It didn't take long before we spotted a plant that looked stunning… and deadly.

At first glance, it resembled a massive dandelion, when its sunny yellow flower had already faded, replaced by a large, fluffy white sphere of seeds.

What made it truly bizarre was the fact that this fluffy head sat atop a single, hollow green stem, unbranched and towering over ten meters tall.

The overgrown dandelion, known as the Sky-Pappus tree, was notoriously troublesome.

Without warning, a blur leapt from the top of the tree, its body briefly hidden within the cottony white fluff.

A giant squirrel-like creature sprang into view, its brown fur curling tightly as it spun mid-air like a cannonball.

"Incoming!" Darwyn shouted, drawing his bow and firing arrows in smooth motion.

Muradin raised his shield just in time.

BAAAM!

The impact rang out like a war drum. The monster smashed into Muradin's shield, pushing him back several steps.

It bounced off and rolled toward the base of the tree, clearly planning to scamper back up.

But Darwyn was quicker. He fired a second shot, this time, an enchanted flame arrow, hitting the creature squarely in the back.

The Pappus Pouncer collapsed with a hiss, and the rest of us moved in to finish it off.

Muradin picked up the Mana Stone it left behind and tossed it lazily toward Orin.

"One down," he muttered. "Only about… I don't know, dozens more to go."

Ahead of us, the path was lined with dozens of Sky-Pappus trees.

And each one of them was likely hiding a Pappus Pouncer, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

We advanced carefully, luring the creatures down one at a time and dispatching them as they landed.

Unfortunately, it was a slow, grueling process. Worse, the trees were growing closer together now, and some monsters began attacking in pairs or even trios as we crossed into their strike zones.

Luckily, we had prepared for this.

"There has to be a better way," Muradin grumbled for the third time. "I hate this plan."

"There isn't," I said flatly. "Just remember, there's something special waiting for you at the end of this trip."

"Are you sure I'll survive it?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

"Ugh. Fine. But if this goes sideways, I swear… just because I've got high defense doesn't mean I'm immune to pain!"

"Wait, are you saying you're scared?" Darwyn teased with a smirk.

"Like hell I am! Let's just get this over with."

Darwyn grinned and began setting things up.

When he gave the signal, we all stepped back.

[Galestride cast]

Muradin's body suddenly felt feather-light, his footsteps nearly silent as he dashed toward the center of the grove. The wind whistled around him.

"ALRIGHT YOU FLUFFY FREAKS, COME GET ME!" he roared, arms wide, shield lowered.

A sudden rustle-rustle-rustle erupted from all directions as the trees began to shake. From every single treetop, dozens of Pappus Pouncers leapt into the air, curling into fuzzy cannonballs.

They were all coming for him.

Muradin closed his eyes. Not in fear, but with the dramatic flair of a man accepting his doom.

He didn't even raise his shield.

The rest of us watched from a safe distance, waiting for the right moment.

[Ethereal Form cast]

Just as the wave of monsters was about to crash into him, Muradin's body shimmered and turned translucent, glowing green and half-ghostly.

A strange sensation rippled through him. He couldn't move now, but he didn't need to.

The monsters passed right through him like smoke.

They collided with one another in midair, tumbling down in a chaotic pile.

[Detonate cast]

BAAAAAAAAAAAM!

Seven bombs, carefully strapped to Muradin's armor, detonated simultaneously.

A deafening blast lit up the field. The air rippled from the shockwave, and a fiery flash lit the sky, sending dirt, fluff, and monsters flying in every direction.

Muradin opened his eyes slowly, then laughed with wild satisfaction.

"BOOM, BABY! EAT THAT, YOU FLUFFBALLS!"

The ground was scorched, the green stem of Sky-Pappus trees singed, and the once-fluffy monsters now just piles of smoke and ash.

My newly acquired spell, Ethereal Form, was unlike anything I'd used before. It was a peculiar enchantment, one that temporarily turned the target ethereal. They couldn't move or attack, but no physical damage could touch them either.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Not even Darwyn's Sticky Bombs.

We quickly finished off the remaining Pappus Pouncers that hadn't been killed by the blast and were now frantically trying to scurry back up the trees.

"Look at all those drops," Orin said, eyes wide as she stared at the glittering pile of Mana Stones and loot scattered across the grass.

"Let's get to work," I said, already crouching to gather them one by one.

Oddly enough, we ended up spending more time picking up the loot than we did actually fighting the monsters.

"Ugh, my back!" Muradin groaned, clutching his lower spine dramatically. "We need a courier. Or better yet, a wizard on the team!"

"Great idea," Orin chimed in, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her sleeve.

"I was thinking the same," added Darwyn. "We seriously need someone just for this kind of thing."

A wizard would've been perfect. My mind instantly went to Sam. Unfortunately, he still hadn't mastered any utility magic. Guess I'll have to start training him soon, I thought.

Despite all the monsters we had taken down, not a single Soul Fragment dropped. Disappointing, but at least we managed to collect a decent amount of Pappus Gallbladder.

"Alright, back to the good old primitive method," Darwyn muttered once we'd cleaned up every last drop.

More Sky-Pappus trees loomed ahead, but luckily the spacing between them was generous this time, just enough for our slow-and-steady approach to work again.

We pressed on, one tree at a time, using the same bait-and-burst tactic we had perfected earlier.

