Chapter 94: Harvesting

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Harvesting

The beast attacked again.

This time Kenny moved instead of trying to overpower it.

He stepped to the side, allowed the beast to pass him, and swung his sword into its exposed flank.

Blood sprayed across the grass.

The beast crashed to the ground.

Kenny didn’t celebrate.

Another was already coming.

He raised his sword.

The creature struck.

Kenny blocked.

Its claws scraped across the blade.

He pushed it away and attacked.

His sword pierced its shoulder.

The beast howled.

Kenny pulled his sword free and stepped back.

He was breathing harder now.

His movements weren’t terrible.

But they weren’t polished either.

He knew the basics.

His body simply hadn’t experienced enough real fights for those movements to become instinctive.

A third beast came from the side.

Kenny turned.

Too slowly.

The beast’s claws were already approaching.

Tolu’s hand moved.

The earth beneath the creature exploded upward.

A stone spike struck its underside and threw it several meters into the air.

It landed heavily.

Kenny stared at Tolu.

"I had that."

"No, you didn’t."

"I was going to block."

"You were going to get hit."

Kenny opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

Tolu lowered his hammer.

"Pay attention."

Kenny nodded.

This time he didn’t argue.

Two beasts approached him together.

Kenny adjusted his stance.

He waited.

The first lunged.

He stepped backward.

The second came immediately afterward.

Kenny twisted his body and allowed the two creatures to cross paths.

His sword flashed.

One fell.

The other turned toward him.

Kenny was already moving.

He thrust his sword forward.

The blade entered beneath the creature’s jaw.

It dropped.

Kenny pulled his sword free.

Only two remained.

The beasts circled him.

Kenny’s breathing was heavier now.

His arms were beginning to ache.

But something had changed.

He wasn’t rushing anymore.

He wasn’t trying to prove anything.

He was watching.

Waiting.

The first beast moved.

Kenny reacted.

His sword met its claws.

He turned the blade, redirected the attack, and stepped inside the beast’s reach.

His elbow struck its head.

The creature staggered.

Kenny followed with a slash.

It fell.

The final beast hesitated.

Kenny stared at it.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then the beast charged.

Kenny charged as well.

Their bodies passed each other.

Kenny stopped.

The beast took two more steps before collapsing.

Silence returned to the grassland.

Kenny stood there, breathing heavily.

His armor had several new scratches.

There was blood on his sword.

He looked down at the dead beasts.

Tolu walked toward him.

"Not bad."

Kenny looked at him.

"That’s it?"

"You wanted experience."

"I almost died."

"You didn’t."

"Because you saved me."

"Once."

Kenny rubbed the back of his neck.

"Still counts."

Tolu smiled.

"You did better toward the end."

Kenny looked at the sword in his hand.

"I’ve trained before."

"I know."

"But this is different."

Tolu nodded.

"Training teaches you how to fight."

Kenny looked at the dead beasts.

"Real fighting teaches you when to fight."

Tolu didn’t respond.

Kenny sheathed his sword.

"Let’s search them."

They moved around the bodies.

Kenny examined the beasts, looking for anything that could be harvested or sold.

But there was nothing particularly valuable.

They were ordinary Level One creatures.

Tolu was about to move on when Kenny suddenly stopped.

"Wait."

He crouched.

"What?"

Kenny pointed toward the grass.

Tracks.

Several sets of them.

Tolu looked more closely.

The beasts had not been roaming randomly.

Their tracks all came from the same direction.

And all of them led toward the same place.

Kenny followed the tracks.

Tolu walked beside him.

They passed through a patch of taller grass and entered a small depression surrounded by rocks.

Kenny suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened.

Tolu looked ahead.

Several strange trees grew from the rocky ground.

Their trunks were dark brown, almost black in some places.

But beneath the bark were faint blue lines.

They looked like veins.

Tolu approached one.

"What is that?"

Kenny’s expression had completely changed.

"Spiritwood."

He reached out but stopped before touching it.

"This is valuable."

Tolu looked at the tree.

"How valuable?"

"Depends on the age and quality."

Kenny walked around it.

"The wood is used to make weapons, artifact components, staffs, bows, and all kinds of specialized equipment. The older the tree, the stronger the material."

Tolu looked at the thick branches.

"Then cut it down."

Kenny immediately shook his head.

"No."

Tolu looked at him.

"No?"

"If we cut down the whole tree, we lose the resource."

Kenny pointed toward several branches.

"The mature branches can be harvested without killing it. Some of the exposed roots can be collected too."

He crouched beside one of the roots.

"But we need to be careful."

Tolu understood.

