Zeek and I are going to scout the boss,” Alistern announced. “I will then put together a team to take it out if I think we can. Killing the boss is always worth it, if possible. Not only are there skills, but soul-bound equipment and unique classes and class slots are also often available. We will need the right team, though. We will discuss that when we get back. It will take us two days to get there and two more to return, so think about it while I am away and take the time to train against the trial beasts. Sergeant Juth is in charge while I am gone. Sergeant.” he nodded to her to take over.

“We recommend you go out in groups of three and have one of the guards with you.” Juth started. “The guards will have an emergency locator if there is trouble. Getting a healer for you will take time, but you are not a raw recruit. You know the risks, and managing them is up to you. Let me know who you are grouping with and when you expect to be back. If you are not back by then, we will come looking, so all you have to do is survive. Everybody is to be back here in five days.”

“I guess that is Zeek out then,” Myantha said.

I nodded. “Suda?” I asked.

“She is fast and quiet,” Myantha agreed.

It turned out Suda was spending the first two days with Juth and the healer as part of the response team.

“Which way are you heading?” Suda asked.

“We are going down first. I want to see the forest floor,” I replied.

“I want to go down,” Joe said.

Joe. Big bulky Joe with the Heavy Infantry Class. No stealth. Slow. No subtlety. He had Challengers Call and Caltrops and is good with a shield. He is strong.

“If you come, you are the target,” I said. I glanced at Myantha. She nodded. “You are the one they will see and attack. We will cut them down from behind.”

He nodded, “Fine with me.”

“What is your riding skill like?” I asked.

“Average,” he said puzzled.

“If we have to run, you will be riding Rob. You will have to stay on, and that is not easy.”

“If we have to run,” Joe said, “There will be plenty of motivation for me to stay on.”

At least he wasn’t dumb—actually, Alistern probably hand-picked these guards. None of them will be dumb.

“Right then, daylight is wasting. Juth, we hope to be back in two days. If we are not back in three, send the search party.” My intuition was tingling.

She gave me a nod.

I went to create a party with my Leadership skills, but it turns out Myantha’s leadership was higher than mine, so she had to create the party. She did something I would never have thought of. She sent Tāwai his own invite, and he became a party member in his own right and not as part of me. That was awesome. I will remember that. Alistern must have known that. He was messing with us. I will remember that, too.

Going down was easy. It is coming back up later that is going to be hard work.

We stopped for a break after dealing with some large, blood-sucking mosquito-like creatures. I am surprised Joe has any blood left in him. He is looking pretty white.

Tāwai had practised his Dive Attack and Lacerating Claw. The mosquitos were easily killed; they were just fast, and there were a lot of them. Umbral Cold was effective, as was Myantha’s blade wave, or whatever it was called. The mossies made it easy for air manipulation users to manoeuvre into the cutting wave, making it very effective.

I worked through the loot drops. Lots of needles. I held up a stone, “This is the Skill Replenish Blood.”

“Yes, please,” said Joe. I tossed it over. Tāwai could have used it, but I thought Joe needed it more.

“Shouldn’t I be the one distributing the drops?” Myantha said, “I am the leader here.”

I backed away and held up my hands, “sure thing, boss!”

“Carry on,” she said magnanimously. “It is called delegation. Are you going to try for the trial boss?” she asked.

“I probably will,” said Joe. “It is a good opportunity, and the Lieutenant makes good plans.”

I shook my head, “No, I‘m not. I will leave it to the fighter types. There are other rewards available for less risk. What about you?”

“Depends what it is,” she replied.

“Fair enough.”

The humidity rose the lower we got, and it got gloomier. We were not just going down, I had a particular direction in mind. We had crossed outside of Zeek’s explored map a while back.

Eventually, I stood on a thin branch about twenty meters above the ground. Rob, Joe and Myantha were still well above me. Tāwai swooped low over the ground, inspecting it.

The soil was dark. Roots poked out occasionally. A few rocks were visible. There were rotting leaves and broken rotting branches scattered about. A stagnant pool was visible through the trees. The air was heavy and still.

We were close, but I didn’t really know what I was looking for. Shinies is not an accurate description. I was searching for things of high value.

I could hear Joe approaching. The branch I was standing on shook as Myantha landed lightly. Her eyes were automatically searching for danger. Nothing stood out in my Spectral Vision (Heat), and my Observant Eye supported by Nightsight wasn’t picking up anything. Manasight was showing a low glow all over the ground. There were high concentrations of mana in the trees, and I traced the major roots, but the soil also had high mana. High mana soil grows high mana plants. I thought as I looked at the trees.

“What’s the plan?” Joe asked as he arrived.

“You’re the target,” I said. “The plan is you drop down, and we see if anything attacks you.”

He chuckled, “I suppose I should have guessed that. Any sign of anything?”

I looked at Myantha, and she shook her head, “No.”

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“Which means there is definitely something. I wish I could see better.”

“You don’t have a night sight ability?” I said, surprised.

“Not yet,” Joe said.

“Alistern didn’t have one? He seems to carry a lot,” I said.

“I am not the priority for that. The Lieutenant is strongly need-based.”

“I could sell you Nightsight. What do you have to trade?” I saw Myantha shaking her head.

“You can have all my monster cores till it is paid off.”

“That's a lot of cores,” I said.

He shrugged. “I have been wanting Nightsight for a while. Deal?”

“Deal,” I said. I almost tossed him the skill until I realised he wouldn’t see well enough to catch it. I passed it over.

“That’s better,” he said.

“Well, don’t die, or I won’t get paid.”

“At least you are motivated to keep me alive,” he said. “Everybody ready?”

