Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 59

The tentacle that had lashed out smashed into the ground where William had been standing a second earlier, leaving a crater and splattering poison across the stone floor. The liquid hissed where it landed, eating into the rock like acid.

"Don’t let that stuff touch you!" Astrid warned while dodging her own tentacle strike.

William circled right, trying to get an angle on the guardian’s main body while avoiding the writhing mass of appendages. Fire enhancement coated his blade as he struck at the nearest tentacle, his sword biting deep into the plant flesh. The guardian shuddered and the wounded tentacle retreated, dark sap oozing from the cut.

But even as he watched, the wound began closing. The plant matter knitted itself back together in seconds, leaving barely a scar.

"It’s healing!" William called out.

"Told you!" Astrid was already engaging the main body, her blade striking at the thick stem below the bulb. "We need sustained damage, not quick hits!"

Liam reached the guardian’s base and began a relentless assault on the stem, his sword striking repeatedly in the same spot. Each hit carved deeper, preventing the regeneration from catching up. But three tentacles converged on his position, forcing him to break off and retreat.

"Someone needs to keep it from healing while others deal with the tentacles!" Liam yelled while dodging.

"I’ve got the tentacles!" Kai’s voice came from somewhere in the chaos. His sword flashed and a tentacle fell to the ground, severed cleanly. It writhed for a moment before going still.

William focused on maintaining fire attacks against the main body, sending waves of heat that scorched the guardian’s exterior and prevented regeneration in the burned areas. It wasn’t dealing massive damage but it was keeping the thing from healing faster than they could hurt it.

A tentacle came at him from his blind spot. He sensed it more than saw it and threw himself forward in a roll, coming up and slashing backward in one motion. His blade caught the tentacle mid-strike and diverted it into another tentacle, tangling them together.

"Nice!" Marcus shouted from across the chamber. He was keeping two tentacles busy with wind-enhanced movements, darting in and out of range while Elena supported him with distance attacks.

The guardian’s bulb pulsed and suddenly the entire chamber filled with a yellow-green cloud. The spores Astrid had warned about.

William held his breath immediately but some of the spores got in his nose anyway. His eyes started watering and his throat burned. Around him, the others were coughing and struggling.

"Antidotes!" Astrid choked out between coughs. "Everyone take one now!"

William fumbled in his pack for the pill Astrid had distributed earlier. He got it in his mouth and swallowed, the horrible taste somehow worse than the poison spores. But almost immediately his throat stopped burning and his vision cleared.

The spore cloud was still thick but at least it wasn’t actively poisoning them anymore.

"Keep attacking!" Liam’s silhouette was barely visible through the yellow mist. "Don’t give it time to recover!"

William pushed forward through the cloud, using his fire to create small clear zones in the spores. The heat burned away the poisonous particles, creating bubbles of visibility. He reached the guardian’s stem and struck hard, his blade biting deep into the plant matter.

The guardian thrashed and a tentacle caught him across the back, sending him flying. He hit the ground hard and rolled, pain shooting through his shoulders. The impact had been like getting hit with a tree trunk.

"William!" Elena’s voice cut through the chaos.

"I’m fine!" William forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain. His back would hurt later but right now he needed to keep fighting.

Kai appeared beside the guardian’s stem, his sword moving in patterns too fast to follow clearly. He was targeting specific points on the stem with surgical precision, each strike creating deep cuts that the guardian couldn’t regenerate fast enough to close.

"Aim where I’m cutting!" Kai called out. "The regeneration can’t keep up if we all focus the same spot!"

Liam and Astrid converged on the area Kai had marked, their combined assault opening a massive wound in the guardian’s stem. Dark sap poured out and the entire plant-creature shuddered violently.

William added his fire to the attack, flames pouring into the wound and cauterizing the interior. The guardian’s movements became more frantic, tentacles lashing out wildly without coordination.

"It’s weakening!" Astrid shouted. "One more push!"

The spore cloud was finally dispersing, letting William see the full battlefield again. Marcus and Elena had eliminated or disabled most of the tentacles, leaving the main body exposed. The guardian’s bulb was dimming, its pulsing light growing irregular.

Liam climbed onto the guardian’s stem using the tentacles as handholds. He reached the area just below the bulb and drove his sword in with both hands, putting his full weight behind the strike. The blade sank deep and Liam twisted it, tearing through vital plant matter.

The guardian let out a sound like wind through dead leaves and collapsed in on itself. The bulb fell from the stem and hit the ground with a wet thud. The remaining tentacles went limp, no longer moving with purpose.

Silence filled the chamber except for everyone gasping for air.

"Is it dead?" Marcus asked between breaths.

"Very dead," Astrid confirmed. She was sitting on the ground, covered in poison sap and looking exhausted but triumphant. "We did it."

William let himself drop to the ground, his back screaming in protest. The adrenaline was wearing off and every injury from the fight was making itself known. He was pretty sure he had bruised ribs, his back might be bleeding, and his arms felt like jelly from maintaining fire enhancement for so long.

But they’d won.

"Everyone alive?" Liam asked, climbing down from the guardian’s corpse.

Murmurs of confirmation came from around the chamber. Everyone was injured to various degrees but nobody had taken anything life-threatening.

Elena started making rounds with medical supplies, cleaning wounds and applying salve. When she reached William she winced at the state of his back.

"That tentacle hit you hard," she said while carefully lifting his shirt to examine the injury. "You’ve got a nasty bruise forming and some cuts from where the thorns got you. Hold still."

