Chapter 695: Chapter 695 - Taming the Fifth Year - Optional Paths - 4

"We break through a wall," the leader pointed toward the left side of the tunnel with a decisive cocky gesture. "We go straight in the direction we think Patinder went. Without following these damn turns that waste our time."

"Or," suggested another member with enthusiasm for the destructive option, "we burn it... Fire. Webs are flammable, right? We open a path by burning through obstacles."

The tutor began opening his mouth to object, however the watcher was staring at him with intensity that reminded him of his limited role, and the group had already decided their course.

So they just started to take some steps back...

The fire element boy approached the wall, his hands igniting with uncontrolled flames that danced with eager hunger.

"Let’s do this quick," he said, pressing the flames against silk that seemed so fragile, so easily consumed.

For a moment, it seemed to work exactly as planned.

The silk began to scorch, the smell of burning material filling the air. A small section blackened, weakening under sustained heat.

And then the integrated tree’s roots reacted to the threat.

It was subtle at first, easy to miss. A change in the texture of nearby walls where silk met wood. A liquid began exuding from where silk connected with wood and roots, clear and viscous sap.

"What is...?"

The liquid expanded rapidly when it sensed the heat, running down the walls like water but thicker, stickier. When it touched the fire, it didn’t become more aggressive or ignite.

It became bubbles.

Mountains of them erupting in a magical chemical reaction.

Soapy bubbles that filled the tunnel in seconds, suffocating flames, covering the fire boy, expanding toward the entire team like living foam.

"Put it out! Put out the fire!"

But it was already too late for retreat or reversal.

The bubbles kept multiplying exponentially, the liquid seemingly endless. And where it touched exposed skin...

It burned.

Not like the fire with its clean heat. But like a chemical irritation, as if the skin itself was rejecting contact with the sap, an allergic reaction spreading with every touch.

"Get out! Retreat!"

The group withdrew in chaos, covered in sticky sap bubbles that clung like glue, the tunnel behind them completely blocked by foam the trees had produced in defense of their symbiotic partners.

The tutor helped clean a bit of the sap from the students, what would take points from them while his expression was clearly saying "I tried to warn you" without needing words, patience worn by predictable disaster.

"Alright," the leader gasped after they’d retreated far enough to breathe freely, "no fire. But we can still break through the walls with force."

He summoned his beast instantly, a robust creature with horns designed for charging and breaking through obstacles. Directed it toward the tunnel wall with intention to simply pierce through by brute force, power overcoming structure.

The horn connected with the silk, then the pointed objects passed through.

And the full body bounced.

The wall flexed dramatically, absorbing the impact like elastic material engineered for this exact purpose, then returned to its original form without visible damage.

"What?"

He tried again with more force this time, frustration adding power to his deaf desperate actions.

Same result... humiliating consistency. Trying to do the same thing often gave back the ’not so obvious’ same result.

The silk adhered to roots was incredibly elastic, springing back after each blow without truly breaking, structure designed to withstand this kind of assault.

"The trees," the tutor murmured, finally understanding the ecosystem’s genius. "They’re integrated with the webs. These nurture them, and they protect the webs in return. The silk isn’t just spider silk, it’s part of a larger living system."

Another tried cutting with his claws, fusion giving him sharp edges. But the edge simply sank into the elastic silk without cutting cleanly. It was like trying to cut thick rubber with a dull knife, material resisting separation.

Even when they managed to make a small tear through the 5 people’s sustained effort, the structure released sap rapidly to try sealing the breach and defend against further damage.

"This is impossible," the leader finally admitted, sweating from exertion and frustration. "We can’t get through this."

"Then follow the established tunnels and learn them," the tutor said with forced patience that couldn’t quite hide satisfaction at a lesson they didn’t want to hear from him but still learned the hard way. "As you should have done from the beginning."

The watcher observed everything with neutral expression, documenting each failure, each moment of arrogance followed by the small help from the tutor and the painful reality that would make an excellent cautionary tale.

The group resumed their journey through the established tunnels after cleaning the sap with water and earth, now painfully aware there were no shortcuts in places they didn’t understand.

Not in this forest that had been perfecting its defenses for more than some centuries.

♢♢♢♢

Web Tunnels - Ren’s Group (Further Ahead)

They’d advanced steadily, Ren marking the path with light mana periodically, navigating bifurcations with certainty that still seemed to require no visible verification or hesitation.

They reached a fork where the tunnel divided into three directions, each looking identical to untrained eyes.

Ren stopped, touching the wall briefly again and marking the tunnel he’d chosen with his characteristic handprint.

"Why do you use light instead of fire to mark?" the hawk boy asked, curiosity overcoming reticence after seeing the technique repeated many times without explanation.

"Right... Isn’t it cheaper in mana to use a bit of fire?" Klein asked before he could stop himself, old patterns of questioning Ren’s methods resurfacing.

Ren released contact with the tunnel wall.

"Because the forest and webs are integrated," he explained with patience for questions that revealed an obvious lack of knowledge. "The trees feed on the webs gradually, creating a symbiotic relationship. When they detect fire, which threatens both the silk from the spiders and themselves, they react defensively."

"How?" the earth one asked, imagination already conjuring some possibilities.

"They produce a liquid," Ren continued walking while speaking, education still happening alongside navigation. "Looks soapy... It mixes with the webs and creates bubbles that suffocate fire. The sap is also irritating to the skin."

Klein observed, noticing how Ren explained naturally again without condescension or superiority, just sharing the knowledge he possessed.

"And fire is dangerous in flammable enclosed spaces anyway," he added as a practical consideration beyond this specific ecosystem reaction.