The Luminara Queen was the field boss of the Gleaming Gardens. Her appearance wasn't guaranteed, it required an unusually large number of Grubbers to trigger it.

Under normal circumstances, there's no way we would've found her this fast. And definitely not here, right at the entrance of the Gleaming Gardens.

Still, I wasn't too surprised. This world had taught me to expect the unexpected. Thankfully, we'd made enough Mournbite Tonic to prepare for the worst.

A small part of me suspected this had something to do with my earlier visit to the Nest of Lumora. But I pushed the thought aside. This wasn't the time to get distracted.

I cast Inner Beast toward Muradin, reinforcing him just as he slammed his dual axes down, delivering his finishing move, Thunderstrike Slam.

"Erynd! How much longer?!" Darwyn shouted, loosing arrows in rapid succession at the glowing cocoon.

"Just a bit more, hold on!" I replied, mentally counting down as I studied the cocoon's trembling surface.

Darwyn and Muradin were clearly exhausted. Their movements had slowed, and sweat dripped freely down their faces. Meanwhile, the cocoon began to pulse violently, signaling the transformation was nearly complete.

"Everyone, back off! Now!"

The two of them immediately retreated.

[Ethereal Form cast]

In an instant, the cocoon shimmered, turning a ghostly translucent green.

Then, Orin hurled her fully-charged Mana Bomb, glowing with radiant blue energy, straight at the vulnerable boss.

The detonation was instant.

A dazzling explosion of arcane energy lit up the garden. We all stood still, shielding our eyes, waiting, breath held.

Silence. No wings. No movement.

"Yes! We did it!" Muradin shouted, raising both arms in triumph. "No more bug queen!"

"That was seriously impressive, Orin," said Darwyn, lowering his bow with a grin. "You've really gotten strong."

"Of course," Orin replied, smiling proudly. "Thanks to Erynd too."

With the Arcane Reserves passive from the Gravelurker Soul Fragment, Orin's Mana pool and regeneration rate had drastically increased, letting her charge her Mana Bomb longer than ever.

Combined with Ethereal Form, which amped up the damage of incoming spells by 200%, our combo was devastating.

"Is it stronger than our usual combo?" Muradin asked.

"Considering the time it takes to charge it, ours is still stronger," I said with a smirk. "But Orin's growth potential is much higher… unless, of course, you ever decide to switch your build to Strength."

"Hell no," he scoffed. "I'd rather be sturdy than swing harder."

With the battle over, we returned to our usual post-fight ritual, scooping up loot.

And there was a lot of it.

"Not that I'm complaining," Muradin groaned, stretching his back. "But my spine's about to snap from all this bending."

Worse yet, the drops were scattered across the entire garden, some hidden deep in the bushes, others wedged behind thorny vines and dangerously toxic flora.

"Be careful not to touch the poisonous plants," I warned.

"You're too late," Orin sniffled miserably.

I turned and winced. Red blotches had begun to appear on her face and arms.

Muradin howled with laughter while Darwyn smiled and moved to comfort her.

And as I watched them, a quiet thought slipped through my mind.

I'm going to miss this.

***

We spent quite a while gathering the dropped loot, and thankfully, the haul was more than worth it.

After a well-deserved rest, we finally went through the results of our hard work.

There were tons of valuable rare materials from both the Grubbers and the Prismwings. But the real prize?

Mothmother's Fang, a unique weapon that could only be wielded by druids.

It was an unexpected jackpot.

"For me?" Orin asked, wide-eyed, as she held the fang delicately in her hands. "Are you sure? I mean... isn't your weapon kind of, uh, bad?"

"Yeah, my staff's garbage," I admitted, only slightly wounded by the honesty. "But the Fang suits your build a lot better."

Truth be told, it wasn't as powerful as the legendary Staff of Verdant Might, but Mothmother's Fang had an unusual synergy with Orin's current setup. It complemented her magic style in a unique way.

