Flames and Foraging

Whoosh!

The orange-red flames, fueled by Moss's Magic Power, bloomed with bright light inside the pitch-black cave!

The tiny flames were like candlelight, but in Moss's eyes, they were dazzling!

Moss stared at the flames in her hand, unable to stop a faint smile from appearing.

"As I thought, the reason those Fire Lizards can spit flames should be the same method I'm using..."

As Moss spoke, the corners of her mouth stretched open, revealing rows of neat beast fangs. Sparks burst from between her teeth!

Talent: Mana Enhancement + Flame Manipulation + Mana Release (Activated)

Flame Jet!

Boom—!

As Moss opened her mouth and blew hard, Magic Power transformed into flames and surged out, instantly flooding the cave entrance she had targeted!

"Ha—!"

The flames lasted for more than ten seconds. Only when Moss felt the loss of Magic Power begin to accelerate did she slowly stop.

However, even after Moss stopped, the flames at the cave entrance had not vanished!

Moss's Magic Power supported the flames like thick gasoline, and they continued burning for dozens of seconds before finally disappearing completely!

The flames vanished, but the ground and rock walls inside the cave entrance still glowed a dim red. The stones had been burned red-hot!

"Phew..."

Moss gently exhaled. Feeling the dry heat in the cave, she couldn't help revealing an excited smile.

She went to the cave entrance to inspect the marks on the ground and couldn't help sighing.

"So strong!"

The flames were extremely hot. In less than a minute, traces of charred crystals had appeared on the ground, accompanied by a faint smell of burning!

If flames of this intensity struck a person, their lethality would surely be considerable!

Overall, Moss was very satisfied with the current power!

Moreover, this power was not yet her limit!

Moss looked at her hands as a red glow circulated through her palms!

Bang!

With an explosive sound, flames erupted from her palm, and the tongues of fire that shot out were more than ten centimeters long!

But the flames suddenly shrank, transforming into a tiny flame in Moss's hand!

The flame kept flickering, looking highly unstable!

This was a pure orange flame, different from the orange-red flames before, with a faint trace of white light!

The flame clearly had a much higher temperature than the previous one. As its user, Moss could feel the difference even more strongly!

She watched the restless flame in her hand and sensed the energy that might explode at any moment. She couldn't help murmuring:

"Explosive Flame..."

Moss still had a deep impression of the Explosive Flame Fireball cast by that Silver Rank Flame Marsh Lizard. It felt as though it had happened right before her eyes.

"I didn't expect Flame Manipulation to even replicate the Flame Marsh Lizard's Explosive Flame. But then again..."

Moss looked at the flame in her hand, her heart filled with surprise and emotion, yet also with a sense that it was only natural.

To put it simply, Explosive Flame compressed too much energy into one place, creating an unstable energy structure.

When the unstable structure collapsed, the excess energy exploded, producing the effect of an explosion!

"Compressing energy can increase its power, raise the flame's temperature, and even produce an explosion..."

Moss stared at the flame in her hand. Her pale-red pupils seemed to glow as the flames swayed.

"There's going to be plenty to do from here on out. The applications of the Flame Manipulation talent... definitely need to be studied!"

As Moss spoke, a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. She then carefully dispersed the flame in her hand.

This flame contained more than three times the Magic Power she had used when spitting fire earlier, consuming a full third of Moss's Magic Power!

She didn't dare test the power of Explosive Flame in an enclosed space. The cave might collapse!

Moss dispersed the flame in her hand and gently let out a breath.

Grrr—

"Um, I'm so hungry..."

Moss's expression changed. She clutched her stomach and spoke in a pained whisper.

She hadn't noticed it earlier, but now that she had relaxed, Moss realized that she had gone three years without eating anything besides drinking water!

"I haven't eaten for three whole years. It's all thanks to the Dormancy talent that I didn't die."

Moss clutched her stomach and sighed, her face filled with relief. She was thankful that she had been lucky enough.

Although the Golden Finger was powerful, it was also a dangerous ability. If used improperly, it could truly kill her.

To be honest, if she hadn't relied on Dormancy to absorb Mana Essence and replenish her body's energy, she would definitely have died in her sleep.

She had only noticed while checking the prompts that Dormancy also had the effect of absorbing Mana Essence.

Moss had never expected that the method of absorbing Mana Essence she had racked her brain over without finding any leads had actually been inside her all along!

"Sometimes, you can search everywhere and find nothing, only to obtain it without effort..."

A supporting talent constructed by the Golden Finger to help her recover quickly when she was seriously injured actually worked by absorbing Mana Essence to aid recovery!

For a moment, Moss didn't know whether she should be happy or feel something else. She could only blame herself for being too careless. She hadn't even noticed such a simple principle!

After all, recovering from injuries as quickly as possible definitely required energy. Since her own energy could no longer be mobilized, she could only absorb energy from the outside world.

However, the effect of the Dormancy talent caused Moss to enter a deep sleep, so it was no wonder she had failed to discover it.

"As expected, I still need to explore the things on my body more..."

Grrr...

"Ughh..."

Moss let out a strange cry, and the research impulse that had just been stirred up vanished without a trace.

Moss immediately decided to go outside and search for food!

"Huff! Huff! Phew... I'm finally out. This hole needs to be widened."

Moss had to struggle for quite a while before squeezing out through the hole, which had originally been just the right size.

She looked at her once-white fur, now filthy, and couldn't help wincing inwardly.

If she hadn't really been hungry, she would have widened the hole before coming out.

"Sigh... Forget it. I'll definitely get dirty sooner or later anyway. Eating comes first!"

Moss shook her head and stopped dwelling on it. She then ran toward the waterway, where there should be something edible.

"Oh, there they are!"

As soon as she reached the waterway, Moss spotted her target!

A pile of vegetable scraps was caught on some branches. They were red and green, and looked quite fresh!

Without hesitation, Moss jumped into the water and tossed the scraps onto the bank!

Splash!

Moss jumped onto the bank as well. She crouched beside the vegetable pieces and carefully examined them several times, then a huge smile spread across her face.

"They're really fresh! How lucky! Judging by their appearance, they were probably just washed down!"

It was extremely rare to find such fresh vegetables in the sewers, especially ones like the vegetables Moss had encountered this time.

Although they looked like discarded trimmings that had been cut away, they were countless times better than the rotten vegetables she had found before.

Moss picked up a piece of radish nearly as large as her head, removed the rotten parts, and took a bite!

Crunch!

A crisp sound rang out as Moss bit into the piece of radish!

Even after soaking in filthy water, the radish still had a slightly sweet flavor!

"Five ants!"

Moss's eyes lit up, and she shouted involuntarily because it was so delicious!

She hadn't eaten such tasty vegetables in a very long time!

However, just as Moss was about to continue enjoying her meal, a rustling sound suddenly came from ahead!

"Hm?"

Moss paused, slowly lowered the food in her hand, and looked ahead with a serious expression.

Rustle...

A pair of eyes as black as ink appeared before Moss.

It was a completely black snake. Its tongue flickered as cold, vicious light glimmered in its eyes while it stared at Moss.

Its head was held high, looking ready to attack at any moment.

"Ah... Um, I'm hungry. Could you wait until I finish eating?"

Hiss—

"Ah! Looks like that won't do."

Boom!