[You have entered a dungeon. Rank: B. Boss defeated: Yes, just not by you. Pity, pity. Welcome to Big Barrett’s Domain. Have fun!]
I blinked as we found ourselves in a world of treehouses, flying pink hippos, and a flying man in a toga staring at us, spear in hand. Two others, tired-looking people dressed in leather armor were below him, walking.
Seriously, we were standing on a wooden walkway that led to a treehouse the size of a family home. There were many of these, leading to other houses, creating one big tree-living community. Except I wasn’t exactly sure what awaited us inside. The doors were closed and there were no windows on them.
The toga man was actually flying with glowing-blue mana wings. He waved at us from a dozen yards away before approaching, careful to stay in the air. He wanted to be sure we weren’t hostile. Good man.
“Sorry, friends, we’ve killed the boss last night. It will take another twelve hours to respawn.”
“It’s okay, we’re here to explore and collect a few things,” I said.
“I see,” the toga man said. “Adventurers to the core. I keep telling new adventurers that it isn’t all about fighting monsters.” He started to leave. “Good luck on exploring. Some of the houses may contain monsters, others… mostly empty. Oh, and the hippos are harmless, so don’t go attacking them for their meat. The Lord Ruler has banned pink-o-ppo meat for years now.”
“Ew, people eat hippo?” Ronica asked. We all looked at her, knowing damn well her mouth was watering.
“Twerp… You know what? Never mind,” I said.
She grinned innocently. “What? Surely you’re not thinking I’d do something as cruel as make roast hippo stew. That’s gross, you know.”
“Stop joking about eating them,” Nuwa whined. “Those hippos don’t deserve such a thing.”
“You tell ‘em, missy,” the toga man said. “Anyway, we have to go. My crew’s going to fall on their faces if they don’t get some sleep.”
“Why don’t you look so tired?” Iris asked, eyebrow raised.
“They weren’t like that until they entered a red treehouse,” the toga man said. “They were seduced by a vampire princess.”
“Seduced?” Iris snorted. “Just call it what it is. Drained, as if they were nothing but livestock.”
The toga man shuddered. “At least vampire women don’t do anything further, except kick you out of their feeding zone. The men are pricks.”
Chenzu shook his head. “They both are. Trust me, I would know. Vampires can’t get pregnant, but one tried to accuse me of—”
“Now really isn’t a good time for one of your drunken tales,” Iris said. Her eyes briefly carried a hint of distaste, not for Chenzu, but for the vampires.
The beastkin gave her a smirk and a shrug. “Perhaps not. But you know I’m right about the vampires. They’re weird and rarely can you trust them.”
“So much for vampire customers, but at least we don’t have to worry about them, right?” I said, voice upbeat, though with a bit of mirth.
The toga man gave me a pitying look. “You haven’t been an adventurer long, have you? Or left the kingdom. Vampires are only a little rare, but there is a small unofficial kingdom that no one dares venture into. By the time you realized you ran into a vampire, you’ve already fallen in love.” He frowned. “Blasted undead. Don’t fall in love with the undead.” He bowed. “Anyway, good luck! Don’t let the vampires bite.”
I frowned. “So we’re dealing with vampires now. Who’s up for skipping this dungeon?”
“No, you promised you’d let us attend,” Harmony said, eyes intense. “This isn’t an A-ranked dungeon, where the danger is ridiculous.”
“The danger is always ridiculous in a dungeon,” Ramon said. “And especially a B-ranked. Don’t ever forget it. Let’s not gloss over the fact that you’ve never actually been to these dungeons. Past the third floor, it can get intense. Also, never get complacent.”
I nodded, patting the former hero turned disciple on the shoulder.
Harmony glared at him but relented as he held his own intense rightful stare. She knew he was right.
“We’re only headed to the second floor, right?” Lucas asked. “We should be fine.”
“They did well in the C-ranked dungeon,” Chenzu said.
I glanced at everyone longer and then nodded. “Alright, let’s go. But everyone, make sure my damn apprentices don’t get hurt.”
“What about us?” Nuwa quipped. “We’re your loving disciples.”
She laughed at my glare.
