F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 368: Final Branch
Daru’s vision returned.
As expected, his comrades were spawned just around the Verdant Nucleus, and the three of them were still together.
Elara and Durandal were looking around like he was.
Above them, the sky was of a mid-morning hue.
Vigor had also returned to their immediate surroundings, though definitely far from being as thick as the energies on the first level they cleared.
Still, the flora seemed to be thriving the usual way, if a bit meagre.
Their attention was suddenly snatched as a notification appeared in front of them:
[You have arrived at the level where the Sovereign Sapling can be found.]
The three glanced at each other, hearts racing. The lead they just stole with an ingenious maneuver proved far larger than they expected.
If they were lucky, then their foes wouldn’t even have to make it to this level.
Daru, by instinct, checked the position of the nearest tree hollow, then proceeded to follow the direction they were facing.
"Daru? Where are you going?" asked the princess.
"Hmm? Following the hollows, why?"
"They lead to a Verdant Nucleus, remember?"
"Yeah, but there’s also a chance they’re pointing to the Sovereign Sapling. I think we should still check."
His words made sense, convincing Elara.
"I guess...we might be ignoring the easy signs if we don’t..."
They didn’t have a reliable direction to go to, anyway, so they might as well just follow the guidance of the hollows for now.
So they did.
Durandal didn’t share his thoughts, but he followed behind them, still looking around for possible hints.
The three humans wasted no time and proceeded northeast.
On the way, their brows curved up as they passed a somewhat familiar tree. Daru instinctively glanced at Elara, and the two of them surveyed the evergreen with interest.
Its appearance was quite similar to a Golden Sap Tree.
Only, the growth of this one seemed to have been hampered by the limited life energy.
There was only one way to know, and Daru was eager to. He drew his blade, slashing hard at the trunk.
Their eyes brightened as it bled thick, golden liquid.
Life Sap!
Durandal’s eyes widened, and he strode closer. Daru and Elara were already refilling their empty vials.
Since the Noravian SSS-ranker did not fancy the idea of sharing too close a space with the other two if he could help it, he cut an opening for himself, proceeding to gather the viscous golden liquid.
The human trio had struck gold!
Or so they thought...
After a total of around fifteen vials filled for all three of them, the malnourished Golden Sap Tree had bled out.
They were also disappointed when they checked the consumable items in their inventory.
What they obtained was not Life Sap, but Lesser Life Sap, restoring only 10% of hitpoints and stamina over fifteen seconds.
Nonetheless, a consumable was a consumable. This was a lifesaver.
The trio stood up and quickly looked around for more, but there were no more Golden Sap Trees. They could only proceed with their journey in hopes of locating the Sovereign Sapling.
If not, then at least a food and water source. They were running dangerously low on resources. Durandal still had quite a bit left, but Daru and Elara had been relying on Limbo Carrots and Hellberries in the past few days. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
The two really didn’t want to drink that shady water from the lake in that place of death and decay if they could help it.
To their unexpected delight, they suddenly heard flowing water just thirty minutes into their journey.
They temporarily ditched the guidance of the hollows and followed the refreshing sound.
A stream!
Not only did it not seem odd, but it even looked clean enough to drink without boiling.
Needless to say, the trio still didn’t do that.
They hurriedly discarded the lake water, washed the bottles, and refilled them with what they deemed to be water from a cleaner source.
Daru requested that Elara remember the stream’s location, to which the princess nodded sincerely, confusing Durandal.
Couldn’t he just remember it himself?
Is he directionally challenged, or something?
The Noravian SSS-ranker didn’t know his thoughts hit the nail right on the head.
The topic, however, easily faded, and the three resumed their journey to where the hollows pointed.
They found a few berry bushes on the way, too, harvesting their fruits.
It was a modest addition, but with the poor condition of their consumables, anything was appreciated, no matter how small.
They also found another malnourished Golden Sap Tree, extracting it of its precious Life Sap.
It was quite strange that they still hadn’t encountered any Swordspawns.
However, Daru and his comrades welcomed it.
The faster they confirmed whether the hollows were merely pointing to a Verdant Nucleus that they wouldn’t use, the faster they could move on to their next approach.
Who knows?
Maybe they’ll win the entire thing just like this...
Of course, how could things be so easy? Another hour later, their hopes of an effortless victory were snuffed.
There, far in front of them, was a Verdant Nucleus connecting this level to another branch of Yggdrasil.
Their three-hour journey turned out fruitless.
"Well, maybe not fruitless...at least we’d confirmed that the guidance of the hollows is now irrelevant. The other races would probably invest time in this, too, so it was good that we got that out of the way..." Elara monologued.
She then turned to her comrades.
"As much as this princess would like to end this race already, I’m tired and out of ideas. How about we rest and eat first? Half-je– err, Durandal, how about you share your meat? In exchange, I’ll let you taste my regal cooking."
"Hmph." The SSS-ranker only snorted in response, but sent Elara a trade offer anyway.
The princess’s eyes brightened, immediately accepting the request with a rather shameless smile and noting to herself that Durandal was not a total jerk...yet, after all.
"Good decision, snob. I’ll cook you a nice meal," she guaranteed, proceeding to retrieve her sleeping bag and Portable Mess Kit from her inventory.
The two young men followed suit and set up camp.
