Inner Potential, Once Again

"What the hell is this?!"

The soldier at the front was startled and instinctively tried to shout, but the next second someone next to him covered his mouth.

Looking up, I saw it was Ta Mi; the other person moved incredibly fast.

Looking over at the monster's side, the strangely shaped creature didn't make any movement, seemingly unaware of the crowd's voices.

Ta Mi's actions were correct. After all, they didn't know the monster's true nature, and who knew what the consequences would be if they rashly alerted it? What if it self-destructed?

Lu Lu Wo gestured to the group, and they slowly retreated away from the monster.

"Snap!"

Someone accidentally stepped on the fragile wooden plank, and a clear cracking sound immediately rang out in the darkness.

People quickly looked towards where the monster was, but it didn't react at all.

If it weren't for the swollen, or rather, pulsating, thing on its body that was still contracting and expanding, some people would probably classify it as an inanimate object.

"Has anyone here seen this thing before?" Lu Lu Wo asked in a low voice, glancing up at the monster as she did so.

The group exchanged glances, then shook their heads in unison.

"Then let's call that guy Squid for now."

The monsters we encountered in the Plague Village were only three types: Fatty, Skinny, and Fire-Breathing Dog—all nicknames given by Lu Lu Wo.

Although the appearance of those monsters wasn't exactly appealing, compared to this "squid," it was remarkably handsome, with a perfectly shaped nose and mouth—it was so well-proportioned.

Based on the nature of the monsters in the Zane Dungeon, she now has a deep-seated question in her mind:

Surely this squid couldn't have been transformed from a human, could it?

No, it seems highly unlikely that it would mutate into that form.

But then I remembered that this was the Zane Dungeon, and suddenly nothing seemed impossible.

Faced with these bizarre monsters that they had never seen before in the Painting World, the Skyrim Strategy Team had a systematic way of judging them.

First, look at its aura. It's obvious that this squid doesn't have the aura of a strong person, but it's bizarre enough to warrant caution.

Then, looking at the environment, there's no other way to go. The squid is blocking the only path, which is good; it's a roadblock we must be wary of.

Looking at the numbers again, only one squid has appeared since we entered the Plague Village. As we all know, the fewer the number, the more likely it is to be an overpowered monster.

Finally, let's look at the rewards.

Lu Lu Wo's eyes swept around, and then she spotted a treasure chest behind the squid.

Great, even treasure chests have appeared, which means...

"This might be an Elite Monster!"

In that instant, the squid's strength began to rise infinitely in everyone's minds.

Why do people not react? Because that's the composure of the strong.

Why do they look so strange? That's because powerful (scratch that) monsters have a unique aesthetic sense!

"From what I've observed, most of the monsters we encountered earlier are resistant to fire."

Ta Mi was thinking about how to kill the squid from the furthest distance. In the past, the Skyrim Strategy Team could come up with a hundred different ways to take it down.

Unfortunately, they are now in Scamellon, having brought none of their accumulated possessions with them, only their battle-hardened bodies and their minds filled with knowledge.

If it's a curling game, they'll dare to smash it from a distance!

However, the area explored so far is too small, leaving only the Flame Pot as a usable throwing tool. Even the classic Lure Skull has not yet been discovered.

"If only I had Moonveil." Ta Mi sighed.

"Why didn't you just use the Starscourge Greatsword?" Lu Lu Wo complained.

"Won't the Starcaller tear Plague Village apart?" Unexpectedly, the boy retorted with a well-reasoned argument.

In reality, there's no need for such legendary weapons. If they had any weapon with the Hound Step Weapon Skill, they could skip the Squid Exploration and explore the rest of the map.

The Skyrim Strategy Team originally relied on a fighting style that depended on a variety of weapons. Now that all the weapons and items were left in the Arnor Kingdom, Lu Lu Wo and the others felt as if their martial arts skills had been crippled, and they couldn't move their hands and feet freely, as if they had returned to the time when they first entered the Zane Dungeon.

After much discussion, they decided to use the most primitive form of combat.

"Swish!"

Several thick chains shot out and bound the squid tightly, as the Starfire Knight simultaneously hurled their lightning spears at it.

What a simple and unpretentious fighting style!

