Another night and day passed, filled with constant ambushes and fights with Rank 2 creatures, as the group continued on their journey. They struggled through bogs that released fumes capable of rotting their clothes, swarms of centipedes, leeches, and other insects, colorful mushrooms whose spores could make them wish they were dead, and a variety of other strange hazards that utterly delighted Seraphina.
In truth, they would have already reached their destination half a day ago if only she had stopped collecting obscure ingredients. Still, the potential benefits outweighed the delay, with everyone agreeing that it would be worth it in the end.
It wasn't as if they were suffering much. Aside from their lack of sleep and the bumpy ride, the journey was surprisingly comfortable. With their gear, potions, skills, the white mask that protected them from the smell, and Seraphina's Eternal Flame, it was almost like taking a long, easy ride on horseback.
Eventually, however, they reached their destination.
Ahead of them stood a withered tree towering a hundred meters into the sky. Its gnarled branches twisted in every direction like skeletal fingers, and its bark was cracked and blackened as if scorched by fire. Oddly enough, not a single creature perched on its branches. If anything, it looked completely unassuming.
"Is that the Wraithwood?" Ariel asked, unimpressed. "It doesn't look like much."
"The ground is still rich with nutrients, so it has no need to attract prey," Lilia said.
Ariel looked unconvinced by Lilia's poor explanation, so Bastion filled in the missing parts. Information on Wraithwood was sparse due to strict information lockdowns focusing only on its dangers. Fortunately, Seraphina's book contained more details about it.
"Once the ground starts losing nutrients, it will produce flowers that attract all the creatures in the area with its scent while simultaneously releasing a Rank 3 Aura of Decay that would kill everything nearby for miles," Bastion explained. "It would then discard the flowers and return to being this same unassuming withered tree in the middle of the swamp."
"Wait! Does that mean this tree created the swamp around it!?" Ariel exclaimed.
"Yup. If it's taken down, the Great Forest would consume the nutrients, returning this swamp back into a forest," Lilia answered.
"Why don't we take it down then?"
"Guess what its defense mechanism is," Lilia said with a smirk.
"Oh."
Wraithwood were terrifying once they managed to reach maturity. The Aura of Decay would affect all living things and kill anything that came close. Whether to enrich the soil or defend itself. But they weren't completely without weaknesses.
Their roots did not emit the aura, which means that so long as they were chopped from the ground up, they would eventually turn into prime Rank 3 wood.
Unfortunately, it had built a symbiotic relationship with the basilisks in the swamp. The basilisks nested around the roots, waiting for the tree's flowers to bloom, and feasted on the creatures that came. They then hibernated until the process repeated.
"There are also the ghosts and banshees attracted to the death energy that's released," Bastion added.
Ghosts and banshees thrived in the death filled environment and would kill anything that came close. The only exceptions were the basilisks, which were largely immune to the death energy thanks to living in the tree's roots.
As for zombies and skeletons, they didn't last long before they too were consumed for their nutrients. Only immaterial entities and those with the proper resistances could survive living next to a Wraithwood.
"What are we doing here again?" Ariel asked, bewildered that they were in such a dangerous place.
"To find an underground cavern with a Rank 4 tortoise corpse in it."
"Oh… OH!" Ariel exclaimed.
Rank 4 corpses were goldmines. Every part of them was rich in mana, and even centuries later, there were still plenty of uses for the decayed parts. It was just a matter of who to sell them to.
"What's the plan?" Seraphina asked.
"I'll send Pebbles to investigate underground, then we kill anything between the hidden entrance and us," Bastion replied. "Based on my vision, we are standing at the correct distance, though I don't have an accurate angle. The tree looks the same from miles around, but I'm fairly certain it should be somewhere around here."
Bastion first instructed Pebbles to create a large patch of dry, solid ground for them to fight on, just in case, before sending it to find the hidden entrance. As they waited, Lilia began spreading ice platforms around them to further stabilize their footing, creating a hundred-meter diameter of safe space.
Elyra retrieved an elegant white gazebo from her magic bag, complete with a polished ivory table, ornate chairs, and fine silverware, before serving tea accompanied by delicate pastries and cakes to the group. Seraphina and Ariel took their seats, indulging in the sumptuous array of treats while they waited.
Bastion and Lilia joined them soon after, once they had finished reinforcing their surroundings and setting up magic circles to prevent the environment from affecting them with their masks off.
"What are you planning to do with the corpse?" Seraphina asked, taking a sip of her tea. "I bet there are plenty of materials I could use from it."
"We take what we need and sell the rest through the kingdom," Bastion replied.
"Isn't that a bit of a waste?" Lilia asked. "All that money would go toward the dukedome's debt rather than our pockets. Can't we just keep it and sell it later?"
"Keep it where?" Bastion replied. "Its shell is too big to fit in any magic bag we own and too heavy for us to move. We can forget about cutting it into smaller pieces, too, since it's a Rank 4 shell built specifically for defense. Only the Adventurers' Guild and the Central Empire has the manpower and resources to retrieve and sell it."
"Maybe we can cut a deal with a guild master?" Ariel suggested. "The one in the Dungeon City of Despair is Rank 3, right? They probably have the means to sell it for a percentage."
"Deals can only be made by equals," Bastion replied. "If he sees even a sliver of a chance to take the entire benefit for himself, why would he ever accept a percentage? This area is outside the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Brilliance, which means he has the power to claim it on his own. Against us, who are just a bunch of Rank 1s, why would he ever be civil?"
The guild master of the Adventurers' Guild who oversees a Rank 3 dungeon in a Rank 2 kingdom has a very strict contract in place. They cannot intervene in the kingdom unless the conflict specifically involves the dungeon. Even if the kingdom were burning to the ground, as long as the cause isn't the dungeon, they aren't allowed to act.
The same restriction doesn't apply outside the kingdom. Here, he is no longer the guild master under heavy contracts but a Rank 3 adventurer, free to do as he pleases.
Bastion plans to sell the information of the dungeon's location to the Central Empire through the kingdom. Surely, Aurelia would have the power to guarantee an advantageous contract that would provide the greatest benefit to Bastion specifically, even if all of it ultimately goes toward their debt.
Seraphina sighed, understanding Bastion's logic. She had read enough novels to know when and where the bounds of civility ended. Even back on Earth, countries broke their own laws for the sake of benefits through clandestine operations. Why would this world be any different? If anything, it would be exacerbated.
"It's a shame but it can't be helped," Seraphina commented. "Bastion is right. Our only option is to sell it through the kingdom."
The group continued to enjoy their tea and pastries amid heavy realizations of their own powerlessness. Here were benefits that could solve their financial problems for centuries, yet they were too weak to claim them. At most, they could bite off a small piece and would have to defend it with their lives.
They became intimately aware of the saying, "don't bite off more than you can chew." If they wanted benefits of any kind in this world, they needed the proper strength for it. They were fine for now because Bastion and Seraphina were practically royalty in the kingdom, but outside of it, they could only rely on their own strength.
An hour later, Pebbles returned, having found the entrance to the hidden cavern. They were close, only a mile from the exact location, so they quickly relocated. Once atop the entrance, they set up solid ground, froze their surroundings, added defensive magic circles, and prepared.
"What are we preparing for?" Lilia asked as she placed multiple freezing mines around the circumference of their platform.
"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention it," Bastion said, tossing a metal plate on the ground rigged to explode once stepped on and primed it. "We're going to pick a fight with everything near this location."
"WHAT!?" Lilia exclaimed, causing the others to come closer.
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