Path Guardians

The water rushed along the riverbed, running all the way across the First Floor, filling out the path laid for it. It then streamed into the lake, which at the moment was nothing more than a pit in the shape of one.

'...This is going to take a while, isn't it?'

It was truly too large a lake to be filled up within minutes. The time alone it took for the water to get from the River's beginning to the Lake was nearly 10 minutes. So it would take hours upon hours or maybe even days for the water to fill out the intended places.

However, even with the water only running along, the changes already began to happen to the surroundings.

The previously partially dried ferns and some of the plants seemed to sense the new water mana, their stems straightening and leaning towards the river.

The ones near the river even began rapidly growing their roots, extending them underground towards it, absorbing any water mana they came across. The underground jungle truly began coming to life.

Still, before everything that needed to be filled with water got filled out, Lan would leave it be. There was always plenty of work to do.

For example, the Monsters gathered along the 'Lamp Posts' of the Paths of the Second Chamber. As quite some time had passed, the initial 'owners' had already been established, but they could always be changed... Through battles.

Lan first checked out the left Path, the one filled with coniferous trees, primarily pines that extended far upwards, forming walls of trunks, light shining through the gaps among them.

It would seem that the Birch trees had fully adapted to the Life Crystals within them, as none of the Crystals were devoured, instead fully becoming the 'heart of the tree'. Such a 'heart' seemingly gave a tree many advantages compared to the usual trees.

As Life Crystal acted as a magnet and generator for Life Mana, it was a great source of nourishment for the tree, allowing extraordinary growth.

And such circumstances created a truly wonderful scene.

The narrow path widened, revealing a clearing with a towering Birch tree in the middle of it. It easily drew one's eyes, as its branches seemingly enveloped that very clearing. The leaves of gold looked as bright as if they were shining as if they were made of real gold.

The black and white trunk twisted in an interesting shape, creating a mystical image. The very air seemed easier to breathe, nourishing oneself. Under the tree the growth was abundant, with various flowers and plants blooming, forming a scene straight out of a painting.

However, such beauty always has a guardian. In this case, hidden amidst the vegetation, sleeping among the roots of the tree, an intimidating boar lay, a leaf occasionally falling on its snout.

It was a big Beast, or rather a Monster, as its tusks had a second pair, its height similar to a fully grown human. And its bristled fur was smooth and shiny, nary a single flaw, if one didn't count a nearly healed over scar on its side.

Intimidating as it may be, it was but the first of the Path Guardians of the left side.

As one continued along, one would find four similar scenes, each with a different guardian, before arriving at the central clearing where the Central Pillar was staying. And in that clearing, the Herd of Deer along with Lorn, its leader, was residing.

The Right Path had a completely different atmosphere compared to the Left though. As the tree's leaves and branches covered the sky, not letting through most of the light, it was constantly shrouded in perpetual darkness, evoking a gloomy atmosphere.

And the Places of Power of such a forest got the masters they deserved. On one of the first Places of Power, as one got nearer, the branches got covered more and more in cobwebs. Occasionally a skittering shadow would pass by among them.

And when one arrived at the Birch, contrary to the beautiful scenery of the opposite Path, one would see a scene of horror.

The branches and leaves of the pale tree, instead of shining in gold, were completely entwined in webs. From branches hung various prey, preserved in the hunter's webs. Amidst the roots of the tree instead of flowers lay bones, being silently devoured by the ground. The very vegetation seemed to retreat from the tree, covering from its master.

Amidst the darkness and webs of its branches, eight eyes and eight legs glistened, reflecting what little light reached them. Black carapace blended in with the shadows, and mandibles were soaked with poison, waiting for the next prey.

Surprisingly enough, three of the five Path Guardians were spiders. The other two Places of Power belonged to different species, although they too were ambush predators.

Still, it also arrived at the Central Clearing, just like the other one.

But the fun began at the final four Places of Power on the final patch of the Path. All of them were in close proximity, even being visible from one another, prompting all Path Guardians residing there to be constantly on alert, being wary of any attack.

Still, the four Path Guardians were more or less harmonious, as one needed to stay close to the Birch to gain benefits from it, so there was no infighting amidst the four. They were also slightly stronger due to being closer to the tunnel leading downwards, and the mana brought from down there.

But the four Path Guardians were prone to change if any strong contender were to show up, or if they were killed. The ecosystem of this Chamber was quite competitive.

With all the Path Guardians, the Chamber was quite protected, none would be able to just march through without a fight. But the Floor Guardian, or the Chamber Guardian, in this case, wasn't yet chosen, and the boss room was not yet built.

'That won't do, even the First Floor already has one... Off to work again. I wonder when will I get a holiday?'

So, Lan got back to building and planning.

