They camped in a tent inside the defensive wall. The Dungeon enforcers and Lyceum guards basically owned the place and the kingdom guard was there just for show and taxes now. Once midnight officially was over and nobody came out, they wrote off all the thugs as dead. They didn't stain in the tent, though. As soon as they had some privacy Nero made a portal to the shelter, the inside stabilizing with the world energies and losing the Dungeon trait.

"I'm still amazed at this place," Glom gushed as they entered the pocket dimension.

"It's pretty neat," Nero bragged. He shut the portal.

Once they were safe from eavesdropping, Glom broached the itch that was bothering him. "How did you clear the Dungeon this fast?"

"Easy. I would open the portal for Altia, run through the Dungeon without engaging any of the monsters, pull the boss, shoot all of her tendrils, then get Altia out and finish her. This Dungeon has a common theme for all the monsters: they are too slow. Maybe not the piranas but they stay inside the rivers. Rafflesia is fast but not as fast as [Archer] me."

"That's amazing. You did a wonderful job. The Dungeon would overflow and burst tonight from all the lives it claimed if you didn't drain this much energy."

"Eww," Altia voiced her disgust.

They both knew what a Dungeon Overflow was. It happened about once a year in the Goblin's Den and Nero's parents were officially responsible for cleaning it up. Literal thousands of monsters would spawn at rapid intervals from the portal and pour over the land, seeking to kill anything around them. Even though the monsters there were low level, with the creepy crawlers reaching at most level nine, it was still hell for the two high-level Adventurers as they had to make sure no monsters escaped the encirclement. Even a level 1 giant rat could kill noncombatants.

"Anyway, that was averted," Glom said. "We should sleep. You will have to clear it tomorrow as well, and maybe the next few days."

"That will be easy. Once she was knocked down a few grades and levels, it became easier."

"Good, good."

They rested and the couple went to the Dungeon at ten in the morning. It was ten meters from their tent. Nero checked the Dungeon's information before crossing the portal.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Purple

Condition: faint

Occupants: few

"It bounced back to purple, professor."

Glom also checked with the same Skill. "Yes, that was expected. It is at "faint, however. It will go back to yellow on the first clear. Since you'll have until noon in this first run, you should aim to kill the most monsters inside. Each little bit helps even though killing the boss is what really brings the Dungeon's energy down. You can also harvest as much Essence as you want."

They went inside, the two minnids and the badgers.

Entering "Rafflesia's Meadow" - Rank-I Dungeon.

"Nero, the glade shrunk," Altia voiced her surprise at first sight of the glade. The glade was less than half the distance from yesterday. Maybe smaller than when they met Serena.

"It seems the Dungeon literally grows or shrinks as it goes up or down the grades. I bet the Skeleton crypt might have dozens of rooms and not just six if it becomes purple."

"Well, we are rested and we have eight hours. What do you want to kill?"

"Let's walk on the edge between forest and glade. This way I can replenish my herbs. I am running low on potions."

"Right. This is what I'll do. I'll convert Badger one--"

"Maria," Altia deadpanned. "She has a name!"

"I'll convert Maria into combat form, go as [Monster Tamer] and try to get us a shambler. I'll keep shooting the monsters on both sides while you harvest your herbs."

They did so. For seven hours, Altia picked her herbs on both sides of the Dungeon and Nero hunted the monsters. He wasn't able to tame a shambler though. Then they headed to kill Rafflesia. The strategy was the same. Keep Altia in the shelter, dump fireballs on her head until she was close, send in the flames, swap to [Archer], blow a few vines from her feet, get Altia back when she was thoroughly immobilized, and then finish with a huge shot right in the flower bottom. Both of their devices lit up.

Compatible Boss Anima detected. Grade purple. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.

For defeating a foe fifteen times your level, you gained +4 Perception

"Perception," Nero reported.

"Same here. It might have to do with the harvest we did," She speculated.

"Cool. Let's see the drops."

They got a purple Skill.

[Detect Plants] - purple Skill. Requires +10 Perception

+4 Reason

+4 Willpower

+10 Perception

"Attune yourself to nature, and revel in its bounty."

Effect: Spend 3 mana and concentrate for 1 minute. You sense the location and type of all plants, including plant creatures, in Perception yards from your location. You can try to focus on a specific species to double the range of detection.

Nero showed Altia the card and she voiced her opinion.

"This is nice. But it could be a better purple Skill. If we find a lower-grade version of this one, we might trade this off."

"Yeah, the elves might want this, and the others we have. Seriously, Rafflesia's drops are all themed."

