Small debris fell from the shaking walls and ceiling. Daisy shielded me, who couldn’t move, with her entire body. I thought it might collapse like this, but then the center of the ceiling split open and slowly parted like elevator doors.

“Jae!”

A voice I was so happy to hear came from above. It was my dryads, from whom the time apart had felt as long as a year.

“You’re okay. It was a stroke of luck that you went with Daisy.”

Earning, looking a bit tired, looked down at us and said. I don’t know how those who were dragged along with us ended up upstairs, but since we’ve reunited, it’s fine.

“Has Daisy become a great tree?”

“Yes! I’ve returned to the form I had when I first emerged from the fruit!”

Daisy replied cheerfully with a bright smile at Elder’s words. No one will know how many terrible things happened for this adorable Daisy to grow like this.

Seeing me groaning while hugging my belly, the dryads showed signs of worry. Since the only things I did while Daisy was active were getting kicked and nearly dying, I had to act as composed as possible. I shouldn’t show them I’m in pain, or they’ll worry.

I was determined to do that, but I couldn’t even last ten seconds. A scream burst out when I was pulled up to the upper floor with Daisy’s help.

“Ugh!”

Now that I was reunited with the dryads, all the tension released, and a maddening wave of pain washed over me. The emergency medical kit I had could treat external wounds, but it couldn’t heal internal injuries. I didn’t even have any painkillers.

“Jae! What’s going on?”

Even Daisy looked shocked, as if she had no idea I was in such serious condition. Well, I had been kicked after she passed out.

Elder panicked and tried to use his healing powers, while Mesquite attempted to check the wound. But I didn’t want to remove my armor in a place where safety wasn’t fully guaranteed—it took too long to take off.

Today’s incident made me realize something. I was always protected by the dryads, so I never felt the need for armor against dangers beyond injuries from rolling to avoid attacks. Without it, I would have been dead.

Beginner equipment? The idea of just wearing gear appropriate for my level was far too complacent. I felt like I’d only be satisfied if I wrapped myself in the most expensive and best gear from head to toe.

I also needed a weapon to defend myself. A weapon useful for combat? None of that mattered. I needed a trump card to escape the immediate danger ahead. I hoped the research I commissioned from Romgato would yield good results soon.

Elder’s healing powers didn’t have much effect on me, but I didn’t want to become a burden again because of my injuries. I gritted my teeth and pretended to be fine. Mesquite’s suspicious gaze followed me, but I endured desperately.

To change the subject, I asked Earning.

“What kind of space is this anyway? What do you mean it was a stroke of luck that I went with Daisy?”

“These spaces were created by that butterfly brat using her gardening skills as an administrative officer. Did you know that Scarecrow, the former administrative officer of the 28th terrarium, also had gardening abilities?”

I had heard about it from Daisy2. What was it?

“After the administrative officer bloomed me, she tied my soul to a branch of the world tree using her special power.”

I recalled Daisy2’s ability, which confined her to the orchard after she bloomed.

“You seem to know. Scarecrow could bind a dryad’s soul to a branch of the world tree within the terrarium, allowing even a dryad without a druid to survive. Only she, with her exceptional communication skills, could do that. That butterfly brat’s gardening skill allows her to manifest a single field artifact space anywhere in the terrarium. Its type is limited to one, but within it, even dryads who aren’t her own can form a forest and live there. Though the dryads can’t go outside the virtual artifact.”

“What’s a gardening skill anyway?”

It felt like a special skill only administrative officers of terrariums could use…?

“I’m no longer your assistant, so I have no obligation to inform you of such things. Figure it out yourself. For your reference, Scarecrow was a case where no one taught him, and he learned it on his own.”

He’s doing that on purpose. I don’t know why he’s suddenly being so spiteful.

“So, was I inside a virtual artifact created by Papillion’s ability?”

“Even I here fell victim to such a petty trick. It seems that a virtual artifact containing a species similar to the first Dryad to set foot here gets summoned into this space. And it tried to mimic the art of gu poison, an insidious technique of insect alchemy—corralling insects in one spot so only the strongest survives. It’s my sheer luck that Dryad didn’t step first. If the bird-of-paradise flower hadn’t wisely burst out… it could have been dangerous.”

Earning pointed at Mesquite with a chin gesture. Now I understood why she had said earlier that it was lucky Daisy had come along. Though different from the improved breed Red Daisy, the same Daisy species greeted us. And what emerged was a Forest King Dryad.

If Mesquite or Elder had been there too… I wondered if there was a Dryad that could counter Mesquite, but imagining what would have happened if we had unluckily run into a special-grade Dryad, I recalled Daisy being brutally defeated by the White Dryad, and goosebumps rose on my shoulders.

“This seems to be some kind of defense mechanism set up inside the alchemy tower. If we play it right, we might be able to go upstairs without using the stairs.”

Earning looked up at the wide-open ceiling like the place we had been. Hearing that reminded me of those tower-climbing game contents—where you test how far your combat power can take you. Usually, the higher the floor, the harder it got.

“But going through battles one by one will take too long, and staying here won’t last. Enemies chasing us via a stable route like the stairs will catch up soon.”

