Head pinned, tail secured.

  On top of the suffocation slip damage, Nell and the others are relentlessly attacking its abdomen.

  That said, calling this an easy fight would be premature—the real battle with the Marsh Dragon begins now.

  "Whoa, that was close."

  The Marsh Dragon’s attack patterns differ drastically between water and nd.

  In water, it swims while primarily using water-based magic, occasionally mixing in water-based breath attacks. It favors long-range combat, only closing in for melee when the pyer is weakened in the tter half.

  But what about on nd?

  Here, it relies mainly on biting and tail-whipping melee attacks. Magic becomes secondary, though its breath attacks remain as frequent as in water.

  So, when a massive blob of water comes flying at me, I’m not even surprised.

  "Unlike the Creeping Dragon, it doesn’t use debuffs—way easier to handle!"

  The Marsh Dragon’s magic is purely offensive.

  It does have shield spells for water and earth attributes, but aside from those, it’s all attack skills.

  Water Ball—shooting spheres of water.Sand Ball—hurling clumps of earth.

  "Bet it hurts not being able to use breath attacks now!"

  I dodge each strike, step in, and drive my scythe-spear, coated in Magic Edge, straight into the Marsh Dragon’s left eye.

  "One down!"

  ■■■■■■■!?

  A critical hit.

  The satisfying impact, followed by the dragon’s muffled roar.

  With that, its left eye is sealed shut.

  The Marsh Dragon’s area-of-effect magic is water-exclusive. On nd, its usable spells are limited.

  There is a water source inside the dungeon, but it’s a safe zone where monsters can’t enter.

  By pulling its head into the dungeon, the range of its skills shrinks to its line of sight, cutting off its ability to activate skills tied to the nearby ke.

  And as a bonus—

  "Hard to move, huh? That’s what happens when you’re locked down like this."

  Thanks to the wire extending from the fishing rod, it can barely even turn its head.

  As it strains to face me with its remaining right eye, the hook digs deeper into its throat, causing pain and slowing its movements. I slip under the wire and circle to its other side.

  "Second one!!"

  By the time the Marsh Dragon’s right eye finally fixes on me, my scythe-spear is already inches away from piercing it.

  The sensation of tearing through flesh reverberates through my grip.

  ■■■■■!??

  Now its vision is gone.

  Without precise magic aim, its next move is predictable—

  "It’ll try that!"

  It starts healing.

  Among water magic, there’s Bubble Heal—a spell that generates restorative bubbles.

  Touching these bubbles restores health, a skill the Marsh Dragon activates after taking significant damage.

  "If you know it’s coming, you can counter it."

  The weakness? The bubbles only heal on contact. While advanced pyers can stockpile them by keeping them afloat, they’re easily popped with a weapon.

  Each bubble’s healing is negligible.

  They spawn from the Marsh Dragon’s forehead. Watching them multiply, I swing my spear.

  If you react fast enough, you can smash them before they spread.

  "Yeah, that’s right! Without eyes, you’ll have to find me by sound or touch, won’t you?!"

  Mid-swing, my spear grazes the toughest part of its forehead.

  Maybe the impact helps it pinpoint my location.

  Water Balls materialize and rain down where I stood.

  Normally, I’d dodge sideways or backstep.

  But this time—

  "There! The reverse scale!"

  I drop low, skimming the ground, and slip beneath the barrage, aiming for the vulnerable scale beneath its jaw.

  A counterattack from this pattern.

  Those magic shots were meant to force me back.

  Creating distance would just invite follow-up spells, pushing me farther away.

  The only way out is through.

  That’s the correct answer here.

  I lunge, my spear fshing forward, piercing straight for its throat.

  !?

  A critical hit. Its massive body shudders.

  A flinch animation.

  What follows is a violent thrashing.

  I retreat from its frenzy, positioning myself before its snapping jaws.

  It desperately bites at the wire, trying to sever it, but the wire is indestructible.

  Physically, it cannot break.

  "Alright, now just be good EXP fodder for my skill grinding."

  From here, it’s a matter of relentlessly stabbing every part of its face with my Magic Edge-coated spear.

  The only thing to watch for is the occasional magic attack.

  As long as I don’t miss the casting tells, dodging is no issue.

  The spear’s reach lets me maintain distance, ensuring I can keep attacking while evading its spells.

  "Tch! So tough! Even with my weapon leveling up, my stats are still too low!"

  It’s not like my attacks are bouncing off entirely.

  I feel the damage connecting. But if numbers appeared, they’d probably be measly 1s or 2s.

  "Nice! Nice! No wonder they call you the ‘sandbag’ of FBO! You’re fun to whale on!"

  The worse the damage, the faster my skill proficiency skyrockets.

  At this rate, Spear Mastery and Magic Edge will hit max level soon.

  I can feel it.

  Post-Css 10, leveling slows to a crawl. But with the Training Bracer and the level gap against this field boss, my skills are climbing at breakneck speed.

