Swamp Sludge Monster

His first battle had ended in victory, and the harvest was decent: five pristine Glowcap Mushrooms in total.

Luo Lin did not linger. He immediately left the pond area to search for a campsite for the night.

Spending the night at the edge of the Rotting Mire required even greater caution.

He found a relatively dry slope backed by a massive boulder, carefully cleared the surroundings, and set up a simple warning array along with insect-repelling powder.

Luo Lin did not light a fire, lest it draw unnecessary attention. He simply ate some dry rations with water.

The edge of the Black Forest was even more dangerous at night. Strange howls, crawling sounds, and energy fluctuations rose and fell without end.

Luo Lin sat cross-legged at the center of the warning array, meditating to recover the mana and mental energy he had expended during the day while remaining highly alert.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Luo Lin continued following the markers on the map toward the second collection point.

This location lay at the edge of the "Unknown Force-Field Interference Zone."

The closer he got, the more Luo Lin could feel an invisible pressure. The range of his mental perception was clearly suppressed and became somewhat hazy, while the circulation of mana also seemed slightly obstructed.

He became even more cautious, every step exceptionally steady.

When he reached the target area, he found an even more desolate sight.

Twisted dead trees lay scattered in every direction. The ground was covered in sticky green moss, and the air was thick with heavier miasma and a strange smell... like rusted metal.

Luo Lin soon discovered a large patch of Glowcap Mushrooms at the roots of a massive ancient tree that had completely withered away and become hollow inside.

There were far more than at the first location. They were also larger, and their faint glow was brighter.

However, just as he prepared to step forward and harvest them, an intense sense of danger suddenly rose in his heart.

Without a second thought, Luo Lin leaped fiercely backward and to the side.

Almost the instant he left his position, the moss-covered ground where he had been standing suddenly began to squirm like a living thing.

Immediately afterward, a huge, vaguely shaped hand made of sludge, moss, and rotting vegetation burst from the earth and slammed down on the spot where he had just stood.

Mud splashed everywhere!

Luo Lin's pupils contracted slightly as he fixed his gaze on the monster slowly rising from underground.

It stood about twice a person's height and had no fixed form, resembling a constantly flowing, shifting mass of sludge and vegetation. At its core flickered an ominous dark red light.

The energy fluctuations it emitted were chaotic and powerful, far exceeding those of the Gloomscale Python and Marsh Aberration he had encountered before.

"Swamp Sludge Monster... and a mutated one at that!"

Luo Lin immediately recognized this troublesome magical creature.

Their physical attacks were powerful, they possessed resistance to many spells, and they usually guarded valuable magical plants.

It seemed this thriving patch of Glowcap Mushrooms already had an owner.

And this owner was probably not easy to deal with.

Facing the suddenly appearing Swamp Sludge Monster radiating a chaotic, powerful aura, Luo Lin did not hesitate in the slightest.

He knew that running in this situation would likely expose his back to the enemy and put him in an even more dangerous position.

Only by ending the fight quickly, or at least driving it back, could he safely collect the Glowcap Mushrooms.

His thoughts raced as he formulated a tactic in an instant.

For elemental magical creatures like this, the core was key, but it was usually protected by layer upon layer of defenses.

Acid attacks might work, but they would need to penetrate its thick sludge body.

Just as the Sludge Monster raised its huge, mud-dripping arm again to smash him, Luo Lin moved.

Rather than taking the blow head-on, he pushed off with his feet and used the slight assistance provided by the Levitation Boots to quickly slide backward and to the side.

At the same time, he raised his right hand.

His target was not the Sludge Monster's core, but the relatively less solid area where its arm connected to its main body.

[Acid-Erosion Ray]!

A concentrated dark green ray shot out with precision and instantly sank into the flowing sludge.

Hiss!!

A piercing sound of corrosion rang out. A large hole was eaten through the connection point of the Sludge Monster's arm, and dark mud gushed forth like blood.

Its downward strike stalled as a result, its arm nearly severed.

However, the monster seemed incapable of feeling pain. It merely let out a low roar, like churning mud.

The heavily damaged arm actually began to wriggle slowly. Surrounding sludge rapidly flowed over to replenish it, and the wound began healing at a visible rate.

"Regeneration!"

Luo Lin's heart tightened.

This was even more troublesome than he had expected.

