Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 141 - Witches Stump

Bzz...

The low hum of the airship and the green in front of him was the only constant as he traversed the terrain. Elenora was one of the most complicated terrains on the entirety of Masteria.

It was easy enough to get lost in regular terrain. A heavy forest, even more so. But Elenora was more than a forest. It was an environment where even verticality came into play.

Lumi was no expert navigator. His solution was simple. In case something went wrong, he had already marked the coordinates of the city in the airship. At any time, he could follow a 3D compass back.

Flying past the monstrously thick pillars of wood and the thick intermingled branches, Lumi made his way upward. He followed an existing path he knew, paying close attention to the ground as he moved. Just a couple feet above him was a thick layer of vegetation, dead and alive, over a dozen feet thick. He navigated into a hollow giant tree, making his way up the sap-filled insides and ignoring the various monsters inside, using it as a passageway to the next elevation.

After several seemingly random turns and holes to travel through, he saw his destination. A clearing. For a few dozen feet, the open space was not interrupted by giant trees reaching into the sky, leaving a green flat land. In the middle was a conspicuous looking stump.

It looked rather ordinary at first glance. Perhaps someone unfamiliar with Masteria might point out that there couldn’t be a stump here, for a tree could not grow on top of existing vegetation a thousand feet in the air.

They would be wrong.

Such things indeed occurred in Elenora.

Regardless, it was time for him to put on a very special show. Without a successful performance, his future plans would become problematic.

He hid his airship in the deeper woods and came out to the clearing on foot. He deliberately put on a tired, yet wide-eyed and naive expression. Once again, his young age would work wonders for him.

"Huh." Lumi spoke out loud, loosely holding his wand like a newbie magician. "A clearing? Here? How lucky!"

He took a couple steps out of the dense woods, fully stepping into the clearing. "Woah. Beautiful!"

He looked around cluelessly. He then took a couple steps forward. Pretending to just notice the stump, he squinted his eyes at it for just a second before approaching it and sitting down with a heavy sigh.

He sat idly for a few seconds. He leaned back and stretched with a loud "wooooo~" Then leaned forward, putting his chin in his hands.

He stayed like that for a full minute, then began making small movements. He bundled his hands up, smushing his cheeks. "Grr..." He lightly growled.

His face had tension and frustration. "I hate him..."

"Hate..."

"Fuck!" He suddenly sat up straight, slamming the base of his wand on the stump. "I hate it!" He completely leaned back until he was on his back, using the large stump as a makeshift bed. "AAAHHHHH!" He sat back up erratically, clearly going through countless emotions.

He began muttering under his breath. "He thinks he’s better than me. He took my girl. He took my position! I want him dead. I want him dead. I want him dead. I want him dead. I want him dead!"

His hands trembled, and he gripped his wand. He suddenly stood up, pointing his wand at aggressively at the air. He deliberately chose his spell. "DARK DROP!"

Dark magic formed in the air, forming a pressure in the air that quickly fell, causing an explosion of shredded vegetation. He stared at the aftermath for a few moments before taking his head in his hands. "Not enough. Not enough, not enough!"

He kept his crazed appearance for a moment, waiting. His eyes then discretely flashed. Not enough...?

He turned back around, sitting back on the stump. He gave a heavy sigh and relaxed, spreading his limbs out. His expression settled back to his original young, naive expression. "But I can’t do that!"

He giggled to himself. "I can’t do that! Because murder is a crime! Also he’s stronger than me..."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever~ I gotta piss."

He got up and directly began undoing his pants.

A deep, growling voice rang out suddenly. "Halt."

"Ah!" Lumi jumped back, pulling his pants back up. "Who! Where, what!?"

He looked around desperately, but saw nobody. He clearly felt a presence watching him, now. The mysterious voice continued. "Right here... in front of you."

Lumi blinked blankly. "In front..." He stared above the stump. "Wow. I’m delusional..."

The voice snapped. "The stump, you fool!"

Lumi looked down at the stump. It suddenly gained a face on it. It’s features were scaled and angular, looking like a 2D drake. Lumi already expected it, but acted surprised. "Ah! The stump is alive!?"

"Fool!" The voice rang out. "Listen to me well, young human. We’re both alike more than we are different. I believe we can cooperate."

Lumi put on a confused expression. "Alike...? But you’re a stump!"

Not even a single second passed before a yell was heard. "Stop playing a fool!" A loud growl followed, then the voice continued. "Long ago, I was sealed here. You must realize what that means, do you not? I’m very powerful, or no one would bother to seal me."

Lumi slowly agreed with the logic. "That’s true..."

"We’ll make a deal." The entity continued. "I want to be free. Free me, and I’ll give you power. Whatever you hate... you can kill them."

Lumi took a step back, his eyes widening. "Wait- no! No! I knew it!" He backed off again. "I was wondering why you were sealed! Your evil! EVIL!"

The entity didn’t retort. He let out a slow, scratchy laugh. "Hehehe... so what? You don’t think I’m blind, do you? I saw you using dark magic earlier. You aren’t above this. What do you say?"

"Um..." Lumi took another step back, but his eyes were wavering. "No way... but um..." His trembled a bit, and then asked. "How exactly... would you give me power?"

"Hehe..." The entity let out a small laugh. He knew Lumi was hooked.