“Here’s a lesson about supporting your junior magicians. Support your junior magicians or Cheetara will judge you. Or be sad.”
Cheetara meowed something that sounded like a half-agreement. I scratched the overpowered kitten beneath her chin. She purred. I petted Wolverine.
Ramon led the way and volunteered, a bit too eagerly, to enter the first tree house. Wolverine went in with him to make sure he didn’t do something stupid, I could tell by his annoyed growl, before following.
“Do you think he’s going to try to sleep with a vampire princess?” I asked, my voice deadpan.
“Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me,” Iris said, her voice tired. “He’s supposed to be nearly cured of his old womanizing habits and is already getting excited over a chance for… an undead night of passion.”
He emerged from the treehouse, disappointment obvious in his eyes. Wolverine came out seconds later. “It just leads to another pathway.”
“Let’s just go over the treehouses,” Harmony said. “Or blow them away.”
“A waste of energy and it’s too dangerous,” Milia said. “Mandi and Opal can fly. But if you miss your footing, you’ll fall below to who knows what is in that abyss.”
“I’ll stick to walking,” Mandi said as she looked down, worried. “If something interrupts my stored mana and I fall…”
Opal gave her a narrow-eyed glance. “I thought I taught you better than that. Flight is an extension of your body, your soul. The magic will warn you long before you run out.”
That still didn’t convince Mandi to fly, and we ended up passing through the empty treehouse and onto the next walkway.
“Do you think the vampire princess is still in the red hut?” Ramon asked, gaining himself a bonk from Ronica.
“Why?” Kelvin asked. “And if you’re trying to bed her, like a fool, we’ll be leaving you behind.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” I said, chuckling.
“No, of course I don’t want to bed a vampire,” Ramon said. “Your opinion of me is terribly depressing. Do I look desperate to you? Vampire princesses should be double S-ranked beings, right? We should be on friendly terms with her.”
“Double S-ranked,” I said, voice dropping. “Isn’t this a B-ranked dungeon?”
“She’s not a native,” Milia said. “Vampires are just as long-lived as us, as any magician. They get bored and start exploring dungeons. She saw a free meal and took advantage of it.”
“That’s because men are—”
A roar interrupted Iris, preventing the men versus women bickering that was likely to start up with my disciples. Rushing from the treehouse a few meters in front us was an eight-foot-tall, bald, green-skinned humanoid wearing a loincloth. The Tarzan wannabe was armed with a club. One large eye spanning across his face glared death at us.
“So… what are the odds that we run into a forest cyclops in a B-ranked dungeon?” Ramon asked as he unsheathed his sword, coating himself in lightning aura.
“They’re not so bad, not like the normal ones,” Ronica said. “These guys are weak in comparison.”
Their calm demeanor said a lot, spreading confidence to the apprentices, who also armed themselves, despite not being allowed to participate in the battles. It helped that no one felt the need to summon their spell books.
[Enemy Analysis.]
[Forest Cyclops. Type: demonic monster. Rank: A. Affinity: Forest. Super Hostile. Dungeon native.]
I realized that the difference between hostile and super hostile was the amount of bloodlust pouring from the opponent. This cyclops wanted us dead, badly, like an addict going out of its way to find their fix.
“Ice shield!” Kelvin yelled as he formed a massive shield of ice on his arm, blocking the cyclops’s downward strike on Ramon.
I decided to fold my arms and watch and also backseat game—critique.
“Apprentices, stay behind me,” I said. “This is an A-ranked demonic monster. Study it. I want you to tell me why it died.”
They were probably giving me looks, perhaps questioning my overconfidence. But the disciples took out the monster in no time, having plenty of experience fighting cyclopes. I only had to speak once, reminding Iris that sometimes shooting the obvious target, the eye, wasn’t the only answer. So she shot it in one of its hanging jewels. Dick move, yes, but we discovered that cyclopes had potential to be great singers if they learned to be civilized. Ronica ended up finishing it off with a storm of devouring pink lightning.
“So, who’s got the answer for me?” I asked as we moved on, Kelvin leading this time. He retracted his shield and sheathed his ice-based sword.
