Victory!

As the party walked inside, they noticed many glass cases alongside the wall storing a multitude of weapons, collars, armor, and other items alike. Much like the previous room Bushy had been this one was filled with runes, except they were hung still - drained of all magila. Time had worn down this room more than the previous.

Tenpao walked carefully, taking in the sight of the other items before looking at the pedestal holding the acorn staff, the runes were dying but were still holding strong. Dwelm approached to examine the combination of runes then his eyes brightened, those were familiar. The runes were positioned resembling the Centaurus constellations and using the repetition of the runes resembling a dragon, elf, orc, and goblin.

Dwelm began passing his palm on the pedestal to find which way the magila flowed and their important conjunction points. Meanwhile, Tenpao turned around and kept a look at the door, the darkness seemed to be staring back, at the same moment Lulu spoke. "Somethin's coming." Her ears flicked as she put down the backpack, the gnoll's eyes wandered to her broken greatsword and sighed then raised both arms towards the door.

Bushy began preparing a spell, her staff glowing purple with a great amount of mana being spent on strengthening the effects of the spell. This time Bushy won't give it a chance to escape. 

Tenpao prepared as both swords started to glow silver, his heart began to pump mana through his body, spreading through the blood and veins strengthening bone and flesh. The dwarf simply shrugged and unsheathed his morning star while walking closer, both stood at the side of the door to let the mages have a clear sight.

"Haaaughh." Just like before, an asthmatic sound came from the creature, ejecting waste and spores. Bushy tightened her grip and pumped even more mana into the staff.

Then, the sound abruptly stopped. A silence that created an uncomfortable feeling in every party member's stomach, a weird sensation of their intestines writhing like a dying worm.

In one swift leap, The Union jumped through the door, being illuminated by light lunging for the elf once again. Bushy fired her spell hitting true, the blob of corpses was being squished on the ground by the sheer force of gravity. Lulu was next, her spell made the roots break through the stone and pierce the slime while Bushy readied another spell and readied to fire it.

A single second passed and the room was lit in flames, the magila equivalent of tens of different beings, their unic magic affinity combining into a mass of dysfunctional spells. Fire, Ice, Vines, Moss, Stone, Oil, and many other magila types were fired, Tenpao jumped just in time to tackle Bushy down but Lulu was hit by full force, her body burning in infernal flames yet no scream of pain could be heard except the smell of magila irradiating from her body- "Reinforcement?" Tenpao said it was rare for a beginner who didn't have their flow inverted to learn that spell. But Lulu wasn't a beginner. Dwelm reached down with his morning star, the various corpses within the slime reached to grip the dwarf but the swing was at the perfect angle, his body at the perfect distance.

Bullseye triggered, the morning star cleaved through the slime shattering as many bodies as possible, yet it didn't regenerate - it divided. Bushy got up and gripped her staff, quickly drawing mana to reform the spell but one of the slimes lunged at her, Tenpao that was took a gamble and kicked the slime.

It was hard like a rock, but for his greatly reinforced body and his magic affinity, it was no worse than a cotton ball, which splattered at the wall. Bushy fired her spell but The Union body glowed once again, the stone under Bushy's feet moved like water and she began sinking, her spell narrowly missing. The other slime began to float from the wall carrying the shredded corpses back to the main body, which they reconstructed quicker than before.

But that wasn't enough, multiple roots pierced the slime reaching the ceiling, its form began wobbling but quickly stabilized. Tenpao reached his hand and began to pull Bushy out while Dwarf walked in and smashed his morning star at the slime three times before The Union could break through the roots to attack the dwarf, which resulted in a meaningless endeavor as his magic spiked and he perfectly dodged the attack.

More roots pierced the stone and the slime wobbled more but The Union magic began to flow, the roots started to dissolve as a green sphere surrounded its form, dissolving anything that got too close, and then the earth began to change shapes, spiking up trying to give Lulu a piece of her own treatment.

A piece easily avoidable, that is. Lulu didn't put more effort than lifting her feet and stepping forty degrees away, the spike pierced to the ceiling being a tick away from her chest. 

Bushy got up and prepared her spell once again, the slime seemingly lost all his interest in the elf and focused on the gnoll instead. That was his last mistake, Bushy summoned a tenth of her whole reserve to further strengthen the spell, and the surroundings began to shake from sheer kinetic energy being released from the overcharged spell. A single action decided the fate of this battle, Bushy fired and her invisible cone of pure kinetic energy pierced the acid shield and The Union leaving not even a fifth left of the slime, the corpses shattered on the wall and the smell of death spread through the room. The Union tried to reconstruct itself but as his fountain of magila left his body, it soon began sizzling and dissolving into a bluish steam that disappeared as soon it came.

The whole room was in flames, the items in their casings were almost all destroyed but the acorn staff was safe and sound. However the same couldn't be said by the pedestal that once held it. 

"Haah, finally it's over," Bushy said, falling to her knees as magical exhaustion slowly seeped out every bit of motivation she had. Lulu simply smiled although a little less cheery and a bit more forced than usual, it still passed some assurance. The gnoll grabbed the backpack and began searching the room.

Tenpao looked at the corpses, a faint breeze traveled through the room - he found it strange for there to be any wind underground but didn't question it, this unnatural wind happened all the time on the battlefield. After seeing their faces, and fully memorizing how they looked he turned around and began searching for anything that could still be taken.

Dwelm smiled at his friend, it was good to work together again, "You know, I think you're doing fine. I don't know if it is because we are occupied, but remember Ten, if you ever need to lean on us don't be afraid to do so. A party is all about companionship after all." Tenpao nodded at his friend's words and soon the dwarf joined in searching for something useful.

A bit tired, but still willing to be helpful Bushy got up and walked towards the acorn staff, she picked it from the ground and immediately felt the huge amount of magical power within, it was a nice, warm sensation. Bushy knew artifacts such as these were made out of hundreds of runes but she couldn't feel them just yet, so she came by Lulu and slid the staff inside the backpack before searching for something too.

Tenpao came back with an intact magnifying glass, it could see past actions up to a few days. Dwelm came back with a cup that turned any beverage sweet. Bushy came back with a bracelet and since she didn't know how to read runes Lulu helped her, the bracelet could store mana for later use.

And finally, Lulu didn't find anything. A final look through the room made most of them feel satisfied, this quest was done, and they could soon return home and take up somewhat easier quests. As they walked Lulu stood behind, she lifted a tome dark as her fur with a white circle at the exact middle and an orange wolf fang drawn within said circle, "If only we weren't so trusting back then, then I wouldn't-" 

"Pampkin?" Tenpao shouted, Lulu dropped the book on the ground and roots pierced the stone pulling it deep within the earth, where its knowledge would never bring harm to anything ever again.

"Cooooming! Wait up wait up!"