“So,” Chris said as the group sat around the fire, having already finished eating as they now rested, “Why don’t you tell us about this Dryad Boss, Xiu?”

  “Of course,” the girl nodded, closing her eyes as she spoke, “It is what you would call a combat gauntlet fight. The Dryad’s tree possesses fruits for each color of the rainbow, six in total, being red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Each fruit produces a monster when it is shed from the tree, and each color produces a different kind of monster.”

  “So, like, red is for fire, right?” Elizabeth asked, Xiu Ming nodding.

  “However, the actual monsters that emerge are apparently random,” the girl continued, “I have personally seen a reptile that burned as hot as a fire, a jet-black horse with a flaming mane, and a being made entirely of swirling embers. And those are only from the red fruit.”

  “What do the other fruits make?” Chris asked in interest, leaning forwards as she continued.

  “From what I have surmised, red is fire, orange is paralysis, yellow is wind, green is plants or earth, blue is water or ice, and purple is poison,” Xiu Ming explained, “I am sorry, but that is all I know about this fight until we actually attempt it.”

  “That’s plenty,” Chris nodded as he stroked his chin, “Though we’ll need to be prepared for a final round as well. Either fighting the Dryad itself, or maybe a wave of all the different types of monsters.”

  “What makes you say that?” Xiu Ming asked, Chris just grinning at her.

  “This is Hard Difficulty, after all,” he chuckled, “Things are never as simple as they seem.”

  “That is true,” the girl nodded, “On Easy Difficulty, I only had to fight three types of monsters, but on Normal I had to fight all six. Perhaps there will be a seventh fight on Hard?”

  “Well, whatever happens, happens tomorrow,” Jessica yawned loudly as she stretched, “Let’s get some sleep first.”

  “Agreed,” the others nodded, most of them yawning as well, Alan asking after a moment, “Usual watch rotation?”

  ------

  “Everyone ready?” Chris asked as they stood in front of the door, the others nodding as he checked on them, “How do the new weapons feel?”

  “Good,” Alan laughed as he patted the sword at his hip, “I was kind of surprised that you forgot about that hoard of stuff we got from the last Dungeon. It was mostly C Rank gear, but you managed to upgrade a few pieces of it for us!”

  “Yeah,” Chris nodded, “It wasn’t easy, I broke over a dozen swords just to get that one to Rank B, but I figured it out in the end.”

  “I’m just glad you managed to upgrade my staff,” Ayla chuckled as she adjusted the tiara on her head, “I’ve gotten used to it, so I’d have been mad if it broke as well.”

  “I have adjusted to fighting with these chakram quite well,” Xiu Ming nodded, tossing one of the rings into the air, holding out her hand as it shot back into her palm, “It is nice to not have to use my Telekinesis Skill to recall my weapons.”

  “Right, you’re a Psionic Class, right?” Chris asked, “What else can you do apart from Telekinesis and Telepathy?”

  “I started with the Throwing and Stealth Skills,” the girl explained, “So I am capable of moving undetected quite well. I received Telepathy, Telekinesis and another Skill called Mental Barrage from my Class, and Alchemy and Potioncraft from my Alchemist Job.”

  “Just Alchemy?” Chris asked, “Not Alchemy Magic? I wonder what the difference is.”

  “Do we really have to have this discussion now?” Ayla chuckled, pulling Chris towards the door, “Come on, you two, let’s do this already!”

  ------

  The group stared in awe at the clearing, beautiful wildflowers covering its surface as a massive tree stood in the center, gleaming fruits of all colors and shapes hanging from its branches.

  “Wow,” Ayla breathed, “It’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah,” Chris nodded as he looked around, spotting the figure sitting on a small rock just in front of the tree, kicking its short legs as it watched them, “Wait…is that the…?”

  “The Dryad?” Xiu Ming asked, “Yes.”

  “Seriously?” Alan gasped, staring at the small figure in shock, “But it looks like a kid!”

  “Appearances can be deceiving,” Xiu Ming replied, “At the end of the day, it is the final Boss of this Dungeon, and so we must defeat it.”

