After the single Coconut tree debacle, I was not going to plant the fruit trees at the first few floors. The hidden boss joke would not be ending anytime soon.

Checking on my EV Points once again, I realized I had amassed 6 points already.

2 from NPC and 4 from players.

1 NPC Rogue died from faceplanting into a spike trap. Carpet Thorns are just too evil for that. He was walking towards the trap and wanting to disarm the trap when the carpet called.

The 2nd was a Swordsman. I did not get how it happened but he died to Saplings. What happened to his party mates. Rewinding back further, I saw what happened. Sapper happened. The Sappers were shooting the Clerics making them unable to cast any healing spells.

As for the players it was rather unlucky of them. They did well in fact. They were the first party to reach the boss. They suffered the same fate as Alex. They got captured. 1 Cleric, 1 Mage 1 Rogue and 1 Swordsman.  The Cleric still has yet to learn mass dispel and that lead to their downfall. A team of 4 would need a priest that has learned mass dispel.

Checking in on the nearest team, they were 2 rooms away. Not bad I must say for a team of 8. 2 Clerics, 1 Archer, 2 Mages and 2 Swordsmen and 1 Rogue. 21 rooms and going strong.It only took them 2 hours to get there, 4 minutes to clear each room, 2 minutes lost in the tunnels between on average.

Knowing that they will be reaching the boss room in 13 minutes or so,i patiently watched and waited for their arrival. They are doing well… For now.

Looking at the mini boss room of 40m*40m*4m, everything seemed to be in place. There was Bewitcher smacked right in the middle, 3 Singing Trees stood next to the boss forming an equilateral triangle around it, clusters of Sappers in almost equal distance from each other surround the Singing Trees. Within these rings of Sappers were 8 Saplings with the Singing Tree as the center. Chompers littered the grounds that was outside these encirclements. Runners ran amok the room. The various herbs clustered along the edges of the room. 2 lone stalks of Eternal Sleep rests next to Bewitcher.  The ground was thick with the vines of the Carpet Thorns,leaving no place exposed. The floor was further littered with the 2 types of Traps.

Walking around in this room was the lone Mage Player, Alex. or at least the captured Alex back when the Dungeon was smaller and younger. Like him, are the many minions that were captured due to Bewitcher. From Dire wolves to harmless doe, there was just an army of tier 0 minions. What do you expect? Dragon? is powerful but not THAT powerful. No matter how captivating plants are, they are just plants. (I think).There were 2 King Rats and some goblins as well but I think it made no difference. Small fries but all of them would serve as good distractions. My Dungeon is thirsting for some fresh captures.

It did not take long for them to arrive. The arrived on time in fact. Exactly 13 minutes as predicted. Although they did not know that they were at the figurative door of the boss room for the level, the team rested in the tunnel before entering. I was really tempted to eat some popcorns to watch but you know spoils the fun so I had to munch on single flavored chips.

Remember what happened to Alex back then? He never did enter the boss room and he was already captured. Lucky for them, the room had expanded from back them. From a measly 17m*17m*2m room to 40m*40m*4m room, the increase is more than double. However, the effect still radiated out of the room due to the lack of door, just albeit much weaker. It did not take long for the Clerics to notice the tolerance meter slowly climbing up.

Cleric 1 with a serious face - “Guys we are in trouble. We are outside and i can see the tolerance meter going up. I think we have hit a new monster and it is just round the corner. Do we rush the new one or do we step back more?

Archer, presumably the leader - “We will step back until all the cool downs have cleared and our mana and health full. I do not remember seeing anything like this on the forums about this Dungeon. They mentioned the Singing Tree but since none of us are hearing it, it should be the boss room. I think we are the pioneers for this if it is the boss.”

Mage 2 - “Sweet. Virgin boss. That is going to be some good Forum Credit for us. I call dibs on the remainder after dividing by 8.”

Archer replied with a quick follow up - “Everyone else ok with that?”

Rogue replied with a tint of laugh in her voice - “Sure, she is in charge of our finance. What goes to her goes back to us anyway.”

The rest of the team mates could not help but just smile at that.

Mage 2 stares at the Rogue - “Danna, for that, i am taking 10% off your share for this trip and keeping it for myself since you said i am in charge of finance.”

