The Grand Appraisal of Nonhuman Races

"Good stuff. I never expected the Fourth Layer to produce such a rare material."

Aik stepped forward and pried out the Life Crystal in one swift motion. Even holding the fist-sized emerald crystal in his palm, he could feel its powerful vitality. The stamina and battle aura he had spent in the earlier fight steadily recovered, and his wounds began to heal as well.

Taking a box from the Alchemy Expansion Bag, Aik carefully placed the Life Crystal inside before handing it to Mary beside him to seal with magic, preventing its vitality from leaking away.

"Let's go. Clear out the remaining Treants and find the entrance to the next layer."

After cleaning up the battlefield and taking all the useful monster materials, the five members of the Ironblood Thorns Squad finished resting and began clearing out the remaining Treants in the forest ahead, little by little. In the end, beneath the hundreds-of-meters-tall giant tree at the center of the island, they found the entrance to the Fifth Layer in an inconspicuous spot.

"It's huge. Aik, do you think this tree might have a Life Crystal too?"

Before the entrance to the Fifth Layer, the bard Ross raised his head to look at the towering giant tree before him, majestic as a mountain. It was probably about as large as the War Ancient Trees said to belong to the Elves, and there might even be an even larger Life Crystal inside.

"Ross, do you think we're a match for it?"

Of course Aik understood what his teammate meant, but the giant tree before them, hundreds of meters tall, was simply not something their squad could handle, even if it had yet to awaken self-awareness and become a Treant.

Yet its mountain-like body alone already explained everything. And this was a Dungeon—nothing that happened here would be surprising.

"I was just saying."

Ross spread his hands and followed his teammates up the stairs leading to the Fifth Layer.

After the Ironblood Thorns Squad left, the Giant Tree Guardian that had supposedly died at the edge of the island suddenly began to tremble. Its enormous roots plunged deep into the earth, and magic from nature and the land began nourishing its body once more.

Before long, the dead Giant Tree Guardian would be reborn again.

"It got one-shot?"

At the deepest point of the Seventh Layer, Lucifer watched the Giant Tree Guardian begin its revival countdown and gained a faint understanding of an Advanced Professional squad's combat strength. Still, the Giant Tree Guardian could not really be blamed.

Reality was simply like that. It would never develop entirely according to one's imagination.

After reviewing all the adventurers on the Fourth Layer once more and confirming that there were no other unexpected developments, Lucifer shifted his attention back to the Ironblood Thorns Squad. They were the strongest adventurer squad he had encountered since the Dungeon emerged.

Lucifer had to watch them the entire time.

Fifth Layer.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of iron boots stepping on stone slabs, Aik was the first to emerge from the passage. Before him lay a sapphire-like lake, surrounded by stretches of lush green grass, with dense forests and mountains in the distance.

When he raised his head, he saw that the sky overhead was formed entirely from brilliant crystals, giving off a gentle glow. Compared with the Venomous Swamp of the Fourth Layer, this place was practically paradise on earth.

"Such dense magic and natural elements."

Mary, following closely behind, had only just stepped into the Fifth Layer when she felt the gentle magic and natural elements filling the area. A smile unconsciously appeared on her lovely face, and her whole body relaxed somewhat.

"Captain, looks like this layer has a pretty nice environment."

Ulag lifted his visor and swept his gaze over the surroundings. There were traces of monster activity on the grass, while the lake ahead contained large numbers of fish. He began evaluating the area in secret. The environment was suitable, resources were plentiful, and no dangerous monsters had been discovered for the moment.

It was a rather good layer for resting and resupplying.

"Ghost, you're in charge of scouting the surroundings and eliminating any danger. The rest of you, come with me. Find a suitable place—we'll rest here for the night first."

It had been nearly half a day since they entered the Dungeon. Though the consecutive exploration and battles had not injured the Ironblood Thorns Squad, and the powerful physiques of Advanced Professionals still left them with plenty of energy,

since they had found a suitable place, Aik felt it would be best to rest for the night.

Before long, Aik and the others stopped on a patch of grass about a hundred meters from the lakeshore. They took tents out of the Alchemy Expansion Bag. Aik and Ulag were responsible for setting them up, while Ross set up a pot to cook, taking out the meat of the Swamp Python they had brought from the Fourth Layer.

As Advanced Professionals, they needed to consume large quantities of nutrients every day to meet their bodies' needs, and magical beast meat containing magic was an excellent ingredient.

Moreover, eating magical beast meat could increase physical strength. Ordinary Professionals who wanted to improve their various attributes could only rely on raising their professional skill levels and advancing their professions, much like how monsters awakened their racial bloodlines after reaching adulthood.

Although most humans possessed no particular bloodline, at the moment a Professional advanced, their physical attributes would improve according to their profession.

This was how most Professionals grew stronger: constantly honing their professional skill levels and advancing into higher-ranking Professionals. This was the path of human Professionals.

However, Professionals did not belong solely to humans.

"Aik, I'm going to fetch some water from the lake."

After starting the fire, Ross glanced at the waterskin, which was already half empty. He raised a hand to call out to Aik, who was setting up a tent, then headed toward the lake a hundred meters away.

Since it was close by and there seemed to be no danger nearby, Aik and the others were at ease.

Walking across the soft grass, Ross breathed in air carrying the scent of fresh greenery. Compared with the terrible environment of the Fourth Layer, the Fifth Layer's picturesque scenery put the Advanced Bard in an excellent mood. Humming an unknown tune, he relaxed completely and crouched by the lake to collect water.

"Such a nice place. If I get the chance someday, I should bring a few ladies here and play them some beautiful songs. It should be easy enough to win their hearts."

Looking at the distant forest brimming with vitality, Ross curled his lips into a smile. As a bard, leaving affection everywhere was practically routine for him. In fact, Ross had kept something from the teammates he spent day and night with.

Over the years of adventuring, he had actually been writing a book called The Grand Appraisal of Nonhuman Races. By now, it had recorded his experiences and impressions of no fewer than eighty individuals from different races.

Ross planned to submit it to a publisher once he had filled it with appraisal records for a hundred different races, just like the Legendary Tier bard of old, writing a story of his own.

And if he could advance to the Legendary Tier in the future, he wanted to follow that predecessor's example and travel to the Abyss, the Void, and other worlds, appraising even more races.

Splash~

Ripples spread across the calm surface of the lake. Ross, who was drawing water while dreaming of the future, failed to notice this tiny anomaly. Beneath the water, a massive sphere of water was slowly approaching him. It was the same color as the lake itself; without looking carefully, it was impossible to spot.