At the same time, the Sludge Monster's enormous body suddenly lunged forward. Like a mudslide, its massive bulk swept toward Luo Lin, trying to engulf him.

The foul stench and crushing pressure bearing down on him were enough to suffocate an ordinary apprentice.

Luo Lin's gaze remained calm. Instead of retreating, he advanced!

At the critical instant, he took a quick step forward and lowered his body, narrowly skimming past the edge of the Sludge Monster's lunge.

At the same time, the [Mage Hand] prepared in his left hand was thrust out with full force, slamming hard into a relatively flat section of the Sludge Monster's side.

Bang!

A powerful force struck the Sludge Monster, making its already forward-leaning momentum spiral further out of control. Its huge body crashed into the dead ancient tree covered in Glowcap Mushrooms beside it!

Crack!

Rumble!

The dead tree could not withstand such tremendous force. It let out a strained breaking sound, and the upper half of its trunk, along with the flourishing patch of Glowcap Mushrooms, came crashing down, splashing mud and water everywhere.

This was exactly the result Luo Lin wanted!

He had risked closing in precisely to create chaos and separate the Glowcap Mushrooms from the Sludge Monster's "protection."

The Sludge Monster seemed to have been enraged by the sudden collision and the collapse of the object it had guarded.

It let out an even louder roar. The dark red light at its core flickered violently as its body suddenly contracted, then explosively sprayed countless droplets of mud containing corrosive and chaotic energy in every direction.

An area attack!

Luo Lin had long anticipated that it might have such a move.

The instant he shoved the Sludge Monster aside, he had already retreated rapidly while concentrating the energy of the [Weak Force-Field Armor] in front of him.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The dense mud droplets struck the force-field shield like raindrops, producing an unbroken series of dull impacts.

The shield fluctuated violently, its light rapidly dimming as it neared collapse.

Some of the more penetrating droplets even splashed onto Luo Lin's cloak and leather armor, immediately producing sounds of corrosion.

Luo Lin felt his mana being consumed at a rapid rate, while waves of pressure came from his Mental Sea as he maintained the high-intensity shield.

Yet his gaze remained firm. Taking advantage of the Sludge Monster's brief stiffness after its spray attack, he launched another attack.

This time, his target was the dark red core, which had become even more obvious in its fury!

[Acid-Erosion Ray]!

Another concentrated ray shot forth, aimed directly at the core!

However, the Sludge Monster's battle instincts were extremely strong. Just as the ray was about to strike its core, it abruptly twisted its body and gathered a large amount of sludge in front of the core, forming a thick shield.

Hiss!

The ray struck the sludge shield and instantly corroded through more than half of it, but ultimately failed to reach the core.

The Sludge Monster seemed to have been completely enraged by the successive attacks. It no longer attempted ranged assaults. Instead, its entire massive body surged like a tidal wave, crushing toward Luo Lin once again.

It tried to use the most primitive force possible to devour and obliterate him completely!

Facing this overwhelming assault, Luo Lin knew he could no longer hold back.

He took a deep breath, and a trace of determination flashed in his eyes.

Within his Mental Sea, the condensed mental power granted by the perfect-grade meditation technique was pushed to its limit. Mana circulated and compressed at an unprecedented speed.

He held his hands loosely before his chest. Rather than firing from his fingertips, he concentrated all his mana and mental power, guiding the sparse, chaotic energy particles in the surrounding environment.

In particular, particles inclined toward corrosion and destruction surged madly toward his palms.

A more solid energy sphere rapidly took shape in Luo Lin's hands. It was so deep in color it was nearly black, and something like viscous liquid seemed to flow within it.

Based on the principles of [Acid-Erosion Ray], combined with what he had learned in Stone's wizarding courses and his deeper understanding of energy particles, this was a stronger attack he had developed.

It consumed an enormous amount of power and was extremely difficult to control. Luo Lin had named it [Corrosive Orb]!

Go!

Luo Lin thrust both arms forward. The [Corrosive Orb], radiating an ominous aura, shot forth like an arrow released from a bowstring, carrying a deep whistling sound as it flew straight toward the charging Sludge Monster.

This time, the Sludge Monster seemed to sense a fatal threat. It let out a terrified roar and desperately gathered sludge in an attempt to defend itself.

But the [Corrosive Orb] was too fast, and its power far surpassed that of the earlier [Acid-Erosion Ray]!