That was true. For Leo, that amount of stat increment might seem small because he receives feedback from his beasts—feedback that wasn't small at all, sitting around fifty to seventy percent and only growing larger as his beasts advanced. But for others, even someone like Dale, who barely got twenty percent feedback from his beast, this twenty points in vitality and five points in other stats was a back-breaking worth of amount. People could spend months, if not years, training just to gain that tiny sliver of improvement.

What Leo had experienced fighting the Tree Monster so far was how other beast masters typically battled. The term 'glass cannon' fit them far more—their beasts were monstrous, but the masters themselves remained much weaker in comparison. Even though contracted beasts allowed them an easy path to reach the natural stat limits of their star rank, reaching those limits required gruelling, relentless training. Only those with high-ranked souls managed to bypass that wall—their bodies were like natural vessels built for strength. Dale was one of the few exceptions; with a twenty-percent feedback rate, he stood far stronger than most of his peers, strong enough to rival even higher ranks if raw individual power alone was measured. Much like Lily, the Elf Queen, and that other unknown girl with the Spirit Caller class—both sharing a staggering fifty percent of their contracted spirits' stats. Even with fewer contracted beasts than beast masters, they could stand on par, if not outright stronger.

SCEEEEEEEE!

A sharp, piercing screech tore out of the newly formed mouth, rattling through the canopy. Leaves fluttered down in waves, branches snapped like brittle bones, and roots whipped around in chaotic arcs. In its frenzy, the Behemoth didn't even spare its own golems, lashing at them without restraint.

Shyra—annoyed beyond measure by the weak but painfully stinging lashes—came barreling toward Leo in desperation. Leo, who had already leapt upward to avoid the earlier surge of closing roots, spotted her and let out a small chuckle.

Shyra looked far too pitiful despite her massive size—and that massive size was her downfall. A larger body meant more surface area to be whipped. She practically radiated misery.

The moment she came within range, Leo flicked his hand and sent her back into the spiritual space, Niri's exhausted form slumped over her back. With that, only four contenders remained on the battlefield: two on the same side—the Behemoth and the now twenty-meter rock golem—and two individuals, the Elk and Leo himself. The golem looked to be on its last legs; as despite its exhaustion, the Elk kept darting in with lightning-fast bursts, chipping away at the stone body piece by steady piece.

What was strange was how desperate the Elk looked. Even with the main treasure already gone, its eyes never once left the golem. It charged again and again, completely disregarding both the far more dangerous Rootspire Behemoth and Leo. Its focus was absolute, almost frantic, even ignoring all the painful whips that it received at regular intervals.

Leo pushed the matter of the Elk aside. Since it wasn't bothering him—if anything, it was helping by keeping the golem occupied—he saw no reason to intervene.

Landing lightly on the ground, he shifted his attention toward the Rootspire Behemoth. A faint shimmer rippled across his eyes as he activated Shyra's weakness-detection trait. But the result was… irritating. The entire mass of the creature seemed reinforced with the same uniform material. No distinct weak spots. Its body was either equally sturdy—or equally fragile everywhere.Except the region scorched by the Solar Beam. The charred patch struggled to regenerate, the burned bark twitching and pulsating as the Behemoth forced new fibers to grow.

Leo clicked his tongue. Still no clue where the beast core was hidden. He could only tap into a part of Shyra's trait—Shyra had, on several occasions, struck a beast's core dead-on and ripped it clean out. Clearly, she could pinpoint core locations with uncanny precision. But Leo couldn't fully replicate that insight.

"Looks like I need to punch my way to its core." His voice was flat, as though he were about to do something mildly inconvenient rather than fight a mid–3-star monster.

He rolled his shoulders and prepared to throw hands. With his mana pool now sitting at five thousand units, he didn't have to worry about resource management. Skills like [Critical Strike] and [Nature's Heal] could run freely whenever a stray root managed to slap him.

The Tree, however, had its own advantage. Its growth leaned heavily toward intelligence—its mana reserves had to be monstrous. The rapid regeneration of the roots made that painfully clear. It had once used that intelligence to coordinate its golems, but now that avenue had been crippled. All it had left was its frail wooden body and equally fragile roots. It couldn't even escape; its roots were buried too deep into the soil to uproot itself quickly.

Still, its constitution wasn't weak. Based on how it had previously crushed mid–2-star beasts like bugs, its durability had to be at least equivalent to a mid–2-star, if not brushing peak.

Leo had already taken all this into account. Playing it safe, he kept [Critical Strike] continuously activated in his right hand. He couldn't afford to be lax—not in his first fight against a solid mid–3-star. The activation alone cost two hundred mana units, and maintaining it at the intensity he wanted burned a hundred per second. By his estimate, he had a minute—give or take—and that was exactly the time he expected he'd need.

The moment the skill activated, his right arm ignited in a flare of white particles, coating his skin like a blazing, translucent second layer.

Strength: 64.1 [164.1 → 492.3]!

{In Reference: arm strength increased by 300% out of a possible 600%, since he was running the skill at 50% efficiency—roughly the striking power of a peak 3-star beast.}

Leo's grin stretched wider.

"There shouldn't be any Plant Rights Activists complaining, right?"

And then—he lunged.

Within moments, he was already in the proximity of the super-fast roots acting as a living barrier of the main body trunk—zipping the air with a sharp swoop.

He punched the ground just below the roots to disrupt their movement.

Boom!

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A/N: This chapter might feel like a lot of info dump, but it was necessary to describe, as when Leo defeats the tree, it would make sense to you all.

The bonus chapter will be released soon.

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