After some introductions, Ivy and Bark were able to meet my friends and my father... Felicia was nowhere to be seen, so she was unable to introduce herself. She was perhaps too obsessed with the Dungeon and its entire structure, I wish I could give her a good scolding, but she'll probably scold me back. She acts very mature sometimes, but other times she's... very playful and childish.

After introductions, we decided to make a small meeting with Selene, Ivy, and Bark. My father and my friends were still processing their existence at all, but we didn't had much time to waste anyways, and we decided to plan what to do.

"We can't leave without leaving some protection in the city..." I said. "Those Miasmic Beasts are strong and come by the hundreds. Barriers could work to an extent but..."

"I could remain here if you don't mind," Selene offered herself. "I am and I've always had been Eden's protector. Now that I've fully recovered from my exhaustion thanks to you, my goddess, I think I can handle the burden for the time you take to destroy the nest."

"Hmm, I wouldn't really want to leave this entirely to Selene though," said Ivy. "But there's little I could do on my own defense-wise, so I can't help much. What about you, Bark?"

"I am most specialized on close combat," said Bark. "So I am afraid I cannot easily protect an entire city, that would require powerful barriers."

"Hah, if only mom was here..." I sighed.

"Well, it's not like it's impossible, right?" dad said. "Come on, I can leave some of my Familiars here, they're all very powerful. Remember how Arafunn's Familiars protected Agartha flawlessly back then? I can do the same with my Familiars here. They're just as strong, maybe even stronger."

"Right, your Familiars... But wait, are they even willing? Some of them kind of hate you, dad!" I said.

"A-Ahahah! No way, nobody hates me, we just play around sometimes..." he said, slightly nervously. "I am sure I can leave Phoenix here, and maybe that Fire Fox. They're both good at powerful, complex barrier magic."

"Hmm, okay, I could leave Brownie here to provide walls of stone and earth," I nodded. "Maybe Furoh too for an adaptable fighter... Yggdra as well, the rest come with me, I'll need their power."

"Alright! That would be good enough, I believe!" said Selene with a nod. "Then, Bark and Ivy shall accompany you!"

"Ugh, but what good will we have? I can already feel it, your father and your friends are much stronger, goddess Sylphy," said Ivy, she seemed depressed after her defeat.

"I... I will always accompany my liege anywhere!" said Bark. "Ivy, is your loyalty to her so low as to say such a thing?!"

"What? N-No! I mean... We're so weak, so why even try? You know?" Ivy wondered.

"Hmm, certainly, I might come along, but that doesn't mean I'll make things easy for everyone," said my father. "That Miasmic Nest could be dangerous, and even pose a challenge to even me after all. Miasma is a powerful substance, even demons are hard to defeat, imagine things made entirely out of their miasma, or a miasma that is similar to theirs. It will be a sizable challenge. Everyone will be of help. Also, I have little healing and purifying powers. Although I am developing Heavenly Flames, they can't do everything in the world, unlike my daughter's much more advanced magic of purification, which she uses through her spirits and the spells her mother taught to her."

"Yeah, we'll need any help we can get, don't pull yourselves down so much, come on," said Celeste.

"Exactly!" Celica nodded. "I also wanted some action so let's go already! I want to beat monsters and hunt!"

Celica was very enthusiastic, but we still needed some more preparations.

"Ivy, don't just say such things, you're strong!" Selene said. "Very strong, and you'll continue growing strong, have faith in yourself."

"Ugh but how exactly?" she sighed. "Our existences are different... We can't grow completely without specific conditions."

"That's why I'll try to get to those specific conditions now," I nodded. "I think I could buy or find the needed stones for your evolutions. I have accumulated enough Dungeon Energy."

"Dungeon Energy?" my father wondered. "What's that?"

"A-Ah! Well, you see, its power that a Dungeon accumulates," I explained to my father. "Do you remember how dungeons create monsters and treasures, and other resources? Aside from Mana they also use this energy, dad. So I can accumulate it and then use it to "purchase" things out of the dungeon itself, handy right?"

"T-That's incredible! I never thought Dungeon Masters could do that!" he gasped. "Then Arachne could have done the same?"

I don't think she could do it like I do it though...

"I mean, sure, I guess? But I think these are powers more unique to myself, to my own manifestation of the Dungeon..." I said. "Anyways, it has a lot of things I can get. One of them was the ability to summon these people, Ivy and Bark, for example. I can also obtain items as rewards when I do specific things."

"I am sure Felicia would love to know more of this," dad laughed while crossing his arms. "Your powers had always been incredibly, my daughter. I guess they don't surprise me as much now... So you can get rewards, and can summon these specially stronger Arboren people? I see... They are indeed much different than the rest. Their power, magic, and everything, is on another level. You could even call them Arboren Heroes, in a way."

"Yeah, exactly!" I nodded. "Also, I had obtained a way to enter a different dungeon before, something that allowed me to extract materials. It was temporary, but I obtained these things as well..."

I placed the fragments of green, brown, and blue crystals over the table. My father quickly noticed they glowed with a special type of aura, an energy that belonged to the dungeon

Itself.

"What are those?" he wondered in surprise.

"These are Evolution Stone Fragments!" I said. "Nature, Earth, and Ice. Apparently there's three more elements, Fire, Wind, and Water. Combining enough fragments creates a whole Evolution Stone, and each of these "Heroes" can evolve into even stronger forms using them."

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