[<Charm of the Seedling> has attracted a <Thornstride Level 11>. Proficiency increased by 110.]

'Huh?' 

Once she read that message, all her usual activities stopped as she focused her every cell into her perception.

Then, a semi-bipedal creature shot from the bushes and landed on the ground where the group of hares was. It looked around and shot in the direction of one of the strongest hares. 

With extreme ease, his sharp claw dug into the creature's neck, beheading it. Without looking back for a single instant, he moved quickly toward the Level 4 one, similarly killing it in an instant. 

Then, it stopped.

Liu Shu, who had barely managed to follow his movements, was as still as possible, her energy careful not to spread outward and trying to control every inch of her skin. 

She knew, from the bottom of her heart, that if that thing attacked her, she had no chance of surviving. 'What is that? It's so different from the other Thornstride I saw in the past.' 

The Level 11 Thornstride sniffed the air and tilted its head. "What's this scent?"

Hearing it speak, she was surprised. Until now, all Thornstride she had met were not much more intelligent than any other random beasts she had encountered.

Curious, he looked around, observing the trees with its penetrating gaze. After all, while they fed on other animals, their diet was also filled with trees. 

He calmly approached the two hunted prey, picking them up and constantly observing his surroundings. 

Liu Shu's relatively small height compared to other trees was quite a life-saver for now, as a scent as enticing as hers would never come from a small tree. "Strange. All the biggest trees here are Level 7 or Level 8… Still, even while faint, I can smell something that should be quite nutritious around here…"

The Thornstride began taking bloody bites out of the corpse, spreading the sound of crunching bones as it masticated the freshly caught hares. "Well, whatever. I was searching for the Rose Fairies… Where was their camp? About a few hours east from here? Or was it north? Tsk. So complicated, why has that boy disappeared for so long?"

While the Thornstride mumbled as it ate, the Rose Fairies in the trees' canopies were extremely tense. 

The second it appeared, Clavel's heart almost dropped to the ground. 'We need to call the leader quickly!' She silently jumped from branch to branch, reaching the side of a lithe Rose Fairy. "Zinia, go quickly to find the Leader. You are the fastest of us. If something happens, we'll try to stop him, but we can't do much without Leader Flor being present."

Flor was currently out, leveling by hunting some creatures that harmed the forest. It was something all Rose Fairies did in their spare time as protectors of the forest. However, as a Level 10, the Experience Points she gained from lower-level creatures were quite pitiful, so she did so very rarely. Pollinating Liu Shu and doing other similar activities was much more efficient.

Zinia first moved silently through the branched and then took flight, speeding in the direction Flor left.

Clavel saw the Thornstride killing the two hares and looking around curiously with sharp eyes. 'The second he approaches the Little One, we attack as one."

With Zinia out, a Level 8 Rose fairy, there was one Level 9, two Level 8, and around nine Level 7 Rose Fairies. Level 6 fairies and below would probably be unable to pierce the defense of a Level 11 Thornstride. Their bark-like skin was tough and durable.

The Thornstride, intending to leave, started to walk in the northeast direction, the direction it thought the Rose Fairies were. Still, Liu Shu, who was north of the Thornstride position, felt as if it was approaching her. 

Liu Shu hastily looked at his Status Window to find something that could save her. 

***

Name: Froorar 

Titles: 

<Tribe Leader>: The Current Leader of the Thornstride Tribe in the [Golden Sap Forest]. All Stats +5. 

<Tree Devour>: Gained and evolved after eating 1,000 Trees of Level 5 or above. Damage against Tree beings increased by 15%. 

<Territory Owner>: Because of his exceptional strength in the area he resides in, he has gained control of a piece of land. Any creature that steps inside and is weaker than the user will feel intimidated. +5 to all stats while in your territory

Race: Adult Barkskin Thornstride. 

