A dense tropical forest with palpable humidity.

The lush green trees and the wild air. Sounds of various water sources made their presence known in the background. This was the third phase of the testing ground. The last hurdle before the battlemage could claim all of his rewards.

There was an artificial sky that felt and produced light in the early morning. But there were no clouds, making it a monochrome blue.

This artificial forest was unusually quiet too. There were no sounds of birds or monsters. Eren's mana sense was compromised in the space, making it difficult for him to read the life signs around him.

Kino sent Eren immediately to the third phase of the testing ground. He had cleared the second stage with a 100 percent clearance rate. But he didn't want to leave because he was as prepared as he could be. Plus, he could cast his Hex spells. There was no reason to take a break and lose momentum anymore.

Eren realized that he had made the right decision after he had cleared the first stage. That's because he had faced the difficulty level of the second stage.

He knew that without his Hex spells to back him up in times of pinch, the wolves would have kept on spawning because of their enhanced regeneration. He was sure that he would have been critically injured in the second stage if not outright died. This was if he had decided to enter the second stage on his first try.

'The hardest thing in life is having the patience to wait for the right moment. What's even more difficult is to know when is the right moment.'

Eren felt amused by his random thoughts as he looked around himself with his axes drawn. His mana sense only allowed him to perceive the circular area of 20 meters around him. And it looked to him that this isolated space had a radius of more than 10 miles.

That was not the only restriction. Eren accessed his status screen and discovered that his body stats had been lowered under some unknown debuff. He was forced to fight while not being allowed to use his full strength.

The battlemage immediately understood that the third stage of the testing ground was not going to be a walk in the park like the second stage. He would have to shed a lot of blood and sweat to clear this round.

'Hm? Where are the opponents?'

Eren asked the question himself. His surroundings soon provided the answer.

"Kraaaa!"

In no time, Eren was surrounded by a bunch of humanoids who looked to be plant monsters. They had the naked bodies of humans with seemingly undefined genders. They had wood-element vessels, looking as if a dry wood trunk had grown arms and legs.

These plant monsters were called Vargas. They would appear in the deepest parts of select forests in Gilaahan. As such, rankers seldom knew about them. Especially the Meta rankers who could only access limited regions in Gilaahan.historical

These plant-element monsters' bodies had sparse to medium-dense foliage growing over their torso, back, and limbs. They had long legs and even longer arms. They boasted a stature of around 8 feet and had human-like faces even though they lacked distinct facial structures.

Vargas had long fingers that doubled up as claws because of how thin and twig-like they were. They had vines and wooden spikes and foliage growing over their heads in place of hair. Their eyes shone with green light.

These small giant plant monsters surrounded Eren in a blink of an eye. Eren wasn't surprised about the ambush. But he was surprised about the fact that his limited mana sense couldn't pick up their vital signs when they stood about seven meters away from him. It was as if the monsters had just recently been summoned by something or someone.

Swoosh!

Eren was surrounded by the plant monsters from various angles at once. However, he was ready for the monsters' attack from the get-go. He tightened his grip around the axes before casting his movement spell.

"Kraaah!"

Another plant monster cry was heard when Eren appeared behind one of the Vargas. His dry wood-like back caught fire because of the Igni Wave. Eren left before the monster could tackle him for attacking him. He thought his retreat was successful.

Swoosh!

Eren was about to continue attacking another plant monster when the green vines wrapped around his lightning-coated legs. The vines made him abruptly stop in his stride before being pulled toward the same monster who he had attacked just moments before.

Alfem

Three firebirds launched themselves onto the monster's face as he tried to free himself from the monster's binding grasp. They detonated themselves in the monster's face. But it looked like he was not discouraged from making Eren pay for attacking him.

Vargas' two arms had been turned into green vines and his legs had been turned into roots to get a firm grip on the ground. As a result, when he tugged at Eren using his green vines, the battlemage couldn't do much about it.

Vargas was not fast on their feet. Neither were they that sharp. Most of their attacks were driven by their survival instincts and other emotions. There was indeed someone else controlling them. But for now, they were to wait and watch while still seeing Eren as a threat because of his uncalled-for entry into their domain.

Eren was able to keep a straight head during his predicament and wondered why the remaining three monsters hadn't attacked him yet. It was as if their instincts were telling them that attacking Eren right now would only become a nuisance for the monster currently fighting against him. Or there was someone else pulling the strings and controlling the monsters from a distance.

As such, the remaining three Vargas let the one monster carry on with his attack, deciding to intervene only when they sensed a threat from Eren. And from the looks of things, they didn't need to intervene at all.

"Kraaaaah!"

Eren was trying to cut the vines wrapping around his ankles using his axes. But the vines were sturdy. It also didn't help that he did not have a steady stance to attack them. With his vines, the monster also slammed Eren against trees, branches, and the ground. All so that he could attack his victim after making them thoroughly disoriented and vulnerable.

Vargas in question didn't take long to launch the counterattack on Eren. Eren's attack and his struggle to free himself from the monster's grip only lasted for about five seconds at this point.

Eren couldn't do much other than cast more Alfem and Taranbiest. He tried to cast his movement spell but the vines acted as natural insulators for his lightninga€“ zapping their powers away. All he he could do was attack the monster with his summoned creatures.

Vargas was a wood-element monster with an affinity for water as well. As a result, Eren's lightning and fire element spells didn't work very well. Plus, the monster's exceptional vitality was enough to fix any minor damage quickly.

Eren had already summoned his Bear Armor set to lessen the damage he was receiving. And for the most part, it worked. But he knew that it wasn't a permanent solution.

The Bear armor's protective layer couldn't generate a uniform defense layer around Eren's body because he couldn't concentrate. And even if he could, he debuted the armor set that would protect him when he was being attacked or slammed from so many angles in such a short time.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Vargas kept slamming Eren onto the ground and trees. He lifted him upside down using his long, flexible, and strong vines and made him lose his grip on the weapons.

Such violent activity cracked the ground at various places, creating spider-web-like depressions wherever Eren was slammed. It also affected the flora and fauna around the battlefield, uprooting some trees in the process.

The monster was also shortening his distance from Eren slowly but surely as he rammed Eren onto the ground and threw him onto rocks and trees. It looked like a natural practice for these monsters to injure their prey in this way before dealing a final blow to them.

Eren's vision was compromised. Not only because there was dust and grime in the air but because his head was feeling groggy because of all the beatings he took. It felt to him like he was back in Latvia and had a killer hangover after drinking too much vodka.

"Aaaargh!"

Eren's vision returned and clarity was brought back to him when he felt an unbearable pain in his left shoulder. The Vargas who had caught him bit him on his left shoulder with his sawtooth-like teeth. The battlemage also felt like his vitality and life essence were being sucked by the monster.

Eren knew he was in a more difficult situation than he had previously predicted. Lightning and fire weren't enough to do much harm to the monster as he had quick recovery speed. Even if he used his Hex spells, his dual elements were weaker against the monster's wood element.

The edge his Hex spells would provide against a horde of such monsters wasn't going to be enough for him. The remaining three Vargas would attack him if and when he tried to create a distance from the current monster.

Plus, Eren had already given Adelman's Ring to Ariadne, telling her to research it using her demonic contacts and techniques. As such, he had no surefire way to get himself out of the situation.

Eren understood the mortal part still in him at that time even though he had become a ranker. He realized that he would still die even though he had the blessings of infinite mana.

This life-and-death moment had finally enabled Eren to experience the same state of mind he had almost forgotten. The moment he closed his eyes, his consciousness entered a state of epiphany.

Seek and ye shall find!