Through the huge tree layers in the sky, tiny rays of sunlight fell to the dark undergrowth. They were like landmarks that acted as a guide through the darkness.

  After jumping and rolling a certain distance, Blanco lifted his head and also the upper part of his body, gazing at the path ahead where he had to go.

  Aside from the rays of sunlight, there were also colorful plants and trees that glowed in the darkness. As Blaco went deeper into the forest, there was barely any sunlight, so these plants began to emit tiny bits of their glow, coloring the forest like a painting.

  However, under all these plants and trees ran a layer of blue-colored water that had fallen from trees that stood far away. The water was like the life energy of the forest, nurturing everything as it flowed all over the place.

  Curious, Blanco jumped down from a tree branch he was on to a lower one, then to another, until he landed on a root. Close to this root ran a tiny blue water path.

  Hfff!

  After sniffing the air, Blanco felt a twitch in his nostrils.

  Chiss!

  A little sneeze came from him, which threw him back a little and made him fall on the root.

  "This feels intoxicating"

  Looking at the water layer, Blaco judged. He somehow felt that if he drank even a tiny bit, he would lose his senses.

  After sniffing once again, without taking any risk, Blanco jumped up through the branches and moved away.

  Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!

  As he jumped onto a branch, a group of birds resting on it flew into the sky.

  Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!

  However, after a few moments, he heard the same sound of birds flying away—from another direction.

  Blanco stopped and looked in that direction, and he suddenly saw something white and smoky-like jumping behind a large tree.

  Blanco stayed still until that thing jumped out from where it was. But after a while, it didn’t move.

  Although curious, Blanco did not try to go and see what it was. Gazing in that direction out of caution, Blanco moved away from it.

  Above the tree branches, Blanco moved by jumping from one tree to another. It was efficient and safer for him. When he walked on the ground, he needed to be careful of the creatures on the ground, and he also had to be wary of predators up in the trees.

  Now, he didn’t need to be careful of the creatures on the ground, and he had full vision of the area above the tree branches. If someone was preying on him, he would notice it.

  Swish!

  Thud!

  However, suddenly something fast arrived and pierced the tree where Blanco had landed. It landed just a tiny bit away from his face.

  Observing the object, Blanco realized it was a bee.

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  Buzzzzz!

  After piercing the tree, it struggled to get free. And while doing so, it cautiously looked at Blanco. Obviously, its target had been Blanco from the beginning, and luckily for Blanco, it had missed.

  Knowing very well that if the bee freed itself, it would attack again, Blanco reacted quickly. Getting close to a nearby branch on the tree the bee had stung, Blanco first observed the bee to see if it had any other offensive methods besides its sting. After seeing it definitely had none, he slowly lifted his paw and...

  Slap!

  He landed his paw fast upon the bee. Even though Blanco used no supernatural power, his ordinary strength was enough to slap the bee away, and while doing so, Blanco also broke its stinger from its back.

  Bzzz!

  With a painful sound, it fell from the high tree to below and disappeared among the tree branches from Blanco's sight.

  “It attacked me so suddenly and out of nowhere. There must be a reason for that.”

  With curiosity in his heart, Blanco looked around and jumped across the trees to see both above and below.

  Hfff!

  In the midst of this quest of his, Blanco smelled something sweet—something so alluring that it felt like it was pulling his nose toward wherever the scent was coming from.

  So he followed. From the tree branch he stood on, he climbed the tree upward and saw, from afar, that a bit above—surrounded by a bunch of little tree branches—was a bright rose-colored flower.

  The flower was overflowing with liquid—a kind of liquid that looked like golden honey. And the alluring smell was emitting from this honey.

  Blanco curiously got closer, and the more he moved toward the flower, the more intense the alluring effect of the scent became.

  Unable to endure it any longer, Blanco opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue to lick the honey-like substance from the flower.

  Buzz!

  But right at that moment came the familiar sound of the bee.

  It was rushing toward the flower, and once it saw Blanco getting closer to it, the bee screamed. Even though it now had no offensive method, the bee still pushed itself toward Blanco.

  Pff!

  However, Blanco did not panic. Instead, he spat out a poisonous spit that landed directly on the bee.

  Buzz!

  The bee emitted a painful sound. The poison was immensely corrosive to its body, but despite that, enduring the pain, the bee advanced and approached Blanco.

  "persistent"

  Lifting his paw, Blanco once again slapped the bee away—but this time, something sticky and hot attached to Blanco's paw, and no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t come off.

  “It smells funny,” Blanco said, sniffing the sticky substance. But then, he smelled the flower again—so close to him that it was nearly impossible to resist.

  Picking up from where he left off, Blanco licked the golden honey-like substance from the flower. The moment the honey entered Blanco's body, he felt like he had gained a new life. He felt that his vitality had been boosted, and even his strength seemed to have been enhanced.

  “Seems like this is some kind of magical flower that enchants the physical body. No wonder that bee got angry when I got closer to it.”

  Buzz!

  Being reminded of the bee, Blanco felt like he was hearing the sound of it again.

  Then, after carefully licking away what remained of the honey from the flower, Blanco jumped from the tree branch he stood on to another, starting his journey once more.

  Hmm!

  However, even after going a certain distance, Blanco kept hearing the annoying sound of bees in his ears.

  “What’s going on?”

  He looked back—only to see a dark swarm of bees rapidly approaching in his direction.

  "o,oo"

  “Should’ve expected this. Bees never stay alone.”

  Blanco acted quickly and ran as far away as he could. But no matter which way he went, the bees always followed behind him.

  “Why does it feel like they’re able to find my location no matter where I hide?”

  After failing numerous attempts to escape, Blaco finally stopped. As he pondered, his gaze landed on the remaining sticky substance on his paw.

  “Does this have something to do with it?”

  Hiding behind a large green leaf of a tree, Blanco tried to get rid of the sticky substance from his paw.

  He rubbed it against the tree and even tried to lick and pull it off. But the thing wouldn’t come off.

  Buzz!

  Hearing the familiar sound again, Blanco peeked from behind the leaf and saw that the bees were getting close to where he was hiding.

  The bees were black in color with golden shining ribbons on their bodies. Their size was similar to half the size of Blanco. They all had sharp stingers on their backs.

  The speed at which they flapped their tiny wings was incredibly fast, causing wind that shook the nearby tree leaves wherever they flew.

  Blanco jumped out from behind the leaf and ran through the tree branches upward.

  While running, he looked around to see if there was any place he could hide.