The Silvered Hills were nothing short of treacherous. Beneath their quiet, dreamlike beauty lurked dangers far greater than the rewards they offered.

To make matters worse, the only path there twisted through a maddening stretch of Pappus-Sky trees and a glittering maze of razor-sharp glass flowers in the Gleaming Gardens. Only a few adventurers had ever reached this place, and even fewer had lived to tell the tale.

But the real danger lay hidden beneath the surface.

If a person's Fatigue or Mental Fog levels reached their peak due to the field effect known as Silver Tranquility, they wouldn't just faint or pass out. They'd fall into a full-blown vegetative state, automatically transferred to a special zone where their life force would be slowly, mercilessly drained until nothing remained.

We kept that fate at bay by stuffing ourselves with Brightwake Berries nonstop, keeping our levels below 25%.

Unfortunately, a hidden mechanism within the place was triggered, pulling us into the special zone.

If more than five people slipped into that vegetative state at once… everyone in the Silvered Hills would be forcibly pulled into a pocket dimension, the Somnolent Nexus, home to the guardian of this cursed place.

[Special Condition Met] [Entering Somnolent Nexus…]

I woke up slowly, my body still half-numb, like shaking off anesthesia after surgery. Everything was dark.

I was lying flat on my back in a damp, cramped space. The air reeked of wet earth, crushed leaves, and… was that snot?

My body felt coated in slime, and my movements were sluggish, like I was underwater in a dream. I could feel my health being siphoned away, little by little.

Panic rising, I clawed at the soft, thin, membranous shell wrapped around me and tore it open.

The feeling was disturbingly familiar. Just like the day I first emerged from the Sacred Willow and was reborn as a druid.

As the membrane ripped apart, light spilled in. Overhead stretched a sky painted in deep blue, purple, and orange hues, twilight caught in eternal suspension.

I stood and scanned my surroundings.

Muradin, who was unaffected by Fatigue and Mental Fog, was already out of his cocoon, shaking off the slime. Darwyn and Orin were still struggling to break free. Everything moved in slow motion, as if time itself had thickened.

"Where... are we? What the hell happened?" Muradin's voice came out distorted, drawn-out, like a drunk speaking underwater.

I didn't answer. Instead, I turned and counted the other cocoons, scattered around a massive silver tree in the center. Its roots stretched out like tendrils, coiled tightly around each cocoon.

Eight cocoons.

Fortunately, everything was still intact, a sign that they were all in a vegetative state.

"Destroy the others. Now," I said, my voice just as warped by the slowed time. "Make sure you kill whoever's inside. They're the adventurers who followed us."

I forced myself forward in slow motion toward the nearest cocoon, cast Inner Beast, and slammed my staff into its upper half, right where the head would be.

I felt the tip pierce something solid. Bone. The soft crunch of skull giving way, followed by a sluggish ooze of blood dripping down the membrane.

I stabbed it again. And again. Until I was sure whoever was inside wasn't coming back. Then I moved to the next.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Muradin swinging his hammer with grim efficiency. Darwyn and Orin followed suit. They didn't ask questions.

The Dream-Leech Tendrils of the tree guardian were already feeding. The longer we waited, the harder it became for us to escape this place.

One by one, we destroyed the cocoons and looted their items.

It took us far too long. Under the Tree Guardian's Time Dilation aura, we moved like sloths. Every second stretched into what felt like a minute.

"What happened to us?!" Darwyn finally shouted, finishing the last cocoon with a slow-motion fire arrow. It moved like a feather drifting through the air, but still struck true, bursting the cocoon with a wet crunch.

"Must be the tree's doing," I said, feigning ignorance. "Let me try attacking it."

I raised my staff and fired a shot at the silver tree. As expected, it did almost no damage.

The tree's leaves shimmered gently in response, glowing with an eerie tranquility. Then, a wave of serene energy pulsed outward, deep blue, purple, and orange, just like the sky above. It swept over us, harmlessly, dealing only minor damage.