"Well, in that case, I've been dying to upgrade," she said, beaming. "You can take mine!"

I accepted her staff gratefully. It was leagues better than my own, even if it was secondhand.

"All right then, let's move out!" Muradin announced, suddenly bursting with renewed energy.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you forgetting something?" I asked, smirking.

"Wait, what?" Muradin blinked. Orin looked equally confused.

"We still need to collect the small red berries," I reminded them.

"Aaaah, those," Muradin groaned. "Do we have to?"

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We'd been completely sidetracked by the Grubber ambush and everything that followed. The original purpose of our trip, gathering ingredients, had nearly been forgotten.

So, with no choice but to finish what we started, we stayed a bit longer in the Gleaming Gardens entrance area, scavenging for the tiny berries we needed to pass through to the next area.

"Ah, finally done," I said, stretching my aching limbs. We had gathered more than enough berries.

"I'd rather fight another swarm of Grubbers than go through that again," Muradin grumbled, rubbing his lower back.

"Same," Orin huffed, clearly irritated. She'd accidentally brushed against poisonous leaves twice and had been ambushed by a carnivorous flower at least once.

Darwyn, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm as he evenly divided the berries into four equal-sized containers. With his high Flexibility and Stamina stats, he was the least exhausted among us, of course.

"Okay, now we can finally leave this place," he said, handing out the containers.

We resumed our journey through the garden, clearing out anything that dared cross our path, from Grubbers and various flower-monsters to overgrown, twitchy insects.

Luckily, the monsters in this zone were slower and less aggressive than the previous ones, like the Pappus Pouncer or Oberon. So, the walk was more pleasant, in a battle-hardened adventurer kind of way.

"Strange we haven't seen a single Soul Fragment yet," Orin said, frowning.

"Yeah, considering how many monsters we've already crushed," Muradin muttered as he swung his hammer, smashing a Vileplume that had crept up on his left.

"Let's just hope the drop we actually need will show up later," Darwyn added. "None of the monster's Soul Fragments so far have really suited us anyway, right?"

As he spoke, he fired a flaming arrow straight into an approaching Buzzdrill. The creature let out a shriek before crashing into the ground in a puff of smoke and twitching limbs.

"Exactly," I nodded. "Let's just focus on what's in front of us for now."

Eventually, we reached a new section of the Gleaming Garden. Instead of vibrant flowers, we were greeted by an expanse of massive translucent blooms. They were nearly invisible, only catching the light at just the right angle. Each was about two meters tall, with petals spanning over a meter wide.

This part of the garden was infamous for crushing even the most experienced adventurers' spirits. Just like in Dreadspire, the maze regenerated randomly every Tower cycle.

Muradin stepped forward cautiously and slightly touched the nearest flower that was separated from the others, like an entrance marker to a maze. The flower instantly shattered into a thousand razor-sharp shards.

And even more astonishingly, it grew back a short while later.

"That's really sharp," Muradin muttered, inspecting his armor. "This maze is practically impossible."

"Orin, you said you can help us on this?" Darwyn asked, glancing at Orin.

"Of course, leave it to me," she said confidently. "But hold on a sec… my spell's still on cooldown."

So we waited, passing the time by discussing our strategy.

Thanks to her ring with cooldown reduction, we didn't need to wait long.

"All right, spell's ready!" Orin declared. With a flourish, she summoned her Spirit Beast once more.

Hororo appeared above her head with a soft hoot, then swooped down to perch gracefully on her shoulder. Orin gently stroked the white owl's feathers, a fond smile on her face.

"Hororo will help us out," Orin said proudly. "Just like other Spirit Beasts, it has its own unique abilities."

"Okay, Hororo, let's morph!" she called out, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

The summoned owl tilted its head and gave a quiet chirp before obeying, its form beginning to shimmer and shift with magical energy.

[Featherbound Pact cast]

Hororo flapped its wings once, then swooped forward in a graceful arc before looping around and returning behind Orin. It spread its wings wide, almost like it was wrapping her in a protective embrace.

