BXBX NOVEL Chapter 174 Mowing Through The Woods
Orcs were one of the enemies that most players hated to fight.
It wasn\'t even a matter of them being tough as that was solved once the players were stronger. Rather than that, it was the fact that they had almost no loot and butchering them was hard for players. Due to them being humanoid, many players didn\'t exactly like to harvest them.
The most common item one could butcher and obtain from a Orc was their skin. But its value wasn\'t that high selling for just a silver. While items could be made from it, the skin required further processing to have proper quality.
The gloves that Arthur had gotten before were also made from Orc Leather and could be considered as an example.
As such, Arthur didn\'t bother to harvest anything from the Orc either.
"Other than experience, they are a waste too." Arthur said before continuing onwards.
He navigated through the woods, looking at the changing topography as well as the mountains that could be seen far away. Though this, Arthur knew exactly where to go, and was able to shorten his time of travel.
Of course, he still ended up facing more Orcs along the way, but they didn\'t pose much of a problem to him or Brambles.
>Player Arzhur has killed a Trunel Orc!< x 23
>Player Arzhur has obtained 23% Experience<
>The Dragon Horn Beetle has killed a Trunel Orc!< x 16
>The Dragon Horn Beetle has obtained 80% Experience<
>The Dragon Horn Beetle has leveled up!<
It also gave just enough experience that Bramble was able to level up again.
"You\'re getting good and strong." Arthur praised the beetle.
"Kr~" the beetle was pleased by it and waved its horn in joy.
>Pet Status<
——
Name: Dragon Horn Beetle
Level: 14
Type: Insect/Draconid
***
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Experience: 12%
***
<Physical Stats>
Strength: 22 -> 24
Toughness: 40 -> 44
Agility: 10 -> 11
Dexterity: 10 -> 10
Vitality: 21 -> 23
<Non-Physical Stats>
Wisdom: 8 -> 9
Intelligence: 10 -> 11
Will: 18 -> 20
——
Arthur checked Bramble\'s status which had risen quite a bit and saw the Toughness stat that had reached a decent number.
"With this much toughness, it shouldn\'t be an issue for him to tank direct hits from multiple enemies." Arthur estimated.
Brambles was almost comparable to Arthur in terms of Vitality and strength, while exceeding him in toughness.
But of course, this was only due to the fact that Arthur hadn\'t used his free stats. If he added them, Arthur would rapidly grow in power.
"Guess we can speed up even more now. Brambles, mow down all Orcs that we come across!" Arthur said causing the beetle to charge ahead.
The two became the bane of all Orcs of the woods. Brambles even ended up breaking several trees in a row, creating a new trail in the path. The mountains that were far once, were now close and the scenery had a chance once more.
The ground was filled with a dense layer of dead leaves while vines grew everywhere along the trees. The canopy of the trees was also rather dense, barely letting any light fall through.
Arthur had officially reached the inner depths of the Trunel Woods.
Due to the tree canopy, it was rather dark here. This would serve as an additional hindrance to players, as they would need lamps and other illumination methods to see clearly. Of course, they could still see somewhat, but it would certainly delay their response against danger.
Thankful for Arthur, this darkness may as well be the same as broad daylight. His eyes could still see everything clearly due to the passive effect of Dragon\'s Insight.
"Alright Brambles, you need to hide for a bit." Arthur spoke. "We need to be careful and hide from here on." He explained.
"Krr!" the beetle had no objection and was promptly unsummoned.
Arthur had done this due to the fact that they might end up creating a lot of commotion if Brambles was still out. From here on out, Arthur needed to be stealthy and avoid being seen by others, whether they be bandits or Orcs.
\'At least until I finish the first part of this plan…\' Arthur thought to himself.
The darkness of the area actually ended up helping him, since he could see better than even the Orcs. He spotted them from the distance and avoided them with ease, making his way to the base of the mountains. The place that he was looking at was located between two such mountains.
As Arthur got closer, he soon spotted something unnatural. There were several trees that were growing close to each other. In fact, they were barely a few inches apart from each other. It was easy to miss in the darkness, as most trees seemed to be right next to each other.
From afar, it would be hard to figure out but as one got closer, they would eventually spot it.
"They\'ve made a fake wall from dead and living trees…" Arthur knew what this actually was.
If one looked closely, they would realize that not all the trunks were the same. Some were alive and had leaves and fresh branches growing from them while the rest were just trunks that had been implanted in the ground.
The dense layer of leaves that covered the ground, made it easy to hide this.
Then there were the vines that wrapped around trees and went between them, making it hard to tell which tree was alive and which was dead. The dense canopy of the trees further hid this fact.
It was an effective way of camouflaging here, and would only be spotted if one got closer.
"Now to just find a way in…" having found the location he had been searching for, Arthur was now ready for the next step.
He went along the fake tree wall, while watching out for the bandits. Thankfully, there were no bandits posted here, as that would only make it easier for the hideout to be spotted.
A couple of minutes later, Arthur found a gap in the wall.