Unlike my own attack, which moved in sluggish slow motion, its retaliation shot out at full speed: fast, precise, and completely impossible to dodge.

"I think the tree strikes back when it's attacked," Darwyn said, narrowing his eyes as he observed the reaction. "Hold off for now," he added, right before firing an arrow.

A pulse of energy surged out again from the tree when Darwyn's arrow hit the trunk. This time, it was stronger.

"The backlash scales with the damage it receives," he muttered, analyzing the effect aloud.

Thankfully, it didn't take Darwyn long to uncover the nature of the skill, just a few clues were all he needed.

Tranquil Reversal. It reflected any incoming damage in the form of a magical pulse that struck everything nearby with exactly the same force.

"I think we'll have to destroy it to get out of here," Orin said grimly, glancing around.

The place we stood in wasn't very large, more like a piece of floating land with a tree rooted at its center. Beyond that, nothing but a bottomless void. No paths, no walls. Just emptiness stretching in all directions.

"Then let's get a formation going," I replied, summoning Gorgroth.

Muradin stood shoulder to shoulder with the towering beast, their bodies forming a living wall. The rest of us moved behind them, taking cover.

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We decided to run a test using Gorgroth.

Gorgroth fired several rounds of Viscous Goo before switching to Spitfire, launching three flaming projectiles at the tree.

The backlash came almost instantly. A shockwave of shimmering blue, purple, and orange magic rippling out from the tree like a tidal force.

The wave kept crashing forward relentlessly, as the tree's trunk erupted in flames.

Muradin raised his shield, bracing with all his might. Beside him, Gorgroth let out a thunderous roar and drove its roots into the ground, anchoring itself to resist the blast.

Behind them, however, things didn't go so smoothly.

Despite the protection, the sheer force bled through. Orin and Darwyn, both with relatively low defense, were hit hard.

Their skin sizzled from the magical burn. Orin crumpled to the ground, blood spilling from her lips as she gasped.

"Orin!" I shouted, rushing to her side.

Luckily, her condition wasn't critical. A quick potion and Rejuvenation would bring her back on her feet.

Still, our little experiment had taught me two important things.

First, unlike in Dreadspire, Tranquil Reversal couldn't be dodged by simply hiding behind an object.

Second, everything else about the fight still followed the in-game mechanics.

"Fuck it, the tree's healing," Darwyn muttered anxiously, staring at the silver trunk. The bark, which had been severely burned earlier, was already knitting itself back together.

Somnus Tree, its real name, had ridiculously fast regeneration. In addition, it had a high base health, which increased based on the drained life force from Dream-Leech Tendrils.

"So we just need to one-shot it," Muradin said, checking the condition of his shield.

"I've got a plan," I said. "But first, everyone needs to recover."

One good thing about being stuck inside the Somnolent Nexus, there was no time limit. As long as we'd escaped the cocoon, we were technically safe. The Somnus Tree wouldn't attack unless attacked first.

Once everyone was healed up, we regrouped, this time in a different formation.

We lined up: Muradin behind Gorgroth, then me in the full plate armor Muradin had forged for me back in Thalorien Forest. Darwyn held a backup shield, positioned in the rear.

As for Orin, she summoned Hororo, and once again fused with the owl using Featherbound Pact, soaring high into the air and hovering exactly where I'd instructed her, right outside Tranquil Reversal's range.

We waited. Tension thick in the air.

"I'm ready!" Orin shouted from above.

"Okay, wait for my cue," Darwyn called back, eyes fixed on the silver tree. Sticky Bombs clung to its bark like ticks ready to blow.

[Aegis of the Titans cast]

Muradin slammed his shield into the ground. A golden shimmer rippled outward slowly, forming a thin protective barrier around each of us.

He then raised his shield with both hands, gripping it tight.

I cast Rejuvenation on Gorgroth, who crouched, ready to brace for the impact.