Then, like a living wisp, Hororo faded, becoming translucent as it merged into Orin's back, leaving only its glowing wings behind.

Orin's eyes shifted color, turning a vibrant gold. Her pupils dilated wide, resembling an owl's.

And just like that, Orin's metamorphosis was complete.

"That's... beautiful," said Darwyn, clearly in awe.

"I'll admit, that's pretty damn impressive," Muradin muttered.

Orin slowly unfurled her new wings and gave them a cautious flap. Her feet lifted off the ground. Then, with an elegant twist, she soared into the air, spinning with the grace of a dancer.

"Never thought I'd be jealous of a druid's spell," Muradin joked. "I wanna fly like that."

Without missing a beat, Orin glided over the deadly maze of glass flowers.

With this, navigating the impossible maze, filled with dead ends and twisted turns, was actually possible.

Her newly enhanced vision let her see even the most transparent flowers from high above. With parchment in one hand and a magical quill in the other, she began drawing the maze's layout from the sky.

We sat down beneath the trees, watching the dazzling flight show.

"I've finished mapping it out," Orin announced as she landed gracefully in front of us, holding up the map she'd just made.

"Wow, that was quick. I just hope you didn't miss a turn," Darwyn said, taking the map from her and smiling.

"I need to head back across," Orin added. "I'll wait for you on the other side. I can't keep this spell active much longer."

Without waiting for a reply, she soared back over the glass maze. Her spell, Featherbound Pact, steadily drained her Mana as it remained active.

We all leaned in to examine the map together.

"I'll make a copy," Darwyn said. "It's probably safer if we go in one at a time. One of you should do the same, just in case."

"No need," I said. "I'll memorize it."

"Show-off," Muradin snorted. "Better not take the wrong turn later."

"I trust my memory," I said with a smug grin. "Besides, it's easier than walking through a maze while constantly checking a piece of parchment."

We spent a few minutes copying the map and committing it to memory.

"Wait," Muradin suddenly said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "What if I just smash my way through the maze and sprint to the other side before the flowers grow back?"

"Even with Galestride you'd never make it," I replied. "The flowers regrow too fast. You'd just get trapped and completely lose your bearings."

Muradin grunted, clearly disappointed his 'genius' idea was shot down. Still, he volunteered to go first.

He entered the maze with exaggerated caution, each step careful thanks to his bulky frame.

Darwyn waited about fifteen minutes before following.

"See you on the other side!" he called out with a grin, vanishing into the crystalline maze.

I waited another fifteen minutes before stepping in myself.

Entering the maze was far more nerve-racking in person. Back in Dreadspire, these glass flowers hadn't looked nearly this massive or menacing.

There were a few strategies to get through. The fastest and easiest was to keep the shattered glass flowers from growing back, but we didn't have that option. We had to work with what we had.

I moved quickly but cautiously, left turn, then right at the fork. I took the far-right path, then followed a long, narrow passage.

Thankfully, my photographic memory hadn't dulled in this world. It had gotten me this far, and right now, it was proving invaluable.

At this pace, I figured I might even catch up with Darwyn. Based on my calculations, I could reach the other side in under an hour.

I refocused. One slip-up could be dangerous. Sometimes the glass flowers were nearly invisible, or worse, they reflected sunlight so sharply they dazzled the eyes.

A single moment of inattention, and I could miss a turn... or crash face-first into a wall of razor-sharp petals.

Forty minutes passed, and I spotted a figure not far ahead of me, behind the glasses.

It was Darwyn. I was catching up.

I quickened my pace, just as I heard a faint sound behind me. It grew louder. Fast.

A chill shot down my spine as I turned around.

That's what made this maze deadly.

If even a single glass flower shattered, it could trigger a chain reaction, causing nearby flowers to explode in turn.

And just like a line of dominoes, the entire maze would collapse, then regrow in an instant.

Which was exactly what was about to happen.

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