The Giant Centipede didn't last much longer after its last ditch effort with the poison. The team swiftly took care of it and went back to where the split in the path was and continued clearing the stage. The loot wasn't anything to brag about with mostly crafting materials dropping and the mana stones the team shared between them. The plant-theme of the dungeon provided many alchemy ingredients the ranger gladly took for himself as he was the only alchemist in the team. Bones was fine with just the mana stones and the experience gained, he supposed. He was also glad to see Solin make use of the twin bone fang daggers he gifted him.

As the team progressed further, the Myconid Sprouts were replaced by the Adult Myconids. Unlike the sprout version, the adult ones didn't explode, had limbs and were of average strength and speed compared to adventurers of the same level. They attacked in numbers and Bones wasn't sure if the number of attackers was set or depended on the number of people in their party, as there were always twice as many of them. The adult mushrooms weren't anything difficult to handle but they did "bleed" poison through their spores with each hit they took. As they went further in, they met more Myconid variants.

The next miniboss in line was a Myconid Sovereign, with three Elite Myconids by its side. Elite mushrooms had above average strength and were pretty much a bigger and meaner version of Adult Myconids. While the two rogues and Bones dealt with the Elites, Vern took on the boss with the ranger supporting him from behind. The Sovereign was a bulk of the mushroom wielding a spear made of roots. Like other Myconids, it too unleashed a poison from its spores but its main strength was in its well, strength. Vern was barely holding out against boss attacks but once the elites were taken care of, the surrounded boss wasn't hard to take down.

The one to get the most out of the boss was once again the ranger, the dungeon blessing him with a sturdy bow made of roots and boost to nature affinity. The team took a break after the battle, nurturing their light wounds. The ranger offered to heal but others refused, telling him to save the heals for when they would truly need them. Besides, these were battle wounds! They were supposed to hurt and there was a lesson to be learned from their injuries.

Bones didn't get it but it wasn't like he shared their experience. The injured didn't use healing potions but healing salves, a gelatine substance they smeared on their wounds. It wasn't nearly as effective as a health potion or a skill was, but it got the job done on the superficial wounds!

"Alright, we got most of the dungeon done and I'd say it went well so far." Vern said and others agreed. They already had experience with the dungeon and knew what to expect so there were no real surprises. While the dungeon run seemed smooth and even easy so far, the team came prepared. Any unprepared team would get a nasty surprise and a hard learned lesson even at the start of the stage from the suicidal exploding sprouts, not to mention poison released from Myconid spores.

It's been a bit over half a day since they entered the dungeon and the team was ready to move on. The last part of the dungeon was the hardest part and it required a swift and more precise reaction on their part. The scenery changed slightly as the path was covered by more roots and intertwined vines and different sorts of plants covered the ground they walked on. Soon, the path was gone and they only had a tunnel of trees to guide them forward. The atmosphere became more humid and mist permeated the area, making it hard to notice what's moving on the ground.

"Careful Bones, use your senses to detect any movements around you!" Solin warned.

"Of course, I always do."

Solin grinned and added, "oh and watch out for-"

The team stopped walking and Solin stopped talking. A buzzing sound was heard in the distance, homing in on them. "They're coming!" Solin said then turned to Bones. "Flying biting little fuckers!"

Bones looked at the young man, a bit confused at what little fuckers Solin was referring to. Do mushrooms fly now?

In front of them appeared a swarm of insects that headed straight towards them.

Aahh, those little fuckers. Bones wasn't worried. While direct physical attacks might be pointless against a whole swarm, mana blast was a perfect counter and he wasn't the only one with the means against them. Actually, none of his teammates seemed worried and welcomed the swarm. Vern had some sort of a barrier skill that shielded him from the insects and at the same time reflected some of the damage received. The rogue decided to give slashes a try and Solin used a new skill to make a cloud of poison around him that weakened the swarm until they started falling down, dead. Gareth the ranger, like Bones, had a mana related skill to swat the insects down, only of nature affinity.

After dealing with the flying insects, the team hurried forward to the exit of the tunnel and stepped into an open field enclosed by the high wall of roots from all sides. The area was filled with flowers and yellow trumpets with bell-like flowers on them, making for a pretty sight. "Quickly, pulverize the yellow trumpets!" Vern ordered and the team got to work. They almost missed the timing as a new swarm of insects began coming out of the bell-like flowers.

Bones noted the team didn't let down their guard after the fight but focused their attention in front of them. There didn't seem to be a way out of this enclosed area, so Bones wondered what got everyone so tensed up. "Bones, miniboss in front." Solin said and pointed at the spot in front of them. Bones looked ahead only to see a giant plant rising up from the ground. Fully risen, the stem of the plant, with white flowers at the top, stood around five meters tall. From the base of a stem, a rosette of five leaves emerged with lobes and hinged blades forming the trap at the end of each.

