The portal’s emerald light dissolved, leaving Nathan Cross in the belly of the world-tree.
The air hit him first—a suffocating wall of humidity reeking of damp loam and aggressively sweet pollen. Bioluminescent moss painted the hollowed trunk in toxic, neon greens, revealing a treacherous floor woven from petrified roots. Deep within the wood, a slow, tectonic grinding echoed as ancient growth shifted and crushed stone.
"Formation," Nathan ordered. He swallowed against the tightness in his chest, forcing himself to breathe shallowly to spare his healing ribs. "Mirko, take point. Elise, hold the mid-line with the Golem. Garrett, secure the flanks with Red. Dillon, scout the canopy. Kuro, find the blind spots."
Understood, Summoner.
Kuro materialized effortlessly beside him. Her bodysuit gleamed with faint silver threading in the green light. Her void-black eyes immediately mapped the overgrowth. The flora severely restricts lateral movement. Extreme caution recommended.
"Caution is for the fragile," Mirko declared, drawing her sword with a sharp hiss of steel. [Impenetrable Fortress] snapped to life, the hard-light barrier burning bright against the gloom. "I will simply prune whatever gets in our way."
You have never gardened, Kuro noted.
"I extracted a dandelion from the pavement once. It was a flawless victory." Mirko strode forward. The heavy, carnivorous vines physically recoiled from the heat of her blazing mana barrier.
Dillon grinned, testing his weight on the new Storm Striders. The soles hummed with residual static against the damp wood. He triggered the micro-dash, blurring three feet forward in an instant, entirely bypassing a trip-root. "Oh, these are dangerous. Cloudy, take the canopy! Let’s see what’s hiding."
The Cloud Serpent launched into the glowing green branches above. A moment later, a sharp pulse of static buzzed through the mental link, her signal for hostile movement.
Nathan drew Moonlight. "Contacts. Let’s move."
✦ ✦ ✦
Floor 1: The Undergrowth, the floor itself struck first.
Thick, spiked vines uncoiled from the petrified wood, whipping forward with predatory speed. One lashed at Garrett’s ankle. Another snapped around Red’s hind leg, tightening viciously.
"Vine Lashers!" Nathan yelled. His [Hunter’s Insight] flared, tracing the pulsing mana lines from the tendrils down into the floorboards. "They share a central root node! Find it!"
Red bleated, its wool hardening into steel-like plates. The Mad-Sheep bucked, snapping the thick tendril outright. Garrett followed through, driving Volcan directly into the stump. The mace’s thermal pulse incinerated the plant matter, sending the dying root retreating into the cracks.
Elise raised Aurora’s Heart.
The legendary core flared as she channeled a volley of [Mana Bolts]. The compressed magic streaked outward, but instead of detonating with pure concussive force, the amplified magic triggered a massive thermal drop. The attacking vines flash-froze on impact, ice cascading down their lengths before they shattered into harmless dust.
"Forty percent amplification," Elise murmured, watching the frost settle over the wood.
"Clear the lanes!" Nathan drew back the bowstring. He traced a cluster of vines back to a glowing bulge buried under a patch of moss. THWIP. The [Mana Arrow] pierced the hidden node, and an entire quadrant of vines went limp. "Mirko, clear the brush! Garrett, burn the roots! We push before they regrow!"
Mirko became a silver-green blur. Channeling [Unstoppable Force], she compounded the kinetic energy of each swing, shearing through the thick overgrowth with brutal efficiency.
"You are persistent, weeds!" Mirko laughed, kicking a severed root aside. "But persistence without strategy is merely stubbornness!"
The Frost Golem waded into the thickest concentration of Lashers, ignoring the thorns that scraped against its icy armor to physically uproot the flora. Dillon abused the Storm Striders, micro-dashing in jagged zig-zags to sever tendrils with [Quick Draw] before they could finish uncoiling.
Through the chaos, Kuro bypassed the thrashing vines entirely. Using [Invisibility], she located the primary floor node, a massive, pulsing heart leaking glowing sap behind a wall of dense bark. She drove both daggers deep into its center.
The massive node ruptured. Across the entire corridor, the remaining Vine Lashers dropped dead simultaneously.
[Floor 1 Cleared!]
Nathan checked his wrist. The Mana Capacitor was at eighty percent. He had paced himself perfectly, allowing the party’s new gear to handle the heavy lifting while he conserved his core. His ribs throbbed, but it was a manageable ache.
"One down," he breathed. "Four to go. Push."
