Compared to daytime, the first immediate thing I notice is that the canopy's leaves let moonlight through more easily than sunlight. Of course, it might just be Brogdar's unique night-sky casting enough light to illuminate most of the lower floor, but the reach it has is definitely unlike the sun's lighting.

A cool thing, though, is the grass illuminating too; when the moonlight came through, all the grass in the darkness started glowing brighter. Even though it isn't daytime anymore, there's enough light beneath the canopy to make me think this forest never truly quiets down.

And I have my proof; gemfawn are a lot more active now and not hiding out in their flower fields. As passive and willing to hide among the flowers in the day, one of them actually openly walks and clips its way into my branch's clearing without any caution. The creature casts a glance upward but as long as I remain still, it can't tell me apart; the gemfawn paces along beneath me and over to one of the nearby trees.

And then it hits its crystal antler against one of the trees nearby, scratching it along the bark and sending a low-pitched crinkling crack through the forestry. Part of its antler cracks but the creature doesn't seem bothered; all it does is merely turn and do the same with its other antler.

Gemfawns, for some reason, break their antlers. This one's antlers weren't more than five inches long but its repeated blows is wearing it down into fine inch-long stubs.

I stay still and watch it clamber around for a few moments before it paces off the way it came.

Gemfawn also apparently do this and then head back to their flower fields.

I officially vote them weird as- wait. Is that crunching?

It is. I was so busy judging the gemfawn, I never even thought about the broken parts of its antlers.

The antlers crackle and pop inside the jaws of what I'd call a bear. I say "call" because it has the same profile of a bear but it's smaller. No bigger than a small child, this creature's body is almost comically plump and covered in brown fur and grey plate-shaped bones running down its spine. Its head looks normal but the entire upper half of its face is solid grey.

The crystal glutton's forearms have digits that are flexible enough to grip and lift the crystal, burying its muzzle against it and looking around whilst it eats. Every bite is small, chipping away at the antler piece-by-piece without any visible harm on its maw afterward.

I dub thee... Boneback Bear.

Joking tone aside, a bear able or even interested in eating actual crystals isn’t what I expected. Its weird body-size might be connected but that’s more arguing semantics instead of finding answers. More importantly, this small bear is exactly what I was expecting when I came down into the valley.

Something that isn't too cute, looks tough, and can probably fight me. Or at least withstand attacks.

Turning around on a branch isn't easy when your hands are mostly occupied keeping you upright and holding a staff but I carefully drift to face it and aim my staff towards the crystal-chomper.

Wait. That's an extremely stupid decision. First: Experience Scope.

[Notification] Level of Boneback Bear is roughly 3-5.

So it's weaker than the Omega but slightly above my level. At a minimum or peak, its manageable in my current position above it in the tree with all my MP reserves.

So... let's start smart. This isn't just a time to kill but a time to learn; compared to my other magic, I'd not really had a moment to test the range on Earthy Grasp. Most ranbi I fought or tested it on in my spare time was always close-by. The Boneback Bear, on the other hand, is just short of twenty feet out. This is a perfect range that I can fight in with some of my abilities, which will let me figure out just how strong my further-ranged attacks function.

Earthy Grasp!

MP ticks out of my bar and the ring of earth lifts up, circling and snapping tight around the bear's blocky form. Earthy Grasp may not list a range but at least I know it works out this far. It's possible that it may rely on the range of available attacks for max range, relying on my sight or senses to act as a form of limitation.

But it's time to focus; the bear confusedly looks at the earthen ring, struggling against the entrapping ring by kicking and hopping.

The rocky soil cracks. It looks like my new spell's weakpoint is physical strength can overwhelm it.

Thornshot! Thornshot! Thornshot!

A trio of thorns sails through the glowing forest, smacking into the flank of the resisting beast's flank. They're just the opening salvo, luring its attention toward me and leaving small cuts across its flanks.

I'm not worried yet, though; Thornshot loses a lot of its power and it's being used at near max range.

Thornshot. Thornshot!

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Two more set sail and I mentally snap the image of my Earthy Grasp out of my head, freeing the beast seconds before these new thorns tear into its hide. The Boneback kicks its feet out of the mana-less soil effortlessly, storming over the barrier and across the distance between us.

Thornguard, Thornburst.

Magical pricks form all around my body as a cluster of them sail down at the charging beast. Its eyes open wider in confusion an instant before the flurry mostly hits its huge body.

Comparing it to the Omega Ranbi, it's still effective but considerably lacking in power; these thorns hit more direct and deal enough damage to gash deep into its flanks, but many of them shatter on impact with the bones running up its back.

