Sun's rays descended upon the ground, but they didn't bring much warmth with them. The reason for this was made apparent once one looked at the forest below. It bore traces of a fire, with some trees being slightly charred, or being entirely burnt. Most, however, had long regained their vigor, new leaves long since adorning them. And yet, the previously lush green leaves were turning yellow, orange, and red. The season of autumn had silently arrived.

And yet, if one looked further towards the place where mountains and plains surrounded the forest, one would notice that a particular patch of the forest seemed unyielding to the passage of time.

It was still green, and the trees showed no signs of preparing for the regular slumber. And at the center of this somewhat circular patch there stood a giant, nearly 115-meter-tall tree, towering above all others, its branches casting a large shadow on the land below. It stood serenely, akin to a mother bird overseeing her chicks.

And yet the calm of the surface was a stark contrast to the strife that one would find if one were to search below the Great Tree's roots. Below lay the Dungeon, a place where the law of the jungle prevailed, the strong would devour and get stronger, while the weak would be devoured and die.

And such a place bore traces of a great battle, the 'boss room' of the First Floor having its ground mangled with traces of swords and claws and stained with blood, mana still being a little agitated. The tracks of the victors did not end here though, the path of conquest extending down onto the Second Floor.

There, along the Path that led through the treacherous woods, corpses of Beasts were occasionally strewn about, some bore slash wounds, some bore piercing ones. They were still warm.

Finally, advancing past the clearing that had a pillar towering in the middle of it, one could finally hear the sound of battle. Shouts throwing about various commands, roars of raging beasts, and battle cries of charging warriors.

And there, on the wide path, along which four lush birch trees stood, the battle could be found. Two dozen men and women were battling four mighty Beasts, somewhat struggling, but overall having the situation under control.

At the back of the formation stood a rugged-looking Ranger, an eyepatch covering her left eye. She wielded a bow that was pulled taut as she notched yet another arrow.

"The nature around me tells a story..."

The bow began crackling with green energy, a few small leaves sprouting along the wooden parts of it.

"About the whispering breeze and flowing wind!"

Air currents seemed disturbed around the weapon, converging around the arrow. And then, she released the arrow that seemed eager to fly.

With a speed akin to a bullet, it flew out, crossing the distance to its target in less than a second. The canine Beast only saw a brief shadow before the projectile pierced through its vulnerable eye. But the arrow didn't stop there, piercing even the skull of the Beast.

The Beast stiffened before collapsing to the ground, causing a crashing noise to reverberate through the battlefield. Although no one among the fighters stopped to take a look, the humans fought with even greater enthusiasm and fervor now that the pressure on them had lessened, the freed party members joining the battle against the remaining three Beasts.

"Nice one, Anna! It could be a bit better if you didn't play the poet every time you do this though!"

Anna, who was already notching another arrow after briefly catching her breath, responded briefly.

"If you've got time to yap, better spend it fighting!"

A chuckle was what she had gotten in response. The female Ranger did not dwell on it though, instead assisting in battle with all her might.

During this brief exchange of words the battle did not stop for a moment, and at the forefront fought a woman clad in armor made of boiled leather. She swung her sword with strength far beyond that of a regular human.

Her adversary was what seemed to be a giant hawk. It annoyingly attacked from a distance, forcing her to be on the back foot. At least it looked like this on the surface, for she had a plan to bring it down.

"Screech!"

The air currents seemed to twist near her, several shallow slashing wounds appearing on her armor, only one of them drawing blood. But the warrior-maiden did not let herself get distracted by the pain, instead preparing for the next attack she knew would follow.

And then, with a sound the loudness of which would stun the likes of normal humans, the avian swooped down, its gnarly claws outstretched and ready to pierce into the woman's flesh.

She, however, was prepared, and she put the shield that was attached to her arm in front, just like she did when the bird attacked this way before. This time was different though. In mere moments light gathered on the metal parts of it, before erupting outwards in a blinding flash.

The bird, disoriented, missed its dive by a noticeable margin, and the woman, Marilyn, did not miss the chance she had so painstakingly created.

"Hyeah!"

She once again swung the sword in her hand, and this time her foe did not have the slightest of opportunities to evade. The blade cleaved through the wing's underside, nearly severing the thing whole. Less than a second later the hawk crashed into the ground, and Marilyn, along with her teammates, immediately attacked yet again.

"Let's see you fly away now!"

Her sword pierced into the chest of the bird with little to no resistance, and other attacks landed on the fallen enemy soon after. With a miserable cry, the avian body soon turned to mist.

Marilyn flicked the blood away from her sword, preparing to switch her attention to the next target, but a glance across the battlefield revealed that her concern was unnecessary.

On one side of the battlefield, she witnessed a person nimbly stand atop a giant bear's spine, delivering quick slashes and piercing weak points with his shortsword at every given opportunity. The Beast was rather helpless, as, despite its efforts to throw away the threat, the man shifted and clung to the bear like a flea.

The great Beast occasionally manipulated Earth Mana, erratically creating plates of solid armor across its hide, or summoning spikes from the ground, trying to pierce the attacker. And yet the agile Rogue danced across its back, striking the vulnerabilities and evading the piercing attacks, bending his body in various ways.

