I stepped up to the ancient well, feeling the pulse of mana radiate from its surface. The sounds of adventurers around me faded as I focused on my floor stone, its smooth edges cool against my palm. I placed it against the rim, watching the faint light ripple through the stone and into the well.

  A notification flashed in front of me.

  Occupants detected: 22

  Twenty-two. I’d have a better reference point the more I frequented dungeons I’d imagine.

  I pressed the stone harder against the surface.

  In an instant, a bright light engulfed me. The world around me blurred and twisted, colors melting into one another like a painter's brush across a canvas. Then, just as suddenly, it all snapped back into focus.

  The moment my boots hit the ground, the air thickened with mana. The overgrown archway behind me was choked with vines, sealing shut the instant I materialized. A notification appeared, and I pulled it into focus.

  You have entered The Forgotten Garden, Rank: Silver

  The floor lived up to its name. Looking around, I saw an ancient ruin swallowed by nature’s unchecked fury. Towering trees bent unnaturally, their branches webbed together in suffocating knots. The scent of damp earth and decay clashed with the lingering trace of elven elegance.

  A whisper of movement…too controlled to be the wind.

  I cast [Identify V] as I tracked and caught the movement of a form approaching me.

  A translucent screen flickered into view.

  [Thornbound Guardian – Level 39, High Journeyman]

  Mana pulsed through my senses, mapping out the guardians hidden in the thick undergrowth. They clung to the trees, their twisted wooden forms blending into the gnarled bark. I counted six closing in, vines tightening as they prepared to strike.

  One moved first. A whip-like vine snapped through the air toward my leg.

  Reality split. A shimmering tear in space displaced me mid-step, and I reappeared five feet to the left, untouched. The Thornbound’s vine slammed into the dirt where I’d stood, leaving a deep groove. Another lashed from the side, much closer and faster.

  I flicked a hand upward, activating [Wind Vortex]. The air howled as a spiraling gust exploded from my palm, catching the incoming strike and reversing it. The Thornbound twisted unnaturally as its own attack sent it careening into a tree, splintering on impact.

  The others reacted instantly, vines whipping forward, jagged and laced with thorns meant to pierce flesh. I took to the air.

  Wind surged beneath me, lifting me above their reach. Below, the creatures twitched, shifting tactics. They coiled their bodies and launched themselves upward, using the vines as catapults.

  I slashed a hand downward, activating [Wind Blade II]. A crescent of razor-thin air cleaved through the first in midair, severing it vertically into two pieces. Splintered wood rained down. The second landed on a thick branch, adjusting its balance before lunging again. I twisted midair, extending a hand.

  The space between us crumbled, and in an instant, I was behind it. One strike and my palm met its back, pushing out a shockwave that blasted through its core, shattering it like brittle glass.

  The last two hesitated, retreating into the underbrush. My fingers flexed, the gust roaring to life, ripping through the foliage, exposing their tangled forms.

  Four wind blades cut them down before they had the chance to move.

  Silence came as the air settled. I extended my senses further and caught on to a presence that loomed ahead.

  The canopy parted to reveal a clearing, the ground layered in thick moss. At its center, I identified what stood as a level 44 Hollow Grovekeeper. It was larger than the rest, its bark-encrusted body towering over me. It seemed to be the boss of the Area. Thorned vines slithered along its arms, their tips dripping with an eerie golden sap. Its head was a hollowed-out trunk with gaping eye sockets that tilted as it acknowledged me.

  Then, it attacked.

  Two vines shot forward, snapping toward my torso. I teleported behind it before they even hit the air.

  I sent a wind blade out. The arc carved through one of its massive limbs. Wood cracked, but the Grovekeeper barely faltered. Its remaining arm lashed out in response, releasing a burst of shimmering spores.

  I held my breath and stepped back, mana reinforcing my limbs. The spores drifted harmlessly past, settling into the earth.

  I didn’t give it a chance to attack again.

  I tore through space, closing the distance instantly. My palm met its core. I used [Distort IX], another shockwave detonating on impact, fracturing its torso. The creature staggered, vines flailing. One last wind blade severed its head.

  The Hollow Grovekeeper crumbled, its remains dissolving into the earth. A dungeon drop materialized in its place showcasing a Thornbound Core, other items I identified as mid-grade health and mana potions, and a pair of greaves.

