[Dragon’s Will]

  Joshua suddenly clenched his teeth, falling to the ground. Azazel stared daggers at the parasitic clone of me and spat with anger, “Don’t you dare threaten my brother ever again.”

  The parasite’s eyes widened, but his mouth slowly morphed into a thin smile. “Calm down, calm down, I was just joking.” The small dragon glanced at me, and I nodded. His skill deactivated, and Joshua stood, shaking off the menacing aura that had been restraining him.

  “It’s not like I have enough time to do all that anyway,” Joshua said, nodding up at the timer that only we could see. “Shall we see what we can do?” He leapt forward, activating Bloodrazor Claws and slashing at one of the Barkmaw Stags. It bled, and I felt the same healing sensation that happened when I used the skill myself.

  So, it seems like his attacks and effects apply to our shared HP.

  Despite using the same skill that I could, Joshua’s attack wasn’t quite as effective, and the Stag managed to spear him in the shoulder, sending him flying backwards.

  “This form is pathetic.” Joshua spat, his wound slowly closing due to the lingering bleed damage and innate regeneration.

  “When you're only a fourth of me, I could see how you would come to that conclusion,” I laughed.

  [Summon Lesser Fire Spirit]

  Another pair of fire spirits came into being, although they didn’t have quite the same glow as the ones I summoned. They flew forward, slowly chipping away at another Stag’s HP.

  Interesting, he can use all the same skills I can.

  “Can you use the class skills too?” I called out to the parasite. My mind suddenly shivered at the idea of infinite Joshuas creating more and more clones of himself. Joshua focused for a second, but nothing happened.

  “Guess not.” The parasite said, slightly disappointed. The last of the Stags fled, with my companions racing forward to finish off the stragglers. I activated my skill, cutting through a Stag with one swift motion.

  [Exp +10]

  [Gold +10]

  [Barkmaw Stag Antlers +1]

  [Barkmaw Stag added to index!]

  The time limit for both of my skills ran down, and Joshua slowly faded away while the red aura that surrounded Zorrack also dissipated.

  Welcome back.

  [Oh, go kick rocks.] Joshua said. I checked the cooldowns for the skills I had used. Parasitic Manifestation would be ready again in fifteen minutes, whereas Willing Host would only need ten.

  “I can choose my class!” Zorrack shouted excitedly.

  “What’re your choices?” I asked. The large demon quickly listed the same choices I had received, minus the mystery class.

  “What should I choose, boss?” He wondered, looking at me.

  “I think warrior fits you well. Cedric, Viressa, how are your quests going?”

  “I just need a couple more skill uses, but I ran out of mana.” The female demon said sadly.

  “I only needed to dodge one more,” Cedric complained, sheathing his bone dagger.

  [Your follower, Zorrack the Lesser Demon, has chosen the Warrior class!]

  “Good work!” I congratulated, and Zorrack beamed with happiness. I checked my profile, now only a little bit more exp from hitting level five. I glanced around, wondering if there were any leftover creatures to kill to get me over the hump, when I spotted a pair of eyes staring back at me.

  “Holy shit!” I shrieked, jumping backwards. My companions all immediately jumped up, startled. The tree that was directly behind me suddenly began to shake, its huge roots digging out of the ground and forming into legs. Its branches melded together, creating two arms and a gnarled torso. Then, the tree began to speak.

  “Demons! Demons have arrived in the great forest of Ossara!” Suddenly, several trees around us uprooted themselves from the earth, encompassing us in a circle of living wood.

  “Whoa, whoa, hold on trees! We mean you no harm!” I shouted, waving my arms.

  I’d rather not fight these guys, considering all of my skills are on cooldown.

  [Bitch.] Joshua taunted.

  “I will let the great ruler of the forest decide that!” The original tree said, and an info panel popped up.

  “These guys weren’t here earlier!” Zorrack shouted in confusion.

  “We didn’t go this deep earlier!” Viressa responded, exasperated.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  At that moment, I could hear footsteps in the distance. No, not footsteps, hooves. Like a galloping horse. A huge being rounded the treeline, and my companions gasped in shock. I was not even the size of one of its legs, and the massive centaur towered over us. The horse's half of the creature was covered in brown fur, with a long, bushy tail extending a few feet behind her. The upper half was some cross between a human torso and a tree, made of wood, inscribed with some sort of runic markings. Her hair was made up of vine-like leaves, cascading down to obscure her chest. Atop her head were a set of mystical gray antlers, and a few birds flitted between them, chirping casually.

  “Demons in my forest, after so many years? Why, what a surprise,” the horse creature mused, “I am Ossara, ruler of this forest.”

  “Lucivar, just a lowly lesser demon,” I said, kneeling to the ground. My companions followed suit, intimidated by the massive woman.

  [Pathetic.]

  You wanna fight her?

  [I would.]

  Sure.

  [You wanna bet?]

  “Look, Ossara, we’ve been through this before, the angel guys let us go, the dragon let us go, why don’t you do the same? I promise we’ll leave you alone.”

