The jungle seemed to hold its breath after the battle, the eerie silence broken only by the faint rustling of leaves and the occasional drip of sap from the fallen creature’s remains. The clearing, now littered with splintered wood and frost-coated debris, the jungle dusted like a frosty winter morning. Lorelai adjusted her torn tunic again, this time with a sharper tug, her cheeks still tinged with faint color from the earlier exchange. 'Focus on the task,' she thought, shaking her head. Aeryn's sharp wit and Thrax's unrelenting amusement weren’t making that any easier.

“Right,” Lorelai said, stepping into the center of the clearing. Her voice carried a firm edge now, cutting through the lingering tension. “That tree, or whatever’s left of it, wasn’t just some random monster. Thrax, what did you mean it’s a nexus?”

Thrax knelt by one of the massive roots, his still ice-clawed hand scraping off a layer of bark to reveal glowing, pulsating veins beneath. “Dungeons have ecosystems that feed off ambient mana. This tree was a central conduit, gathering energy to sustain this floor’s life and monsters. Destroying it will make the other monsters in the area berserk .” He straightened, his horns casting shadows over his molten-gold eyes. “But there’s a catch.”

Aeryn folded her arms, her remaining jacket fabric fluttering lightly. “Of course there is. What kind of dungeon dive would this be without one?”

Thrax ignored her quip. “The dungeon won’t leave this wound unhealed. Something worse will come to take its place, and given enough time, may become the new floor boss.”

Lorelai frowned, tapping the butt of her spear against the ground as she considered his words. “If this tree was drawing power from the dungeon, there’s a chance it left behind something useful. A treasure or item drop, maybe?”

“Item drops don’t happen all the time,” Aeryn said, leaning casually against a nearby vine. “But hey, if you want to dig through the remains, be my guest.”

Lorelai smirked, narrowing her eyes at the vampire. “You’re just hoping to let me do all the work.”

“Obviously,” Aeryn said, her crimson eyes twinkling. “But if you insist, I’ll keep watch.”

With a resigned sigh, Lorelai strode toward the twisted remains of the massive tree, its iridescent bark now splintered and oozing faintly glowing sap. She knelt beside a particularly gnarled section of root, her hands brushing away dirt and debris. Her fingers brushed something solid—something that didn’t feel like wood or stone.

“Got something,” she said, her voice edged with curiosity.

Thrax and Aeryn stepped closer, the former looming like a sentinel while the latter maintained her air of nonchalant amusement. Lorelai dug further, pulling free a rectangular object wrapped in what looked like woven vines. As she tore through the organic wrapping, a faint pulse of energy rippled outward, brushing against all three of them like a sudden gust of wind.

Inside was a thick tome, its cover fashioned from dark, polished wood etched with glowing runes. The title shimmered faintly in jagged, ancient script: The Mountain Splitting Axe.

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“A martial tome,” Lorelai breathed, her eyes wide, "Like my Diamond Cutter: Dragonslaying Sword or my Spear Arts!"

Thrax stepped closer, his molten-gold eyes narrowing as he studied the artifact. “That martial tome,” he said. “The name holds immense power.”

Aeryn tilted her head, her crimson eyes gleaming with intrigue. “Well, well. Looks like the dungeon decided to reward us after all, and judging by the name, I think it’s for you, Thrax.”

Thrax took the tome carefully, his massive hands cradling it as though it were a fragile treasure. As soon as his fingers made contact, the runes on the cover flared, and the book opened on its own, pages flipping rapidly before settling on one marked with an elaborate sigil of a towering axe cleaving a mountain in two. The sigil began to glow, and a low hum filled the air.

“What’s happening?” Lorelai asked, her grip tightening on her spear.

“The tome is bonding,” Thrax said, his voice tinged with awe.

"This is way different than the tomes I received in the athenaeum," Lorelai gasped.

"Maybe because it's a dungeon reward?" Aeryn deduced and then smirked. “Of course it is. Who else here the horns big enough to match the name?”

Thrax ignored her, his focus locked on the book as a swirl of energy surged from its pages and into him. His horns glowed faintly, the molten gold of his eyes intensifying as the power settled within him. The book dissolved into motes of light, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

“What kind of style is it?” Lorelai asked, her curiosity overtaking her caution.

Thrax straightened, his presence somehow even more imposing than before. “It’s a battle art,” he said. “A high-tier one. The skill it gave me is Mountain Splitting Axe, it enhances physical strength and delivers a single, devastating strike capable of cutting through almost anything. The tome itself is a relentless berserker type fighting style using a great axe to overwhelm enemies, just my type of thing. Looks like I am finally going to have to invest in a weapon.”

Aeryn arched a brow, her grin widening. “Sounds like overkill. I like it.”

Thrax’s expression softened slightly, a flicker of amusement crossing his features. “Overkill is the best kind of kill.”

Before anyone could reply, the ground beneath them trembled violently. From the edges of the clearing, the jungle seemed to ripple, the trees and vines shifting as if alive. A low, guttural roar echoed through the air, followed by the sound of snapping branches and crashing foliage.

“Guess that ‘something worse’ didn’t take long to show up,” Lorelai muttered, readying her spear.

Thrax clenched his fists, the newfound power of the skill humming within him. “Stay behind me,” he said, stepping forward.

A massive creature burst into the clearing—a hulking amalgamation of roots, vines, and jagged stone. Its glowing eyes fixed on the trio with a predatory gleam, and its bark-covered maw opened in a deafening roar.

“Thrax,” Aeryn said, her voice tinged with amusement despite the danger. “Why don’t you show us what that axe skill can do?”

Thrax’s molten gaze locked onto the creature. “With pleasure.”

He raised one hand, frost gathered to materialize a colossal axe in the air above him. The image of the sheer weight and size of it, coupled with Thrax's innate strength, seemed to shake the jungle itself. With a roar of his own, Thrax swung his arms downward, the axe following his motion. The air split with a deafening crack as the axe descended, carving through the creature in a single, blinding arc. The ice-made axe shattering shortly after indenting the ground where the creature once stood.

The monster froze mid-lunge, its massive form cleaved cleanly in two. The halves fell with an earth-shaking crash, disintegrating into ash and splinters. Aeryn let out a low whistle, her crimson eyes sparkling. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

Lorelai relaxed her stance, though her eyes lingered on Thrax with a mixture of admiration and allure, “That was…impressive.”

Thrax turned to face them, his expression calm but his golden eyes blazing with residual power. “Let’s move. The dungeon isn’t going to wait for us.”

The trio pressed on, the tension between them replaced by a newfound confidence.