same disappointment.

The feeling which had been closer than ever, was now even more distant than the last time.

Something was wrong in this forest, and no matter how hard Derrick tried, he couldn’t find out what.

"What is going on here?" Derrick asked himself, his curiosity eating him alive.

He felt like a dog chasing its own tail, so close yet so distant.

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t seem to get what he wanted.

He slowed down to think for a moment, he had long realized this was not a battle that could be won with brawns, but with brains.

Doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result was the definition of foolish.

"What am I not doing right?" Derrick calmed his mind, searching for an answer.

[You are chasing this thing based on proximity. What if you just aren’t going in the right direction?]

The system’s suggestion made Derrick’s eyes light up.

The system wasn’t wrong, there was a high chance that Derrick wasn’t getting what he wanted because of the way he looked at it.

It was like a map. The shortest distance between point A and point B is a single straight line, but that didn’t mean it was the right way to go.

The line connecting point A to point B, could have several buildings or other obstructions on it, and one couldn’t exactly run through each building.

’So, you’re saying I’m probably missing something?’ Derrick asked the system.

[Most likely, there’s something out of place that you’re not seeing, because you’re moving too fast.]

The system responded, Derrick was slowly growing to rely on it.

Derrick took a deep breath. His excitement and curiosity had forced him to just speed straight into the forest.

Derrick closed his eyes, sending the feeling in his heart once more.

He turned his body to the point where he felt the strongest connection, and began walking in that direction.

As he ventured deeper in the forest, he noticed something particularly eye-catching, blue glowing leaves.

’These are quite beautiful,’ Derrick remarked, the shimmer on them was out of this world.

[True, how come we didn’t notice it earlier?]

’I wonder.’ Derrick continued to walk into the forest, and the deeper he went, the more he stumbled upon those strange leaves.

Soon, the blue leaves were everywhere, completely surrounding the entire forest.

’This forest...’ Derrick’s mind began working rapidly, something was wrong.

’The leaves were always green,’ Derrick deduced.

He had assumed at first that it was because of his running, that he had failed to pay attention to the color of the leaves.

But now, he realized there was something else. In the corner of his eyes, he could see green leaves suddenly turning blue.

[Derrick, something’s hunting us in this forest!]

The system warned.

Derrick looked closer, using his dragon eyes he could see the strange mystical dust being emitted by the blue leaves.

And it wasn’t just that, underneath him, he could see something else.

The ground was moving, and it wasn’t slow or anything, it was rapidly changing, moving in directions that countered Derrick’s motion.

’That’s it!’ Derrick realized the forest’s trick. It was moving.

At first, he thought he wasn’t just going in the right direction, but that was wrong.

The forest beneath him was actively moving, pulling him farther and farther away from his target.

And he just aided the forest by walking instead of running.

Before, the forest struggled to keep up with him, but now that he slowed down, the forest was able to completely envelop him.

’Whatever those leaves are oozing, it’s preventing me from being able to notice the ground moving.’

Without a trace of hesitation, he activated his dragon flash, his body sped forward, venturing deeper and deeper into the forest.

’Hopefully, I’m able to outrun this thing’s effects.’ Derrick’s thoughts were more of a prayer.

Now that he was running, he could feel little vibrations beneath his feet, all stemming from the forest’s own movements.

Derrick hadn’t gotten far when a tree branch whipped at his head.

Derrick ducked under it, letting it fly above his head, he leaped into the air, drew his sword and his disguise fell off.

As soon as his feet left the ground, he could see it, the floor beneath him came to a halt. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Derrick didn’t have much time to make his analysis, another tree branch whipped at him, struck him in the chest, shattering his ribcage with one strike.

[-30% HP.]

Derrick’s body crashed to the ground, and his vision blurred, violent coughs left his mouth and his eyes turned red.

[I warned you.]

The system’s words mocked Derrick.

Derrick had fallen into another dangerous situation due to his own negligence once more.