"Where is he? Hmm... The noise clearly came from here." Tania squinted her eyes to get a closer look. After hesitating for a moment, she muttered to herself, "Perhaps I should check the Mysterious Wood Forest first!" Without further ado, she leapt into the air and gracefully took flight in another direction.
Not far from where she Tania had been standing, a hidden figure suddenly emerged from the shadows. It sat on the ground like a chameleon, changing its color to suit its surroundings.
"The Flawless Illusion is indeed a powerful skill. Even with her power, she couldn't detect me!" Zachary snickered, despite the fact that he was actually risking his life because he wasn't even sure whether or not Tania would sense his presence. Fortunately, the gamble had worked out in his favor.
"The Mysterious Wood Root must grow in the Mysterious Wood Forest. How hard could it be to figure that out?" He laughed to himself, and then went after the scent Tania had left.
It didn't take him long to catch up. He entered a forest full of otherworldly trees. This had to be the Mysterious Wood Forest Tania had mentioned earlier. The trees in this forest had human faces of all shapes carved on their bark. Some looked like old people while some looked like children.
It was not long after Zachary entered the forest that he smelled a strong, pungent and unusual odor. He immediately followed the scent and tried to find the source.
Soon he came to an empty, flat piece of land, at the center of which was an old tree that looked like a wooden bucket without any branches or leaves. However, there were many roots popping in the soil under the tree, which seemed to have strong vitality, and at the same time, they exuded a strange weak light. The fragrance he had been tracking was coming from these roots.
"Could these be the Mysterious Wood Roots?" Zachary's eyes lit up and he immediately looked around with caution. After making sure that Tania wasn't around, he boldly approached the roots.
Howe
ized that Tania did not believe him, he took a step back and moved closer to the tree.
"How dare you! I will cut your hand before you can even think of it," Tania threatened.
"I know, but it all depends on whether you are willing to risk the Mysterious Tree or not." Zachary knew very well that it would be a piece of cake for Tania to catch him. However, just one touch from his energy fire would burn the tree down in a matter of seconds, which led him to believe that she wouldn't take such a risk.
"What on earth do you want?" asked Tania.
"I only want one Mysterious Wood Root," Zachary answered.
After hesitating for a moment, she waved her hand and a palm-sized wood root radiating with light shot up towards Zachary.
Zachary caught the Mysterious Wood Root in his hand and smelled it. The fragrance was similar to the wooden roots under the Mysterious Tree, but this root had been refined, unlike the other ones on the ground. He smiled and waved his hand at her. "Thank you very much, Master Tania. See you again!" Then, without looking back even once, he fled as soon as he could.
Instead of chasing after him, Tania murmured to herself, "I can't believe someone like Anne would actually accept such a crafty disciple. It seems very much unlike her. If I were her, I would never have accepted such a disciple."