After a big meal, we got ready. I put on my new armor from the dungeon and jumped iartled. The armor was loose on me, but it shrunk to fit me perfectly. I didn’t remember a mention of self-adjustment or anything, so I identified it again:

  Aegis of the Light

  Item Type:

  Magical Leather Armor

  Description:

  Crafters bined Lunar Wyverher with mithril pting for added prote to create this extraordinary set of armor. The armor emits a divine aura, symbolizing invincible strength. The ensemble includes a jacket and pants worn on top ur garments. It offers excellent maneuverability and fort while guaranteeing powerful defense. Intricate engravings decorate each piece, emitting a subtle golden glow.

  Properties:

  ?  Dark Magic Resistance: Grants a 60% resistao dark magiing a powerful shield that absorbs and repels dangerous spells and curses.

  ?  Enhanced Fighting Prowess: This ability enhances bat abilities by 25%, boosting the wearer’s strength, agility, and endurance.

  ?  Radiant Shield: Projects a shield of light that grants temporary invulnerability to dark magid reduces physical damage for 10 seds.

  ?  Valor’s Aura: This ability provides a morale-boosting aura to allies within 15 meters, enhang their bat effectiveness and fear resistance.

  Appearance:

  The Aegis of the Light includes a fashionable leather jacket and pants in a stylish dark blue crafted from the Lunar Wyvern’s mystical hide. Strategically pced mithril pting on the shoulders, elbows, knees, and chest enhances prote. Intricate engravings embellish each piece, dispying a prote and valor symbols emitting a subtle golden glow. With its lightweight design and incredible durability, this armor offers unmatched mobility and defense.

  Lore:

  With the guidance of a powerful argel, Master Smiths crafted the Aegis of the Light from ented Lunar Wyverher and blessed mithril. Subsequently, they gifted this revered armor to a renowned hero appoio fight the emerging darkness. Many great champions have worn the armor, passing it down feions, and each has added their blessings and entments.

  “Mahya, my armor adjusted to me, but the description says nothing about that. Do you have any idea how that happened?” I asked, fidgeting with the jacket straps to emphasize my point.

  She shrugged nontly, tilting her head slightly. “You mind if I take a closer look?”

  “No, it’s just strahat it’s not mentioned in the description.” I shifted my weight, still getting used to the armor’s fit.

  “I’ve seen this before with especially valuable items,” she said, leaning in to ihe armor. “The Lore says that champions added their entments, so you might even discover additional properties when you use it.”

  “But I thought the Lore was bullshit.”

  Standing back up, she replied, “The story is uhe dungeoed the item, so it couldn’t have been passed down the geions, but the properties are true. So if it says more entments, you might discover some more, but it’s not guaranteed.”

  “Good to know.”

  I quickly switched between my swords, crossbow, bow, and the new healing staff to verify that I could do it on the fly and got an idea. I identified the staff again to firm that it said nothing abed healing, and it didn’t.

  Mystic Healer’s Staff

  Item Type: Magical Staff

  Description:

  Skilled craftsmen have used an ented oak, passed down through geions, to create this beautifully desigaff. Intricate mithril inys adorn the elegantly crafted staff, f a tinuous pattern of runes along its length. A sizable crystal orb s the staff, meticulously polished aing a gentle, shimmering light.

  Properties:

  ?  Enhanced Healing: Amplifies the strength of healing spells and abilities by 50%, facilitating quicker and more effit healing.

  ?  Mana servation: This ability reduces the mana cost of healing spells by 30%, allowing the user to cast a rger number of spells without rapidly draining their magical reserves.

  ?  Rejuvenation Aura: It emits a passive aura that gradually replehe health and mana of nearby allies within a 10-meter range, a stant flow of healing energy.

  ?  Radiant Glow: The orb positio the of the staff emits a gentle, rhythmic light that brings sod renewal to those in proximity, tributing a tranquil aura to the surroundings.

  Appearance:

  The Mystic Healer’s Staff is six feet tall and has a smooth, polished surface, making it easy to hold. When the wielder moves, the mesmerizing visual effect created by the mithril inys catches the light. The focal point of it all is the crystal orb positio the top, emitting a mystical glow that captures the attention of both the eyes and essehe staff’s design seamlessly bines elegand funality, highlighting its timeless beauty while enhang its powerful entments.

