《The Abyssal Garden》


 Chapter 1: The Huntress

    Content warning:


    Blood.


    On a colossal tree branch, crouched among giant leaves, a woman silently waited for her prey to arrive. As big as these leaves were¡ªthey were larger than her, in fact¡ªthe gaps among them still threatened to reveal her position. To compensate for this, she covered her armor in leaves and vines, and masked her scent with pungent herbs.


    She had even been careful about camouflaging her silver-furred ears, which stood tall out of the holes in her helmet, occasionally flicking in various directions to pick up sounds. Her left ear was missing its tip and a piece along its outer edge¡ªold wounds.


    She held a spear in her right hand, hand-carved from bone, and a vital tool she carried at all times when outside of her home, along with a bone sword sheathed on her waist. She held the end of a rope in her left hand, ready to activate the trap once her prey was in position. Her fingers were clawed as well¡ªher last resort weapon.


    As she patiently waited, her silver eyes drifted again toward the carefully prepared trap. She¡¯d had to use a little of her food for this purpose, but this was important, and she didn¡¯t need much anyway. The huntress felt it would work out this time¡ªTyche had bellowed today.


    The sun had risen by now, its light filtering through the trees as a breeze rustled the leaves. The morning song of the birds was nearing its end, a welcome relief to the huntress¡¯ hearing. A particularly resonant bird had perched itself on a nearby branch today.


    Eventually, she heard it¡ªthe sound of her prey scrabbling up the tree. Soon after, her nose caught a whiff of its peculiar sharp scent. Her eyes narrowed and her grip around the rope tightened. Her fluffy silver tail twitched slightly in anticipation, but her control over it was too practiced to allow anything more than that.


    A large lemur crept its way up the tree¡¯s behemothic trunk, keeping an eye out for the wolven huntress. The creature¡¯s eyes and ears darted around cautiously, and upon deeming it safe, it stepped out into the open.


    The lemur, much larger than a bear, darted for a fruit hanging from a specific branch. The huntress smiled¡ªshe had scented this branch¡¯s fruit to seem more appetizing to the creature.


    The creature plucked the fruit and immediately took a large hungry bite, then several more, and the fruit was soon devoured. It then ate a second, and had started on its third when it began retching, and the huntress knew it was time.


    She gave the rope a sharp tug, and the carefully disguised packets she¡¯d placed along the branch all burst open, blasting the lemur with a pungent, but otherwise harmless, odor. It screeched and moved to attack. She flung an air bullet at its face, stunning it while she leapt to her feet with her spear at the ready. It prepared a spell to fire rocks at her, but upon recognizing its attacker, it fled. The stones it¡¯d been levitating clattered to the ground.


    ¡°For the last time, stay away from this tree, you brat!¡± she yelled.


    The lemur always got sick after eating this tree¡¯s poisonous fruit.


    It will finally learn this time, right?


    The huntress stretched, giving a relieved groan after having been crouched for so long. She then began leaping from giant tree to giant tree as she made her way back to her cliffside home with plans to make a smoothie.


    But then she heard something unfathomable¡ªa scream.


    A human scream.


    That¡¯s impossible¡­!


    She rushed toward the sound, wreathing her body in wind to fly. The wind pulled all the plant material off her, revealing a brutal, black set of armor. The pieces had jagged, misshapen edges, and every part of it was covered in scratches, gouges, and spell damage.


    A battle was happening nearby, so she leapt from the tree, observing as she descended. A group of five armored people were defending themselves against the very lemur she¡¯d just driven off.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°My EE¡¯s not working!¡±


    ¡°Mine isn¡¯t-¡± a woman¡¯s response was interrupted as she dodged, ¡°-either!¡±


    ¡°We need a physical-based strategy!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s is bleeding out!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s armor was heavily scraped up, beaten, and covered in blood stains¡ªfar more than what could¡¯ve occurred in this fight alone, and one member of the group was lying on the ground with a massive dent in his chest.


    The four who could still move were struggling to fend off the lemur while defending their dying teammate, and gradually failing. The lemur, still furious from its encounter with the huntress, was firing magically-enhanced rocks at the group, faster and stronger than bullets. It occasionally fired off flashes of light as well, somewhat blinding the people.


    Two people in the group were taking cover behind a giant tree root with their dying teammate. One of them had a gun and was taking the occasional shot. The one wearing gold, knight-like armor was alternating between trying to help the person on the ground and touching something on his wrist while a drone hovered around him. The remaining two were facing the lemur more directly, one with a sword in each hand, and the other with a hammer.


    I¡¯m not the last person alive!


    The huntress landed on the ground several long seconds later, dropping a great torrent of water on the lemur at the same time. It whipped around and screeched angrily at her again.


    The two longtime acquaintances stared at each other. ¡°Piss off,¡± she told it, her hand crackling threateningly with lightning. It slowly backed away, then darted into the bushes, but not before giving another furious hiss.


    Once the creature was gone, the person with two swords rushed to their downed teammates side and said, ¡°Greater heal.¡± Nothing happened, so she tried again, ¡°Greater heal! ¡­Minor heal, come on!¡±


    The whole group gave wary stares to the huntress when she started walking over.


    They¡¯re all so short! What are children doing here?!


    Ignoring their gazes, she knelt down and held a hand over the injured person. Dark red blood was leaking profusely from his chest, and smelled much more strongly of iron than she expected. A green light emanated from her hand, rapidly pushing out the large rock embedded in it, closing the wound, and regenerating missing flesh, which was gray with a rough, rocky texture.


    ¡°How did she do that without chanting¡­?¡± someone behind her muttered.


    The now-healed man coughed a bit and tried to sit up.


    ¡°Stay down,¡± the huntress told him, gently pushing him back to the ground. ¡°Your wounds are fully healed, but you¡¯ve still got sharp bits of your armor digging into your flesh. Just hold on for a minute.¡±


    She carefully pulled and bent all the offending pieces of armor outward. ¡°You should probably wear something less flimsy,¡± she commented.


    ¡°Flimsy!?¡± He retorted.


    Yep, he¡¯s completely fine now.


    Satisfied with her work, the huntress stood up and could finally get a good look at the group. They all had different types of armor, and the one in gold seemed to be presenting himself as the leader. But most importantly, none of them were actually human.


    The gold-armored one had furry ears sticking out of his helmet and what looked to be a lion tail, the one she healed had skin that looked like stone, another had a scaly, feathered tail, one had a mushroom cap of sorts atop her head, and the last one had antennae and wings.


    Did they used to be human, too? They aren¡¯t wolves like myself, though¡­


    From the drone and the gun, she could tell they were technologically advanced, at least. The insect woman with dual swords grabbed another drone off the ground and stored it in her pack. The drone still flying around looked much more robust, and even had gold accents.


    Technology¡­! So the modern world still exists, then! And I¡¯m not the last person alive!


    Centering her thoughts, Lauren spoke, ¡°Now, tell me. Where are your parents? This is not a place for children to be playing around in.¡±


    ¡°You think we¡¯re children¡­?¡± The mushroom woman with the hammer asked. ¡°Though, you are quite tall¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too small to be adults. Unless people have gotten shorter in the past couple decades.¡±


    The one with the lion tail removed his helmet, revealing a blonde man with a well-maintained beard. In his hand was a longsword, which he seemed to be itching to use. The one she had healed was standing next to him, looking tense. ¡°I¡¯m an adult, as you can see. This is neither the time nor the place to play games.¡± He put his helmet back on. ¡°Help us get somewhere safe until our EEs are working again. And then you will explain why you¡¯re here without permission.¡±


    She blinked, not expecting them to be adults, and having no idea what an EE was.


    Ahh, that¡¯s right. I had that sudden growth spurt a long time ago.


    The huntress gave a slow nod. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    She leapt into the treetops once again, and the group was several seconds behind. Passing the fruit tree, she saw the brat there yet again, reaching for more poisonous fruit. ¡°Oh, come on, you little jerk! I have to deal with you three times in one day? Really?¡±


    She conjured and shot another large torrent of water at the lemur, and threw her spear at it for good measure. She used her magical connection with the spear to control its flight, making sure it would only threaten the creature, not actually kill it. It immediately scurried away, and the huntress summed her spear back into her hand, shaking her head in annoyance.


    The insect woman was stunned. ¡°How did you do that?!¡±


    ¡°The thing with the spear?¡± the huntress asked. Getting a nod in return, she replied, ¡°I just¡­ control it?¡±


    After a shocked silence, the lion man asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill it? You clearly have the power to do so.¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t need or want to.¡±


    He scoffed. ¡°What¡¯s the point of an Explorer who refuses to kill?¡±


    She stopped and looked at him with sheer confusion. ¡°Even when it¡¯s not necessary¡­?¡±


    The man returned her baffled stare with a stern one. ¡°It¡¯s necessary to make sure people are safe.¡±


    She returned his stare. ¡°I strongly disagree.¡±


    The conversation died, so they continued on. They arrived at a cliff, and the huntress pushed aside some vines, revealing a path upward.


    ¡°Are those stairs¡­?¡± the mushroom woman asked.


    The huntress looked back at her. ¡°What else would they be?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I mean, who takes the time to build stairs in a Dungeon? They won¡¯t last long.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean.¡±


    The lion man interrupted. ¡°Why have you not reported your presence here to the Explorer¡¯s Association?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what that is,¡± she honestly replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie. You¡¯re on camera, after all,¡± he pointed at his drone.


    The huntress sighed and removed her helmet, revealing a face with several scars. Her eyes and wild mane of hair were silver like the fur on her ears and tail. The insect woman gave her an odd look.


    ¡°On January twenty-third, two thousand twenty-four, this place opened up beneath my apartment. I¡¯ve been here ever since. I have no idea what the Explorer¡¯s Association or an EE is. Since you called this place a Dungeon, I¡¯m guessing you mean like from video games a long time ago, and that the Association is like an Adventurer¡¯s Guild or something.¡±


    The lion man narrowed his eyes at her, and she narrowed hers back. The significant height difference between them made him look a lot less intimidating. He huffed. ¡°I still don¡¯t believe you, but it¡¯s still safer to go with you. Just know that any lies you tell will be exposed, and you will face legal action for trespassing on a Floor not yet open to the public.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    Sounds like bureaucracy¡¯s still a pain in the ass.

 Chapter 2: Alive

Content warning:


    None.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

 Chapter 3: Free Bee

    Content warning:


    Mention of killing animals.


    The rest of the evening was tense. Heather and Marama understood Lauren¡¯s reaction and stayed in the house, while the rest angrily sat outside. Marama didn¡¯t talk much, but browsed Lauren¡¯s bookshelf.


    The books were entirely handmade, and had to be handled delicately so they wouldn¡¯t fall apart. They were full of notes, drawings, and journals, all written in both English and Korean on lumpy paper.


    Heather, meanwhile, when she wasn¡¯t laughing at something on her phone, was much more conversational. She eventually stowed her phone and gave her a serious look. ¡°I met your family, you know.¡±


    ¡°Really?! When? How were they?¡± Lauren demanded, spilling her tea.


    ¡°It was around twenty years ago, so it¡¯s been a while. They were among the first to become Explorers, and helped train others¡ªmyself among them. They were looking for you.¡±


    ¡°They were looking for me¡­¡± she breathed. ¡°How are they now?¡±


    ¡°Fine, I think? We still talk occasionally, but we¡¯re more acquaintances than friends.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Thank you for telling me.¡± She grabbed the tea with a spell and put it back in the cup.


    Lauren paced as the hours passed. As night began to fall, she cooked food to keep herself busy. Her stove was made of stone and used crystals to control the heat, and all her dishes were made of stone as well. The food was mostly an assortment of sauteed fruits and vegetables from her garden.


    Heather and Marama joined her for dinner around a small table in the house, while the others resolutely remained outside, eating protein bars.


    A small light on Marama¡¯s Band flickered, and the others¡¯ soon did the same. It was time.


    Knowing she probably wouldn¡¯t be returning for a while, Lauren donned her armor as well, and joined the group with her spear in hand.


    Her heart pounded as Heather pressed something on her Band, the bee girl¡¯s hand seemingly moving in slow motion. The very moment Lauren felt the spell activating, she tweaked the settings on her ward¡ªjust in case.


    Her vision distorted for a split second, then the scenery snapped from her garden to a gray, fluorescent-lit interior. They were in a large, concrete and steel room, with several metal pads set up, Explorer teams stepped onto them and teleported away, and other teams arrived on them¡ªsome of them hauling carcasses. Everyone here had also transformed in some way.


    The stench of blood and sweat stung her nostrils. The sound boomed her ears. Hundreds of people clanked around in armor and the fluorescent lights hummed overhead, and all of it echoed off the solid walls of the room. Somewhere, a recently-arrived Explorer team was crying, calling out someone¡¯s name as they were ushered away by a staff member trying to console them for their loss.


    Lauren, feeling somewhat sick, grimaced and tightened her grip around her spear as she forced her way forward with the Abyssal Seekers, with Heather lagging behind as she sent a message. People stepped aside for Adam and waved at him, which he cheerily returned. He had removed his helmet for this, though no one else had. At the room¡¯s exit were two large metal doors, currently open and being guarded from inside the room.


    ¡°Oh, Adam, you¡¯re back!¡± a guard excitedly said. ¡°How did it go? Your armor looks pretty busted up. Is the tall one someone you rescued on your way to the bottom?¡±


    ¡°We made progress, but you¡¯ll have to wait for the video release,¡± he said, and strode past them.


    They walked through the lobby where there were yet even more Explorers, mostly lined up to trade their collected items¡ªand kills¡ªin. All of the employees were non-humans as well. They moved through the crowd and entered a meeting room, where everyone else set aside their helmets and weapons. A staff member, an opossum man, joined them soon after, carrying several bottles of water.


    Adam stated, ¡°We need to finish this meeting as quickly as possible. Tell the others it¡¯s urgent.¡±


    While they waited, Lauren asked, ¡°Does teleporting always feel gross like this?¡±


    Heather looked at her. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I just feel kinda sick somehow.¡±


    ¡°Teleporting doesn¡¯t do that, though?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of there being any symptoms,¡± Marama added.


    Lauren got a lazy shrug from James, and no response at all from Adam or Mack. Only a couple minutes later, two people in suits arrived.


    One of them said to Adam, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, and I see you returned with an extra. We¡¯ll get to that see, but let¡¯s first hear your report.¡±


    Just as the lion man opened his mouth to begin, the opossum man from earlier entered. ¡°Um, the Wolf Pack showed up, and are looking for someone.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Damn it,¡± Adam muttered.


    Heather smiled at Lauren. ¡°That¡¯s them.¡±


    Lauren bolted out of her seat and through the doorway, startling the one who¡¯d brought her the news. She found the four most important people in the world to her gathered at a reception desk and demanding to see Lauren while the Explorers in the lobby gave them a wide berth.


    They all had wolf ears and tails like she did¡ªthough of different colors¡ªand were wearing dirty, but well-cared for armor. With their helmets off, she noticed that they didn¡¯t seem to have aged much.


    The last time she¡¯d seen them had been around Christmas a month before falling into a Dungeon. She recalled that her older sister had just started dating someone and her younger sister was looking forward to an elective she¡¯d be taking in her next semester of high school. Her mom had been doing volunteer work and her aunt was dating someone.


    Her aunt was on the phone, getting a lawyer to come here. She gave a wobbly grin when she spotted Lauren.


    Before she knew it, Lauren was wrapped up in a big, tear-soaked hug.


    Eventually, the opossum man coughed to get their attention. He flinched upon seeing all five of the notorious Park family staring at him, their eyes red.


    ¡°U-Uh¡­ Lauren has to finish the meeting,¡± he said. Three bureaucrats were waiting irritatedly near the doorway.


    Lauren huffed, quickly healed the redness from everyone¡¯s eyes¡ªsurprising everyone who witnessed it¡ªand trudged back to the meeting room with a scowl on her face with her family close behind her.


    A bureaucrat woman held her hand up. ¡°Only relevant people are permitted in this meeting.¡±


    She stared at her. ¡°All of us go in, or none of us do.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not how this works,¡± she stared back, not intimidated by Lauren¡¯s height.


    ¡°Great, thanks!¡± Lauren smiled and stepped past her, the other Parks close behind. The woman protested, but a hand was placed on her shoulder by one of the other bureaucrats, who simply shook his head.


    Unfortunately, the room was too small to accommodate everyone, so only her mom and older sister¡ªMaeve and Emma¡ªcame in with her. Her mom¡¯s hair and fur color was gray, while Emma¡¯s was black.


