Over the course of five days, Wolf improved Ghost Shroud’s effectiveness by fifty percent. Internal Energy cyclones coursed through his legs, upper arms and torso, while Demonic Beasts only detected him from two hundred and forty meters away. More importantly, he merged decoupled currents into one large flow.

However, Wolf considered these advancements passable prototypes. Internal Energy streams still didn't reach the skin, resulting in an energy overflow. If Ghost Shroud functioned as intended, he could pass within a hundred meters of Demonic Beasts without getting noticed. But that was a future problem. Wolf’s next goal was to create cyclones inside his feet, forearms and hands. Only then would he course Ghost Shroud through his skin.

But even this version of Ghost Shroud, coupled with his new sword, made Wolf’s circumstances incomparable to his previous expedition. Wolf lost some reach with Book. But, paired with Weapon Splitter, it hacked through bones and tendons of Ninth Order Demonic Beasts with ease, and half a meter deep wounds killed any monster Wolf encountered.

His spell selection remained the same, focusing on elemental damage. However, after getting Book, Wolf rarely used magic and approached the second Demonic Converter’s location with confidence. Experience, information and proper tools reduced a perilous journey to an extermination job.

This meant this trip was nowhere as thrilling, nor as beneficial as the last one. Simply awakening his senses twenty percent and swinging Book allowed Wolf to crush Seventh and Eighth Order Demonic Beasts, while Ninth Order ones died after a few brief moments of pummeling.

With the excitement gone, Wolf’s heart raced only for one reason. He smiled whenever he glanced at Book. After being weaponless, the reassuring sensation of the sword’s weight in his hand seemed like the most natural, most beautiful thing in the world. The youth was unaware of it, but he loved this sword more than Anna and Mandy put together.

Days passed, and Wolf approached the second Demonic Converter without major incidents. Despite overwhelming Ninth Order Demonic Beasts with ease, Wolf stayed vigilant. Finally, two weeks after entering the Demon Forest, Wolf sensed the distant Demonic Converter.

He didn’t charge over. Instead, he spent two days clearing its surroundings, exterminating relevant Demonic Beast reinforcements. Once he believed he’d cleared out most Demonic Beasts, Wolf headed towards the giant tree.

He had a dozen active spells. The most important one being Shield Mind, a Tenth Order spell which made its target immune to compulsion, charm and illusions targeting the mind. Wolf also prepared and cast his standard assortment of spells, along with Scapegoat.

Scapegoat was a peculiar and niche Fifth Order spell. Its role was to act as a sacrifice. If you had Scapegoat active while a magic-unraveling effect targeted you, Scapegoat triggered and got dispelled instead of other spells.

Wolf believed Shield Mind and Scapegoat countered Demonic Converter’s strongest points. With nothing affecting his will, he was free to use maneuvers and bring down the giant apple tree.

Wolf strode onto the trampled ground with a confident smile. He glanced left and right, confirming that the hard-packed soil under this tree’s shade was identical to what he’d found under the other Demonic Converter.

“Hello there,” Wolf greeted the behemoth plant, which didn’t bat a leaf.

After Wolf took a dozen steps, the tree took action. Just as Wolf had expected, the Demonic Converter’s crown rustled. The branches shook, and hundreds of apples fell to the ground.

Black fruit thundered against the beaten earth, sounding like a stampede. However, the forest didn’t explode with howls and frantic running. Only a handful of Demonic Beasts lucky enough to avoid Wolf’s purge roared, rushing to the Demonic Converter.

I missed some. Wolf ran towards the tree’s trunk while the branches and leaves above his head shook. Book materialized when Wolf felt a faint pressure on his will followed by a clear, inaudible sound. Shield Mind was triggered.

He clenched Book and without sending a trickle of Internal Energy into the sword, smashed the blade against the tree’s trunk.

*Boom!*

Book struck the Demonic Converter with enough power to explode boulders. Wolf’s wrist, elbow, and shoulder ached, but it wasn’t unbearable. Unlike Van Dale’s sword, which exploded from the rebound, the brunt of Book’s force entered the tree and didn’t return to Wolf.

However, Wolf’s face fell. He expected Book would slash through the steel-like wood with ease. Instead, the blade sank into the tree about a meter before getting stuck.

Demonic Converter’s leaves rustled high above Wolf’s head as the creature writhed in pain. A moment later, Scapegoat activated, resisting the Demonic Beast’s assault. The spell bought him several seconds. Wolf placed his foot against the trunk, yanked at Book’s hilt, freeing it with surprising ease.

