Internal Breeze has cleansed the air, ridding it of poison.

  As Cal and I cautiously stalked through the jungle, the notification repeated itself, over and over again. Much as desired, Internal Breeze seemed to be up to the task of filtering out the region’s air-borne toxins, allowing me to venture forth with impunity. For the others’ parts, Verin was once again wrapped around my back, encased in ice, while Cal relied on her Apex Shroud to keep her safe.

  Perhaps more than any of the other regions we’d visited, the jungle was particularly eye-catching. If one were to ignore the fact we were in a dungeon, it would have even been pleasant, in a way.

  Bright colors abounded in the lush environment, true of both flora and fauna alike. Large flowers in vibrant pinks and oranges sprouted above and below, joined by a host of vines and herbs and weeds in every color of the rainbow. Smaller critters skittered and hopped across the plant life, the tiniest of spiders making an appearance alongside bulbous neon frogs. A few insects attempted to crawl on us, though whether out of malice or indifference, I couldn’t say. None managed to pierce our defenses.

  If there was one thing that they all had in common, it was their nature. Every single thing we saw was poisonous in some way shape or form.

  Or venomous, I admitted, eyeing a nearby oversized millipede. The Common language did have words for both standard poison and venom, although the actual word it used for skills like Poison Resistance and Poison Magic was more of a catchall, applying to both equally. After all, I’d first gained Poison Resistance from being bitten by spiders.

  Regardless, it was all harmful. The vines? Poisonous. The puddles of water? Straight poison. That butterfly over there? Mega poisonous. Even just touching the tree bark with your bare hand could land you in the hospital here. For obvious reasons, I’d decided to hold off trying to harvest any of it after my original hallucinogenic failure.

  Both God’s Eye and Herbalism had a field day letting me know just how many ways I would be dead without Internal Breeze and my armor. Honestly, I doubted a party of level 25s would survive this place without proper skills and planning.

  So it was dangerous. That much was undeniably true. Even so, as the first hour passed and then the second, something -- or rather, the lack of something -- stood out more than anything else.

  “Where the hells are all the monsters? Waiting for us deeper in?” The roguish warrior scanned the area, as if she’d find something my Perception hadn’t. Unable to converse without breathing, she inhaled a bit of poison, forcing me to cast Cure on her.

  Despite our many upgrades since last we were here, all three of us were on high alert, ready for a stealthy beast to pounce from the shadows. Thus far, however, nothing had. The closest we got was a few plants that actively squirted streams of noxious green goop onto us as we neared.

  “Maybe there aren’t any,” I replied with a shrug. Did every biome need to come stocked with monsters? Not every challenge had to be a massive slugfest. Sometimes the true danger was just normal slugs. Presumably there would still be some sort of boss, but who knew? Maybe we were otherwise safe.

  “Yeah, well, it freaks me out, and it’s bad for our experience. Let’s scout for another hour or two, and then we can call it for today.” After a bit of strategizing, we’d decided that today would be a “test run” of sorts, more to get the lay of the land than anything else. Considering I couldn’t keep Internal Breeze going as I slept, the logistics of sleeping here were a pain. The plan was to move incredibly slowly and cautiously on day one just to see what we were up against, and then retreat to sleep outside the jungle.

  Tomorrow, we’d try to set a faster pace and push as deep as we could, hoping to find some sort of safe room we could sleep in. Failing that, Cal would probably have to force feed me antidotes as I slept, or I’d need to be constantly woken to heal and cure myself.

  The clock ticked on, and on we trekked, but much as I was beginning to suspect, the jungle remained entirely monster free. Reluctantly, Cal called for us to head back, despite how little we’d ended up learning. The walk back was much the same.

  “I don’t think I’m a big fan so far,” Cal asserted, “but there are some upsides. At least we can leave whenever we want to.” Evidently, Cal still wasn’t over her recent trial in the curse region, which was understandable. “As long as we can get through all these vines, at least. Are there more than there were before, or am I just imagining it?”

  Honestly, I’d been beginning to ask myself the same thing. A sword charged with a bit of death mana made fast work of them all, but with every step, it felt like the hanging vines multiplied. I figured we’d just gotten a bit unlucky, hitting an unusually thick patch of them, but the more we pushed on, the thicker they grew, until each step forward was a battle.

  “Maybe head back and try a slightly different direction? I thought we were retracing our steps pretty well, but I guess not.” Cal led us away, trying to find us an easier stretch of the jungle to break through.

  It quickly became clear, though, that such a stretch didn’t exist. No matter where we looked, the vines barred our way with equal density. It was hardly ideal and more than a bit confusing, but also nothing we couldn’t manage.

  Or, at least I thought it wasn’t. Another hour of constant weed-whacking had my arms gently burning, with our progress only slowing more and more.