  The vines blocking the next path withered. The dungeon acknowledged my victory. I stored the dungeon drop in my inventory and continued to absorb the essence of the defeated foes as I flew into the sky, gaining one level from the battle. I distributed my gains into Agility, raising the attribute to 55.

  From my elevated vantage, I caught sight of movement in other parts of the garden. Adventurer parties fought through their own sections of the Low Level Areas. A group of four battled a trio of Thornbound Guardians, their coordinated efforts cutting through the constructs with practiced precision. Another duo struggled against a single Thornbound. Their attacks were too slow, their dodges a bit sloppy, but they’d manage.

  I turned away. and looked ahead towards the towering trees. I had my own path to carve.

  Deeper into the Forgotten Garden.

  * * *

  The wind howled past my ears as I ascended, the corrupted ruins of the Forgotten Garden sprawling beneath me. With a thought, I activated [Identify V], my vision sharpening as translucent blue text flickered over the combat below.

  [Blight Revenant - Level 42, Low Adept], [Blight Revenant - Level 41, Low Adept], [Human - Level 50, Adept], [Human - Level 56, High Adept]...[Blight Revenant - Level 41, Low Adept], [Human - Level 44, Low Adept].

  Mana signatures flared across the battlefield confirming standard Low Adepts among the revenants. Their twisted, spectral bodies weaved through shattered remnants of elven architecture, lashing out with grasping vines and wailing curses. Adventurers fought back in disciplined formations, steel and magic carving through the rot, their efforts methodical but hard-earned. I could feel their mana pulsing, varied, controlled, but exerted to their limits.

  A revenant lunged for a struggling warrior below, its clawed, decayed hand crackling with necrotic energy. I exhaled sharply and flicked my fingers.

  A crescent arc of air shrieked through the sky, shearing the creature in half mid-motion. The halves collapsed into a writhing mass of dissipating corruption, leaving only the warrior’s shocked expression in its wake. He barely had time to register what had happened before I pushed forward, scanning for my true targets.

  I dove, air parting around me as I plunged into the ruins, boots landing soundlessly atop a cracked, vine-strangled archway. Below, a cluster of Blight Revenants hovered near a collapsed temple entrance, their broken elven forms twitching with unnatural spasms. Their corrupted eyes turned towards me as one, and the air grew heavy with malice.

  One released a mournful, ear-splitting wail. The others surged forward.

  I stepped through space reappearing in front of them. The nearest revenant barely had time to register my advanced position before I thrust a hand outward.

  The air buckled, spiraling into a concentrated storm. The revenants shrieked as they were sucked in, battered against crumbling stone and shredded by invisible currents. They twisted, trying to phase through the solid debris only to find themselves dragged into a fresh spatial tear, reappearing directly in the eye of the storm. The vortex imploded, crushing them within its raging core. Their screams faded into the wind.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  A low, distant growl rumbled through the ruins, turning my gaze forward.

  From the shadows of the ruined temple, a shade emerged. It had the form of an elven warrior, tall, elegant, a previous guardian of this place. Now, it was a hollowed specter wrapped in tendrils of rotting flora, its spectral glaive dragging across the stone, leaving a trail of blackened decay. I identified the creature as it stood before me.

  [Shade - Level 57, Eldrin, the Weeping Shade, High Adept]

  I flexed my fingers.

  It lunged.

  I teleported.

  Eldrin’s glaive carved the space where I had been, a pulse of corrupted nature magic exploding outward, disintegrating the temple wall behind me. My body reappeared on the opposite side of the ruins, boots touching down on soft moss.

  The shade snapped its head toward me, empty sockets burning. It flickered, phasing through the ground and reappeared in front of me mid-swing.

  A faint smile tugged at my lips as I recognized the familiar pattern being turned against me.

  I bent back, the glaive slicing past my chest with inches to spare. Without hesitation, I twisted my wrist.

  A tear in space opened at the glaive’s trajectory. The weapon passed through and emerged behind Eldrin.

  The spectral weapon carved through its own form, cutting deep. The revenant staggered, its shriek distorted, a mess of anguish and frustration.

  I warped forward, air bending around me and my hand outstretched.

  A condensed arc of razor-sharp air erupted from my palm. It struck Eldrin dead center, splitting its torso apart in a single, final stroke.

  Its form trembled, then collapsed into wisps of dissipating energy, leaving behind only its shattered glaive and a lingering sense of sorrow.