    As they sat down, Lauren glanced at the wall where her spear was leaning.


    Good, it¡¯s untouched.


    Adam began his mission report, and Lauren forced herself to focus on it, though her mom and older sister on either side of her made that difficult. His drone was synced with a computer, and the footage began a little over a week ago.


    It began with the team exploring a vast, mountainous landscape covered in snow, a task they had already been at for months. After several days of trudging through deep snow, fighting and killing animals¡ªmountain goats, mostly¡ªand occasionally using a vibration spell on the ground.


    They eventually detected a cave-like structure, and after investigating, found that it had a tunnel with a hole at the end. Through it, they looked down on the jungle from high above. They set up a portable telepad, which took several hours to activate, and then a large, metal device came through¡ªa signal booster for their phones.


    They then used wind spells to descend to the bottom, where the animals were significantly stronger than they were expecting, and they nearly died. The camera of Adam¡¯s drone was damaged by the lemur, when he later showed lots of Lauren¡¯s house for information gathering, it turned out to be mostly useless.


    ¡°The way out of the Dungeon was a tiny little hole in the ceiling¡­?¡± Lauren said. ¡°I spent so long searching!¡±


    While her family comforted her, Adam cursed his bad luck.


    One of the bureaucrats coughed to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Let¡¯s address another issue right now. Heather, bringing the Wolf Pack here was an intentional obstruction of the mission. You will be demoted to another team, and your debt will be extended by six hundred thousand dollars.¡±


    Heather tensed, but nodded.


    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± Maeve, Lauren¡¯s mom, interrupted. ¡°We¡¯ll pay off her debt.¡±


    ¡°You can afford that?!¡± Lauren asked.


    Emma whispered, ¡°We make a ton of money from selling Dungeon materials from the lower Floors, and we have a lot saved up right now. We end up doing things like this pretty often.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much,¡± Heather said. She turned to Marama. ¡°I¡¯ll help you get out of this horrible team, too, once I can.¡±


    ¡°Are they forced to be there by debt or something?¡± Lauren asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Emma said. ¡°It¡¯s incredibly difficult to not end up in debt these days, and pretty much the only feasible way of paying it off is Explorer work for the government.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s awful¡­ Let¡¯s help out Marama, too, then.¡± The mushroom woman was startled by the suggestion, but not against it.


    One of the bureaucrats interrupted, ¡°That can wait. Right now we need to-¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Maeve interrupted back, ¡°We¡¯ll get this sorted out right now. I know you have the clearance for this sort of thing.¡±


    Lauren added, ¡°And I won¡¯t reveal anything I know about the Dungeon or how I¡¯m able to do this.¡± She created an orb of light above her finger. ¡°My family will be the only ones I explain anything to or assist in any way from this point onward.¡±


    The bureaucrat woman gripped her tablet hard enough to make it creak and distort the colors on the screen. ¡°Parks are always like this¡­¡± she hissed.


    Lauren and her mom smiled pleasantly while awaiting confirmation.


    ¡°We will discuss the details of this later¡­¡±


    Lauren and her family were halfway out the door when the bureaucrat threatened, ¡°You will not receive an Explorer¡¯s License and will not be able to reenter the Abyss Dungeon if you leave now.¡±


    Maeve suddenly smiled and waved at someone in the lobby.


    A bald, human man in a suit walked up to them. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Sean, your family¡¯s lawyer. You must be the missing fifth member of my most troublesome clients.¡±


    ¡°Soon to be causing even more trouble, I hope!¡± Lauren replied.


    He laughed jovially, and squeezed himself into the room after Lauren stepped out. The bureaucrats were even more displeased to see Sean than the Wolf Pack. With him there, Heather¡¯s debt was addressed after some arguing over specific details, but Marama¡¯s was stuck because of an international legal technicality. They also got Lauren¡¯s legal status changed from deceased.


    Lauren stretched as the meeting ended and she could finally just be with her family again, and away from annoying people. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We go home,¡± Maeve said.


    They were about to leave, but were stopped by Heather.


    ¡°Thank you again for all the help today,¡± the bee girl said. ¡°You saved my life.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Lauren replied. ¡°Can I¡­ get a hug?¡±


    She blushed, and her antennae twitched. ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±


    Lauren enjoyed hugging the cute little bee, while her family watched in amusement.

 Chapter 4: A Dream of Home

Traumatic nightmare.


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 Chapter 5: Bad Band

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    None.


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 Chapter 6: Sending a Message

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    Professor Richards took the System Band from Lauren and inspected it. ¡°What was sickening about using it?¡±


    ¡°That Band¡­¡± Lauren licked her lips. ¡°It ripped mana out of my body and the environment to cast the spell! It felt disgusting to use.¡± She looked at her family. ¡°That¡¯s not normal, right?¡±


    Maeve shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ve never experienced anything like what you¡¯re describing.¡±


    The professor explained, ¡°The average Explorer doesn¡¯t have enough mana to cast very many spells, so the Band is designed to take additional mana from the surroundings as a means of easing the burden on the caster.¡± He glanced at the Park family. ¡°A very small percentage of people have managed to increase their mana pools quite a bit, however. There¡¯s incredible effort required for that.¡±


    Lauren glared at the man, who shrank back. ¡°This thing is offensively inefficient. It takes dozens of times too much at the very least. How many people have died because these Systems are ripping out everything they¡¯ve got!?¡±


    He held up his hands defensively. ¡°No one¡¯s ever died from using all their mana.¡±


    ¡°If you need to cast a spell to prevent yourself from being killed but you have no mana left, then it¡¯s the same fucking thing!¡±


    ¡°Lauren,¡± Maeve calmly said, gently placing a hand on her back.


    Lauren took a breath and walked away from the professor. Her family joined her while other researchers came over to discuss things with Professor Richards.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Lucia asked.


    Lauren leaned against a wall and shook her head. ¡°It felt so revolting. Like my insides and the air around me were suddenly missing. It was just this innate, visceral, wrongness.¡±


    A few minutes later, the researchers asked if she would be okay with casting the spell chantlessly while still wearing the Band, and she reluctantly agreed. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then created a flame above her finger. There was no disgusting feeling this time.


    After measuring with several different devices, Professor Richards cleared his throat. ¡°We can¡¯t yet determine how it compares to the current method, but our readings put you in the ¡®unmeasurable¡¯ category. No surprise, given where you¡¯ve been living.¡±


    ¡°Now you have something else in common with us!¡± Savannah said.


    Lauren smiled. ¡°Are there any side effects of having a lot of mana?¡±


    ¡°Several.¡± The professor nodded. ¡°People become much more durable and healthy, less likely to get sick, and their aging slows. That all increases the more mana someone has. And the amount of food someone needs actually decreases, as they gain more mana. People¡¯s appearances tend to change in line with their desires, too, though scars and birth defects will remain.¡±


    She glanced at her family, taking in their appearances again. Her mom and aunt were around seventy years old, but still looked to be in their fifties, and her sisters, despite being in their forties and late thirties, still had the appearances of people in their twenties.


    So Lucia got a magic transition on top of what she did in the past? She looks good.


    ¡°What about my height?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed that all Explorers are tall, but I¡¯m even taller than them.¡±


    Professor Richards nodded. ¡°That has to do with the depth of Dungeons. Environmental mana is denser the further down they go, and the more time they spend on deep Floors, the more likely they are to be taller, though it¡¯s still not a guarantee. If someone else transformed on the same Floor as you, then they¡¯d likely be taller than average as well. You should be glad that mana-induced growth is only this much compared to other animals.


    He paused and fiddled with his wedding ring. ¡°There is one more side effect I didn¡¯t mention yet. The more mana someone has, the less likely they are to have children.¡±


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    She blinked. ¡°Oh¡­ Well, I never expected to have kids anyway.¡±


    Maeve said, ¡°A lot of religious people have some very angry thoughts about that aspect of mana, so you might get the occasional bizarre comment from a stranger.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Lauren said sarcastically. ¡°Wait, Tyche¡¯s had plenty of children, though? And she definitely has a ton of mana.¡± She received a confused look in return. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s the giant crocodile in the jungle.¡±


    ¡°Strangely, this is an issue that only affects humans,¡± the professor said. ¡°We aren¡¯t sure why, yet.¡±


    With the mana measuring test done, moved onto the physical tests, where they measured her strength, speed, and reflexes. She had already known for years that she was well beyond the capabilities of a normal human, but seeing the results on a screen made it a reality for her. They also measured her height, which turned out to be a towering 249 centimeters, compared to the average Explorer height of 211 centimeters.


    They also did tests on her blood and hair. She tried not to laugh when they couldn¡¯t get a needle to pierce her skin, so she ended up pricking herself with a claw for them instead. The blood levels were normal, but the hair test revealed trace amounts of manganese.


    ¡°So I probably inherited the metal in my hair from my father?¡± Lauren asked.


    ¡°Most likely,¡± Professor Richards said. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to have any abilities related to it, however; it¡¯s purely aesthetic as far as we can tell. The tests we had you perform didn¡¯t indicate an affinity with the metal.¡±


    So I just got shiny hair out of it? I guess that¡¯s still cool.


    Emma asked, ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a famous manganese elemental Explorer around a decade ago? Is there any data you can pull from records about him?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that person¡­ Joined the military, I think,¡± the professor said, scratching around one of his antlers. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can find and send it to you later.¡±


    After a lunch break, they had Lauren and her family each cast spells to compare the data between her chantless magic and the System¡¯s magic. The results were inconclusive. Lauren forced herself to be nearby when the System spells were cast so she could get used to the sensation.


    The final thing they wanted to test was Lauren¡¯s ability to summon her weapons to herself, but she had refused to bring them, and they weren¡¯t in range, anyway.


    On the train ride home, Lauren asked, ¡°When are we going to the Dungeon?¡±


    ¡°In the next day or two most likely,¡± Lucia said. ¡°We should already have any supplies you might need¡ªemergency provisions, basic camping equipment, bags for storing collected materials, things like that. Is there anything you might need? Armor or weapon maintenance, maybe?¡±


    Lauren shook her head. ¡°No, I always keep my stuff in good condition. I¡¯m ready to go whenever. Do you usually camp in the Dungeon?¡±


    Emma, playing with her hair, answered, ¡°No, but it¡¯s good to be prepared in case we need to rest, or end up too far from the nearest telepad. That rarely happens, though.¡±


    Savannah looked at Lauren with keen interest. ¡°How did you manage things in the jungle?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Lauren began, ¡°At first, I typically found a nook somewhere, usually beneath a tree root. I eventually discovered that sleeping in a tree gave me the best odds of not being attacked.


    ¡°I also created a camouflage cloth to sleep under, doused in pungent odors. Once I got used to the smell, my sleep was usually much more peaceful, especially after I made my ward crystal. And then figuring out how to stop the Dungeon walls from regrowing allowed me to finally create somewhere safe and comfortable for myself.¡±


    They received strange looks from other passengers on the train, but the family simply ignored them.


    Savannah grinned. ¡°That¡¯s so cool! I can¡¯t wait to see it. Do you know how big the jungle is?¡±


    Lauren thought for a moment. ¡°I can¡¯t give a precise measurement, but it took me I think maybe fifteen years to explore everywhere I could? At least that long.¡±


    ¡°So massive¡­¡±


    ¡°Speaking of sleeping in the Dungeon, how was there a day-night cycle underground? There was this bright spot that moved across the ceiling, but it wasn¡¯t an actual sun. It felt like real sunlight, though.¡±


    ¡°It is real sunlight,¡± Emma said. ¡°The position of the ¡®sun¡¯ in a Dungeon matches with its position in the real world. How that works is yet another mystery, however.¡±


    Maeve asked, ¡°Lauren, is there anything you want to do before going back?¡±


    Lauren bit her lip as she gazed at her mom, aunt, and sisters. ¡°I honestly just wanted to see all of you again. It¡¯s been so long that¡­ there¡¯s not much up here I care about anymore.¡±


    ¡°What about other Dungeons? The Abyss isn¡¯t going anywhere, after all. We could also look at other Floors in the Abyss.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s different about them?¡±


    Lucia replied, ¡°The Floors of Dungeons are always random. Like how the Abyss has a jungle at the bottom, other ones might have like a tundra or a swamp. Other Dungeons won¡¯t be as deep¡ªmeaning less powerful animals, smaller Floors, and fewer crystals¡ªand their shallower depth means they Reset more frequently.¡±


    Before Lauren could ask, Emma explained, ¡°A Reset is when a Dungeon¡¯s layout drastically changes, but we know it won¡¯t happen in the Abyss for decades yet.¡±


    I hope it doesn¡¯t mess with the jungle too much when it happens¡­


    ¡°Hmm, Lauren considered, ¡°in that case, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be missing out on much by not seeing other Dungeons. Is there anything on the surface you think I should see?¡±


    ¡°Well, tourism is still a thing, but pretty much everywhere outside of cities isn¡¯t being maintained right now.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m really not up for spending time in a city for a while. Today was¡­ kind of a lot. Let¡¯s save sightseeing for the future.¡±


    When the five of them were eating breakfast the next day, planning their trip to the Dungeon later, when a drone dropped off a package on the doorstep.


    Savannah brought it in and held it out toward Lauren. She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s for you.¡±


    ¡°You got me a gift? Should I open it right now?¡± Lauren asked.


    ¡°Go ahead. It is a gift, you would¡¯ve gotten one soon anyway, though .¡±


    Lauren used a claw to slice through the tape, then cast a tiny water spell to wash the tape residue from her claw. ¡°A phone¡­?¡±


    Emma said. ¡°A smartphone for Explorers, specifically. They¡¯re designed with durability in mind more than anything else, so they¡¯re kind of bulky.¡± She let out a giggle. ¡°I suppose it might be a little small for you, though.¡±


    Lauren turned it on and found the interface familiar enough, though she hadn¡¯t heard of most of the pre-installed apps. With her aunt¡¯s help, she got her Explorer information registered with the device.


    ¡°By the way,¡± Maeve began, ¡°Adam¡¯s video of the jungle was released a few hours ago. It only showed them discovering it and then fighting against some animals.¡±


    Lauren looked at her. ¡°So I¡¯m not in it at all?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°No. So I would avoid looking at any news right now, because it¡¯s just a lot of praise for him.¡±


    Lauren nodded, and sent a text to Heather after getting her number from Savannah.


    You


    Hi! This is Lauren. I just got a phone


    Cute Bee


    Hey! Nice. Everything else going well?


    You


    I think so, yeah. It¡¯s been an emotional couple days, though


    Cute Bee


    I would imagine. So, I have a video I recorded, and I¡¯m really sorry I recorded it without your permission, but I promise I haven¡¯t shared it with anyone. It was just too good of a moment to not record


    Lauren¡¯s eyes opened wide when she saw the video. It showed herself stepping on Adam¡¯s face and refusing to let him order her around.


    Cute Bee


    What do you think?


    You


    Being recorded like that was kind of weird, but it¡¯s fine. Want to share it with the world?


    Cute Bee


    Omg please I¡¯ve been dying to deflate his ego

 Chapter 7: Into the Reeds

    Content warning:


    None.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s how you want to introduce yourself to the world?¡± Maeve asked. ¡°People already know you¡¯re back, but we haven¡¯t shared anything on social media yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Lauren thought for a moment. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s wait until we¡¯re about to enter the Dungeon though, because I don¡¯t want to deal with potential reactions first thing in the morning if I can help it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll inform Sean, just in case.¡±


    After creating an email address and contacting Professor Richards with it, Lauren started looking up people she used to know, but quickly had to stop. She set her phone down, closed her eyes, and focused on her breathing.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Emma asked. ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    Lauren let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Looked up old friends who weren¡¯t listed on that monument in front of the Association. Seems like everyone¡¯s struggling these days.¡±


    Emma nodded. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯ll be able to help out soon, though.¡±


    Lauren smiled. ¡°Can¡¯t wait.¡±


    After finishing breakfast, they got their gear ready. Everyone but Lauren wore matching dark-colored sets of armor, made mostly of metal. Each set of armor also had its own accent color; gray, white, black, and brown for Maeve, Lucia, Emma, and Savannah.


    Everyone also had different weapons. Maeve wore a sword at her hip, Lucia kept several daggers tucked away, Savannah wore a quiver on her back and held a bow in her hand, and Emma rested a hammer on her shoulder. They also all had claws and magic, of course.


    With everyone ready, they left for the Explorers Association, meeting up with another Explorer team that lived in their little community.


