With satisfaction, I watched as this final Floweroid also drooped and wilted into a lifeless state.

I looked on as the now lifeless Floweroid slowly appeared to deflate, and shrivel up as the seconds passed by. It was an interesting sight really, to watch a monster just... Well, die. And right in front of me too. I knew that it was likely to have a mana stone as well, so, without much restraint, I grabbed my sword and began cutting away. This time, the mana stone was in the head of the beast, similar to where the undead had it. This basically proved why one of the Floweroid's had shriveled up so quickly once I had chopped their head off.

After all, monsters didn't appear to have similar... Anatomies compared to humans. At least, no real brain that is. From everything I could tell, a monster was directly tied to its mana core. Destroy its mana core? And the monster will die. It was an efficient way to kill one of the creatures, and once you encountered a new species and identified where the core was placed within the body, then it was an easy enough task to simply dispatch the beast.

Kevin and Alex both joined me as I pulled the mana stone from the corpse of the Floweroid directly in front of me.

I hurriedly directed both Alex and Kevin to do the same, and afterwards proceeded to turn my attention to the list of notifications vying for my attention.

Skill [Fire Elemental Affinity] has advanced to Level 6

45 experience points received.

356.36 / 381.65 experience points until Level 9

...

Level 6 [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid] defeated.

40 experience points received.

396.36 / 381.65 experience points until Level 9

...

Skill [Basic Sword Proficiency] has advanced to Level 5

40 experience points received.

436.36 / 381.65 experience points until Level 9

...

Level 5 [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid] defeated.

30 experience points received.

466.36 / 381.65 experience points until Level 9

...

Level 7 [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid] defeated.

50 experience points received.

516.36 / 381.65 experience points until Level 9

...

Congratulations!

You have now advanced to Level 9!

+4 Strength, +3 Constitution, +2 Agility, +3 Wisdom, +4 Intelligence, & +1 Charisma awarded!

+4 Free Attribute Points Awarded!

...

134.71 / 438.9 experience points until Level 10

The fight had yielded a fairly unbelievable bounty, with the skill level-ups as well as all of the experience points gained, I was definitely happy about the turnout of the altercation. With that said, I then decided to pull up my [Status] view.

Name: Thomas Parker [Genesis]

Tier 1 - [Juvenile High-Human Paragon] Level: 9 | Experience: 134.71 / 438.9

Race: High-Human

Titles: High-Human Paragon | Genesis

Health 306/334 ( +55.5 / hour )

Stamina 204/256 ( +42 / hour )

Mana 234/350 [380] ( +55.5 / hour )

Attributes:

Strength: 56

Constitution: 37

Agility: 28

Wisdom: 37

Intelligence: 46 [+5]

Unique Attributes:

Charisma: 14 [+5]

Free Attribute Points: 26

Skills:

Appraisal T1 - Level 3

Basic Sword Proficiency T1 - Level 5

Basic Mana Manipulation T1 - Level 4

Basic Elemental Affinity T1 - Level (6)

- Fire Elemental Affinity - Level 6

- Water Elemental Affinity - Level 1

- Earth Elemental Affinity - Level 2

- Air Elemental Affinity - Level 1

Leadership T2 - Level 3

Paragon's Influence T3 - Level 2

- Paragon's Tether

- Paragon's Charge

- Paragon's Bestowal

??? - Level 1

Free Skill Points: 9

My stats had undergone their own fair increase as well, and it was good to know that at this point I no longer had what one might refer to as, 'level-up pains'. The increases in my attributes were now marginal compared to my overall stats, however, every little bit certainly still helped when it came to fighting. Regardless, the battle, despite its rather dangerous nature was helpful to all three of us. Knowing that the dungeon wasn't something completely out of our reach meant we were all confident in moving forward and exploring this particular cavern. Albeit we still needed to be careful.

So, with the immediate danger gone, we scrounged through the corpses of the Floweroids and turned up several more mana stones. These were actually slightly larger than the ones that we had normally been getting up to this point from all of the undead we've had to slay, though they were also divergent in overall other aspects too. These particular mana stones seemed to have a hint of nature mana affinity. Which, thinking about it, wasn't much of a surprise. It would require some measure of experimentation to discover what uses that might bring for us.

After pocketing the mana stones, we made our way further into the interior of the underground jungle. We failed to meet any more of the Floweroids, and it seemed that most of them had been concentrated around the entrance to the cavern and were simply called by the first floweroid we had encountered, and when we had fought it.

This gave us some opportunity to explore, and while cautiously moving through the nearby vegetation Alex suddenly called out, "Hey, guys, I think I found something!"

Making my way over to his location, I moved past him to look at what he had found. Alex was currently crouched in front of a small plant and appeared to be looking at something. The first thing I noticed was the soft bluish glow that was accenting his face. The second thing I noticed? The small, and softly glowing, blue fruit that was right in front of him. It was stunning to look at, and as I drew closer I could feel something was special about it.

So, I simply focused on it and used my [appraisal] skill.

Name: Lesser Mana Berry

Values:

Mana Point Recovery: 5

Info: A Lesser Mana Berry. Prone to grow in mana saturated areas, the fruit has evolved to absorb ambient mana and condensing it within itself. Extremely useful for recovering mana, however its effects are less noticeable the larger the mana capacity of an individual. Often sought after as a primary ingredient for alchemical concoctions.

