Iris grabbed my hand holding the panacea and pushed it back, speaking.

“Elder Flower is right, Jae. Notos has two dryads, but you have more dryads and need to prioritize Mesquite, so you should drink the medicine. And…”

She looked at the dandelion children.

“The dandelion dryads have at least some potential, so maybe they’ll be lucky enough to awaken a special healing power?”

Since she didn’t know much about Wolfsbane, she seemed unaware that child was also of that type.

“Alright! I’ll drink it! Mesquite, sorry for not thinking of this sooner!”

I opened the luxurious round cap of the panacea bottle and put it to my lips. A bitter herbal scent hit me. Even smelling it again feels like it’s making me healthier. The liquid, warm as it went down, cleared my head and refreshed my entire body.

A radiant pearl-like light starting from me rippled like a wave, transferring to my dryads. Tiny yellow dandelion petals resembling water droplets swirled around the dryads as if dancing.

The dandelion petals, like sunlight dispelling dark clouds, swept away the ash dust cast over the dryads.

“Ah! Little World Tree, I can see now!”

“I saw it first! I heard that one cried because she couldn’t see!”

“You cried too!”

Seeing the dandelion children chattering energetically again put my mind at ease. As soon as the children spotted the massive fire Mesquite was dealing with, they scurried to hide behind me.

“Hey, how can you hide? We need to protect the Little World Tree!”

“You hid first! You go out first! I’ll follow behind you.”

The children’s high-pitched voices arguing back and forth brightened this grim atmosphere just a little. Like the Dandelion’s Panacea that had removed the ash powder, the children had a sunny magical nature.

“Lord Jae… I can see now too.”

Wolfsbane spoke with red-rimmed eyes, probably from all the rubbing. The child’s glasses were covered in tear stains.

“It was hard, wasn’t it?”

I hugged Wolfsbane tightly. Panacea removed the blindness debuff. What remains are the restrictions on support-type skills and the irrecoverable debuff….

I looked at Mesquite. Unfortunately, the wreath of fire wrapping around her hadn’t disappeared. It seemed the irrecoverable debuff wasn’t the type that could be removed. If only that had vanished, things would have been much easier!

Mesquite raised her shield. She seemed to try using her buff skill. But nothing happened. Elder, too, was frowning and staring at his own hands.

“My master, Jae. Is the issue with the terrarium artifact still the same?”

She shouted from afar. I hurriedly raised my arm to check. The blackened ash was still clinging thickly.

“What, this isn’t going away?”

“The Viburnum’s ability to impose restrictions is being used in a truly troublesome way. I suspected as much, but it’s set so that the ability won’t be lifted unless the druid dies. It cannot be dispelled simply by the special recovery power of a dryad.”

What a vicious bastard! If I die, my dryads won’t be safe either. A guy who goes in using irrecoverable and support sub-skill disable as defaults! The Viburnum turned its head with a gloomy expression at Mesquite’s words.

“Surely, even though your blindness is cured, you’re not unable to use your powers, are you? Try using your power, anything at all. Especially you, Wolfsbane, you’re the most important!”

If Wolfsbane and the dandelions couldn’t use their powers, then my Panacea would have been wasted on a dud. They were my only hope for using debuff removal. The dandelion children were recovery-type, so it was fortunate, but Wolfsbane also had support-type traits as a sub.

At my request, the children touched their staffs together. Wolfsbane also raised his staff adorned with violet bell-shaped flowers. White dandelion seeds scattered from the children, and a faint herbal scent wafted from Wolfsbane. Fortunately, the children could use their powers.

“Ah, what should I do? It seems I’ve wasted the Panacea. Perhaps I should have let Notos drink it after all. My decision was wrong.”

“No, we couldn’t have predicted this either.”

The dandelion children tugged at my robe and spoke.

“Little World Tree, you weren’t wrong! I can do it!”

“Little World Tree, you need my power, right? I’ll show you that you weren’t wrong!”

“Little World Tree, you need me!”

“No, what do you know? It’s me!”

The children said this, then looked at Iris, who had mentioned that the dandelions might have some possibility. Their expressions seemed to seek her agreement.

“Yes, if you can open the invisible eyes of those dryads, it would be a great help.”

Iris bent down to meet the children’s eyes at their level and spoke.

Meanwhile, Mesquite, who had been holding out alone for quite a long time, was accumulating battle wounds. Deglupta took over in rotation, and Mesquite returned.

The attrition had been going on for too long. Mesquite was receiving healing from the Elder and preparing to return to battle.

“I wish the dandelion saplings could use their power as skillfully as their king, but their roots are not yet mature enough. Their fragile roots cannot reach that place to follow their mother’s knowledge.”

Mesquite spoke as she watched the children grunting while pressing their staffs together. Then she looked at Iris and then at Wolfsbane, who was hesitating.

“However, the one whose roots touch but cannot feel it is probably more likely to be at fault.”