  Head hooked into the dungeon, tail pinned by a Trap Cmp—it’s no wonder it’s called a sandbag.

  And on top of that, the EXP and drops are delicious.

  Even the way it shakes its head, annoyed by my attacks, is endearing.

  Don’t die yet, I pray, but my assault doesn’t let up.

  Outside the dungeon, Nelle’s spirited shouts tell me the others are going all out too.

  Between my spear and the Marsh Dragon’s magic, the only other sound is the brutal impact of Nelle’s halberd striking its belly.

  The occasional wince on its face? Probably Nelle nding a solid hit.

  "Alright, might not be much longer, but stick with me a little more!"

  DPS-wise, this’ll take time—but that just means more grinding efficiency.

  Seeing the progress keeps me sharp, my strikes never faltering.

  Finally—

  Gwoooooooh!

  After roughly two hours, the Marsh Dragon twitches, convulses in its death throes, and crumbles into bck ash.

  "We won!! Ugh… I’m wiped. Safer than the Creeping Dragon, but going full-tilt with the spear is exhausting. My arms are killing me—never had this in the game."

  The Marsh Dragon is dead.

  The fatigue hits me all at once. My arms tremble on the verge of cramping as I massage them with my equally shaky free hand.

  "Liberator!!""Hey! Everyone okay?""We’re fine! Hanging back meant we could attack safely, even when it thrashed!"

  On my way to the dungeon exit, Nelle’s voice reaches me.

  Kneeling near the exit, I peer down to see Nelle energetically waving her halberd. Beside her, Amina is sprawled out, catching her breath, while Ingrid stands on wobbling knees.

  Only Nelle’s unfazed, huh?

  "Got it! Hang on, I’ll lower the golem—move aside!""Roger!"

  Yeah, figures.

  Even in a safe position, nonstop combat would wear them out.

  Guess Nelle’s stamina is just insane.

  I board the Angler, retrieve the Pceholder Shield and Spike Anchor, then leap down.

  The nding is loud enough to crater the ground, but the golem doesn’t even flinch.

  All that’s left is to warp out via the escape gate and despawn the dungeon.

  "Look, look! My skills leveled up so much!"

  [Nelle — Css 1 / Level 50]Base Stats:STR 80 | MAG 20BP: 0 | EXBP: 0Skills (1/5 Slots):Spear Mastery — Css 10 / Level 100

  Still processing cleanup, Nelle hops onto the Angler’s foot, wagging her tail as she shoves her status in my face.

  "Whoa, maxed already. Marsh Dragon’s EXP is no joke.""Right?! Amina, you think so too, don’t you?""Too tired to think…"

  Unlike Nelle, Amina weakly lifts herself up.

  "I… mastered Staff Mastery too…"

  [Amina — Css 1 / Level 50]Base Stats:STR 40 | MAG 60BP: 0 | EXBP: 0Skills (4/5 Slots):Staff Mastery — Css 10 / Level 100Alchemy — Css 3 / Level 18Singing — Css 5 / Level 33Song of Accim — Css 4 / Level 74

  Nelle and I hop down to check her status.

  "Thought my arms were gonna fall off. Ingrid, you okay?""I-I’m fine.""Your knees are shaking.""It’s… battle tremors.""Those happen before fighting."

  Amina, with the most skills, clearly shows which one to raise next. Meanwhile, Ingrid’s wobbly knees are almost endearing.

  "Status?""Here."

  [Ingrid Grüne — Css 0 / Level 0]Base Stats:STR 0 | MAG 0BP: 0Skills (1/2 Slots):Staff Technique — Css 10 / Level 100

  "As requested, I’ve mastered the skill. I never imagined it’d rank up so quickly.""The level gap makes it possible. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on your levels, then back to Marsh Dragon farming.""Whaaat?! Let’s just go home! My arms are done!""Rex. This Marsh Dragon won’t respawn for three days. No more hunting here today."

  Amina sighs in relief. Ingrid, too, seems reassured.

  "Only three days?!""Don’t worry. I’ve marked other Marsh Dragon spawns. We can hunt one per day."

  Nelle cheers. Amina and Ingrid reluctantly agree.

  [Liberator — Css 1 / Level 50]Base Stats:STR 60 | MAG 40BP: 0 | EXBP: 0Skills (2/5 Slots):Spear Mastery — Css 10 / Level 100Magic Edge — Css 10 / Level 100

  A gnce at my status confirms everything’s maxed.

  "Last step—loot check, then we head back.""Oh! The Marsh Dragon dropped this. Is it… bone?""Sweet! That’s high-tier material. Gather enough, and we can craft weapons. Anything else?""This too."

  Grinding success. Now for the spoils.

  Amina shows me the Marsh Dragon Bone. Then Nelle points to another item—

  "HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIT!!!!"

  The moment I see it, I can’t help but scream.