Chapter 96

The ding of the System message rang in Nick’s mind, forcefully redirecting his attention from the fae’s corpse.

You have contributed to the defeat of .

+ 12,000 EXP.

Nick exhaled deeply, finally allowing himself to release the tension coiled in his body. The duel had felt longer than it actually was, and now that it was over, his muscles ached from the constant effort of keeping himself under control. His mind had done most of the work, but he had to remain perfectly still to keep the fae from noticing anything.

The men began to move around the clearing, following Eugene’s orders to secure their surroundings and ensure that no more surprises were waiting. Nick, however, took a step back and focused on his system messages. He pulled them up and was not surprised to see that he finally had enough exp to level up again.

Nick let out a chuckle, part relief and part triumph.

A pat on his shoulder nearly made him stumble. Nick turned, blinking, to see Morris standing beside him, grinning.

“Good work, kid.” The ranger’s voice was filled with something close to approval. Nick opened his mouth to deflect, but Morris shook his head.

“No need to be humble,” he continued, before Nick could argue. “Now I see why you don’t want to be an Army Ranger.”

Nick blinked. “What?”

Morris smirked. “You’d be wasted in the military, kid. You’ve got a way about you that’s different from most mages I’ve met. That’s not something they teach in academies, but you could definitely get into a good one if that’s your goal."

Then, before Nick could gather his wits, the old ranger turned on his heel and walked away, leaving him staring after him in confusion.

His father called him over before Nick could dwell too long on Morris’ words, which was just as well, because his thoughts were becoming increasingly silly for the danger he was still in.

Eugene stood by what was left of Dewdrop. At his feet, the remnants of her once-elegant form glimmered with dying embers. Her clothes were scorched, Nick noticed. This meant that whatever protection from fire she had came from outside, as she had successfully resisted the element while she was unobstructed.

Nick’s gaze drifted past the scene, following the massive scorched trench Eugene had carved into the forest. It extended more than a hundred feet, and was still smoking.

Nick whistled. “You really went all out.”

Eugene glanced at the destruction with an arched brow. “I don’t know anyone capable of being forced to listen to someone so self-absorbed without exploding."

Nick huffed a tired laugh, shaking his head, but Eugene's expression softened slightly before he could joke further. “You did good, kid.”

Nick blinked. His family in this life was much more open with their affection than his previous one, but he was still caught off guard whenever anyone, much less his father, complimented him so directly.

“I don’t know much about magic,” Eugene continued, “but I know enough to realize that getting us back wasn’t easy.”

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve done. I just had to disrupt her magic.” In a way, it was the truth, and it was better to avoid anyone getting weird ideas.

Eugene snorted. "There’s no reason to downplay it. I’ll ensure you’re rewarded properly when we return to Floria.”

Nick paused, unsure how to respond. His father wasn’t one for casual praise—so to hear him acknowledge his efforts so directly felt oddly satisfying.

Before the moment stretched too long, Morris rejoined them. “I climbed one of the taller trees,” he reported, “and got a good look at the area. I saw signs of fighting far in the distance.”

“That means the other strike groups have finally made contact,” Eugene mused, rubbing his jaw. “It took them less than I expected.”

Nick nodded, though he suspected that some of it might have been due to their trip between the layers, as time was a bit wonky outside of reality. Something tugged at his thoughts, so he opened his System messages again and focused on the first notification.

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“If Dewdrop was the Western Guardian,” he mused aloud, “doesn’t that mean there are more?”

Morris and Eugene both turned to look at him.

Nick met their eyes, gesturing to the fae. “The System categorizing her as the guardian of a specific direction would make no sense if she were the only one,” he pointed out.

Eugene nodded, though his expression didn’t shift. “That’s likely, and I see where you’re going, but we can’t assume the dungeon is developing along neat borders. It’s possible the other group found a den of monsters, rather than another guardian.”

Nick grunted. He knew that, but something about Dewdrop’s presence still unsettled him. Her personal power might not have been all that great, but when within her territory, she was certainly strong enough to halt their entire group. It was only because the soldiers thought to intervene that she lost. “Actually, how did the soldiers know to use ?”

“Ah, it’s standard practice,” Eugene replied, which didn’t explain much at all. Seeing that it wasn’t enough for his son, he added, “The watch is an old institution in Floria. I told you about the town’s funding. Some of the drills we go through are still the same as those used by our ancestors back then.”

“For a good reason,” Morris muttered, and Nick had to agree.

Eugene turned to the rest of the strike group, raising his voice. “We’ll move out in ten minutes! Finish preparing the area for a possible retreat, take anything useful, and get ready to leave!”

The men got to work, spreading out to complete their tasks. Some arranged stacks of charred logs to form rudimentary walls, while others dug trenches.

Before long, they were on the move again, marching faster than before, spurred on by the distant trails of smoke that became visible when the tree cover opened up enough.

The further they went, the more Nick started to realize how the dungeon had formed. The ambient mana in this place was dense and wild. It didn’t inhibit his senses—in fact, it made it easier to monitor his surroundings—but for someone like him who was so used to scarcity, it was certainly a strange feeling.