By the time we finally cleared the last of them, the sky had darkened. Dusk settled over the landscape like a heavy cloak.

Then, new shapes began to stir in the shadows. Different monsters, different movements.

We had made it past the annoying trees.

And up ahead, just beyond the ridge, the glow of flowers shimmered faintly in the distance.

We were close now.

Gleaming Gardens awaited.

Oberon, the towering heron-like monster, stood tall on its long, slender legs, its neck just as unnervingly elongated. But unlike an ordinary bird, this one had a thick, hard armor plating covering its head, dark brown with streaks of black, standing in stark contrast to the pale bluish-gray feathers covering the rest of its body.

The Oberon pack spotted us and came rushing in, their movement awkward but alarmingly fast.

When they were close enough, one of them raised its head high, then slammed it down in a devastating headbutt.

Luckily, it had a noticeable wind-up.

We all dodged the attack just in time, except for Muradin.

"Hey! What are you doing, you stupid dwarf?!" Darwyn yelled at him.

Instead of stepping aside, Muradin braced himself and caught the blow with his shiny new shield.

[Shield Bash cast]

He swung the Titanforged Aegis upward, crashing it into the Oberon's face. The monster staggered, stunned just long enough for Muradin to step back.

"Stubborn as ever," Darwyn muttered, firing off a flaming arrow at the creature's legs, its known weak point.

With the Oberon reeling, Orin, who had been hiding behind us, lobbed a charged Mana Bomb straight into the fray.

A glowing sphere of energy detonated mid-air, vaporizing most of the monsters.

Darwyn made short work of the few survivors with precision shots.

Orin immediately cast Mana Surge to restore her magic, then sat cross-legged to meditate, while the rest of us scavenged the area for monster drops.

After a brief rest, we continued forward.

Not long after, a new threat emerged. Small flying insects with glowing yellow bulbs dangling from their tails.

"Flashmites," I muttered. "It's nightfall. They're coming out. Be careful, don't let them get too close."

Flashmites looked like fireflies… if fireflies were aggressive and had bulbs dangling from their long tails. Fortunately, they were fragile. Darwyn could take them down with just a shot or two.

But as darkness thickened, more and more of them began to appear.

"I'll draw them away," Muradin offered, stepping ahead.

Five Flashmites zoomed straight toward him. One by one, their tail bulbs flared, blinding bursts of light flashing like tiny suns.

We all shielded our eyes from the dazzling glare.

Muradin, however, was caught right in the blast zone. He froze in place, dazed and blinded.

The Flashmites' glowing bulbs dimmed immediately after the attack, and they began to drift away.

They would need time to recharge.

We used the lull to move forward carefully. Darwyn kept his eyes peeled, taking out any that got too close.

"We're almost there," Darwyn whispered, his gaze locked ahead.

A cluster of heron-like Oberons stood gathered near a thicket of flowers.

"That clearing behind them is our next safe spot," I added quietly.

"How's your Mana?" Muradin asked Orin.

"Charged and ready," she replied with a nod.

"Alright then," Muradin grinned. "Let's start the party."

Orin began charging another Mana Bomb, while Darwyn fired a flaming arrow, not at the monsters, but into the patch of grass just beyond the group of Oberons.

The dry brush lit up instantly, crackling into a campfire-sized blaze.

As expected, the Oberons flinched and backed away from the fire. They hated flames.

But the Flashmites? Oh, they loved it.

Dozens of them, including those with darkened bulbs, immediately swerved toward the fire. Just like moths to a flame.

We'd planned this carefully.

Flashmites were drawn to heat and light, especially the intense kind, which recharged their tail bulbs much faster than natural light could. Meanwhile, the Oberons instinctively avoided fire.

We wanted to separate them.

Individually, neither monster was too dangerous. But together? They were a nightmare.

The Flashmites' blinding lights covered for the Oberons' slow, predictable attacks. And the Oberons, with their sheer size, acted as moving shields, drawing aggro while the Flashmites floated in unnoticed to deliver their dazing blasts.

Without Elena's Phantom to act as a decoy, we'd had to improvise.

Darwyn already had a special arrow loaded, one tipped with some Sticky Bombs, waiting for the Flashmites to bunch up.

Orin would handle the Oberons.

Muradin took position as the bait, just waiting for Darwyn's signal.

I preemptively cast Galestride and Tempest Strike on him, boosting his speed and giving extra protection.

Then Darwyn fired.

Muradin dashed forward toward the herons.

But then, chaos.

A Pappus Pouncer, one of those squirrel-like monsters from earlier, came out of nowhere and dive-bombed Darwyn before he could trigger the bomb. The impact knocked him flat.

Two more Pappus Pouncers suddenly launched at Orin and me.

I dodged just in time.

Orin wasn't as lucky, one clipped her side, throwing off her aim. Her Mana Bomb went off course, exploding early and away from the clustered enemies.

The plan was crumbling fast.

Only a few Oberons were caught in the blast. As for the Flashmites, not a single one was singed. Darwyn's Sticky Bomb had simply failed to detonate.

Now, both enemy groups, the herons and the glowing bugs, turned their attention to Muradin.

He looked up in disbelief at the battlefield.

"What happened to the plan?!" he shouted.

It was going to be a long night.

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