The first step in conquering the daytime is obvious: study the ranbi attack patterns.

By now, I've been attacked long enough that I have some semblance of knowing when the next wave is coming. Most of them attack every few minutes to half an hour. In that wave, the traps can easily endure and take hits for now that allow for rushes. While Bomber would be more ideal for a bodyguard since his attacks are instant and high-power, it's better to leave him at the dungeon simply because of my own cost-effective magic and Ivy's strangling are better suited for close-range fighting than a wider-kick.

Due to his current SP and how the rate seems to regenerate for him, he can easily endure for a few hours. Worst case scenario, he could make it an hour.

So Ivy and I will start with the most obvious of the discoveries to chart a path to; the Creeper Thorn.

Compared to the pond and stone formation, the Creeper Thorn itself isn't easily passed and has been forming a pocket that makes it harder for ranbi to come from that direction.

Okay, Ivy. Let's go. You deal with the grass and I'll cover you.

The female ranbli raises her arms and carefully steps out of the trapped entrance's ring. I'll follow behind her around six feet back. If a ranbi ambushes me, I can cast Thorntwist without issue so long as I don't put Ivy in risk. Friendly fire is an option in games but in Brogdar it was far too harsh so far to believe it wasn't a thing here.

So our first hour is simple: she eats and pulls grass while I run bodyguard.

We carve our way over to the section of the plains that I had torn at with my spell last night, stopping just a few feet short so that the shortened grass lets us view the Creeper Thorn patch. Ivy clears and uproots the grass in a small bend around the clump.

Although she's careful, I have to fire a few Thornshot during her clearing to cut down a few sections of Creeper Thorn that try to grab her. Honestly, it's a stark contrast to what I experienced last night; in the morning sunlight, the Creeper Thorn remains still until wind rustles grass closeby or - in Ivy's case - something wanders near. As soon as it thinks it can grab hold of something, it whips out and coils around it. Thankfully for both of us, dividing a piece causes its barbs to retreat.

Unfortunately, it's still not enough to spare Ivy any pain. For the first time since I came here, I see blood that doesn't belong to my ravenous rabbit foes when the Creeper Thorn eventually grabs her.

Stop! Don't move!

Ivy went perfectly stiff at my command despite the look of fear in the bunny girl's eyes. Since she's my summon, it at least meant she obeyed me without any issue... and since she wasn't struggling or moving, the Creeper Thorn's instinct to attack immediately vanished.

Summon Ivy has sustained 4 HP damage.

Since Ivy is tough as nails, it means that she isn't hurt that much despite her entire arm being coiled by the thorny plant. Her HP pool is so large that it makes me almost jealous... but more importantly, her high CON stat likely makes damage much harder to inflict.

Thornshot should do the trick.

I raise my mental hand, otherwise known as my shrub-body's bushy branch-arm, and send a shot through the extended Creeper Thorn.

I watch Ivy visibly relax before smiling.

Go ahead and back up now. You've done a good job.

Ivy nods and steps away, licking at her arm while I turn my attention to the Creeper Thorn.

[Notification] Detected skill use by Summon Ivy...

Granting skill Nursing Lick.

A skill from licking her wound? So it must be...

Nursing Lick Learned Support-type A Support skill; an alternative to magic healing, some creatures can convert their stamina into a light medicinal mixture.

Heals 2 HP per use.

Costs 12 SP.

Perfect! A healing skill may not be magic but that alone is a huge advantage. If we have the means to heal, that means I can finally experiment with how damage works without having to rely on Growth! With a supply of Creeper Thorn and Ivy's help, I'll be able to not only deduce our combat ability in-full but more openly accept risks.

No pain no gain really is true, when you think about it.

But before I get too carried away, I better focus on the Creeper Thorn and explain my plan.

Right now, we've made what could be described as a bracket-shape or C-shaped cut around the patch. For now, I'll dub this the "horseshoe" of my plan.

Using this horseshoe, I can actually force the Creeper Thorn to grow outward rather than toward us. Getting encircled would be bad, however, so it'll start to grow back the way it originally was moving once it passes through... or it will head back away from us. Anytime I come out here from now on, however, I can simply harvest the Creeper Thorn and let the grass grow within the gap of our horseshoe's formation.

Basically, I made it have a pocket to grow in and contain it, while hopefully making its growth hindered or even no longer a threat to me. Until I have more time to actually gauge its growth speed and habits, though, I won't be able to confirm whether this is a fix for my surrounded problem or not.

Anyway, while Ivy licks her wounds, it's time to head back. We'll check in on Bomber's situation, help him out for a while, and then once his SP is recovered we'll take another trip back to better perfect the horseshoe.

...

So, as I pointed out this wasn't the solution but merely one step to conquering daytime. It took two trips to feel satisfied with the path and horseshoe's shape, but now that I'm back again I feel pretty good about how things look.

Thornburst!

While my thorns are definitely cutting up the Creeper Thorn, I can't help but notice I've not been receiving a single kill notification for this stuff. Comparing my older body and this patch, they look about the same size... but I guess this group of Creeper Thorn just keeps using Growth.