"If we harvest it properly, it’ll grow again."

"Exactly."

Kenny smiled.

"This is worth more than all the herbs we’ve collected today."

They carefully harvested the mature sections.

Tolu used his strength to help remove some of the heavier branches without damaging the tree itself, while Kenny selected the parts that could actually be sold.

They didn’t take everything.

They left the younger branches untouched.

They left the main trunk alone.

When they were finished, the trees still stood.

Tolu looked at them for a long moment.

Something about it bothered him.

Not in a bad way.

It simply made him think.

His own dungeon had plants.

His own dungeon had creatures.

His own dungeon had soil, water, minerals, and an ecosystem that was slowly developing.

He had always thought of those things as resources.

But here, he was seeing what happened when an ecosystem was allowed to develop over a long period.

The creatures depended on the plants.

The plants depended on the soil and water.

The valuable trees attracted monsters.

The monsters protected the trees simply because they lived around them.

And humans entered the ecosystem to take what they needed.

Tolu looked around the open dungeon.

"This place really is its own world."

Kenny glanced at him.

"Now you understand."

Tolu nodded.

He looked down at the Spiritwood they had collected.

They had entered this dungeon looking for money.

So far, they had gathered only a modest amount.

But Tolu had learned something more valuable.

If he wanted his own dungeon to become truly wealthy one day, he couldn’t simply fill it with strong monsters.

He needed an ecosystem.

One that could produce resources naturally.

One that could keep producing them long after he had stopped paying attention to them.

Tolu looked toward the distant horizon.

Then he tightened the strap holding his hammer.

"Let’s keep going."

Kenny smiled.

"Toward the third floor?"

"Toward the third floor."

The two of them continued deeper into the dungeon.

..

They continued toward the deeper part of the dungeon.

The open grassland gradually began to change.

The trees became taller and more numerous, their branches spreading wide enough to block parts of the sky. The ground became less even, with gentle slopes replacing the flat fields they had crossed earlier.

Every now and then, they encountered another group of adventurers.

Some traveled in pairs.

Others moved in groups of five or six.

A few had clearly been here many times before. They moved confidently, stopping occasionally to examine plants or rocks before continuing.

Kenny pointed them out as they passed.

"Those ones are probably regulars."

Tolu glanced at the group.

"How can you tell?"

"They aren’t looking around."

Tolu looked again.

The adventurers weren’t searching for anything.

They already knew where they were going.

"They’ve probably memorized the areas where certain resources grow," Kenny explained. "The people who come here regularly aren’t wandering around hoping to get lucky. They have routes."

Tolu nodded.

That made sense.

They continued forward.

Eventually, the terrain became steeper.

The grass gave way to patches of exposed earth and stone.

Ahead, a large stone arch stood between two hills.

Kenny pointed toward it.

"That’s the entrance to the second floor."

Tolu looked at the arch.

There was no door.

No wall.

Just an invisible boundary.

Beyond it, the air seemed slightly different.

"Every floor has its own environment?" Tolu asked.

"More or less."

Kenny adjusted his armor.

"The dungeon isn’t divided like a building. The floors are more like zones. The environment changes as you cross into deeper areas."

They walked beneath the stone arch.

The moment they passed through, Tolu felt the difference.

The air became heavier.

The grass was darker.

The trees were larger.

Even the ambient energy in the surroundings felt denser.

Kenny smiled.

"Welcome to the second floor."

Tolu looked around.

"This is much different."

"And the creatures are stronger."

Kenny took a few steps forward.

"We should keep moving toward the third-floor outskirts."

Tolu nodded.

They continued.

For the next hour, their journey was relatively uneventful.

They found a few useful plants.

Kenny harvested some.

Tolu spotted several energy stones beneath a rocky outcrop.

They collected those as well.

But something about the terrain gradually began to bother Tolu.

The ground ahead looked strange.

There was a large patch where the grass seemed unusually wet despite there being no stream nearby.

Tolu slowed down.

"Kenny."

"What?"

"Don’t step there."

Kenny stopped immediately.

They stood at the edge of the strange patch.

Kenny crouched and examined the ground.

"I don’t see anything."

Tolu stared at it.

Neither did he.

But something felt wrong.

He extended his awareness into the earth.

The ground beneath them was unstable.

"Let’s go around."

Kenny nodded.

They moved to the right.

Tolu took one step.

The ground collapsed.

"Kenny!"

Kenny’s eyes widened.

The earth beneath both of them gave way.

They dropped.

Tolu instinctively grabbed Kenny’s arm.

The two of them fell through the surface.

They landed hard.

Tolu hit the ground first, followed by Kenny.