Thunderstrike Slam.

  A powerful skill obtained from Mordok’s Battleaxe. Due to its absurd long cooldown, we kept it until the last moment.

  As Muradin unleashed his ultimate skill to strike down the King Kobold, a brilliant, shimmering light erupted from the monster’s body, flooding the chamber with a dazzling glow. Glowing Mana Stones began to materialize around the fallen beast.

  But something was off.

  The usual reward for defeating a King Kobold was substantial, but this?

  This was almost double the amount we should have received.

  Darwyn was the first to break the silence. “Uh… not that I’m complaining, but…” He frowned. “Why the hell are there so many?”

  I turned to Orin, suspicion creeping into my voice. “This… is because of Mana Surge, isn’t it?”

  Her eyes lit up, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

  “Ooooh, you figured it out so fast!” she beamed, clearly pleased with herself. “You’re sharper than I thought.”

  I sighed, shaking my head. “You were planning this all along, weren’t you?”

  She giggled, tilting her head playfully. “I told you, you will be impressed with my hidden trick~.”

  Muradin let out a low chuckle. “Oh, come on, you two. Get a room.”

  I shot him a glare, while Orin suddenly went red-faced.

  Elena, who had been quietly observing, gave a small, almost imperceptible smirk.

  Darwyn, still looking at the ridiculous amount of Mana Stones, raised a hand. “Okay, wait-wait-wait. Back up a second. I still don’t get it. How did this happen?”

  Orin twirled her staff between her fingers. “Mana Surge.”

  “It’s a spell that restores a good amount of Mana, but almost nobody uses it because of the long cooldown,” she explained. “But there’s a hidden effect—if it’s cast on an enemy right before they die, their Mana Stone drop rate increases dramatically.”

  Darwyn’s jaw practically dropped. “That’s… brilliant.”

  Muradin whistled. “Wow. You’ve been holding out on us, Orin.”

  Darwyn grinned, crossing his arms. “I swear, if you weren’t already taken, I’d kiss you right now.”

  Muradin smirked. “You better not, unless you want Erynd to rip your face off.”

  Orin, still blushing furiously, swatted at both of them with her staff. “Shut up both of you!”

  I crossed my arms, watching her.

  A genius, huh?

  Twelve years.

  Twelve years of playing Dreadspire, thinking I’d learned every mechanic, every hidden trick in the game.

  But here she was, a newborn druid, revealing something I never even knew existed.

  I glanced at Orin again, realization hitting me like a bolt of lightning.

  So this was how she had so many Mana Stones after her first exploration.

  ***

  With the battle over, we immediately got to work, gathering the Mana Stones and any loot left behind.

  Unfortunately, luck wasn’t entirely on our side.

  “No rare drops?” Darwyn muttered, sifting through the scattered remains.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I sighed, shaking my head. “Nope. No Soul Fragment either.”

  “Tch.” I clenched my fists, disappointed. A King Kobold Soul Fragment would’ve been invaluable, but drops like that were never guaranteed.

  “Well, you win some, you lose some,” Orin said with a shrug. “At least we got a ton of Mana Stones.”

  “Yeah,” I admitted, pocketing the glowing blue crystals. “Could’ve been worse.”

  After a short rest, we finally turned our attention to the tunnel that had appeared after defeating the King Kobold.

  It stretched upward, disappearing into darkness. Inside, we noticed a rope that seemed climbable.

  Muradin squinted at it, then let out a groan. “Wait… don’t tell me we have to climb this thing?”

  “Looks like it,” Darwyn replied, stretching.

  Muradin grumbled under his breath, already looking exhausted. “No shortcut? No teleportation rune? Nothing?”

  I smirked. “You’re welcome to stay down here if you prefer.”

  Muradin shot me a glare. “Darn it.”

  And so, we began our long, grueling ascent.

  The walls were uneven and slippery, the climb requiring both strength and patience. Every pull strained my already tired muscles, and more than once, I heard someone nearly lose their grip.

  “Orin, move your foot, you’re stepping on my hand!”

  “Oops, sorry!”