  Lore:

  An a order of Druids, itted to upholding band proteg life, created this powerful staff known as the Mystic Healer’s Staff. Throughout the ages, every individual who ow added their own magical enhas and blessings to it, turning it into one of the most revered and powerful healing reli existence.

  I poihe staff at Mahya and cast Healing Touothing happened; I didn’t evehe mana leaving me. I touched her with the staff and cast again—still nothing.

  “My staff isn’t w!” I pined.

  She looked at me, rolled her eyes, shook her head, and sighed audibly. Taking out a knife, she cut the back of her hand. “Now try it.”

  I tried to cast the spell from afar, but it didn’t work. When I touched her with the staff, it did, and the mana use was so minimal I didn’t eve.

  “Cool!” I excimed. It might not be a ranged heal, but the staff was two meters long, so it was a sort ed heal.

  She rolled her eyes again, but Al patted my back with a smile. At least one of them got it.

  Mahya put on her new wind cloak and took out her new sword to i it. Al only ied his regur gear.

  “You’re not using the new shield and sword?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “No. Both the shield’s weight and the sword’s length pose practical challenges. I could potentially make use of them iure, ti upon my numbers seeing a signifit upward trend.”

  “’t you just say they’re too heavy? Why the voluted sentence?” Mahya asked, exasperated.

  Al set his jaw stubbornly and crossed his arms. “It would be undignified.”

  “You know you’re with friends, right?” I asked him. “We won’t think of you as less princely if you speak pin English or whatever nguage.”

  He stared at me for a minute, looking bative, but then he sighed and nodded.

  I called Rue over, put on him the snake armor Lis made, and tied the ces. “We o find you a better armor,” I said.

  “Rue like yummy snake armor. Lis friend make this armor for Rue.”

  I scratched his ear. “I know, buddy. We’re not going to throw it away or anything. I want to find you something more protective.”

  “Familiars are rare in suana worlds. It will have to wait until we reach a higher mana world,” Al said.

  Mahya and I looked at him, surprised. He sounded normal! He blushed and looked away, fidgeting from foot to foot.

  I tried to bend the healing staff to see if it was strong enough to fight with, and it felt sturdy. I even put one end on the floor and put my foot on it, with my entire weight behind it. The staff held with no problems.

  I patted it and said, “Good boy.”

  “Rue good boy! Staff no good boy! Only Rue good boy!” Rue protested. His mental voice sounded so indignant that I almost ughed, but stopped myself.

  I patted him and said, “Sorry, Rue. You’re right. Only you’re my good boy.” Then, patting the staff, I added, “Good staff.”

  Rue nodded, and I felt a strong sense of smugness from him. My dog was something else.

  After we were ready, I colpsed the house, and we walked to the edge of the ed Ge of Unyielding Monsters. In my opinion, the name was ridiculous, but nobody else seemed to mind, so I said nothing.

  At first ghe pce looked like it would destroy all hope and light. It was dark even though it was daytime. The trees, with their bent s, looked like old guards. Their bodies were twisted and ghe ground was wet and smelled like rotting trash. We could hear the growls and roars of monsters we couldn’t see.

  Mahya kept her palm tightly on the handle of her bde and tensed her shoulders as she looked around at the creepy se. “Okay, stay sharp. Al, you’re in the front. John, stick close to Al and keep your swords ready. I’ll cover our fnks. Rue, keep an eye ahead, but keep your pace with us. Questions?”

  As we desded into the ge, we navigated thick mud and rge, scattered rocks that made the path treacherous. As we went deeper, it became darker, and the rot louder. Phosphorest mushrooms stuck to the trees and gave them a creepy glow.

  Al looked at the mushrooms with i until Mahya said, “Focus on the objective. Harvesting will e ter.”

  He nodded aurned his eyes to the front.

  Our first meeting happened earlier than pnned. A horrible animal about twice the size of a bear popped out from behind a boulder. Its cws were very sharp, and its mouth was full of sharp teeth. Dried blood covered its matted fur, and an odd, intelligent light shone in its eyes.

  “Attack positions!” Mahya yelled, and her MK47 appeared in her hands. “Al, keep it busy as attention. John, attack with your swords on the left. Rue, attack from the right. I’ll provide c fire.”

  Al rushed forward with his shield raised and his sword drawn. I moved to the left, and Rue ran to the right. Mahya moved so fast that she was a blur. She jumped at a nearby tree and fired at the thing. The monster was temporarily sidetracked a out a painful and angry roar. That was n.