  “I do not know what you speak of—” But she stopped, eyes widening. “Azazel! Is that you! Oh my goodness, you're so small now!” Her tone pitched upwards, similar to the way Kyr had spoken to my dragon companion.

  “I apologize, but seeing as I was just reborn, I have no recollection of you,” Azazel said from my shoulder, “of course, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill my brother here, or any of his friends.”

  Ossara kneeled, trying to get a better look at the dragon. She had a confused expression on her face. “Brother? Don’t tell me this demon is Thaleres?!”

  “No, a different brother,” Azazel replied.

  She placed an arm to her chin, deep in thought, “Interesting. Well, I am no expert in the ways of you dragons, so who am I to judge?”

  “So we’re just gonna let these demons trample through our forest and kill whoever they like!” The original tree that had spoken to me interjected, gesturing angrily at us.

  “Now, now, Druval,” she began in a cautious tone, “do not forget your place.” The treant withered, losing the conviction in his voice.

  She faced me once again as my companions and I stood from our positions of fealty, “Azazel, and brother of Azazel, would you like a tour of my territory?”

  “Sure!” I replied happily, and the massive centaur turned, beckoning us to follow.

  “Are we sure about this?” Fang asked, skeptical.

  “What if it’s a trap?” Viressa speculated.

  “They seem nice enough,” Zorrack said simply.

  Cedric just looked at me, then began walking. “If Lucivar thinks it’s safe, I trust him.” With that, we headed deeper into the forest, following the magically glowing footsteps left behind by the centaur. The small army of treants followed around us, protecting us from the forest, or protecting Ossara from us, I was unsure. We entered into a huge clearing, a shimmering blue lake at the center. A waterfall led into the lake, flowing elegantly from a rocky cliff on our right side. A plethora of fauna lined the perimeter of the lake, drinking casually. I watched small fish jumping in and out of the water, while some magical creatures floated above the surface. They looked a bit like… Tinkerbell.

  “What are those?” I asked, pointing at the Tinkerbells.

  “Ah, the spirits of the forest. The lesser and greater spirits absorb energy from the lake, while the others stay over there.” She gestured to the cliff, and I noticed several intricate wooden houses lining the rocky face. Wooden balconies extended past the edge, held up by stone support beams. I saw several women walking along the pathways extending between homes, and I struggled to remember the name for such creatures.

  “Are there elves around here, too?” I questioned.

  Maybe Legolas is around here somewhere...

  “Elves,” Ossara spat, “those bastards are not welcome in my forest.”

  OK, some unresolved history there.

  “This is amazing!” Viressa said, taking in the wonderful atmosphere. My other companions nodded, and even the dragon on my shoulder seemed surprised by the lush environment around us.

  “I appreciate the compliment, small demon,” Ossara began, “now, I apologize, but it is a tradition as ancient as the forest itself, all visitors must complete the trial of the Verdant Accord.”

  “The ver-what now?” I choked.

  “An ancient law, one that shall not be broken, otherwise your spirit will crumble and your soul shall turn into a heartwood tree, giving birth to a new Dryad.” She recited, as if reading from a teleprompter.

  [Great, we survived all that shit earlier and now we’re gonna turn into trees.]

  My jaw dropped in shock. “You couldn’t have told us that beforehand!?”

  “I thought it was a well-known fact.” She replied. My companion's eyes darted back and forth between me and the centaur, unable to believe their ears.

  “So what, do we have to kill something?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. The Dryads will determine your test.” She led us forward, and a pair of Dryads met us, giggling behind outstretched palms. They held out their hands, and I glanced at Ossara, confused, but she just nodded, and I allowed the Dryads to take them. The same process was repeated with each of my companions, including Fang and Azazel.

  “We’ll start with you,” The Dryad said, almost a laugh, her voice squeaking like an eccentric scientist. Zorrack stepped forward, nervous sweat beading at his forehead.

  Huh, I guess demons can sweat.

  [Is that really what you should be worrying about right now?!]

  “Your trial is a test of strength!” The Dryad announced, and I celebrated internally. If anyone was fit for a trial of strength, it was definitely Zorrack. He looked similarly confident, looking back at us with a wink. We were led to a massive tree stump, and the Dryads suddenly walked away, leaving us with Ossara.

  “What exactly is the test?” I inquired quizzically. But just as my sentence finished, a humongous roar rang from deep within the forest, in the direction that the Dryads had wandered off to.

  “That is the test,” Ossar said, and my eyes flew open at the sight.

  A huge, towering monster was being led forward, not even restrained, as it stomped massive footprints into the forest floor. It stood well above the height of the already large demon quivering before it, with green skin and a massive, hulking belly. It wore only a fur cloth around its waist, and held a huge wooden club in its hand.

  “Is he supposed to fight that?” I questioned the Dryads, eyeing the huge monster up and down. But it was the Ogre who responded.

  “Fight? Oh, I believe you guys are confused.” His voice wasn’t quite as deep as I expected, and his demeanor was a lot… friendlier than I thought it would be.

  “Then, what are we going to do?” Zorrack questioned nervously, taking a step back from the Ogre.

  The Ogre stared at the demon, then smiled widely. “A good ole’ fashioned arm wrestle, of course!”