The bone behemoth plodded towards the deer. Two animals stared at each other while he snuck around to approach from another angle.

His hippo opened its mouth fully and roared. In response, the deer’s antlers flashed with blue light. A starry orb of light rose from it, blasting the hippo with glimmering rays. But the light simply washed over the hippo’s shield. The behemoth rumbled toward the deer at high speeds, forcing it to dodge into an empowered boulder, dazing it.

The stag scrambled away and retaliated, its orb flying towards the skeleton mage. But the hippo continued to chase and clamped its jaws onto the deer’s body. Black sludge seeped out from the hippo’s mouth, corroding the deer’s flesh.

Light gathered around the antlers again and it shot an array of spears into the behemoth’s neck. The cervid’s eyes swiveled to look at its opponent, and it despaired. No damage had been done. The tomb hippo lifted the deer upward and slammed the deer onto the ground again and again until bones broke.

The astral orb careened its way back towards the hippo and exploded. Splinters of light shattered the shield almost immediately and seared the beast’s hide. Large cracks appeared in the bone armor and widened as the hippo continued to mangle the deer, undeterred. Eventually, black energy rose as the deer stopped kicking its legs and fell lifeless.

[Notice]: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 12! +2 Free Stat Points

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Tomb Hippopotamus has leveled up to Level 16! +2 Free Stat Points

Caesar was astonished. He walked up and inspected his newest summon. Heavy injuries littered its hide, but where essence flowed, flesh and bone crept back up, good as new. It snorted and turned away.

A field of blue flowers grew near the center of the grove. He picked up a lightly glowing hydrangea, placed the material into a pouch, and continued to explore the rest of the dungeon with Max. They tread carefully throughout the starlight forest, watching the sky to relax and avoiding the other group. Herds of deer roamed the area, with multiple rank one leaders. Caesar had no problems killing them. After hunting a few, he confronted another circular ring of trees that looked quite similar.

Another rank two Starlight Deer sat in the center of this grove. The layout seemed eerily similar, but the center grew marigolds instead of hydrangeas. He frowned but sent in his tomb hippo anyway after scouting the area.

The stag dashed forwards to confront its enemy, light trailing behind its movements. Blue sparks flashed in the air as it struck continuously with its antlers. It breezed past the hippo’s retaliatory jaws and leapt over its dark wave. Caesar stared at its prancing and tried to think of a plan. If he or his skeleton mage went too early, they’d be torn apart.

The hippo breathed black sludge to block off a section of land and snapped toward a predictable direction. It managed to tear a chunk out of the deer. But as he saw wounds accrue on his hippo, he realized it wouldn’t work. Caesar retreated a few paces and unsummoned his tomb hippo. Something needed to change before he faced this agile miniboss again.

He summoned Max again to travel in another direction. Is the earth getting darker? He furrowed his brows and looked upward, counting the stars. They twinkled less. The skies were darker than before. But the phenomenon ended once he spied another ring of trees in the distance.

This grove grew roses. The hippo charged at the Starlight Deer, launching a Darkness Bolt as its opener. It splashed onto a blue barrier. This time, the cervid stood its ground and faced the charge with two layers of a starry shield to impede the hippo. But this distraction gave Caesar the opportunity to lunge.

His spear penetrated into the deer’s flank and sent it skidding sideways. Meanwhile, the behemoth smashed into the two shields and shattered one. It struck again and again, breaking through in moments and tearing into the neck of the cervid. He nodded in satisfaction.

[Notice]: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 13! +2 Free Stat Points

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Skeleton Mage has leveled up to Level 17! +1 Free Stat Points

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Caesar rotated around the forest, killing more deer packs and minibosses. He encountered an Astral Bear sleeping in a cave a little ways further from another ring of trees. It looked like the boss, so he avoided it and fought the deer groves instead. This time, the cervid grew a patch of ivy in the center.

He sent his hippo charging at the deer, but it ran right past its profile. What? Illusions? He took a deep breath. This would be his first fight facing a mental ability. Each bite from the hippo closed around air instead of fur, but it was really close – if he could just gain a slight advantage...

The deer’s head glowed and unleashed spears of light. It seemed to sense something amiss and took a few steps back, glaring in his direction. Caesar joined the fight but signaled his skeleton mage to prepare fireball bombardments in reserve.