“Lady Zheyi wasn’t wrong…”

“That’s right, my World Tree can never be wrong. Prove it. Show your worth to my World Tree, who has decided to willingly grant you a place in her soul despite you going against nature. A tree that does nothing like this only depletes the World Tree’s soul.”

“Ah… Mesquite…”

Her tone felt a bit frightening. Wolfsbane is still young, like the dandelion children….

“Saplings are beings to be protected, but even if they are not yet mature trees, these growing trees must set an example for the young saplings. Roots that stretch in the wrong direction will only continue to grow crookedly unless trimmed. Do you want the dandelion saplings to learn your hesitation?”

Wolfsbane shrunk his shoulders more under Mesquite’s pressure. Her words seemed to tell Wolfsbane that while his appearance was no different from that of a sapling, the inside was not, so he shouldn’t expect to be treated like the dandelion children.

“You weren’t in a seedling state like a daisy child. You’re just small, like a tree that hasn’t grown freely and received less sunlight. Unlike dandelion seedlings that are newly born and know nothing, you’re a proper tree that has shed new shoots and held onto old leaves. We can tell from the attacks that troubled us. It’s time to stop acting childish and awaken the other power of your roots.”

Mesquite said that, and gave me a slightly apologetic look.

“It’s not that I’m criticizing how Jae treats Wolfsbane. That’s Jae’s job, and this is mine.”

Thanks to focusing on my connection with her, I could read her thoughts. After finishing her talk with Wolfsbane, she disappeared again to switch with Digglebut. When Digglebut returned, I saw two healers tending to his wounds. The fatigue from battle kept accumulating.

Oh, Wolfsbane. I’m sorry. I should have filled up your affinity faster. I hugged Wolfsbane again as he hung his head low after hearing Mesquite’s words. If only you’d been like the elders, content with just diamonds.

Iris looked at Mesquite, her eyes sparkling as she spoke.

“She’s truly a role model for dryads. I guess Special-grade means even the personality is special. I’m really jealous of you, Jae. If only that Mesquite were my dryad…”

“Your dryads are listening, you know? They’ll get jealous.”

“No, we agree with the druid’s words. Velvet Mesquite’s presence really strengthens the bouquet. Anything is fine as long as it keeps the druid safer.”

The lantana dryad, eyes tightly shut, grabbed Iris’s forearm and spoke. Holding a flower umbrella layered with petals, the dryad was as vividly colorful as Iris’s dryads tended to be.

From afar, Zephyr, avoiding the gaze of the beggarticks, mouthed, ‘Mesquite’s so cool.’

Right, my kids really are cool. My shoulders lift with pride.

“By the way, this dryad I’m seeing for the first time seems to be a species that can use a special healing power too. It looks like a monkshood, but it’s a bit different from the dryads I’ve seen before, so I wasn’t sure.”

“Hmm, it is a monkshood species indeed. This one can have support-type and recovery-type traits through a turn-over, but because my affinity… is too low… it still doesn’t know how to use its powers…”

“Ah, affinity…”

Iris glanced at Zephyr’s dryads with an understanding look.

“I’ll shed the heavy burden and stretch out my leaves!”

“No! I’ll shake off the crushing weight and stretch my branches toward the sky! That’s how you do it.”

The dandelion children, who had been quiet for a while while struggling with staves pressed together, started bickering again.

“No! Your voice is different too! You need to speak more gracefully, like me.”

“Still, my posture is better! You have to stretch your arms out like this.”

“What do you know? You’re so short!”

“I’m taller than you!”

To me, the two of them were about the same.

“What are you doing?”

The children, vying to answer my question, said they were imitating Dandelion. They seemed to be trying to awaken the power to nullify debuffs by mimicking how Dandelion used her power. But even if they copied her appearance, it looked hard to mimic her ability.

“Stop fighting. You’re still young, so wouldn’t it be better to combine your strengths rather than act alone? Mesquite said it: you need to weave your branches together with the power of the intertwined tree to bring out a unified strength. Now, make up.”

At my words, the children pouted but clasped each other’s hands.

“Master Jae, unfortunately, I can’t wait any longer for your Dryads to awaken their power. Their fatigue is accumulating, and eventually they won’t be in a condition to properly engage in battle.”

Iris was right. I couldn’t keep waiting for Wolfsbane forever. This boss fight would have been much easier if only we had a proper debuff-canceling healer.

This fire boss was a specialized raid requiring exactly three tanks, dealers who could quickly chip away at its health before the main tank was incapacitated, and healers capable of handling mass recovery.

It was a battle that highlighted the importance of a druid party with a balanced mix of traits. It made me realize anew how dangerous moving alone in this world could be.

“However, I’ve learned that if even one defensive Dryad steps back from their position, the fire will use its regeneration ability, so we must keep attacking non-stop until the end. That fire might spew ash again, so at the right moment, the melee-attacking Dryads need to retreat. It doesn’t seem to use it continuously after one burst, so for a short while, we’ll have to hold out with ranged-attacking Dryads.”

At that, I saw Daisy connect two daggers into a boomerang. Our kid was a versatile specialist who could also do ranged damage!