While the song progressed and its verses repeated Harumi's voice weaved a peculiar picture.

It was an ancient forest. Instead of breaking it down, time was its most favorite nourishment. The passing years fertilized growth; from fragile young saplings to millennium trees. And although each tree was too weak to fight the everchanging and unfathomable nature, they were never truly alone...

Embraced by the Earth's surface, they stretched their roots and tangled dense branches. As they grew taller and wider, they stopped being a cluster of individuals. Instead, they became one compound organism. Unlike the trees, this unique being known as the forest was strong. It was unbendable. Be it torrential rains, lightning, landslides, or incessant powerful winds, nothing could threaten it.

As the picture took shape in everyone's mind, Harumi's words became thicker and stickier. Like intangible chains, they clung close to the monsters' surface, wrapped them in imaginary cocoons, and weighted them down. With every passing second, the song affected more and more sprouting appendages. Their speed declined sharply and their surface turned brittle and chapped. Like the storms facing the expanse of ancient trees, the monsters' strength was sapped away and they weakened.

Leticia side-stepped an attack, clenched her fist, and drove it straight into an arm. Her hand broke through the stones but she acutely sensed something. Her tattoos blurred and coated her face. The next moment, a strong grip pressed on her shoulder. Its hard fingers dug at her flesh. They overwhelmed the soft tissues and tried to crumble the bones underneath. Yet, something strange happened. Unlike the time when Harumi suffered a fracture, no matter how hard the hand clenched, Leticia's shoulder barely creaked bearing the pressure.

Not only are the monsters growing weaker, but my body feels strong. It's like Harumi's words are sustaining me. They are fortifying my physical structures and even reducing the pain. It's my first time seeing this rumored ability. Hell, yeah! Baby, I can get addicted to it! As expected of the Desolate Songstress. As expected of the fabled Aria Poetry!

Leticia pursed her lips and calmly deflected another incoming attack. Until now she had some reservations but at this moment she finally understood why Raven and Renata tolerated the weak child. She admitted that Raven was right to insist on the girl joining this team.

Despite her cowardly nature, Harumi possessed an extremely powerful Origin Title and Skill. It was an ability that couldn't be learned by putting in effort. It was something unique. The teenage girl was an inborn installer enchantress. She could not only heal but buff and debuff all at the same time!

As her thoughts rolled, Leticia drove her feet into the ground, tensed up her abdominal muscles, and exerted full force on her shoulder. With ease, she tore through the grip and in a swift motion, lowered her gravity center and kicked her leg up.

Bang

The flailing arm was flung backward. It couldn't react and slammed hard into the nearby wall. Fragments and powder fell to the ground.

From the center of the defensive formation, Renata narrowed her eyes. In her brain, something clicked assembling the puzzle and a complex structure completed its shape.

While everyone fought desperately against the infinite number of arms, the elf bid her time, shouted commands, and observed. Excluding a couple of instantaneous spells meant to protect the small healer, in the past five or so minutes she did nothing spectacular. She stood passive and waited. A strategy unbefitting her strength.

And now, her waiting finally paid off. She caught a whiff of a change. The time was approaching.

An opportunity.

With an idea, Renata's eyes flickered and glazed. Her thoughts swelled like a balloon. An extremely tricky and multilayered formation wriggled out of her brain. It was an array of invisible symbols and magical labels she had imagined before but hadn't put into practice. Thus she had to carefully weave it using all of this time.

Breaking the confines of her head, the structure projected itself and covered the floor. It ravenously bit at the caster's mana, glowed fiercely and began to descend.

Without further ado, Renata shut her eyes closed. She stopped speaking and concentrated on sustaining the spell. Rotating her weapon, she kneeled on one leg and slammed the staff's butt on the ground.

Clang

A small cloud of dust rose in the air but it didn't have the chance to scatter around. The atmosphere vibrated and an invisible force brought it back to the ground.

The next moment, with the staff as its focus, a consecutive yet simultaneous phenomenon happened.

A thick wave of transparent liquid emerged and covered the floor. As if it was alive, the carpet grew thicker and denser. Stretching further and further away, the water surface began undulating. Half of the liquid churned, boiled, and evaporated in mist, while the rest clung close to the ground without permeating the dirt.

Meanwhile, a few symbols gathered a gale. They awoke the still and hot air and forced it to swirl into powerful updrafts.

The majority of these winds clung to everyone's feet. They propelled the team high and stabilized them a few meters above ground. Simultaneously, some of the gusts scattered. They blocked the incoming attacks, or bearing the caster's will turned into invisible tendrils. These strange entities guided half of the mist to slip past the gaps in the conjoined rocky appendages.

A second or two passed and the temperature plummeted. In the blink of an eye, the hot passage interior broke past the freezing degree. The cold affected all who were present.