    Emma and an orca-kin from that team hugged and gave each other quick kisses. She turned so she could face both of them. ¡°Lauren, this is my partner, Mist. Mist, this is Lauren, my other little sister.¡±


    Mist had to tilt their head back to meet Lauren¡¯s gaze. ¡°¡¯Little¡¯, you say¡­ Nice to meet you. This is my team, Wine Witches.¡±


    They went through the introductions. The other enby on the team was a flying squirrel-kin named Dion. The two women were a hummingbird-kin and a squirrel-kin named Harley and Jacinta, and the only man on the team was a mouse-kin named Jonathan.


    After chatting on the train ride to the EA, the two teams separated. The building was even more packed than it had been the last time, with Explorers everywhere chattering excitedly about how rich they¡¯ll become off the newly-discovered final Floor once it opens up to everyone. Many of them were from other countries as well, from what she could tell from some of the languages being spoken.


    Lucia selected a job through the EA¡¯s app, uploaded Lauren¡¯s video to the Wolf Pack social media account, then they grabbed one of the large metal devices Lauren had seen in Adam¡¯s drone footage¡ªa signal booster. Lauren secured it to her back, and they stepped onto a telepad.


    Lucia entered ¡®1-8-3-7¡¯ onto the nearby screen, and selected the nearest telepad to their destination. After a moment, the space around them briefly distorted. The gloomy interior of the EA was gone, replaced by a marsh. The group arrived on a telepad situated on a small patch of land surrounded by water. Tall grass surrounded them, the sounds of insects and frogs rang out, and a sulfur-like scent filled the humid air.


    Lauren inhaled deeply through her nose and smiled.


    Maeve gave her a baffled look. ¡°You like this smell¡­?¡±


    Lauren chuckled and shook her head. ¡°No, but I suddenly feel so much better. This teleport felt different from the last one, too. It took a bit of my mana.¡±


    ¡°Last time, you were teleported using someone else¡¯s Emergency Escape,¡± Lucia said. ¡°The System Bands store a lot of mana for emergency teleports of multiple people, but the telepads don¡¯t.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°So where do we take this thing?¡± She tapped the device with her knuckle.


    Her aunt pulled up a map of the Floor on her phone. ¡°We¡¯ve got a specific location marked out for us already. Phone signals can get spottier on the lower Floors because there¡¯s fewer people who can safely set these up, but now the EA is incentivized to get a signal throughout as much of the dungeon as they can.


    Lauren chuckled.


    She knew what I was going to ask.


    ¡°We usually record all our Dungeon activities,¡± Savannah said, showing the two drones she had in her bag. ¡°Is that okay with you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. Why not bodycams, though?¡±


    ¡°They haven¡¯t managed to integrate crystals with cameras yet,¡± Emma said. ¡°Mana from your spells, or even just your body, can interfere with them.¡±


    Savannah got the drones going with an app, and tucked away her phone once the machines whirred to life and started following the group. Everyone started hopping across the little patches of ground, occasionally sinking into the mud when they landed, though that wasn¡¯t an issue for people of their strength. The drones had no issues keeping up with their pace.


    Lauren glanced back at the telepad, already in the distance. ¡°How do the teleporters work by the way? Can you go anywhere in the world?¡±


    ¡°They only work within Dungeons,¡± Emma said. ¡°Dungeons are like¡­ space itself is distorted, and the telepads tap into those distortions. The portable telepads like you saw in Adam¡¯s video work the same, but they¡¯re apparently really expensive, so they¡¯re rarely handed out.


    ¡°Emergency Escapes also use those distortions, but they function by using a lot of stored mana instead. The telepads have a sort of priority system that pushes through EE users first, so it¡¯s bad practice to use it if you don¡¯t need to. Otherwise you could end up with dozens or even hundreds of people trying to teleport to the same pads all at once, and the people who actually need to escape from something might die because of a delayed teleport.


    ¡°And speaking of EEs, I know you don¡¯t like the Bands, but you should fill it with mana, just in case.¡±


    Lauren grimaced. ¡°¡­Okay.¡±


    She shuddered from the sensation, but pushed through it.


    A horsefly the size of a basketball flew at Emma, who quickly aimed her palm at it and chanted, ¡°Large wind blast!¡± The bug was sent careening into the distance, where it then dazedly caught itself midair and flew somewhere else.


    Emma turned to look at Lauren. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Fast reaction and good accuracy.¡± Lauren said. ¡°That was a lot more interesting than just watching you cast spells at the lab.¡±


    Emma made a satisfied noise. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what you can do, too.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll demonstrate if something big shows up?¡±


    ¡°Be careful while you have the booster on your back,¡± Lucia reminded.


    After an hour and a half of only minor encounters with insects and other small creatures, something large and pink shot toward one of the drones, and Lauren reflexively created a wall of water between herself and the object. Her family instantly readied themselves for combat. The pink thing rebounded off the wall with a slight splash, then lurched back into the reeds. It snapped forward again, and bounced off again.


    The source of the pink thing hopped out of the reeds, landing with a large splash. It was a desk-sized frog. It tried to eat the drone a third time, and let out a high-pitched squeal when it failed yet again. It hopped at the group, but Lauren formed a ball of water around it mid-leap, and simply moved it far away and out of sight before letting it go. Her family relaxed.


    ¡°You seem used to dealing with frogs,¡± Savannah commented.


    ¡°Yep,¡± Lauren said. ¡°There are lots of them in the jungle.¡±


    Savannah groaned enviously. ¡°Chantless is so much more versatile! I really hope I can learn it soon.¡±


    Several hours and encounters later, they reached the location marked on the map by the Explorer¡¯s Association¡ªan empty patch of solid ground. Like Lauren, her family also avoided harming animals whenever possible. They didn¡¯t have to use their weapons at all today.


    Lauren unstrapped the device from herself and set it upright. Lucia started playing an instructional video provided by the EA on her phone about how to set it up. The process was surprisingly easy, as it mostly just involved extending some parts for stability, and then driving some spikes into the ground.


    With the signal booster installed, they decided to take a break for lunch before returning home. They only brought travel food with them¡ªfruit and nut bars¡ªso it was going to be a simple meal.


    Lauren pulled out her phone to check the responses to the video. ¡°Ah¡­ The account is suspended.¡±


    Professor Richards emailed me. ¡­No useful data from that manganese guy? That sucks.


    Maeve checked as well. ¡°It was the video that did it, it says. They also deleted the post. Looks like plenty of people downloaded it though. Small media outlets have already written articles about you being back, and people in the comments seem agitated.¡±


    ¡°What are they saying? Should I be worried?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly.¡± Maeve smirked. ¡°Unless a lot of people calling you ¡®mommy¡¯ worries you?¡±


    Lauren choked on a bite of fruit. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡±


    ¡°Besides that, Adam made his own post about the video being fake and malicious.¡±


    Lauren rolled her eyes.


    ¡°So,¡± Lucia began, ¡°Want to officially introduce yourself to the public?¡± She pointed at one of the drones.


    ¡°Sure, I guess? What would I have to do?¡± Lauren finished her food.


    ¡°Just look at the camera and say a few things about yourself.¡±


    Savannah controlled one of the drones so that it hovered in front of Lauren.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lauren said, giving a stiff wave to the machine. ¡°Um, hi? I¡¯m Lauren. Uh¡­ What else do I do?¡± She looked to her sisters for help.


    Emma stepped next to her. ¡°She¡¯s my sister, and you¡¯ll likely be seeing a lot more of her in our videos.¡±


    They did a few more takes, but Lauren was just as awkward and wooden in all of them.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably okay¡­¡± Lauren conceded.


    ¡°Mhmm, it will be fine,¡± Maeve said. ¡°We¡¯ll use the best take. You¡¯re also a lot more natural when you aren¡¯t thinking about the camera.¡±


    Lauren nodded. ¡°You¡¯d think recording everything would be mandatory in a place like a Dungeon. I¡¯m kind of glad it isn¡¯t though. I¡¯m not sure how I¡¯d manage.¡±


    ¡°You get used to the cameras being there surprisingly quickly,¡± Lucia said. ¡°Other countries do have mandatory recording, though. I know Japan is particularly strict about it. I think the megaquake during the Advent made them prioritize safety even more.¡±


    ¡°Dungeons cause natural disasters like that?¡± she asked.


    Lucia shrugged.


    ¡°It depends on where the Dungeons formed,¡± Savannah said. ¡°As spatially compressed as they are, they still displaced a lot of mass all at once. In a place like Japan, that was bound to cause some problems.¡±


    With their meal eaten, they made the hours-long trek back to the EA. The clerk confirmed that the job was done, and Lauren left it up to her family for where her money should go. She got some strange glances from a few people, but no one was talking about the video. She deflated a little.


    ¡°What did you think about your first Explorer job?¡± Maeve asked once they were home.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lauren thought, ¡°I can see why it would be dangerous for most people, but otherwise, it¡¯s kind of like I went on a mini vacation to somewhere completely different.¡±


    They all laughed at that.


    ¡°You¡¯re kind of cheating, Lauren,¡± Emma retorted, ¡°but I think I agree, mostly.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we should spar with each other!¡± Savannah eagerly suggested. ¡°I want to see what you going all out looks like.¡±


    Lauren grinned. ¡°I want to see what all of you can do, too.¡±

 Chapter 8: Scars

    Content warning:


    Brief discussion of animal killing. PTSD flashback. Animal killed in flashback. Accidental almost matricide.


    The family spent a few more days setting up signal boosters on different Floors. One had been a deciduous forest, another was full of steep, imposing cliffs, and the most recent one had been seemingly endless sand and wind, and little else.


    Plenty of other Explorers busied themselves with the same task, working hard to establish a reliable signal throughout most of the Dungeon¡ªfor as long as technology still worked. Lauren had yet to experience all her devices suddenly dying.


    But right now, Lauren and her family had gathered in the forest near town, all geared up for battle. The trees looked desiccated, and a thick layer of snow covered everything.


    Laurens eyes passed over everyone as they faced each other with their weapons at the ready¡ªall the sharp edges were safely wrapped up.


    I guess it¡¯s a good thing none of them use guns as their main weapon. Wait¡­


    ¡°Why don¡¯t more people use guns?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°The only one I¡¯ve seen so far was on that Mack guy. Seems like they would be even more common than before.¡±


    ¡°Because of mana,¡± Emma said. ¡°Most animals are now too durable for regular guns to do much against them. You have to infuse mana into your weapons when facing them to be sure you do damage. That¡¯s not feasible with bullets unless you¡¯re using really expensive materials, so guns are now a rich person¡¯s weapon.


    Savannah added, ¡°It¡¯s better with a bow, because arrows generally have a lot more mass to work with than bullets do, so the infused mana takes a little longer to dissipate.¡± She held up an arrow for emphasis. ¡°Even the military, with their vast resources, doesn¡¯t use guns much anymore.¡±


    Lauren nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready. Is everyone else?¡±


    With everyone ready, Lucia threw a rock into the air. It landed in the snow with a muted thud, and Savannah immediately loosed an arrow at Lauren, who created a gust of wind to change its trajectory.


    Emma shouted ¡°Greater fire blast!¡± just after Savannah¡¯s arrow was loosed, so Lauren changed her spell from wind to water, adding a slight delay to her cast time.


    While the others were rushing forward and waiting for the best timing to unleash their own spells, Lauren launched large chunks of earth at her sisters, blocking their line of sight and forcing them to dodge out of the way. She also added a little something extra.


    Good, doesn¡¯t seem like they noticed.


    ¡°Sound block!¡± Maeve yelled, and complete silence fell.


    Lauren tensed for a moment, but strode forward while someone cast a darkness spell, and it was immediately with wind spell, rendering even her sense of smell useless. Her heart started racing and her instincts kicked in.


    There were enemies nearby. She could sense their mana and subtle vibrations from their movements. Four of them. Keeping their distance. They¡¯re smart.


    In the dark of night, abnormally large trees towered around her. The downpour of rain pounded in a deafening roar, drenching the remaining scraps of her clothes, her body now as slick with water as it was sweat.


    She¡¯d been running for so long now, utterly exhausted and gasping for air. Her eyes darted wildly for a crevice she could escape into, anywhere at all. She was all alone, and had strayed too far from the last hiding place she had called home.


    She heard it. A splash, barely audible over the rain. The sound of something large leaping off the soaked jungle floor. On pure, adrenaline-fueled instinct, she leaped sideways, but the jaguar¡¯s claws still sliced into her back, her purse blocking only some of the strike.


    She screamed in a hoarse voice and whipped her stone spear outward, turning around as she fell. She managed to land a strike in return. On her back in the mud, she could only watch in terror as the creature, nearly as tall as herself, stumbled forward, then collapsed on top of her. Through sheer luck, she had sliced its jugular.


    Blood. There should be blood, right? Why isn¡¯t it bleeding¡­?


    ¡°Lauren, it¡¯s okay,¡± Maeve said hoarsely.


    Huh?


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Lauren. I¡¯m here. It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re safe,¡± Maeve got out.


    ¡°¡­What?¡± she whispered.


    She hurriedly glanced around. This wasn¡¯t the jungle. This wasn¡¯t survival.


    Maeve was lying on the ground, her sword nowhere in sight. Lauren¡¯s hands trembled as she realized she had the tip of her spear against her mom¡¯s throat.


    ¡°F-Fuck¡­¡± Lauren uttered, then stumbled backward and fell.


    Her sisters were still getting out of the hole Lauren had secretly made earlier, and her aunt was nearby, having only just caught up.


    ¡°Greater heal,¡± her mom wheezed. It was too garbled for the voice activation to work, so she said it again, but more forcefully. It worked that time.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Lauren kept pushing herself backward until she hit a tree. Her vision blurred as she took deep, gasping breaths. She tried to let go of her spear, but decades of honed instinct didn¡¯t allow it. She laid it across her lap instead, and buried her head in her knees.


    Lucia slowly sat beside her, followed by her sisters in front of her, and her mom on her other side, rubbing her throat.


    Lauren winced and returned her gaze to her legs.


    Maeve spoke first. ¡°Take as long as you need, Lauren. If you want to talk about it, we¡¯ll listen. If you need to be alone, we¡¯ll give you space. Whatever you need, we¡¯ll help you.¡±


    The five of them sat together in silence long enough for the sun to begin setting. The wind and the rustling of trees were the only sounds. The family was briefly interrupted by a deer wandering close to them. After Emma scared it off, Lauren found the courage to say something.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± Lauren weakly gave.


    Maeve gave a comforting smile, ¡°You have nothing to be sorry for.¡±


    ¡°But I-!¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t intend to do that, right? I¡¯m not going to blame you for an accident. And I can tell you held back, even in that state.¡±


    Lauren opened her mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. She gave a slight nod instead.


    Emma leaned forward. ¡°If it¡¯s not too difficult, can you tell us what happened?¡±


    ¡°In an unfamiliar forest¡­¡± Lauren started. ¡°It¡¯s so dark, it¡¯s hard to see. It¡¯s so loud, I can¡¯t hear anything. Can¡¯t even smell anything.¡± She bit her lip. ¡°A-And I know I¡¯m being hunted by something intelligent and powerful. ¡­I learned to stop thinking and just act.¡±


    ¡°Can I hug you?¡± Lucia asked.


    ¡°Please,¡± Lauren rasped.


    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Lauren asked after everyone returned home. The whole family was sitting in the living room, each holding fresh mugs of tea.


    Lucia replied, ¡°Normally, we¡¯d look into therapy, but that¡¯s rather difficult these days.¡±


    Lauren took a sip of her tea. ¡°Because of the Advent?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. A lot of society¡¯s infrastructure came to a grinding halt back then. The healthcare system is now even worse than it used to be¡ªpartially because healing magic exists now, so some Explorers are made to give medical care they aren¡¯t qualified to do. The therapists who are still able to work are booked years in advance. It¡¯s not a problem money can solve.¡±


    Maeve supplied, ¡°I think the answer for you, Lauren, is the Dungeon. Unless we can figure something else out, then gradually readjusting to people while in there might be your best option.¡±


    Savannah added, ¡°Since you came back, you haven¡¯t stopped moving at all. You immediately went to that meeting, did the lab tests the next day, spent several days in the Dungeon, and did the spar today.


    ¡°Granted, you¡¯ve always been really energetic, but you¡¯re tense and restless whenever you aren¡¯t in the Dungeon.¡±


    Lauren gulped. Her sister was right.


