Beyond the wall, the landscape shifted entirely. Gone was the chanical wasteland—replacing it was a vast swamp, thick with mist and a strange, damp warmth.
The air slled of earth, stagnant water, and sothing faintly tallic. The murky ground sucked at Liam’s boots as he stepped forward.
He pulled out the list Elder Erin had given him.
"Looks like this is where I start gathering supplies."
Asger peeked over his shoulder.
"You actually plan on doing errands now?"
"Well, I might as well make this trip worthwhile."
Liam said.
He activated his system’s tracking function, allowing it to highlight the locations of the required ingredients.
A faint glow appeared on his interface, marking the positions of rare herbs, minerals, and fungi scattered throughout the swamp.
Liam smirked.
"Gotta love having a system. Makes everything easier."
Asger scoffed.
"It’s a cheat, that’s what it is. Normal people have to spend hours searching, and you get a neat little map telling you where everything is."
Liam ignored the complaint and got to work.
For the next four hours, he scoured the swamp, collecting the necessary materials.
So ingredients were simple—glowing mushrooms sprouting near the roots of ancient trees, dicinal herbs hidden beneath swamp reeds.
Others, however, required a bit more effort.
A certain flower only blood when exposed to high amounts of mana, so Liam had to pour his energy into the ground, forcing it to sprout.
Another ingredient was found inside the stomach of a swamp beast, aning he had to hunt one down, kill it, and retrieve the item from its remains.
None of it was particularly difficult, just tedious.
"Alright, last one."
Liam muttered, kneeling near a bubbling patch of violet mud. According to his system, the final ingredient—Nightshade Root—was buried beneath it.
Liam reached in, his fingers sinking into the cool, slimy substance. He dug carefully, searching for the root.
Asger, watching from a distance, scrunched his nose.
"That looks disgusting."
"It is."
A few seconds later, Liam grasped sothing solid. With a firm yank, he pulled out a gnarled, dark purple root, coated in thick mud. The system pinged, confirming his collection.
Liam wiped it off and stored it away.
"And that’s done."
He stretched, rolling his shoulders. He had gathered everything Elder Erin needed.
Now, all that was left was to find the dungeon core and shut this place down.
But as he turned to leave, a strange sensation prickled at the back of his neck.
Sothing was watching him.
Asger noticed it too, his tail flicking in agitation. "Liam. We’re not alone."
Liam slowly scanned the area, but the mist made it difficult to see far. He didn’t hear anything either—only the quiet bubbling of the swamp.
Then, just as he was about to dismiss it, the water behind him shifted.
Liam spun around—just in ti to see a massive shape rise from the depths.
A towering figure, dripping with swamp muck, lood over him. It was unlike the robotic creatures he had encountered earlier. This thing was different.
It had a vaguely humanoid form, but its body was composed of dark tal intertwined with writhing roots.
Glowing blue lines pulsed along its arms and chest, and its hollow, featureless face tilted toward Liam.
Asger’s wings flared.
"That’s—!"
Before he could finish, the monster lunged.
Liam barely managed to leap back as a massive, clawed hand slamd down where he had been standing. The ground cracked under the sheer force of the impact.
"So much for an easy dungeon."
Liam muttered, summoning energy to his limbs.
The swamp guardian let out a deep, echoing growl before charging again, its speed unnatural for sothing of its size.
Liam ducked, avoiding a wide swipe. He countered with a powerful kick to the creature’s chest, sending it skidding back—but the mont it stopped, its body began to regenerate.
Its roots twisted and reford, repairing the damage almost instantly.
Liam’s eyes narrowed.
"Regeneration, huh?"
If he wanted to take it down, he needed to destroy it all at once. A clean, overwhelming strike—sothing it wouldn’t recover from.
Asger flapped beside him.
"So, what’s the plan?"
Liam cracked his neck.
"I’ll go with brute force, like always."
Asger sighed.
"Of course you will."
The swamp guardian roared, charging again.
Liam smirked.
"Let’s see how much you can regenerate when I break you into dust."
With a burst of speed, he launched himself forward, aiming to end this in one decisive blow.
Liam propelled himself forward, the swamp water splashing beneath his feet as he closed the distance between himself and the monstrous swamp guardian.
His enhanced speed left a ripple in the air, and in less than a second, he was right in front of the towering beast.
The guardian swung its massive, clawed hand at him again, but Liam ducked, allowing the attack to pass just inches over his head.
The wind pressure alone caused the murky water around them to ripple violently.
Liam twisted his body, delivering a devastating punch to the creature’s torso.
The impact echoed through the swamp as the tal plating on the guardian’s chest dented inward.
The creature staggered back, but its body imdiately began repairing itself, the vines and chanical components weaving together to restore the damage.
Liam clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, that’s gonna be a problem."
Asger, still hovering nearby, let out a dramatic sigh.
"You know, brute force isn’t always the answer."
"Yeah? Then you tell how to deal with this thing."
Asger landed on Liam’s shoulder, his tail twitching.
"It’s clearly drawing power from sothing. A dungeon guardian like this doesn’t just heal endlessly for no reason. It must be connected to the dungeon core."
Liam thought for a mont. That made sense. If the guardian was regenerating endlessly, then its power source had to be sowhere within the dungeon.
His eyes darted around the swamp, scanning the area for anything unusual. Then, he saw it—a faint blue glow coming from beneath the murky water a few ters away.
Liam smirked.
"Gotcha."
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