Nero cursed his weakness. He should've just fireballed the whole lot of them. What did you expect? A bunch of thieves, bandits, the dregs of society, scoundrels, murderers, slave traders, the like. He could spend hours burning expletives at them. They had absolutely zero formal training in the etiquette and basic knowledge of an Adventurer. How to recognize power. Their items were common, crafted items. Not summoned from cards, with zero Attribute bonuses and several flaws inherent to their fabrication. As far as Adventurers were concerned, trash. Worse than gray-grade cards.

Nero looked at his wife and knew she was angry. They've known each other for life and in the months since their wedding, any veneer that shaded their beings were shed aside.

"I'm sorry, Altia."

She hugged him. Her fingers dug up from his nape, scratching his scalp and tickling him.

"Don't. We did what we must. They didn't deserve to live. Worse yet, they were food for the Dungeon. It is better if they all die here than one of them escaping. Now, let's suck this Dungeon dry of energy. Let's kill Rafflesia until she cries and calls her weed of a mother."

Yup. Altia was angry. Pissed. But not at him. Nero kissed her.

"I have bodies to loot," He said as they parted.

"Loot away. I'll be here with Bruce."

Nero spent one hour on the gruesome job of searching pockets, cutting bracers. Cleaning. The raider leader had all the cards they collected, minus whatever they used for themselves. There were still lots of Skill cards they couldn't use because they had no Attributes. It was a mixed blessing that the Dungeon dropped so many high-quality cards. Amidst the list, he found something really nice in his loot.

[Wild Transmutation] - yellow Skill. Requires pet. +10 Charisma.

+2 Strength

+2 Vigor

+2 Endurance

+4 Charisma

"Unleash the beast within... the beast."

Special: You can have one more combat pet summoned.

Effect: Spend 5 mana and channel this spell at your pet for 5 minutes. Either convert your combat pet to a normal version or spend as much Essence as it takes to summon your non-combat pet to shift it to its combat version.

That Skill went straight in his [Monster Tamer] build. He summoned Maria and converted her into a non-combat pet. Instead of a forty-pound battle badger, she became the size of a normal badger.

"Now Maria can play too."

"And you can make a zoo," Altia joked.

That didn't sound bad. He just needed to find the right critters.

"We have a boss to kill. Let's move on. Badger two, you protect badger one. You are not to engage enemies. Flee toward us. Pick up any loot after combat ends and give it to Altia. Let's go."

They moved through the forest and then the river area. The distance was greater but the monsters seemed to be at the same level of strength than in the first run. Five hours later, they were before Rafflesia's thicket.

"Fireball storm?" Altia asked.

"Yes. My fear is that she got new tricks. On the first time we killed her, she was level thirty-three."

"You should eat one of those seeds you have. I bet you forgot about them."

"Touché!"

Nero broke one seed out of the pod and ate it. It tasted like a mix between a walnut and a pea. Crunchy but not hard. In his [Archer] build, his Endurance, Willpower, and Charisma went up three points as the minor Attributes, and his Agility went up by five points as the major. He shifted to the fireball build and noticed the points didn't change. If that was true, he could snapshot any Attribute array he wanted with the right build.

That was an experiment for later. He summoned three hundred flames and aimed at the thicket. It lit up spectacularly, drawing Rafflesia's ire.

"Defilers! You will pay for destroying my lovely home!"

Nero got four fireballs before she was too close. Then he unloaded his flames, temporarily blinding Rafflesia.

"Altia, run ahead. I'm faster."

She went with the badgers and goaded the boss away from his wife while the fire debuff did its thing. He changed Classes to [Archer].

With a good distance, Nero brought his rifle up and unloaded on the boss. It struck her but nothing too big. On the last shot, he poured ten mana and stamina, the biggest so far. He couldn't use [Piercing Shot] because it took too long to charge but the empowered shot was already ignoring a good deal of her defense. He hit the flower, raising a cloud of yellow spores, and ran after Altia and the badgers. She was peppering [Magic Arrow] at the boss but wasn't doing enough damage to draw her attention.

he shifted to his [Mana Bolt] build and fired shot after shot at her.

"She's stronger," Nero said.

"No way! What gave you that idea?" Altia snickered, panting.

"Remind me to make a plant-killing build after we are done here. I need it."

They kited Rafflesia for a while but she was catching up. The rifle wouldn't cool anytime soon though. It was Nero's biggest damaging move.

"Altia, I'm going to go up close and personal with her. I need to clip those vines," Nero said.

"That's crazy. You'll die," She said with a hint of desperation.

"No, I won't. My [Warrior] build has enough Vigor to endure and I'll clip the vines. You'll keep me alive. How are we with potions?"

"I'm running low on the mana ones. Health is plentiful though."

"Then we're doing it."

"No. Change back to [Archer]," She said as they ran. "I'll go into the shelter and then you kite the boss and restrain her mobility."

Nero ran forward and created a portal, spending a thousand Essence to make it inside the Dungeon. That was the reason nobody could stay inside. The Essence infused in the shelter would kill Serena now that she leveled up.

