When Alexis and Lyra stepped back through the shimmering gate of the Root-Crypt, the forest greeted them with its silence once more. The arches behind them darkened, the distortion fading until only mossy stone remained. The hidden dungeon was sealed again — for now.
The walk back to the outpost was slow. Lyra wore the Vinewoven Mantle, its living fabric shifting faintly with each step. She twirled her dagger idly, humming as though she hadn't nearly bled out hours before. Alexis walked beside her in silence, his grip tight on the pouch holding the Rootbound Fragment.
By the time they reached the gates, night had settled over Floor 1's false sky. The outpost glowed with lantern light and restless noise. As they entered, heads turned.
And then the whispers began.
"They came back again."
"What did they find?"
"Look at that mantle—never seen gear like that on this floor."
"They've cleared something no one else has."
The tavern was louder than usual that night. Adventurers clustered in groups, some laughing too loudly, others nursing fresh wounds. When Alexis and Lyra entered, the noise dipped for a moment.
At the bar, a pair of adventurers — one in chainmail, another in leather — argued heatedly.
"I'm telling you, it's real," the man in chainmail said, slamming his mug down. "A crypt under the forest. Hidden. My cousin's party found the arches—"
"And they didn't come back, did they?" the woman shot back, her voice sharp.
The argument died when they noticed Alexis and Lyra standing in the doorway. The woman's eyes narrowed at the mantle on Lyra's shoulders.
"…Well. Maybe someone did."
Lyra enjoyed the attention. She leaned against the counter, letting eyes linger on the mantle's shifting vines. "What can I say? Some of us just know where to look."
Alexis ignored the stares. He traded the Rootbound Fragment to the blacksmith, who turned it over with wide eyes before muttering something about reforging techniques. The pouch of silver he received was heavy enough to thud on the counter.
But the silence that lingered in the tavern wasn't admiration. It was calculation. Rivalry.
Lyra noticed it too. As they ate their meal in the corner, she leaned across the table, her voice low. "They're watching us. Half this outpost wants to know what we found, and the other half wants to kill us for it."
Alexis didn't look up from his bread. "Let them try."
Later, outside the tavern, the cool air carried fragments of hushed voices.
"—the ogre's still alive."
"Someone's gotta take it down."
"With gear like that, they could…"
"Or maybe they'll die trying, like the rest."
Lyra stretched lazily, dagger twirling between her fingers. "Word's spreading faster than silver. Everyone's talking about the ogre now."
Alexis's gaze drifted toward the dark forest. "And sooner or later, someone will throw themselves at it again."
He rested a hand on the hilt of his katana. "We'll be ready when they fail."
The false stars shimmered faintly above, cold and distant. The Tower loomed beyond them, vast and silent, as though amused by the struggles of those within.
Chapter 3 Part 2 : The Hunt for the Ogre
The outpost woke restless. Even before the false sun rose above the canopy, adventurers gathered near the gates in clusters, their voices buzzing with anticipation and unease.
The ogre had become more than a rumor. It was a challenge, a wall, a prize. And today, multiple parties meant to bring it down.
Alexis stood at the shrine steps, katana resting at his side, watching the stir. Lyra leaned against the rail beside him, her new mantle shifting faintly with each breath. She smirked.
"Smell that?" she said. "That's desperation. They think the ogre's their ticket to glory."
Alexis's gaze followed a group of six filing out the gates, their armor mismatched but freshly polished, their voices loud. Another party trailed behind, quieter, but with sharper eyes.
"It'll kill them," Alexis said. His tone carried no malice, only certainty.
Lyra twirled a dagger between her fingers. "All the better for us. Less competition when we're ready."
By midday, the forest echoed with the sounds of battle.
Alexis and Lyra moved silently between the trees, shadows at the edge of the chaos. Ahead, the clearing shook with violence.
The ogre roared, its massive fists smashing the ground, sending adventurers sprawling. One party swarmed it from the front, blades and spears striking its hide — shallow wounds that barely drew blood. Another party circled from behind, arrows loosed into its back.
The beast swept its arm wide. Three adventurers were thrown like rag dolls, crashing into trees with sickening cracks.
Lyra whistled low. "Told you."
[System]:Elite Monster — Ogre (B Tier).
HP: 100% → 92%
Minutes bled into chaos. The ogre's strength dwarfed their numbers. Each strike shattered shields, each roar sent panic rippling through the clearing. Adventurers shouted, cursed, screamed.
One party broke ranks and fled. Another pressed harder, desperation in every strike.
And then the ogre's fist came down.
The ground split. Screams rose. Blood smeared the grass.
[System]:Ogre HP: 68%
Alexis watched, his jaw tight, every muscle coiled. Lyra crouched low on a branch, her grin sharper than ever.
"So," she whispered, "do we jump in now, or wait until more of them break?"
Alexis's eyes followed the beast. The ogre lumbered forward, crushing a wounded adventurer beneath its heel. Its hide was bloodied now, patches of flesh torn, but its rage only grew.
"Not yet," Alexis said. "We let it bleed."
Lyra's smirk widened. "Patience. I like it."
Another roar shook the trees. The ogre swung its arm, scattering another group like leaves in the wind. Bodies fell, some still, some crawling away in terror.
The clearing stank of blood and sweat, the air thick with screams.
But for Alexis and Lyra, it was only the prelude.
Their time had not yet come.
Chapter 3 Part 3 : Blood in the Clearing
The ogre's roar split the air, shaking the forest to its roots. Adventurers scattered like startled prey. Some limped toward the tree line, clutching wounds, others stayed locked in combat, desperation painted across their faces.