While Growth can be a very useful spell for self-healing, the problem with using it is that it makes you bigger. Being a plant doesn't change the fact I feel uncomfortable making myself extremely large... but could I have reached a size like this if I kept spamming it?

... Probably not. The Creeper's body is more efficient and getting longer as a Creeper Thorn wouldn't have helped me given the limited space of my defensive zone. Evolving was the right move, too, since it gave me better stats, the bonfire, more traps and mana, and-

An ability! Damn, I totally forgot about Experience Scope! Manager, Abilities...

Experience Scope Inherited Personal-type Intelligence is beneficial for more than just one's own growth; it can help you determine another's strength!

When viewing another creature, squinting long enough will attempt to estimate their level.

So it's an observation skill, basically? Er... well, an observation ability. It sounds like it functions similarly to a skill but this ability's benefit costs no SP or anything to use.

... Can I even use this if I don't have eyes?

Well, this giant clump of Creeper Thorn does seem pretty unusual. I might as well see what level it is to have grown this big.

Oh. Sorry, there's really not a way to describe intense squinting but I'm doing that right now.

[Notification] Level of Amassed Creeper Thorn is roughly 35-60.

Oh fuck. Well, I guess it's a good thing that we didn't go blowing huge chunks out of this stuff. It's not a regular Creeper Thorn but some evolution of it or its evolutions. That level is ridiculously high!

Note to self: learn Fire magic.

I cut free a section of the pocket with my magic and store the lengths in my Inventory, letting me easily store all of the lengths. With items actually inside of it now, I can also show it off!

[Inventory] [Sort by: Number] [Select] | [Drop] Dead Creeper Thorn - x73 [Back]

It doesn't seem to have any outright limit yet but I suspect that's not the case. For now, time to get back home and set this stuff to drying...

...

So... my storage is... not some limitless pocket space.

When I got back and went into the bonfire room, I saw something in the rearmost part of my dungeon. At first, I thought it might have been some subterranean terror coming to ruin my isekai dreams so I went in and cast Thorntwist right away.

I ended up cutting up half of my supply of Creeper Thorn I'd harvested.

It looks like my storage is currently linked to that backroom for now. That means I have a pretty large seven-by-seven-by-seven room for storing things... but it's also possible that it might overflow and fill the bonfire room or my main room. Using my inventory will need me to be smart about expanding my dungeon but also help me potentially set-up a quick production line in the future.

But with this, I can now set all of my looted Creeper Thorn for drying. I'll do it in batches of ten so that I can check-in and slowly figure out exactly the best time and spots to dry it out at.

Conquering the daylight starts here: more defensive measures using the more impressive version of dried Creeper Thorn.

The first batch confirms my thoughts that it's not guaranteed as an outcome: of the ten I cooked on the bonfire, four of them burnt, three produced normal DCT, and the remaining three came out as the serrated version.

Mistakes aside, it looks like I have a fifty-fifty chance of producing specialized DCT. That's a good number for my plans since both will have different uses. The original stuff can start contributing to a cost-free buffer barrier that will let me start protecting the main layer of traps.

The new stuff will make weapons for both Bomber and Ivy.

While the next batch cooks, I sit down on the futon and set down some of the bones I harvested from the corpse-yard.

From there, I pull and weave the vine around one end of the bone before securing some of the dead but non-dried Creeper Thorn around its base. In its natural dead state, the vines were good for binding... and once bound, the bones could make a basic, somewhat unwieldy club.

Wrapping that club with the serrated DCT turns it into a primitive barbed-wire club built for bleeding. It didn't have high piercing power but weapons like this were never meant to penetrate; the blunt force of a weapon like this was often enough to make even small blades like these thorns deadlier. All of the thorns can still bleed an enemy and rend at flesh, however, which means that it's a painful weapon.

[Notification] You have created a Mana-DCT Bone Club.

Thanks world. I know.

Conquering daytime isn't just about mastering my own abilities and spells. I'm a mage, sure, but I'm also a dungeon master. Bomber's high strength and hands make it possible for him to wield this, I think... and while it's not kicking, it should carry an explosively high amount of power compared to just a kick.

I'm not done, though.

The next batch means that I have time to wrap and bound the ends of a few of these aptly named Mana-DCT together, looping a pair of Creeper Thorn around its ends.

Unlike Bomber's club for an alternative weapon, this is for Ivy: a garrote.

[Notification] You have created a Mana-DCT Strangler

That's a pretty apt name. Unlike Bomber's club, Ivy's new strangler can be used even without advanced hands. The loops I made can let her slide her paws in. Even if she fails to strangle them properly with the blades, this weapon would help her more easily strangle a foe.

Not only that but a garrote's ability to strangle or constrict an enemy is far better than an inexperienced grappler. All she has to do is apply her weight and the rope will do the rest of the work. Based on what I've seen with the traps, the weapon should last a long while with how thick I wrapped it.

The day is almost over but that's fine.

Tomorrow is the last day I even remotely feel threatened by these ranbi. And I can finally complete the quest.

Hopefully.