"Holy shit!" Kevin exclaimed from next to us.

It seemed like he had also realized how remarkable of a find this was. It was also something that, if we managed to cultivate it, could be immensely useful for the Community. I had no idea what sort of process we might need to go through as far as trying to transplant this particular plant safely, but I suspected my Father would at the very least have some sort of idea. Particularly since he used to live on a farm, and his class had some type of reference to farming anyways.

Leaning forward, I grabbed hold of the berry and plucked it from the plant. I examined it closer, and it had an interesting sort of appearance. I had never seen a fruit or berry ever literally glow before, and it was captivating, to say the least. It was also fairly small though, about half the size of a golf ball. Looking back at the plant I noticed there were about a dozen more of the small berries simply hanging at different intervals throughout the bush. So, deciding to take a chance, I looked at the others briefly. "Here goes nothing," I said before... well, popping the berry into my mouth.

As I chewed on the berry I had an incredibly strange sensation as I literally felt it... Dissolve in my mouth, and I could sense the energy slowly seeping into my very being. It was fairly minuscule, the amount of mana that I received, but if we could somehow capitalize on the berries and figure out how to grow them, then they could literally change the way we dealt with magic in general. Even though mana recovered fairly quickly, there was still the ever-present issue of potentially running out in the middle of a battle.

The berries were phenomenal for the reason that they could be used in the midst of a skirmish. At least, to a degree. It would be comical if I was attempting to shoot off fireballs with one hand, and popping berries into my mouth with the other, but the concept was still present. It did, after all, say that it was used in alchemy. So there ought to be a way to make them more... Potent? I imagined.

"You should probably eat a few more. You were the only one to use any magic in the battle," Kevin pronounced.

The plant still had quite the bounty of the berries left, and so, shrugging, I grabbed half a dozen more and popped them into my mouth in quick succession.

The sensation was a bit more powerful this time, but the effect still quite the same. I immediately felt my mana pool refill the additional thirty or so points until it had reached 277/350 [380].

Of course, it wasn't a full recovery by far, but it was a nice increase to ensure that we would be ready for any surprise conflicts that came our way.

As we explored the rest of the cavern, we came across a few more of the [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid]'s. They were easy enough to handle, and it seemed like they were the only resident monsters in the entire cavern, which was rather strange, as I would have expected more. Granted, it was a young dungeon, and so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised if it was still in the process of developing. Perhaps we weren't entirely justified in worrying about a dungeon break this soon. Both Kevin and I had only figured that with the dungeon being inside of a Mana Zone, that the potential danger would be exponentially greater.

On the inverse side nevertheless, the mana zone was also still developing and was also not at its full potential just yet.

With the cavern cleared, we decided it was likely a good idea to go ahead and explore some of the branching tunnels to see where they led.

So, in preparation, I quickly went through and acknowledged the notifications I had received.

Level 7 [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid] defeated with the help of others.

25 experience points received.

159.71 / 438.9 experience points until Level 10

...

Level 6 [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid] defeated.

40 experience points received.

199.71 / 438.9 experience points until Level 10

...

Level 4 [Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid] defeated.

25 experience points received.

224.71 / 438.9 experience points until Level 10

Just as I finished examining the host of notifications though, I suddenly felt a slight vwwhhooosh run through the air. The strange thing was, it wasn't a breeze or anything easily discernible for that matter, because both Kevin and Alex didn't react at all. No... It was mana, I suddenly realized. Focusing, I could see the wisps of mana extending from each of the caverns and stretching into the center of the room, pooling around a massive root that was descending from the roof of the cavern. Likely part of the massive tree outside.

The root began to pulsate with mana as I examined it, much like the root-covered walls had when we entered the dungeon, except this time it was much, much more intense.

As I continued to stare and watch as the root absorbed the mana, Kevin and Alex also seemed to notice that something was off, and they too turned around.

"Oh, c'mon man, what is it now!?" Kevin cried as he recognized the potential danger the swelling amounts of mana presented.

As if on cue, the root literally began to wiggle slightly and move. Then, suddenly, it shot straight into the ground, sending a trembling throughout the entirety of the cave.

And it did something that I was sure only I could see. It began to siphon the massive amounts of mana it had accumulated directly into a singular point, and the ground began to shift before an explosion of dust rocketed throughout the whole cavern.

It was only when the dust began to settle a few moments later that we caught sight of what had caused the explosion.

Towering above the surrounding terrain was a truly massive Floweroid. It was even taller than the [Treant] we had faced as the Guardian of the dungeon.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Alex yelled out.

I just shook my head. "Of course, with our crappy luck, we just have to fight a floor boss on literally the first section of the dungeon."

I shot an [appraisal] at it. It was just as I feared. Another unique monster. This time even stronger than the [Treant] we had encountered before. The difference this time was that I could actually see its health.

Name: Guardian Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroid [Unique]

Level: 17

Health: 537/537

Info: Spawned from the collective energies of fallen Mordremic Flesh-Eating Floweroids, the Guardian's sole purpose is to slay those who dare lay their weapons against those under its stewardship. Its wrath is peerless.

"Well..." I sighed, "At least there are two body dummies this time" I cackled.

Alex and Kevin both turned back towards me and gave me a look as though I had just gone insane, which, maybe I had. We pretty much walked straight into this one after all.