Nic bit down into a poisoned fruit, savoring the ripe flesh and sweet juices as he strolled along under the canopy of glowing blue lumenarch flowers. Nothing else could eat the poisonous gifts of the forest, so he’d easily picked his share of oblong orange-red fruits like mangos, alongside numerous smaller mushrooms and prickly herbs that he’d picked out as valuable medicines.

He no longer had to rely on Archive Recall. Without needing the System’s assistance, Nic could find the flowers and plants that contained Essence simply through concentrating and feeling out the energies in the air around him. It was a slower process, but Sofia was encouraging.

“Developing spiritual senses like these was the basis of all cultivation, before the System. While these crude days are largely behind us, as you advance you’ll find a grasp of your own instincts essential.”

She droned on like that, and the easiest way to satisfy her was to spend his time peering at random leaves and sprouts of green, waiting for some telltale prickle in the back of his mind to tell him they contained hidden properties.

It led to a lackadaisical day spent searching through the forest, and Nic didn’t mind that at all. It was good to take some time off the frantic rhythm of battle and survival. There was still Tarquin’s dilemma at the back of his mind.

He still needed to evolve, to crush the dungeon’s final challenges, to earn enough to buy the Mercenary License…

But in the gentle sunlight and tree-shaded dark of the forest, Nic was able to find some confidence in his ability to do all that. Without the harsh atmosphere of the desert, he could finally see how far he’d come. In just about a week he’d managed an explosive journey of growth.

Claw and fire and steel. He’d fought through all three since arriving on this planet.

Each had failed to kill him. Each had made him stronger. This would too.

Three times his path took him directly through what his danger-sense marked as enemy territory. Nic didn’t turn aside. He went directly through, and met his enemies head on.

The first was an enormous weasel-like being with a banded white-black face. Jagged edges of fiery red crystal emerged from its back. It dropped from the canopy, twisting to try and bite him, and as he skittered away it opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of brilliant golden fire.

The earth was scorched as Nic barely escaped, weaving behind a tree. He shifted from his axe to his bow, knocking an arrow and darting from behind one trunk to the next. In the space of the short dash he unleashed the arrow to strike into the beast’s neck.

It hissed and sprayed fire again, but Nic was already safe.

As he drew another arrow and made another dash, unleashing the deadly bolt to strike into the beast’s neck, it had no choice but to go on the offensive. It lunged for him, shooting towards the tree he’d disappeared behind-

Nic kicked forward and met it head on. His axe swept into its open mouth and ripped away the lower jaw in a single swipe, then smashed down through its skull with a brutal, bone-breaking thud.

It had lasted a handful of seconds.

The next two - a bipedal, orange-feathered bird with an axe-like crest atop its head, and a lizard covered in harsh stony scales - met similar fates. Nic never raised his weapon first, but he relished the chance to feel out his new limits. The bird was no match for him strength to strength, and he threw it against the ground before severing its neck.

The lizard was harder to crack. Its rocky skin absorbed his strongest blows, and it belched out a white mist that turned the flowers and tree-trunks to brittle grey stone. Nic was forced into retreat, pestering it with arrows until he managed to sneak up a tree and land up its back. As it thrashed he dug in with blow after blow, each strike biting deeper through the armor until he was able to spray adhesive-mixed poison into its wounds.

Retreating, he watched from a hidden place in the foliage as the poison slowly wore down and paralyzed his opponent.

For raw offense, he still needed to rely on his Poison Mist Shard. His body’s main attribute was blinding speed coupled with regeneration, making him a scrappy fighter, even all-round weaker foes could pose a difficulty if they were fully focused on defense.

From each foe he harvested Shards and good meat. The spider had given him shards related to bonecraft, camouflage, and a nasty mental attack shard that would’ve been perfect for Inkspur if it had been a Primary. The bird had only one Shard, a deafening warcry that was meant to raise the strength of an entire group of allies. Nic wondered what had happened to its flock to leave it hunting alone.

But the stoneskin lizard had the best bounty.

Nic managed to approach it while it was still alive, and began prying the Shard from atop its living skull. He was trying to earn a Primary, working against the clock as the poison drained the monster’s strength, but each time he moved to tear the Shard free pale flames of essence would erupt from around his blade and send cracks radiating across the crystal stone.

In the end the Shard crumbled and he was left with a handful of broken pieces.

Still, it wasn’t a complete loss. Far from it. Nic spent a solid half-hour extracting the riches of the corpse:

A defensive shard that was responsible for its tough skin, a petrification shard that must have been similar to Matteos’ prime offensive move, and hidden deep within its belly, a lump of perfectly round blackened stone. It was no bigger than his fist, but Sofia exclaimed in excitement when she saw it.

