FVN Chapter 369: Forest Of Mists (2)
Chapter 369: Forest Of Mists (2)
Chapter 369: Forest Of Mists (2)
Two defining features stood out.
First, the fog lay thick, making visibility drastically short.
Second, true to its name, there were an awful lot of trees.
“...”
Ju Haemi silently fell back.
Since the main focus of the training was naturally Kang-hoo, she discreetly stepped away so as not to get in the way.
Celestial Assassin also took a spot just behind Kang-hoo and spoke in a low voice.
“The Forest of Mists is heavy with yin energy, which heightens the aggressiveness of plants. In other words, expect many hostile plants.”
“Is the task to pass through here?”
“Do you have a method?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s see your method first.”
Celestial Assassin folded his arms.
Taking one step forward, eyes on the front, Kang-hoo drew the skill most useful for a situation like this.
[Empathy – Plants]
[Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max]
[With this skill, you can color-code plants as friendly or hostile toward you.
Plants confirmed as friendly will never attack you.]
Empathy – Plants.
He had obtained it from the mid-boss Odaff in the holy dungeon in Norway.
He had thought he’d use it often once he came to North Korea, and that time was now.
When he activated it, every plant in view shifted into three colors, as if a filter had been laid over his eyes.
Friend-or-foe identification.
Plants and flowers with hostile tendencies, likely to attack, appeared red.
Plants and flowers that were friendly and lacked attack capability appeared blue. An intuitive division.
And plants that weren’t exactly hostile but weren’t confirmed friendly appeared light sky-blue.
The fog was too dense to see the plants’ exact shapes.
But by reading the color distribution, he could locate safe zones and move accordingly.
Step, step.
Without trimming his pace, Kang-hoo strode along the safe paths, and Celestial Assassin chuckled faintly.
‘I figured as much... a walking emporium of skills. He’s my disciple, but at times he’s downright inexplicable.’
Had he brought another hunter here, he would’ve had to start by teaching them how to detect hostile plants.
Plant-discerning skills were extremely rare; you generally had to delve into the mental branch to acquire them.
Celestial Assassin himself had only gained his through very long cultivation.
But he had a feeling his disciple would have a discerning skill, so he let Kang-hoo try—and yes, he had it, and it worked.
If Kang-hoo entered North Korea alone, he likely wouldn’t suffer because of “hostile plants.”
Watching Kang-hoo reach roughly a third of the way through the grove with ease, Celestial Assassin called out:
“That’s enough! Stop!”
“Yes.”
At his master’s word, Kang-hoo halted at once; the other two came up right behind him.
They, too, had cleanly distinguished hostile plants—but by different methods.
Celestial Assassin analyzed the waveform of the aura the plants gave off.
Ju Haemi used her unique Inner Eye, structured differently from others’, to separate them.
Seeing both of them sort hostile plants as clearly as he did, Kang-hoo marveled inwardly.
‘The world really is wide.’
Even if not on the level of Empathy – Plants, both had ways to tell friend from foe.
He didn’t find that unfair; if anything, they might feel that way about him: an assassin with plant-discerning ability that normally required specialization in the mental branch.
“Kang-hoo.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve got a fine skill.”
“It’s just a small personal-use skill. It definitely has gaps.”
“Exactly that.”
“...Sir?”
“The detection is keyed to you alone. If you have companions, how will you handle it? They can’t all use the same skill.”
“Ah.”
“I know you already have other methods. I can make it through this sort of zone as well. But what if your skill gets sealed, for whatever reason?”
“That would be... possible.”
“Right. Call it old-fashioned if you like, but you need a way through that doesn’t depend on skills.”
He understood the training.
Find responses based on the basic traits of hostile plants—identify their peculiarities.
Contrary to his master’s words, Kang-hoo didn’t think it old-fashioned.
There were plenty of situations where skill use could be blocked for various reasons.
Some hostile plants produced wide-area debuffs that made using skills difficult.
Under those conditions, Empathy – Plants might not function properly, even if you had it.
Training began at once.
The main idea was to provoke hostile plants into attacking first—force them to reveal their true nature.
Celestial Assassin demonstrated carefully, explaining each action and the reason behind it.
In short: for hostile plants, the roots acted as sensory organs.
Stimulate the roots, and they’ll respond—that becomes the basis of their attack.
There were many ways to stimulate roots, but the method refined for Kang-hoo during training was this:
Illusion Technique and Shadow Step.
Send those two into the plants’ zones with more Mana than usual loaded into them—
a deliberate overinvestment.
It felt like funneling Mana into an illusion and a shadow that wouldn’t need it,
but that way, to the ignorant plants, the illusion and the shadow looked like real hunters.
