The Nature Flower Fairies with Sticky Fingers

Splash!

A faint sound suddenly came from the lakeside. Aik, who was setting up the tents, instinctively looked toward it, only to see that Ross, who had gone to fetch water, had vanished beneath the lake's surface.

"Something's wrong!"

Aik immediately shouted a warning to his companions, his body turning into an afterimage as he dashed toward the shore. But when he arrived, he saw only the crystal-clear lake. Ross had vanished without a trace.

In reality, Ross was directly beneath the water in front of Aik. However, the Water Element Slime that had swallowed him whole had entered its Optical Simulation state, making any abnormality impossible to spot with the naked eye.

"Urgh... urgh..."

Underwater, Ross struggled desperately when he saw Aik appear. He tried frantically to draw Aik's attention, but with nowhere to brace himself, coupled with suffocation and drowning, he could not make a sound at all.

He wanted to mobilize the magic within his body, but the suffocating sensation left him completely unable to concentrate.

"There are elemental fluctuations. They're underwater!"

At that moment, Mary arrived and swept her gaze across the lake. Through her magical perception, she sensed a concentrated mass of water elements beneath the surface, along with Ross's magical aura.

As an elemental mage, Mary could not only learn and use all kinds of elemental magic, but also possessed keen elemental perception. She easily detected the anomaly beneath the water and, without hesitation, swung her wand.

"Ice Seal."

In an instant, the lake before them froze solid. The Water Element Slime, which had been using Optical Mimicry, was completely exposed. Aik swung his greatsword, easily splitting open the ice and rescuing Ross below.

"Cough, cough, cough... I almost died."

Freshly rescued, Ross lay sprawled on the ground, coughing violently. He spat out the slime mucus that had entered his throat and greedily gulped down fresh air. He had nearly died at the hands of that Mutant Slime.

The instant he had been swallowed, the careless Ross had been flooded with large amounts of slime mucus through his mouth and nose. The viscous, corrosive liquid continuously burned his throat and nasal cavity.

"Ross, you can't let your guard down for even a second in the Dungeon. Otherwise, that Slime could never have successfully ambushed you."

Aik stared at Ross with a stern expression. Such a basic mistake should never have happened to Ross, yet it had happened nonetheless.

"Sorry."

Ross's throat had been burned, and his voice was hoarse as he lowered his head and apologized sincerely. The seemingly gentle environment of the Fifth Layer, along with his anticipation for the future, had distracted him and caused his momentary carelessness.

"From now on, during rest periods, everyone except the night watch must go out in pairs."

Seeing that Ross genuinely regretted his mistake, Aik did not say anything more. He simply announced a new rule. After all, as the captain, he was also responsible for Ross's accident. Because of his status and standing as an advanced class adventurer, as well as his past achievements in successfully conquering three small Dungeons—

He had, in truth, grown somewhat proud and complacent. He believed that mere monsters from the upper levels of the Dungeon could never truly threaten them, which was why he had allowed Ross to fetch water alone.

If they had been in the deeper levels of the Dungeon, he would never have allowed such a thing to happen.

After fetching water again, Aik and the others returned to their temporary camp. Along the way, Ross drank a healing potion and felt his injuries recover considerably. He resumed preparing the monster meat before them, while Mary set up various magical traps around the camp.

An hour later.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone in the Ironblood Thorns Squad, aside from the members assigned to keep watch, crawled into their tents. Within seconds, the sound of steady breathing rose. For adventurers, quickly falling asleep was one of the essential skills.

After all, when fighting deep within other Dungeons, they would not necessarily have such a safe camp in which to rest. When monsters could appear at any time, falling asleep quickly and replenishing their energy in fragmented intervals was the best choice for adventurers.

Rustle.

A breeze swept through the grass, making the leaves rustle softly. Ulag, who was on watch, glanced back. Finding nothing unusual, he continued sitting by the fire, wiping down and maintaining his equipment.

What Ulag did not know was that the instant he turned his head, a tiny head poked out from the surface of a blade of grass. Small hands patted its chest as it wore an adorably frightened expression.

Nature Flower Fairies.

They were the final type of monster Luo Ao had created to complete the Fifth Layer when he opened up the Sixth Layer. As nature spirits born from magical plants, they were naturally beloved by nature and could freely travel through all kinds of plants.

Five Nature Flower Fairies emerged from the surfaces of blades of grass and flowers. The little ones playfully stuck out their tongues at Ulag, who was maintaining his gear. Able to move freely through plants, they had no concern at all for the magical traps around them.

With a movement, the little ones burrowed back into the plants. Following the roots beneath the ground, they easily slipped into the tents. Their level 3 Aura Concealment, along with the protection bestowed upon them as Nature's Darlings, meant that the sleeping Aik and the others did not notice these uninvited guests entering their tents.

The leading Nature Flower Fairy pointed at Aik, who was asleep beneath a fur blanket, then made a slicing gesture across her neck with her small hand.

The other Flower Fairies shook their heads. Their target was an advanced class adventurer. The moment he sensed danger, he would definitely awaken, and then they could only flee.

Seeing her companions reject her suggestion, the leading Flower Fairy puffed up her little cheeks in anger. Then she quietly flew over to Aik's side, her small hands beginning to search through his belongings. When she found a gold coin, the little one immediately beamed.

The slight unhappiness from having her idea rejected by her companions was instantly thrown to the back of her mind, and she searched even faster.

Before long, the Alchemy Expansion Bags and coins on Aik and the other three were all taken by the little ones. Several Flower Fairies also looked over the equipment Aik and the others had placed beside them. Although the little ones had enough strength to lift it—

Taking that equipment with them would make it impossible to slip away quietly.

Therefore, in the end, they could only steal the rings and necklaces Mary wore on her hands and around her neck.

Born with level 2 Stealing and having diligently trained it to level 3 during this time, they were among the most hardworking members of the Flower Fairy race.

Their professional methods and techniques ensured that the sleeping Aik and the others noticed nothing at all. Even in their dreams, all their belongings had already been stolen.

After putting away everything they could carry, the five Flower Fairies burrowed into the plants once more and vanished. When they returned to the Flower Fairies' dwelling deep in the forest, they called over the other Flower Fairies inside a huge tree hollow.

Soon, through the Flower Fairies' efforts, a simple altar made of flowers appeared. Amid the envious gazes of their kin, the five little ones held their heads high and placed the items in their hands upon the altar.

A flash of light passed, and everything on the altar vanished. In its place appeared crystals brimming with dense natural magic and life force.

The five little ones hurried over, divided half of them equally into five portions, and happily ate them. The rest were distributed among the other Flower Fairies.