Ants fell down from above, clinging onto the cranes and pulling them to their death. One look downwards showed the looming destruction, as corpse upon corpse piled up, only to be trampled upon by even more ants on their way to the nest. What started as a skirmish turned into a war for supremacy.

Still, the ensuing chaos made it easier for me to climb upwards as both sides focused on each other. I made my way upwards, more hindered by the lack of proper footing than attacks from the beasts. There were a few scattered cranes which passed by me, trying to attack, but only worth a short notice before they also fell, contributing to the pile of corpses.

But it made me smile a bit as I saw my level rise again after some time, finally giving me enough points to level my fire magic skill-tree.

Though I could use these spells even without leveling it, as long as I knew their spell circle, having the system help to construct it made it quicker to use and possible to modify them further. And the ability to use an area attack made things much easier.

As I rose further and further, I soon left behind the battlefield of species. But as I neared the top the vines began to sharply rise upwards, making me unable to continue walking and forcing me to climb. Given the shape of the vines which were as flat as they could be, I had to stab my hands into them, burning holes to grab onto. It took a while with the midday sun burning at my back while my hand protested from pain for being overused while still healing but at least I wasn’t attacked anymore as their attention was focused downwards. Finally, I grabbed onto part of the crown.

I pulled myself upwards, stepping onto branches thick enough to serve as roads. A sharp wind blew, rustling the leaves which were as long as a grown man, letting some sunlight get inside before it turned back into a shady grey like a abundantly covered forest. Though, unlike any forest it was quiet. No sound of animals, no water flowing through the undergrowth. Just the sound of wind.

I made my way inwards as the vine I grabbed onto let me to the far outskirts of the crown. The light receded, making me rely on my flames to light the way while being careful not to burn anything. The branches turned thicker and thicker while slowly converging to one point. Then the leaves started to recede, giving view to a gargantuan nest made of vines and branches, ones still as big as a construction beam and ones smaller to fill the gaps.

I climbed inside, the branches cracking under my weight, and lay my eyes over the nest. It stretched farther than I could see, filled with eggs and carcasses left for their offspring when they will hatch. Here and there were cranes, looking out for the eggs. I crouched down, covering myself as good as I could while stepping forward.

As I sneaked forward, I silently cursed at any resounding crack these branches made. Too often I heard the sound of flapping wings resounding near me, making me hide beneath some branches. Don’t want to fight against an army of them in here.

Time passed till I saw a trace of the crane mother. Gigantic cranes unlike any other before flew around a sphere inside the nest. Guess I shouldn’t expect them to be like their counterparts outside the dungeon. These big ones should be some kind of royal guard. Opposed to the smaller ones these had three pairs of wings, longer and elongated, their feathers glistening like silver with a shade of green.

I crouched behind some branches, waiting for an opening but they only circled around the sphere with one or two flying inside while others came out, lifting some eggs in their claws.

No other choice then. I stepped out of hiding, rushing towards the small opening I saw them flying inwards into. Of course, the cranes soon found me, rushing towards me. I lifted my hand, firing some Fireballs at them but with a twist of their body, shaking their wings in a seemingly impossible way, they flew past them, leaving them slightly burned but unharmed any further. Why can’t it be easy?

I stopped, seeing that my Fireballs had no effect if I didn’t modify them furthermore. Instead I summoned Flame Whips, one in each hand and further splitting them through modification. I struck out, the whips clashing against the crane. Though it didn’t seem to hurt them it at least redirected them, making them crash into the nest instead of me.

I released my whip to create another circle, pouring my mana into it. “Burn asshole, [Burnflame].” A ring of fire spread around the crane lying down inside the nest, converging inside to incinerate it. Its silvery feathers glowed brightly before burning away, leaving its flesh to change to coal. But my fight against the crane took to long as others came near, blocking my way towards the mother of them.

If you want to turn into experience, then so be it! “[Fiery Wings; Modify: Strength].” A circle lit up under me before flames shot out, covering me from all sides. They stretched away, releasing birds made of fire flying towards everything near me. The cranes shrieked as they were covered in little fires, struggling to keep them away.

But as useful as this spell was it also costed me a lot of mana, making my remaining reserve dwindle even further. When I had all nearby craned engulfed in fire, I released the circle, rushing towards the gap in the sphere. Realizing I didn’t keep the spell up anymore some cranes dived near, trying to block me again, but they were to slow.

I threw myself into the opening and twisted myself to create another circle, pointing it at the opening. “[Fireball; Modify: Explosion].” A fiery mass shot outward, crashing into a crane that flew in. The next thing I felt was a blast of hot air, followed by flames, as it exploded, pushing me further inside and tumbling over the floor.

I heard the entry collapsing, darkening the surroundings, before it started to light up inside, the fire soon spreading through the dried wood. But before I could even think about what to do faced with the possible burndown of the entire nest, I saw a beak above me, hacking down. I rolled away, the beak crashing into the place I lay before.

As I stood up I saw my adversary, a giant, elongated crane with black feathers and five pair of wings, nearly spreading from one side of the dome to another, blocking the path to a white crane, sitting down near the backside.

“I take it you’re the father then.”