  Still, we have to be close, right? My sense of distance was actually pretty decent with my enhanced Perception and Intelligence, and I swore that we were only a few minutes from exiting the jungle.

  A thick blanket of vines lay before me, and just as I had countless times before, I hacked through it.

  This time, however, my sword met resistance.

  My horizontal cut slowed and then stopped altogether, my blade coming to rest in the middle of my swing. I tried to yank it out, but much to my surprise, it was completely caught.

  Not a big deal. It’s just a mana blade anyway. I can unsummon it and recreate it instantly. I let it go, intent on doing just that, but pulled up short as the vines surprised me once again.

  Slowly, the vines somehow began to drag the blade inwards, consuming the mana until it was completely out of view. If that weren’t enough, the gash I’d left in the wall of vines repaired itself before my eyes, new plant life growing in real time. After a few seconds, any evidence of my attack had vanished.

  “Okay. I saw that. That was creepy,” Cal offered. “Not liking where this is headed. Maybe see if a bigger attack would work?”

  For the next ten minutes, all three of us went to town on the mass of vines. We tried burning them. Freezing them. Flooding them with death mana. Poisoning them. Nothing worked.

  At one point, Cal and I flooded our respective weapons with as much mana as we could, launching a full Overcharge Weapon attack alongside an Empowered Strike. Row after row of vines fell to the ground, offering absolutely no resistance to the brutal attack.

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  Even so, more were waiting behind them. Before we could even think of pushing through, the vines grew back, blocking us off once more.

  “Maybe… maybe we just found something weird? Let’s try exiting somewhere else.” Pivoting ninety degrees, we walked along the wall of vines, hoping to find some sort of opening.

  It was no use. Even after a full hour of walking, the infinitely regenerating wall persisted.

  “All right. I can admit it. I jinxed it.” As if preemptively trying to clear her mouth of her next words, Cal spat. “The dungeon boxed us in. I think we’re trapped.”

  This admission, as it turned out, proved to be exactly what the dungeon was waiting for.

  You have received a quest!

  As soon as the notification arrived, a loud groan filled the jungle. “Of course we did.”

  The lingering scent of smoke wafted through the chilly air as the three of us addressed one another for the first time since entering the region. Robbed of our safe gathering spot outside the jungle, we’d first worked to build a temporary shelter.

  Half of that work had just been me absolutely destroying any hint of vegetation in a wide radius. I’d opted to use death mana at first, toggling on Pest Killing Aura and flooding weapon and armor alike as I killed off whatever I could. Worried that poison might still linger in the dead vegetation, I’d then followed up by overcharging my armor and weapons with fire mana.

  From there, all we’d needed were some ice walls from Verin before she felt secure enough to abandon her glacier. Admittedly, by being outside, she was constantly taking poison damage, but between Heal and Cure, that was nothing I couldn’t handle.

  “I will admit, without anything to fight, being stuck within the ice does grow a touch monotonous at times,” Verin began, stretching out her stiff limbs. “I’ve grown quite good at meditation in the past few months. But never mind that. What do you make of this quest of ours?” Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she presumably read through the description, and I followed suit.

  Hungering Jungling

  It takes a fair share of nutrients to keep such a vibrant environment alive and thriving. Having trapped such perfect presumptive fertilizer within its cage of vines, the jungle is loath to see you leave. Will you escape its clutches, or will your bones satiate the jungle’s hunger?

  Requirements:

  Discover and make use of the region’s exit.

  Rewards:

  On leaving the jungle, the vines will be permanently disabled, allowing free entry and exit into the region.

  Additional rewards may vary based on the method of completion.

  As best I could tell, it was hardly ideal, but also far less bad than it could have been. We’d already been planning on clearing the region and beating its boss before advancing, if possible. Now, the only difference was that the choice had been taken from us.

  “You two are probably going to have to sleep in the jungle, which sucks.” Despite using a sword now, Cal still idly fiddled with a dagger, a holdover from her earlier class. “But other than that, I guess we just keep exploring. The quest says “make use of the region’s exit,” so there’s probably only one, and I doubt it’s some tiny hidden cutout in the vines. If we go far enough, I’m sure we’ll find a clue or two.”

  We continued to discuss logistics and contingencies for a while, but the three of us were in agreement. After a brief meal and one last round of healing, we set off to find the exit.

  Two straight days of walking later, and I was beginning to wonder if the jungle had a spatial enchantment over it like the wandering woods had. Minus the occasional interesting herb or insect, there hadn’t been anything of note on our journey.

  Sleeping, as expected, sucked. I’d guzzled down one of my better antidotes right before bed, but it wasn’t quite enough. To make matters worse, Enhanced Physical Hardiness only applied if I was actively conjuring or enhancing my armor with mana, which meant it turned off as I slept. That wouldn’t be the case if I ever got around to grabbing Perpetual Armor, but for now, bedtime meant that my resistances took a hit.