The other men, who were much less attuned to the shifts, could still feel its presence, as a sheen of sweat formed on their brows, and since they were all martial classes with physical stats far above Nick's, it couldn’t be due to exhaustion.

They had barely cleared a dense thicket of brambles when he sensed movement. A sudden rush of figures emerged from the foliage—nearly two dozen goblins, pouring in from the left flank, armed with crude bone knives and rusted hatchets.

The scouts were the first to react once he informed them, launching arrows in a dense cluster. Three goblins fell instantly, collapsing without a sound. The remaining ones shrieked, surging forward like frenzied animals.

Nick flicked his wand.

Three compressed spheres of air hit the closest goblins dead in the chest, sending them sprawling backward into their kin. Before any of them could rise, the soldiers rushed forward to drive their spears through their skulls.

Although the goblins fought fiercely, their lack of coordination prevented them from mounting a genuine resistance. Without a hobgoblin to lead them, they were unable to resist against the strength of the seasoned warriors.

Within a few minutes, their green corpses littered the ground, and the men wiped their weapons clean before pressing on.

You have defeated x3

You have contributed to the defeat of x12

+ 6.500 exp

Nick barely had time to catch his breath before the next attack came, as a low growl rumbled through the underbrush.

A pack of wolves—dungeon-spawned creatures with dark matted fur and glowing yellow eyes—rushed from the right. They moved far more fluidly than the goblins, barely making a sound against the earth.

“Shields up!” Eugene commanded once Nick brought their presence to his attention.

The soldiers braced themselves, forming a tight line with their swords drawn.

The wolves pounced, using the shields as springboards even as the first wave was sent sprawling from the hail of arrows.

One of the adventurers barely had time to dodge before a wolf tackled him to the ground.

Nick had expected as much given their coordination, and whipped up a burst of wind to disorient the beast. The stunned wolf staggered, giving the fallen adventurer just enough time to drive his dagger into its neck.

Morris loosed an arrow straight into another wolf’s eye, dropping it mid-pounce. Before the system had even confirmed the kill, he’d already shifted his attention to the next animal.

Unlike the goblins, the wolves fought using tactics such as flanking and feinting, but they lacked the numbers to overcome the strike group. One by one, they fell.

Eugene signaled to move again soon after the last wolf was put down, giving the men only enough time to carve the cores out of the biggest of the lot.

You have defeated x1

You have contributed to the defeat of x18

+ 8.333 exp

Nick thought they had earned a moment to breathe, but soon enough, he was proven wrong. They were barely past the wolves’ remains when the trees rustled violently. “Smaller monsters from above!” He called out.

Hundreds of squirrels leapt down from the canopy, resembling those he had encountered with Elia and Rhea so closely that for a moment he thought they were the same species. However, he soon realized that was not the case. Their fur was brittle and bark-like, their claws sharp as daggers, and their eyes gleamed with an eerie intelligence.

One latched onto a soldier’s arm, biting deep. The man yelled in pain, shaking it off as blood welled at the wound.

The scouts and adventurers swore, swatting the creatures off with weapons. Nick barely managed to dodge a leaping squirrel, knocking it back mid-air with a burst of wind.

“Kill the bastards!” Morris snarled, swinging his bow like a club to bat one away.

Nick didn’t hesitate to follow the order.

Following his instincts, he tried something new. Melding the spell forms of and and attempting to replicate his earlier success in manipulating the spell in a slightly different way, Nick adjusted the structural stability until he was confident he could exert more control over the magic while simultaneously generating more power than a simple manipulation of the air would permit.

A violent gale swept through the trees, merely ruffling the hair of the warriors while scattering dozens of the creatures.

Eugene set the nearby trees ablaze, cutting off their retreat. From that, it was quick work to eliminate the remaining monsters, though the squirrels certainly made them pay for it in bites and cuts.

“Damn sneaky buggers.” Eugene spat before motioning for them to keep moving.

You have defeated 11

You have contributed to the defeat of x42

+ 11.222 exp

By now, the injuries were mounting. Though no one was lost, some of the men had bites, scratches, and shallow cuts, forcing the priests to move up and down the line, tending to wounds with a mix of poultices and magic.

Their stores of potions were still full, but to use Ogden’s best to deal with such minor injuries would have been foolish, given that they didn’t know how long it would take them to destroy the dungeon.

Nick, however, was focused on something else as he began to sense a shift in the mana. It had felt dense before, but now it thickened, becoming almost suffocating. This didn’t align with what little he knew about dungeons, as they certainly weren’t near the center yet. Roberta’s diary had clearly stated that while leylines surfacing spawned them, it was only near the core that one could truly feel the vein’s presence.

He tensed. “Something big is coming.”

ROOOAAAAARRRR.

A deep, guttural bellow shook the earth. Nick staggered, his senses flaring. The air itself trembled from its force.

His father turned sharply. “What is it?”

Nick didn’t need to say anything, as Morris replied for him, his face set in a grim scowl, “That was a Moss Oni.”