"Phew... It's finally ready," Gray smiled lightly.

Claire immediately dimmed her flame, the orange glow fading from her fingertips. She exhaled in relief, only now realizing how mouth-watering the smell had become.

"Guys, the food is ready!" she called happily, grabbing three skewers with both hands. She passed two to Selina and Selene before plopping down beside them.

There was more than enough food, as Gray had prepared at least forty sticks, so each of them could easily devour five or more without worry.

"Mmmh! This is amazing!" Selene's tail of hair practically bounced as she took another bite, her eyes sparkling in delight.

"No joke, this is really good," Selina added, speaking with her mouth half-full.

Hearing their words, Leon pretended that he wasn't curious… then casually walked over and took a skewer.

He took one bite, paused, and frowned.

"...It's indeed good," he didn't want to admit, but still nodded lightly.

As for Lyra and Adrian... they were probably on their own world, but Gray didn't give much thought.

He simply picked up the chunk of meat he'd saved and lifted it using a hardened string as a makeshift skewer, biting into it quietly.

'…No sauce, no wine, no herbs. Tragic.' He clicked his tongue.

'I should've shoved at least one bottle of red wine into my dimensional storage. I need to expect these kinds of situations...'

Even while complaining, his cooking was quite solid.

A veteran knight had taught him wilderness survival, including how to roast everything from rabbits to wyverns. Compared to that, deer meat was embarrassingly easy.

However, unlike wyverns whose meat has a strong taste, it was quite lucky that Leon had found a creature similar to a deer.

'...Alright.' Gray looked at the others, and seeing all of them distracted, he walked away from them.

Earlier, while following the smoke trail, he'd spotted something buried under a thick mound of snow: a strange purple door wedged into a tree, completely hidden… and therefore highly suspicious.

But he didn't say anything, as it could be a hidden rewards room. And because of how greedy he was, he wanted everything to himself.

And this exact moment was the perfect opportunity for him to slip away. So he traced his steps back until he reached the large, crooked pine he remembered.

"…It should be around here."

He approached a big tree and started digging in the snow with his hands. It was fucking freezing, but he didn't exactly have a shovel...

"Ah, wait!"

He hardened his strings, weaving them into the shape of a shovel.

"Much better."

Clunch!

He shoveled the snow aside rapidly, far faster than he could've done alone. And after a few minutes... There it was.

His grin widened.

"A hidden door in a tree, huh…?"

He glanced over both shoulders, making sure no one had followed him.

Then he raised both hands and wove a tight wall of invisible strings behind himself, blocking the view and muffling sound.

Only then did he grab the purple door's handle and pull it open.

Thump.

After entering it, he clenched his fist, tightening the string-wall so it pressed the piled snow back into place, nearly restoring the original untouched look.

"No one should spot it now…" he muttered with a small, greedy smile.

He started looking around, and then his eyes widened in pure shock.

From the outside, the trunk had barely been wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

But inside… inside, it was a chamber large enough to fit an entire skyscraper.

The wooden walls stretched upward like pillars of some forgotten cathedral, roots winding along them like petrified serpents.

Luminescent white moss pulsed faintly with a heartbeat-like glow, casting soft ripples of light through the vast interior.

The air had a strange thickness, like he was walking through a place that didn't fully belong to the world outside.

"…Spatial distortion," he muttered to himself. "Either an interior expansion… or a pocket space."

He didn't like either option.

"...Ah, fuck..."

He cursed as he looked upwards, just to see an enormous wooden stairway... and by the looks of it, he needed to climb it.

Instantly, he grabbed the hilt of his rapier and unsheathed it.

"Here we go..."

He approached the first step, boots scraping softly over the warped wood. The air shifted immediately, a faint ripple like breath brushing against his cheek.

Crackle… snap… fwsssh!

A brightening green light burst open around him.

Six figures materialized from the twisted walls as if the tree itself spat them out.

Their bodies were shaped as misshapen people, made entirely of bark and roots braided together.

Their hollow sockets burned with green flames, and jagged, branch-like claws extended from their arms.

Fwssshhhhh!

Before Gray could say anything, they lunged at him with blood in their eyes.

"...Treelings...? But what are those green flames?"

He jumped back slighly, before waving his left hand. Instantly, threads exploded from his fingertips in a wide arc, scattering like a fan of silver lines.