    ¡°How much of a threat is the jungle to you, Lauren?¡± Emma asked.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had any major problems in years¡­¡± Lauren said. ¡°Tyche could kill me, but I live far away from her.¡±


    Emma smiled faintly. ¡°And you miss being there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I was thinking I could live here and just visit the jungle regularly, but I don¡¯t know what to do now¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out,¡± Savannah said. ¡°One step at a time. You don¡¯t need an answer right now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be there with me¡­?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°But what about your lives here?¡±


    ¡°We want to help you, and just be with you again,¡± Maeve said. ¡°We¡¯re Freelance Explorers, so we choose where and when we work.¡±


    ¡°But you must have something going on, right? Emma, what about Mist?¡±


    Emma replied, ¡°They¡¯re a high-level Explorer, too, so I¡¯ll still likely see them often, whether or not I¡¯m in the Dungeon. And they understand that I want to spend a lot of time with you.¡±


    ¡°Lauren,¡± Lucia stated, ¡°Nothing is going to keep us from staying by your side. We are exactly where we want to be.¡±


    Lauren hesitantly asked, ¡°What if I have another¡­ moment?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fighting with you, not against you,¡± Lucia said. ¡°You¡¯ll never be in that kind of situation again. You won¡¯t be alone.¡±


    Lauren couldn¡¯t help but cry again. When she eventually went to bed, she managed to sleep a little better than before.


    Cute Bee


    How¡¯d yesterday¡¯s spar go?


    You


    Terrible


    Cute Bee


    Did something happen? I can¡¯t imagine you losing


    You


    I won¡­ But I remembered some really bad times I¡¯ve had. Fucking horrible day. My family are even more amazing than I remembered, though


    Cute Bee


    Shit. I¡¯m glad they¡¯re there for you. They¡¯re really nice


    You


    Yeah. What about your family? How are they?


    Cute Bee


    I haven¡¯t been home in a while, so playing piano with my mom again is nice, despite the argument we had when I arrived. And my nieces keep trying to pull my antennae. They always pull on my dad¡¯s ears, but he¡¯s not here right now, so I guess I¡¯m filling in for him


    You


    Hahaha


    Cute Bee


    Yeah, they¡¯re cute though, so I don¡¯t mind


    You


    Yeah, they are cute antennae


    Cute Bee


    Thanks¡­ They asked about you today actually


    You


    Oh?


    Cute Bee


    Mhmm. Pictures of our hug are online


    You


    Damn. Sorry about that. Being famous is weird


    Cute Bee


    It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m a pretty well known Explorer too


    You


    What did you tell your nieces?


    Cute Bee


    That you smell like a wet dog


    You


    ??


    Cute Bee


    They didn¡¯t believe me


    You


    Do I???


    Cute Bee


    No, I was just joking around with them


    You


    Jeez, don¡¯t scare me like that


    Cute Bee


    And now I can brag to everyone that I scared Lauren Park!


    You


    Dork


    Cute Bee


    No you. I¡¯ll be back soon, by the way. Just a couple more days


    You


    !!! Can¡¯t wait to see my favorite bee again


    Cute Bee


    ¡­Yes. It should be fun!

 Chapter 9: Bright Red, Rust Red

    Content warning:


    Mention of animal killing.


    Lauren¡¯s eyes scanned over the town as she hovered above it, keeping herself in place with wind magic. Last night¡¯s blizzard had left great heaps of snow covering everything, half-burying all the buildings. Several residents had started clearing it before the sun had even risen, using their System spells and mana-enhanced strength to unburden the roofs and make pathways.


    When Lauren had joined in helping, she had been able to simply move large amounts of snow at a time with her magic, and then drop it outside the town. The System¡¯s preset spells didn¡¯t have the level of control necessary for that, so the residents had been carefully using fire spells and wheelbarrows. One person had a truck with a plow attachment.


    Seeing that the task was done, Lauren descended from the sky.


    ¡°You¡¯re done already¡­?¡± Emma asked as Lauren landed. ¡°I really need to learn chantless.¡±


    Lauren smiled. ¡°As soon as we figure out how, then yeah. What¡¯s next?¡±


    ¡°Nothing else. The minor repairs on the two houses and the greenhouse are already finished, though the plants seem to be struggling a bit more than usual.¡±


    Emma gestured at the communal greenhouse roof that had been partially caved in just a couple hours ago.


    ¡°We really don¡¯t know what¡¯s causing it?¡±


    Emma explained as they entered the greenhouse, ¡°The most common suspicion is mana, since it¡¯s apparently everywhere. There are other theories about it being Dungeons specifically, or some people say animals are stealing life from the ground in exchange for magic, or¡­ well, it goes on and on.


    ¡°We know that using magic directly on plants withers them, but using tech powered by mana crystals to grow them delays the withering slightly, but not enough to directly cast spells on them. The plants in Dungeons aren¡¯t immune to the withering effect either, but it happens much more slowly within them.¡±


    Most of the plants were fruits and vegetables, with only a few herbs.


    I guess when stuff barely grows, you have to focus on having food at all before spicing it up.


    Lauren tilted her head. ¡°What about, like, plant people? Or someone like Marama? Could they grow crops?¡±


    ¡°Plant-kin,¡± Emma clarified. ¡°And I suppose Marama would be a mushroom-kin. But whether or not they can do it depends on a few things.


    ¡°There¡¯s a guy who turned into a banana tree person, and he makes a killing just growing banana trees all day. But he¡¯s also only able to do that because he¡¯s worked really hard over very many years to grow his mana pool enough to allow for that. Gaining a mana pool that large takes a ton of work. The advantage is that he doesn¡¯t need a System Band to grow those trees.¡±


    Lauren looked him up on her phone. The man had leafy hair and bark-like skin, but otherwise didn¡¯t appear all that unusual. He was proudly posing amid a massive field of healthy-looking banana trees.


    Yeah, I can see why he would be wealthy in the current state of the world.


    ¡°Could I try my magic?¡± Lauren asked, gently grabbing the vine of a dry tomato plant. ¡°It seems to work just fine in my garden. Anytime my plants withered, I was always able to identify the cause to be mismanagement on my part. Or sometimes an insect was eating them or something. But once I had the soil, water, and sunlight all figured out, magic only helped them grow faster.¡±


    Emma nodded. ¡°Mhmm, I was about to suggest the same. Maybe this will give us a clue about why your magic is different.¡± She pulled out her phone to record the experiment. ¡°Alright, go ahead.¡±


    Lauren crouched and pointed her palm at the struggling plant. Then, slowly and carefully, she started using healing magic on it.


    It¡¯s been getting enough water and sunlight, and the soil seems good¡­ It feels like it just hasn¡¯t been absorbing any nutrients for some reason.


    She focused on supplementing all the missing nutrients with her mana, regenerating what was missing, and healing the damage from starving.


    Lauren spoke her thoughts aloud as she worked. ¡°Plants need like, nitrogen and phosphorus and stuff, right? I can¡¯t make any of that, but I can regenerate it if it¡¯s a part of a living thing. ¡­I guess I hadn¡¯t really thought about it before, but regenerating missing parts is really wild, actually.¡±


    The tomato plant gradually grew and became vitalized, its vines filling with life and lengthening. The tomatoes expanded, and turned bright red, and Lauren stopped her spell.


    ¡°Lauren,¡± Emma quietly uttered, ¡°you could be the next banana man.¡±


    Lauren snorted a laugh. ¡°No thanks. I¡¯ll still help with growing food if I need to, but I think I¡¯d be more useful in the Dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Emma said, while she recorded the plant from up close. ¡°Can you tell if there¡¯s any difference between your healing magic and everyone else¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°The end result is the same as far as I can tell, but the process of System spells is different.¡± Lauren shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s as much as I can tell. Maybe the researchers have figured something else out by now?¡±


    ¡°Not sure, but we should talk with them anyway.¡±


    Emma recorded another video of Lauren, this time of her thoroughly explaining and demonstrating what she had done. After sending it to Professor Richards, he eagerly replied back that he and some others would arrive soon.


    Lauren ended up most of the day in the garden while a group of researchers documented everything and took samples. Once they left, she then recorded a video where she answered what questions she could about chantless magic, because people had been spamming their personal accounts for information.


    ¡°How does it look?¡± Lauren asked, turning in place to show off her armor. She had painted a silver accent color on parts of it.


    ¡°It¡¯s good!¡± Savannah said. ¡°Is the paint smell gone?¡±


    ¡°Mostly, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Now we all match!¡± Maeve said. She stood next to Lauren to compare colors. Maeve first held her gray accent color next to Lauren¡¯s silver, then moved down to their tail colors. ¡°I¡¯m envious that you got silver hair while I got gray.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°You look good with gray, though,¡± Lauren replied.


    ¡°I do! But having shiny fur like yours would be fun.¡±


    Lauren¡¯s phone beeped. ¡°Heather will be here in about ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Perfect timing,¡± Lucia said. Everyone went to finish preparing for today¡¯s Dungeon dive.


    When the doorbell rang, Lauren took a breath to calm herself and keep her tail from wagging, then opened the door. The familiar bee girl was wearing casual clothes and a large backpack, with another large bag hung over her shoulder.


    ¡°Hi!¡± Heather greeted. ¡°¡­Are you going to let me in or just keep staring?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yeah. Sorry. Nice to see you again.¡±


    I was so excited to see a friend again that I just¡­ Ugh.


    Heather¡¯s antennae twitched as she giggled. With them leaving for the Dungeon right away, she immediately headed for the bathroom to change her Dungeon clothes.


    ¡°Have to get used to composting toilets again,¡± Heather muttered as she exited. She then opened her large pack to put her armor on.


    ¡°You got new armor, Heather?¡± Lauren asked.


    When they first met, Heather¡¯s armor had been almost entirely matte, gray metal. The one she was putting on now was also metal, but was burgundy and had a different overall shape to it.


    ¡°Mhmm!¡± The bee girl replied. ¡°Last one was a government set I was required to wear and didn¡¯t actually own. Got this one and new swords from a blacksmith friend of mine. I paid her, of course.¡±


    Lauren complimented, ¡°It looks good. I like the color.¡±


    This armor¡¯s quieter than her last set, too. It¡¯s not clanking quite as much.


    Once Heather¡¯s armor was on and she had her swords strapped to her hips, everyone was ready.


    ¡°One last thing before we go,¡± Lucia said. She handed her phone to Heather. ¡°Can you take a picture of us? Lauren¡¯s armor matches with ours now.¡±


    After taking the picture, Heather asked, ¡°Where are you going to post it? Your Wolf Pack account is still suspended, right?¡±


    ¡°Just our personal accounts for now is fine.¡±


    Once they were aboard the train heading for the Explorer¡¯s Association, Maeve asked Lauren, ¡°How does crystal collection sound for a change of pace?¡±


    ¡°What, like mining? What kind of jobs do you usually do?¡±


    ¡°No, they mostly just grow from the walls,¡± Emma said.


    Savannah chimed in, ¡°We usually either harvest food, or mana-rich materials.¡±


    Emma nodded. ¡°Yeah. Mana crystals typically have more mana contained within them than regular materials, but if those materials are from much deeper down, then they¡¯ll have more instead. That mana is extracted into used crystals for research and technological development. Like how our phones and drones have mana crystals integrated into them, making them somewhat resistant to being disabled by large amounts of mana.¡±


    Heather poked Lauren. ¡°Where did you get the big crystal in your house? And how is it able to ward people away like that? Most crystals just get used as fuel.¡±


    ¡°Just fuel¡­?¡± Lauren gave the bee girl a baffled look, who nodded back.


    Right, my knowledge isn¡¯t exactly common knowledge.


    Lauren coughed. ¡°There¡¯s a giant ravine that goes right through the middle of the jungle. Crystals grow at the bottom of it. As for what crystals can do, they can¡­ record spells, I guess is how I¡¯d put it?¡±


    Savannah groaned and thunked her head against the train wall. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see it! I really want to be down there already!¡±


    Lauren laughed. ¡°Me too. I guess we should head there soon? I¡¯ve already seen plenty of other things. Plus, my garden is probably a bit overgrown by now.¡±


    The six of them made their way through the EA and to the telepad, turned on the headlamps they had prepared, then teleported. The glum scenery of the building distorted, and was replaced with the rocky wall of a cave. Lights had been set up around the telepad, and were strung along the ceiling as well.


    ¡°No sunlight at all on this Floor?¡± Lauren asked as she looked around.


    ¡°Too much rock in the way,¡± Lucia said.


    As they were led through the tunnels by Lucia following a laminated map in her hand, their footsteps and armor echoing off the walls, they didn¡¯t encounter anything at all besides the occasional other Explorer carrying their haul of crystals back to the surface. They exchanged quick greetings as they passed.


    ¡°This cave seems rather barren¡­¡± Lauren said.


    ¡°Ah right, this is the highest Floor you¡¯ve been to,¡± Heather said. ¡°You¡¯ve only been to really deep Floors so far. The closer you get to the surface, the more everything inside is all dried up. The highest Floors have nothing left but dirt. Animals are killed before they can repopulate or get big.¡±


    ¡°How would they even repopulate if they¡¯re aren¡¯t any left?¡±


    ¡°New Dungeon animals grow from mana itself.¡± The bee girl shrugged. ¡°However that works.¡±


    ¡°Does it feel like old times, Heather?¡± Savannah asked her.


    Heather chuckled. ¡°Almost. You haven¡¯t flirted with me even once yet.¡±


    ¡°You used to be so oblivious to my flirting,¡± Savannah sighed wistfully, then glanced at Lauren. ¡°But that¡¯s not my job anymore.¡±


    Lauren rolled her eyes.


    They eventually heard clinking sounds, and a few minutes later, reached an area that hadn¡¯t yet been picked clean of crystals. Only small ones were growing from the walls, which were chipped off and dropped in bins.


    Lucia led her group past them, however. ¡°There should be larger crystals further in, plus a small chance of encountering an animal, if there are any left, so keep an eye out.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be a Guardian somewhere on this Floor?¡± Lauren asked.


    Meeting another animal like Tyche would be really cool.


    ¡°Should be, but there probably isn¡¯t right now,¡± Maeve said.


    ¡°People always go after them first, because they give better materials,¡± Heather said.


    Savannah added, ¡°People have even tried becoming Guardians themselves, since it seems to just go to the most powerful animal on the Floor after one dies. It apparently only works with animals from that specific Floor, though.¡±


    If someone goes after Tyche¡­ Well, they¡¯d die. She¡¯s indomitable.


    They arrived at a large heap of rusted metal that had been pushed against the cave wall. It took a moment for Lauren to even recognize what she was looking at. ¡°¡­A car?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm, leftover from when the Dungeon first formed.¡±


    Wait¡­


    Lauren slowly walked around the vehicle, carefully inspecting it. ¡°This is Paul¡¯s car¡­¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Paul?¡± Heather asked.


    ¡°He lived in the apartment below mine. Last I saw, he was trapped beneath a bookshelf¡­¡± she said, her voice laden. ¡°He died here¡­?¡±


    Maeve put her hand on Lauren¡¯s shoulder and gave a somber nod. ¡°Probably. His body was never found, though. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°We looked into everyone who went missing in Rockford back then.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ How did his car end up here but I ended up all the way at the bottom? I remember falling through my building, a lot of tumbling, and then trees.¡±


    ¡°Dungeons form their lower Floors first,¡± Heather explained. ¡°A hole opens up on the surface that connects to the Dungeon. The first Floor formed then shifts down to make room for the next Floor. And then it just keeps going, pushing the complete Floors farther and farther down. Paul¡¯s car would¡¯ve fallen sometime after you did, so it ended up all the way up here instead of with you.¡±


    Lauren turned her attention back to the wreckage. It was utterly mangled. Time, animals, and Explorers had damaged it so much more over the years than the initial fall likely had.


    ¡°It used to be pale blue.¡± Lauren reminisced. ¡°Paul had a hobby of taking meticulous care of it. He probably spent more time waxing it than inside his house. We didn¡¯t speak much, but he had been friendly the few times we did.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Maeve said. ¡°We haven¡¯t been to this Floor in so long that it didn¡¯t occur to me¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m taking this with me when we leave. I¡¯ll dispose of it properly.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s considered a landmark in this dungeon now,¡± Emma said apologetically. ¡°We, and others, have said that it should be taken out of here, but it was deemed a part of the geography.¡±


    ¡°Have none of his relatives claimed it?¡±


    ¡°They said it¡¯s fine where it is.¡±


    It doesn¡¯t feel right to just leave it here¡­ I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t help you, Paul.


    Lauren stared at the car a while longer, then finally turned away from it. Her grip on her spear tightened. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 10: Descent

    Content warning:


    Mention of dead animals.


