Author's Note: I'm going to be moving at the end of this month, and I'm currently packing and doing viewings along with working a busy day job. After this Friday, I'm going to be pausing chapters until I'm settled into my new place. Sorry in advance!
Thank you for reading!
# Chapter 21
Anna stood up from where she rested against the tree. Taking a look at the Wandering Oaks nearby, she noticed the runners mostly headed in a single direction. They descended down to the ground rapidly in front of their child trees.
She wouldn't make good time walking on the ground, so she got to work carefully climbing the tree in front of her. The fruit she ate had helped get some energy back in her body, but she was still weak from her captivity and didn't push herself as she climbed the rough bark to the top of the runner.
It was a couple feet in diameter at this point. The runners typically started out small, but would grow in diameter as the child tree fed its nutrients back along the runner to its parent.
It was almost nostalgic walking along them again as she made her way back. Except for the feeling of the rough bark on her soles and the breeze against her naked skin, it felt just like usual when returning from an expedition.
She had done trips down here too many times to count. Every researcher at the Magical Institute of Arborea had to volunteer for the posting, or otherwise get somebody else to do it for them. As a newbie to academia, Anna often made deals with her seniors to do the posting for them in exchange for partial funding of her own projects.
She wasn't going back here for a while if she could help it.
It was relatively safe travelling along the runners. The foliage was so dense around her it almost formed a floor and ceiling, protecting her from being seen by predators from above and below.
Hours passed as she walked and walked. And then walked some more. When she found an edible plant she would stop to eat its fruit or berries. Thankfully, most were juicy enough they helped slake her thirst somewhat as she continued her march towards the exit.
The biodiversity in this forest was immense. The dungeon had existed since long before written history, and they were still finding new species here despite it only being the 2nd layer. Nobody had made it farther than the 42nd, and it is theorized that each layer gets exponentially larger than the last.