Sargon and the girl trio were pushing through the overgrown jungle. They had recently killed their first monster in floor 7; it was low danger level monster [Scrieker]. The one who actually killed it was Tasha, incidentally, she was the one currently leading the group. Sargon was still in front of the group, he had to cut the branches and other plats to make way, but Tasha was the one instructing him on the path they should take. The jungle was thick and treacherous place to be in.

Tasha brushed away a huge leaf out of her way and spoke: “If we continue going deeper, we should find some harvestables.” She explained.

“Harvestables?” Lilith asked quite unsure of what did Tasha mean exactly. “Aren’t we here just for cores and experience?”

“That would be the case for upper floors. Deeper floors have useful plants and ores. I know that because I was the one who carried all that stuff back to surface. It can get very heavy.” Tasha recalled her memories from previous journeys, from the time when she was adventuring with veterans.

“I know that. I just didn’t expect we will be harvesting so soon.”

“It just shows how good we are.” Sargon added. He was happy with their progress. There was no way he would be here and now if he didn’t have all three of them in his party.

“Yeah, that is good but I don’t think I am ready for this. Do any of you know how to actually harvest plants or mine ores? Or even what to look for?”

Lilith hit the nail with a hammer. None of them had real practice doing it, or so it seemed at first glance. There was a moment of silence and everyone, except for Demi-Ura, seemed to be in a state of deep thought.

“I wasn’t allowed to harvest but…” the momentarily steady tail began to wag energetically once more again “but I know what to look for. I carried many plants and ores and can tell them apart properly.” Tasha boasted.

She was no scout but she was confident that she will recognise the harvest spots once she sees them.

“And I was an actual gardener. This should mean something, no? How different can the dungeon plants be from the ones in temple gardens?” Sargon asked no one in particular.

“I don’t know, but I guess you have the experience needed to gather them.” Lilith shrugged. “And if we need to dig something point me at it. My claws are sharper than you think.”

Everyone nodded. They were not experts but they knew they can handle harvesting when it comes to that. So, the party continued to push deeper. A shriek or two would echo around them from time to time, it was hard to tell how far the source of the noise was but it didn’t seem too close.

The party stopped for a short break. Sargon was getting tired from all this chopping and his blade began to dull. It was a good time to sharpen it using a whetstone he had purchased not so long ago. A few snacks were consumed while they had rested.

Shrieks become more and more intense, frequent too.

“Should we get worried?” Sargon asked Tasha. She was the one with the most experience here.

“I… I am not sure. I think so.”

“Better be safe than sorry.” Sargon recalled a phrase he had heard Lilith say many times.

To which both Lilith and Demi-Ura nodded in agreement.

The party stood close to each other and pointed their heads up towards the branches. If they were about to get attacked this was the place to watch for it. Soon enough the leaves began to rustle and thinner branches to creak. The enemy was not yet in clear sight but their presence was clear. Multiple shrieks pierced the air around the party.

“This sounds bad.” Demi-Ura reflected on the tough situation they were in.

They didn’t know how many monsters were there or from what direction they will attack.

“Here!” Tasha shouted out pointing at the spot with her crossbow. She bent her finger pressing the trigger, mechanism released and the bolt flew out cutting green leaves.

There was a dull shriek leading with some heavy rustling of branches and other vegetation, presumably, something had dropped down.

“I hit it!” Tasha cheered.

“Good jo…” Sargon was cut short.

A [Shrieker] was jumping down from the tree directly towards him. Its claws were targeting his head. He raised his coa like a spear above his head; he had reacted just in time. The monster being mid-air couldn’t avoid the counterattack and found itself skewered through its midsection.

Guttural liquid and blood leaked down the coa shaft and onto Sargon’s hands and face. The monster was dead.

“Good job!” Lilith praised a quick reaction of her companion.

Sargon frowned at blood and gore, and then swung his weapon sideways to get rid of the monster.

“Careful, we are not done.” Demi-Ura warned.

She was right. They were nowhere done, multiple [Shriekers] started to drop on them from above. Sargon tried to slice at them as quickly as he could to protect his party but this was not enough; there were just too many of the monsters.

However, lucky to him, his party was not incompetent. Demi-Ura was quick to avoid being jumped at while Lilith quick to react with a good swipe using her sharp claws. It was only Tasha who was the most vulnerable.

Even if her weapon had a bayonet, Tasha was not a good melee fighter. Also, it took time to reload her weapon, so she was making herself vulnerable. As if that was meant to happen eventually a [Shrieker] landed straight on her and began to claw at her flesh.

“U-aaaaa.” Tasha wailed in pain drawing everyone’s attention.

“[Confuse]!” Demi-Ura was quick to cast a spell confusing the enemy and stopping it from injuring Tasha any further.

Sargon wanted to help, but he knew that would be a mistake. He had a weapon with the best reach and it was for the best if he pointed it upwards and prevented monsters from landing a hit on them. Instead of him, Lilith rushed to the rescue.