While the breaths of the party grew visible, the residual water solidated in a thick slippery ice. The mist wasn't spared as well and began orderly cooling.

Half of it chilled in an instant. It rained on the ice, piled as snow, and created a stable non-slippery foothold. While the rest crystallized slowly. First, the water molecules regained their liquified state and seeped into the rock structures. Then their arrangement grew tighter and orderly. As the water became ice, it chilled the arms from the inside.

When the phenomenon progressed to this point, Renata struggled to open her mouth. Her tongue was thick, numb, and hardly cooperative. It wrestled against its owner's will and declined to speak words. Even though she had to say a single reminder, she couldn't. The effort made the spell tremble. Her brain threatened to blow up. Her mana declined and she felt nauseous.

Not, good. I can't complete the last action alone. Fuck!

The simultaneous and precise usage of water, air, and ice, made it impossible for her to spare the energy and cast the last action. Besides to concentrate on containing the spell, she couldn't even open her eyes. She couldn't even shoot a glance as a reminder.

Should I risk it and try? But then, my head may burst like a firework from inside. No, I can't do it without someone's assistance.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Bad. Bad. Bad. This is very bad. Damn it! Why didn't I discuss my plan with the others? Was my head kicked by a donkey or what?!

Suddenly, in her panic and daze, Renata heard a female voice from somewhere further away.

"Dear customer, your order is already on the way~ If you like the Demonic Delivery Service, please give us a tip and comment~"

Since the moment she saw Renata's structure, Leticia vaguely grasped at her aim. Laughing out like a madman, she flashed a wicked grin revealing a row of pointy white teeth. Their vice wasn't the sole mage in this team.

Clap.

Like grasping at something, the Demonoid drew her hands close and clapped loudly. Her tattoos flowed and a scorching hot flame sizzled into existence. It was black, eerie, and foul. It was a bizarre flame that resembled a gluttonous snake. A 'snake' released from the Abbadon.

"Go, dear. Feast until your heart is content."

As if waiting for this joyful permission, the 'snake' shot in a zigzag. It quickly circled between the wind gales and reached the stiffening hands. Whenever it brushed against their icy cold surface, they began searing and boil.

Crack Creak

Crack Crackle

Trapped between winter and hell, the rock surface showed signs of fine fractures. In the blink of an eye, like the corn of some eerie popcorn, they burst and broke into fragments.

It was a phenomenon known as rock weathering. It was a natural process that happened slowly over long expanses of time when Earth was battered by hot and cold weather. And now, under the two mages' unspoken teamwork, time was compressed. The weathering was accelerated and happened in seconds.

Phew

Renata exhaled and bit at her tongue.

A wave of relief calmed her strained nerves and she found a new bout of energy to continue.

With her residual mana and mental capacities, she began adjusting the spell. First, she broke the formation into sections, erased some, and blurred and interlinked others. As the symbols and labels pertaining to wind faded away, the gales instantly dissipated. Without their support, the party members fell headlong in the snow.

Leo was caught off guard and landed rather ungraciously. He lost his balance, stumbled forward, rolled, and plowed his head in the snow. When he emerged later, he resembled a bearish Santa.

By his side, Harumi was so invested in singing, that she didn't even notice when her butt hit the soft ground. Like a one-man orchestrion, she continued singing; stacking the buffs and debuffs. She kept in mind Renata's advice and didn't dare to stop.

The rest of the team was better prepared. Jeje landed like a true feline. He shook off the white from his fur and rushed to aid and guard Haru. A step to his right, the main perpetrator Renata sat in the snow. Tired and dazed, she pulled out a potion and chugged the tasteless blue liquid. The medicine replenished her mana and cleared her thoughts. She clenched at her staff and stabilized the wavering structure.

Leticia, Raven, and Maim faired the best. They kept their balance, and using the snow as support, ran swiftly to intercept the newly born arms.

With the ground blocked by a layer of ice, the weakened appendages couldn't pierce through it. For some reason, they never emerged from the ceiling, and this instantly turned the tide of the battle. With only two walls to occupy their attention, the three close combatants and the shielder began systematically dealing with them.

In the next half an hour, the monsters were killed so thoroughly that not even one was spared the sword.

When the final arm fell, Renata heaved a sigh of relief. She tapped with her staff and the ice disappeared. She met Raven's gaze and spoke calmly, "The attempt was rather successful. We can use this tactic if we encounter more hands. Heh, I expect a pay raise and a good long vacation in the Carribean Sea. I am young, but I need to find a man sooner than later."

She turned to Leticia winked and bowed slightly, before pulling a health potion and prodding at Harumi, "You did great. You can stop singing and have some deserved rest. By the way, take this and heal that cracked ankle."