Fwip!

The moment the creatures' claws touched the threads, they were sliced in half cleanly, even though the strings looked thin enough to snap.

The first creature's torso fell backward while its legs collapsed forward, green flame sputtering as its body broke apart.

Another tried to grab him from the side; Gray swung his rapier sideways, catching the creature's head with the flat side, only to let threads wrap around the blade like a second edge.

He twisted the blade of the rapier.

Crunch... rip!

The creature's head dropped to the floor and rolled away.

Fwoop!

Two more came from above, leaping down from the roots overhead.

"Phew!" Gray ducked low and flicked several strings upward.

They tightened instantly, slicing through their limbs and leaving the bodies to crash onto the steps in broken pieces.

The fifth swung an arm made of thick, knotted wood at him.

Gray stepped into the attack instead of dodging, pressing one palm to its chest.

His threads burst outward from his hand, drilling directly into its torso. The creature's body shook violently, the green flame inside flaring and then snuffing out with a quiet pop.

The last one tried to retreat, but Gray was already expecting this.

Wrap!

Gray yanked his threads, snagging its wooden neck like a noose.

With a sharp pull, he dragged the creature toward himself and thrust his rapier straight through its flaming core.

Fwshhh!

The green light sputtered out, and the bodies fell around him, turning into piles of black ash.

"…Early-advanced realm," he muttered lighly.

"Annoying, not dangerous... if it's these kinds of monsters until the end of the stairway, it shouldn't be much of a problem."

He stepped onto the next set of stairs and began climbing.

The higher he went, the hotter the air seemed to grow.

The light dimmed even more, giving the impression that the stairway was swallowing him whole.

By the time he reached the next landing, that same pulse in the air returned.

"…Again?"

The wooden floor cracked.

Fwsshh!

Six more tree-like creatures stepped forward, but they weren't alone this time.

Behind them, three new beasts rose from the wooden ground like living shadows: wolf-shaped monsters, their fur made of writhing vines soaked in glowing green liquid.

Their eyes burned brighter than the tree-creatures, and their teeth were long, sharp, dripping with the same green flame.

"Intermediate... advanced realm?"

Seeing that there were more monsters than before, Gray didn't wait for them to make the first move.

Snap!

The moment the wolves lowered their bodies to pounce, he snapped his fingers, causing strings to shoot outward in a wide burst.

Fwip, fwip!

The tree-creatures rushed at him first, trying to block the attack, but his threads cut through their arms and legs like wet paper.

Bark and roots scattered across the landing as two of them dropped instantly, their cores sliced apart before they even understood what happened.

"Growwl!!"

A wolf leaped over the falling bodies.

"Shit!" Gray twisted to the side, its claws scraping across the wooden floor where he had been standing a second earlier.

He swung his rapier upward, threads wrapping around the blade as he struck. The wolf tried to dodge, but his strings adjusted mid-swing, curving with the motion.

Splurt!

The blade split its jaw and cut straight through its burning core.

The wolf fell apart into green embers.

Another tree-creature tried to grab him from behind.

Gray didn't even turn as threads burst from his back in a sharp wave, slicing through the creature's chest.

Fwsh!

It collapsed without a sound.

The remaining wolf came fast, its green flame pulsing violently as it aimed for his throat.

Gray pushed forward instead of retreating, stepping into its path. He thrust his rapier straight ahead, but the wolf twisted in midair, its claws grazing his coat.

"Tsk," He clicked his tongue, flipped the sword in his hand, and used his other palm to fire a fan of threads upward.

The wolf was still in the air, which was perfect for him, so he manipulated the threads so they would close around it like a cage.

He clenched his fist.

Crack—!

The threads tightened and tore through the beast's core.

Thud!

The wolf's body hit the ground in broken pieces.

Only one tree-creature remained. Gray dashed forward and cut its core cleanly with a single horizontal slice.

Splat!

"Phew..."

He stood in the middle of the landing, breathing a little heavier than before, looking down at the destroyed wolves.

Their burning cores flickered weakly, like dying lanterns.

But then, something clicked in his mind.

Slowly… painfully… a realization settled in.

"Don't tell me…" he muttered.

His eyes widened as he looked at the next stairs above him.

"…don't tell me it increases a minor realm each set of stairs?!"

A cold sense of dread crawled up his spine.

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