Altia playfully pushed him away. "Don't let it go to your head. You got a purple card, be happy."

"Okay, happy!"

They went outside. The Dungeon's grade dropped to yellow and they repeated the same procedure as the night before, but now with the Dungeon half the size as before, Nero's runs took half an hour. Between dusk and midnight, he did eleven runs. At the end of the day, the Dungeon had lost considerable power.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Yellow

Condition: Charged

Occupants: Few

"Is it normal that it didn't drop that much? I killed Rafflesia twelve times but it only went down one grade," Nero commented with Glom.

"Yes, yes. You see, the energy required for higher-grade bosses is way higher than the lower ones. You have to take into account that the grade also makes stronger monsters and a bigger Dungeon. It is... exponential. Like the Experience required to level. At level one hundred, a million Essence will only get you halfway to the next level. Most people advance only when they find Anima crystals."

"Well, the drops are showing how weak she's becoming," Nero complained. "The last two runs gave me white Skills."

Glom chuckled. "Well, think of the two purples you're getting from the Guild for all your hard work. I recommend getting tier-II for Altia's build."

"Yes, that's the plan. She even has a list of the cards she wants."

The next day was a repeat of the previous one. The Dungeon was smaller but not by half as before. They farmed herbs during the day, ending with a boss kill and then doing speedruns during the night. At the end of day three, the Dungeon's grade was blue. On day five, it went down to green. Rafflesia was now a third of the original size and much slower. Nero's flames were enough to finish her. Finally, at the end of the eighth day, it went from white to gray.

They cheered when both Nero and Glom confirmed the rating.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Gray

Condition: stable

Occupants: scarce

"Scarce is less than few," Glom explained without being prompted.

"There's time for one more run," Nero said. "I think it is only proper if we go and test how weak a boss is. How are the measurements?"

"Good, good. We got enough data for at least a month of analysis. I think you should go one last time if you want. The danger is minimal."

Before they went in, Altia had a question.

"What happens if the boss is killed several times at the gray stage? Does the Dungeon disappear?"

Glom shook his head, his long tail swishing behind him. "Not at all. At the gray stage, the Dungeon is so weak that even with ambient Essence absorption it can maintain itself. You'll be disappointed with the strength of the monsters, though."

Altia thanked Glom and went inside. The glade with the trippers was now just a few dozen yards across and so were all the other areas. The rivers were narrow but deep. They never messed with the piranas after Serena's warning anyway. The turtles' water jets were mere nuisances to them. Good to washing the sap from the shamblers.

"I'm getting one of these turtles," Nero decided. "They will be good to wash clothes."

Altia laughed. "Well, you're the one wanting a petting zoo. Go ahead."

Nero could subdue a turtle easily. Now that the Dungeon was weak, the turtles ranged from levels four to six, a pale shadow of the levels eleven to eighteen of yore. He still had to go through five turtles to finally subdue one. He converted the badgers to their non-combat version and sent the pets to the shelter. He had another stupid idea coming.

"So, Altia, what do you think if we try--"

"No taming the boss. Not now, at least. I'm done with this place," Altia rejected Nero's idea out of hand.

"Okay, okay."

"We might want to keep the thicket intact now. See how she acts."

They crossed the river and entered the plains. There was one shocking change.

"The trees are gone," Nero gasped.

Altia elbowed him. "You wanted to tame a tree too, didn't you?"

Nero groaned. "Let's just kill her and be done with our quest. No fire this time."

Nero switched to [Archer]. They approached the thicket. Nero cut a few trees and vines to make a path inside. They heard someone singing. The inside of the thicket was another glade, full of flowers and herbs. Altia gasped.

"Nero!" She shouted. "I can't believe this!"

"What?" He asked.

"Intruders?" Rafflesia turned around. She was only eight feet tall now, and that was because the vines were lifting the flower two feet above the ground. "My vines will kill you!"

Rafflesia attacked. Nero parried the vines with the clockwork sword and it was as if he was cutting cloth ribbons. She drummed on her petals and released spores. They retreated out of the thicket and just coughed, as the debuffs were mostly resisted and quickly ended. Rafflesia followed after them, as angry as ever.

"I feel bad for killing her like this. Are you sure we can't tame her?" Nero asked.

Altia reacted badly to his proposal. She was as angry as the boss. "No! Why do you want a plant girl!" She shouted.

Nero was so distracted by her sudden outburst that he didn't notice Rafflesia wrapping her vines around his legs and dropping him on his back. She pulled and he fell down on his face. Then Altia peppered the boss with an angry barrage of [Magic Arrow]. The drops fell on Nero's belly.

