Leon and the others didn't have to wait long. Barely half a minute later...
A strange, scraping rhythm of footsteps grew from distant to clear. Then, from the darkness deep within the cavern, a green humanoid figure over three meters tall slowly stepped into view.
It was a monster that looked as though its entire body had been woven from plant matter, wrapped in thick, tough vines. It hunched slightly, two massive arms coated in green moss hanging limply at its sides. Most unsettling of all were those hollow, red eyes, locked dead onto Leon's group, as if appraising prey that had already fallen into a trap.
"Well now. Interesting."
Leon narrowed his eyes and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Hey, if it isn't our old friend the Moss Giant. I was wondering how we'd spent almost a full day on Floor 25 without running into one. Speak of the devil, huh."
"Moss Giant? If I'm not mistaken, that's a Rare Species unique to the Water City region..."
Persephone cut herself off mid-sentence, her gaze sharpening as she dropped her voice to a warning.
"Look at its waist!"
At her prompt, everyone noticed it immediately: beneath the tangle of vines, the corner of something brown peeked out, a color completely different from the monster's body.
A monster carrying something besides its natural weapons?
The question had barely formed when Aura squinted, guessing in an uncertain tone:
"Is that... a pouch?"
"Looks like some kind of money bag."
"A money bag? But what would it collect money for? Valis coins aren't exactly useful to monsters."
Before she'd finished thinking aloud, Kureha's voice reached them, slightly grave.
"Aura, that's not a money bag. Think about it... no Adventurer in the Dungeon would be stupid enough to carry Orario gold coins down here. Not even Evilus is that dumb."
As she spoke, the Sword Saint's gaze turned razor-sharp.
"...That's a Magic Stone Pouch."
"A Magic Stone Pouch?!"
Laurier gasped, then stared hard at the Moss Giant's waist.
With Kureha's hint, she recognized it instantly. It was exactly the kind of Magic Stone Pouch that every Adventurer who ventured deep into the Dungeon carried.
The girl swallowed hard, eyes widening slightly as a thought struck her.
"A Magic Stone Pouch... did this thing kill other Adventurers and take it? But what would it do with something only Adventurers can trade for money?"
To her question, Jeanne answered with a single word.
"Eat."
Leon's mouth twitched. He glanced at the still-confused elf and sighed.
"Laurier, you read all those Dungeon files we borrowed from the Guild for nothing, didn't you? Remember how Strengthened Species, one of the Dungeon's Irregulars, come to exist?"
"Strengthened Species?"
She repeated the term, and the next second it clicked. A memory surged to the front of her mind.
"Strengthened Species... the ones that hunt their own kind and eat Magic Stones, growing stronger on their own and developing real intelligence?"
"Exactly."
Just as Persephone had predicted, what stood before them wasn't merely a Rare Species native to the Water City. It was a Strengthened Species among Rare Species.
The odds of something like this spawning were probably lower than two Monster Rexes appearing on the same floor at the same time.
"If it's a Strengthened Species, then... this Moss Giant's actual strength..."
Rose stood at the front as vanguard, one eye peering past the edge of her shield as she sized up the opponent.
After a long moment, she ventured a guess.
"Based on this pressure... its latent power is probably pushing extremely close to Lv. 5."
Lv. 5?
The words hit like a shockwave. Everyone sucked in a breath, and the way they looked at the monster changed completely.
Leon spread his feet and dropped his center of gravity, holding his staff horizontally across his body with his left hand, right arm open and ready. His entire stance shifted to cast at a moment's notice.
"Watch yourselves. This thing has an ability called Parasitic Seed, and it's a nightmare! If you get hit, you cut the seed out immediately, flesh and all! Do NOT use potions or healing magic to treat it, got it?!"
"Parasitic Seed?"
"That's right. If you use a potion or healing magic, it won't clear the seed. It'll do the opposite: the seed absorbs life force and grows faster. Once it takes root inside you, we don't have the means to deal with it. You'd have to go all the way back to the surface for treatment!"
Leon hadn't even finished when the Moss Giant seemed to sense something. It wasn't about to give them any more time to talk.
It struck instantly.
Its arms rose, and in the blink of an eye the vines coiled around its body lashed out like a nest of green serpents, whipping toward the group at terrifying speed.
"Scatter!"
Jeanne barked the command and charged forward instead of back, her silver heeled combat boots cracking the ground as she shot toward the monster like a silver bullet.
Rose's shield arm shuddered as she deflected an incoming vine with pinpoint precision, her short sword slashing through the follow-up attacks. Only a beat behind Jeanne, she surged toward the enemy without hesitation.
The two closed in from front and flank, maintaining perfect spacing in a tight coordinated assault.
At the same time, Kureha rested her right hand on the hilt at her left hip. Her long legs, wrapped in tall boots, struck the ground in rapid staccato as she traced an arc to strike from the opposite flank.
"Laurier, covering fire!"
"On it!"
"Run wild!"
Laurier activated her magic without a shred of hesitation, wrapping emerald light around her arrows, nocking and drawing. A rapid volley of wind arrows tore through the air at nearly invisible speed, aimed straight for the Moss Giant's red eyes.
"Ancient hunger buried beneath fertile soil! Entwine, ever-green thorns! Let pain be your nectar and wailing your song!"
"Within this prison of mine..."
Without needing Jeanne's prompt, Aura had already begun Chanting the moment both sides moved.
But unlike before...
An emerald magic circle two meters in radius blossomed outward with Aura at its center. The skirt of her dress-style battle garb whipped in the converging magical energy, and a faint pressure radiated outward in every direction.
A magic circle!
The core equipment for any mage. Having one versus not having one were two completely different classes.
With a magic circle, a mage finally comes online.
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