"Now!" Darwyn yelled.

Orin hurled her Mana Bomb, which she had been charging for a while now. It sailed slowly through the air, glowing ominously.

[Detonated cast]

All seven Sticky Bombs detonated in perfect sync, just seconds before Orin's spell struck.

Muradin's Korrogoth's Bulwark Armor thickened, doubling his resistance.

After the explosions, I cast Ethereal Form. The Somnus Tree began to glow, turning a ghostly shade of green, barely visible through the lingering smoke and light.

BLAAAAAAAAAAR!

Another colossal shockwave erupted from the tree after the Mana Bomb struck it head-on. Blinding arcs of colorful magic surged outward, engulfing everything.

I heard Gorgroth roar, just for a moment, then silence. Its body collapsed and vanished, disintegrated by the direct blast of Tranquil Reversal.

Even Muradin, with all his knockback resistance, couldn't hold his ground. He was launched backward, crashing into me and Darwyn. We all tumbled like bowling pins.

My ears rang painfully, and my vision spun. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

Please let that be enough…

***

The Somnus Tree promised an incredible reward if destroyed, one that could make our entire team significantly stronger.

Unfortunately… that was out of the question with our current power.

My real goal had been more realistic: to bring its health down below 75%. That was the hidden condition to escape from the Somnolent Nexus.

Of course, I kept that little detail to myself.

If we failed to reach that threshold, we'd have to restart the entire strategy, wasting valuable potions and time. Not ideal.

Sadly, using our strongest combo, Inner Beast and Thunderstrike Slam, wasn't an option. It would've required Muradin to be at point-blank range for the rebound from Tranquil Reversal… and there was no way he'd survive that.

All I could do was grit my teeth and hold on, praying that the pain was worth it.

[Somnus Tree health has reached 75%. Successfully exited Somnolent Nexus]

[Somnus Tree health has reached 60%. Passive skill: Tranquil Reversal granted to a random party member]

"We're back!" Orin shouted with glee as she landed and deactivated her flying spell. She quickly poured potion over Darwyn's wounds. A faint hiss rose as it touched his scorched skin.

Meanwhile, I cast Rejuvenation on Muradin, he was in the worst shape by far, and chugged a health potion to ease my pain.

"I'm glad we made it," Muradin said with a painful laugh. "So that's what it feels like to take a full-force combo of Ethereal Form and Mana Bomb. Not fun."

"You should probably not mess with us in the future," Orin said with a smug grin.

We took a breather, catching our breath and recovering from the worst of it.

"Hey... why don't I feel any Mental Fog or Fatigue?" Darwyn asked, confused. "It's like the field effect just… disappeared."

"Oh, really? I didn't notice because of this," Muradin replied, removing the Murmurmoth Pendant from his neck. He handed it to Orin. "In that case, here, you can have it back."

The Silver Tranquility field effect had faded. That only happened if the opened Somnolent Nexus was sealed.

"Let's rest here before heading to Crystal Lake," I suggested. "We need to wait until all our skills and spells are off cooldown anyway."

"We should also check our loot," Muradin added eagerly.

"Oh, right. The loot." I'd completely forgotten in the chaos.

"Do you know who wants to hurt us?" Orin asked.

"I recognized one of them," Muradin replied. "They're part of a fairly well-known clan, the Scavengers. Never caught red-handed, but they've got a nasty rep among adventurers. Word is, they often rob and kill other adventurers. We're lucky we got out."

He pulled open the looted pouch and carefully laid out the contents. The rest of us did the same, one by one.

"What the fuck?!" Muradin barked. "There's nothing valuable in here!"

No rare items. No equipment. Just basic survival supplies: rations and a few worn-out tools.

"They must've had another team," I said, thinking aloud. "One that carries the real loot."

"Wait... that means we're still not safe," Darwyn muttered. "If they realize their buddies didn't come back after tailing us…"

We all exchanged glances. Yeah. This wasn't over yet.

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