Len kept his eyes scanning ahead as they moved through the ancient glade. The bioluminescent moss cast everything in an eerie blue glow, making shadows dance between the massive trees.

  "Squad's holding up better than expected," Lydia said, falling in step beside him. "Lost some shields, but they're adapting to the stalkers' attack patterns. The experience they earned is paying off - wounds that would've killed them before are barely slowing them down now."

  "Takes a sturdy mind to receive those wounds and keep going."Len never stopped scanning for threats.

  What had started as occasional hollowed-out trunks had transformed into an abandoned settlement. Doorways and windows dotted nearly every trunk, carved with intricate patterns that pulsed faintly with residual magic. He'd counted roughly fifty such dwellings spread throughout the glade.

  "Whoever lived here knew what they were doing," Len said quietly. "These aren't just holes carved in trees - they're proper homes with preservation enchantments woven into the wood itself."

  The formation slowed as they approached the center of the grove. An enormous tree dominated the space, its massive trunk stretching up, spreading out into a hanging canopy, blocking any view of the ceiling above. Unlike the other trees with their welcoming doorways and windows, the area beneath this giant was eerily empty - no moss, no roots, just bare earth.

  "Welcome to the Heartroot," Rick said.

  Len's boots sank into the soft earth as they spread out in a loose arc. The squad moved forward in practiced unison, weapons at the ready.

  The tree groaned, a crack ran up it and peeled open.

  A towering form emerged, wood creaking and groaning as it unfolded to its full height. Fifteen meters of ancient bark and twisting limbs loomed over them, its form a mockery of human shape. Where a face might have been, knots and whorls twisted into something almost like eyes and a mouth.

  Len grabbed a core caving into it as soon as his hand landed on it.

  "Ready yourselves!" Len shouted.

  "The ground!" Rick dodged to the side as roots erupted from the ground around them.

  The earth buckled and heaved, nearly throwing Len off his feet. He slashed through a whipping tendril with his sword, the enchanted blade biting deep into the animated wood.

  More roots burst upward, forming walls that cut off their retreat. The Ancient Treant's limbs stretched outward like massive branches, each movement accompanied by the sound of straining wood. Thorny barriers sprouted between the soldiers, trying to split their formation.

  Len ducked under a sweeping branch that would have taken his head off. "Rick! The roots are spreading - we need to-"

  A wall of vegetation slammed up between them, cutting off his words. Through gaps in the thorny barrier, Len glimpsed smaller plant creatures emerging from the shadows between the trees. The Ancient Treant was calling reinforcements.

  The ground beneath his feet writhed as more roots attempted to entangle him. Len channeled mana into his legs and leaped backward, barely avoiding being snared. The forest itself had become their enemy, every tree and plant bending to the Ancient Treant's will.

  Len spun around, taking stock of who remained with him after the roots had split their formation.

  "To me!" Len shouted above the groaning of wood. "We need to hit it before it can summon more reinforcements!"

  The soldiers fell in behind him as he charged forward, ducking and weaving through the grasping roots, cutting through them to create a path.

  "Your sling - quickly!" Len called to the soldier on his left. The man didn't hesitate, pulling the leather strap from his belt and tossing it over.

  Len caught the sling with one hand, and looped it around the enchatned core in his pocket-the core Rick had pulled from his kill.

  The crystal pulsed with unstable energy, ready to discharge its deadly cargo of lightning. The leather grew warm from the core's volatile magic as he pulled out the loaded sling, sword hacking through forest. He spun the sling, whirring beside him.

  The Ancient Treant began to move, its massive form shifting with deliberate purpose. Len planted his feet, spinning the sling in a tight arc above his head. He released at the perfect moment, sending the core streaking through the air like a meteor.

  The projectile struck true, embedding itself in a knot of wood at the center of the treant's trunk. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then lightning exploded outward, blue-white tendrils of electricity racing across the ancient bark.

  The forest shuddered around Len, ceasing its growth. His boots pounded against dirt and roots as he led the charge forward. The lightning strike had torn through the treant's defenses, but Len knew better than to assume victory—there hadn't been any experience increase.