  “You didn’t say anything about it being a little girl,” Jessica muttered, “I feel kind of bad about having to fight it already.”

  “It is just a monster, though?” Xiu Ming blinked, looking at the others in confusion, “And we do not have to kill it, just the creatures it summons?”

  “That we know of,” Chris sighed, before walking towards the massive tree, “Come on, let’s get this done.”

  “Hello!” the Dryad said cheerfully as they approached, “Are you here to play with me?”

  “Yes,” Xiu Ming nodded, the others getting ready to fight, “We are.”

  “Okay!” the small girl nodded, “Then let me get my toys ready!”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Three bright blue fruits suddenly fell from the tree, hitting the ground and cracking open, the juices swirling into the air and forming into three monsters as the Dryad giggled.

  “Frost Drake, Water Elemental and an Ice Slime!” Chris shouted as the monsters took shape, making the Dryad pout slightly, “I’ll handle the Slime quickly, keep the other two busy!”

  “Got it!” the rest of the group shouted as he formed a lance of fire above his head, shooting it into the round creature, causing it to squeal before popping.

  He glanced over at the others, nodding as he saw Jessica summon Aurum, the golden wolf howling as it weakened the other two monsters and empowered the humans, before charging in to attack the Drake. It didn’t take them long to fell the scaled monster, Elizabeth stabbing it repeatedly with her new weapon from stealth as Xiu Ming kept it occupied with her flying chakram, the rings spinning through the air unnaturally as they glowed.

  The creature collapsed after barely a minute, purple froth dripping from its mouth as its body was covered in small holes and cuts. He checked on the other two, seeing the Alan was basically just defending against the Water Elemental, the few attacks he could get in just passing through its liquid body.

  “It should have a weak point!” Chris shouted as he joined the fight, “All Elementals I’ve fought up to now have. We just have to figure it out!”

  “There!” Ayla shouted as she pointed at the monster, “In its…head thing, there’s a ball or something!”

  Chris glared at the monster as it continued to beat against Alan’s shield, the man holding up surprisingly well against the continued onslaught. A glint of light reflected off something in the place the monster’s head would be, its surface wrinkled like a brain.

  “Got it!” Chris shouted, “Thanks babe!”

  “If it would just hold still!” Alan gasped as he was forced down to one knee, “This would be so much easier!”

  “Got it,” Chris nodded as he gathered his magic, firing out a blast of frigid air, freezing the surface of the Water Elemental in seconds, before he charged in and slammed his mace into the orb, smashing through the ice and crushing it in one fell swoop, “It’s dead!”

  “Aw!” the Dryad huffed from her seat, “You broke them! I’ll have to get more toys to play with out now!”

  No sooner had it said that than three orange fruits dropped, cracking open as a large hornet, a giant centipede and a spider appeared.

  “Ew,” Elizabeth cringed, “Why’d it have to be all bugs?”

  “Spiders aren’t bugs, though,” Jessica called as Aurum faded back into her hand, Loppy pumping out instead, “They’re arachnids.”

  “Doesn’t matter right now, Jess,” the other girl shouted back as the group charged the new threats.

  The spider fell as Chris hit it with a blast of flame, while Xiu Ming, Elizabeth and Loppy danced around the centipede, their weapons and horn breaking through its hard shell, making it fall to poison before too long. Alan shouted out a battle cry as he blocked the hornet’s stinger, driving his sword into its abdomen, before ripping it out sideways, almost cutting it in half as the creature chittered and fell to the floor.

  “More broken toys,” the Dryad huffed again, “But this is getting fun! Let’s play some more!”

  The next set of fruits to fall were yellow, summoning a wolf, a large cat that looked like a tiger without stripes, and an Air Elemental. The fight ended quickly as Aurum returned, his howl drastically slowing the speedy creatures, making them easy prey for the group.

  Purple fruits fell next, surprisingly summoning three purple-colored Slugs, Chris easily dispatching each with a well-aimed fire lance. The next fruits were red, the monsters a mix again, an Ember Elemental, a Flame Spider and the strange obsidian black horse with a flaming mane that Xiu Ming had described before. Surprisingly, the horse proved to be the toughest foe, its hard body shrugging off most physical attacks, and being too fast for Chris’s spells to hit properly. They eventually managed to kill it when Chris shifted the ground beneath it, making it trip, the entire party descending on the beast to beat it to death.