Everyone was intently watching the squid's movements, and any slight change was anticipated.

However, this thing looks so unsettling that people can't help but want to look away after just a few seconds.

And then, something amazing happened.

The squid coiled up for a moment, then its swollen head suddenly contracted and slid, slipperily breaking free of the chains!

Before people could even be surprised, they saw the squid fling off its tentacles with sharp ends and charge towards them like a madman, its whole body trembling violently!

"Waaaah!"

This terrifying thing, trembling darkly, rushed towards me; the scene was as horrifying as a cockroach swarming towards a southerner!

This has nothing to do with the honor of Warrior; it's purely about stirring up people's most primal fear of ugly things!

The soldiers at the front cried out in alarm and instinctively turned and ran away. After running a couple of steps, they remembered their duty and turned back to hold up their shields.

But by then, the squid had already rushed onto their faces, so close that it could lick the monster's slippery skin with its tongue.

"."

The soldiers went through a mental check, then rolled their eyes.

"Don't faint!"

Lu Lu Wo her hand in exasperation, and the chains that had just been broken off immediately changed course, attacking from behind the squid and wrapping around every inch of its body, successfully saving the soldiers from its sharp claws.

Damn it, this monster's abilities are beyond my imagination. It looks like I'm in for a tough fight!

Thinking this, she used all her strength to pull the squid backward, then released the chain, intending to whip it from the front again.

Then she saw the squid lose its footing on the wall and plummet straight down the cliff.

"Bang!"

The twisted and grotesque body fell into the lowest pool of sewage, creating a huge splash.

The number of souls in everyone increased slightly.

"Huh?"

Lu Lu Wo remained in the same position, but made a confused sound.

"Huh!?"

At the same time, people expressed their utter astonishment.

No way, you were this bad at the game?

Give us back the scare we just had!

Lu Lu Wo was the first to come to terms with it.

After all, cockroaches are much weaker than humans, but can you honestly say you wouldn't back away if a cockroach lunged at your face?

"This really does have a Sien-esque feel to it."

They just keep creating these contrasting things.

The soldiers who had behaved the worst blushed with shame when they woke up.

If they knew that the Spirit Power they had just unleashed was almost equivalent to dying once, they would probably be so ashamed that they would want to crawl into a hole in the ground.

"Let's keep going. If we see similar monsters again, let's not be so surprised."

Ta Mi walked to the treasure chest and instinctively reached into his pocket to take out a Lloyd's Amulet to throw it over, but after searching for a while without finding one, he realized that all the Lloyd's Amulets were left with the Arnor Kingdom.

Left with no other option, he slashed at the chest to make sure it wasn't Treasure Chest Monster. Even with such a simple action, he took a considerable risk, because there had been chests in the Zane Dungeon that exploded after being slashed once.

Fortunately, the treasure chest didn't explode, nor did it sprout limbs and stand up, so he opened it with peace of mind.

Upon opening it, oh wow, purple light spots!

[Spells: Inner Potential]

[One of the most forbidden spells among those that incorporate fire into the body]

[It can temporarily unleash potential in exchange for power, but life will be cursed and continuously diminished.]

[A sorcerer should revere fire, but if reverence comes at the cost of power, then reverence loses its true meaning.]

The Crystal Ball contains magical pages with Inner Potential; you can learn them by crushing the Crystal Ball.

"It's Inner Potential."

Ta Mi's eyes lit up with nostalgia. He knew this spell too, but unfortunately, he didn't have the Pyromancy Flame to cast it now. The version he could forcefully release using his staff would be less powerful, which was not worth the cost.

This item is quite popular among adventurers; many consider it a trump card.

Unfortunately, the production of related magic book pages is unstable, and they cannot be learned at magic academies, resulting in consistently high market prices.

The blacksmith Andre happened to be selling weapons, and weapons based on the Pyromancy Flame were on his list. Knowing that some Starfire Knight were interested, he bought some.

"Team leader."

He looked at Lu Lu Wo, who knew what he was thinking and nodded.

"Take it," Ta Mi handed the Inner Potential to the Starfire Knight. "You need this more than we do."

Starfire Knight nodded gratefully and carefully put it away.

As Ta Mi said, those of them who fight on the battlefield really need that kind of life-or-death skill— the Inner Potential.

