Minor Erdtree Guardian

Xia Tong keenly identified the heart of the problem.

"I can feel that your spirit body has become much fainter than before."

Melina's once-solid figure now carried a faintly translucent, illusory quality.

"I did expend some power."

Melina did not deny it, her expression still cool and detached.

"But as long as we reach a Site of Grace, I will have a chance to slowly recover."

"A chance? What do you mean?" Xia Tong immediately pressed.

"Do you need my help?"

Melina fell silent for a while, seemingly weighing something. In the end, she spoke softly.

"I need some Runes."

"About fifteen hundred."

"I need to burn them and convert them into pure energy to replenish myself. Only then can I make up for the losses from this intervention."

"Only fifteen hundred?"

Xia Tong laughed, and the weight in his heart immediately lifted.

"Go ahead and use them, Melina. What's mine is yours."

At the mention of Runes, Xia Tong straightened up considerably, his tone turning lavish.

In that fierce battle against the Demi-Human Queen, he had made a killing.

Right now, he was holding several thousand Runes in hand.

He had cleared out more than fifty ordinary Demi-Humans, along with two hulking large Demi-Humans. The gains alone had already been considerable.

And that was without counting the thousand-plus Runes rewarded for killing the Demi-Human Queen, as well as several Golden Runes [1] he had unexpectedly found while looting the battlefield.

Xia Tong's current fortune had already neared the four-thousand-Rune mark!

Faced with Xia Tong's unhesitating generosity, even Melina's usually placid face showed a rare ripple of softness.

She slowly nodded, then pulled her hood back on. Her body turned into specks of blue light and vanished into the air.

That night, Xia Tong ultimately forced himself to stay awake and stand guard alone until dawn.

Fortunately, nothing happened through the night.

The sun over the Lands Between rose as usual.

This time, Xia Tong gently woke Miss Irina, who was still asleep.

He took out the Spectral Steed Whistle from his robes and blew it.

With an ethereal neigh, Torrent slowly stepped out of thin air.

As usual, before setting off, Xia Tong grabbed a handful of Rowa Fruit from his bag.

The fruit was plump and juicy, sweet and tart—Torrent's favorite.

After a full night of rest, Xia Tong had recovered quite well.

Thanks to the Tarnished's special constitution, along with the high Mind attribute he had deliberately invested in,

even after a major battle and staying up all night, he was still full of energy.

Compared to the drained feeling he had right after last night's battle, he felt vastly better now.

He estimated that his Focus Points had recovered to around eighty percent.

The only regret was that he still could not freely summon those powerful Spirit Ashes.

Xia Tong himself had been exhausted last night, leaving him unable to spare any extra mental energy to nourish the souls within the Spirit Ashes.

They could only remain in a state of slow passive recovery.

If he wanted them fully restored to peak condition, it would probably take another full day and night.

Only the Godrick Soldier wielding the light crossbow, along with one of the Fanged Imps, had recovered more quickly because their injuries from last night had not been serious.

After being nourished for the entire night, they could barely be considered back at full strength and ready to fight.

After briefly packing up, the group set out once more.

The road ahead gradually rose, made entirely of long uphill slopes.

Fortunately, Torrent was a Spirit Steed with a naturally powerful body and astonishing endurance.

Even carrying heavy luggage, with both Xia Tong and Irina seated on his back,

he still strode forward with vigor, looking completely at ease.

Whenever they encountered steep terrain, he could even perform nimble double jumps from time to time, easily clearing massive rocky barriers.

The group continued onward like that.

Until a withered, decaying tree appeared in the road ahead.

Beneath the tree, a figure clad in magnificent golden armor blocked Xia Tong's path.

The figure held an enormous polearm and stood silently within the shadows.

His face was covered by an expressionless golden mask. What sent a chill down Xia Tong's spine was that, growing from the figure's head, there was not hair but a mass of tangled, thick, twisted roots.

Several slender wooden whiskers even dangled beneath his cheekbones, swaying faintly in the wind.

Yet the golden plate armor on his body was undeniably exquisitely made. It gleamed beneath the sunlight, radiating an inviolable aura.

He sure looks intimidating! Xia Tong thought, then lowered his head to look at himself.

Even now, he was still wearing a battered set of Godrick Soldier armor.