  “You’ve broken almost all of my toys!” the Dryad shouted in annoyance as the final fruits fell, these ones a bright green, “You’re not very good at playing, are you?”

  A massive green ape, a vine monster and a flower-covered insect appeared, the latter two being demolished in seconds by a blast of fire from Chris as Alan blocked the strong hits from the ape, his body glowing from Jessica’s Enhancement Magic, Elizabeth and Xiu Ming stabbing and cutting it in the back until it collapsed, dead from poison.

  “How’re you feeling, Ayla?” Chris called as they stood ready against the Dryad, the small child pouting angrily at them.

  “Still at half a tank,” the Healer replied, having been casting Healing Magic the whole fight, “We can do this!”

  “Fine,” the Dryad huffed as vines and roots suddenly rose from the ground around it, wrapping around its body as it was lifted into the air, “I’ll play with you myself then!”

  “Shit!” Chris shouted as the roots erupted from the ground beneath them, wrapping around their legs as the vines lashed at their bodies, the Dryad gathering a massive ball of vines behind her as it loomed over the party, “What do we do?”

  “I got it!” Alan shouted as the huge mass shot towards them, “Aegis!”

  The shimmering shield shot out of his body, blocking the massive ball of vines and blasting away the roots around their feet, before he fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

  “Fuck, so this is what Mana depletion feels like?” he gasped, “No wonder you guys hate it so much.”

  “No fair!” the Dryad shouted as it started to gather another ball of vines, “You’re ruining the game!”

  “Oh, shut up!” Chris growled as he looked at his battered party, turning to the Dryad and summoning an equally massive ball of flame, “Playtime is over!”

  The ball of fire washed over the creature, making it scream in pain as the roots and vines were burned away around it, sending it falling to the floor.

  “Stop!” Jessica shouted, making the others freeze as she ran towards the Dryad, kneeling down in front of the crying child, “It’s okay now, we won’t hurt you anymore.”

  “P-promise?” the creature sniffed, Jessica nodding as she smiled comfortingly at her.

  “Yeah, I promise,” She said, holding out her hand towards the Boss, “In fact, you can come with us, if you want?”

  “Go with you?” the Dryad asked slowly, looking up at Jessica in confusion, “Will we play?”

  “Whenever you want,” the Tamer nodded again, reaching for the Dryad’s hand, “All you have to do is say yes.”

  “Can I…” the child muttered, flinching back slightly, “Can I have something first?”

  “Sure,” Jessica smiled, “Whatever you want.”

  “Then…I want your heart.”

  The small hand shot out, transforming into a vicious wooden claw as it raced towards Jessica’s chest. The Dryad gasped a moment later, looking at the man standing guard over the girl, the claw embedded in his shield as his sword pierced its chest.

  “But…” the creature murmured, bright red sap leaking out of the wound and its mouth, “I just…wanted to…play…”

  “Alan!” Jessica screamed as she shoved herself free of his grasp, “What the fuck did you do?!”

  “I protected you,” the man replied flatly as he pulled his sword from the monster’s chest, the corpse collapsing to the ground, where it started to melt into sap, “It was about to kill you.”

  “No!” the girl screamed, beating her fists against his chest, “It wasn’t! It was just trying to play! It wasn’t!”

  “Jess,” Chris said as the girl continued to pound on the man’s metal armor, tears streaming down her face, “Come on, let’s go.”

  “But…” Jessica sobbed, “She was just a child…she just wanted to play…”

  Elizabeth pulled the sobbing girl away from the man as he stood silently, his expression blank as he turned and walked towards the door behind the tree, ignoring the large chest in front of it. Chris grimaced as he followed after him, opening the chest and stuffing its contents into his Carry-All-Bag as the rest of the group approached the door as well.

  “Let’s go,” he sighed as he touched the door, the others doing the same, the jade structure swinging open and revealing the darkness beyond.