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The third and final layer of the Spirit Root Forest Dungeon was an underground jungle, lit by bright golden fruits that dangled from towering trees. The ground consisted of rich soil interwoven with roots and patches of grass.
The monsters roaming this sweltering subterranean oasis were all dinosaurs covered in vivid, blooming flowers, half beast, half plant, much like the Forest Wyverns. I couldn't quite tell where the animal part ended and the plant began, but they were unmistakably hybrid creatures.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
Among them, the Tyranoflower-Rex stood out as one of the deadliest: a ferocious Tier 4 monster that prowled the third stratum alone, hunting anything it deemed prey. Right now, that "anything" was us.
RUMBLE!
"It's fast?!"
Ylva's voice cracked with panic as the colossal dinosaur closed the gap in a single stride, leaped toward us, and landed directly in front, its enormous jaws snapping with savage fury.
"Careful!"
We hurriedly raised a double Holy Barrier together with Ylva to shield the group, but the layered shield shattered almost instantly, leaving the gaping maw hurtling toward us.
Goddamn it, this thing's already in full psycho mode. Time to get serious.
"Fireball!"
I channeled twenty percent of my total Mana into my palm and unleashed a massive fireball straight into the monster's open jaws.
BOOOM!
"Gryyaaaaeerr!"
It worked perfectly. The beast howled in torment as flames erupted inside its mouth, then raced across its body, setting the entire flower-covered form ablaze. Ylva joined in, hurling her own Fireballs. We bombarded the creature relentlessly until my Mana ran dry.
"Now, finish it off!"
Exhausted, I shouted at the boys behind us. They charged forward, grappling with the burning titan and smashing its skull with their weapons, yet somehow it still refused to die.
"GRAAAAH!"
The dinosaur roared in rage, summoning razor-sharp vines that coiled around their legs and yanked them down. At the same time, jagged wooden spears erupted from its body in a desperate last survival attempt
"Damn it, we were so close!" Veldr growled, hoisted helplessly into the air by the tightening vines.
"I'll finish it off!"
With a bit of my Mana recovered, I channeled it all into my Divine Weapon, shaping it into an axe. Then, infusing it with my Psyche's Spirit Energy, I delivered a single, searing cleave that beheaded the giant, combining it with Holy Smite for one final, devastating surge.
CLAAASH!
The monster's eyes rolled back instantly as its massive head tumbled down. Red-gold blood sap gushed from the severed neck, the headless body twitching violently while its jaws snapped uselessly at the air.
Finally, it stopped moving.
Ding!
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 77/130. Stat Points have been allocated; you gained 6 Free Stat Points.]
[Your Skill: [Divine War Demigoddess' Weapon – Tier 4: Level 2/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Skill: [Mana Mastery – Tier 2: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Skill: [Mana Aura – Tier 1: Level 8/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Skill: [Mana Reinforcement – Tier 1: Level 8/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Skill: [Weapon Talent: Axe – Tier 1: Level 6/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Skill: [War Spirit Aura Embodiment – Tier 1: Level 7/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Spell Skill: [Fireball – Tier 1: Level 4/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Spell Skill: [Holy Barrier – Tier 1: Level 3/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Charge Attack – Tier 1: Level 5/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Shadow Step – Tier 1: Level 4/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Future Sight – Tier 2: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Guts – Tier 2: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Beast Senses – Tier 2: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Holy Smite – Tier 2: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up!]
[Your Class Skill: [Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone – Tier 2: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up!]
A flood of Skills leveled up at once. It seems Skill Proficiency accumulates far more rapidly during actual combat against strong foes, I've noticed it clearly now.
Skills grow faster in real battles than through repetitive practice. Perhaps there are hidden bonuses I never uncovered in the game, or maybe my classes provide passive growth multipliers.
Mana Aura and Mana Reinforcement are nearing max level too. Once I gather the right materials, they'll evolve into much stronger versions, perfect timing for the Dungeon Boss. I'm certain they'll hit Level 10 by then; I rely on those two constantly.
"Alright, well done everyone," I said. "I'll store this away right now and… we're finished. Let's take a quick break to recover our energy though. That monster is usually a mid-boss, similar to the Myconid Queen. We had rotten luck running into it right away."
"Really? Damn it," Veldr muttered, dropping onto the grass with a grimace. "Ugh… my legs are covered in sharp wounds. These aren't poisonous, right?"
"Ah, maybe," I replied. "Ylva, let's heal them."
Both boys were covered in bruises from the monster's vines, so we healed them with magic as much as we could.
Several of my other Skills leveled up in the process as well.
Ding!
[The Spell Skill: [Healing Light – Tier 1: Level 3/10] has Leveled Up.]
[The Class Skill: [Healing Flame – Tier 1: Level 5/10] has Leveled Up.]
"Alright, all done," I nodded. "Let's keep moving. The third stratum is the largest in the dungeon, so we'll be wandering for quite a while."
With Ylva, Veldr, and Ivar, we pressed deeper into the dungeon. The jungle here was far denser than anything in the previous stratums. We had to hack through the thick vegetation with our weapons, carving a path toward the Boss Room.
It didn't take long before a pack of over a dozen Velociraptors, or Roseraptors, as the game called them, ambushed us. Their bodies were strikingly adorned with vivid red roses, even around their eyes, giving them an eerie, unsettling beauty.
"ROOAARR!"
They moved with terrifying speed and released clouds of paralyzing pollen. I quickly reminded everyone to put on the masks I had crafted earlier. With them equipped, we avoided paralysis without much trouble.