It's possible that this creature's environment made it evolve to resist magical attacks when charging or from above. But that's not enough to beat me. Just as it gets close and starts slowing down to stand upright, I focus on the ground beneath it.

Gemskewer and Gemskewer!

The beautiful crystalline skewers burst out of the forest floor, piercing up and deep into the bear's body. Comparing the penetrative power of my thorns to it isn't very flattering; its range might be short but Gemskewer didn't break when I drove it up through this target, either.

Gemskewer is definitely my strongest attack in terms of penetration and power.

The Boneback snarls up at me but its black eyes lose their shine of life, leaving the beast bloodied and still while I wait patiently for the system to confirm its true state. It takes an uncomfortably quiet minute before it finally pops.

[Notification] Kill detected outside of the Dungeon's range.

No Favor granted.

[Notification] User Kaden gains 5 EXP for killing Boneback Bear.

There it is.

A quick wave breaks my feed of mana to the skewers while I slip out further on the branch, shifting around and dropping down seconds before the lifeless body crashes over onto the ground when both spires disintegrate.

Up close, the size of this bear definitely makes me uneasy; I might be somewhat large but my current body is still paling in comparison to a human's stature. Even a tiny bear like this one looks as unnervingly dangerous as a large bear. The only reason I'm only uneasy and not scared shitless is probably because it is already dead.

... Hm. This does give me the means to test just how good my Inventory system is, though. I might as well try to collect its body, right?

Send to inventory.

ERROR: Not enough space.

This is what I get for collecting so many flowers and putting in storage boxes. It keeps things orderly but I probably lack adequate space to store a body this big currently.

Dungeon: Expand.

[Notification] As you are away from your dungeon, the cost will be doubled. Are you sure you would like to Expand?

[Yes] | [No]

Nope. No.

It might be helpful for taking the big guy back but it's not worth paying out so much Favor when I'm still relatively struggling. The pen is producing a lot but I'd like to actually stockpile Favor for a while so I have some for construction efforts in the future.

Besides, I guess... I can check the big guy out here. The glowing grass all around us is already providing plenty of life and my Cutter Thorn can go through stone. If the Boneback isn't moving, I'm pretty sure this should be easier.

How bad can butchering it be? All I need to do is cut off its weird bones, anyway. Those are the things that seem valuable right now.

...

I am officially calling myself a moron.

Do not butcher an animal thinking it will be easy or enjoyable.

Comparing the Boneback to a Ranbi doesn't even come close; the ranbi aren't hard to stomach since their size makes the process quick and I was sometimes able to just grab their ribs outright. It kept things simple.

That's not the case when you're dealing with something this big. The Omega Ranbi had been handled primarily by Ropert and now I regret thinking I could do the job too. If I wasn't a plant, I'd have puked my guts out for the better part of an hour trying to remove those bone plates that run along its back.

Not that I failed; I've gathered up all seven of its plates.

Each plate of this Boneback is a little less and five inches in diameter and oblong-like in shape, gaining an inch or so on its sides. Its arced shape and nearly inch-thick structure make the set fit tight and partially within the body; the material of it being magic resisting made it easy to distinguish between it and the Boneback's true spine. So, rather than a true part of its skeletal system, the Boneback must grow these plates.

And I'm pretty sure I know how: the gemfawn antlers. Eating something so hard isn't very safe, but the mana stored in them probably acts as a stimulant or catalyst for the Boneback's body. It's very likely they have an Ability or Spell that lets them form these, which either requires a sufficient amount to improve it or a steady amount to sustain it.

Send to inventory.

All of them flicker out of reality, leaving queazy me alone with the dead bear.

... I think I'm going to find another tree instead of climbing back into mine. Leaving would really be preferable but I think it should be possible to blend in and avoid detection like before. If something comes here to devour the body, then I can study it and choose whether or not to fight it, too.

So far, I'm confident I'm now the strongest at the dungeon whether or not I have my staff. I had a good idea of that before but this is confirming my suspicions about magic more and more. If I can keep them at an adequate range, my magic is strong... but Gemskewer adds an entirely new tool into my kit that lets me fight up-close. Its explosive power completely shifts the dynamic; using Gemskewer on a charging enemy, even if it misses, would still create a sturdy barrier able to withstand the bear's weight. Adding my staff into the equation gives me enough MP that I can adequately kill anything that gets too close.

Anyway, this tree's lowest branch on the other end of my clearing isn't too higher. I better get climbing so I can start regenerating my MP.

Whatever comes to eat this big guy in the night isn't going to add a spell-casting plant to its diet.