    Collecting crystals had been an incredibly easy and dull task. Lauren simply broke them off the Dungeon wall for several hours. She was attacked by animals twice during that time¡ªonce by a bat and once by a snake. Both had been quite small, even by regular people¡¯s standards. This was how a lot of Explorers earned money, however, so she could at least appreciate learning about it from that perspective.


    Having left the Dungeon, everyone found something different to do with their time. Maeve and Lucia had gone to a neighbor¡¯s house, Emma and Mist went to wander around somewhere, and Savannah went to her room to bury herself in a new book. Lauren was sitting on the couch with Heather.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Heather asked. ¡°You didn¡¯t talk much in the Dungeon.¡±


    Lauren put her arms around her knees. ¡°Dejected, I guess. I didn¡¯t really know Paul. He was my neighbor, but I didn¡¯t give much thought to him beyond that. I should¡¯ve talked with him more.¡±


    Heather scooted over and put her arm around Lauren, who leaned on Heather in response. The two sat tranquilly while Lauren worked through her emotions.


    Eventually, Lauren turned her attention to the bee girl she was cuddling. Heather¡¯s face still looked human¡ªas did everyone¡¯s¡ªbut her golden irises had a slightly hexagonal shape to them. Her hair was black and wavy, with two antennae sticking out of it. The yellow fluff around her neck and the black and yellow stripes on her arms felt soft against Lauren¡¯s skin. Lauren had learned that Heather was thirty-nine years old, but like all high-level Explorers, she didn¡¯t look her age.


    Heather gave an embarrassed giggle. ¡°Do I look good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Lauren blushed. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m still adjusting to seeing people again, and all the changes to Explorers makes them more interesting. I only had my own reflection to look at for a long time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Heather said. ¡°Look all you want. I like looking at you, too.¡±


    ¡°I am really nice to look at.¡±


    Heather laughed and shook her head.


    Lauren¡¯s gaze drifted to blankets she¡¯d been using as a bed, currently arranged in a neat pile out of the way.


    ¡°Heather, you¡¯re staying here for a while, right?¡± Lauren asked.


    The bee girl tilted her head. ¡°Yeah, why?¡±


    ¡°Where are you going to sleep?¡±


    Heather pointed straight down. ¡°On the couch. Where else?¡±


    Lauren blinked. ¡°Oh, right. I¡¯m too tall for it, but you probably fit.¡±


    ¡°Were you hoping I would sleep somewhere else?¡± she teased.


    Lauren blushed and looked away.


    Heather shifted so she could curl up her legs to the side. As she moved, one of her wings grazed Lauren¡¯s hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s not uncomfortable to sit on your wings like that?¡± Lauren asked.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Heather said. She leaned forward to give Lauren a better look at them.


    I don¡¯t know much about insect wings, but they remind me of old glass windows.


    ¡°They¡¯re really pretty,¡± Lauren complimented.


    ¡°Thanks. I like my wings, too. They only really bothered me early on, when clothes for wings didn¡¯t exist yet, so I had to modify clothes myself. The ones available now are kinda pricey, so I still end up doing that.¡±


    ¡°Making things for my ears and tail was an interesting challenge,¡± Lauren reminisced. ¡°Especially when I made my helmet.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what it must¡¯ve been like to go through your transformation alone¡­¡± Heather said.


    ¡°It was pretty scary at first. I had no idea why my body was changing, and I was terrified that I¡¯d entirely become a wolf. I remember trying to heal them away over and over again. When the changes were done, I decided I liked them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, healing magic doesn¡¯t affect transformations. Although yours does affect plants. Are there any other differences?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Lauren shook her head. ¡°Other than the plant thing, I have the same limitations. I can¡¯t heal wounds older than a couple weeks, and I can¡¯t cure diseases¡ªI can only heal damage from the symptoms. At least transformations don¡¯t cause any damage to people¡¯s bodies to begin with.¡±


    Heather nodded. ¡°My transformation was easy, in the sense that there were plenty of people I could talk with about it, but also difficult, because I became something rare. Not a lot of insect people walking around. But it also pushed my transition a lot farther, to the extent that I don¡¯t even need medication anymore, so I¡¯m really happy about that. Plus, bees are cute!¡±


    ¡°Huh? Wait, you¡¯re trans?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Heather tilted her head. ¡°How did you not know? The fact that I¡¯m trans is on the internet, and I figured Savannah or someone would¡¯ve said something about it otherwise.¡±


    ¡°No one told me,¡± Lauren shook her head. ¡°And I actively avoided looking you up online because I wasn¡¯t interested in whatever the media might have to say about you.¡±


    ¡°Huh, well I wasn¡¯t trying to hide it or anything. I genuinely thought you would¡¯ve heard already.¡±


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Lauren shrugged. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter. Oh, so Lucia doesn¡¯t need medication anymore either! That¡¯s really cool.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm! A lot of trans people have gone into Dungeons specifically for transformation. I just wish I¡¯d done it before I spent all that money transitioning the mundane way.¡±


    Lauren put her arm around the bee girl. ¡°Well, you wouldn¡¯t be here right now if things had turned out differently.¡±


    Heather smiled and leaned in closer. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Three teams of Explorers¡ªfifteen people in total¡ªrushed across a vast desert, leaving a long trail of sand clouds behind them. Wolf Pack¡ªwho Heather was a part of again after nearly twenty years¡ªand Wine Witches were two of the teams. The third team was Dad Joke, composed of four people, one of whom was Heather¡¯s dad. The remaining members were other dads from his neighborhood.


    Hours ago, they had finished setting up another signal booster, and were now headed for the next Floor down. As the teams neared the exit, peacefully dealing with animals as they did so, the desert sands gave way to a verdant forest, an oasis. Heather led the group to a copse of trees, where a tunnel began.


    Lauren could smell the salt well before she could see it. As the teams descended into the tunnel, the scent grew stronger, and the sound of waves lapping at a shore echoed around them. They stepped out onto a small sunlit beach, the only patch of land on this entire Floor. Everything else was ocean.


    The signal booster from when Abyssal Seekers passed through here remained, and had a thick cable sticking out from one side and into the water.


    Lauren set the large spool of cable she¡¯d been carrying on the ground and stretched. Everyone else carrying spools set theirs down as well¡ªLucia had a portable telepad instead¡ªand sat down somewhere for a break. Lauren sat in the sand, enjoying the sunlight and gentle breeze, and Heather sat next to her.


    Lauren asked, ¡°I didn¡¯t think about it before, but why are we laying another cable if you already did one? Just one is enough to carry signals, right?¡±


    Heather shrugged. ¡°The EA doesn¡¯t want to rely on a single cable.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Was it difficult to set that one up?¡±


    ¡°Very.¡± Heather looked at the waves and gave a weary sigh. ¡°But we had fewer people last time, we didn¡¯t know where the exit to the next Floor was, and we had to map out a good place to set it up. Underwater drones could only help so much with that. Still, we eventually got it done. And that¡¯s not even accounting for underwater fights with creatures. I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re here with me this time.¡±


    Lauren smirked. ¡°I do have a lot of utility.¡±


    The bee girl rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Are there any underwater Dungeons? Like, the entire thing is in the Pacific Ocean or something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Unless they¡¯re near sea level, they¡¯re pretty much untouched though.¡±


    ¡°So the Abyss might not actually be the deepest Dungeon in the world?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, yeah. Unlikely, though. They rarely go over 1,000 Floors, let alone the 2,263 that this one has. Dungeons also sometimes grow or shrink a little during Resets, so another Dungeon somewhere might one day surpass this one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be cool. I kind of want to see it happen. I also want to see what a Dungeon forming looks like from the surface.¡±


    ¡°Someone caught a video of it happening a few years ago. Hold on, let me find it.¡±


    Heather pulled it up on her phone. A large chunk of the ground fell away as if a giant sinkhole had opened up, and numerous animals came pouring out of it.


    Damn, I¡¯m not sure if seeing it happen from the inside or the outside is scarier.


    ¡°Any way to predict when and where one is going to open up?¡±


    ¡°Theoretically we could track fluctuations in ambient mana density, but the technology isn¡¯t there yet.¡±


    ¡°Damn, I hope that gets figured out soon.¡±


    The two pulled out snacks to eat while they waited. As they ate, someone came up behind them.


    ¡°Have you been deep underwater in a Dungeon before, Lauren?¡± Andrew¡ªHeather¡¯s dad¡ªasked. He was a rabbit-kin, and had two, tall, black-furred ears standing straight out of his brown here. His amber eyes looked quite similar to Heather''s.


    Lauren swallowed her bite of travel food. ¡°I have. There¡¯s an enormous ravine in the middle of the jungle that a lot of rivers empty into. The collected water gets quite deep, but that¡¯s where the crystals and windows are, so I couldn¡¯t avoid it.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Windows¡¯? Huh?¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, there¡¯s these fish down there that have really hard eye lenses that don¡¯t seem to decay, so I scavenged some from dead fish for my house. They work great! When I want to open or close a window, I just roll it to the side.¡±


    His eyebrows shot up. ¡°Huh. So how did you explore underwater?¡±


    ¡°I made a big bubble around myself and propelled it around with magic, but I had to regularly surface to exchange the air¡­¡± Lauren looked at Heather. ¡°How did you maintain your air supply?¡±


    ¡°Marama took care of it,¡± Heather said. ¡°She grew a bunch of mushrooms on herself and used them to control the atmosphere. We also had air tanks for emergencies.¡±


    ¡°What creatures are in the ravine?¡± Andrew asked excitedly.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s mostly fish, I suppose,¡± Lauren said. ¡°A lot of eels, specifically.¡±


    ¡°Eels¡­¡± Andrew chuckled, nodded to himself, and wandered off back to his buddies.


    ¡°What was that reaction?¡± Lauren asked Heather.


    The bee girl shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s probably lost in thought about some random trivia he finds interesting.¡±


    ¡°So being a dork runs in the family.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Heather playfully hit Lauren¡¯s arm.


    The three teams soon decided the break was over, so after packing up, they entered the water in a formation, with Lauren at the forefront as the main defense force. Heather took the lead in navigation, and everyone else focused either on defense or cable installation.


    The sunlight faded as they went deeper, so Lauren created several light spheres around the bubble they were in. As the darkness and pressure of the deep ocean surrounded them, so too did animals. Whales, sharks, eels, crabs, tortoises and more were all pushed away by creating currents of water. Everyone besides Lauren did the same, firing large torrents of water out of their protective bubble.


    As the hours passed, their task became easier with their spools becoming lighter, but more difficult because of having to exchange air at the surface regularly. A long distance away from the shore they started from, they reached the underwater tunnel to the next Floor.


    The tunnel curved upward into a wet cave, which then opened up onto a snowy, mountainous land. The cold wind battered hard against the group, so they opted to take another break before running straight to the exit.


    Knowing she wouldn¡¯t be here for long, Lauren took in the gorgeous view while she still could. The mountains towered over her as she stood, gazing into the overcast sky, her heart pounding with excitement¡ªnot for the mountains, but for what lay below. Her tail twitched as it tried to wag against her control over it.


    Once everyone was ready, she couldn¡¯t contain her excitement, so she created a sled of ice large enough to seat all fifteen of them, and rushed them forward across the snowy landscape, frequently making split-second adjustments to their trajectory so they wouldn¡¯t accidentally run over anything.


    She reached the next tunnel only a couple hours later, having slowed her speed so as not to overwhelm the others. The tunnel narrowed and sloped downward, and the air became thick and warm. The fresh scent of abundant nature hit her nose.


    Soon, light from the next Floor could be seen, and the tunnel turned a corner, then led into a steep drop. The signal booster that Abyssal Seekers had set up was next to a small crevice in the ground.


    Lauren grinned as she stepped forward and looked into the crevice. Far below, a sprawling forest of giant trees awaited her, lit by the late afternoon sun and somewhat obfuscated by clouds


    She sighed contentedly as the tension left her body.

 Chapter 11: Holiday Dessert

    Content warning:


    None.


    Lauren sat at the edge of the crevice, gazing at the forest below while the entire group took another break before the final stretch.


    Heather reminded, ¡°Be ready for powerful animals at any moment after leaving the tunnel. Make any final preparations with that in mind.¡±


    As they saw, a low rumbling reverberated through the tunnel.


    Oh! Today¡¯s a dessert day!


    ¡°What was that?¡± Savannah asked.


    Lauren smiled. ¡°Tyche.¡±


    ¡°The crocodile? Quite impressive for her bellow to reach us all the way here.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm. She¡¯s as loud as she is large.¡±


    Andrew laughed. ¡°That¡¯s a good way to be.¡±


    Heather rolled her eyes. ¡°Dad¡­¡± She looked at Lauren. ¡°So, why did you name her Tyche?¡±


    Lauren smiled. ¡°On rare occasions, she makes this big, deep, bellowing noise, and you can hear it no matter where you are in the jungle. Since it wasn¡¯t hurting me, I decided to take it as a sign of good luck on days that I heard it. Hence, Tyche, after the Greek goddess of good fortune.¡±


    Heather put an arm around Lauren. ¡°That¡¯s cool. I¡¯m kind of afraid to ever run into her, though.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. She doesn¡¯t wander near this area.¡±


    The bee girl nodded and gazed at the forest below. ¡°I kind of can¡¯t believe the bottom was finally found. Some people wondered if it went on forever.¡±


    Lauren tilted her head.


    Heather continued, ¡°Every Floor of a Dungeon is a little bigger than the one above it, and the last Floor is always twice as big as the previous one. The animals are always bigger, too, and a lot more powerful.¡±


    Once everyone was ready, the groups arranged themselves as they had discussed before even entering the dungeon.


    Heather, Harley of Wine Witches, and a bat-kin member of Dad Joke named Noah each had wings, and would carry multiple people as they glided down. As only gliding was required right now, this meant Dion, as a flying squirrel-kin, would also carry people. And lastly was Lauren, who, because she could fly using magic, would carry the rest.


    Like the other transitions between Floors, this one was simply a rocky tunnel. Though unlike most others, it ended in a narrow crevice. Lauren manipulated the crevice so that it became a large hole with plenty of space. Though it would gradually regenerate into its previous shape, the group had plenty of time to jump through it.


    Her mom, aunt, and sisters each attached themselves to one of her limbs, she wreathed herself in wind, and leaped. Lucia tapped on her shoulder twice¡ªthe wind was too loud to talk¡ªmeaning Heather¡¯s group was safely out. The pattern of two taps happened three more times, indicating that everyone else had leaped as well.


    Three taps.


    Lauren whipped her body around and saw an eagle approaching Dion high above. She pushed her spell to move upward. Heather couldn¡¯t do the same, but was able to at least slow her descent to move closer. Those above Dion did what they could to descend faster to catch up. Lauren didn¡¯t move in to intercept the bird just yet, however. The others didn¡¯t want to rely on her for every single thing they might encounter.


    One of Dion¡¯s group shot a fireball at the eagle, it was far larger than the group was, but still far smaller than the bird. With all the noise from the wind, they had to shout directly into their System Bands for the voice commands to go through. The eagle juked out of the fireball¡¯s path¡ªand directly into another fireball from Andrew¡¯s team. The creature screeched and, with a strong flap of its wings, shot forward with its talons poised to pluck them out of the air.


    A torrent of water formed around the eagle and blasted at Dion, but the ones they were carrying redirected it with water attacks of their own. As the group had been tumbling through the air, Heather had finally caught up with them, and used the opportunity to hit the bird with a blast of water from beneath it. The eagle attempted to dodge, but one of its wings was grazed by the attack. But that was enough. For a moment, the eagle simply stared at the fifteen people falling from the sky, then flew away.


    Good! I wasn¡¯t even necessary.


    Their minutes-long trip to the group went relatively smoothly from there. The fifteen people all landed relatively close to each other and quickly gathered, leaping over massive tree roots to land in a clearing.


    Noah heaved with his hands on his knees. Theo¡ªthe badger-kin member of Dad Joke¡ªwent to massage Noah¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Do you know where we are?¡± Maeve asked, a hand resting on her sword¡¯s pommel.


    ¡°My house is that way,¡± Lauren said, pointing. ¡°We already got a chunk of the traveling done during our descent, so unless something slows us down, we should be there around sunset.¡±


    ¡°And if we don¡¯t make it there by then?¡± Jacinta asked, her squirrel standing alert.