The raptors charged fiercely, but Ivar stood firm. He caught their razor-sharp bites with his bare hands and arms, barely flinching, then crushed their skulls with his fists or snapped their necks until they fell lifeless.
Veldr darted through the fray, beheading them with precise Spell Blade Arts, while Ylva held the bulk of the pack at bay with crackling electric blasts and searing flames, paralyzing and incinerating them over time.
I surged forward, finishing off the ones she had weakened and swiftly absorbing their souls.
Once the fight ended, I healed Ivar's minor wounds to gain a bit more skill proficiency, and we continued onward.
"These monsters are loaded with meat," Ivar remarked. "I bet they'll feed the village for weeks or even months. We've already hunted plenty."
"Yeah!" I agreed. "We'll throw a celebratory feast when we get back home too. We can cook up the rest of that wyvern."
"Sounds nice~" Ylva said dreamily. "I already want to go home, ugh. But after this, do we have to head somewhere else?"
"The swamp," I answered. "Honestly, I'm thinking we should return once we're done here. We've already secured everything we came for. The swamp can wait for another time. We have to be realistic about this…"
I had wanted to conquer two more dungeons and hunt even more monsters, but with winter closing in and my family waiting anxiously for our return, I couldn't keep chasing personal goals at their expense. I had to put them first.
I'm not forcing myself, though. Like Ylva, I'm exhausted too. I miss my family terribly and worry about them constantly. I can't bear the thought of another Lizardman incident happening while we're away.
"So am I the only one curious about those massive fruits up there?" Veldr grumbled.
"Ah, those are Sunlight Pears," I explained, pointing toward the ceiling where giant, watermelon-sized yellow fruits glowed with warm light. "They feed on sunlight and Spirit Energy through the trees above while blooming their flowers underground. The fruits emit light and serve as food for many herbivores in this area. When the dinosaurs die, their bodies enrich the spirit root forest, sustaining a constant cycle of renewal."
"Trees that fruit underground? That's wild!" Ylva exclaimed. "I wonder if we can take some. There are hundreds up there."
"I think so, but they're incredibly hot," I warned. "So we need to be careful…"
We combined Holy Barrier with my Spiritual Manifestation Skill, forming enormous hands of Mana and Spirit Energy. Carefully, we plucked a few dozen of the blazing-hot pears from above.
By simply placing a pot of water on top of them, the water would begin boiling at an astonishing speed.
"Wow, they're really hot fruits. Are they tasty?" Ylva wondered.
"I don't know," I said.
In the game, they were a consumable item once properly prepared. Eaten raw, they inflicted damage and the Burn status.
But when cooled first and then cooked, they became an excellent healing item.
"They're too hot to eat right now," I said. "But… Ylva, can you conjure ice magic?"
"I can," she nodded.
We filled a pot with water and ice shards, then placed a Sunlight Pear inside. Slowly the water cooled it down, even though it had felt ready to boil moments earlier.
"I think it's ready. They're still kind of warm, but… let's taste them," I said.
I lifted the large yellow fruit, set it on a wooden table I pulled from my inventory, and sliced it open with a sharp knife.
"Oohhhh?!"
Even Veldr looked stunned as sweet-smelling yellow juice poured out, accompanied by rising steam.
"Wow, this is really unique," I said. "Alright, let's cut it into four… like this."
After dividing it into four pieces and handing out wooden spoons, we dug in.
"Hmm?!" Ivar's face twisted. "W-What is this?!"
"Ah! It's sweet as hell?!" Veldr coughed. "Ah, and warm too."
"Hmm~! So good! It's like… I don't know!" Ylva chuckled.
"It's really like eating compote, but solid and firm… almost like mango," I muttered in disbelief. "The flavor is mostly pear with a hint of cooked apple. A touch of… cinnamon? And a citric aftertaste. Wow."
I was genuinely shocked by how incredibly flavorful the fruit was. We all loved it and devoured every bite, leaving only the tough peel behind.
"No wonder the monsters here eat them," Ylva said. "Maybe we should take a lot more when we leave! The whole village should taste them!"
"I agree," I nodded. "Alright, now that we've had our snack, we should press on."
Once we continued forward, we discovered a large cluster of Spiritual Crystals. As we mined them, a dozen Mercury Slimes appeared, pestering us relentlessly.
Fortunately, we had already learned how to handle them. I combined my magic with Ylva's, bombarding them with fireballs until they hardened.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
Veldr and Ivar finished the job, smashing their cores to pieces.
"Phew… alright, that's good enough," I nodded. "Let's keep moving."
Another hour of sporadic battles against Raptors and Pterodactyles brought us to the boss room. A large, mysteriously glowing door awaited us.
Guarding the entrance stood six heavily armored dinosaurs, their shells forged from ultra-hard metal and bristling with razor-sharp wooden spikes.
More than twelve raptors prowled nearby.
The moment we entered their territory, they reacted with furious, irritated hisses.
The raptors charged without hesitation, leaping forward and spraying paralyzing pollen while their deadly claws aimed straight for our eyes.
At the same time, the armored dinosaurs released blasts of steam from their bodies, launching hundreds of sharp spikes toward us like a deadly rain of projectiles.
In a surge of desperation, we raised shields and barriers to protect ourselves from the onslaught.
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Author's Note:
Hello and thank you for reading so far! I am the author PancakesWitch and wanted to say that this is a novel I'm writing with a lot of love. I will publish 5 chapters a week, or sometimes 4.
There will always be an additional chapter on Patreon though, and you can also join it right now to get +22 Advanced Chapters for only $10! The number will keep increasing every week as well!
https://www.patreon.com/pancakeswitch