✦ ✦ ✦
Floor 2 was a vertical, three-dimensional maze of suspended wooden platforms and thick branches, hovering over an abyssal drop.
The bioluminescence was blinding here, bathing the canopy in vibrant emerald and gold. Heavy pollen drifted through the humid air. Floating lazily among the branches were Blossom Wisps—delicate, flower-like elementals with translucent petals and glowing cores. They looked entirely benign.
Dillon stepped onto a platform and inhaled deeply. Instantly, his katana dipped. His eyelids fluttered, heavily drooping. "Whoa... that is... very sleepy..."
"Dillon, wake up!" Nathan grabbed the samurai by the shoulder, shaking him hard. "It’s a soporific!"
Elise slammed her staff down. A wide [Mana Shield] snapped open like a canopy over the party, catching and filtering the golden dust. "The Wisps are passive unless disturbed. If we navigate carefully—"
A deafening wooden screech shattered the quiet.
Diving from the highest branches came the Thorned Raptors, avian constructs woven from twisted bark and razor-leaf feathers, their beaks solid thorns the size of daggers.
"Ambush from above!" Nathan stepped back, drawing Moonlight. "Cloudy, intercept! Dillon, shake it off!"
The Cloud Serpent shrieked, launching upward. She intercepted two diving Raptors, wrapping them in a net of chained static that seized their wooden muscles mid-air. Dillon violently slapped his own cheeks to stay awake, triggered a micro-dash up a sloped branch, and ignited [Thunder Edge]. The lightning strike sheared entirely through a paralyzed Raptor, showering the platform in burning splinters.
The commotion agitated the Wisps. Drawn by the noise, the passive flowers drifted closer, thickening the soporific pollen count.
Elise stepped to the edge of the platform. Aurora’s Heart pulsed as she channeled [Glacial Lance]. The spear of absolute zero that materialized was massive, radiating aggressive, biting cold. She hurled it. The lance punched cleanly through an incoming Wisp, flash-freezing it entirely, and carried enough momentum to impale a diving Raptor behind it. Both shattered into frozen dust.
Garrett swung Volcan through the drifting Wisps, the heavy thermal pulse burning the pollen directly out of the air. Red caught a swooping Raptor on its armored horns, snapping the creature’s neck before Garrett delivered a crushing [Impact Strike] to finish it.
In the center of the platform, Mirko held the line. Her shield deflected a barrage of razor-leaves before she released [Aegis Strike], the kinetic shockwave violently scattering the flock.
Kuro utilized [Silent Step], remaining completely undetectable among the swaying branches. A Raptor managed to pin Dillon against the trunk, raising its thorn-beak for a lethal strike. Kuro dropped from the branch above. [Blind] enveloped the creature’s leafy face, severing its sensory input. The Raptor thrashed aimlessly until Kuro drove both shadow-forged daggers directly into its petrified spine.
Nathan anchored the center, firing Moonlight with ruthless efficiency. Every arrow found the glowing center of an agitated Wisp, neutralizing the soporific threat. His Capacitor dropped to sixty percent, but he kept the pace, refusing to let the swarm overwhelm them.
[Floor 2 Cleared!]
Dillon collapsed onto a thick root, rubbing his face vigorously to fight off the lingering drowsiness. "Note to self: do not inhale the glowing fairy dust."
"Noted," Garrett said, resting Volcan on his shoulder. "You good to keep moving?"
"Yeah. Just give me a second." Dillon looked down at his crackling Storm Striders. "These boots saved my life twice up there. I am deeply in love with a pair of shoes."
"Careful. Cloudy might get jealous."
The Cloud Serpent hissed agreeably, tightening around Dillon’s neck.
Nathan slowly lowered his bow, suppressing a grimace. The constant pivoting and rapid draws had aggravated his ribs. The dull ache was sharpening into a hot, tight pain.
Master, Mirko’s voice was gentle but immovable in the link. You are aggressively favoring your left side. The micro-fractures are stressing. We must rest.
"We rest after Floor 3," Nathan breathed, keeping his voice low. "If we stop now, the Tower resets its defenses. The flora regenerates."
Then delegate the damage output to us. You do not need to fire every single arrow.
"I know. I’m trying to pace it."
Pace it better. Or I will physically carry you out of this Tower myself. Forcibly.
Nathan let out a slow, careful breath. "Fine. Floor 3. Then we take ten."
✦ ✦ ✦
The third floor was a massive, circular chamber located deep in the hollow core of the tree.
