Aria's gaze flicked toward him. "Reading?"

He nodded. "It's not hiding—it's watching. When we fought the tortoise, the mana shifted just before it fell. That same pulse is here, following the pattern of our movements."

Sophia exhaled. "Then it's already learning."

Moonbounce, resting beside Rhys, emitted a low hum, his runes faintly dimming and brightening in a rhythmic pulse—as if echoing the strange cadence of the air.

Aria suddenly burst into laughter, shaking her head. "You're good—really good," she said, and on the other side, Caria and Sophia were both smiling.

"It's the second phase of the tortoise," Aria explained, gesturing toward the swamp. "Once it fuses with the terrain, it transforms into a swamp-type variant. We call it the Swamp Sentinel."

Rhys nodded. "I see. You were checking if I could sense it or not."

"Of course," Aria said with a small grin. "After all, we've fought this thing so many times, we know all the phases of the minor bosses here. But the first time we faced it, we nearly got eaten before figuring that out."

She paused, then added with a light laugh, "Still, you found out on your own. You're good."

The others nodded in agreement, smiles spreading around the group.

The laughter faded as the ground beneath them began to tremble—slowly at first, then with a deep, rising groan that rolled through the entire marsh. The air thickened, heavy with mana.

Aria's smile vanished. "...And that's our cue."

The swamp around them began to shift, water pulling inward as if drawn toward an unseen core. The ground rippled, forming concentric rings of black-green sludge. Steam hissed from cracks as faint bioluminescent veins glowed beneath the surface.

Sophia's expression hardened. "It's waking up."

Caria clicked her crossbow into place. "Phase two—Swamp Sentinel confirmed."

The water burst open.

From the center rose an enormous mass—part shell, part liquid, its upper form still resembling the tortoise but now fused with the swamp itself. Moss dripped like viscera from its shell, and long tendrils of living mud reached outward, writhing like roots. Its eyes, once gold-green, now burned with a dull emerald fire.

Aria took position at the front, her tone sharp. "Same core—but its body's fluid now. Physical strikes won't work unless it solidifies."

"Got it," Rhys said, drawing his sword. The Ruinous Darkness Blade flared with twin hues, shadow and azure light intertwining as mana gathered around him. "Moonbounce—front guard."

The mechanical turtle rumbled forward, silver runes igniting to gold. A radiant dome shimmered around the team just as the Sentinel lashed out—muddy tendrils slamming into the barrier with a sound like cracking stone.

"Break its focus!" Aria shouted. "Sophia—pressure the left flank. Caria—target the core light beneath the shell!"

"On it!" Sophia's chant rose, her staff glowing with blue sigils. "Hydro Spiral!"

A vortex of water erupted from her hands, colliding with the Sentinel's tendrils and carving through them in sprays of black sludge. The creature recoiled, its molten-green eyes narrowing.

Caria fired—one, two, three bolts—each embedding deep into the creature's shell before detonating into bursts of azure flame. The explosions forced it to retract, parts of its liquid form splattering outward and sizzling upon contact with Moonbounce's light shield.

Rhys moved. His steps barely rippled the surface as he closed the gap. "Swift Cut!"

The blade tore through one of the creature's forming limbs—black fluid splashed upward, instantly hardening into brittle crystal.

Aria saw it and shouted, "That's it! When it stabilizes to attack, it becomes solid for a second—strike then!"

The Sentinel bellowed, its massive form surging upward before slamming down again. The shockwave shattered Moonbounce's first shield, forcing the turtle to brace with a metallic growl as cracks of light repaired across his shell.

Sophia gritted her teeth. "Recasting barrier—Tidal Ward!" A new wave of protection rose, rippling like liquid glass.

"Caria!" Aria called. "Light its weak points!"

"Already on it!" Caria's next bolt hit the exposed underside of the creature's shell, sending arcs of blue flame crawling across its body.

"Now, Rhys!"

He leapt—mana flooding his limbs, his sword glowing with an intense, flickering radiance. "Whirlwind Slash!"

He spun midair, cutting through the hardened shell in a sweeping arc. The strike ripped a gash through the creature's torso, and with a thunderous roar, the Swamp Sentinel convulsed, its liquid mass surging outward in waves.

"Back!" Aria warned, summoning a spiraling torrent of water to push the group away. The wave hit just as the Sentinel's body collapsed inward, forming a whirlpool of corrupted mana.

Rhys landed on solid ground, watching the vortex implode into itself. Slowly, the water settled—dark sludge dispersing, leaving behind glowing fragments of green crystal floating in the still pool.

Sophia lowered her staff, exhaling. "It's done."

Caria bent down, prying one of the shards free. "Verdant Core Fragment. That's rare."

Aria nodded, glancing toward Rhys. "Good coordination. You adapted faster than anyone I've seen on a first run."

Rhys wiped the edge of his blade clean, its glow fading to a soft blue. "Learning's the only way forward."

Moonbounce let out a deep, content rumble, his runes dimming to a steady silver again.

Aria stretched her arms above her head, the faint mist still clinging to her armor. "Three down," she corrected, smirking. "Don't jinx it, Sophia. We've still got ten more waiting out there."

Sophia groaned. "Right. Thirteen total. I was hoping maybe one of them drowned in the swamp or something."

Caria laughed softly as she wiped her crossbow clean. "No chance. The guild record says they all respawn together when the marsh cycle resets. If we stop now, we'll have to redo the first three."

Rhys looked up toward the horizon, where the fog had started to shift color again—pale green bleeding into violet. "Then we move before it resets."

Aria nodded approvingly. "Exactly. Next few are scattered around the inner marsh ring—terrain gets worse the deeper we go. The next one should be the Ashjaw Crocodile, near the obsidian pools."

Caria frowned. "That's the one with the heat rot breath, right?"

Sophia wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, yes. Smells like burnt fungus and old coins."

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