“Yep.”

“Yes.”

Chirp.

“Monster Mash!” he yelled as he jumped. He landed with a solid Thump. Shield up.

We all waited.

Silence.

We waited.

Silence.

“Shall I shout a Challengers Call?” he asked.

“If we can avoid a fight, we should,” I said.

Joe stomped forward. The soil was soft, and he left clear footprints. Myantha, Tāwai and I followed from the lower branches.

Nothing happened. There is something valuable down here. The Trial always protects valuable things with monsters, often boss-type monsters. Nothing. No giant earthworms, or beetles or anything. Nothing.

I know there is something here. We just have to find it. Maybe it is trapped, or maybe the valuable thing is the monster. That would annoy me. That is going to be it, isn’t it?

Joe moves around the ground, searching and ready as we follow him from the branches.

A half hour goes by. Nothing.

How long since our last fight? We should be getting normal monsters soon.

Nothing.

We investigate the stagnant pool. Frogs? Slugs? Leeches? Big bad swamp monster? No, nothing.

An hour.

Nothing.

Squawk!

I look. Joe is lying face down and not moving.

We look for the cause. Nothing.

“His health is dropping,” Myantha said. As the party leader, she has access to that information.

“I’ll go,” I said, and I jumped a copy image down to see if it is attacked and we never saw anything. Nothing happens to it.

I jump down myself using Feather Fall. My boots make an impression in the soil, but it is less than it would have been. I am not attacked.

I move to check on Joe. No obvious wounds. He has the highest constitution of all of us. I feed him a general health potion and pump out my Rejuvenating Aura a bit.

“That is helping,” Myantha said above me, “His loss has slowed, but it is still dropping.”

Joe starts to come around from the effect of the Health Potion. “What happened?”

“Not sure yet. What can you tell us?”

“Nothing was happening, so I was playing around with my Replenish Blood skill, getting a feel for it, figuring out if it would give me high blood pressure, that sort of thing. I was starting to feel a little off, so I stopped. Next thing I know, you are here feeding me a potion.” He looked at me. “Could a skill like this be bad for me?”

“No idea. I wouldn’t have thought so, though,” I said.

“Shouldn’t be,” Myantha said above us.

“The professor has spoken,” I declared. She is a professor with lots of learning, so she would know most of us. “We are in a Trial,” I continued. “Let’s assume it is the Trial trying to kill us. The question is, how?”

“I seem fine,” Myantha said. “Tāwai?”

Happy Chirp.

“Joe’s health is still falling slightly. How are you, Marvin?”

“I feel fine. I am going to try turning off Rejuvenating Aura and see if that makes a difference.”

Then, I felt a slight burning in my chest. “Wait a minute, I think my Minor Regeneration kicked in.”

“Joe’s health is falling faster.”

“Yeah, I am starting to not feel so good. Plus, I am totally jealous you have Minor Regeneration.” Joe added.

“Try using Replenish Blood,” I suggested.

“That helps a bit,” Joe said.

“Are you and Tāwai still OK?” I ask Myantha.

“Yes.”

Chirp.

“I think there is something in the air down here. I think Joe’s constitution and Replenish Blood held it off, but it must be stacking up in his system. Can we get Joe back up there?”

“Sure,” Myantha said, “Are you going to be alright?”

“For a while. My Rejuvenating Aura and Regeneration will be fine for a bit.”

A rope soon dropped, and Joe climbed up.

I looked around. It looked the same: soft, dark soil, rotting leaves and branches. What are we missing?

“Joe’s health is shooting back up,” Myantha said.

I crouched down. Is there something in the soil? Of course, there is something in the soil. I scoop a handful of soil up to examine.

“There is a layer of tiny dark mushrooms or some sort of fungus growing on the dirt,” I said.

“Right,” said Myantha, “poisonous mushroom spores. There's not much we can do about that without a fire mage or maybe a nature mage. We should probably leave it.”

“Not yet. There is something valuable down here. It is guarded by a monster, which are tiny mushrooms.” I looked closer. “Are you what is valuable?” I asked. The mushrooms didn’t reply. If they had, the spores would have probably been affecting me more than I realised.

What if…? I tried to store the mushroom in my Storage. Did it get stored in the Monster Morgue? No, it didn’t; I was stored in the general storage. It wasn’t even in the Herb Cupboard. I guess it is not a herb. The dirt was stored with it. Was it high mana soil, or was it the fungus that was causing the soil to appear to be high mana? I brought it out of my Storage. It still looked alive. It hadn’t shrivelled or died.

“I am going to store some of the fungi, and we can find someone to examine them when we return. It seems to stay alive in my storage.”

Myantha just nodded. Joe was not interested.

I got out a spade and started storing the top hundred millimetres of fungi-covered soil. My Identify skill calls it Toxnightcap.

“How much are you taking?” Myantha said.

“Everything I can,” I replied. I waved my hand, “I figure the area to those rocks, those roots and that trunk.”

“How big is your storage?” she muttered.

I ignored her and kept clearing the ground.

Special Action was performed.

Store more than one cubic meter of Mana-infused soil.

Awakened has the Herbalist Skill, Mana Strength and Storage over Level 5.

Storage gains Mana Garden.

A separate area for growing mana-enriched plants.

I didn’t stop shovelling, but wow. I never thought I would be a gardener. I examined the Mana Garden while I was working. The Mana Garden would grow things. The only thing in it at the moment was Toxnightcap. The garden was divided into separate areas, so I guess the poisonous stuff like Toxnightcap didn’t kill other things.

I looked around. These giant trees must have some sort of seeds.

Take everything you can.