As he already built a simple 'forest with a clearing in the center' type of boss room, Lan kind of wanted to not just copy-paste it. He wanted to 'stay in theme' of the floor. Even if he was building protection for himself, he couldn't help but be stylish along the way.

But style being style, it also needed to be functional. That meant the boss chamber being advantageous for the boss, and being its housing at the same time.

Lan already had a theme created, that being 'Trees'. He planted them a lot lately. So, he wanted the boss room to have a tree as a main point, with a Life Crystal embedded into it. Not just any Life Crystal, but a real big one. To the point where it could not be hidden in the trunk, but maybe entwined in the branches.

Lan didn't exactly know how to do it, but he figured that he would find out along the way.

Before doing any of the fancy tree stuff though, he carved out the room itself. It was larger than the first boss room, being 60 meters in width and length, being around twenty meters in height. It was exactly three times bigger than the previous one.

Lan then began thinking of where to put the tree. If he simply put it in the middle of the boss room, then it would look awesome, true, but it would take up a lot of space, losing a part of functionality.

'If I can't put it in the center, my newfound OCD will freak out if I put it somewhere random... If I can't plant it in the ground... Then why not plant it in a wall?'

An interesting idea appeared amidst Lan's core. Trees can grow while rooted to a wall, given the right conditions. And when an interesting idea appeared, it meant that Lan was going to try it immediately.

So, plucked one of the birch seed clusters from the Birches outside the boss room, and carried it on a current of mana. He then brought it into a wall, opening up a gap to plant it in.

After planting the seed and covering it in the ground, Lan released the mana barrier which he put around it to prevent it from sprouting midair. Not a second after, the seed sprouted.

White bark broke through the wall, roots extending downwards and alongside the wall. The trunk then twisted to the sides, up and outwards. The branches grew further than any Birch tree in the chamber due to how much denser mana was here.

They covered the entire top of the Chamber, hiding the roof of it behind a cover of white branches and golden leaves. Meanwhile, the trunk spread along the entire wall, covering it whole with impenetrable wood. Only a small gap was left in the middle of the room, that is the one leading deeper into Lan's Domain.

It too was covered in roots, which extended into it for some distance, integrating it flawlessly.

Lan was a bit too mesmerized observing the process of the tree's growth, and by the time he realized it, it was too late to integrate a Life Crystal into the trunk.

'...Huh Wha-, Damn it! How could I forget that... Not my fault it was so beautiful... Ah right!'

But Lan remembered that there was yet another option for the integration of the Crystal.

'The branches!'

The pale branches of the tree were indeed covering the ceiling and space below it, but there was still a place for a Crystal among them.

'Hopefully, the tree doesn't devour it... Here we go.'

Lan first formed a spherical crystal around two meters in diameter by infusing a chunk of pure material with neutral mana. He then filled that crystal with Life Mana to the point that it was shining like a green sun... Okay maybe not that much, but it was illuminating the whole room.

Lan then lifted it to the branches, which stretched towards it like the hands of thirsty people towards a bottle of water. But the tree possessed enough mana, so it shouldn't devour the crystal. Probably.

The Core was also constantly thinking something along the lines of 'Please don't eat it, please don't cover it' as the branches were enveloping the shining Life Crystal. In Lan's imagination, a perfect coverage would be like a cage, tightly but with plenty of space for the light to shine through. Kind of like a brazier.

Strangely enough, some of the branches shuddered and moved away, forming gaps. Under Lan's incredulous gaze, as they thinned and thickened in some places, what formed was... A brazier. The same as his imagination.

'What the..? Did the tree... Hear my thoughts or something?'

Nevertheless, those branches soon became covered in golden leaves, forming a ' Green Lamp' covered in a pale 'cage' of branches and leaves. Quite a beautiful thing. 

Though Lan couldn't figure out the reason for the sudden transformation, other than his own thoughts somehow influencing the tree, he had no other ideas.

As such, the tree was done. It was covering most of the boss room, its roots even encircling the room. But it was still... Lacking something.

As Lan was thinking about it, his thoughts drifted back to the recent machinations with water, his mind clicked.

'Of course, water!.. Though a Mana Beast doesn't need water anymore. But hey, a lake up to one's ankles would fit in just right here!'

So, Lan made a slight depression in the ground in the middle of the room and buried a small Water Crystal under the ground in the center of it. The Crystal was slightly bigger than the size of the fist.

Soon after, water started pooling into a puddle from underground, and expanding into a pool.

Now the boss room was finished, forming a picturesque scene. A giant tree, a shallow lake underneath it, with golden leaves occasionally falling, some of them floating on the water. Green grass bloomed under the green light shining from a wooden cage amidst the pale branches. And under the trunk of the tree, an opening leading even deeper gaped.

Now all that was left was to call the Guardian, or Guardians themselves.

Lan then connected to a group of his horned friends, and sent a message to a certain creature with Lightning Horns about its new home.