  In the end, I was only able to sleep in two-hour blocks, max. After that, Cal prodded me awake, and I cured myself before trying to get back to bed. With my considerable Endurance, sleep was far less important to me, but I still found myself cranky and tired the next day. I missed caffeine. And my enchanted nightgown. And real beds that weren’t in poison jungles.

  No amount of exhaustion could fully disable my Perception, though, and when something finally changed, I was the first to notice. Throwing an arm out, I brought Cal to a halt.

  “What? Where?” Despite her best attempts, the princess failed to spot the cause for our pause.

  Which, in fairness, was understandable. Even I couldn’t fully make out what I was looking at, courtesy of the dense vegetation partially obscuring my quarry. Something was moving, though, and it was definitely larger than whatever we’d seen thus far.

  I pointed, which was all the prompting Cal needed before she went fully invisible. Only moments later, she returned from her mini scouting mission looking more confused than anything else.

  “It’s, uh, a plant guy? Not a dryad or anything, but it’s definitely vaguely human-ish. Doesn’t look that strong, honestly. You want me to kill it, or do you want to take a look first?”

  I debated both options before deciding to check it out myself. My identification skill was more advanced, and while Cal could almost certainly finish it off in one blow, if it did manage to fight back, I was the best protected and the most resistant to poison.

  “I’ll go. Stay with Verin.” Trying my best to be stealthy, I had Verin detach from my back before I left. From there, I swapped out my full plate armor for a set conjured from dark mana, similarly running dark mana into my feet. It had been a while since I’d had to rely on my dark skill variants, but they came in handy at times like these.

  Dark Soles

  Cushions your feet with immaterial soles. Muffles footsteps and leaves fewer tracks. +5 to Stealth. Good arch support.

  The armor added another five levels to my Stealth, making me feel decent about my chances of remaining unseen. Leaving the others behind, I stalked off between the trees, evading detection until I could get a clearer view of our foe.

  Stealth has reached level 3!

  Just as Cal had said, it did look like a “plant guy,” though it was only vaguely human at best. Its limbs were formed from comically thin branches, making parts of it look a bit like a wooden skeleton, or perhaps a scarecrow. Thicker sections of rough bark covered parts of its hands, feet, and torso, as if it were wearing clothes, completing the look with a large woven sack at its side that seemed to grow directly from its body.

  Vines liberally coated its body, some of them trailing off of its head like hair. A flat wooden face looked more like a mask than anything else, its eyes nothing more than long, vertical slits while its mouth was carved into an unmoving “O” shape. While roughly my height, the creature hunched itself over, awkwardly plodding about.

  Jungling Harvester: Level 14, 230/230hp

  Pretty low level. Low health, too. Cal was right. I doubted we’d have any trouble if it came to a fight. Not wanting to be caught off guard, I kept observing the jungling for a time.

  As I watched unseen, it bent down to a patch of bright yellow ferns, surprisingly gentle hands delicately harvesting the plant’s fronds. In they went to its sack, and on the harvester went.

  Keep watching? Retreat? Fight? It was a tough call, but after careful consideration, I opted for the final option. It was alone, as best I could tell. If there were more junglings up ahead, it was best to figure out what its attacks were now. It was possible it might backfire, and despite its low level, the harvester might have some horrible ace up its sleeve, too. Still, I’d rather figure that out now than once I was in a fight with twenty of them.

  Thus decided, I snuck closer before dropping out of stealth entirely, replacing my conjured armor with my full plate. Killing it with a surprise attack would defeat the purpose of battling it in the first place, after all. Summoning and brandishing my hammer, I stepped out from behind a tree and presented myself to the harvester.

  The wooden creature turned its masked face my way, locking eyes with me. Tension filled the air as I prepared for its opening blow.

  And then, at last, after it had fully taken me in, it cocked its head to the side-

  And kept on harvesting.

  Huh. Am I misreading this situation? Hesitantly, I dismissed my hammer trying a different route.

  “Um. Hello?” My greeting went unanswered, and I cautiously advanced until we were within arm’s reach. When not even this garnered a response, I summoned a short staff of mana and gave the harvester a gentle nudge.

  Unperturbed, it simply continued to go about its business.

  “I guess it’s friendly. Weird.”

  I quickly returned to the others to relay the news, and it was Cal who suggested how to proceed.

  “The dungeon wouldn’t put it there just to mess with us, right? It has to be related to the quest somehow. If it’s not hostile, why not just tag along with it for a while? I dunno if it has some sort of village or not, but it definitely beats walking around blindly, right?”

  And that was the story of how our party gained a temporary new member.

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