Faellen was having trouble.
Sure, it was a powerful fairy in its own right and now it even had access to a bit of the Dungeon’s power, but that mostly applied when actually within the Dungeon. Outside of it it was once again limited to mostly just illusions.
And this Boss that had found itself on Lapis wasn’t really troubled by illusions.
In fact, Faellen worried that if it learnt to see through them, it would also learn how to drain the illusions for mana.
Which meant the fairy had to rely on the trio of Sipalians.
Not the worst thing, they were rather good for how recently they’ve been introduced to everything. But not good enough. They still had much to learn, as well as levels to gain.
They were all resting now, each one of them going over the last fight and what they could’ve done better.
“I think I figured something out,” it suddenly heard through its Bond. “Well, the Sipaloons figured it out, but I’ve come to tell you.”
“What is it? Can you command the Boss after all?”
“What? No. The blessing. I know what it does now, if that helps you unlock it.”
Faellen thought about it for a bit. It wasn’t necessarily a guarantee, but at least worth a shot.
“Maybe, probably. What is it?”
“As the System called it, a temporary pseudo Dungeon. It basically creates a…” as the Dungeon explained more and more, Faellen reached and unfortunate conclusion.
“We have to be in a Dungeon to unlock it,” it interrupted.
“Huh, I suppose. Well, I’ll see if I can think of anything else to help with. Bye for now.”
Faellen stood up – well, floated up – and addressed the trio.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Go where? Back to fight that thing? We barely even scratched it last time, and we haven’t recovered since!”
“Nope. To a nearby Dungeon. It should with our blessings.”
For a second there was silence as everyone processed this. Then…
“Why didn’t we think of that sooner?! Of course the blessing of the Dungeon deity would unlock in a Dungeon!” all of them shouted in near perfect unison.
And indeed, it was sort of strange how none of them had conceived of the idea of trying inside a Dungeon. Almost as if the one running this world had no plans on where to take it and thought up everything on the spot. Strange.
The four of them stood up and headed to the nearest Dungeon of a Dungeon Seed. The very same one both Faellen and Thistleskin had exited out of.
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That also meant that the Dungeon was completely empty of any defenders, still recovering from TUP’s passage. Not that the team of adventurers would find out anytime soon, since as soon as they entered they sat down and started meditating again.
The first to succeed was, expectedly, Faellen. The fairy already had a deeper connection and understanding with Dungeons.
A hazy aura gathered around the fae and suddenly it became aware of everything within. It also knew it could Control things within and, to a limited degree, Create and Destroy. Very limited degree. It barely managed to make a pebble.
Second was Prshky, third was surprisingly Ram, and everyone was shocked to find out Ditti unlocked their blessing last.
Next, they tested out of their new mobile pseudo Dungeons worked outside and were truly mobile or if they were confined to use in a Dungeon. The result was a resounding: yes, they can be used outside.
Better yet, they found out that if they combined their auras they were able to drastically strengthen the power they could exert. And it wasn’t just a linear increase in strength.
Once all four of them combined their blessing Dungeon aura, they were capable of lifting a large chunk of earth straight into the air, complete with tree and all!
Perhaps a battle with Thistleskin the Undying Progenitor was unneeded after all. If they could simply carry the Boss while it itself was unable to defend itself in turn, that’d be swell.
After a final round of strategising, it was time.
The four of them approached the clearing of destruction where they had last fought and got ready to do so again.
The Boss still stood there, disguised as a dead tree.
The three Sipalians and a Dungeon fairy nodded to each other. With a bit of concentration, all of them activated their blessing.
Four pseudo Dungeon domains sprung into existence, quickly melding into a single more powerful one. Faellen took control of it, leaving Ram, Prshky, and Ditti to deal with the Boss if necessary.
Good thing too that they did that, because as soon as Faellen attempted to lift the fake Treant, it woke up.
With a roar it tried to free itself of the restraints lifting it, but there was nothing there. It was bound by pure force exerted by a Dungeon domain, not something one can easily combat.
Unfortunately, while the lifting and carrying plan worked, the monster wasn’t as defenceless to it as they had thought.
Branch after branch turned to point at the team. Once aimed, caustic blobs of sap shot out.
Prshky managed to shoot one out of the sky with a well timed mana bolt. The rest of them all fell towards them though. All five of them.
Luckily, Ram was prepared. With an Activation of her defensive Ability and the straining of muscles, she placed herself in between the shots and her teammates. The first barrage was defended against, if barely.
So began the slow march to the Dungeon entrance.
Faellen dedicated a small part of its concentration on rotating the Boss, so that it would have to constantly re-aim, but that was as much as it could do. As powerful as the blessing was, it still took a lot of focus.
The rest of the party, now that they knew what to look out for, were ready. Prshky would manage to shoot down one or two sap blobs from each salvo. Ram would tank the rest. And ditti… they had neither a defensive or ranged option to help.
So instead, the rogue harassed the monster, running beneath it and slicing with their blades. A few branches turned to deal with the nuisance, which lightened the load for the rest of the team.
They were almost by the entrance to the Dungeon Seed’s Dungeon when Thistleskin also spotted the entrance. And reached the wrong conclusion.
The monster, still in its relative infancy, thought that the adventurers it was fighting were monsters of this Dungeon. An enemy Dungeon. It refused to perish inside an enemy Dungeon.
So, with a final cry of rage, it brought all of its branches together and, instead of shooting another blob of caustic sap, unleashed a full on torrent of the burning liquid.