We fought defensively, as was our go-to attitude towards new and yet unknown fights and enemy patterns. I ran as swiftly as I could while still making sure Cellestra remained steady in the saddle. It added to our maneuverability, and despite our size, I rarely got hit by any attacks, and the few that did manage to go through my initial defenses hardly scratched my multi-barrier.

Cellestra didn’t get hit at all and inflicted great damage on our adversary. Roots burned and withered and others were cut off cleanly by my halberd. It wasn’t the most difficult task, but it was certainly a long one. There were tens of vines that shot barbs, and even after we’d cut those down, there were tens more.

That part was easy, though, or well, it was supposed to be. After the last spitting vine had died, however, the ones that remained suddenly turned black, and it wasn’t because they were burned. They didn't seem to wither or anything either, which had me puzzled.

When I skittered next to one and tried to cut it, all my weapon met was a rock-hard surface. It would seem the vines had crystallized… or something.

I didn’t know what was going on. What I did know was that it neither seemed nor felt like there was a barrier protecting them. I reckoned that in itself meant there was little use trying to continue to hit them since I’d only dull my blade and acquire nothing.

What a strange creature to fight.

I distanced myself from it once more, trying to think things over. This thing had to have a weak spot somewhere, I was certain of that. It was either that or we’d hit our limit in ability, and I for one refused to accept that this was where it ended.

Those Firags started to feel surprisingly easy at this point. Sure, they had their own danger, but the apparent difference in difficulty between them and this thing, whatever it was, was overwhelming. I could kill one of those with one single, quick strike from my blade and we’d already fought this thing for well over a quarter of an hour and accomplished seemingly nothing. No, the difference was too great. Had we overlooked something?

I took a good look around, but there was nothing that caught my interest, so I slowly skittered back to the central growth and did the most obvious thing to me.

I swung my blade and was surprised to see it cut through the vines encapsulating the ‘pumpkin’. The moment I did so, the other appendages shot upward and were brought down on the grass with force, revealing the orange bulb once more.

Seeing my chance, I cut them one by one, not wasting any mana on the issue at hand. When that was all done, I struck the pumpkin once more.

Again, I was met with a barrier absorbing my weapon’s impact and backed off slightly after that, waiting to see if anything were to happen.

Ten seconds passed and there had been no sign of aggression, prompting me to strike the barrier again.

There was still no reply and for lack of other things to attack, I continued whacking, trying to break it, hoping my weapon’s new enchantment would assist in the task.

Eventually, the barrier shattered. Thousands of pieces of transparent glass were sent flying in every direction, but they weren’t dangerous as they evaporated into thin air in a fraction of a second as the spell’s energy was depleted. This left us with just the pumpkin to go.

It was as easy to hack away at it as it seemed. It wasn’t much more than the vegetable I knew and hated. I was all too happy to try to slay something as disgusting as a pumpkin. I’d been forced to eat it too much back in the orphanage and despite losing so many memories, I was furious that that one had stuck.

At least the anger from remembering that made quick work of my new arch-nemesis. Before I knew it, I’d cut it to ribbons, and I’d hardly noticed the message that had shown up. It wasn’t until Cellestra tapped my back that I realized I was trying to kill a corpse.

“I’m sorry. I kind of lost myself there. That was stupid.”

“Are you okay?” She asked softly.

“I am. It seems like it’s dead.”

I sighed and asked Elysa to show me the message again.

You have killed a Cucurpepo: No Experience was earned.

Achievement Earned: Halfway Through the Trials.

Defeat the middle boss of the ‘Proving Grounds’ Dungeon.

You have been awarded 300 EP.

“I suppose that explains things,” I let out after another deep sigh. “That wasn’t just any monster, it was the damn floor boss.”

“Floor boss?” Cellestra exclaimed, not sounding surprised in the slightest. “Yeah, that does explain a few things.”

“And as far as I can tell, this is the halfway point of the dungeon. At least, that’s what this achievement says. It’s called ‘halfway through the trials’ and it requires me to kill the middle boss of the dungeon.”

“Three more floors to go? By the goddess, there’s quite some challenges ahead of us then.”

“Yup,” I replied as I looked at the mess we’d created.

Suddenly, the black roots shifted back to a more natural green color, causing me to jump back in caution. After turning green they seemed to pulsate one more time as something seemed to travel through them like a ripple towards the destroyed pumpkin. Then, just as quickly as they had changed colors, they changed to dark brown as they shriveled and died.

“What was that all about?” Cellestra asked, just as confused as me.

“No clue, but it’s already dead according to my blessing, so I assume it’s nothing bad?”

Still, I didn’t dare approach the orange vegetable. Then again, I didn’t have the need either.

I was rewarded for my caution as the entire thing exploded.

An explosion from within sent yucky orange paste flying everywhere. I was fast enough to put up two ice walls to block my front, but despite my best efforts, some of the pulp still landed on my rear.

The rain of food eventually ended, and when it did, it left a metallic cylinder on a pedestal of shriveled roots behind. Even though my vision was excellent, I narrowed my eyes and had to do a double take to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

“A metal rod? What the?” I let out, wholly unsure what was going on.

“Looks like it. Some kind of treasure?”

“I can’t imagine it being anything else, but what kind of treasure is that?”

I skittered closer, as cautious as ever to inspect the strange object. It truly was nothing but a thick steel rod, about a foot long and two thumbs wide. I pushed it with the tip of my weapon, and as one would expect with a piece of steel, it simply fell to the ground. Nothing seemed to be off about it.

“Well, that does look like treasure. I suggest asking Felmar about it.”

“Good idea.”

I picked up the object and as soon as I did, I felt an odd sense of nausea as I saw a sudden shift in the world around me. The vast fields before us disappeared and in its place, a natural wall of granite appeared. Much like the one on the second floor, it had a doorway that, according to what I knew, would lead to the next floor.

“What the…” I let out.

I looked at Cellestra who seemed to experience the same as me. She was looking around as well at the sudden change in surroundings and was just as baffled as me.

“Wow,” She let out. “That’s weird.”

“You don’t know what it is?”

“You have more dungeon experience than me.”

“Fair.”

I chuckled as I continued to stare at the object. It was clear that this thing had something to do with ‘unlocking’ the way to the next floor so to say. Our question was answered, yet I’d still like to talk to Felmar about the specifics of the item and what it can tell us about further dungeon exploration.

“That was interesting, though. The fight I mean,” I said, concluding things here as I checked if there was any more loot or treasure. When I was certain there was nothing, I slowly started making my way back.

“Wonder if your enchantment did much there?”

“Yeah, but I guess it’s hard to know. I’ve never fought one of those without. Let’s just go with ‘yes, it did quite a bit of work’.”

“Sounds reasonable. Also, I think you may need a proper bath when we get home.”

She pointed at my abdomen, which was tainted by pulp and seeds. My once beautiful white was completely ruined by the orange gore.

I sighed at the sight.

“Gods, I hate pumpkin.”