"Leopold is as weird as always..."

Marilyn murmured, then looking towards the last Beast on the field. Nearly ten Explorers were circling a giant spider, preventing it from retreating into the forest, but they were having a hard time handling it, as it was very agile.

One of the men tried to attack it, but his curved sword left a shallow mark on the carapace of the Beast's limb. In turn, it turned its attention to him. Seeing its grotesque form turn to him, he hesitated briefly, which gave the Beast an opening. It tensed its limbs momentarily... and jumped.

As its massive form sailed through the air briefly, the man frantically tried to evade, but it was in vain. The arachnoid was just too fast. Just as it seemed that he would meet his end, however, he felt a hand filled with strength shove him out of the way.

A man wielding a weapon that looked like a modified sledgehammer took his place, his hammer already mid-swing toward the rapidly approaching spider.

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Finally, the two collided.

"Johann, careful!"

Ignoring the call from behind him, Johann strained his muscles as the Beast's momentum transferred through the weapon. He felt his arm go numb, and he nearly dropped his hammer, but Johann instead focused his strength on the feet beneath him, not allowing himself to be pushed back.

"...Oh ground beneath my feet..."

All of a sudden he started chanting in a manner similar to Anna...

"...Pierce this piece of shit!"

...though his version of the chant was far less elegant.

Dust surged from beneath his feet, clinging to them. As soon it appeared, Johann stopped, his arms pushing the hammer forward, slowly overpowering the ugly Beast in front of his face.

Under the disbelieving gaze of the spider, this dust swiftly traveled through his body, settling on the tip of his hammer. The carapace the weapon collided with was already cracked, however it was already healing, the Beast having abnormal vitality, a signature of one that had a Nature Crystal within. But under this surge of strength, the hammer sank further, getting past the regeneration and making abnormally colored blood seep out of the Beast.

"Haaah!"

Finally, the dust filled with Mana settled, and a sharp spike formed on it rapidly. As soon as it solidified, the spider screeched as it felt the piercing pain.

While the Beast was out of it, Johann jerked his hammer out, wrestling it out of the spider's side, before immediately raising it above his head and slamming it down on the spider's, the earthen spike piercing through the natural armor of the Beast.

The spider twitched and tried to free itself for a few brief seconds, but it soon grew still and turned into a mist made of mana.

Johann's hammer, having lost its target, landed on the ground, the wielder himself leaning on it.

"Hey! That was a nice one!"

He heard rather cheerful words from behind him, and he saw Anna coming up to him. Johann asked.

"...What exactly are you talking about?"

"Your uh... Poem? Chant? I still don't really know what to call it... Still, the second half could use some work."

Johann knew what Anna referred to. The 'chants' that the two of them were using were kind of a mental assist. Saying them out loud helped to form an image, which they learned was crucial when using 'magic'.

"I wanted a spike to pierce it from below... Not this."

Johann pointed towards the dissolving growth on his weapon.

"Uh... Maybe you need to practice more then? It helped, didn't it?"

Johann nodded somewhat reluctantly. Anna was the one who invented this 'exercise', and it was endorsed by the former Tower Master not long after. Still, he was having a bit of a hard time with it. Nevertheless, he agreed that it helped quite a bit.

"Yes, it di-"

As he was answering her, Johann heard a crack. Upon looking to the source of it, he saw a fissure spreading across the wooden handle of his weapon. A moment later his two-handed weapon turned into two... weapons.

"..."

"Uh..."

"...This is the third time I'm changing the handle this month..."

And while Johann sighed deeply, Marilyn took charge of the post-battle recovery. She summarized the gains, which were four rather large Crystals, and losses, which were damaged equipment, wounded... and the dead.

"Gary and Clay didn't make it... Shit."

Despite the victory, Marilyn did not feel happy. This expedition into the Dungeon was supposed to finally reach the end of the Second Floor, but they suffered losses before even making it to the boss.

"...It was already a miracle to get this far... Was I too hopeful?"

From the pragmatic standpoint, they had the strength and numbers to conquer the Floor, all it would cost was a few more lives at most. But from a more humane standpoint, each life lost was a tragedy, it meant an orphaned child, a grieving mother or a widowed spouse. Marilyn was the major decision maker in whether they moved on or tried to get stronger before going further. She felt a heavy weight upon her shoulders.

'No. If we let ourselves be consumed by fear it will take years to achieve anything meaningful. This world is full of danger and if a threat like the Beast Tide comes knocking on our door yet again and we aren't strong enough...'

Marilyn reaffirmed her resolve and spoke loudly.

"Distribute the Crystals, we are going further down. The boss is going down today!"

Some Explorers cheered and some remained silent. Her orders were, nevertheless, obeyed.

The earthen Crystal that was glowing with dim yellow light was given to Johann, given his feat of near-singlehandedly slaying the giant spider. Throughout the entire expedition, the man refrained from taking the other crystals of such kind, instead letting others absorb them. The first reason for this was rather simple though. Firstly he wanted everyone else to be strong too, and not rely on him and a few other elites.

And the second reason was also simple.