  Blackened bark crumbled from its frame where the lightning had struck, exposing pale wood beneath. The knot where the core had struck was a smoking crater in its chest.

  The treant's limbs trembled, then began knitting back together. Fresh wood grew over the damaged areas, healing the wounds before Len's eyes. The dense wall of vegetation it had summoned started to wither and fall away, revealing Rick's group on the far side, weapons raised and ready.

  "Hit it with ranged spells, fire and lightning!" He yelled to the soldiers with him. He reached into his pocket, carving another core and wrapping the borrowed sling around it.

  They unleashed attacks on the creature.

  Lydia's squad emerged from behind another dissolving barrier to their left, having fought through whatever plant creatures the treant had sent their way. She caught Len's eye and nodded, her sword gleaming with sap from fallen enemies and forest.

  Spells bombarded the Ancient Treant from all sides. Fire and lightning struck its massive form. Mana bolts caused sections to mutate. It shedded those parts like leaves in fall.

  The damage seemed superficial as new wood grew to replace what was destroyed.

  Movement caught his eye - streaks of light descended from the ceiling through the branches of the massive tree. The glowing creatures darted between the leaves, their forms hard to track.

  Spells shot towards the converging groups. Len created a protective barrier. The shield crackled as it absorbed the attacks, but held firm.

  "Focus on the glowing creatures!" Len shouted to the soldiers around him.

  As spells redirected upward, Len studied the Ancient Treant. Each time they damaged it, tendrils of energy flowed from the surrounding grove into its wounds. The healing seemed to draw power directly from the forest itself.

  Rick's ability to manipulate stone could disrupt those connections. And Lydia's speed and dual swords made her perfect for hampering its movement.

  "Rick!" Len called out. "We need to cut off its connection to the grove. Can you raise stone under it?"

  "I'll do what I can!"

  "Lydia, target its legs - keep it from shifting position. Without contact with the forest floor, it won't be able to heal!"

  The soldiers coordinated their attacks on the glowing creatures above. Lightning arced through the air, striking true more often than not. The creatures fell from the canopy, their light fading as they crashed to the forest floor, all while they continued advancing.

  He kept the barrier up as he enchanted another core in his pocket, wrapping the sling around it. Len planted his feet as he finished, pulling out sling and payload in one movement, spinning the makeshift weapon in a tight arc beside him. The whirring sound cut through the chaos of battle.

  The Ancient Treant's wooden face turned toward him as he released. The core sailed through the air, a streak of blue-white light aimed at its trunk. But instead of striking home, one massive branch swept up with impossible speed. Wooden fingers closed around the crystal.

  Len's eyes widened. Before he could shout a warning, the treant hurled the core back toward their formation. The crystal detonated mid-flight, releasing its stored energy in a blinding flash. The explosion ripped through the air, catching several of the glowing creatures in its radius.

  The remaining creatures above let out piercing shrieks that set Len's teeth on edge. They moved faster now, their attacks more precise and deadly as they dove at the soldiers below.

  Len fired out blasts of cold air that froze their wings and caused them to smash into the ground.

  The soldiers with him used their weapons to end their lives as they moved steadily towards the ancient treant.

  Through his barrier, Len watched the luminous creatures plummet from above, their ethereal glow fading as they struck the ground. Sweat beading on his forehead from the constant drain on his mana.

  Rick held his steady too but Lydia and her people didn't have a barrier to protect themselves.

  Lydia and her soldiers pressed their attack. Their spells lashing out at anything within range. Two of her soldiers rejoined the fray after hasty healing.

  The staff in Lydia's hands was starting to slow down how quickly it could fire lightning bolts.

  "Support Lydia's position!" Len called to his squad. "Ranged attacks, keep the pressure on!"

  His people responded immediately, launching spells and arrows.

  The Ancient Treant was only fifty meters away now. Its wooden form bore countless scorch marks and gashes, but even as Len watched, fresh wood grew to seal the wounds.

