Chapter 449 - Stealth Is The Game

Focusing his shadowy reinforcement on the soles of his boots and his knees, he stuck the landing without so much as a thud recurring through the dense jungle. 

"Phew...easy, easy," he whispered to himself. 

Now, he was completely alone. 

Looking back briefly, the looming, colossal wall gave him no respite as there was no chance of any help coming to him in the case of him needing it. 

It's go-time, he told himself. 

As he lifted his boot to take a step, he found a bit of resistance keeping him from doing so, prompting him to look down. 

"Huh?" 

He didn't realize it during his fall, but the landing spot he stuck wasn't one made up of simple, verdant grass: it was a clingy, amber-tinted substance. 

Attempting to lift his boots, the slimy material seemed to pull him in with more force the more he tried to escape its grasp. 

"What the hell? Come on…!" He muttered through his gritted teeth. 

It wasn't just a small puddle of it, either; it stretched as far as a pond that covered roughly an acre of land, even enveloping the root of the surrounding trees. 

He continued to try and pry his boots from the incredibly adhesive substance, but at this point, it felt immutable. 

Crap...wait, didn't Goroba say something about this? The Stormfallen weren't over here because of the environment...is this what he meant?! He thought. 

Even with reinforcement, it wasn't budging in the slightest, no matter how hard he strained. Sweat began to leave his pores as the enigma of the jungle, paired with his own anxiety in the fact he was completely ensnared, worked to coax the perspiration from his body. 

Perhaps making it worse, he wasn't able to properly watch his surroundings as the drooping, abundant leaves that hung from the surrounding trees obscured his vision past his immediate surroundings. 

I can't use magic...I'd basically be yelling to all of the goblins "Hey, i'm right here! Come and get me!" like a big idiot, he thought. 

Left with no other options, he begrudgingly slipped his feet from his boots before jumping to the umber tree to his left, hanging from one of the branches. 

"Phew…" He let out. 

Hanging there for a moment as he exuded his pent up stress, he swung his legs back before kicking up to swing his body onto the thick branch, sitting on top of it. 

Looking down, he frowned a bit at the sight of his abandoned boots being swallowed up by the seemingly alive liquid. 

"So much for the little comfort I had…" He sighed out. 

With a sad sigh, he rolled his trouser legs up as he prepared for a reluctant walk alongside nature.

Staying on the safety of the trees, he walked along the branches as he kept his gaze down to watch for both the Stormfallen, and the adhesive liquid. 

It wasn't a comfortable pathway, as the rough branches prodded, stabbed, and lightly cut the bottom of his bare feet; the traversing insects didn't help much either. 

...Not off to a great start, but at least it helped me realize that moving by trees is probably my best bet, he thought. 

Drawn from his sheath, he used his broadsword to cut down the claustrophobic leaves that bundled up in his path. 

Hiss. 

"Gah--!"

As he cut down one of the branches in front of him, a lengthy, limbless creature hissed out at him as it fell onto the same branch he stood on. 

He nearly lost his balance as he stumbled back from the sudden presence of the creature that struck primal fear into the likes of humans. 

"Shit…!" He muttered. 

Hisssssss. 

It wasn't by any means an ordinary serpentine, that much was clear by the bright, blue complexion of its hexagonal scales. Even more so, it possessed long, curved fangs that protruded from its mouth even when closed, with matching horns that ran from the top of its head. 

The snake swayed back and forth, rearing its head back as it bore its venom-dripping fangs at the young man. 

Attempting to dissuade it from pushing forward, he swung his blade to intimidate it, though the aggressive, mystical snake only hissed out as if growing even more violent. 

Falling from its fangs, the green venom fell onto the flesh of the branch with a sizzling reaction, corroding it instantly. 

"Well, if you're not going to cooperate…!" He muttered sharply. 

Just as it leapt towards him, he acted a split second before the serpentine, swiping his blade through the verdant-filled air as he bisected it through the length of its noodle-like body. 

In a disgusting manner, the snake was split into two by the agile, seamless strike he unleashed through the jungle.