At the center, massive roots converged to form a spiraling pillar of ancient wood that pulsed with neon green light. Wrapped entirely around the central pillar was the floor’s guardian: a Mawflower.
It was an abomination of twisted vines and hardened bark, its head a gigantic, five-petaled blossom lined with rows of jagged thorn-teeth. In the center of the blossom, a gaping maw dripped highly corrosive green sap. Seeking tendrils extended from its body like whips, each tipped with a barbed stinger.
"Dillon, scout the perimeter," Nathan ordered.
Dillon triggered the Striders, blurring in a wide circle around the perimeter of the room, easily outpacing the seeking vines. "It’s completely rooted to the central pillar! Zero mobility! But those tendrils have a twenty-foot reach, and that sap is eating straight through the stone floor."
"The blossom is the primary kill-zone," Elise analyzed. "The petals crush, the sap dissolves. The vines will attempt to drag us into the maw."
"Then we sever the limbs and crack the core," Nathan said, drawing Moonlight. "Mirko, Golem, front line. Hold the vines. Elise, freeze the root cluster. Dillon, Cloudy, harass the petals from the air. Garrett, Red, flank and burn the tendrils. Kuro, I need a weak point inside that flower."
The Mawflower sensed them. The massive blossom snapped toward the entrance, letting out a horrific screech of tearing wood and hissing acid.
Mirko charged. Three barbed tendrils slammed into her hard-light barrier, cracking the stone beneath her boots, but she held. The Frost Golem lumbered past her, grabbing two thick vines and physically ripping them from their sockets.
Behind them, Elise raised Aurora’s Heart. A [Glacial Lance] slammed directly into the massive root cluster at the base of the pillar. The sheer cold flash-froze the root system, instantly slowing the Mawflower’s reaction time.
From above, Dillon and Cloudy rained hell. The Cloud Serpent shocked the petals, forcing the flower to spasm, while Dillon [Flash Step]ped into the canopy, bringing [Thunder Edge] down in a brutal arc. The lightning severed one of the massive petals entirely. Corrosive sap sprayed wildly, burning deep holes into the petrified wood.
Garrett and Red held the flank. A vine snapped around Red’s horns, but the Mad-Sheep anchored its weight, allowing Garrett to bring Volcan down on the taut tendril. The thermal pulse flash-incinerated the vine, freeing the summon.
From the shadows near the base of the pillar, Kuro materialized.
The primary core is located deep inside the throat, Kuro relayed. It exposes itself completely when the creature draws breath to spit sap.
"Elise, provoke it!" Nathan drew Moonlight, pulling the string taut, ignoring the sharp fire in his ribs.
Elise leveled her staff, unleashing a rapid-fire volley of [Mana Bolts] against the creature’s remaining petals.
The Mawflower shrieked, rearing its massive head back. The petals peeled wide open as corrosive green sap began to gather and glow violently deep within its throat. The core was fully exposed.
Kuro dropped from the ceiling, triggering [Blind]. A pulse of absolute void magic slammed into the sensory petals surrounding the face.
The Mawflower convulsed, its targeting instincts severed. It fired the massive volley of acid blindly into the ceiling, missing the party entirely. While its maw was still wide open, Kuro triggered [Assassinate], driving both shadow-forged daggers directly into the exposed, glowing node in its throat.
A fraction of a second later, Nathan released his string.
The [Focus Shot] streaked across the room, punching into the throat exactly where Kuro had struck. The compounded kinetic force completely annihilated the creature’s core. The Mawflower’s screech choked off into a wet rattle. Its seeking vines dropped limply to the floor, and the massive blossom collapsed.
[Floor 3 Cleared!]
[Level Up! Nathan Cross: Level 45]
[Level Up! Mirko: Level 42]
Nathan slowly lowered Moonlight. His arms were shaking. The pain in his ribs was no longer a dull ache; it was a sharp, localized fire with every breath he took. The Capacitor on his wrist was down to forty percent.
"We hold here," Nathan gasped, leaning heavily against the wall. "Ten minutes. Drink your potions. Cool down. Then we push Floor 4."
Mirko shifted back into her rabbit form, hopping onto his shoulder. Her weight was a warm, grounding comfort against his neck. Kuro materialized silently beside him, her dark eyes scanning his pale face.
You pushed too hard, Kuro observed quietly.
"I know," Nathan breathed.
The Empress awaits at the top. You will need your strength.
"I know. I’ll be ready."
He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the petrified wood, praying he was telling the truth.