  Around them, the vibrant forest withered, leaves browning and falling as the creature drained life from the surrounding trees to fuel its regeneration.

  Len got the sling into his pocket, wrapping it around another core as he enchanted it. The crystal hummed with unstable energy beneath his touch.

  "Hold formation!" he shouted as he worked, watching another of Lydia's soldiers take a hit from a spell. The man rolled back to his feet, blood streaming from a gash in his shoulder, but his sword remained steady.

  The creatures dove to attack, massed spells raking them.

  "They're weakening!" Rick called out, tracking their erratic paths through the leaves. "Keep your guards up!"

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  Creatures plummeted under the spells, their light guttering out before they hit the ground.

  Len's fingers worked automatically, wrapping the sling around another core while keeping most of his attention on the threats above.

  Still, Len kept his barrier up.

  The Ancient Treant's wooden face twisted, bark creaking as it formed what might have been a snarl. Its massive limbs swept outward. Roots burst from the ground in waves, forcing Len's squad to scatter or be impaled.

  Have to fight him and the shit in the sky.

  He was stretching his barrier more than before to cover all of those with him.

  "Charge!" Len yelled.

  They ran across the ground towards the Ancient Treant, its attacks ripping through the ground as the glowing creatures loosed their spells from above.

  "Rick! Now would be good!" Len shouted as he rolled away from a spike of wood that erupted where he'd been standing.

  "Gonna talk to my labor union! This workplace is hostile!" Rick yelled back.

  No longer content to let its minions do the fighting, it advanced on their position with purposeful strides, each step shaking the earth.

  The creature's wooden limbs stretched and twisted, forming crude weapons from its own substance. Its right hand turned into a thorny club its left into a shield. and spears of living wood extended from its massive frame as it bore down on them. The forest around them continued to wither and die as it drew more power into itself.

  Len pulled out the core loaded sling and hurled it. Doesn't have hands to catch.

  The Treant raised a shield, the core smashing against it, lightning burning through the wood, leaving a pattern across its front as it rushed forward.

  Does have a shield. Fuck.

  Rick hit the ground, a massive spell sinking into the ground.

  Stone fused together around the roots and then crushed them.

  Lydia and her group sprinted for the treant's flank.

  The Ancient Treant's limbs creaked as it shifted, the club-arm whipping forward with devastating force.

  Lydia's group split out of the path of the club as it shattered Rick's stone pad, causing them to stumble.

  Lydia got off a spell the lightning hitting the treant in the face, causing it to rear back-blinded.

  The staff was on her back the enchantment's dull with low charge.

  Rick's squad forming a defensive ring around him. Rick knelt on the ground, hands pressed against the stone pad he'd created, sweat dripping from his brow.

  "Can't let up!" Rick's voice carried across the battlefield. "These roots are strong - taking everything I've got to keep them contained!"

  Terry, the soldier who'd been loading Rick's cannisters earlier, had the crossbow in his hands now. Bringing down another of the glowing creatures that still harassed them from above.

  The Treant swung its club, hitting two troops and throwing them away. Len grimaced. Their chances weren't great.

  Len tracked Lydia's position - her squad was making progress against the treant's flank. They needed a distraction and they couldn't handle the creature's blows.

  "Support Lydia's attack!" Len shouted to his people. His eyes landed on Vael, who carried one of their crystal enchanted shields from the crystal dungeon. "Vael! I need that shield!"

  Vael took it off and threw it to him. Len secured it on the run.

  "See you on the other side!" Len rushed right at the ancient treant. It turned as he closed, disregarding Lydia and her people.

  The Ancient Treant's club swept through the air again as Len's squad moved to assist Lydia.

  Len collapsed his barrier, letting his mana regenerate.

  Len's boots skidded across dead leaves as he dove beneath another swing of the treant's club. His muscles burned from the constant movement, each dodge bringing him closer to exhaustion. The creature's attacks came with frightening speed for something so massive.

  Too fast. Can barely track the attacks.

  The club whistled past his head, close enough that splinters of wood scraped his cheek. Len rolled to his feet, raising the crystal shield just in time to deflect a spray of thorns from the treant's body. The impact rattled his arm to the shoulder.