The umber branch was painted in the olive blood of the felled snake--a disgusting reality for him, as he had to walk across the branch to reach the next tree limb. 

Eventually, his plan became a no-go as the distance between the cedar became too great to accurately, and silently cross between each. 

I definitely didn't think this one through, he thought. 

At least the jungle floor didn't seem inhabited by the swallowing, amber liquid now as he crossed over the dampened soil that was loosened by the rainfall. 

In the densely-filled jungle, his only solace in keeping some sense of direction was the towering wall that he kept to his left as he moved forward, pushing through colossal foliage as stealthily as he could. 

"---"

He came to a stop as words coming from an unknown, jarring language suddenly met his ears. 

Without risking being noticed, he sunk himself into the shrouding, verdant foliage he stood in. After coming to a complete stop, he kept his breathing low as he peeked through the bushy locks of the foliage. 

In the clearing just ahead, he saw the origin of the foreign words: black-cloaked goblins. 

The Stormfallen, he thought. 

As he saw before atop the battlement, it was a squadron consisting of two mages maintaining a spherical barrier, and two more mages weaving flame-conjuring spells. 

"--"

Their language was more akin to gargles and ear-scratching hisses that was completely alien to any language he recognized. 

Though it was at least easy to gather that the leftmost barrier mage seemed to be angry at the one on the right. 

They're distracted. It doesn't seem like they're attacking the walls right now--probably because they're busy bickering between one another, he thought. 

As he kept his breathing stable and low, he twiddled his fingers around the blue handle of his sword, gripping it tightly while he watched the squadron. 

Do I go for it? Or do I just try to sneak around? If I attack, I could give away my position, but if I try to move around them, they might discover me anyway and I'll lose the element of surprise on them, he pondered. 

Sitting there in the obscuring foliage as it abrasively brushed against him with its rough edges, he found another outcome sitting in his mind. 

...This is the Stormfallen we're talking about. If I move in to attack, or if I move around...there are others hiding around here, anyway. The main forces waiting for the walls to fall that Goroba told me about; I'm likely to run into them no matter what I do, he thought. 

It was a perplexing situation to move from; the presence of the Stormfallen meant there were likely more around him. The longer he sat there within the obscurity of the large bush, he began to hear small, but giving noises. 

The rain didn't hinder his hearing as he managed to focus past it through steel-like concentration. 

Small murmurs that he picked up through an adaptation to the gnawing silence; it was all but confirmed for him that the visible four weren't the only Stormfallen around. 

--But, there was another option. 

One more risky, more dangerous, but potentially, one that could save him from the predicament he found himself in. 

'Shadow Step'...I can use it to move from here to a high point within the trees without being seen. The problem is, I've never really been able to accurately choose my location once the distance passes a few meters, he thought. 

He set his sights on the far distant branch that loomed over him; it was high enough that any subtle sound he would make in his warp there likely wouldn't trigger the goblins on the ground. The problem came in precision. 

'Shadow Step' required him to have complete spatial awareness; able to picture the position he wished to step to--how the ground would feel beneath his feet, the scenery that would be around him, and any shift in the air. 

It all had to be perfect, and he needed to recognize the exact distance he would need to step from to land there. 

It's risky, at best, but unless I want to pick a fight with an entire squadron, this is my best bet, he thought. 

He swallowed a large breath into his lungs before he completely focused himself on his magical gamble. 

Ten meters...no, eleven and a half. Around me will be branches, leaves, and insects. The rain will feel colder as I'm just a bit closer to its source. 

That's where I'll step, he thought. 

As he gathered the necessary information and concentration, sweat fell from his body in unison to the passing rain, mixing together on the strands of verdant nature that protruded from the foliage. 

The only thought he shouted in his mind, "Shadow Step"--he was atop the high-placed branch. 

It took him a moment to process that it had actually succeeded in bringing him to his desired location seamlessly. 

"Oh," he muttered, "I did it." 

As he stood there, still with a bit of surprise at his success still, a peculiar cracking sound, as if something was beginning to break, met his ears. 

"Huh?" He looked down.