    ¡°We¡¯re close enough to the house that I¡¯m really familiar with the area, so I know some decent places to camp. I don¡¯t have any hideouts this close, unfortunately. I would stay awake all night if it came to camping, though.¡±


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Lauren gazed around her. The trees, the flowers, the fungi; nearly all of them were drastically larger than herself. Birds chirped in branches high enough, insects skittered about, and the rushing water of the nearby river could faintly be heard in the distance. The humid, earthy air filled her nose. She smiled and sighed contentedly.


    Everyone was ready to go, so Lauren started running in the direction of her house, and gradually made her way up and into the branches as she moved, with the others following behind her. She glanced at them, making sure they were keeping up. They were, but were incredibly tense and twitchy about every single noise.


    They¡¯ll have to learn which noises filter out.


    Keeping as close to each other as they could and moving swiftly, they traveled at a blistering pace, several drones flying alongside them. Whenever Lauren encountered an animal that might cause a problem, she grabbed it with water or vines to move it out of the way. After several hours of this, she stopped at a familiar fruit tree and smelled something acrid.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Emma asked, frowning as she sniffed.


    ¡°Lemur vomit,¡± Lauren said, pointing at a dark stain on the tree bark. ¡°Sorry for stopping. Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re nearly there.¡±


    Finally, Lauren landed on the ground near a stone staircase, with everyone else landing shortly thereafter, panting.


    Hm? That wasn¡¯t there before.


    Lauren created a ball of light and crouched to inspect the ground. ¡°There¡¯s a purple mushroom here¡­ I¡¯ve never seen one like this before.¡±


    Heather leaned in to look. ¡°It¡¯s one of Marama¡¯s. She didn¡¯t leave it last time I was here, so Abyssal Seekers must¡¯ve come here again.¡±


    ¡°So she wanted us to know they came here again?¡±


    Heather nodded. ¡°Seems that way, yeah.¡±


    Lucia glared at the mushroom. ¡°They didn¡¯t announce another expedition for Adam, meaning he was sent here in secret.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s help Marama, then,¡± Lauren said. ¡°Any word from Sean on getting her off that team yet?¡±


    ¡°The updates he¡¯s been giving me indicate progress is quite slow,¡± Lucia said. ¡°We might be able to use this incident, though it would mean trouble for her.¡±


    Heather stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll send her a message to see what she wants to do. For now, let¡¯s check on your house, Lauren.¡±


    The group went up the stairs, and when they reached the part where the effect of Lauren¡¯s ward crystal began, she was close enough that she could revert it to its previous setting. She then created a sphere of raw mana¡ªit was completely invisible¡ªand spread and wrapped it around everyone behind her.


    ¡°What did you just do?¡± Heather asked.


    Lauren paused, having just started up the stairs again. ¡°I wrapped a layer of mana around you so you can walk through the ward without any problems?¡±


    Heather hesitantly stepped forward, but didn¡¯t experience any strange sensations. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do that last time?¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah.¡± She blinked. She tried to scratch her head, but her helmet was in the way. ¡°Honestly, I just didn¡¯t think to do it. I¡¯d never had guests before.¡±


    Reaching the top of the stairs, Lauren led the group through another pathway near the garden, leading into a large, open room. It had tables, tools, her loom, and miscellaneous items along one wall, but the rest was otherwise empty.


    Lauren gestured to the room. ¡°This is sort of a training area, I guess you could say? It¡¯s mostly empty because I practice spells here. It should be enough space for everyone to sleep while I get more spaces set up.¡±


    After everyone dropped off their gear, Lauren¡¯s family followed her back to her house, while Heather stayed behind. They stepped through her garden, which had grown during the month she¡¯d been away. Most of the plants were still fine, though some were spilling onto the floor quite a bit. With the sun setting, Lauren activated small crystals around her garden, filling the garden with warm light.


    ¡°This is amazing,¡± Maeve said, examining the statue of Tyche. You really branched out your art.¡±


    Lauren smiled. ¡°Thanks. I put a lot of work into it.¡±


    Stepping into the house, Lauren turned on the lights and looked around.


    ¡°Anything missing?¡± Savannah asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Lauren said, putting her armor and weapons away. ¡°Changing the setting on my ward crystal before I left turned out to be a good call. It¡¯s a bit dusty now, though.¡±


    Speaking of the ward crystal, it¡¯s time to recharge it.


    She put her hand to it and the color changed from translucent to purple again, while Emma turned off the drones.


    Her sisters went to look at her bookshelf, while her mom and aunt looked at the paintings on the walls, especially the portraits done in relief.


    Lauren stood next to her mom. ¡°It¡¯s surreal seeing you next to your portrait.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to add wolf ears to everyone.¡±


    ¡°Put yourself in there with us,¡± Maeve said shakily, putting an arm around Lauren.


    ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡± she got out. ¡°I¡¯ll get dinner started.¡±


    Not having enough dishes and cutlery for fifteen people, Lauren picked a wall near her kitchen to pull stone from. Large chunks of rock broke free, and after some manipulation, they were turned into trays. She pulled open a drawer full of small crystals, imbued each crystal with a spell to make sure the Dungeon wouldn¡¯t make them vanish back into the wall, and embedded one into each tray. Then, after a quick clean, the trays were done.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tear apart a different wall?¡± Emma asked.


    Lauren shrugged. ¡°I need to create bedrooms for all of you anyway, and this wall was the best place to start. I might need to make a second bathroom, too. And expand all the rooms in general. Plus I need to make places for Wine Witches and Dad Joke.¡±


    ¡°Where do you sleep, by the way? I don¡¯t see a bedroom.¡±


    ¡°In a hammock.¡± Lauren pointed to hooks on either side of the living room. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel like I needed a bedroom, though with this being a shared space now, I guess I should make one for myself, too.¡±


    The five of them got to work making food for the entire group, with Lauren giving instructions on where to find certain things. With the kitchen being made for her size, they couldn¡¯t quite reach some of the higher items. She made a mental note to make adjustments to the layout for them.


    Her overgrown garden turned out to be a good thing, as it meant they had plenty of fruits and vegetables ready for everyone, but she would either need to expand the garden or make another one. She decided on both.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bring the food to the others just yet,¡± Lauren said.


    ¡°You want to make something to go with this?¡± Maeve asked, gesturing at the cooked food.


    Lauren made some ice, then began crushing it. ¡°I¡¯m making smoothies, too.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What kind?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t know the names of all the ingredients, but the taste is kind of chocolatey, but also a little spicy. I only make them on days when Tyche bellows.¡±


    Emma examined the large, green fruits Lauren was using. ¡°So it¡¯s like an unpredictable holiday, then?¡±


    Lauren nodded. ¡°Exactly. Tyche bellowing is rare and I never know when it¡¯s going to happen, so it¡¯s a pleasant surprise every time, and this is how I celebrate it.¡±


    ¡°Cute.¡±


    With everything prepared, the family returned to the others in the training area. They were either resting after their long day or looking around the place, and were surprised when Lauren turned the lights on.


    Tomorrow, they would set up the telepad, and the jungle would officially be connected with the surface.

 Chapter 12: Silent Sneak

    Content warning:


    Blood.


    The following morning, Lauren was waiting with her family while others were still busy preparing for the day.


    Heather came over to them. ¡°I got a reply from Marama. She said to show the mushroom she left behind as proof that Abyssal Seekers came here illegally.¡±


    Lucia looked at her. ¡°She¡¯s aware of the trouble she¡¯s like to get in?¡±


    ¡°She is. She wants out of the team that badly.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get Sean on it, then.¡±


    Lauren glanced from Heather to the others, then back to Heather. ¡°Several of you seem tired. Will you be okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Heather stifled a yawn. ¡°Sleeping in a Dungeon is always nerve-wracking, especially this one.¡±


    Lucia asked, ¡°Do you know where you want to set up the telepad?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Lauren said, making and then drinking a sip of water. ¡°I¡¯ve got a good spot in mind. It¡¯s far enough away that people hopefully won¡¯t bother us too much here, but still close enough that we can rush over if there¡¯s trouble.¡±


    Once everyone was ready, Lauren led the group to a nearby rocky overhang. It only took around half an hour of running through the trees to get there. Lucia removed the portable telepad from her back and got it set up while the rest of the group stood protectively around her.


    After activating it, they then had to wait several hours for a large part to come through¡ªone section of a permanent telepad¡ªand then repeat that process all over again. By the time they had all the pieces fully assembled, the sun was setting.


    Lauren tensed as the permanent telepad was activated for the first time.


    Alright, here we go.


    A group of five appeared with their weapons drawn. Seeing no immediate danger, they relaxed. While the new arrivals were informed of what was the area, the empty spools from the day before were loaded onto the telepad and sent back to the EA. And with that, their task was complete, so they returned to Lauren¡¯s house.


    There was still a little time left in the day, so Lauren got to work creating another bathroom so there wouldn¡¯t be fifteen people all trying to use the one in her house. She quickly ripped large amounts of rock from the wall to make an alcove, making no attempt at a nice-looking result.


    With that done, she began on the toilet. Unlike the walls, she spent more time on it, making sure it would actually be comfortable, and ensuring the stone was solid and had no leaks. She then ripped another alcove out of the wall for a shower, and made the floor slightly slanted, with a hole leading outside. With all the structural work done, she grabbed compost for the toilet, and crystals for both rooms. The crystals were for light, air circulation, water, and soundproofing, as well as the other crystals for making sure the Dungeon wouldn¡¯t regenerate the rock she¡¯d removed.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lauren said, checking to make sure she hadn¡¯t forgotten anything. ¡°I¡¯ll make them nicer tomorrow, but for now the focus was on function over form. I¡¯ll make more tomorrow, but it¡¯s already late, so this will have to do.¡±


    ¡°Creating a big bath might work better, otherwise we¡¯ll still have tons of people waiting to use the limited showers,¡± Emma said. She¡¯d been sitting in the training area with Mist, arms around each other.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good point.¡± She stretched. ¡°I can work on suggestions in the morning.¡±


    She walked into her garden area, where Heather and Savannah were leaning on the outer wall, taking in the night view of the jungle and chatting. They turned when they heard her approaching.


    ¡°All done?¡± Savannah asked, her brown hair swaying in the breeze.


    ¡°It¡¯s functional, but I wouldn¡¯t call it done,¡± Lauren said.


    Savannah nodded. ¡°Mom and Lucia are digging into the wall, by the way. They may even have the beginning of another room started already.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s helpful.¡± Lauren licked her lips. ¡°Um, I wanted to talk to Heather for a bit, so could we talk later.¡±


    Savannah¡¯s gaze went back and forth between Lauren and the bee girl a couple times. ¡°Sure thing.¡± She gave a knowing smile, then entered the house.


    Lauren moved next to Heather, who was smiling in anticipation.


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    Okay, I¡¯ve had a whole month to think about this.


    ¡°So, um¡­¡± Lauren started. Every feeble plan she¡¯d come up with vanished from her mind. ¡°Do you want to go out?¡± she forced herself to say.


    Heather¡¯s antennae twitched while she was momentarily stunned from the sheer bluntness. She chuckled. ¡°Yes, you dork. As long as you¡¯re ready.¡±


    Lauren grinned and nodded. ¡°I am. ¡­Um, I¡¯m not really sure what to do now. It¡¯s been a while for me.¡±


    The bee girl stepped forward and hugged her. ¡°I know. That¡¯s fine. We can just chat while we work on Dungeon stuff together, and make time for the occasional date.¡±


    Lauren returned the hug. ¡°When you say it like that, it sounds so easy.¡±


    ¡°Should be. As long as we talk to each other when something is difficult, we can deal with any potential problems.¡±


    Lauren tightened her hug around her new girlfriend.


    She¡¯s so smart.


    ¡°I gotta say,¡± Heather began, ¡°being hugged by someone so much taller than me is pretty incredible.¡±


    Lauren chuckled, and they locked eyes for a long moment. Lit by moonlight and dim garden lights, the bee girl¡¯s face had an ethereal glow to it. Lauren opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.


    Heather gave a small smile. ¡°We should go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Lauren said. ¡°Goodnight, Heather.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm. I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡±


    Once Heather was gone, Lauren thunked her head against the wall. She gazed at the underground sky for a few minutes, then left for the comfort of her hammock.


    Alone, Lauren landed on a small bit of rock jutting out from the cliff face, which overlooked the telepad site from a distance. Heavy rain and wind battered at her, so she altered the rock slightly to lock herself into position. A thin barrier around herself prevented her from getting drenched.


    The Explorer¡¯s Association had already constructed a large stone dome around the site, merging it with the cliffside. Several small slits ran along the wall, faint light coming from within. Signs of battle surrounded the structure, with carnage from numerous spells already visible. The soil and foliage were blasted apart, several spots were scorched, and copious bloodstains covered the ground. Some of the bloodstains trailed inside the dome¡¯s entrance, where six guards stood just outside of it, keeping watch.


    Should I have stayed to help people? Clearly at least some of them are struggling. I don¡¯t see any signs of people going very far into the forest yet.


    With there being no immediate danger, she decided to just keep an eye on things for now. A while later, she noticed some branches shifting in a slow pattern, gradually moving closer to the dome.


    A snake. It¡¯s closing in on them. How will those guards handle it?


    The guards were diligently keeping their eyes on their surroundings, and those with ears that could swivel like Lauren¡¯s also tried to hear anything through the pounding rain. They occasionally cast spells to detect if there was anything nearby on top of that.


    But, despite their efforts, they had yet to notice the train-sized snake looming high above them.


    I guess they¡¯re not used to environments at this scale? Even the Floors above were only maybe half this size. Really makes you feel insignificant.


    Lauren leaped off her perch and landed silently on the dome. She sensed the mana of at least a dozen people below her feet, though none of them seemed in a rush.


    The snake launched itself from the treetop, aiming directly for one of the guards, while simultaneously using a water spell to fire venom from its teeth


    The guards were only just starting to react, so Lauren launched herself at the snake, catching the poison with a water spell of her own before tossing it aside.


    Oh, it¡¯s a python! It¡¯s nice to actually know the species of stuff now. Pythons don¡¯t have venom, though, so I guess it was changed by mana? I don¡¯t recall any pictures of ones with purple and yellow spots like that.


    Amid such a downpour, it was a simple task to manipulate the water. She collected it into two large masses and wrapped them around the snake like a giant pair of hands. Using those ¡®hands¡¯, she turned the snake around, then flew into the distance, pulling the thrashing creature behind her. One of the guards yelped in surprise before she vanished.


    Lauren set the snake down far away. It immediately lunged at her, but she was already gone. She soon landed back at the dome, finding that the guards had retreated inside and shut the entrance.


    Resting her spear on her shoulder, she loudly announced, ¡°The snake is taken care of. I won¡¯t always be around, so be careful.¡±


    No one came out to talk to her, so she flew back home. A few minutes later, she ran into her girlfriend and older sister, both waiting for her in the garden. They got up from their seats when they noticed her.


    ¡°How is the snake?¡± Heather intoned.


    Lauren paused. ¡°Um¡­ fine? How do you know about it?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re streaming,¡± Emma said, holding up her phone for Lauren to see. The view was from one of the thin slits along the dome¡¯s wall. The guards had stepped back outside, and half of them were looking up now. They also appeared much more tense.


    Heather stepped closer. ¡°Why did you go off on your own to watch them like that? I¡¯m guessing you left much sooner than when you showed up on camera?¡±


    ¡°I-I mean,¡± Lauren began, ¡°when I need to check on something, I always do it first thing in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Lauren, you scared the hell out of them,¡± Emma said. ¡°They¡¯ve already had a few close calls. You showed up suddenly, and your armor looks even more menacing than normal when you¡¯re standing there in the rain after showing off powerful magic.


    ¡°Basically, you should¡¯ve just spoken with them and actually gone inside the dome.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Lauren muttered. ¡°Sorry. I was worried about what they might be up to, but I guess I need to reevaluate my behavior when dealing with humans.¡±


    Heather nodded. ¡°Thankfully, they don¡¯t seem to know that you were watching them.¡±


    ¡°Spying bad, got it,¡± Lauren said, then started giggling.


    ¡°What¡¯s funny?¡± Emma asked, tilting her head.


    ¡°Having someone to scold me is nice.¡±


    Emma and Heather both gave complicated smiles.