Altia used a mana potion on him before she and the badgers went inside while he changed to [Archer]. He closed the portal and used [Cougar's Speed], both modes. Now faster than the boss, he kited Rafflesia until his rifle cooled down enough for him to shoot again. Nero used the space between the trees to kite and shot at the flower bottom of the boss. After half an hour of skirmishing where Nero had to change builds to use [Card Trick] to recover mana, Rafflesia took one critical shot that blew three vines, and she fell on her side.

It wasn't the most heroic of the boss fights but they were safe. Nero sniped a few more vines with low-strength [Empower Shot], guaranteeing that Rafflesia would stay down. He summoned the portal back.

"Did it work?" Altia said with a cup of tea in her hand.

"Yes. Did you have a nice time?" He kept looking at the cup. "Leave that behind, we have a boss to kill."

"Okay."

Nero charged his rifle and shot a full-power attack at the bottom of the flower. Rafflesia died and Altia's Arbitrium lit up.

"Five Agility. All that running paid off."

"Right," He mumbled as he checked his clock. "We have three hours to sunset. We should make the best of this time before returning. I was thinking of killing trees."

"Let's see the loot before deciding anything, shall we? It is our first orange boss!"

"Fine. Badgers, stay in the shelter." Only then Nero noticed Daisy was still at the beach. "Go play with Daisy."

They walked to where the boss died. Rafflesia dropped only three cards, but there were six crystals. One red, five white.

"This is crazy. Five Anima?" He remarked.

"What are the cards?" She asked.

"I'll flip them with a stick so we don't touch them. Maybe one of them is black."

They weren't. Rafflesia dropped a yellow Skill beside the usual [Egress].

[Heal Plants] - yellow Skill. Requires Reason +5. Willpower +5. Charisma +5.

+4 Vigor

+4 Endurance

+2 Agility

"Warning: Your thumbs might glow green for a few minutes after casting this spell."

Spend 4 mana to nurture and heal damage, parasites, and disease on all non-creature plants in a range of Reason foot around you. Effects based on Willpower and Charisma.

"Sounds nice," Altia said, examining the skill card.

"Sounds useless for delving," Nero retorted. "So, what do you want to do?"

"We should use these Anima crystals. Do you have the strain measuring card?"

"I do."

He changed to [Gadgeteer] and tested Altia. She could safely use three Crystals and he used the other two. Altia got Strength, Endurance, and Charisma while Nero gained Endurance and Perception.

They farmed the entangling trees for three hours before returning to the outside world at sunset.

Glom watched the portal for one hour after they entered. One hour after that, the Dungeon information changed, the "occupants" entry shifting several categories down.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Orange

Condition: Charged

Occupants: some

He wanted to know what was happening in there but it seemed Nero found the thugs. The battle must've caused a lot of casualties. The Dungeon got some power back and that was troublesome.

It stabilized and he took a chair from his pouch. This was going to be a long wait. Mid-afternoon, the energy fluctated and dropped two categories. From "charged" to "stable" and then to "weak".

It meant they killed Rafflesia. Since the thugs would be unable to do that, he knew it was them. Truly enough, three hours later, they appeared at the portal. Since the tax was per entry, the truth-teller was sent to another Dungeon.

"Welcome back! I believe your delve was fruitful," Glom greeted them.

"You can bet on it. We are going back inside," Nero replied. He waited for some kind of confirmation.

Glom gave them a thumbs up.

"You are clear to go. The tax is per delve, so that's another six thousand Essence we owe the government."

They vanished inside again. One hour later, the Dungeon condition changed again.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Purple

Condition: stable

Occupants: some

Glom raised an eyebrow. What happened? Then they were back.

"Hey, Professor. It is a blast of a time in there!" Nero said, excited. Smoke was coming out of his rifle, the metallic rings around the barrel that propelled the cartridge with lightning glowing red. Nero noticed Glom's gaze. "Can you do something to this?"

"You should add a cold enchantment to your weapon. Maybe later."

One of the guild enforcers stepped forward. "I have an ice skill. If it won't damage your weapon from suddenly cooling."

"I can repair it," Nero replied. "Thanks for the help. Here."

The enforcer raised an eyebrow but cooled the rifle. Altia used a mana potion on him as a courtesy.

"We are going, professor!"

Before Gloom could say anything, they were gone. He checked his clock. Once the couple appeared again, he measured. Fifty-three minutes. The Dungeon lost some power.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Purple

Condition: faint

Occupants: some

"Hey, Professor. The device says it is full," Nero said. Altia took the measuring device from her pouch.

"I'll download the data. Just a moment."

"Hey, brother! Could you chill the rifle again?" Nero asked.

A few minutes later, the memory was clear and they went inside again. The same pattern would repeat itself four times, each iteration taking a bit less time. Finally, they popped out a quarter of an hour before midnight. Glom immediately checked the Dungeon condition. It had dropped to yellow last time.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Blue

Condition: stable

Occupants: some

That was unheard of.

"What were you doing in there?" Glom asked, astonished.

Nero shrugged. "Speedrunning."

Nero (Without a Class card)

Strength: +37

Vigor +40

Endurance +27

Agility +36

Dexterity +40

Reason +29

Willpower +28

Perception +21

Charisma +20

Altia

Strength +16

Vigor +19

Endurance +22

Agility +34

Dexterity +38

Reason +37

Willpower +37

Perception +23

Charisma +24