Infiltration

At the foot of the stairs leading to the Sixth Floor.

Several oversized Ox-Horse Pujis and Mycelium Tentacles busily packed up the last of the monster remains.

Once this haul was finished, all of the Pujis' gains from the Magic Tide would have been moved back to the Mushroom Garden.

Thanks to the enormous amount of fertilizer and abundant magic power, in just over a week, mushroom patches of all sizes had begun to take shape across the floor.

In another week or so, it might even become more prosperous than before the Magic Tide.

Even Linden had to admire the Mushroom clan's growth rate.

Of course, that excluded Venom Lake.

The pollution in Venom Lake had become even worse than before.

At first, only a ring around the lake had become dead land. Now, it had expanded to within five hundred meters.

Linden regretted not taking a closer look at that Two-headed Snake's skills.

What kind of poison was this vicious?

Fortunately, the spread had finally stopped over the past two days. He just did not know how long it would take for the ecosystem to return to normal.

As for the Mirages in the lake—

An oversized Ox-Horse Puji, two meters tall, had its belly stuffed full of harvested mushrooms.

It entered the poisonous zone and trudged toward the lake, leaving a footprint with every step.

It left footprints because each time it stepped on the ground, the foot touching it was corroded away by a layer of venom.

Only because this Puji was so large did it still have a little of its feet left by the time it reached the lake.

Then the entire mushroom rolled down the slope, tumbling into the lake with a belly full of mushrooms.

The Mirages that had been waiting in the lake for so long swarmed over it and began their once-every-two-days feast.

Linden had ultimately decided to raise them. After all, this lake could no longer be used for anything else besides keeping them.

These creatures were not very aggressive. At most, they spat venom, and they only moved around in the lake instead of wandering off.

And since they lived in Venom Lake, even if Adventurers passed by later, it would be difficult for them to set their sights on them.

Naturally, he was raising them for harvest.

Mirages averaged only around level ten and were small in size. The magic power and experience they provided were negligible.

The only valuable things were Underwater Adaptation and Scale Armor, especially Scale Armor.

After breaking down a large number of Dragon Beasts with the Scale Armor skill, Linden had naturally acquired the skill himself.

Then he discovered that this thing was genuinely more convenient than the shell Linden had been using!

Compared to a shell, Scale Armor offered respectable defense while also being lighter and more flexible.

And now he had these Mirages as a stable source.

In the future, probably only Excavator Pujis would still use shells to smash rocks.

While the Mushroom Garden flourished, Linden also began setting his sights on the other floors.

Although he did not know why human Adventurers had not resumed their activities even though the Magic Tide had ended so long ago,

it was not a bad thing for Linden.

Taking advantage of this period, Linden sent quite a few Pujis out.

They did nothing else, only scattering some Spores in corners of the first four floors or places difficult for monsters to reach, growing a few mushrooms as outer surveillance posts.

Although too little Mycelium in one place could not form an image and could only sense magic power fluctuations,

these small points could also serve as relay stations connecting the large Fungal Carpets outside back to the Fifth Floor.

As for why he wanted to set up large Fungal Carpets outside?

Naturally, it was because Linden could not bear to see monster corpses from the other floors go to waste!

When the time came, Linden could break down the corpses and obtain magic power and skills.

Then he could grow some mushrooms as food to supplement each floor's ecological cycle, giving everyone a bright future.

Unfortunately, the Mushroom Garden had too much to rebuild lately, and there were still not enough Pujis.

He could only start with the less dangerous upper floors.

As for the lower floors?

If he sent too few Pujis, the local monsters would eat them clean before they could finish their mission.

At the Dungeon entrance, two guards responsible for watching the gate sat beside a campfire.

The bonfire swayed slightly in the night wind. Aiden poked his iron sword into the fire and stirred it twice, sending a few sparks onto his chainmail.

"It's freezing. I really want to go back and have a bowl of meat soup right now." The rookie beside him rubbed his shoulders as he complained, "Senior, what is the point of the Guild making us guard this place? If those Adventurers want to go down, could we even stop them?"

Aiden glanced at him, removed the wineskin from his waist, took a drink himself, and only then handed it to the rookie.

"You sure have a lot to say, kid. A post is a post wherever you stand guard. What, if you were guarding over in town, would you get to drink meat soup?"

The rookie took the wineskin and gulped down two mouthfuls.

The alcohol flowed into his stomach, warming him up considerably.

"How is it the same, Senior? Look at that." The rookie pointed at the dark red stain on a rock. "I heard lots of people died here that day. What if a vengeful spirit was born?"

Aiden simply stared at the rookie until the young man began to squirm awkwardly. Then he burst out laughing.

"Listen to fewer bard tales. A vengeful spirit? If a few deaths were enough to create one, the Dungeon would have been packed with them by now!"

"I... I was just saying it. I didn't really think that..."

Rustle—

Both men stopped talking and looked toward the source of the sound.

Aiden even raised a whistle to his lips.

The rookie's faintly timid voice came from beside him. "It can't really be a vengeful spirit, right..."

"What are you thinking?"

Aiden took out a crude torch, lit it from the bonfire, and slowly approached the tree beneath which the sound had come from.

After sweeping his iron sword back and forth through the bushes and grass several times, he found nothing.

Only then did Aiden return to the campfire and mercilessly mock the rookie.

"Probably some small animal. Look how scared you got. With guts like that, you won't get anywhere."

The rookie, who really had been frightened earlier, could only sit down sheepishly, muttering things like, "I just didn't react in time," and, "I'm only drunk."

Neither of them noticed that two rows of faint footprints had appeared behind them at some point, stretching all the way into the Dungeon.

First Floor of the Dungeon.

The light beside a stone wall blurred, revealing two young men crouched against it.

"Sc-sc-sc... scared me to death!" The young man in robes trembled all over. "Gray, you have no idea. That sword was this close to hitting me! It really was this close!"

Gray, dressed like a warrior, looked speechlessly at his companion and friend—Calvin.

"Wasn't it because you insisted on getting closer to hear what they were saying, then got scared by some vengeful spirit...

Aren't you a Mage? You study stranger and stranger magic materials every day. How can you be scared of something like a vengeful spirit?"

At the mention of vengeful spirits, Calvin, who had finally calmed down, started shaking again. "W-what do you know! I saw one when I was with my teacher, so of course I'm scared! You'd be scared too if you ran into one!"

"Yes, yes." Gray looked like he could not be bothered to argue. "You're already this scared, and we still want to go down? Why not cast Invisibility Art again and head back?"

Calvin grabbed Gray's arm at once.

"How could we?

If I don't get the Parasitic Tree Seed, how am I supposed to brew Truth Potion?

If I can't brew the potion, how am I supposed to turn in my assignment?

If I fail to turn in my assignment again this time, my teacher will definitely punish me by making me a casting subject for that Duke's daughter with peculiar tastes, then watch me get turned into a Puji!

Gray, you have to help me this time. Don't forget, when you were constipated last time, I was the one who mixed you a Laxative Potion!"

"Did making me have diarrhea for an entire day count as helping?"

"Just tell me whether it cleared you out or not!"