Winter Mushroom

He soon left the swamp and reached a stretch of wilderness covered in yellow, dead grass, with no animals anywhere. Then he noticed some strange footprints on the ground. They looked like human footprints, but they were far too large and very deep, which meant that whatever had made them had to be extremely heavy. He felt the footprints with his hand and found that the ground was not particularly soft. The prints were deeper at the front than at the back, clearly indicating that the creature walked with its body leaning forward.

He followed the footprints into the nearby woods. Unlike the wilderness, the trees here had dense, abundant foliage, but most of the branches had been broken. The breaks followed no pattern and probably had not been made deliberately. He thought the creature must have been so large that it had simply snapped the surrounding branches as it passed. It also had to possess tremendous strength, or it could not have moved unhindered through such dense growth.

Allen instinctively felt that this monster was probably even more terrifying than he had imagined. For safety's sake, he had intended to leave, but if he turned back every time he encountered danger, who knew when he would find what he was looking for? At the same time, he had a vague suspicion about these plants: could there be monsters guarding them nearby? In the end, he decided to keep going and investigate first. If he truly could not handle the situation, he would leave.

So he cautiously continued following the footprints. Fifteen minutes later, he reached a valley and heard a tremendous roar. It did not sound like a wolf, but rather a bear. Could there be a bear ahead? He climbed a high slope and concealed himself in the thick grass, slowly peering down the hillside.

He finally learned what beast had left those footprints: Jungle Savages. Although they were called savages, they looked nothing like humans and had nothing to do with them. They had beastlike faces, two enormous, powerful bull horns, gray hides covering muscular bodies, thick limbs, and two sharp foreclaws. A single glance brought words like "strong" and "powerful" to mind.

These Jungle Savages were also extremely large. Even the shortest and thinnest was bigger than five Allens put together. Allen did not dare act rashly. He hid in the grass and was just about to leave when a white savage emerged from the cave beside the others. He looked so different. His snow-white hide made him look like an old man, not to mention his white beard.

Although this savage looked very old, that did nothing to diminish his power. He was larger than every other savage present, almost twice their size. Allen could also sense waves of magical fluctuations coming from him. This savage could use magic and was far stronger than Allen. He estimated that the savage was at least comparable to a fourth- or fifth-rank mage. These magical fluctuations were completely unlike those of any mage he had encountered. They had a sense of harmony with nature that he had never felt before.

Allen was immediately captivated by this white behemoth and only came to his senses several minutes later. It was not because he lacked experience, but because this enormous savage was simply too awe-inspiring. Once he recovered, he noticed that the savages had begun cheering and circling the white savage after seeing him, as though performing some sort of ritual.

Then the white savage approached a stone platform. A strange Runes lay on it, blood-red and seemingly ominous. Allen stared straight ahead without blinking as the white savage placed a strange object on the Runes. His eyesight was good, and he recognized it at once. It had a white exterior with grayish-brown spots: it was the Winter Mushroom Allen had been searching so desperately for. What were these savages using a Winter Mushroom for?

Curious, he stayed. The white savage recited a few incantations he could not understand, and the blood-red Runes suddenly lit up. White smoke began rising from the stone platform. At that moment, he sensed a peculiar spiritual power spreading outward. When it reached him, he actually felt a sense of spiritual pleasure, and then his Mental Power began to grow slowly. Although the growth was not fast, it was already much faster than diligently practicing his cultivation formula.

That brief moment alone was comparable to half a month of cultivation. He greedily drew in all the white smoke dispersing around him, not even sparing the smoke near the savages. Soon, the savages also noticed something was wrong, because they had gained nothing from this ritual. However, their Mental Power was far inferior to Allen's, so they could not discern the problem.

After that, he no longer planned to leave. These savages could help him find Winter Mushrooms. As long as he followed them, he would surely find some, and he could also benefit from their rituals. He could tell that this strange ritual was an important means for the savages to improve themselves. It might even be the reason the white savage possessed such powerful magic.

A week later, having kept watch over the savages and observed them along the way, he found that they usually either went out to forage or stayed in the valley playing. Their territory was essentially fixed. As for the white savage, he had not seen him come out and move around since that first occasion.