Hervey granted the Skyrim Strategy Team the right to select rewards first, but until now, these people have never exercised such power, distributing almost all the high-value rewards to various churches and keeping only the practical items for themselves.

This approach greatly increased the goodwill of the churches towards them.

However, for Lu Lu Wo, so far nothing that has appeared in the new area has really tempted her. After all, the Skyrim Strategy Team is considered to be at the forefront of the industry, and everyone here has seen and tasted good things.

It's estimated that only top-tier rewards like the Sunlight Spear, Comet Azur, or Mohgwyn Sacred Spear could entice them.

After finding the treasure chest Inner Potential, people finally discovered the downward staircase and, following it down, finally reached the lower level.

If you don't mind the filth, you can jump directly into the bottommost Swamp of sewage and reach the bottom with a single click.

Of course, people still found it dirty, so they would wait until the entire lower level had been explored before going down.

"It can't be my imagination, can it?"

The soldier stared at the bright flames that had suddenly burst into flame in the darkness and muttered to himself:

"Why do these monsters down here seem to be getting more and more disgusting?"

Upon reaching the lower level, the quality of the monsters changed drastically.

Giant Blood Mosquito, capable of spitting venomous blood, swarm and buzz incessantly, infiltrating everywhere you go; you'll encounter these disgusting creatures wherever you go.

The monster, which looks like a giant spider but whose body is engulfed in flames, breathes fire at people from a distance, and even self-destructs when they get close.

And then there's the ever-present blowgun guy, that hateful creature that's still stubbornly chasing after everyone.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. The most crucial thing is...

"Pfft!"

The sharp blade pierced the body of the so-called "giant spider," ending the life of this strange monster, and the flames burning within its body were extinguished.

The Starfire Knight crouched down to carefully examine the monster's body structure, trying to find any weak points to reference, but what he discovered was a nauseating truth.

"This thing is transformed from a human!?"

This is not a spider at all. It has human hands and feet that are still visible even in its highly mutated state, and its degenerated head is still hanging on its chest. Its expression is frozen in extreme pain!

The scientific name for this monster is Chaos Patient, which mutated into its current form after being infected with some kind of malignant disease.

Knowing more isn't necessarily a good thing. At least for people now, before discovering the true form of the Chaos Patient, they could happily fight monsters, but now that they have, facing such monsters inevitably makes them feel disgusted.

It's a difficult-to-explain feeling of alienation; on the one hand, you genuinely despise these monsters, but on the other hand, you feel a bit of sympathy for them because of empathy.

However, when they were sprayed with a few mouthfuls of blood, all that sympathy vanished, replaced only by rage.

Even ordinary villagers from the Plague Village attacked them, pouring scalding poisonous water on them from above!

Everyone was caught off guard and splashed with poison. Although they took the antidote in time, they still felt unwell.

I guess it's just psychological?

"I really can't stand this awful place anymore." Even Starfire Knight couldn't stand the environment of Plague Village.

"This place is practically a paradise for monsters and ghosts," Ta Mi couldn't help but exclaim.

In comparison, the ephemeral Plague Village in Limgrave is nothing compared to this; those Frenzied Flame patients seem like perfectly normal people in this Plague Village!

Lu Lu Wo felt that given the environment of Plague Village, she wouldn't even want to stay in a luxury villa in the Zane Dungeon for free; she would really go crazy if she stayed there for too long!

As the investigation progressed, hordes of Chaos Patient and Blood Mosquito would attack the group from time to time. This scene of rampant demons was probably only seen in the apocalypse.

That's why some people say Dark Souls is a medieval version of Resident Evil.

They walked deeper and deeper into the cesspool, gradually approaching the filthy Swamp, and eventually explored the entire lower level through continuous battles.

No, it can't be considered fully explored, because there are still large areas that haven't been explored, simply because they haven't found the way to those places.

They've only stumbled upon the path to the bottom by chance; it's the most basic one.

Moreover, there was still no campfire.

"Is this how things are going to go on?"

Lu Lu Wo hesitated, worried that she might get too salty in the Swamp, let alone the others.

But just then, a sound suddenly came from a clearing not far from the Swamp, a place untouched by the filth.

It sounds like a human voice?