"Y-yes! Thank you." The girl slumped down and smiled weakly feeling embarrassed. This time around, she was more scared than anything. The battle was long and a bit hectic at the beginning, but no one received life-threatening injuries. Excluding the pain in her ankle and the ache in her throat, her mana was full. Her Origin skill didn't consume mana and just tired her soul.

Waving her hand she pushed the small vial back to Renata and said, "I- I don't need to consume potions. I can heal it myself. I- I was just a bit nervous. I forgot to heal it before..."

While she spoke, she smiled sheepishly and caressed her leg. A bright glow seeped out of her fingers and her bones creaked returning to place. The swelling and pain gradually declined. In less than three seconds there was not even a scare reminiscing of the previous mangled-up injury.

"..." The redhead returned the same smile and nodded, "Yes, well, next time don't forget to heal yourself too. You are part of the team. Got it?"

"Yes!" Harumi sprang to her feet and awkwardly rushed to check on the others.

Sigh

Looking after the girl, Raven played with his sword and put it back in the scabbard. He rubbed his temples and shook his head slightly. "A healer who forgets healing herself... Can we really conquer this dungeon?"

"Oh come on, give her some slack. She did great. This was her first serious battle." Renata sent him a glance and rebutted his statement. "Besides, as the leader you need to work harder. If you are so negative right from the start, this mission is doomed. Learn a bit more from this beauty. Wasn't I the MVP of today?"

"Don't let me begin. Do you think I haven't noticed your blunder? MVP my ass. Go and property thank Leticia for her aid!"

"Humph, I already did. And don't worry about your tight buttocks. I am diligently searching for a man to take care of it!" Unperturbed, Renata returned a sassy remark. Seeing Raven lost for an answer, she snickered and jumped on her feet.

If they have learned something, it was that even the first floor was not as simple as it first seemed. Many more dangers were lurking around in this labyrinth. But for now, they needed some rest.

...

In his workshop, Midnight looked at the sheet in his hands and nodded in satisfaction. The result made him content and he felt extremely excited.

To utilize his Toolkit, which had better abilities than the imagined equipment, a piece of jewelry was the obvious choice. Jewelry was deemed a luxury item and was rarely seen in lessotian stores. Besides, he couldn't begin with a weapon, armor, or clothing for several reasons. The biggest of them was his lack of knowledge and skills. It was especially evident with the clothing. How was he supposed to tailor and sew?

After he selected the category, he faced the first problem. It was the type. Jewelry was too vast of a topic and included more than one trinket.

A moment of deep pondering later, he came up with two reasons to narrow his choice.

First, it seemed the simplest of all. A newbie had to walk, before running was possible.

Second, it was an item that players and natives of all genders and most races could wear and equip. In simple terms, it was the first choice for the public.

Despite his test taking priority, he still had to earn cash in the end. He didn't wish to see his first item end up growing mold tucked all alone on a shelf. That would be too heartbreaking for a craftsman in training.

With these two points as his basis, he first excluded creating an earring, cufflink, or brooch. Such items required fine needles, fasteners, screws, or clip mechanisms which he lacked the confidence to create. Following, he crossed out amulets, bracelets, anklets, and hairpins. They were relatively gender-specific or required delicate chains. One 'no' after another led him to the last and first option - a ring.

Yet, even rings posed one tiny but noteworthy inconvenience. They came in multiple sizes and shapes.

Unlike custom-made orders, his item had to fit the majority. From bearish men to women and children.

The result he gleamed after spending a full hour browsing statistics was the design on this sheet.

It was simple but elegant. A ring with a size that could fit on a big male's pinky or a child's thumb. Slightly thicker and wider than normal, this design provided some space for embellishing stones. The gems would lay wrapped in the metal and wouldn't protrude.

The last was a consideration, he had to make especially for Euclex. The item wasn't meant to be solely pretty. No, it had to be sturdy and useful first and foremost.

A protruding stone could not only affect a close combatant's movements but it posed a nontrivial risk of detachment or fracture. Therefore, it was imperative for the gems to lay in a hollow and receive the metal protection.

Phew

Exhaling a foul breath, Midnight put the note down. He ran to his junk pile stacked by a corner and took a couple of pine woods, his dagger, and a couple of chisels he found. After a second of thought, he reached his hand once again and picked up the tube with increasing diameter. This was a tool jewelers used to measure the size.

When he was done selecting his items, he sat by the table and began chipping the wood.

His next step was to turn the picture into a simple three-dimensional model. A rudimentary item used to cast his first ring.

To create the metal framework, he could choose both casting or smithing. However, this time, he didn't think much. The answer was simple.

Unlike smithing, which required precise work with the metals, casting could substitute the metalwork with a model and mold. This technique was easier and produced finer results.

As for why the sole ring he had seen in the General Store was created by smithing, it was the Southern Empire's fault! It was the damn medieval setting obstructing the craftsmen!