A half-man, half-goat monster, wearing a short animal-skin skirt around his waist and holding a recorder in his hand.
He walked over to Heront and bowed apologetically.
"Dear traveler, I do not mean to disturb you."
"My name is Paine, a bard living in seclusion in these woods, currently composing a new song."
"Would you mind taking a moment to listen to my performance? I look forward to your appreciation."
"You're just inviting us to listen to the music?"
Heront scoffed, exposing Paine's lie in public.
"Actually, you're planning to use your flute to play a trance, hypnotizing weak-willed girls and luring them deep into the jungle for you and your satyr brothers to play with, right?"
Paine nodded in agreement, then asked with a righteous air, "What's wrong with us all having fun together?"
"It's called having fun when both parties agree," Helen retorted angrily. "Making someone unconscious and then forcing them into sex, regardless of their will, is called trance! You filthy pervert!"
Seeing the senior's outburst, everyone, including Allen, drew their weapons, ready to attack.
Paine's face paled with fear. He apologized profusely, promised not to harass them again, and quickly ran off.
"Bah!" Helen spat. "You're a bunch of horny, horny goats! Sooner or later, I'll give you a good beating!"
"Senior, is that guy named Paine the legendary Faun?" a girl asked curiously.
"That's right! Fauns are a kind of jungle elves who are skilled in music and quite lustful. They're not particularly evil, but they're not bad people either."
"These scumbags specialize in seducing innocent girls."
Helen sneered and sharply criticized the Fauns.
"Legend has it that Fauns are masters of flirting and have a knack for dealing with women. In my opinion, they're just so-so... nowhere near as good as Alan!"
There was an uproar all around.
The boys were all cheering.
The girls covered their mouths and giggled shyly.
Alan's face was blank, and he wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
But even more embarrassing was yet to come. "If you don't believe me, you can try it with Allen!" Helen said bluntly, excitedly encouraging the girls.
"Let me be clear, sleeping with this guy isn't cheap!"
"You better have an idea of your price!"
"Don't end up like me, being ripped off by him!"
...
The last day of the jungle trip.
It was also the most dangerous day.
The group would cross a valley infested with animated plants.
The animated plants' behavior resembled that of carnivorous beasts.
They looked no different from ordinary plants.
Especially when they were still, lurking among the trees, like a natural camouflage.
Travelers passing through this area could be ambushed by the animated plants if they weren't careful.
They would die tragically beneath the flowers and trees, their bodies becoming nutrients for the compost pile.
Helen warned the younger students to be on high alert, and she remained at the rear of the group to cover their retreat.
She selected the four strongest apprentices in the team.
They included Allen, Felin, Duke, and Angel, to lead the way.
Duke, for once, avoided a temper like a young master.
He calmly accepted Helen's assignment.
The four of them made their way through the thorns and bushes, chatting as they walked.
Duke never mentioned Helen.
It was as if the unpleasant incident on the ship had never happened.
Alan didn't want to antagonize this young master.
Since Duke didn't mention it, he was content to play dumb.
For safety's sake.
Whenever they passed through a dark area overgrown with vines,
Alan would always activate "Virus Detection."
To avoid being attacked by poisonous insects hiding beneath the bushes.
His caution proved necessary.
A sudden toxic reaction was heard from the dense bushes ahead!
Alan gestured to his companions.
Remind everyone to be on high alert.
Step softly as they approached the source of the toxic reaction.
No venomous snakes or scorpions were found.
Instead, the Gluttony system suddenly displayed four alerts!
"Level 1 poison detected!"
"Unable to identify due to distance!"
"Unable to identify due to distance!"
"Special ingredient detected!"
"Unable to identify due to distance!"
Alan's heart skipped a beat, and he perked up!
Special ingredient... another shipment!
Just then, the sound of branches rubbing against each other could be heard from the bushes.
The four of them stopped in their tracks.
They held their breath, alert, and on high alert.
They had thought it was a python or something crawling through the bushes.
The result was unexpected.
Slowly approaching, it was a tall shrub!
From its branches dangled over a dozen dark green vines, each as thick as a wrist, bearing clusters of purple berries.
The vines dragged along the ground, twisting unnaturally like a python's serpentine crawl.
At the same time,
These animated vines also dragged the shrub itself, slowly creeping forward.
Alan detected a toxin reaction.
And there were also special ingredients.
All of this came from this strange shrub!
"Hey, guys..."
Fatty Felin wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling.
"Can anyone tell me what this monster is?"
"It's probably not just any animated vine," Allen mused.
The principal's glass garden had animated vines, but they looked nothing like this one.
"It's probably the killer vine..."
Angel, the most knowledgeable member of the team, muttered to himself.
At this moment, the strange vine had spotted them and sped towards them.
"Fuck you!"
Felin couldn't help himself.
Raising his hand, he unleashed a flash of light, instantly illuminating the bushes.
The tactic that had always worked, however, failed this time.
There was no way to stop the approaching vine!
"You idiot!"
Duke cursed angrily.
"Animated plants don't have eyes!"
"Shining a flash at a strange tree is useless!"
While scolding Felin, his hands weren't idle either.
With a flick of his finger, he unleashed a "freeze ray"!
The icy blue beam struck the strange tree, sending a faint green ripple.
In a flash, it vanished.
Not even a speck of frost remained.
"How is this possible...?"
Duke, so arrogant just moments ago, was dumbfounded.
"Watch me!"
Felin waved his hand and launched a "flame arrow," nailing it to the tree.
A blazing flame instantly illuminated the strange tree.
Wood is flammable.
Generally speaking, both ordinary trees and animated plants are vulnerable to fire.
Fire magic often inflicts additional damage to animated plants.
However, this rule didn't seem to work against that strange tree!
The "flame arrow" that struck the tree trembled a few times before extinguishing.
It hadn't even managed to singe a single leaf!
Alan, seeing this, understood.
This mysterious shrub likely possessed dual resistance to both fire and cold.
How much resistance it possessed?
It was unknown.
At least, zero-level cold and fire magic wouldn't be enough to break through its defense!
The black-robed youth raised his pale hand.
A violet shockwave blasted out.
Bang!
A vine that had been quietly approaching Alan was severed by the shockwave and shrank back as if it had been electrocuted!