The deer blasted a bolt of light at him, which soared above his head. Yet, he still felt pain even with the barrier. With his senses in disarray, each spear jab accomplished nothing but tire him out. As his pain continued to mount, in frustration, he put more points into Willpower. Not being able to rely on himself aggrieved him to no end.

Free Stat Points: 8 -> 3

Strength: 9

Agility: 12

Vitality: 16

Magic: 5

Willpower: 9 -> 14

Spirit: 6

Caesar glimpsed brown fur and blue light flash behind him, although the deer’s profile shimmered to his left. He struck at the left and felt his spear finally pierce. A squeal rang out. The deer – clearly frightened – activated the second stage of its illusory ability. Starlight shimmered from above to shroud itself with invisibility, but fireballs descended from above and engulfed the grove in flames. The stench of burning fur gave away its location and he struck again. Blood spilled.

His hippo smelled blood and lumbered forward, spitting out black bolts. Caesar stepped back and let his minions finish the fight. As the grove began to crumble under the blaze, he rushed to snatch up a glowing ivy leaf. Although slightly charred, the system made no changes to the description of the material.

[Notice]: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 14! +2 Free Stat Points

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Skeleton Mage has leveled up to Level 18! +1 Free Stat Points

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Tomb Hippopotamus has leveled up to Level 17! +2 Free Stat Points

Caesar continued traveling and returned to the grove with the fast deer. He ignored it and arrived at the fifth ring of trees containing a field of tulips. The cervid spotted his hippo and charged first, starlight blades shining on its antlers. As the two beasts clashed and wrestled for dominance, the skeleton mage shot a boulder which the deer intercepted mid-flight with spectral blades.

It changed targets. Caesar tried to defend his skeleton mage, but it bowled into him, broke his barrier, and knocked him into the air. His spear managed to lodge itself into the stag’s chest, giving him more time to desperately unsummon the mage. As blades of light crashed downward, the skeleton mage dissipated.

Caesar sprinted towards the nearest tree and scrambled up. Starlight antlers swept across from under him. The cervid glared at him and fired more spectral blades, lacerating his ribs and cheek. But the hippo had arrived to help and crashed into the deer with blinding rage. Black sludge flowed as it forced the cervid to stay in close combat or have chunks of flesh torn off. The hippo eventually bit into the deer’s neck and wrenched its jaw for the kill.

[Notice]: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 15! +2 Free Stat Points

Caesar looked up at the sky and tried to calm himself by breathing heavily. He stared at the skies and glimpsed movement. Flecks of light, gathered above, shimmered like eyes. The rest of the stars had grown dimmer after the fight.

Oh... is that a hidden dungeon? It seemed that killing the five deer groves was key. He’d bet a gold coin that it had something to do with the gloomy area he encountered before. He shrugged, took a long rest, and kept going.

The fifth cervid sat in the center again, its wounds healed. Caesar pumped four stat points into his hippo’s magic and sent it to fight it again.

Tomb Hippopotamus

Free Stat Points: 4 -> 0

Magic: 14 -> 18

A tide of black sludge washed forward, impeding the deer’s movements. It couldn’t dodge anymore, so the cervid slowed and stopped. The two beasts stared each other down in a deadlock. Caesar hid in the underbrush for an ambush. As the hippo circled closer to his area, he ordered his skeleton mage to launch a fireball. The deer skidded to the side and lunged into the trees. Right as it impacted the skeleton mage, Caesar lunged and punctured the cervid’s flank.

The deer wailed and staggered to the ground, legs twitching in pain. His spear pierced its neck twice more.

There we go. He picked up the glowing daffodil and left for the gloom he’d experienced earlier after seeing the boss still alive. The skies grew even darker now. An occasional twinkle could still be seen, but the oppression was palpable.

Caesar glanced upwards every now and then, spotting circles and swirls arranged around the eyes like faces and ears. Shivers crept up his spine. The dying starlight drew a path for him to follow, deeper into the gloom, until a dark tunnel in a hill presented itself to him. He looked down but saw nothing. His skeleton mage shook its head; it couldn’t see past the veil.

Caesar lifted his hand and brought it near the blackness but refused to move another inch further. He stood there, thinking. All of a sudden, voices trickled out from the cave like a conversation.