“There’s not much to answer there,” Harmony said. “He brought a club to a magic fight.”
“Technically you are correct, but the club is the size of five men and quite wide. It doesn’t matter how much mana you possess, one hit by that thing is going to leave a mess.”
“It was also slow… I think,” Lucas said, but I nodded to keep his confidence up. The boy’s timid nature struck quick.
As we reached the end of the treehouse-to-treehouse walkway system, with little incident, except two more much smaller cyclopes, the stairs that led downward presented itself. Beside it was a tree with leaves as golden as the mana in my dreams. Something of an aura emitted from it, beckoning me to come closer and soon, despite my inner doubts, I found myself next to it. I sensed no danger from it, just… the sense of purpose, peace, and the aura of nature. This scene brought a thought to mind, and I recalled the summoning potion’s description.
[Potion of Summoning. With any ingredients, the will of your Dao, you may summon Aku by simply pouring the liquid onto the earth. You may also consume the liquid instead to gain the strength of a dragon for a short time, but it will come at a great cost and is simply not worth doing so. Dragon Magician State.]
The will of my Dao.
That was when it happened. An epiphany. An understanding that couldn’t be natural, but at the same time, it was far greater than natural.
A vision struck and I found myself watching the tree grow from a seed to its current form within seconds. Then it bore fruit that looked like golden apples with a silvery aura. A woman in her late twenties or early thirties strolled toward the tree. She sported long blonde twin ponytails, eyes red like mine. She was slightly taller than me. Dressed in silver armor fitted to her in a way that let people know who wore that armor. Her poise, her aura, all of it commanded attention, obedience, and maybe fear for the weak-willed.
Behind her walked a man wearing far duller armor. He had pretty boy looks, being someone in his twenties, and carried an oversized spiked staff with a skull as its head. Red eyes glinted from the eye sockets. The blond also wore a gray cape etched with a strange symbol I didn’t recognize but guessed it to be of either his homeland, a group, or some kind of religion.
Both took the fruit from the tree without its permission and stowed it, vowing to sell it on some human marketplace. The woman then said, “I sense humans! Blood at last. We’ve been here searching for that blasted thing for weeks. I still don’t know why Father needs it.”
The young man snorted. “Probably entertaining Mother’s—”
“They won’t send us into a dungeon for a silly reason like that, now enough joking,” the woman said. “Let’s feast. Make sure not to kill them. And no, there are no girls in their party, so get over it.”
“Ugh, it’s going to be like that time Father tricked me into drinking that dwarf abomination. Demon juice.”
The woman giggled. “It’s not bad. Besides, they’re adventurers. You won’t catch the flying man above.”
“Let’s hide in one of the huts. The obvious red one,” the man said. “You lure the humans inside. And don’t sleep with them. We do not have time that.”
“I’ll sleep with whomever I please,” the woman snapped.
“Nimni,” the young man said.
“What do I look like? Someone who sleeps with any random adventurer? They do not catch my fancy, and I’m not drunk enough for these three.”
“You could always learn to ditch the habit of playing with your food,” the young man said.
Nimni rolled her eyes. “If food can—”
“Don’t go into detail, this isn’t like one of those dirty books you tried to hide from Mother when you were fifteen,” the young man said.
“They were romance books! And nothing happens!” Nimni snapped. She shook her head. “How did I end up with such a dimwitted little brother? It’s beyond the will of the Shadow Mistress.” She glanced into the distance. “Are you going to answer the job call from that prince?”
“Do I look stupid to you? I hope that shrilly, skinny prick—”
The vision ended and I honestly wasn’t sure what to think. My personal alarm bells did sound, mostly because of the obvious vampire duo and their casual placement of humans as nothing more than food. A surge of energy left the tree and absorbed into me, immediately breaking me through into the fourth realm of the Saint.
[You Heavenly Attunement has increased to rank C. Creatures of the dark will fear you.]
[System advice. Think carefully when you begin to learn Gates and Symbols, and how dangerous they can be in the wrong hands. You could lose control of them, injure those around you. It is highly recommended to practice complex potion making and alchemy in a magic lab. They can also be weaponized as offensive and defensive magic. You are the first intending to use them for peaceful purposes.]