“Just hold on for a sec!” She grabbed the confused monster and quite literally ripped it apart in two with her claws. These monsters were flesh and blood, not like armoured ants, so this was possible. Once she discarded what was left of the monster, a sorry state of beastkin girl was revealed to her. Where were nasty gashes all across her body, fresh cuts left by [Shrieker] sharp claws.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“[Healing Touch]. Cover us.” Lilith wasted no time to start to tend to Tasha’s, wounds.

“Will do! [Taunt], come at me you suckers!” Sargon invoked his aggro skill. He was unsure if it will work but he had to try.

Oh, and it worked great. He should have used it sooner... or maybe not. All of the monster’s dropped down from trees all at once. There were like six of them. He managed to kill one while it was still mid-air, successfully decapitating it, and dismember an arm from another one. The rest, however, swarmed on top of him clawing at his armour relentlessly. He would be dead if not for Demi-Ura saving everyone's ass again.

“[Confuse]!” She cast once again, but this time on a group of enemies. Currently, all she could do was affect only three of them at once, but this bought Sargon some time.

He gritted his teeth and managed to pull his dagger and stab at the few who were still clawing at him. He was protecting his face with his hand so he was slashing at monsters blindly, but every thrust of his arm made them bleed and shriek in pain. His leather vest was holding, but this will not last.

Demi-Ura didn’t stand idly, after she had cast her spell she rushed to help Sargon. She carefully pinpointed the three who were not affected by her spell and attacked them with her tail blade. Demi-Ura’s tail swung and spun like a snake carefully stabbing at the vitals of the monsters.

“One… Two… Three…” Three stabs and three monsters were dispatched just like that. Once they were on the ground and distracted, they were not that hard to take care of.

This made Sargon’s situation a lot better and he managed to take care of the rest who were still under [Confuse] spell.

Just as the last monster died Lilith rushed to tend to Sargon’s wounds. It wasn’t too bad, his armour took the brunt of it, there were only minor scratches on his hands and legs.

“This will take only a moment. Stay still” Lilith pressed her hands on Sargon’s wounds.

Her hands glowed in a magical light and Sargon felt that itchy tingling sensation of his cuts closing down. To his surprise, he didn't need to be too wary of more enemies since Tasha was standing just behind him. She looked slightly wobbly on her feet but her crossbow was pointed up and her eyes glued to the overgrowth above. Tasha was guarding him.

“Do you think more will come?” Lilith asked just before she moved to another wounded spot.

“It is now quiet.” Demi-Ura voiced her observation. There were no more shrieks echoing around the jungle.

“Better safe than sorry.” Tasha refused to let her guard down.

Everyone remained on edge for a little while, but there were no monster attacks; they were safe for now. Once Sargon was healed, they have begun harvesting the monster cores, after all, there were quite a few monsters they had killed. It was bloody and it took time but once it was done, they continued to push deeper into the jungle.

After a half an hour of doing so, Tasha pulled on the hem of Sargon’s trousers.

“Over there!” She pointed towards a large tree stump. It was half rotten and overgrown with various plants. “We can get valuable herbs over there.” She added.

“Show me them, I don’t want to harvest useless weeds.” Sargon asked while rummaging trough bundle of oddly shaped plants.

“I will watch your back.” Lilith offered herself to the guard duty.

“Me too.” So did Demi-Ura.

Tasha showed what to look for. It was a plant made of long fleshy leaves; the skin was hard and had small barbs on it making it hard to harvest. However, Sargon was experienced in this and harvested one plant after the other in no time. He had cut around 25 of them filling the air with the smell of sweet plant juice.

“I think this is the last one.” Tasha looked around the stump once more.

“Yup, I can’t find any either. Let me cut this and we can go.”

Sargon pushed his dagger blade against the plant’s base cutting it. He successfully harvested it and stored in the pouch. Just as he was about to leave the stump it started to creak and rumble.

“There had to be something didn't it.” Sargon reflected on how this was too easy while sighting and then asked “Tasha?” hoping that she knows what was going on.

“Amm… This is new to me.” She said while backing off away from the shaking stump.

“Well, then better get ready!” He rallied his party while taking the front.

Tasha ran to the rear next to Demi-Ura while Lilith remained where she was, in the middle.

The stump shook once more and then a side of it exploded spewing out old bark and wood chippings revealing a small hole and two branch-like hands pushing out of it. It took only a moment for the creature to pull itself out from inside the stump. It stood there glaring at the thieves who stole everything from it.

It was a [Sapling], a plant type monster made out entirely of enchanted wood and bark. It was slightly smaller than Sargon. Its legs and arms were elongated making it look very lanky. Its entire body was covered in sturdy bark, its head had something akin to a mask which vaguely resembled a human face. It had only three fingers on each hand but they were long and sharp like speers.

The monster moved its mishaped limbs in a motion which looked almost unnatural. Green lines across its body flared up in magical glow; the patterns resembled an enchantment. It began its charge.

“This is an unknown enemy. Let me handle this.” Sargon took his role as a tank; he knew he can take damage better than others.

He planted his legs into the mossy ground and braced for the charge.