A large root speared through the ground next to him as James dodged, rolling forward. Getting further into the Treant’s range might have seemed counterintuitive, but his options were very limited at long distances.

Thakinetic Awareness alerted him to another attack coming from the ground, and James jumped to the side, letting the root that sprung from where he had just been hit nothing.

With three more quick steps, he was finally close enough to the main body that he could do more than just dodge. A branch, larger and thicker than the roots, bent down to intercept him, but his buffed speed allowed him to once again avoid it.

That was close. I felt the leaves brush my suit.

Cocking his fist and firming up his stance, James took the moment his frantic movements had gained him to empower his arm, focusing on increasing his destructive power.

He had been tempted, for a moment, to use the last ditch move he had employed against the starfish, releasing enough mana to break through the hard bark, but he first wanted to try his hand at old-fashioned punching.

With a grin, he released the coiled tension.

When his fist hit the Treant, the sound was loud enough to resemble a gunshot. It broke through the initial hardwood, coming to a stop three layers deep.

He was then immediately forced to jump back, feeling his hair swish with the wind created by the tree’s movement.

“I can take this one!” He yelled, confident now that he had seen he could hurt it. It would surely take some time, as the Treant didn’t seem interested in letting James punch it to death, but since it couldn’t really hit him, even focusing all his limbs on him, it was just a matter of time.

One more root was added to the mix, but its speed was slower. Rather than being the effect of a skill, it seemed that the monster had hit its limit of how many limbs it could move at the same time. Though it was enough to force him a few steps back, it didn’t change the direction of the fight.

James dodged for half a minute before another opportunity opened up. He slipped into the Treant’s guard and punched hard, hitting the same spot. Wood chips flew everywhere as his fist reached almost midway through the tree, causing the gaping maw to screech in pain.

Again, he leaped back, rolling to the ground and jumping up to avoid roots. In his buffed state, James’ SENSE was enough that he could tell where an attack would go as soon as the monster committed, and for all its dogged determination, the creature was not smart enough to change its patterns, especially since Ezekiel had weakened its MIND.

The effect of the debuff was not as dramatic as with the Whip Seaweed, which had been barely able to move after being hit, but it still made the Treants predictable enough that they could be dealt with.

Dodging another attempt at crushing him with a thick branch, James was once again within striking range, and he didn’t let that opportunity go to waste. His gloved fist, this time, went through the trunk, weakening it enough that it began tipping over.

The monster’s warble of pain was cut off when it finally broke completely, the weight of its upper body simply too much.

As soon as the notification of its death came, James turned around and ran towards his friends. The situation was not much different than when he had first left them, with Ezekiel and Maria hiding behind Daniel and Lauren flitting around, gathering the Treants’ attention.

However, the fires that had engulfed only one tree were now extended to all four, though the main bodies of two seemed safe enough for the moment.

Jumping to Lauren’s aid, James tapped a few of the wriggling roots, alerting the Treants to his presence and giving the girl some breathing room. Having successfully fought against two such tree monsters by now, James was able to dodge their attempts to turn him into a shish kebab pretty easily, if only thanks to Ezekiel’s skill.

Lauren was busy cutting off roots that got too daring, lessening the number of limbs they had to worry about, and since time was on their side, what with the fires spreading all over them, there was no need to risk themselves by getting too close.

It wasn’t James’ preferred mode of combat, and he couldn’t wait until his skills reached a high enough level to let him bulldoze through any mid to long-range fighter, but when clearing a dungeon, it was important not to get ahead of one’s capabilities.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

In her lessons, Miss Walker had been clear that even seasoned Awakeners could fall because of hubris. They thought they had fully understood a monster and were killed by a surprise attack at the last moment. “If you can kill them without risking your life, do it. Always do it.” She was fond of saying.

Ten minutes later, the last of the Treants had burned to death. The clearing they were in was full of broken branches and smoke, but at least they were safe from the tree monsters.

James extended his senses, searching for even the most minor presence, but was unable to find any. “We should be clear here. Still, their stealth abilities are better than I was expecting, so let’s be careful.”

The others nodded in agreement, save Maria, who was too busy being giddy about her newest level up. She had taken the lion’s share of the experience, being the primary damage dealer, which had been enough to push her over the line.

James’ bar was only at a tenth, even after killing a Treant all by himself, but he wasn’t particularly discouraged. The dungeon run was still long and he was sure he’d have the opportunity to gain more EXP.

They all took a moment to rest, having been forced back into a fight immediately after the last two. The Treants were resilient monsters, and their roots gave them great control over the battlefield. Thanks to his increased stats, James was not even winded, but it was important to pace oneself.

I bet we’ll have to spend the whole dive jumping from one fight to the next. This dungeon seems specialized in keeping the tension very high, so I’d expect the birds to come back any moment now.