 Chapter 13: Spores

    Lauren entered the house with her girlfriend and older sister. The rest of her family were here as well¨Cher mom and aunt were digging into the wall some more, while her younger sister perused the bookshelf.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back,¡± Lucia said. She glanced at Emma, who nodded, then went back outside to work on the garden. ¡°Where do you want all this stone? It¡¯s piling up in here.¡±


    Lauren rolled the large, hemispherical window to the side, letting the sound and smell of rain directly into the house. ¡°Out here is fine. There isn¡¯t anything below to worry about.¡±


    Maeve brushed some dust out of her gray hair as she examined it. This window came from a fish¡¯s eye, you said?¡± She rapped her knuckle against it, creating a dull, ringing sound. ¡°It really is like glass¡­¡±


    ¡°Mhmm. ¡°I¡¯ll have to get some more for all the new rooms.¡±


    Savannah and Heather joined Maeve in looking at it. Savannah ran her hand along its surface. ¡°Do you know what kind of fish it was?¡±


    Lauren walked to her bookshelf in the corner to find a specific book, and opened it to a specific page. ¡°Here¡¯s my drawings and notes about it.¡±


    The handmade book was more of a stack of paper that was sewn together than an actual book. The pages were brown and a bit rough, and drawings and writing had somewhat faded and smudged due to the low quality materials.


    Savannah¡¯s eyes eagerly scanned over it, her tail wagging. ¡°This is pretty meticulous. You could be a researcher if you wanted to go that direction.¡±


    Lauren smiled. ¡°Thanks. I had to keep myself busy, so I did my best. I tried to think of what you might do while I slowly figured things out.¡±


    ¡°Aww. How much did all the camping we did as kids help you?¡±


    Lauren started making tea. ¡°Somewhat, though there¡¯s a huge difference between camping and surviving. The universal edibility test you taught me was probably the most useful piece of knowledge I had.¡±


    Savannah chuckled and carefully turned the page. ¡°Well, after you ate a random forest mushroom that one time, I had to figure something out.¡±


    Lauren laughed sheepishly. Seeing her mom and aunt dropping armfuls of rocks out the window, Lauren started moving the other rocks outside with magic.


    ¡°Maybe we should get lunch started?¡± Heather suggested.


    After a brief but fun time making food with Heather, Lauren went to the training area. She found all the members of both Wine Witches and Dad Joke digging into the walls as well. Several of Lauren¡¯s projects had been moved to make room, but were otherwise untouched.


    Near her was Oliver, a ferret-kin in Dad Joke. Lauren asked him, ¡°What plans do all of you have for this space? You were thinking of making individual rooms for yourselves, right?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± He wiped sweat off his brow and took a swig of water. ¡°We don¡¯t know how much time we¡¯ll be spending down here, but we know we¡¯ll be here pretty frequently at least. It¡¯s important for Andrew and Mist. Plus, this is way too good of an opportunity to pass up. As for plans, we¡¯re just making rooms for now. We¡¯ll work out the details later.¡±


    Lauren refilled his water. ¡°Alright, let me know what takes the most priority and I¡¯ll help with that. But before that, I need to finish making necklaces so everyone can pass through the ward without me.¡±


    She then got to work on her project, which involved imbuing small crystals with her barrier spell, then tying strings around them for wearing. These could be used for passing through the ward, or in emergency situations as an extra layer of defense, so long as they kept the crystals filled with mana.


    Once she was done with that, Lauren moved on to making rooms for everyone. By the end of the day, several new spaces had been created.


    Lauren groaned as she stretched, working out the kinks in her muscles from several days of hard work. Everyone now had their own simple rooms. The couples¡ªEmma and Mist, and Noah and Theo¡ªwould be sharing rooms. With a communal kitchen in the center of everything, the training area had become a guest area.


    In Lauren¡¯s house, several new rooms had also been dug out, along with another bathroom. Lauren had also spent several hours lowering the height of many aspects of her house to make them more accessible to everyone.


    She spotted Heather nearby, chatting with two Wine Witches members, and frowned.


    Other than announcing our relationship on social media, we haven¡¯t actually done anything together yet¡­


    Heather checked her phone, looked surprised, then whipped her head around. The moment the bee girl locked eyes with Lauren, she rushed over.


    ¡°Lauren! Marama¡¯s here!¡± Heather said, her wings spreading out slightly.


    Lauren reeled back from the sudden closeness. ¡°She is? It¡¯s only been about a week, though?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go pick her up!¡±


    They armored up and left, and arrived at the dome soon after. Since Lauren had last been here, it was now larger, and had additional domes attached to it, like smaller bubbles attached to a larger one. There was now a wall surrounding the structure as well, along with several more people standing guard than before.


    It¡¯s like some kind of spherical fortress¡­


    They landed in an open spot near a tree, and casually entered the building, getting the side-eye from some guards as they passed. The interior was partitioned into a few different sections, but there were no individual rooms. One area was a makeshift office, and another was a rest area for Explorers. There were separate locations for the telepad and signal booster, and the central area served as a gathering point.


    Around twenty people¡ªnot including the guards¡ªwere here. Lauren¡¯s ears swiveled as she caught bits of conversations, mostly about how they could go further into the jungle without dying.


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    A cat-kin Explorer in wood-like armor approached the moment he spotted her. ¡°Hi! Lauren, right? You should help us tame this crazy place.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lauren said flatly, stepping past him. He tried to move in front of her again, so she did a small leap forward.


    From behind her, he shouted, ¡°This jungle isn¡¯t yours, you know!¡±


    She looked at him incredulously. ¡°Obviously. It doesn¡¯t belong to anyone.¡±


    Moving forward before she got caught up even more, she walked past the rest area. The guard she had saved yesterday was sitting there, and nodded at her, which Lauren reciprocated. Leaning against a wall near the telepad was a familiar mushroom girl, wearing new armor, and a new hammer was resting on the floor next to her. Unlike her previous government-issued set, this one did not have a special helmet to go over her head.


    ¡°Marama!¡± Heather yelled, and hugged her.


    Marama hesitantly patted Heather¡¯s back.


    ¡°Hey there,¡± Lauren greeted. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you under better circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Marama nodded. ¡°Can we leave? It¡¯s uncomfortable here.¡±


    Lauren glanced around the dome, seeing several people glaring at Marama. The three left the building, and several minutes later, had arrived at the stone stairs to Lauren¡¯s house.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Lauren asked.


    Marama scowled. ¡°The fact that I was alone in a Dungeon meant I was no longer on Adam¡¯s team, and they recognized me¡ªthere aren¡¯t exactly a lot of other mushroom people. The ones who were upset thought I had betrayed some great cause.¡±


    ¡°Oof. Well, at least you¡¯re not stuck there anymore?¡± Lauren said, and placed a barrier over Marama.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the mushroom girl said, examining the faint shimmer surrounding her body. She smiled. ¡°Being free of that is an immense relief. And thank you for the blacksmith recommendation, Heather.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm!¡± Heather said. ¡°Audrey does pretty good work, doesn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°She does. I hope she gets more business soon, though.¡±


    ¡°I send people to her when I can,¡± Heather said. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, she and Lauren removed their helmets.


    Marama stared at Heather for a moment. ¡°You seem happier.¡±


    The bee girl giggled and shared a look with Lauren, who also giggled.


    She¡¯s so cute.


    Heather gave Marama another hug as they entered the guest area. Lauren¡¯s mom came over to greet them.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Maeve asked Marama, a freshly-made cup of tea ready for her. ¡°It must¡¯ve been so stressful for you¡­¡±


    ¡°It was,¡± Marama said, wriggling from Heather¡¯s grasp. She sighed. ¡°I should probably discuss what happened. Are there any cameras streaming at the moment?¡±


    Everyone glanced around to check, and it was Heather who confirmed that there were none once everyone else in the area had gathered.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Marama nodded, leaned her hammer against a wall, then sipped her tea. ¡°So, Adam was asked by some politician¡ªhis dad, I¡¯m guessing¡ªto secretly come here and raid Lauren¡¯s house. That meant everyone else on the team was dragged into it as well, with the threat of further debt and incarceration if we didn¡¯t go along with it.


    ¡°Your ward,¡± she nodded at Lauren, ¡°prevented us from getting in. In lieu of that, James controlled a drone to at least look around the house. I grew a mushroom by the stairs while everyone was busy. Even with how much mana I poured into it, I wasn¡¯t sure that it would last long enough¡­¡±


    Marama gave another sigh, then smiled wearily. ¡°Thank you so much for helping me get out of there. Without Heather, I was at my limit.¡±


    Heather settled for placing an arm around the mushroom girl¡¯s shoulders this time.


    Lucia asked, ¡°So what happened after they found out about you leaving a mushroom?¡±


    Marama frowned. ¡°I was put in one of those high-durability cells for Explorer prisoners. Sean eventually showed up and worked out some sort of negotiation. Publicly, the story is that the mushroom was left there from the first visit, and I am not allowed to reveal the truth to anyone. The story goes that I was so stressed from Exploring that I was endangering my teammates, so I was kicked out. I expect it to show up in the news quite soon.


    ¡°In exchange for my secrecy, I was going to be put on some other team, but Sean got my debt sorted out, too¡ªyou paid it off, I heard. Thank you very much for that. Honestly, I¡¯ve never seen the law move that fast.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Lucia said, and chuckled. ¡°Sean is just that good of a lawyer. I¡¯ll keep an eye on PIP, since they¡¯re likely to break the story first.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s PIP?¡± Lauren asked, grabbing Heather¡¯s hand.


    Lucia grimaced. ¡°Patriots In Peril. Trash news network that was created about a decade ago.¡±


    Emma, leaning against Mist, interjected. ¡°We can probably expect some degree of government interference going forward, so we should think of some countermeasures.¡±


    Lauren spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about that since I first came back to the surface. I¡¯ve gained enough of an understanding of the Explorer¡¯s Association to know that they only support those under their direct control.


    ¡°So I was thinking that I could disseminate my knowledge about the jungle. Make it accessible to as many people as possible. Specifically, with the goal of hindering anything the government tries to do. Plenty of people already hate them.¡±


    ¡°That would help,¡± Lucia agreed. ¡°Some other people in our surface community might be interested, and I know others we can ask as well.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯d have to actually create a little community down here?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°I¡¯m already amazed that there are sixteen people gathered here right now, but would even more want to stay?


    ¡°Lauren,¡± Emma said, giving her a hard stare. ¡°I think you¡¯re still underestimating just how much people want to be down here. The danger is immense, obviously, but a lot of people stuck in debt could get out of it with items from here. Materials from this Floor would contain a lot more mana than materials from anywhere else. The more people we help get out of debt, the more we can get on our side.¡±


    Marama, no longer pushing Heather¡¯s arm away, added, ¡°Your chantless magic and weapon recall ability would be valuable for any Explorer, and your magic is also incredibly versatile compared to everyone else¡¯s. The way you use crystals is quite fascinating as well. They seem capable of much more, but without the downsides of current crystal tech. You don¡¯t even have to transfer mana to them from Dungeon materials, you just fill them up yourself.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Lauren bit her lip. ¡°Maybe I should do some kind of introductory stream, then? Adam apparently spied on my house and would already have my map copied, so I could talk about that while inviting people to come here.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll help with the stream,¡± Savannah said, smiling. The rest of her family nodded.


    Marama looked a little forlorn.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Lauren asked.


    The mushroom girl nodded slightly. ¡°I miss my family. I want to visit them again now that I¡¯m free, but I felt it was important to come here first.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d you think was more important?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Marama pursed her lips. ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Lauren said. ¡°If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, let me know.¡± She looked at Heather. ¡°What about you? Do you want to help with the stream, too?¡±


    Heather let go of Marama after giving her one last squeeze. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She pretended to deeply consider, ¡°If you really need my help, then I guess I can make some time.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Busy, are you?¡± Lauren said, pulling the bee girl close.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been trying to flirt with my girlfriend, but she¡¯s just been so occupied lately.¡±


    ¡°Wha- You were helping create rooms and stuff for everyone, too!¡±


    She laughed. ¡°I know. I¡¯m just joking with you.¡±


    Lauren shook her head. ¡°Jeez.¡±


    This dang cutie.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Lauren looked at Marama. ¡°We¡¯ll need to make another room for you, so it might be a little longer before you have a space to yourself.¡±


    ¡°O-Or¡­¡± Heather blushed, antennae and wings twitching slightly. ¡°I could share with you, and then the room that was made for me can be hers.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ S-Sure,¡± Lauren stuttered, also blushing.

 Chapter 14: Invitation

    Content warning:


    Mention of brutal animal death not caused by people.


    Lauren and Heather were in their new bedroom, sharing it for the first time. Other than the hammock hanging across it, there was no other furniture. There wasn¡¯t even a door or window yet, just empty holes where they would go. Heather¡¯s pack, armor, and swords were piled up along one wall, and Lauren had moved her clothes and a few other items nearby, freeing up more space in the living room. Like all private rooms, they had crystals for light, wind, and soundproofing.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never slept in a hammock before,¡± Heather said, rubbing her hand along its surface, feeling the slightly rough texture. ¡°You made it pretty big, but can it really support two people?¡±


    Lauren stood next to her. ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty strong? I¡¯ve never had to worry about it.¡±


    ¡°W-Well, let¡¯s try it out.¡±


    While Heather clambered into the hammock, Lauren dimmed the light and set it to completely turn off in a few minutes. She grabbed a thin blanket, then joined the bee girl. After some awkward shifting around, the girlfriends were laying next to each other. The light turned off, leaving only the pale moonlight, obscuring both their blushes.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Lauren began. ¡°I guess this is our first date.¡±


    Heather grinned. ¡°Guess that means we have to treat this like a sleepover. Just chat until we fall asleep.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Lauren grinned back, and shifted to get more comfortable. Heather¡¯s soft arm fuzz brushed against her skin, and her warmth spread to Lauren beneath the blanket. ¡°So, have you gone into a Dungeon with your dad before?¡±


    ¡°Not until now, no,¡± Heather said, looking at the ceiling. ¡°I was usually stuck doing government stuff, and he became an Explorer to help pay off my debt sooner. He even managed to corral some of the neighborhood dads into joining. When we did have time to spend with each other, we didn¡¯t want to do it inside a Dungeon.¡± She paused. ¡°My turn. After you became as strong as you are, what did you do?¡±


    Lauren gave a small sigh. ¡°I got really depressed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Heather turned her head, ¡°not what I expected.¡±


    Lauren licked her lips. ¡°When I no longer had to worry about attacks, and I had explored pretty much everywhere in this place, I suddenly had a lot of free time. For the first time in several years, I finally had the leeway to think about something other than just surviving and getting out of here.


    ¡°I spent a long time like that. Maybe a year or two, I¡¯m not really sure. I eventually needed to distract myself from my own thoughts, so I somehow forced myself to start doing things again. That was probably the most difficult thing I¡¯ve ever done.¡±


    Heather sidled over to give Lauren a hug, and she reciprocated the gesture. In the dim light, the amber of Heather¡¯s eyes was still just barely visible.


    Oh, her leg fuzz feels just like her arm fuzz.


    The following morning, Lauren was sitting in the living room, a black cloth covering the wall behind her. Emma sat beside her, Savannah was a short distance away getting her phone ready for the stream, and the others were seated elsewhere around the room, ready to help moderate the chat.


    ¡°Will anyone even show up to the stream¡­?¡± Lauren wondered.


    ¡°There are already thousands waiting,¡± Savannah said, showing her screen to Lauren. ¡°Lucia posted a while ago that we were going to do this.¡±


    Emma smiled at Lauren. ¡°We¡¯ll start when you¡¯re ready.¡±


    Lauren took a deep breath, then resolutely nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Savannah said, with her phone pointed at her older sisters. ¡°Starting in five¡­¡±


    Once the countdown ended, Emma waved at the camera and spoke, ¡°Hi! Emma of the Wolf Pack here, with my younger sister and teammate, Lauren.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± Lauren stiffly greeted, giving an equally stiff wave.


    This is even worse than talking to the drone.


    Emma placed her hands in her lap and continued, ¡°As we mentioned on social media, we¡¯re going to stream stuff about the jungle occasionally. So today, we¡¯re starting with¡­¡± she pulled the black cloth off the wall, ¡°the map!¡±


    Savannah stepped back to get the entire map in frame.


    My turn.