  I hit it hard and fast, my bdes cutting through its thick, bck skin. The blood sizzled as it hit the ground. Rue’s jaws cmped down on the monster’s leg, and Al stood firm, his shield taking the beast’s wild swings with ease.

  “Don’t stop!” Mahya yelled, her MK47 firing in short, steady bursts. “Almost there!”

  Despite its injuries, the creature fought with terrible fury. Its cws tore into Al’s shield, leaving deep cuts. Rue’s telepathic yelp of surprise echoed in my mind as he barely avoided a vicious bite.

  Seeing an opening, I smmed both bdes into the monster’s chest with all my strength, aiming for its heart. With o roar that shook the earth, the monster’s eyes lost their wild light and fell over.

  Without missing a beat, I cast the looting spell. It shrank more and more and stopped. That surprised me, but I cast the spell again, and this time it fihe job. The whole thing took about two minutes, and we had our first crystal. It was even big enough to engrave the mana absorption circle.

  Maybe the size requires more than one casting?

  Al looked at me with astonishment, his eyebrows raised and mouth slightly open. “ you expin how you mao do that?”

  I shrugged casually, though pride tinged my voice. “It’s a spell I finally developed.”

  “When?” Al’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall. “I have no recolle of you achieving it.”

  A small smile pyed on my lips. “When you were selling potions oh.”

  “Are you able to teach me this spell in the same way you taught Lis?” Al asked, his eyes lighting up with hope.

  I shook my head, sighing. “No. I tried to teach Mahya, but it’s too plicated.”

  Mahya jumped down from her perd looked around. “Good job, team. Anyone hurt?”

  Al flexed his arm and winced. “Received a blow. It is not a matter of .”

  I sheathed my swords, took out my healing staff, touched Al, and healed him. As the magic worked, the pain faded from his face. “Better?”

  Al rolled his shoulders and nodded. “Thank you, John.”

  We kept moving, each step taking us deeper into the ge. The hreat came as a swarm of bat-like creatures, eao bigger than a fist but with razor-sharp teeth and insatiable huhey attacked in a cloud of screeg wings, creating a terrible noise.

  “Shields up!” Mahya ordered. “Al, cover us from above. John, ready your bow. Rue, keep them off us!”

  I switched to my crossbow and quickly loaded a bolt. Al raised his shield overhead, blog the attack. Mahya fired her MK47 in short, accurate bursts, each shot hitting its target.

  The air filled with the crash, and screech of falling bats. My crossbow twitched in time with the attacks as I picked off targets, and those that swooped too low met Rue’s teeth.

  Despite our efforts, some bats got through. Sharp teeth tore into my hand, drawing blood. Al cried out as oched onto his exposed neck.

  “John, we need healing!” Mahya’s voice cut through the chaos.

  I dropped my crossbow and grabbed my healing staff, healing them one by one.

  Al shouted, “Drink the Exoskin Elixir.”

  Shit! I fot about it!

  We dow while fending off attacks with the other hand. I tried to give oo Rue, but he refused, saying, “Rue too fast. Bats not catch Rue.”

  We tinued fighting, and the potion was outstanding. One of the bats bit me, but it couldn’t break the skin a like pressure from dull needles. After that, I fought less defensively and killed a lot more bats. Just when it seemed the fight would never end, the swarm thihe remaining bats retreated into the darkness, leaving us surrounded by their fallehren.

  “Everyone okay?” Mahya asked, sing for any lingering threats.

  We nodded, catg our breath amidst the age. I cast the looting spell repeatedly and stored the crystals with my mana field. Those were small, but I estimated that after merging them, I would get two or maybe even three crystals I could engrave. We still needed more.

  Oh well, the looter’s job is never-ending.

  I snickered at the thought, but did it mentally. No need for them to think I was crazy on top of an idiot.

  As the m wore on, we entered a dehicket of thorny vihe air grew thick with spores, making it difficult to breathe. Sickly yellow bell-shaped flowers hung from the pnts, their petals oozing a caustic substance.

  “Put oion masks,” Mahya instructed, her voice muffled. “These spores could be toxic.”

  No sooner had she spoken than the vines writhed, revealing a massive, ivorous pnt. Razor-sharp thorns filled the pnt’s maw, and the bell flowers spewed acid in all dires.