  The ruins were silent. The world essence funneled in to my being granting another level gain. Distributing the points to Strength, I glanced at the dungeon drop, picking out more armor, a Revenant Core, and the Silver floor stone within the pile. A closer look showed that the armor seemed to be part of a set, the design matching one I had seen on the greaves from the earlier drop. I moved the items to my [Pocket Space] and rose into the sky, surveying the battlefield below once more. The other adventurers were making progress, cutting down the last of the revenants in other Mid Level Areas.

  I turned toward the towering trees, sensing higher mana signatures beyond its location, marking the entrance to the High Level Area.

  The true challenge of this floor awaited.

  * * *

  The towering trees of the High Level Area loomed ahead, their thick canopies blotting out most of the dim, ambient light that filtered through the corrupted garden. The air was heavier here, charged with an unnatural presence. I ascended into the air, using wind magic to glide over the treetops. The altitude granted me a sweeping view of the terrain below. Massive roots broke through cracked stone paths, moss-covered ruins were barely visible beneath the overgrowth, and pools of stagnant, shimmering water reeked of lingering magic.

  As I reached out with my mana sense, the difference in presence was immediate. No longer did I sense the Adept creatures from before. Everything in this area pulsed with the mana signature of High Adepts, the power difference comparable to a dull blade against a sharpened variation, regardless of both belonging to the same mastery tier. Further ahead, I could register something greater. Low Expert level entities lurked deeper within. Moving forward meant I would inevitably engage something far more powerful than before.

  Rather than continue flying, I descended, landing on the forest floor. I intended to enjoy the upcoming battles this hunt would provide, and though flight gave me an advantage, I preferred to experience these next encounters one phase at time.

  I strode forward, movement soundless against the underbrush, my mana keeping my steps light. The High Adepts of the area made their presence known before I could see them. The snap of a branch. The whisper of movement against leaves. They were here, watching and waiting.

  I activated [Identify V] on the first of the opponents that revealed itself.

  Verdant Stalker - Level 58, High Adept

  Their mana was dense, pulsing through their forms like a heartbeat. They were slightly stronger than the boss of the Mid Level Area, showing a more solidified strength in their core.

  I continued to scan the area, observing similar levels, all High Adept, awaiting their move.

  The first one lunged from the shadows, its form nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding foliage until the last moment. I shifted, a burst of wind magic propelling me sideways as I slashed out with a Wind Blade. The crescent-shaped arc carved through the air, meeting its target and only partially cutting through. The beast reeled back, a deep gouge in its side, but not enough to be fatal.

  A second Stalker leapt from above, aiming for my back. A flick of my fingers, and space warped. My body vanished from its strike zone, reappearing behind it midair. I kicked off the creature's back, launching myself higher before driving a Wind Blade directly downward. The sharpened current struck its spine, forcing it to the ground, but even that wasn’t enough to finish it in one blow.

  The moment my feet hit the ground, three more emerged from the undergrowth, their emerald eyes gleaming in the darkness. Their bodies moved in fluid unison, pack tactics in full effect. Their strategy was simple. Overwhelm me with sheer numbers and an unrelenting assault designed to wear me down.

  Not that it would work.

  Mana surged through me, wind magic coalescing at my fingertips. Instead of singular strikes, I needed something stronger. More destructive. I spun, gathering force before unleashing a wide-arcing Wind Vortex. The spiraling gust ripped through the area, howling like a storm as it tore through the Stalkers. The sheer force sent them tumbling, vines and bark shredding under the barrage.

  Not enough.

  I pressed forward, closing the distance with a short teleport. I sent another wind blade, wreathed in even more compressed wind, slashing through the first Stalker’s throat before it could recover. The second lunged, claws extended, but I pivoted, avoiding its strike before driving my hand forward. The space around my palm twisted, swallowing half its torso in an instant. When the distortion collapsed, the creature’s upper body was simply gone.

  The last two hesitated, their natural instincts warring with the reality of what they faced. It was too late for them to retreat.

  A final Wind Blade, sharper and denser than before, sliced through both in a single arc. The remains of the creatures dissolved back into the corrupted earth. I exhaled, mana settling as I took in my surroundings. No more movement. The area was cleared.

  Or so they would have me believe.

  The moment I stepped forward, the ground trembled.

  A deep, resonating groan echoed through the trees as the forest itself seemed to shift. The air became thicker with the scent of fresh earth and decay. Vines recoiled, snapping taut like coiled serpents, and from the shadows, more eyes glowed. Dozens of them.

  I turned my gaze to the front, where a presence unlike the rest loomed.