Energy Method: ---

Level: 11 [248/5849]

Aether Mana Shards: 2985/3075

Phoer Body Shards: 8074/8074

Anima Energy Shards: 4609/4624

Attributes: Aether 26 (15+11), Physique 63 (41+22), Anima 48 (23+15), Willpower 49 (44+5), Destiny 27 (22+5)

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (7.5), Physique Refinement (16.5), Anima Affinity (10.6)

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (11), Physique Resistance (15), Spiritual Resistance (12), Mental Resistance (13)

Talents:

<Thorn Chomp (F+ rank level 2)>: Bite a tree and decrease its physical resistance by 20%.

<Stride Slash (F+ Rank Level MAX)>: Slash with the powerful claws. Ignore 15% defense if it is a Tree. 

<Swift stride (F Rank Level 4)>: Use your powerful hind leg muscles and coat them in Aether Mana, making a quick dash. 

<Tribe roar (F Rank Level 1)>: Use your presence and Anima Energy as a Tribe Leader to roar and enhance all their and your attributes by 5% for 5 minutes. 

Passive Skills:

<Acute Nose (F+ Rank level MAX)>: Your nose is 6 times stronger than usual. You can catch the scent of creatures that would boost your strength if they are six levels lower than you. 

<Bark Skin (F+ Rank Level 1)>: Your skin is tough and resistant to slash and piercing damage. Attacks below a certain threshold do nothing to you. Reduce those two damage types by 15%.

<Bipedal Thornstride (F Rank Level 2)>: You gained this skill after reaching Level 10 and before the age of 35. For a creature with 45 Years of Lifespan, you can be considered a successful adult, allowing you to have a semi-evolution and gain a bipedal form. Your children will have a higher chance of being successful adults. However, your fertility with undeveloped females has fallen drastically.

Accumulated Experience: 0

***

After Liu Shu looked at his Status Window, she became even stiller. Her entire body assimilated with the nature around her, looking like any other tree. 

'I can't win.' 

Of course, for someone at Froorar's level, a small tree such as Liu Shu was completely ignored. Froorar, aiming northeast from his position, started gathering Aether Mana on his powerful hind legs to flash into the forest and try to find the Rose Fairies. 

However, neither she nor the Rose fairies had any way of knowing that. 

Therefore, when he started walking in Liu Shu's direction and looked ready to pounce, Clavel and the other Rose Fairies became nervous and came forward. After all, with their speed, it would be too late to decide after Froorar shot forward. His speed was too fast. 

Amapola, the Level 9 Rose Fairy, took the lead. "Attack!" 

Froorar's pupils shrunk when he felt dozens of wind blades shooting toward him. Using his about-to-complete skill, <Swift Stride>, his body flashed forward as he dodged everything coming his way. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several attacks landed where he previously was, leaving deep traces on the earth. 

Froorar looked around with his lizard-like head, and his stiff lips arched, cracking in a few places. "I don't know how you knew I was here, but this makes things easier. Tell me, Rose Fairies, where is my son?"

Let's turn back the clock to two days ago. 

About 20 kilometers south of where Liu Shu was, Froorar was frowning, sitting on a wooden chair. 

Well, more than a chair, it was a tree stump carved to have enough space for him to sit. His body was tall, nearly reaching 2 meters in height, and while he could walk in a bipedal way, his form leaned more toward quadrupedal movement. 

While some would say that he was humanoid, in truth, he was just bigger than other Thornstrides and had longer and stronger hind legs to support his body. 

His skin was rough like a tree's bark, and his hands and feet were lizard-like, with long claws. Especially the middle claw of his four fingers, which had a sharp and stiff look that gleamed with the Sun. 

Other than that, the most prominent characteristic was his elongated face, which made him look as if he had a lizard's face and a thick tail that dragged on the ground.

A quadrupedal Thornstride, who was snuggled by his side, asked, lifting her face. "What's wrong, Tribe Leader?"

Thornstrides that were weaker than Level 7 could barely talk a few words, but communicating with each other was possible. 

