Smooth slabs of stone presented a walkway for them to travel, and markings on the walls denoted what this place was for. A druid inheritance.

"Do we just walk in?" Mark asked.

Leah nodded. "That's where my staff is telling me to go. I can feel a pulse of magic from it."

"Is that safe?"

She shrugged. Then she returned to studying the inscriptions on the wall, peering very closely at the markings.

Mark hoped the wall wouldn't close on her. He came to stand near the hydra's corpse. There was a lot to extract from this monster if they spent the time taking it apart. Of course, that wasn't quite possible, especially with the commotion they just raised. They would likely continue onwards after a good rest, only taking what they could.

Mark was counting on this. In fact, he wanted them to leave sooner, so he could then take the entire batch of corpses for himself. For now, he'd have to watch them make their choices on what to take with them.

Samara dug inside the gory mess of the hydra and retrieved a small, shining stone. She breathed out with wonder as she held it in her hands. Everyone else huddled closer in awe.

Monster Core (Rare) - The accumulation of a monster's essence.

"Mark, you should take this. Without your minions, we'd all be dead." There was no contest as to who would take the biggest piece of the prize. But the other animals scattered all over the tunnel floor and the rest of the hydra's body were a different story. Except Mark, anyone who still had the energy wandered around the bodies, cutting up their own slices of treasure. The four salamanders were first.

But none of the other monsters contained more than a sliver of a core. Seeing the lack of results, the rest of the corpses were left behind to rot, after enough meat had been taken. Mark took the opportunity to raise an army of five Eyeless Wolves before excusing himself.

"Let me go and see if anyone's coming," he said.

He reunited with his goblin warrior, quickly shoving the corpse of Necromancer Char into his pocket plane. Then he swiftly did his duty and confirmed no one was following them. A few stragglers were killed by his wolf pack, and he returned.

"Let's go," he said. "I'm going to double back again just to make sure, so we'll take another rest deeper in. Samara, scout in the other direction."

"Thank you," Victor whispered once they settled down again. He was still trembling, but he remained resolute while walking. Mark nodded in approval.

"See you soon."

Mark took his skeleton mage with him as he went back. Apart from two eyeless wolves as his bodyguards, the other three wolves stuck with his teammates to help protect them. Meanwhile, he had his goblin warrior sit in the shadows and watch Leah. Even though she looked trustworthy, he wasn't willing to take any chances.

Once he reached the hydra's corpse, Mark sent both wolves to probe the area. Seeing nothing, he opened his pocket plane, reanimated the last orc he had remaining, and began dragging the hydra's severed body parts inside. It didn't take too long, thanks to its immense strength and endurance.

A grin appeared on Mark's face while he oversaw the orc's work. He had done it. Secured a perfect body to continue learning necromancy, as long as he had the time.

After I'm done with this druid inheritance, he thought. I'll lay low and develop my powers.

Mark took the extra time he had to help it drag some more high-leveled animal corpses into his pocket plane. The eyeless wolf which remained active did not report any changes after a while, so he managed to secure a few more high-quality bodies. Then he returned to his teammates just as Samara returned from her scouting trip, making sure to exchange the undead orc back with the eyeless wolf.

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"Another large cavern," she said. "There's a lot of monsters there. No undead. Saw a couple Level 30s."

Mark frowned. He had lost his orc mage and undead lizard, two powerful entities with abilities beyond normal minions. The eyeless wolves he currently had were fodder in comparison.

"We don't have to fight every enemy we see," he said. "Let's try and sneak inside. It'll be much faster, and we'll have to use less resources."

Samara nodded again. "That was also my idea."

One eyeless wolf stayed behind to gnaw on animal bodies. It would serve as an early warning if someone did approach.

Their first steps into the cavern were slow. Without light, it was difficult to move quickly. The walls of trees and foliage flourished so much that moving through the cavern blindly was too inefficient. They had to make sure they were in a safe spot before they brought out their torches. And the light couldn't shine too brightly either.

Samara's idea was to slip inside large pieces of foliage before lighting a torch. She waved it around and quickly extinguished it before anything became suspicious. With this tactic, they improved their walking speed and went deeper into the center of the cavern.

Bushes blocked them from seeing much of the cavern, creating an odd sense of both safety and fear. But Leah remained confident. Her speed did not decrease even after hearing growls around the area.

"My senses improve when next to large patches of wildlife," she explained. "Just follow me. I've got an idea of where we can go." With her staff as a guide, their speed actually increased deep inside the foliage.

Then, Mark paused. "My wolf's dead," he said. "Someone's coming."

"That's not good," Elise muttered. "What're they going to do?"

"Expect chaos soon. Once they reach this cavern, they'll have to wake everything up in order to catch up."

The entire team picked up the pace. Leah led them through a tangled thicket of vines while the amount of noises outside steadily increased. Along the way, they passed by many fruits, but those went ignored.

A small opening appeared in the brush, ready for them to slip inside. Then a roar rumbled through the air. Something leaped above them and landed on the ground outside the hedge maze. Another softly thumped, and another. A group of animals smashed up some of the foliage before disappearing.

"Are we safe?" Elise whispered. But Leah shook her head frantically, continuing to hold her breath.

A low, hissing sound descended from the tree above them and landed on the ground in front. Their vision was blocked by a mass of green scales. The monster stopped there for a few seconds, waiting, until it seemed to hear something in the distance. It lunged towards the side of the bush walls and disappeared through them in seconds.

"That should be it," Leah whispered. She peeked out the opening and snuck a glance. "Let's keep going."

The sound of battle rumbled from the distance, but Mark's party kept their heads low. With Leah's help, they navigated through the hedge maze without encountering any more trouble. Then she came to a stop at another small opening.

This spot was hard to find among all the foliage. Past the vast array of trees, blocking them from seeing anything other than a bunch of plants, there was an odd, medium-sized statue in the center of the grove.

"Isn't this similar to one of the idols we found?" Elise asked. "Where we battled that swarm of undead and greenskins, and where we discovered that portal."

Mark nodded. "Very similar." He identified the object and found the description to be the same vague description.

They all had a turn looking over the statue to see what it did. Even Leah was stumped. But she decided to do what felt right to her: place the staff through the statue's hands, as if it was carrying the weapon on its own. Then she stepped backwards and admired her work.

There was a clicking noise. A spot of soil in front of them shifted, and another tunnel appeared, digging straight down into unknowable depths. When Mark dropped a torch down into the hole, he did not hear nor see it hit the bottom.

"This is definitely not safe." Samara glared at Leah. "Explain this."

"I'm just as clueless as you are," she defended herself. "The staff only tells me where to go. I don't know what I have to do."

"Sure seems suspicious considering you knew how to open up everything else. I don't trust you."

As Leah opened her mouth to speak again, the sounds of battle rapidly died down. A few of the animals they saw beforehand suddenly dashed past the entrance to the clearing, as if fleeing for their lives. They didn't go inside, but it was clear who had won the battle.

"We've got to go, now!" Leah turned to give Mark a look before jumping down on her own. He peered over the pit, expecting to hear a scream, but only saw her disappear midair.