  The Verdant Warden - Level 65, Low Expert

  Towering above the rest, the entity’s massive form emerged from the darkness. A fusion of bark, vines, and raw mana, its hollow eyes locked onto me, ancient and seething. This was its territory. I was the invader.

  The remaining Verdant Stalkers closed in, forming a wall of snarling, living weapons between me and their master. The Warden lifted a massive limb, roots shifting and tightening as the very landscape seemed to move at its command.

  The battle was just beginning.

  I began charging a wind blade to a deafening crescendo.

  Alright then. My mana surged, the air around me distorting with the force of wind and space intertwining.

  The fight was mine to claim.

  Mana pulsed through me as I lifted my arm.

  I slashed the air with a single gesture, sending out the wind blade I charged. The attack tore through the first three creatures before they could react, severing bark-covered limbs, splitting open torsos wrapped in moss and rot. Their wails of agony merged with the sudden rustling of the jungle as the remaining pack leapt into action.

  They surged toward me as one, a mass of lethal, living foliage. I shifted, warping several meters backward in an instant. The second my feet touched solid ground, I thrust a hand outward. The air howled, spiraling into a cyclone between me and the pack. Several Verdant Stalkers were caught in its pull, their bodies whipping into the storm’s center. The pressure crushed them instantly.

  A shadow loomed.

  I pivoted, sensing the shift in mana before I saw it. A stalker materialized mid-lunge, claws outstretched. Too slow. My body flickered and I appeared behind it. A glowing arc carved through its spine before it even realized I had moved. It collapsed with a shriek.

  The air grew thick. A low, resonant groan reverberated through the battlefield.

  I turned my gaze upward.

  The Verdant Warden stirred. A towering mass of bark and twisted limbs, its hollowed face split into an unnatural grin of jagged vines and glowing green embers where eyes should have been. The trees themselves seemed to answer its call, their roots lurching to life, entangling the broken bodies of its fallen kin.

  Then it struck.

  A massive limb, thick as a pillar, crashed downward. I barely flicked my fingers. Space warped, and the entire attack ground to an unnatural stop a breath away from my face. Vines cracked and groaned under the immense force locked in stasis.

  The Warden’s hollow eyes flickered, as if recognizing, too late, the mistake it had made.

  I let go of my restraint.

  Mana surged to my palm, and I slashed the air with a focused, refined precision. Not just a wind blade. Something more.

  The air split.

  Skill Upgraded: [Wind Element Mastery], Skill, Tier: Expert

  Skill Upgraded: [Wind Blade II] → [Tempest Blade I], Skill Tier: Expert

  A howling storm erupted from the point of contact, a force beyond anything I had unleashed before. The energy surged forward, carving through the Verdant Warden’s limb, splitting through the mass of creatures caught in its wake. The entire battlefield was engulfed in a hurricane of destruction. The pressure sent shockwaves rippling through the corrupted forest, ripping apart everything in its path.

  When the dust settled, the Verdant Warden loomed, its form trembling, deep wounds carved into its core. But it wasn’t enough.

  It raised its remaining limbs. The entire forest seemed to tremble in response, its final act of defiance.

  I clenched my fist and mana crackled around me, distorting the very space I stood in.

  Reality wavered, the Warden’s frame bending unnaturally as the attack collapsed inward. Its howl was lost as its body imploded into nothingness, torn from existence in a violent, soundless rupture.

  The floor shimmered, the air stilled, and I welcomed the essence that rushed into me.

  Congratulations you have Leveled- Up! You are now Level 32.

  Congratulations you have Leveled- Up! You are now Level 33.

  I distributed the essence points to Vitality and Endurance evenly, bringing their ratings to 32 and 37. Where the boss had fallen, a drop materialized, glowing softly amid the wreckage. I stepped forward, surveying the spoils casting an [Identify V].

  Verdant Guardian Gauntlets. The design matched the armor sets from the last drops. I pulled them out from my inventory, gathering all pieces. Verdant Guardian Chainmail, Verdant Guardian Gauntlets, and Verdant Guardian Greaves made up the completed set giving quite the bonus to any earth element practitioner. It empowered earth element spells and forged a stronger connection with the surrounding earth when equipped.

  Next to it were a Verdant Core, a Silver Floor Stone and a Gold Floor Stone.

  A slow smirk crept onto my face.

  I was making great pace on my Dungeon Run with the Gold floor up next. There was more than enough time to regroup with the Solstice members as well.