  The Ancient Treant's wooden face contorted as Lydia's blades bit deep into its leg joints. Her soldiers struck in coordinated attacks, their weapons finding gaps in the creature's bark armor.

  A bellow of rage shook the chamber, the sound like an entire forest groaning in a storm. The treant raised its club to sweep behind itself.

  There.

  Len surged forward, taking advantage of the opening.

  Len gathered his mana, channeling it into his blade as he sprinted forward. Lightning crackled along the steel, the hair on his arms standing up from the electrical charge. His muscles screamed in protest as he launched himself upward, sword raised high.

  The Ancient Treant's wooden face turned toward him too late. Len's enchanted blade plunged deep into its throat, bark splintering around the point of impact the lightning spell surged through the metal and into the creature's body.

  Thunder cracked through the chamber as electricity arced through the treant's massive frame. Len's enchanted blade carved a deep channel through the treant's body.

  It threw its head back in a silent roar, limbs thrashing. With its legs compromised by Lydia's attacks, when the creature's weight shifted backward it began to fall.

  Len braced his feet against its chest and pushed off hard, yanking his sword free as he leaped clear.

  The Ancient Treant toppled, only managing to catch itself at the last moment by planting its shield arm against the ground. Its club arm swung wildly.

  Len braced himself, his mana reaching out to the world itself, grounding him as he raised his shield.

  The clubs smashed into him with the force of a train.

  The crystal shattered and then detonated, reducing the force of the club and peppering the treant.

  The ground around Len was torn up as he was thrown backwards by the force.

  His forearm was broken and his shoulder was fucked up.

  Rick's squad unleashed a barrage of spells, fire and lightning hammering into the creature's head. Wood blackened and cracked under the assault.

  Through the chaos, Len spotted Lydia and her soldiers darting in close. Their weapons found gaps in the treant's armor, steel biting deep. With each strike, they injected destructive magic directly into the wounds - fire that burned from within, lightning that traced paths through the creature's wooden flesh.

  Len moved his sword to his busted arm, fusing the bones in the process, he'd have to fix it properly later.

  He grabbed a core from his pocket, carving a lightning enchantment into it.

  "Get clear!" Len yelled.

  The treant raised itself up to its knees and Len pitched the core at the opening he'd made in its chest.

  The core sailed through the air, disappearing into the gash he'd carved in the Ancient Treant's chest. For a split second, nothing happened.

  Then lightning exploded outward from within the creature's wooden frame. Blue-white tendrils of electricity burst through every crack and joint, illuminating the chamber in harsh, strobing light. The smell of burning wood filled the air as the treant's body literally came apart from the inside, great chunks of its form blasting outward.

  Experience poured in and notifications warred for his attention.

  The Ancient treant fell forward, smoke pouring out from its body as fire started to spread through the creature.

  His eyes swept the battlefield, checking for any remaining threats. The glowing creatures had been killed by Rick's group.

  Rick himself was slowly getting to his feet.

  The forest around them collapsed without the mana and guidance of the ancient treant to keep it animated.

  Len sprinted toward where he'd seen the soldiers thrown.

  His boots crunched over dead leaves and splintered wood as he ran. Two forms lay at unnatural angles nearly thirty meters from where the treant's club had struck them.

  His stomach tightened an his heart wrenched in his chest. His mind knowing what he would find before he reached them.

  He reached Dorn first, his glassy eyes looking at the ceiling, his armor and chest caved in from the treant's blow, blood leaked from his mouth and coated his resting place.

  Len grimaced and ran for the next.

  Mason's eyes were wide but unseeing. Len reached him, checking him.

  No heart beat, no mana movement.

  He heard the approaching footsteps. He closed Mason's eyes and rose.

  Len raised his hand as footsteps approached, halting the squad members before they could get closer. "Stay back. Return to the treant. Start gathering what we can use."

  "What you mean?" Vael asked.

  "Why aren't you working on them?" Another asked.

  "They're dead," Len looked at them all in the eyes.

