Vel and I kept watch on the burning Taratect nest for an hour. I continued to summon lava and directed it further inside to eliminate all of the remaining eggs. We did not want to take any chances of a lost worker salvaging the nest and nursing a new queen. Most hatched Taratects were sterile and couldn't lay eggs without first evolving into a queen but a worker could direct eggs to hatch into a queen.

  Several workers tried in the time we spent watching the nest. All of them met their end swiftly. Once I couldn't detect any sources of mana inside the nest, I dismantled the traps I had placed around to avoid other adventurers stumbling on them by accident.

  Then, Vel and I left the area to build a base camp. It had taken us half of the day to clear the nest and I was in need of some rest. I built us a small nest a few hundred meters away from the travel path and Vel pulled some sandwiches from her storage. She had bought a set of small enchanted boxes with stasis enchantments on them to store perishables. Why she refused to take one of my amulets was still a mystery to me but I wouldn't push her on it, she probably had her reasons.

  With more than enough daylight remaining, Vel and I searched for the Sundew Devourers we needed to harvest for their bulbs. Most plant-like monsters were ambush predators, the kind that waited patiently for a prey to fall into their gullet since they were rooted in place. Though the monster encyclopedia in Niu also mentioned that the higher tier evolutions were capable of migrating from place to place.

  The Sundew Devourer was remarkably similar to the carnivorous plants back on Earth, only scaled to a size capable of capturing a fully grown human. Each plant was subtly different, likely from the multitude of evolution options available, but the constant features were the long hairs covered in sticky sap. One of the common branches used long tentacles covered in short hairs that curled in on themselves to constrict their prey. Once fully wrapped up, the victim often died from a mix of suffocation and being digested alive. From every account of survivors, it was an extremely unpleasant way to die.

  Thankfully for Vel, she was a plant mage who could detect such trickery from far away. I relied on my Perception Sphere and Danger Sense to spot the subtle signs of the plant's presence. Like the one a few dozen meters from us. Its various tendrils covered a large area and I had no doubt some of the more careless Taratects had fattened up this one.

  Out of curiosity, I created a Phantasm and sent it forward. The tentacles reacted quickly and clumsily wrapped around my clone's body but they had difficulty doing it. My clone, the knight variant, used her lava Mystic Aura to enhance her strength and managed to untangle several of her legs which she used to stab the tentacles with. Combined with a summoned pair of swords, she managed to free herself in around two minutes while losing around a third of her health.

  Vel finished the plant by impaling it with a long wooden spear. I kept my distance and used Psychokinesis to tear the outer layers of central bulb open and extract the ingredient we needed. We continued our search in a spiral from our base camp and encountered seven more before nightfall.

  Your group has defeated [Sundew Devourer (Level 158, Rank 5)]

  Your group has defeated …

  Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group

  Essence Absorption collected 120 ES (5x3x8)

  "We're pretty close to a village, right?" Vel asked. "According to the map at least."

  "A few days away at least," I said.

  "Things weren't as dangerous close to Niu," she remarked.

  "I'm pretty sure the barrier over Niu and Nis was … strong. From what I understand of the plans we took from Nis, there were several layers entirely dedicated to monster management. I don't think most villages have training grounds as extensive or well curated as we did. I'm pretty sure Breknir's friend improved on the standard design by quite a lot."

  "How come it broke then? If it was so strong."

  "A combination of tradeoffs," I explained, "it was excellent at monster management but not meant to withstand siege spells. The Crimson Lys probably had scouts analyze the barrier beforehand as well so they knew its weaknesses."

  "That mage was also …" She shivered in my arms. We both remembered that masked face all too well.

  "Next time," I hugged her, "he'll be the one fleeing."

  After a quiet night, Vel and I went back to work. We restarted our search spiral and mercilessly hunted down the Sundew Devourers in our path. A few monsters made an appearance and were dispatched as well. With the disappearance of the Taratect nest, others would take their place in due time and the ecosystem would balance itself once more. Their appearance was just enough to push both Vel and I further towards the finish line.

  Your group has defeated …

  Your group has defeated [Blue Jagras (Level 147, Rank 5)]

  Your group has defeated [Sundew Devourer (Level 166, Rank 5)]

  Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group

  Essence Absorption collected 130 ES (5x3x6+4x2x5)

  Reached Level 179 (Rank 5, +1 level)

  Gained: 5 ES

  Only one more level. We had all the Sundew Bulbs needed for the mission plus a few extras for my personal stores. Since we had more than half the day remaining, we started to return to the guild after quickly dismantling our camp. I went slower that time. We needed to reach rank six before arriving at the guild and speed was detrimental to that goal. Instead, Vel and I moved at the same speed we had while accompanying the Wanderers.

  We let the monsters come to us instead of chasing them down.

  The first to reach us was an Adult Barbed Duke Cobra with a posse of two smaller specimens. Familiar with their instincts, Vel and I dispatched them quickly and efficiently. As we marched on, more fell to our spells. Jagras of various colors, including a red variant with a fire affinity, rare in the jungle, some Barbcats and Panthers, and the occasional plant monster.

  Your group has defeated …

  Your group has defeated [Barbcat Hunter (Level 177, Rank 5)]

  Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group

  Essence Absorption collected 147 ES (5x3x5+4x2x9)

  We continued to travel in that way the second day until …

  Reached Level 180 (Rank 6, +1 level)

  Gained: 53 ES (Essence cap of 1000 reached, 53 ES overflow)

  Class Evolution for Mystic Knight available

  Class Evolution for Mystic Witch available

  Class Evolution for Mystic Priestess available

  Class Evolution for Arachne unavailable, requirements not met

  Skill Evolutions and Consolidations available

  Maximum skill level increased to rank 10, level 200

  Maximum attribute value raised to 350

  "Finally," I sighed.

  "Let's get back," Vel jumped on my back, she had reached rank six a few monsters before me. "Do you think they have a bath? I want to take a long bath!"

  "I think they do," I tried to remember the map. "In the southern residential district."

  Mystic Enhancement flared to life and I took off at full speed. We had made it in time, the caravan would reach the guild town in the next few days which left us two weeks. Plenty of time for me to molt twice.