The healing salve stung when she applied it but William gritted his teeth and stayed quiet. After a minute the pain dulled to a manageable ache.

"Thanks," he said.

"Thank me by not getting hit by any more giant tentacles," Elena replied.

Astrid had recovered enough to approach the guardian’s fallen bulb. She pulled out a knife and carefully cut into it, extracting a core that was easily twice the size of the Thorn Brute’s. The crystal pulsed with purple and green light, beautiful despite being poisonous.

"Poison Bloom core," she announced, holding it up. "This thing is worth at least two months of academy stipend. Combined with everything else we collected, this run has been extremely profitable."

"Assuming we make it back without dying," Marcus pointed out.

"Details."

They rested in the guardian chamber for a good thirty minutes, letting everyone recover from the intense fight. The dungeon’s seal on the entrance had lifted once the guardian died, giving them a clear exit path.

"Should we push for the third floor?" Liam asked once everyone was patched up.

"Absolutely not," Astrid said immediately. "The third floor requires special permission and a faculty supervisor for good reason. The beasts down there are legitimately dangerous and we’re all exhausted. We’d be asking to die."

"Fair point," Liam conceded. "Then we head back up?"

"Yeah. We can collect any materials we missed on the way out and be back at the academy by evening."

The group gathered their things and started the long trek back through the second floor. The return journey was easier without having to fight through everything—the defeated beasts didn’t respawn that quickly, leaving most chambers clear.

They stopped at the safe room between floors and took another rest, eating the last of their food and recovering more essence. William felt his reserves slowly climbing back to reasonable levels, though he was still well below full capacity.

"So," Marcus said while munching on dried meat. "First dungeon run. What did everyone think?"

"Terrifying," Elena said quietly. "But also kind of amazing? I’ve never felt essence that concentrated before."

"The profit makes it worth it," Astrid said. "Dangerous work but the pay is incredible compared to normal academy jobs."

"I liked it," Kai said simply.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Of course you did," William muttered. "You barely got hit the entire time."

"That’s because I was paying attention."

"You were showing off."

"Those are different things."

They argued back and forth while the others laughed, the tension from the guardian fight finally fading into comfortable camaraderie. William found himself actually enjoying the banter, the sense of shared accomplishment making everyone more relaxed.

After another thirty minutes they resumed the climb back to the surface. The first floor was as empty as the second had been, the beasts they’d cleared still not respawned. They collected a few essence materials they’d missed on the initial pass and made good time toward the exit.

The cave entrance appeared ahead, natural light streaming in from outside. William had never been so happy to see sunlight.

They emerged from the dungeon into the forest clearing, the afternoon sun warm on their faces. The contrast between the cool damp interior and the bright exterior was jarring but welcome.

"We made it," Liam said, looking back at the cave entrance. "Two floors cleared on our first run. That’s actually impressive."

"That’s us being lucky we didn’t die," Marcus corrected.

"That too."

They started the hike back toward the academy, everyone moving slower than the morning journey had been. The exhaustion was catching up and William’s back was throbbing despite the healing salve.

"We should do this again sometime," Astrid suggested while navigating around a tree root. "Maybe in a few weeks once we’ve recovered and can actually move without everything hurting."

"I’m down," Liam agreed. "This was good combat experience. Way different from academy training."

"Different is one word for it," William said. "Terrifying is another."

"But you’re glad you came, right?"

William thought about it. The danger, the profit, the teamwork, the sense of accomplishment from defeating the guardian. Despite the injuries and exhaustion, it had been genuinely satisfying.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I’m glad I came."

They continued the trek back to the academy, the conversation flowing easily between dungeon stories and plans for next time. The forest gradually transitioned from essence-saturated wilderness back to normal environment, the plants losing their unnatural vibrancy.

By the time they reached the academy gates, the sun was setting and painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. Students were heading to dinner or evening activities, the campus alive with its usual energy.

"Same time next month?" Astrid suggested as they approached the main building.

"If I can move by then, sure," Marcus said.

They agreed to split the profits from their haul once they’d sold everything, then parted ways toward their respective dormitories. William and Kai walked together in comfortable silence.

"You’re way better at fighting than you said" William said eventually.

"I know."

"That’s it? Just ’I know’?"

"What else do you want me to say?" Kai looked genuinely confused. "You pointed out something true. I acknowledged it."

"Most people would offer some kind of explanation."

"I’m not most people."

William gave up trying to get more information and they continued to their room. When they arrived, both immediately collapsed onto their beds without even taking off their equipment.

"My everything hurts," William announced to the ceiling.

"That’s normal after dungeon runs," Kai said from his own bed. "It’ll hurt worse tomorrow."

"That’s not encouraging."

"It’s honest."

William closed his eyes and felt sleep pulling at him despite it being barely evening. The day had been long, exhausting, and surprisingly rewarding. His first dungeon run was complete and he’d survived to tell about it.

His back throbbed, his essence reserves were depleted, and he’d probably have nightmares about poison tentacles.

But they’d won. They’d cleared two floors, collected valuable materials, and worked as a team effectively.

That counted for something.

William drifted off to sleep with that thought, too tired to even change out of his dirt and sap-covered clothes.

Tomorrow he’d deal with the aftermath. Tonight, he just needed rest.

And maybe some more healing salve for his back.

Definitely more healing salve.

---

Support!

One more Chapter for completing the power stone release!

Check out my new novel!

The Strongest Professor Of The Weakest Academy