  “Muradin, stop shaking the frickin’ rope!”

  “I’m not shaking it, that’s just my arms giving up.”

  After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the top, emerging near the secret wall Muradin had smashed open earlier.

  The second my boots hit solid ground, I practically collapsed against the stone wall, panting.

  “I hate this dungeon,” Muradin muttered, slumping down next to me.

  Darwyn plopped down as well. “Agreed.”

  Elena, ever the silent one, simply nodded as she sat down, brushing the dust off her armor.

  I exhaled deeply, my entire body aching. It was clear—we weren’t going anywhere tonight.

  “We camp here,” I said finally.

  No one argued.

  Without another word, we started setting up for the night, our bodies battered but victorious.

  Tomorrow, we’d move forward.

  But for now—

  We rested.

  ***

  "Ah, good as new!" Muradin declared proudly, inspecting his freshly repaired shield and armor. After a long rest, he'd eagerly set to work, hammering out the dents and reinforcing the battered metal.

  A few steps away, Darwyn was guiding Elena through the basics of pathfinding and enemy detection. "See this mark on the wall? That’s a claw scratch—probably left by a Kobold patrol. If you know what to look for, you can tell which paths are still active."

  Meanwhile, Orin and I were checking our remaining potions and consumables. "We’re still good on healing potions and some essential items," I muttered, counting the vials in my hand. But then I frowned. "Hmm, we’re running low on Electroflasks. Is this really all we have left?"

  Orin grinned mischievously. "Relax. Leave it to me."

  [Materialization casted.]

  Thin blue energy shimmered in the air, and—just like magic—missing ingredients for Electroflask materialized right in front of us. It was as if they had been plucked from thin air.

  I blinked in surprise. "Wait… you learned your third spell already?"

  Materialization—an advanced spell that let the caster recreate basic ingredients they had previously studied, using only Mana. It was a powerful ability, but costly in energy.

  Orin beamed, puffing her chest. "Impressive, right? You’re in awe, aren’t you?" she teased, eyes twinkling with excitement.

  I smirked but then narrowed my eyes as something clicked in my mind. "Then… why do you still insist on gathering materials with me all the time?"

  "E-e—" Orin stammered, her face suddenly turning pink. "W-well, it’s faster if we collect materials together, right? That’s all!" she blurted out, a little too quickly.

  Her excuse made no sense, but I let it slide.

  With our preparations complete, we ventured deeper into the vast underground tunnels. This time, Elena took the lead instead of Darwyn, carefully guiding us through the mapped routes. Along the way, we collected various monster drops needed for our active quests.

  Then, by sheer luck, we encountered something extraordinary—The Great Spirit of Deepnest Tunnel.

  A rare, neutral entity that could only be found within the Tower.

  The first time I encountered a Spirit in-game, I was thrilled. But no matter what I did—talking to it, offering items, even attacking it—it never reacted. Eventually, I concluded that Spirits were nothing more than decorative lore pieces, useless beyond their role in the story.

  This one was no different. A formless mass of dense Mana, lingering silently in one spot. No movement, no interaction—just an eerie presence.

  Ignoring the Spirit, we pressed on and stumbled upon a hidden chamber filled with Endura Shrooms—an extremely rare find. Unfortunately, there were only three of them.

  Orin and Elena stared at us with envy as I, Darwyn, and Muradin each popped a mushroom into our mouths, feeling a surge of renewed stamina.

  [Endura Shroom has been consumed. +2 Vitality, +1 HP Regeneration, +2 Stamina.]

  "Well," I shrugged, savoring the lingering energy boost, "the strong take what they can."

  Elena crossed her arms and huffed. "The strong should also share, you know."

  Muradin chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. "Survival of the fittest, lass."

  Orin pouted but sighed in resignation. "Fine… but if you guys get sick from eating weird mushrooms, don’t come crying to me!"

  We all laughed before pushing forward, deeper into the unknown.

  really needed them. Pretty sure my stamina bar hit zero after writing this story non-stop ?????

  follow and drop a 5-star rating, Erynd might be kind enough to hunt one down just for you.