And so he waited for a week. On this day, the savages that had gone out foraging returned. He had already given up tracking the ordinary savages. He knew that a ritual item as important to them as the Winter Mushroom was unlikely to be gathered by ordinary savages. It had to be that special white savage. All he needed to do was keep an eye on the white savage, but the savage seemed never to go out, leaving him waiting for an entire week.

That very day, after all the savages had returned, the white savage actually came out. Allen immediately followed him, keeping him within sight. Still, the white savage's coloring was so conspicuous in the green jungle that Allen could not possibly lose him.

Sure enough, the savage had gone out to gather Winter Mushrooms. He seemed highly resistant to their scent. In all these instances, Allen had never seen him affected by the Winter Mushrooms' hallucinatory fragrance. Allen also tried a few times from the sidelines and nearly fell into an illusion. It was only thanks to the protection of his Soul Space that he did not.

However, tracking him so many times made Allen thoroughly familiar with the Winter Mushrooms' usual growing locations and characteristics, and he began searching independently. He did not dare compete with this powerful savage, though. Not long before, he had seen a foolhardy magical beast attempt to ambush the savage. Without even using magic, the savage had slapped it dead. Allen had no desire to experience that kind of strength.

So he decided to search another section of the forest. At first, he found nothing and even encountered several magical beasts. Fortunately, none were particularly powerful, and he managed to escape in the end. Finally, after killing an Iron Centipede, he found his first Winter Mushroom.

Winter Mushrooms differed from other magical plants. Most other plants emitted magical fluctuations, so sensing the strength of the nearby magic was generally enough to locate them. Winter Mushrooms were different. Their hallucinatory fragrance could not only confuse enemies but also conceal their own magical fluctuations. They could even produce false magical fluctuations to lure enemies into groups of magical beasts.

Thus, Winter Mushrooms could not be found through ordinary methods. Even after finding them, one had to overcome their hallucinatory fragrance, or nothing could be done. Allen happened to meet all these requirements. Not only had he witnessed the savage's gathering method, but his own Mental Power was also strong enough. His progress would therefore be much faster from then on.

A month later, he finally emerged from Silverpine Forest. His appearance, however, left much to be desired. His clothes were ragged, his hair disheveled, and even his mage robe had numerous holes. He had also broken the rechargeable magic staff that had accompanied him for over a year. Fortunately, he had reaped a rich harvest this time, obtaining more than a dozen specimens weighing roughly one to two hundred grams in total. This was already a very substantial yield.

He had wanted to stay a little longer, but his supplies were running low. Most importantly, he had run out of Healing Potions. Without Healing Potions, the already unsafe Silverpine Forest became even more dangerous.

Not long before, he had encountered Stone Golems and used up the few advanced Healing Potions he had left before finally escaping in a sorry state. These Stone Golems were practically a mage's nemesis. The mutated stone covering their bodies was not only impervious to blades and spears but also highly resistant to magic.

Still, it had all been worth it. He no longer intended to hand over all the Winter Mushrooms. On the open market, these mushrooms were in demand but had no fixed price, and they could fetch a very high sum. After all, he was still badly short of gold coins.

After returning to Dalaran, the first thing he did was clean himself thoroughly and get a good night's sleep. The next day, he woke early as usual. This month of adventuring in the wilderness had restored that habit. No matter how exhausted or sleepy he was, he could always get up on time the following day.

After a quick wash and a meal, he went to the Association. "I'm here to turn in a mission. Mission 402." The clerk asked him to wait a moment, then took a mission log from beneath the desk. After finding mission 402, the clerk told him, "Mage, this mission was posted by Lord Rex, but you must turn it in to him in person. I'll notify him immediately that the mission has been completed. I believe he'll reply right away."

Allen nodded. He was now a Full Mage, and the missions he accepted were completely different from those he had taken as an apprentice. Aside from being able to accept and post missions voluntarily, he could negotiate the payment directly with the other party, apart from a certain commission paid to the Association. Compared with the compulsory missions of his apprenticeship, which offered barely any compensation, there was simply no comparison.

The receptionist soon contacted Rex and gave Allen a reply shortly afterward. "Mage, Lord Rex requests a meeting this afternoon at the nearby Clins Tavern. Would that suit you?" Allen felt he had nothing else to do lately, so he agreed. After leaving the Association, he stopped by George the Merchant's place along the way to have a look.