Petrified Heartstone. F-Class // Medicine. The lowest grade of heartstone, produced in creatures deeply attuned to the earth. This simple stone grows as indigestible earth-type Essences accumulate, forming a physical core that can be ground and tempered to produce a low-ranking body-type medicine.

“Body-type medicine, huh? Will it give me rocky skin like this big guy?” Nic was busy carving away a segment of the rocky hide. He needed a new shield, and the petrifying breath was a potent weapon to have through a bound spirit.

“Make no mistake Nicolas. Some things are more valuable for being at a lower grade. Being able to absorb a body-strengthening medicine at this stage will be invaluable- and no, your skin will be fine. It will probably change your bones or marrow more than anything.”

Silently, Nic reached down and patted the small bag of Stardust at his hip. Sofia probably wouldn’t approve, but the System’s rigged idea of ‘luck’ was finally paying off for him.

It was midday by the time his meandering route brought him to the base of the great tree.

The roots were so massive they lifted the earth into artificial hills of wood and moss. The trunk was wider than a city tenement block, and for miles the sun was darkened by the oppressive shade of the massive crown of leaves that surrounded its peak. Huge blue-black blossoms of glowing lumenarch flowers expanded like heaven’s trumpets from the sides, rooted by squiggling vines of black like veins of ink on the golden-brown bark of the tree.

It was a long climb. The first time Nic had made the ascent he had done so over the better part of an evening, constantly stopping to catch his breath and cycle fresh aura into his veins...

This time? This time Nic was racing the ghost of his past self. He made the climb in a single brute effort; hand over hand as the earth shrunk away beneath him. Not pausing. Not resting for more than a breath. Cycling his aura as he moved without stopping, constantly feeding more to the adhesive grip of his hands.

As a result, he didn’t just beat his record. He crushed it. The sun was still in the sky as he reached the little set of rope bridges and hanging huts that served as a midpoint waystation to the tree.

But it wasn’t how he left it.

Ghost-white silk covered the bungalows and rope bridges. Huge hanging sails of webbing caught the wind, helpless dragonflies bigger than Nic caught in the sticky expanse. The huts made for humans to pause and catch their breath were completely unrecognizable; they were consumed and covered in spiderwebs until only the vague shape of the house beneath was recognizable.

Nic stared in horror, and as he did, several eight-legged shapes crawled out of the openings in the silk-covered bungalows. They scuttled towards him- the once-friendly spiders he’d met on his first climb lifted their legs and hissed angrily at the outsider in their midst.

Nic just waved awkwardly.

Even at their best, the fuzzy-headed spiders were more cute than intimidating. Their short, white-stripped fur reminded him of the threadbare old teddybears at the orphanage.

“Uh, Inkspur?” The little wyvern appeared on his shoulder in a flash of black energy. “Tell them I’ve been here before. I traded for a healing pearl. I’m a friend, really.”

He didn’t want to fight them, but they were faster climbers than he was. Trying to retreat up the tree would put him in a bad position, and if enough of them came…

It was safer to stand his ground here- even if that meant taking a fight rather than avoiding one.

He was just edging his hand towards the axe on his belt when a particular spider pushed forward and scuttled between him and the rest. Nic wasn’t sure how, but he could recognize the little guy as the first one he’d met- the one who’d led him to the nest. It stood up and waved its hindlegs to-and-fro, talking with the rest.

They reluctantly backed away.

“Can you ask him his name?” Nic had always been able to understand humans, even if he struggled to communicate back. It was speaking to his fellow monsters that was a true hard barrier.

Inkspur called out, and the spider turned, hesitantly answering in a hiss-click language made with its mandibles. “It says…” Inkspur began. “His name is Nonara.”

Nic leaned down onto one hand and knee. “Nonara, then. Can you tell me what’s going on? Why are your people down here? Why are they so angry?”

The spider clicked and chittered, and Inkspur translated. “Ants. Swarms and swarms of black-eyed soldier ants with bright red armor. They drove the spiders from their nests. Angry now. Spider-leaders wish to reclaim territory, wish to grow strong, eat lesser beings. Otherwise they’ll be eaten first.”

Nic nodded slowly. It was a harsh truth; the spiders had tried to live the lives of peaceful traders but failed to find someone who’s shadow they could shelter beneath. The isolationist mantis-folk had probably driven them off every time they tried to approach.

But he could do this much for them.

“Tell you what. I need silk for armor, and I could use some healing pearls. Have those ready for me when I get back- and I’ll deal with your infestation.”

He reached out and slapped his hand against the spider’s upraised leg, and called it a deal.