And then—
Crack! Crack-crack!
Shiiik! Shik!
“Relentless.”
Plants identified early as enemies via Empathy – Plants attacked all at once.
Grass, flowers, trees—regardless of type, they lashed out at their “prey” with ferocity.
The illusions and shadows shattered under the onslaught, but that was a cheap price to pay.
Once hostile plants revealed themselves, the hue of their surfaces and the disposition of their aura changed.
From that point, any hunter with sound eyes and a grasp of Mana could tell them apart.
Pleased to see Kang-hoo digest the lesson into knowledge quickly, Celestial Assassin said:
“That’s it. High aggressiveness means, conversely, they reveal themselves easily.”
“Yes, Master. Application will vary by hunter, but the key is to find a way to stimulate the roots.”
“Correct. Surprisingly many hunters don’t know this. Plenty of fools also try to ‘watch the attacks with their eyes’ and dodge.”
“You’ve filled in exactly the fundamentals I needed.”
“We’re not done yet. Haemi, come forward a moment.”
“Yes, Father.”
At her father’s call, Ju Haemi came over from a distance.
This time, it seemed her ability was needed for the analysis. At Celestial Assassin’s glance, she raised her leg.
It rose straight up to her ear—then a special energy wrapped the entire limb.
‘Divine Power?’
It was Divine Power—something he hadn’t expected Ju Haemi to wield.
Since her father was an assassin who handled Dark Energy, he had thought the foster daughter would be specialized the same way.
It was the opposite.
Shaaaaa!
The Divine Power spreading from her toes fanned out, enveloping the surrounding plants.
Only the plants with hostile traits spewed an excessive amount of Dark Energy in response.
True to the name “Forest of Mists,” little could be seen—but the body could feel enough.
“When Divine Power touches them, they vent Dark Energy like an immune reaction. Visibly, leaves and branches change direction.”
“Because they dislike the Divine Power, they orient leaves and branches as far away as possible?”
“Right. This method applies not only to hunters who wield Divine Power, but also to items and relics.”
“Ah... so items or relics can be made to act as detectors.”
“Exactly. You can also use items forcibly coated with Divine Power. The duration is short, though.”
All of it was gold.
Armed with this knowledge, no hunter need die screaming to plant attacks.
North Korea remained an unknown land to hunters, and information about it was extremely closed.
No matter how much you browsed social media or forums, little was shared about its ecology.
Classified as a danger zone, almost no hunters ventured there.
Going to North Korea was treated like going to commit suicide.
Like rowing yourself across the Jordan into hell.
Celestial Assassin continued.
“One more thing. Sit for a moment.”
“Yes.”
When Kang-hoo sat, Celestial Assassin scraped a rough cross into the dirt with a twig.
“There’s another trait I named the Law of Camouflage. Do you see the north–south–east–west tips of this cross?”
“Yes. If it were a person, those would be the head, the hands at the ends of the arms, and the feet.”
“Good. If the trees at all four tips are non-hostile, then the tree at the center point will certainly be hostile.”
“Even if skills or other abilities mark it as non-hostile?”
“Yes. It camouflages itself using the surrounding non-hostile plants. It’s a survival method.”
“Ah... so that’s why even hunters who ‘know’ North Korean ecology end up dying to plants.”
“Until you recognize the Law of Camouflage, it’s an irregular pattern you can’t possibly know.”
“May I verify this myself?”
“I couldn’t stop you if I tried. Go see.”
“Yes. I’ll be back.”
Kang-hoo plunged deeper into the Forest of Mists and used Empathy – Plants to sort friend and foe again.
As he checked the placement of non-hostile trees by color, he found a cross pattern.
It was a bit tricky.
Since the cross’s size wasn’t fixed, he had to map several candidates in his head.
But there it was: a layout that clearly resolved into a cross when framed that way.
‘Right in front. I’ve used Empathy – Plants over and over, and the center tree still flags as friendly.’
The center tree displayed as totally non-hostile—an especially vivid blue.
But trusting his master, the moment Kang-hoo rushed at the center tree—
Kshiiiiiik!
A tree that had looked perfectly ordinary a heartbeat ago went berserk.
It thrashed its branches with more force than trees that were openly hostile from the start.
Crack! Crudududuk!
It even heaved up its roots—so far-spread he couldn’t guess their ends—with all its might.
Right then—
Hwa-ak!
The tree, which had hidden its final trump right to the end of its ambush, lifted its thickest, sharpest root.
It was a killing stroke aimed at the intruder who had disturbed its calm—Kang-hoo.
“Ah...!”
Sensing Kang-hoo’s peril, Ju Haemi let out a cry. At this rate, he was about to be skewered on that root.