His thoughts revealed themselves to be prophetic, because they didn’t have even five minutes to relax that a dozen presences flew closer from above the canopy.

“Birds!” James yelled, rising from his crouch and staring intently north, where he could feel the [Mutated Bluebird - Dive Bombers] gather.

“I want to try dispersing them first. If we allow them to reach us on their terms, we won’t be able to avoid the initial attack.” Lauren said even as she swiftly climbed a tree, her skills working overtime to hide her.

Understanding her plan, James jumped, grabbing onto a thick branch, and pulled himself up. On the ground, Daniel prepared himself, his shield held high and glowing. A Tank’s skills were mostly geared towards redirecting damage, and whether that was to themselves to cover their allies or away, to bear even more force, was up to their discretion.

Usually, the heavy-set young man wouldn’t need to redirect the damage away, as his VIT was high enough he could take almost anything a H-rank creature could throw at him, especially when holding his D-rank shield.

However, this time he prepared to do so. Being the only obvious target left in the clearing - Maria and Ezekiel had hidden behind the Treants’ broken trunks, ready to swoop in once the birds’ initial charge was over.

Of course, the plan was for very few birds to reach him at all, but those never survived contact with the enemy, and being prepared was better than getting hurt.

Once the Bluebird flock became visible, and more importantly, the monsters noticed Daniel, they quickly flew closer, rising up in the air to prepare their signature attack.

Before they could complete their rise, however, they were beset from two fronts by Lauren and James, who launched themselves from the trees, catching a few and disrupting even more.

Immediately after, three fireballs flew toward the last remaining group, forcing them to change direction midway through their dive, thus reducing the strength with which they hit Daniel’s shield. The Tank didn’t even budge this time and hurried to take advantage of the Bluebirds’ disorientation, falling upon them with his full weight.

Meanwhile, James finished stomping on the two birds he had managed to grab and looked up, noticing that the rest of the flock was unsuccessfully attempting to regroup. Smaller fireballs were stymieing their efforts and slowed them down enough that Ezekiel could nail them down with a debuff, reducing their AGI.

Once the birds were forced to the ground and slowed appropriately, James and Lauren dealt with them in short order, ending the fight in a much cleaner manner than their initial one.

“Man, it’s wild how different fights are when you know what to expect. These things could have easily sent us packing earlier if they had just a bit more VIT, but now we killed them without breaking a sweat.” Ezekiel commented. His healing skills had been absolutely necessary to continue the dive, as otherwise, they’d be forced to rely on the few very precious potions they had brought along. Having to use one at the beginning of a dungeon was a clear indicator that it was simply too dangerous to keep going.

“It’s why the Guilds tampering with the information they send us is such a big deal. If a team enters thinking they’ll meet long-range monsters, but is immediately beset by something like those bluebirds, they will suffer casualties, maybe even deaths if they don’t have a healer on hand.” James answered. The sheer brazenness they had to send people to their deaths just to get more influence was infuriating.

“Alright, let’s leave that for later.” Daniel warned, looking deep into the forest “I think we might get some company soon.”

Immediately, James activated his skill to check, sweeping the direction the Tank had been looking in.

There, almost hidden under the shrubbery, something was moving. It wasn’t a huge creature, smaller than the mutated rats they had killed so long ago, but its form was quite dissimilar. Its presence blazed to James’ senses, indicating an animal with an exceptional will.

“Holy crap, that’s a badger.” Ezekiel murmured.

Indeed, the thing that had scared them turned out to be a stocky, low-slung badger with short, powerful legs. It was armed with huge foreclaws, being at least three inches long, and had the distinctive head markings of the species.

It scampered up to them, showing absolutely no fear but no aggression either, and sniffed around. Stopping before one of the Bluebirds, the badger speared it with a claw, held it up to inspect it and, once it found it acceptable, walked away with its new dinner, all without sparing a glance to the bemused members of team 0.

“I think that might have been a normal animal, you know.” Lauren finally said, breaking the spell of silence.

“I don’t know, it really blazed to my senses.” James admitted, still a bit confused about the whole ordeal.

Normal animals still existed, of course, as mutation occurred only when enough mana pooled to form a Sink. But to find one so close to a dungeon was a surprise.

Maria chuckled, shaking her head. “That little bastard stole our loot!”

They all had a laugh at that. They had been so surprised that a seemingly ordinary animal would come close to them without overt aggression that they let it take a bird. “It stole at least three hundred dollars worth of materials.” Daniel added, mirth evident in his smile.

The moment of levity, unfortunately, was broken soon after. A roar so loud that it made the forest shake resounded through the vegetation.

The Boss, it seemed, had noticed their presence. And this time, it was coming to them.