    Lauren moved her hands around, trying to find a good place to put them, then copied her sister and placed them in her lap. She glanced at Heather across the room, who smiled encouragingly. Lauren cleared her throat. ¡°This is one of many projects I did over the years, and it displays the entire jungle. It¡¯s carved out of stone, making this a relief sculpture. The colors come from different colored rocks I found and embedded into the wall.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°There are plenty of landmarks and red dots throughout it,¡± Emma said, running a hand along its uneven surface. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the large landmarks. What are they?¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Lauren started, and cleared her throat again, ¡°the huge tear going from southwest to northwest is a deep ravine, which the two biggest rivers drain into. It¡¯s also where the crystals are.¡±


    Emma pointed to an area near the top. ¡°I see that you have some large trees marked here. There are trees everywhere throughout the jungle, so what makes these ones special?¡±


    Lauren smiled. ¡°Oh, those are interesting. They actually aren¡¯t larger than any other trees around here, really¡ªthis is a pictorial map, meaning landmarks take up more map space so they stand out to the viewer. But the reason those trees are special is that they have prehensile vines.¡±


    ¡°What, seriously?!¡± Savannah exclaimed. ¡°Wait, I think you told me that before¡­¡±


    Lauren laughed. ¡°Yeah. They can also bend their trunks and branches a bit. They ruthlessly kill anything that harms them, sometimes even just anything that happens to come close.¡± She gave an awkward chuckle and scratched her neck. ¡°It¡¯s really brutal.


    ¡°Despite their massive size, they aren¡¯t slow. Like, I¡¯ve seen some animals fighting each other near the trees, and then the moment a stray spell hits some bark, all the nearby branches and roots and vines just splattered the creatures. If you piss off one tree, you piss off all of them, and only the fastest animals would even have a chance of escaping. It¡¯s actually pretty peaceful there if you don¡¯t piss them off, though, because most animals avoid the area entirely.¡±


    Emma glanced at the map, then gave Lauren an incredulous look. ¡°So there¡¯s an entire part of the jungle that¡¯s full of these murder trees?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Lauren averted her eyes. ¡°Y-Yeah.¡± She cleared her throat again. ¡°They also have some degree of memory. One time they remembered a frog that got away, and killed it on sight weeks later when it showed up again.¡±


    Savannah had an excited look on her face, which everyone ignored.


    Emma blinked. ¡°¡­Amazing. What about those upside down triangle shapes you¡¯ve marked?¡±


    ¡°Those are just stalactites,¡± Lauren said, pointing down with her hand. ¡°Specifically, just the biggest ones that hang down through the clouds.¡±


    Emma nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve got lines going across the rivers and the ravine. Are those bridges?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm. Before I could fly long distances, I wanted to make sure I had an escape route in case of emergencies.¡± She licked her lips. ¡°Also, this map doesn¡¯t do justice for just how massive that ravine is. I had to use tons of vines, wood, stone, sap, and whatever else to go all the way across and make sure it didn¡¯t collapse under its own weight. There¡¯s plenty of really sturdy materials down here, though. They might¡¯ve been shredded by a bird or something again since I was last there though, but that just happens sometimes,¡± she ended with a shrug.


    ¡°I see,¡± Emma said. Her eyes went to the northeast part of the map, then scanned over the whole thing again. ¡°I think we¡¯re just about done looking at all the landmarks. Before the big one, what are all the little red dots peppered throughout?¡±


    She¡¯s doing such a good job hosting this thing.


    Lauren shifted in her seat, placed her hand on the map, and infused it with mana. All the red dots lit up and glowed. ¡°These dots are all little shelters I made. Like a small room I made or a cave I found, then closed up to make it safe. None of them have wards like my house does, but they¡¯ll keep you out of the rain and safe from things that might try to eat you.¡± She looked at the camera. ¡°Feel free to use them.¡±


    ¡°There are two exceptions.¡± Lauren pointed at a larger dot on the southeastern edge. ¡°This one is my house.¡± She moved her finger to the other large dot, near the lower part of the ravine. ¡°And this one is the exit to the Floor above.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Emma nodded, then grinned. ¡°Now for the final thing.¡± She pointed at the large crocodile picture in the eastern section of the map. ¡°Tyche, right? And you have this dark spot in the river next to her.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Lauren laughed. ¡°That¡¯s Tyche, the giant crocodile, and the lake she lives in. The dark spot is a huge gouge in the land from when some animals were bothering her and she blasted them with a ton of water. It¡¯s been years since then, though, so by now it¡¯s probably regenerated how it used to be.¡±


    For now, Lauren continued, ¡°That¡¯s the most dangerous part of the jungle, too. She¡¯s always exerting just¡­ raw, overwhelming magic, I guess is how I¡¯d describe it. You start feeling sick, it gets hard to breathe, your body feels sluggish and heavy¡­ She¡¯s intense. She eventually let¡¯s up on it if you withstand it for long enough.¡±


    Emma gave her a look that was equal parts suspicion and concern. ¡°How did you approach her, then?¡±


    ¡°Uh, well¡­¡± Lauren shifted her hands around as she looked for somewhere comfortable to put them, and settled for stiffly crossing her arms. ¡°I kept going back there until I could withstand it?¡± She gave a forced laugh.


    But then I found out she protects anything that lives near her¡­


    Emma gave a nearly imperceptible frown for a brief moment. ¡°Alright. Then the last thing I wanted to do for the stream is ask questions.¡± Her eyes traced over the map again. ¡°How big is the jungle?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Lauren said, shrugging. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly have measuring tools down here.¡±


    Savannah chimed in, ¡°There are approximations floating around online that are based on all the videos people have posted so far. Current estimates are that it¡¯s larger than Pangea.¡±


    Lauren¡¯s mouth hung open for a moment. ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true. I can''t possibly have explored something that big all on my own¡­¡±


    Savannah shrugged, her brown hair getting in her eyes for a moment. ¡°Even if the math isn¡¯t exact, it¡¯s still close enough to know that that rough estimate is true.¡±


    Lauren¡¯s gaze dropped to her hands, covered in scars from years of exploration.


    I definitely didn¡¯t explore every single detail of this place. But I guess it¡¯s also true that I¡¯m really fast¡­


    ¡°How about we go to viewer questions?¡± Heather suggested.


    Lauren shared a glance with Emma, who nodded.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Savannah said, scrolling on her phone. ¡°First question. A lot of people want you to step on them. When will you do this?¡±


    Lauren coughed. ¡°I won¡¯t. I haven¡¯t even stepped on my girlfriend yet.¡±


    ¡°Wha- Hey!¡± Heather yelled, looking startled.


    Savannah cackled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see¡­ Next question is if you consider yourself an alpha wolf. Gross.¡±


    Lauren grimaced. ¡°People still believe that stuff?¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± Emma said, looking a little annoyed. Addressing the audience, she clarified, ¡°Alpha wolves don¡¯t exist, and wolf packs are actually just wolf families.¡±


    Lauren spent another hour answering general questions about the jungle and the numerous small landmarks on the map. When the stream was finally over, she slumped in her chair, spent. ¡°Do you think that was good enough?¡± she asked.


    Heather flopped into her lap. ¡°Your goal was basically just to prove that you know a lot, right? I¡¯m pretty sure you accomplished that.¡±


    ¡°You did well,¡± Emma agreed, grabbing a piece of fruit off the kitchen table. ¡°This should help people feel more comfortable coming here, and little of what you said, if anything, will be useful to the EA.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± Lauren said, wrapping her arms around the bee girl.

 Chapter 15: Incoming Storm

    Content warning:


    None.


    It wasn¡¯t long after the stream had ended that Maeve was called by Professor Richards. She put him on video so everyone in the room could talk with him as well. Lauren begrudgingly got out of her seat, meaning no more bee girl in her lap.


    The deer-kin professor was sitting in an office, starkly lit, and with several pictures on the wall behind him, one of which was of himself and his family¡ªone of his children was also a deer-kin. Rain pounding against the nearby window added white noise to the audio.


    ¡°Hello, everyone! It¡¯s been a while,¡± the professor said, waving. ¡°And hello to Marama and Heather as well, though this is the first time we¡¯ve spoken.¡±


    The two both gave small waves.


    ¡°Is this about the stream?¡± Maeve asked.


    ¡°Yes! Yes.¡± Professor Richards¡ªCraig¡ªnodded eagerly. ¡°Myself and some others at the lab watched, and the special trees you mentioned piqued our interest. As I interacted with the Wolf Pack recently, I was asked to be a research liaison with you.¡±


    ¡°What are you hoping to accomplish?¡± Lauren asked, her tail twitching irritably.


    Addressing her directly, he answered, ¡°Unique new plants are of interest to us, because of all plant life worldwide withering. But it¡¯s less about the specific plants themselves, and more the circumstances under which they changed. Samples of any plant from the Abyss would be useful, as well as any information you have. And we plan to release any results to everyone, unlike a government-funded lab.¡±


    Heh, he knows who he¡¯s talking to.


    Craig gave a wistful sigh. ¡°I¡¯m quite tempted to become an Explorer again myself. The other thing I wanted to ask about is if you have any information regarding the undead. The Abyss-¡± A booming thunderclap interrupted him. ¡°Sorry, massive storm going on up here. The Abyss was already the most popular Dungeon in the world, but with the recent discovery of the bottom Floor, it became even more popular.¡±


    Lauren tilted her head. ¡°So more people means more of those undead blob things?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and larger, too. And it¡¯s Explorers specifically, not just any people. There are hypotheses about why that is the case, but nothing solid as of yet. Undead have never appeared on this scale before, so that¡¯s why studying them is a priority.¡±


    Lauren whispered in Lucia¡¯s ear. ¡°So we just share information and samples if we feel like it? Seems okay to me, if you trust him.¡±


    Lucia smiled and nodded.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lauren said, standing before the three teams she¡¯d entered the jungle with. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you everything I know about the jungle.


    ¡°The first lesson is simple: Traversal. You somewhat know it already, but the ground has a ton of things that want to snack on you, and if you¡¯re flying above the canopy, then you¡¯re exposed to all the birds and bats and insects up there.


    She licked her lips. ¡°That leaves the tree branches as the safest option. ¡®Safest¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean ¡®completely safe,¡¯ though, just that you¡¯ll have a slightly easier time of not dying. You¡¯ll still have to deal with jaguars, chimpanzees, lemurs, eagles, pythons, beetles, mosquitoes, ants¡­ You get the idea.¡±


    She paused to sort her thoughts¡ªa somewhat difficult task with over a dozen people eagerly listening. ¡°So, a lot of how I move around and deal with threats is reliant on my magic, but until we can figure that out, I¡¯ll focus on non-magic things we can do.¡±


    With everyone ready to go, Lauren led the group of fifteen into the out of the stone buildings they¡¯d constructed, and toward the stairway leading into the forest. She leapt up and out, and landed on the nearby branch. Savannah launched off the stairs a moment later, and one by one, everyone joined Lauren on the branch. Heather and Noah both flapped their wings midair, adjusting their trajectories.


    Lauren glanced at Heather¡¯s bee wings and Noah¡¯s bat wings. ¡°How good are you at flying?¡± she asked them both.


    ¡°We can¡¯t fly,¡± Noah said, and moved one of his wings forward. ¡°These don¡¯t have enough size or power to actually lift me. No one with wings can fly.¡±


    People with wings can¡¯t fly¡­?


    Heather nodded, ¡°Gliding and turning is easier with feathered wings, from what I¡¯ve heard. Wings like mine give better lift and maneuverability. And they supposedly help bees carry heavy loads, but I can¡¯t really test that.¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Lauren said.


    That really sucks. I want to fly with her.


    Lauren leaped through the branches with the group following behind her, leading them to a certain fruit tree with red, mop-like clusters growing from a few places near the top, filled with round, purplish fruits. ¡°This is a bacaba tree. These fruits are delicious, but the bacaba trees in this area have changed to be poisonous. Not fatally so, but still enough to make you quite sick if your mana pool is small.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like you ate some¡­¡± Maeve said suspiciously.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. I did,¡± Lauren confirmed. ¡°That was in my first year or two here, when things were a bit smaller and less deadly. I have enough mana now that the poison doesn¡¯t affect me anymore, though.¡±


    Maeve facepalmed, and Heather tried not to laugh.


    Savannah stepped toward the edge of the branch to get a closer look at the fruit. ¡°This is the tree the lemur keeps coming back to, right? Aren¡¯t lemurs supposed to be intelligent?¡±


    Lauren shrugged. ¡°That one in particular isn¡¯t as intelligent I guess. It still comes here despite my best efforts to teach it not to.¡± She glanced around, half expecting to see the creature sneaking off with a fruit.


    She clapped her hands together. ¡°Anyway, the reason I¡¯m using this tree as a starting point is to give an example of how things in the jungle can be different from their mundane counterparts, and also so I can demonstrate the ways I¡¯ve dealt with the lemur, which should hopefully be useful to dealing with the Explorer¡¯s Association.¡±


    Lauren set her pack down and began emptying it, pulling out handmade tools¡ªrope, tools of stone or bone, packets, and small crystals. With everything removed, she began demonstrating them. The tools were hooks and spikes for securing things in place, the crystals mostly either created a loud noise or a bright flash of light, and the packets were meant to drive things away with their stench.


    With everything explained, she left it to the group to work on setting everything up themselves, while she stood guard and answered questions. A few exploratory ants approached them while this went on, but relocating them was a simple task for her.


    ¡°What do you think of these traps?¡± Lauren asked Emma, who was securing a rope around a branch.


    Emma glanced up at Lauren, but kept her focus on the rope. ¡°They¡¯re well-suited for this specific environment and your goals.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have any critiques?¡± Lauren asked, tilting her head.


    Emma tightened a knot. ¡°Nothing I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t tried already, but I¡¯ll wait until we¡¯re back home and I can easily use the internet before I start that discussion. The one question I do have right now is why don¡¯t you use another ward crystal to keep the lemur away from this tree?¡±


    ¡°That spell doesn¡¯t work in smaller crystals like these,¡± Lauren said, turning a crystal in her hand, ¡°and the ward crystals aren¡¯t infallible anyway. My house is fine because it¡¯s in a place where animals don¡¯t come very often, but in a place like this, one would eventually push through and attack it.¡±


    Emma leaped to a higher branch to secure the rope, ¡°The internet¡¯s not working right now anyway. Probably knocked out by ocean animals again.¡±


    ¡°How do animals just knock out tech, anyway?¡± Lauren asked, keeping an eye on Dad Joke, who were carefully placing crystals in discreet locations. ¡°I haven¡¯t experienced it yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something about how mana interacts with technology,¡± Emma said. ¡°We do know that a device that combines tech with mana crystals is less likely to fail, though.


    Once the traps were set up, the whole group moved to a different tree to keep an eye on their traps and surroundings, occasionally having hushed conversations. A piercing noise and a flash of light scared away a bird, and a gust of foul air drove off a beetle.


    Several hours had been spent in the tree, watching the traps. Lauren continued her explanation of how the traps might be used against a variety of creatures. Finally, they decided to end the day, picked up other fruits and materials for income, then headed for the EA.


    Outside the dome, there was a team of six all wearing sleek, pristine metal armor with logos on them. A camera shutter clicking resounded through the area as the team changed poses repeatedly. None of them were wearing their helmets so they could show off their conventionally attractive faces. Another team of Explorers stood nearby but out of frame, ready to protect the shiny group at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡­Corporate Explorers are strange.


    Lauren sighed and shook her head, then entered the dome with the rest of her group following suit.


    A group of Explorers approached them near the telepads. One of them¡ªa tree-kin of some sort¡ªheaded straight for Lucia.


    ¡°Hi Hayden,¡± Lucia said, waving. ¡°It¡¯s been a while. Sorry I haven¡¯t had time to catch up lately. I¡¯ve been kind of busy.¡±


    ¡°That it has,¡± the tree-kin said, glancing at Lauren and giving her a small nod. Quietly so only those close by could hear, he asked, ¡°Is there anything we can do with our positions as Federal Explorers to help hinder the EA?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lucia tapped her lip in thought. ¡°I have some ideas, yes. To begin with¡­¡±


    As the two started chatting, Wine Witches and Dad Joke headed for the surface. Marama looked back and forth between those teams and the Wolf Pack, looking unsure about who she should stay with. She settled for sticking next to Heather. Hayden¡¯s team greeted Lauren¡¯s but didn¡¯t say much else.


    Lauren turned her attention to Heather. ¡°There¡¯s a surprising amount of non-beastkin here¡­¡± Besides Heather, Marama, and Hayden, there were several others in the dome who also weren¡¯t beast-kin.


    Marama scowled. ¡°The government understands Explorers and magic even less than the general public does. They are under the assumption that ¡®rare species¡¯ equals ¡®more powerful¡¯. Being something rare, like a mushroom or a bee, does not mean we innately have more power. But because they invest more resources and training into rare species people, they end up becoming more powerful than many beast-kin, which then furthers their misunderstanding.¡±


    Heather gave Marama a hug, and Lauren added a small side hug. Marama cheeks were slightly red when they separated.


    Lucia and Hayden finished their conversation, and the Wolf Pack departed for the surface.