What a keen blade! Wolf got into stance for Sunder the Mountains, but decided against using it. I can use it once, but I’ll suffer from Internal Energy deficiency. I don’t sense strong Demonic Beasts, but that doesn’t mean some won’t get attracted by the falling apples.

Instead of wasting Internal Energy, Wolf hacked and chopped at the tree for a full minute before half a dozen Demonic Beasts appeared. One of them was an Eighth Order Chimera, while the rest were much weaker.

Butcher the weak, then handle the strong. Wolf already had plenty of experience fighting large groups of Demonic Beasts. Leaving small fries for later meant more chances for someone to trip him and give the powerful opponent a chance to land a dangerous blow.

Wolf tried to cast a Subtle Volcanic Blast, but as expected, the spell failed. However, it wasn’t that bad. He could push the Demonic Converter into wasting Soul Force. Wolf switched to lower Order spells he wouldn’t need.

While slaughtering Demonic Beasts, the young Mage confirmed Demonic Converters didn’t know which spell he was casting. I wonder how you would feel if you knew you wasted time and effort to neutralize a Subtle Mind Trick and a Subtle Grease?

Wolf cleaved the Chimera’s cheetah head in half, causing the goat and viper heads to reel in pain. A moment later, Book flashed and the goat head tumbled towards the ground.

Wolf slaughtered several newcomers, before finishing off the Chimera, which teetered and stumbled with two-thirds of its mental faculty missing.

Bizarre. Wolf noticed that blood pools disappeared rapidly and corpses grew desiccated. He glanced at the tree and noticed that the wounds he’d inflicted healed at a visible rate. If the tree had several hours and enough offerings, it could heal its wounds.

Wolf rushed over to the nearest corpse and after moving it saw root fibers had stabbed into it and drained it of nutrients.

It was obvious you used Demonic Beasts as food. I just didn’t know you were so efficient. Wolf took note for future fights with Demonic Converters.

He then went back to the tree and hacked at the trunk for an hour and a half. From time to time, fertilizer showed up, interrupting him.

Wolf’s lungs burned. His arms shook, and his back was slick with sweat. Wolf shifted Book from hand to hand whenever they grew numb.

The hole in the Demonic Converter’s trunk had almost reached ninety percent when a loud crack echoed through the calm forest. The towering tree broke, and with a woeful shaking of leaves and branches, it toppled over.

Branches snapped, making crackling noises before the tree fell to the ground, booming like a meteor.

Demonic Converter lay on the ground. Its leaves trembled, whining in pain. Wolf was also in pain. Not just because his muscles were sore all over, his heart ached as well. How the hells am I supposed to find its Monster Core?

Before Wolf lay several dozen meters of tree trunk and an obscene number of branches. However, its leaves still rustled without wind.

Is it alive? How long does a tree live once you cut it down?

Wolf examined the demonic tree, noticing that the stump gradually turned black and rotted away.

The young Mage nodded his head. It’s just like what the notes say. The part without a Monster Core rots away, becoming fertilizer for the new shoot.

Wolf's shoulders drooped, and his back was bent. He wanted to sit down and rest, but stopped himself. I don’t have time to relax. I’ll cut the trunk in half. After that, I can take a break.

Wolf took another hour to cut the fallen trunk in half. Swinging down two-handed was easier, even though the grip was too small.

With the job done, Wolf dropped on his ass and panted. Book vanished into his Ring of Holding while the bottom half of the trunk rotted. Wolf was exhausted, and yet happy. He endured. His back and shoulders and arms screamed at him to give up this pointless menial labor, but he persevered. It would’ve been even more rewarding if he’d hit the jackpot on his first attempt.

After resting, Wolf resumed his chopping. He halved the trunk three more times, and it was always the lower part that rotted away. Despair threatened to drown Wolf as he thought about his futile effort. He considered giving up.

“Get out of my head!” he shouted, realizing why he was depressed after his Shield Mind disappeared.

Wolf shook his head, then realized that he’d been ignoring the branches. They were much easier to cut, but he thought the Monster Core wouldn’t be inside them.

“Fucker!” Wolf cursed the Demonic Converter some more. He knew why he’d missed such an obvious thought.

The sun was rising, and the sky was between purple and orange. Wolf lay on his back, panting, but a bright smile was on his face and an emerald-like Monster Core glimmered in his shaky hand. “I guess Rand was right. Chopping wood is a great way to exercise and build up strength. But my back is killing me.”