Nero chortled. "Okay, okay. No monster girls in my petting zoo. Message received."

"You better take it to heart!" She threatened."I'm--"

"You are the only one for me. I love you, didn't you know?" He picked up the drops, a few cards, and a tiny Essence crystal. Nero just shoved them in his card pouch. He hugged Altia and kissed her. "The only girl I ever wanted. You."

"Dummy," She pouted. "I can't be without you."

"Now, did you want to look in her thicket? I saw a lot of different plants there."

They went back in the thicket and the place was full of medicinal herbs. Altia carefully harvested everything with almost religious care, telling Nero she didn't even know most of the species.

"This is a treasure trove. Too bad it can only be harvested once a day," She said.

The Dungeon didn't regrow decorative features outside of the daily reset. The trees in the shambler area, the thicket. But since they just burned it down, they never got to look inside. Nero summoned some flames to help illuminate the Dungeon night, taking care to keep them away from the flammable plants.

An hour later, Altia was done stripping the inside of the thicket from vegetable life.

"What did the boss drop?"

"I didn't look," He left it at that. It would be counterproductive to point out he needed to soothe her tantrum first. "The crystal has three hundred and seventeen Essence. Whoa!" He said sarcastically. The first kill gave them ten times that amount and they were in a party of three people.

"The cards now, smartypants. We knew the Essence drops would be rubbish."

For their new reality, it was. Three hundred Essence for a novice delver was a treasure.

Nero took the cards. "Two [Egress], one white attack Skill, [Thorn Dagger], and... Holy moly!" Nero froze.

Altia jumped and took the card from Nero's frozen hand to look. She sputtered in surprise. "Holy moly, indeed. Nero, what this thing even mean? Can you read it?"

She was holding a black card. The illustration had in its background a bleak place of ash and volcanos, with a distant warrior battered and bruised, with his back to the viewer. His posture was like someone that ran a long distance and was trying to catch his breath. The front of the picture had a series of red-skinned demon bodies, with horns, wings, and a spade tail in several positions but all with the chest visible, dead, and with the same sword sticking out of their hearts. The background of the card was blue, so it was a Skill. That was all Altia could understand.

"I can. It is bound to me but you could've used it if you were the one to pick it up," he answered. Or if you hadn't slaughtered the boss on top of me, he thought.

"What is it then? Tell me!"

[Dungeon Breaker] - black/unique Skill. No Requirements. Bound to Nero.

Acquisition condition: Kill the same Dungeon boss at all grades, from orange to gray in less than a month.

+10*(your tier) to Vigor

+10*(your tier) to Endurance

+10*(your tier) to Willpower

These bonuses scale if you rise in tiers.

"The inexhaustible hunter, breaker of Dungeons. From the brink of catastrophe, he brings order and punishment for the wicked."

Special: This Skill's effect can only be used if the Dungeon boss is currently dead.

Special: This Skill does not use a Skill slot.

Effect: When activating a [Egress] card, you have the choice to pay one point of mana and stamina per person to bring you and everyone holding hands with you in a chain either to the external gate of the Dungeon or to just force the Dungeon to respawn all monsters and teleport everyone to the entrance chamber. The time inside the Dungeon won't reset if you chose the latter.

"Wait, it lets everyone out with a single [Egress] card?" Altia conjectured.

"It says it only works if the boss is dead. It will drop one card for everyone around anyway. But I think it is correct. It can bring a lot of people outside with a single [Egress] but that's not the point. You see, right here. It says I can respawn all monsters. And since the boss is still dead, it means I can kill it again without going outside. The time doesn't reset either. I think it means I can farm a Dungeon several times during the day. Since everyone exists at dusk regardless of the time spent inside if the [Egress] is found too soon. The name is also very suggestive: [Dungeon Breaker]. Does it make sense to you?"

"Even if it is useless, just the bonuses are good enough," She pointed out.

"Yes. I'll equip it now. We can test it if you want. Here's your [Egress] if you don't come out with me."

"Okay. I'll hold the card in my hand," She agreed.

Nero put the card and used it. His Attributes went up. Then he put the [Egress] in a card slot of his Arbitrium, held Altia's hand, and activated the Skill. One point was removed from each resource and they were at the grass patch. The card in Altia's hand was there, she didn't even had it in her Arbitrium to activate it.

"It works," Nero exulted. "Give me that one, let's get out. We're done with this Dungeon unless you want another picnic."

"No. I'm done with them, and I want to see Serena. I also want to check if I can cultivate these plants at the shelter. I need to process them before we leave or they'll vanish. You can't take raw resources from the Dungeon."