  “Fall back!” Mahya shouted. “John, take out those flowers! Aim for the bases!”

  I went about it differently and shot mana darts at them; after all, I o raise the spell’s level. Each dart found its mark and damaged the acid-spewing flowers.

  “Rue, circle around and find a ot!” Mahya anded. “Al, protect John. I’ll keep it distracted from above.”

  We executed Mahya’s pn. Rue darted through the thorns, searg for vulnerabilities. Al's shield deflected the pnt’s attacks. I tiet the flowers, each shot redug the pnt’s offensive capabilities.

  Mahya leaped from tree to tree, her MK47 firing rapidly to fuse the monstrous pnt. It thrashed wildly, gouging deep furrows into the ground and nearby trees.

  “Rue’s found something!” Mahya called out. “John, aim for the base of the main stem!”

  I adjusted my aim, sending darts into the thick, woody stem. With a screeg wail, the pnt’s movements grew erratic before finally slowing. The st flowers withered and fell, hissing as they deposed. With a final groan, the onidable structure of the giant pnt colpsed, now lifeless.

  I cast my loot spell and had ane crystal. This ge was a treasure trove fitech. I just wished we didn’t o fight first to get the “treasures.”

  As we regrouped, Mahya dropped from the trees. “Well done, everyohat was close.”

  The ge never let us feel at ease. Even as we tried to rest, the distant sounds of monsters r reminded us of the dangers ahead. As noon approached, the wave of attacks began. A horde of nightmarish creatures burst from the trees.

  “Rue sense danger from all sides. Stay close to Rue!”

  Mahya was already moving, her MK47 bzing as she leaped into the air. As she desded, she switched to her sword, decapitating a wolf-sized i in mid-air.

  Al held his ground as a rhino-sized beast charged, his shield abs the impact. Despite the tremendous force, Al remaianding, redireg the creature’s momentum and driving his sword deep into its side.

  I swiftly crystallized the fallen monster. My luck activated a sense of danger from behind. I spun around and shot a manta ray-like creature, advang silently.

  “John, heal!” Mahya shouted, grimag as a scythe-like limb grazed her leg.

  I ran to her, and she jumped down, but I had to fight the ioid to get to her. Al came to protect us with his shield so I could heal her.

  The fight dragged olessly. Switg between my swords and mana darts, I fought with every ounce of strength. Each strike and spell slowly transformed the battlefield into a dazzling garden of crystals littering the ground.

  Mahya was a whirlwind of motion, her agility and speed keeping her just out of reach of the beasts’ cws and fangs. Al’s sword and shield worked in perfect harmony, and his movements were precise. Rue’s massive form barrelled through smaller creatures, his jaws snapping shut with bone-crushing force.

  “Rue smell alpha!” He warned us. “Big alpha ing!”

  A colossal figure emerged around the bend as if summoned by Rue’s warning. Standing four meters tall, it resembled a had overpping ptes of bone c its body with wicked horns ing its head. Its eyes flickered with evil intelligence.

  Mahya didn’t hesitate. She used the smaller monsters as stepping stones, running closer to the alpha. With a Jump, she nded on its shoulder and drove her sword deep into the jun of its ned colrbohe alpha roared, thrashing wildly in pain and fury. Mahya g on, firing her MK47 point-bnk into its face, but the creature’s rage seemed only to grow.

  Al and I fought through the smaller monsters, leaving a trail of crystal in our wake. Rue lunged forward, his teeth g onto the alpha’s leg, trying to unba. I switched to my bow, firing arrow after arrow into the alpha’s boes. Each hit elicited a scream of pain, but its strength remained undiminished.

  “We o end this now!” Mahya shouted, narrowly avoiding a swipe from the alpha’s massive cws.

  Aruck me. “Al! Give me a boost!”

  Uanding immediately, Al braced himself and raised his shield. I spriowards him, jumped onto his shield, and he unched me into the air with all his might. As I soared towards the alpha, I drew both of my swords.

  Time seemed to slow as I reached the apex of my flight, level with the alpha’s head. It locked its burning eyes onto me, filled with fury. I coated both swords with a thick coat of mana and drove both bdes into those evil eyes, using every bit of my strength.

  The alpha’s death cries shook the ground. As I fell, Mahya caught me incredibly fast, and we nded safely. The alpha’s massive body colpsed, shaking the earth with its final impact.