Compared to the other side, his outfit was practically beggar's clothes.

He had previously considered claiming the Night's Cavalry's stylish black armor for himself.

But that thing was simply too large and did not fit him at all.

And the armor always gave off a faint rotten stench that could not be washed away.

In the end, he could only helplessly toss it into the Site of Grace Space to gather dust, rather than casually selling it to that unscrupulous merchant Moen.

Looking at the silent roadblock ahead,

Xia Tong slowly dismounted and lightly patted Torrent's rump.

He signaled for the Spirit Steed to take Irina farther away from this dangerous battlefield.

"This appearance... is that a Minor Erdtree Guardian?"

Xia Tong frowned slightly. After rapidly searching through his memories, he quickly identified the other party.

He was far too familiar with this thing.

While exploring in the game in his previous life, he had killed countless monsters like this beneath Minor Erdtrees all over the place.

They were guardians responsible for watching over Minor Erdtrees. Though not as absurdly powerful as Tree Sentinels, they were still quite troublesome.

And these things had three forms in total.

The one Xia Tong had encountered now should have been the most ordinary Bud Form.

Above that were the Deadwood Form and the most difficult Flower Form.

In its final Flower Form, it could even hoist a Tarnished high into the air before delivering a fatal impalement.

If their health pools were doubled again, they would be even more revolting than Royal Revenants.

"Jingle, jingle—"

Xia Tong did not act overconfidently and honestly rang the Spirit Calling Bell.

A flash of deep-blue light passed, and the fully recovered Godrick Soldier was summoned.

It was not that Xia Tong did not want to call out the Fanged Imp as well to assist in battle.

It was just that his Cerulean Tear Flask was completely empty, leaving him with no means to restore Focus Points.

If he summoned all of his Spirit Ashes at once, his Focus Points would probably bottom out immediately, leaving him with only a pathetic third remaining.

That would leave his mind sluggish and severely affect his judgment in battle.

One lapse in concentration, and he might get cut down by the enemy in a single blow.

The Erdtree Guardian across from him still said nothing, like a silent statue.

But the instant it sensed Xia Tong's hostility, it moved.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps rang out.

It broke into a charge, kicking up a violent wind as it rushed straight at Xia Tong.

The strange weapon in its hands—the Guardian's Swordspear—had a massive golden greatsword at its tip.

Using the fierce momentum of its charge, the heavy blade tore through the air and hacked viciously down at Xia Tong!

This was Xia Tong's first time fighting such a monster since arriving in this world.

Therefore, he did not dare let down his guard in the slightest.

For the moment, he adopted a defensive, hit-and-run strategy.

Sidestepping, rolling, retreating.

Again and again, he dodged at the very limit, trying to disrupt the enemy's rhythm while moving.

After several probing exchanges, Xia Tong gradually figured out this thing's attack patterns.

They were nothing more than the same old three moves.

Wide sweeping slashes from a standing position, stationary thrusts that made use of the polearm's reach, or heavy jumping chops.

Over and over, it was only those three tricks.

Just as Xia Tong thought he had seen through its routine and gripped his weapon in preparation to counterattack,

an abrupt change occurred!

The guardian suddenly stopped attacking and began shaking its body frantically.

Then, the tangled mass of old roots atop its head burst open like a flower bud.

"Pfft—"

A dense cloud of green, fog-like spores instantly sprayed out and spread through the air.

"Damn it! Can't win, so you poison me instead!"

Xia Tong felt his stomach churn with nausea. He quickly held his breath and retreated in rapid steps.

At the same time, he mentally ordered the nearby Godrick Soldier not to keep fighting and to pull back immediately.

But they were still a step too late.

Using the green mist as cover, the Minor Erdtree Guardian charged out like a ghost.

It leaped into the air, raising the Guardian's Swordspear high with both hands.

With a devastating jumping chop, carrying the force of a mountain collapsing overhead, it smashed down at the Godrick Soldier, who could not dodge in time.

Clang!!

The sound of metal crashing against metal was deafening.

The Godrick Soldier desperately blocked with the straight sword in his hand, but the massive impact instantly broke his balance and forced him heavily to one knee.

Xia Tong's eyes narrowed as he caught that fleeting opening.

He followed with a sliding thrust, driving his longsword straight into the exposed gap and forcing it back.