Giant Venus Life Trap, level 37 miniboss

One more and the final miniboss before the final boss of a floor. It was the plant life form equivalent to a hydra. Each trap was big enough to swallow a human whole and the leaves were up to four meters long, giving it quite a range. The fight this time was more of a close to mid range as there wasn't much space to move around and it was just easier to fight in close range even at the risk of getting lobes snap shut around them.

The teammates were already familiar with the miniboss and expertly avoided the snapping traps, which couldn't be said for Bones and his golem. His golem didn't understand what boss attack patterns were and what Bones wanted it to. Bones did his best to direct the golem when to dodge and when to attack, but he was too busy dodging himself! On a few occasions, the golem ended up in the mouth of the trap. Luckily, none of the paralytic properties worked on both it and Bones.

The miniboss was finished after all the leaves were cut off and it took the team a while to do so. Plant life forms in general had an astonishing amount of health points. Maybe it was a compensation for average strength and low mobility? Some plants, like the miniboss, were stationary even.

A new path was available once they killed the miniboss as the roots on the wall slowly retreated to the ground, leaving a passage open. The team however, collapsed and started treating their wounds. Bones sighed as the mortal troubles didn't trouble him. He sat down and started repairing the damage done to the golem. Bones listened to the team while working and the most conversed topic was the upcoming war going on at the border.

Seems like relations between the two kingdoms were bad for a while now and the conflict is escalating to the point of a full blown war. So many young ones, eager to prove themselves…

Bones shook his head. He was familiar with both the war and the loss. No one wins in war. Well, that's not entirely true now, is it? The war huh…As he was now, Bones had second thought about not joining the war. Just thinking of the possible experience he could gain tempted him...

"Alright, are we ready to tackle the boss?” Vern stood up and asked. Like a proper team, preparations were made and tactics discussed beforehand. Once everyone was ready, they moved on. There were no tunnels nor areas brimming with the colorful flowers awaiting them. Past passage was a large morose area with misty ground and in the middle - the boss awaited. Just like that huh?, Bones thought and identified the plant in front of him. If the miniboss before was a hydra, then the boss was a legendary Kraken.

Bloodthorn, level 39 boss

It was the largest life form Bones had ever seen so far. Its main body was similar to that of a Venus Life Trap miniboss only instead of flowers, there was a giant bud at the tip of a stem. The bud remained dormant until the team entered the range of its senses, then it unfurled like a flower to reveal five separated petals with a set of thorny teeth around the edges, and a large mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth that had everyone tensed up. It screeched and, to Bones’ bewilderment, started moving towards them with vines supporting it from beneath.

Once at mid range, with a whip-like motion, Bloodthorn attacked with a thick root full of thorns. Its target, Solin, sidestepped the root but didn't rush forward as immediately after, another attack came. The attacks came unpredictably from the base of the main body and under the cover of the mist. The area was wide enough for the team to kite the boss and employ hit and run tactics. Apart from whip-like root attacks, Bloodthorn used root spikes to try and immobilize its target. Bones found it uncanny how similar the attack was to his Bone Spikes. The attack was easily avoided with proper timing as the attack had a slight delay before it was used. The slight increase in mana at the targeted area was also a dead giveaway when the attack was coming.

It was a battle of attrition as the team slowly chipped away at the boss’ health points. At a lower health threshold, another attack came at all the team members at the same time. Prior to the boss fight, Solin explained to Bones what attacks the boss would use, but it was one thing to hear about it and another to experience it for himself. The vines under the boss exploded outwards in a burst of speed and before Bones managed to react in time, they bound themselves around him. Thorns dug deep into him and the life drain effect activated.

A few seconds passed without anything happening except Bones trying to wiggle his way out of bounds. His teammates tried to approach and help him but it was a futile effort as more and more vampiric vines entangled around Bones and pulled him down to the ground. Under the cover of the mist, Bones got dragged across the ground towards the open maws of Bloodthorn.

As he was getting dragged and his team members’ attempt to help him failed, the ranger Gareth quickly reacted and before Bones could respond, casted Heal. Bones felt like a thousand ants were pricking him all over. It wasn't a physical pain but an unpleasant feeling he felt somewhere within his soul. It didn't damage him, as the heal wasn't as effective as the cleric's but it sure did piss him off.

The Bloodthorn picked him up and was about to snap shut its maw around him when Bones reached deep into his mana pool and mana blasted his way out of vines. He instinctively activated soul gaze on the ranger upon landing. The ranger froze, feeling a sudden grip on his soul and dropped the bow.

The Bloodthorn recoiled from the impact, its attack interrupted and the vines frozen in motion. The mana blast stunned the boss for a brief moment and gave enough time for others to pull an all out attack, killing the boss.

Bones turned to the ranger and said. "Thanks for the healing but don't overwork yourself now!"

The ranger came to his senses a second later and picked up his bow while giving Bones the side-eye.