Danna stares at Mage 2 mouth agape. Her eyes soon began to wander, looking at the others for any signs of assistance. Pushing up the invisible glasses on the bridge of her nose, Mage 2 cuts in impassionately - “Commission for doing the accounts. Anyone that want to help her will get the same treatment.”

Everyone else could only raise their hands in surrender as they wanted to keep their finances safe from the hands of Mage 2.

2 minutes after all these chatter, everyone was fully charged and ready for the actions to come.

Archer - “ Guys you know the drill. I take left swords to the center and Gwen on the right. Danna check for traps and Jake watch over her.”

“AYE”

“Roger”

“Ok.”

“AYE”

“...”

“Yes, Yes. Whatever you say.”

“Just another roooo…..”

The team stood there for a brief moment lost for words. The place was more beautiful than they had expected. After seeing plants being everywhere in disarray, a sudden neat and tidy place stumped them. It took them 2 secs to recover their minds. They understood that they were in a boss room and began working like a well oiled machine.

Giving credits when due, the Clerics were good. They paid attention to the tolerance meters. The moment they reached the level where dispel would get rid of it, they would take turn to do so. When the one that is supposed to cast dispel is busy with casting a healing spell, the other would cast dispel instead. That made sure that there is no break in chain.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

One minutes went by as i watched. They had barely advance. They were playing the careful game, picking each plant off one by one. It would not work. It would be just a matter of time before Singing Tree pulls out Venom’s ability, - A toxic mist that permeates through all matter, holding its prey in paralysis. Max stack 35. With Singing Tree no longer at the first floor, no one would have been afflicted by this ability so far. I could only watch in anticipation as the first myst generates. As some would know it, luck is on my side. It was 30 seconds later when the first myst showed up. It laid itself upon one Cleric. The myst aura hopped on over to the other Cleric. It was just too bad. They had thought it would be safer if the Clerics were close to each other.  With the two of them so close to each other, the aura further radiated out in 2m radius. At the same time, the myst paralyzed them for 3 seconds. This broke the pace of their Dispel and healing. This made the entire party’s health drop quickly. They were still not at critical level but everyone took some potions just in case.

As time passed, a situation occurred. The party realized that they were moving too slowly and had began taking increased amount of damage. had been in effect. The greatly reduced movement speed had sapped them more than they had though. They had thought it was normal because Sappers too had the same ability to slow. The minions proved to be more annoying than thought. Although they dealt little damage, they blocked the way. Ever tried playing dodgeball while people are charging at you? That must be how they felt. Dodging the vines from Sapling, dodging the stingers of Sapper and hoping to not fall from Carpet thorns.  These made it bad. Then there is the minion that are after you and one misstep you end up falling into pitfalls and spike traps. The only thing that protected them from the traps was the fact that they were going slow. Time ticked on as the tolerance meter kept piling up.  Dispel only took away 1 status effect at a time.

Jake - “Anyone hungry? Those Flower of Fragrance keeps generating the awesome smell of BACON. I am going to cook myself some bacon after this.”

Everyone else - “Shut up Jake!”

Just that one comment killed the party. Or at least everyone blamed him afterwards. It was not his fault though, Carpet thorns happened. The Danna tripped and fell into a spike trap. She survived but the clerics had to spend more time healing her than casting dispel.  So things went to hell after. For healing Danna, one of the Clerics drew hate and cause a change in attacking target. The hatred chain got messed up. Everyone had to run to stay alive. The Clerics and Mages needed to stand still to cast spells and now they can’t. Then finally the best thing that could happen happened.

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

You gained loot type: Return Scroll

They lost a Cleric and a Return Scroll. The Cleric must have just selected that item from his backpack and and held it in his hands when he got captured.

7 people left. It was a simple reasoning for them. Time to go. But luck was not on their side. It was on mine. It was a moment of popcorn glory. I ate one Popcorn.

Negate the use of the last consumable that you looted (Return Scroll) for the next 5 seconds.

Within these 5 seconds, the 7 folks went from the depths of despair to puppets.

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

You have Captured a Player thanks to Singing Tree + Singing Tree + Bewitcher.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!

It was comical. All that was left was 1 guy. Jake.

Surrounding was his old teammate. After a round of attack by them,

Your Minions have killed a player.You have gained bonus 1 evolution point!