In the last two months that had passed since the Beast Tide, he delved into the Dungeon nearly every day, with and without his usual party. After the siege he gained awareness of the meaning of strength, not wanting to just defend against worldly threats. It was for this very reason that he had given up the shield and mace, instead taking up the hammer. During this time he had absorbed quite a few Crystals, which also led to him finding out that he had an affinity to the Earthen element.

And now, as he held the crystal that was the size of his fist, he felt the Mana within. He pulled on it with his will, absorbing the energy into his body.

Johann felt the firm warmth of it spread throughout his entire body, quickly replenishing the missing reserves and then continuing to further saturate them. Just when he had absorbed half of it, Johann felt full. It was as if he had overeaten, but the sensation that would usually come from the stomach now came from his every muscle.

Alarmed, he tried to hurriedly put a stop to the absorption, and yet, in an unpleasant surprise, the earthen Mana ignored his will, instead continuing to be drawn inside.

At this point, the Mana was no longer like a pleasant, warm feeling. Instead, it gradually transformed into a scorching sensation that filled his every nerve, with no sign of stopping. As it continued, Johann felt that the armor on his torso stifled and suffocated him. His chestplate strangled him and his sleeves trapped him.

So Johann did the most rational thing he could do in his current state. With trembling hands he hurriedly unclasped his armor, throwing it to the ground. He did not even notice that the Crystal was long since emptied as it rolled across the ground, out of his grasp. The worried and questioning voices around him seemed muffled, as he could only concentrate on the burning feeling within.

It gradually converged from all around his body into a single point. His solar plexus.

Amidst the numbing senses, Johann, already lying on the ground, tore off his shirt, trying to get even a single gasp of air, which seemed ever so elusive.

However the Mana seemed to numb his lungs as well, he couldn't feel them beneath the scorching sensation, which grew ever more intense. By now it felt as if a miniature sun had appeared within his chest. Johann felt helpless as his vision darkened, not even understanding why all of this had happened in the first place. He desperately held onto the last vestiges of his consciousness, concentrating on the ever-burning feeling, like a drowning man hanging onto a lifebuoy.

And then, just as suddenly as it appeared... the feeling stopped.

"Gasp!"

Johann drew in a large breath, his mind returning from the verge of oblivion. He grasped his chest, ignoring the shouts around him or the hands that were holding him.

However, as he did so, he felt an unfamiliar hardness under his fingers. It was in the middle of his chest, above his solar plexus. Where the Mana 'burnt' mere seconds before.

As he gazed down, he saw it. A crystal, just two centimeters in size, was there, embedded in his chest. It pulsed weakly, like a second heart, glowing with a faint yellow light. Upon concentrating on it, Johann felt the pulses spread outward, resonating through his entire being.

"...Johann! Can you hear me? Johann!"

As the pounding in his ears calmed down along with his heartbeat, the sounds came flooding back. He finally heard the worried voices around him, and the loudest of them all came from the person who was right in front of him, shaking him by the shoulders. Marilyn.

Finally, he grasped one of her hands and brought it down from his shoulder, causing her to stiffen and fall silent. Along with the feeling of a pounding headache, Johann finally answered.

"...I... am. Somewhat. A little silence, please? I... need to gather my thoughts."

Thankfully his wish was followed, and the commotion gradually died down. Nevertheless, the people surrounded Johann in a circle, some curious and some worried about what happened to him. As for the man himself, he was sitting on the ground, a little absentmindedly, a hand resting on the Crystal that was embedded in his chest.

Suddenly he stood up, but he put up a hand to stop Marilyn for the moment, walking forward and out of the crowd that encircled him, the people parting the way in front of him. After a brief walk, he stood facing the empty field, other Explorers eyeing him with confused looks.

Johann then took a stance, one of his legs stepping forward. He closed his eyes and stood still for a second, forming an image within his mind.

"Rise." He growled in low tone.

Following the word, he brought the other foot forward and stomped on the ground. Blocky, previously invisible, patterns lit up across his chest, originating from the crystal that was in the center of it. The Crystal's yellow glow intensified and spread through the patterns.

And as Johann's foot landed on the ground, a burst of Mana left his body. A second later the ground trembled and a sharp, diagonal pillar erupted in front of Johann. Its power was incomparable to the meager spike that he previously attached to his hammer.

Johann, stared in wonder before another idea came to his head, and he wanted to try it out.

The shirtless man pulled his right hand backward, again forming a mental image. He thought of resonance and vibration, the moment a sledgehammer crushes a pebble to dust.

"Crumble!"

Speaking the word loudly, Johann moved with his entire body, the patterns glowing yet again. He brought down his bare fist on the pillar that he had formed, striking it.

He struck and nothing happened for a moment. But then...

*Crack*

A loud cracking noise could be heard, as fissures spread from the point of impact, the entire pillar soon crumbling away into smaller rocks.

Johann turned around, feeling a bit exhausted, at the same time staring in wonder at his fist.

He was met with frankly shocked gazes of other Explorers, Marilyn standing at the forefront.

"Alright... Seems you are well enough."

She narrowed her eyes.

"But... You... have some explaining to do."