Froorar asked. "Any news about Fraar? He has been missing for a while already. Didn't he say that he would be back after two sunrises? It's been many since he left."

A male Thornstride chomping at a fallen tree spoke in a hissing and raspy voice. "We've sent a few warriors to find out about him."

The Thornstride that was snuggling by Froorar's side, looking thinner and with softer edges all around, spoke in a higher-pitched hissing voice. "We must find my child!" 

Froorar looked at the female Thornstride with a frown. "If he died outside, it's his fault. We'll just have to create another batch of eggs."

The lizard blinked, and her expression changed. For a human, it would look strange, as if she was strained or something, but it was supposed to be a "shy" look. "Yes, leader."

She was the second-highest-level female of the clan, with the first being more independent and rarely grouping with the tribe, so she was Froorar's primary mate. This was an extremely good advantage since she could eat and live almost as she pleased. 

Because Froorar had been raising Fraar to become his successor, she had been ignored for a while, but now that he needed another child, it was normal for him to come to her again. While it was true that losing her child was sad, Fraar was the only male child, so as long as she managed to give birth to another one, her position would remain fixed. 

Parent-child love naturally existed, but Fraar was not a very good seedling other than having good genes. He lacked intelligence and sharpness and was very impulsive. 

If he weren't one of Froorar's only two children, he wouldn't even be considered by Froorar. 

Meanwhile, another female lizard at his side frowned. "Father, why can't I be the future chief?"

While this one was relatively young, she was an astounding Level 9 Thornstride. Her father looked at her and shook his head. "I've never heard of a female that can break the limit and become a level 10. I told you before that unless you can reach Level 10, the chief's position must be held by a male."

The female beast hissed and slapped a log at the side with her tail, creating a loud bang and making it roll. Then, she walked off with a huff into the forest, leaving one sentence behind. "I'll show you, then." 

Froorar looked at her, departing back and internally. 'It's not that I don't want to, but the other males will try to make you surrender to steal the chief position unless you are strong enough…' 

He knew that if he announced his daughter as his successor, there would be many who would start courting her in earnest. Power was attractive because of the titles that you gained after becoming the chief. 

Froorar didn't want to place such a burden on his daughter and create a situation where the clan could be divided in an internal strife. 

After reaching Level 10, the intelligence of creatures did a qualitative jump.

It wasn't too big of a jump, and Froorar was far from comparing to any creature that was born humanoid from birth, but it was enough that he could think of some of these things when the rest were, quite literally, instinct-driven and impulsive beasts. 

Of course, they were different from common, mindless beasts, but they were not even close to being as developed as the sapient races like humans or Sylvans. 

The line that divided wild creatures and intelligent creatures was quite blurred, which was the origin of the multiple conflicts that constantly happened all around the world.

Froorar thought deeply about Fraar's disappearance; in his opinion, the ones who should be able to endanger Fraar knew that he was his child, so unless he did something stupid, they would not kill him. 

Other than that, being at Level 7 and having quite a few advantages since birth, he was quite a strong being to die in the forest randomly. 

'A new arrival? Perhaps a group has finally decided to move in the offensive? Or did outsiders come?'

Outsiders referred to creatures from outside the forest who came occasionally. Froorar had met a few, and he had to escape more than once. 

Without being able to reach any answers with his limited intelligence, he decided to take a look personally. While that son of his was not very bright, his instincts were always top-notch. He wouldn't provoke something he can't win against. 

The only option that remained in his mind was that he had been purposely killed by one of the other tribes if it was not something done by outsiders. 'Well, it's been a while since I left. Rose Fairies, River Beavers, Fire Ants, and Myconids… Who should I visit first to ask about it?'

Of course, his thought was "asking," but his body spread an aura of wanting to do a little more than just asking. 

The female Thornstride approached and rubbed on his leg. "C-Chief, can we…?"

The man shook his head and leaned down to pat her head. "Mating comes later. I need to check what happened."

Then, with a powerful jump, he disappeared into the forest.