The room had no structures to hide in, so we couldn’t afford to stop.

“We have to go up, I guess… No other choice.”

“Yeah? If that’s your decision, send that Dryad back. If that Dryad gets detected, it could be trouble.”

Earning pointed at Mesquite again with a chin gesture. We had only just reunited, and now she wanted to send our team’s most reliable asset back as an artifact… Mesquite was a Dryad that felt as solid as a totem of victory just by existing.

“If you want to die in a place like this, feel free to ignore my words.”

Earning spoke to me with a sarcastic tone as I looked at Mesquite with tearful eyes. Ugh… Why do I have to self-impose a stat adjustment on myself…

Mesquite maintained a nonchalant expression, as if there was nothing wrong with Earning’s argument, but willingly returned to the artifact for my sake. Before leaving, he told me that this time he would definitely become a shield that keeps its promise and stand in front of me. It seemed like he was deeply affected by me getting severely injured in his absence.

Earning came up with a scheme to turn the situation more favorable. Traveling without a Dryad was currently impossible. This high ceiling couldn’t be climbed without the help of a Dryad.

So, they chose the method of sending up the weakest Dryad among their group first to have it recognized. Thus, Daisy, who had grown splendidly but had the lowest rank, was selected as the advance guard.

At Earning’s decision, Daisy agreed without a moment’s hesitation. Despite having faced a Forest King-level Dryad in a tough battle, Daisy showed no reluctance. In fact, she seemed almost expectant.

However, our attempt failed. Daisy went up to the upper floor first, but there was no reaction. Earning’s Bird of Paradise flower was the same.

“Oh dear, it seems a Dryad that has already been recognized once doesn’t work.”

To open the ceiling door leading to the upper floor, we had to defeat a Dryad summoned along with a virtual artifact, but a Dryad that had already been summoned once didn’t work. In other words, to continue climbing the remaining floors, we would need a diverse variety of Dryads….

Even if the number of Dryads ran out, I must not resort to bringing out Mesquite.

Earning had two Dryads aside from the Bird of Paradise, while I had four aside from Daisy and Mesquite, which was more diverse. However, it was by no means a good situation if Elder or Wolfsbane, who belong to the unique grade, stepped forward.

If it turned into a mirror match of skilled healers (battles between characters of equal performance), it would become a zombie fight where neither side dies, or if Wolfsbane came out… Since it was said to be no different from inside the artifact, the enemy might be immune to Wolfsbane’s debuffs while we were affected, leading to the worst possible scenario.

So, I summoned the Dandelion children. I was reluctant to send the children into a dangerous place, but since they were normal grade, the situation was the best. As the Dandelion children stepped forward after Daisy, just like what happened with Daisy, I saw a vision of grass growing and dandelion flowers blooming in an empty prison-like space.

The Dryad, the king of the Dandelion Forest, who looked very much like Dandelion, appeared, and I felt a tremendous pang of guilt.

I worried that the Dandelion children might get hurt during the battle, but fortunately, the children seemed to recognize it as a completely different existence, even if it was also a Forest King.

Even Daisy, who had been encouraged by Dandelion, twirled her dagger and stepped forward without hesitation, so it seemed I was the only one reminded of her.

The children’s eyes sparkled as they took in the skills used by the Dandelion Dryad. To them, the battle situation was no different from a special tutoring session taught by a star instructor.

They overcame the Dandelion Dryad and even summoned the Viburnum.

Compared to when Daisy fought alone, borrowing the power of Elder and Wolfsbane made it manageable. However, Earning never formed a party with me to help until the end. Each person handled their own summoned Dryad, proceeding exclusively.

Earning is a famous alchemist, but his abilities as a druid are also outstanding. Earning’s three Dryads were Bird of Paradise, Camellia, and Hammer Orchid. Judging by their combat style, there were two support types and one attack type. Even without a recovery type, he utilized the support types’ buffs appropriately and fought without difficulty.

And finally, the time came to register Elder and Wolfsbane in the remaining floor.

Wolfsbane is also a modified breed, so it was unpredictable which species of Dryad would pop out. But surely a poisonous species would appear. At least Elder seemed less dangerous than Wolfsbane.

When I decided to send Elder as the first Dryad, he looked at me with great expectation. Seeing a Dryad of the same species appear, he seemed inwardly hoping for an Elder Flower species like himself.

The Dryads that appeared were, without exception, all forest king-class… Although it was by no means a good situation, could it be that I might get to see the Forest King of the Elder Flower?

I couldn’t tell how many floors high I had been dragged up by the vines initially, but at least in terms of Dryad numbers, we had climbed six floors. I had to go further to unravel Wolfsbane’s secrets.

“Elder, it’s your turn.”

“There is no Dryad that can stand against me.”

Elder boldly planted his staff and slowly entered. The butterfly hovering around his shoulder glowed like a small lamp in the darkness. Soon, trees rose tall, and a sweet fragrance began to spread everywhere.

It felt different from the scent of Elder’s flowers. But it was a very familiar fragrance that I had smelled somewhere before.