I blinked, turning to the others. They all awoke from their meditation, having also increased to the next layer of their current realms. Even Cheetara and Wolverine strengthened. If only I could’ve brought Beakwing inside, but with the dungeons considering him a mount, entering was impossible. He’d watch over the lightning horses.
Honestly, I believe it had something to do with magical beasts in general.
Mandi was the only one still standing, fiddling with a few buttons, not bothered by the magicians powering up. However, she was trying her best even without an awakened core. Few normal people could keep up with the teenager.
“What are you working on?” I asked her.
Mandi looked at me with manic glee in her eyes and grinned. “Runes that will cause someone’s functions to invert. They try to move right but their heads will be all dizzy and messed up. They’ll move left instead.”
I gaped at her.
“They’re not done yet, sadly,” she continued.
Opal flew around her hand a few times at seemingly lightspeed, then stopped, tilting her head.
“Magical draw stack four is a bit too weak on three of them,” she said. “Runes six, ten, and twenty-four. Double etch their paths.”
“I can’t do that here,” Mandi said, recalling the buttons, runes, into her storage ring.
“So that’s what they are,” I said, everything making sense now. Runes would be behind making objects function without direct magician input. But one would truly have to know what they were doing. Mandi read from the S-ranked book I gave her and also had Opal teaching. Her progress was nothing short of impressive.
“Are you going to tell us what just happened?” Ronica asked, hands on hips, feet tapping.
“That was… intense,” Maxus said.
“Overwhelming,” Lucas agreed.
“Give me a sec to scan the tree,” I told them.
[Young Tree of Heavenly Light. Plant rank: A. Plant quality: Extraordinary. Plant age: 75 years. Plant spirituality: C. Rarity: Extremely.]
[Plant rarities range from: common, uncommon, rare, very rare, super rare, extremely, and heavenly.]
“This tree…” Milia said as she caressed it. “For one to grow naturally, even inside a B-ranked dungeon, is quite unheard of. The dungeon’s age, disturbances, demonic monsters, and natural energy all determine how plants and native species grow.”
I looked down from the large wooden platform we stood on which led to what seemed like an abyss. But if the tree was growing, there’d be ground. Probably.
I told everyone about the vision.
“Do you think they’re still in the dungeon?” Harmony asked, worried.
“Hopefully not,” I replied. “We’re here to collect the two ingredients and get the hell out of here. I also don’t want to see another cyclops again.”
Ramon laughed. “Ah, come on, they weren’t so bad. They only wanted to hug us.”
Iris giggled. “And squish you a bit while at it.”
Before heading down the stairs, Milia and I paid our respects to the tree once more. The apprentices, Chenzu, and the disciples did the same, feeling it appropriate. They probably felt like they’d offend Milia if they didn’t.
When we emerged onto the second floor, a great vast land of trees, plants, and a massive mountain, our eyes locked onto the active camp a few meters away.
The woman with twin blonde ponytails looked bored as she read something. The young man swung his sword in various, quite impressive, techniques that I couldn’t name without Milia’s help.
The woman suddenly looked at us, surprise in her eyes and waved cheerily.
“If only she wasn’t a vampire princess,” Chenzu said.
Ramon chuckled. “Vampire princesses are—”
“Keep talking your nonsense and I’ll have Ronica zap you until you’re as drained and bony as Prince Myster’s scummy butler.”
Ramon glared at her but didn’t continue what was likely going to be a borderline conversation. He was acting like he hadn’t gotten laid for a long time. Not that I knew for sure, but thirsting for a vampire who thought of humans as nothing but food shouldn’t be in anyone’s interest.
“Keep focused,” I warned. “We’ll try to be friendly. But the moment I see hunger, Nuwa, call your full holy powers.”
“Sir Saint Nate asked, Sir Nate gets!” Nuwa said, saluting clumsily like the harpies. Arm to the air and then a bow.
Forming a glare instead of laughing was impossible.
I couldn’t help but tense a little, knowing damn well we were likely in for one hell of a fight.