  Breathing heavily, I cast the crystallization spell on the alpha. We got one hell of a crystal—bigger than my house core.

  The remaining monsters scattered in different dires, like a spell had just broken. They slunk bato the ge, leaving a battlefield littered with the crystals of their fallen.

  We stood there, exhausted. Mahya leaned on her sword, Al slumped against his shield, and Rue pa my feet. I gazed at my friends and managed a weak smile.

  “We did it,” I whispered, dropped on my butt on the ground, utterly spent.

  Ohe excitement of battle subsided, we took a quick break to drink a. When I felt like I could stand again, I walked around the battlefield and collected all the crystals.

  We went deeper into the ge ie afternoon. The sery got even stranger, with strange roations that looked like cacti made of rocks and pnts that didn’t follow the rules of nature. Overhead, there was a ledge with two trees growing upside down. There were also bushes growing out of granite rocks and vines curled in perfect squares and triangles.

  Glowing moss covered some rocks, emitting an eerie, phosphorest light. Crystallials grew from cracks in the rocks to form big flower-like shapes. As the sun hit them, the petals ged colors. Ferns with metal brahat ked softly in the wind and patches of grass that seemed made of gss. Oraructure looked like a bunch of stone mushrooms, with caps that pulsed slowly and gave off a soft, rhythmic glow.

  A few meters deeper, we navigated through a field of enormous mushrooms, some with caps rge enough to serve as ptforms. Those mushrooms were alive, not the stone ones from before, and not as pretty as the ones we had in “our” valley. Here, they were sickly green-brown, and even Al sched his them. And this guy loved mushrooms. They also released spores into the air that, based on my mask’s reas, were nasty.

  We had our st fight as the su, casting long shadows across the surreal terraiood on the bank of a dark, bubbling pool that stank to high heaven.

  Without warning, the pool erupted, releasing a swarm of creatures the size of poodles, their wet bodies glistening in the dim light. Their four horns shoh an eerie glow, and their yellow eyes burned with evil i. As they charged, their cws ah gleamed dangerously.

  “Not these again!” Mahya groaned.

  “Pims!” Rue shouted and sounded excited for some strange reason.

  The ensuing battle was brutal and intehe creatures, though small, were deadly in numbers. Their cws ah could inflict severe damage.

  I stantly switched ons. My swords sshed through the air, cutting down the surrounding creatures. When they got too close, I sed to my staff, using sweeping motions to create space. My mana darts effectively picked off the creatures harrying my friends.

  Al’s shield was an imperable barrier against the swarm. His sword fshed in deadly arcs, each swing dispatg multiple pims. “They just keep ing!” he shouted over the din of battle.

  Mahya was a blur of movement, her agility keeping her just out of reach of the swarming creatures. She switched seamlessly between her sword and MK47, taking down enemies near and far. Her ability to run along walls and leap incredible distances made her a stant, elusive target.

  “Rue smell more ing!”

  For every creature we felled, two more took its pce.

  We were being pushed back towards the mushroom field when aruck me. “The spores! If we lure them into the thick of it, maybe it’ll disorient them!”

  Mahya nodded, uanding immediately. She leaped onto one of the enormous mushroom caps and tauhe swarm. “Over here, you ugly mutts!” she yelled, firing her MK47.

  The enraged creatures followed her into the spore-den air. She jumped from one mushroom to another and, food measure, jumped on each mushroom a couple of times to release more spores. As the pims ehe mushroom field, their movements became erratie turned on each other, while others stumbled and fell.

  “This is our opportunity!” Al shouted, charging into the disoriented horde with his shield leading the way.

  We pressed our advantage, cutting down the fused creatures with renewed vigor. I rapidly alternated between my ons, verting each dead pim into a crystal. As the st creatures fell, an eerie silence desded on the ge.

  “Rue smell no more close,” Rue announced, relief apparent in his voice.

  Mahya looked at roup with a mix of pride and . “Good job, everyone. We’ve made signifit progress. But we’re all exhausted, and it’s getting dark. Let’s head back.”

  We nodded in weary agreement. Exhausted from fighting all day, we struggled to return to the ge entrance.

  “Rue happy. Rue fight monsters with friends. Rue got level,” he excimed, his tail wagging iement.

  “grats, buddy,” I said in a tired voice.

  Al and Mahya also gratuted him as we trudged back. Crystal-wise, it was a good day, but I was utterly spent. Fighting monsters was a hard job.