  Their faces twisted with grief and rage as they struggled to contain themselves. Jaws clenched, hands gripped weapons until knuckles turned white. The loss of their friends hit hard.

  "Recover what you can from the treant and the other creatures. Lydia and Rick." Len waved them to him.

  The squad was slow to move.

  "Move out! You heard Len! Start breaking down that treant. I want every useful piece collected."

  That got them moving albeit much slower than they had been racing towards Len.

  "Shit," Rick said, his face pale from the mana drain.

  "Yeah," Len shook his head. "Nothing I could do."

  "What are we going to do?" Lydia asked looking lost.

  "Lydia," Rick drew her attention to him. "Keep them working. Have them strip anything useful from that thing. Then have them work on the flying creatures. Then explore the cavity that the treant came from. Break off people to cook food and make tea. The activity will help."

  Her shoulders straightened as she pulled herself together.

  "Is that enough?"

  "For now," Rick said. "Len and I will figure out things from there. They're going to be emotional. Give them time and space as well as something to do."

  "Okay," She nodded, looked between them, breathed out and turned to head back to the site of the battle.

  Rick met Len's eyes. No words needed to pass between them. They'd done this too many times before.

  "I'll get blankets," Rick said.

  "Alright."

  Len set the men out, closed their eyes for the last time. Rick returned with his and Len's pack, pulling out blankets.

  They worked together, laying out the blanket, then putting Vael atop, then wrapping him tightly in the blanket, they repeated the process on Mason.

  "Lets get them out of the troops sight," Len said.

  They created a makeshift barrier, placing them where the rest of the squad wouldn't have to see. Rick laid their weapons upon the blankets.

  Len leaned against a fallen tree trunk, his broken arm throbbing despite the temporary bone fusion. "We need to rotate this squad out."

  Rick nodded, his face streaked with dirt and sweat. "They won't be effective after this. Need time to process. Your arm fucked?"

  "Yeah. Broke the forearm, ligaments all messed up. I'm healing it as we talk."

  "Need to rebreak?"

  Len just held up his arm.

  Rick felt along his arm, finding the break.

  "Can't be Gibson's people either." Len rubbed his temples. "Same unit, loss will hit them just as hard."

  Rick broke his arm, put it in place and fused it.

  "Mother fucker," Len hissed grabbing his arm.

  "Yeah." Rick pulled out his canteen and took a drink, he held it out to Len. "Leave the rotation to me. Some fighters should be coming in with the logi's from Goran."

  Len took the canteen and drank as Rick leaned against the tree. He drank deep and passed it back.

  "Make sure they're solid." Len focused on healing his damaged shoulder. "This dungeon's no joke. I'm not sure we got everything either."

  "Going to be a lot easier now we've got first clear," Rick said.

  Len passed back the canteen.

  Rick capped it. "My grandma's got some veteran groups she can spare. Shouldn't take them long to get here."

  "Good." Len watched Lydia directing the squad to harvest parts from the treant's massive corpse. Their movements were mechanical, faces drawn. "How long you figure they need?"

  "Week minimum. Maybe two." Rick scratched his chin. "Depends on the individuals. Some bounce back faster than others. Best to send them back home."

  Len nodded. He'd seen it before - some soldiers needed more time to process loss, while others threw themselves back into the fight. Neither way was wrong, just different paths through grief.

  "I'll talk to Lydia about rotating them back to the library site," Rick said. "Gibson can keep an eye on them, give them lighter duties while they recover."

  "Being in a different location will do them good. They can clear a path between the dungeons as they go," Len said.

  "If we send them back that means we have to cover the dungeon," Rick said.

  "Hold up in the tree and get to tempering and cultivating," Len said.

  Rick grunted.

  Len pushed himself to his feet, the dull ache from his arm was going down. "You make the calls. I'll check in on the rest."

  "Don't forget your increases," Rick said.

  "Right."

  Len walked back towards the grove's central tree, checking his screens.

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  You have earned

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  Skill: Throwing

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  Skill enchanting?

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  Skill