The beast bled now. Dozens of arrows jutted from its back and thighs, cuts scored its chest, one eye swollen shut. Yet still, it raged — unbroken, unbowed.
[System]:Ogre HP: 68% → 51%
Its massive arm swung wide, catching two shield-bearers who tried to block the blow. They flew backward, shields splintering, bones shattering on impact. Screams filled the clearing.
Alexis crouched in the shadows of the trees, katana loose in his grip. His eyes tracked every motion of the beast, calculating its rhythm, its fury, its openings.
Beside him, Lyra crouched on a branch, her grin stretched wide. "It's almost pretty, isn't it? The chaos. The screaming. The Tower chewing up everyone too weak to stand."
"Not yet," Alexis muttered. His breath was calm, but his shoulders were tight. "We wait until it breaks them."
A spear-armed adventurer charged, stabbing deep into the ogre's calf. The beast bellowed, its leg buckling for the first time. For a heartbeat, the clearing filled with hope.
And then the ogre's fist came down.
The spear-man was crushed, his body reduced to blood and earth. The survivors' hope shattered with him.
"Retreat!" someone screamed.
The line broke.
Half the adventurers fled into the forest, dragging wounded comrades. A handful remained, too proud or too afraid to turn their backs.
[System]:Ogre HP: 51% → 43%
The beast staggered now, its movements slower, but its rage burned hotter. Each strike shook the ground. Trees cracked, roots tore, blood sprayed in arcs.
Alexis rose to his feet.
Lyra's daggers flashed in the false moonlight as she balanced lightly on the branch. "Finally?"
"Finally."
They moved.
Alexis charged from the left, his katana gleaming as he carved a clean line across the ogre's thigh. Blood sprayed, the beast howled, staggering on one leg. Lyra dropped from the trees, landing behind it, her daggers plunging deep into the tendons of its ankle.
The ogre roared, spinning, its massive fist tearing through the air. Alexis ducked low, the wind of the strike rattling his bones. Lyra rolled aside, laughing breathlessly.
"See?" she shouted. "Much prettier up close!"
[System]:Ogre HP: 43% → 36%
The surviving adventurers stared wide-eyed at the new arrivals. Some shouted warnings, others curses.
"Idiots!" one man cried. "You'll die like the rest!"
But Alexis and Lyra didn't hear him. The ogre's attention was theirs now.
And they would not waste the moment.
Chapter 3 Part 4 : The Ogre's Fall
The clearing was chaos — broken trees, blood-soaked earth, the stench of sweat and ichor. The ogre loomed above it all, its chest heaving, its body scored with dozens of wounds. Blood poured from its thigh where Alexis's blade had carved deep, and its ankle bled black sap where Lyra's daggers had severed tendon.
Still, it roared.
[System]:Ogre HP: 36%
Its fist came down like a hammer. Alexis darted aside, the ground cracking where he had stood a breath earlier. Lyra slipped between roots, daggers flashing as she stabbed into the ogre's calf, carving another shallow wound.
The beast howled, spinning, its massive arm sweeping across the battlefield. Alexis caught it with his katana, the impact jarring through his bones. His stamina bar dipped into red.
"Too slow," Lyra called, laughing breathlessly.
The remaining adventurers clung to the edges of the fight, watching in disbelief.
"Are they insane?" one muttered.
"They'll be crushed!" another spat.
But no one stepped forward. The ogre was no longer their battle.
The beast's fist swung again. Alexis ducked low, then surged upward, blade gleaming as it cut a deep arc across the ogre's ribs. Blood sprayed, the monster bellowing in pain.
[System]:Ogre HP: 36% → 28%
Lyra used the opening. She climbed the beast's back like a shadow, her daggers stabbing into the thick muscle of its shoulders. The ogre roared, reaching back to grab her, but she twisted away, carving flesh as she dropped lightly to the ground.
"Alexis!" she shouted. "Now!"
The ogre staggered forward, chest open, balance broken.
Alexis's eyes sharpened. His katana flared silver as he drew every ounce of will into a single strike.
He stepped forward, cutting clean through the beast's midsection.
Steel bit deep — bark, hide, and bone splitting beneath the weight of his blow.
The ogre froze, one last roar gurgling in its throat. Its massive body swayed, then collapsed forward, the earth shaking with its fall.
Silence.
Then the System's voice rang out.
[System]:Elite Monster Defeated — Ogre (B Tier).
Loot Acquired: Ogre's Hide (Rare), Ogre's Fang (Rare), Ogre's Bone Fragment (Crafting)+720 EXP+650 Silver
[System]:Level Up!
Alexis: Lv. 7 → Lv. 8Lyra: Lv. 7 → Lv. 8
Stats Increased. HP/Stamina Fully Restored.
Alexis exhaled slowly, lowering his blade. The exhaustion that had nearly broken him moments before vanished in an instant as the System's blessing surged through his body. His lungs filled with air like fire, his wounds knitting closed.
Lyra laughed, wiping ichor from her cheek. "Gods, I love that sound." She twirled her daggers before sheathing them. "Level up and loot? That's a good night."
Alexis looked down at the ogre's body. Its tusked face lay slack, its lifeless eyes staring skyward. A wall had fallen.
But the Tower never let walls fall without building higher ones.
The adventurers who had survived stared at them from the treeline. Some with awe. Others with envy.
"They… they killed it," one whispered.
"No… they stole it," another hissed, bitterness twisting his tone.
Lyra smirked at the attention, tugging the ogre's fang free with a sharp yank. "Smile for the crowd, Alexis. We're famous now."
Alexis only slid his katana back into its sheath. His gaze never left the Tower, looming above the forest, silent and waiting.
This was only Floor One.
And the climb had just begun.