Chapter 28 – Deep-Strata Caverns Were Easier

While Dylan spread the new “guide,” Evan kept busy with work of his own.

His research into [Parasitic Fusion] was almost complete. It was time to use up these woefully inefficient Gnolls.

After the recent clashes with adventurers, almost no one below Silver rank ventured casually onto the Fifth Stratum anymore.

Only a handful of high-ranking adventurers still came, and their sole purpose was to reach the lower strata.

As long as they did not try to cross the Marsh Zone, Evan ordered the Puffcaps to avoid them.

Hyphae and mushrooms had gradually spread almost everywhere, so he could detect the adventurers early and move his forces out of their path.

With Silver-rank adventurers avoiding the Fifth Stratum, the caverns had naturally been left undisturbed.

The Crystal Bats and Rock Lizards living there had enjoyed the change more than anyone. Without those troublesome adventurers, they could roam the entire cavern system in search of food.

Their happiness did not last.

Evan arrived with his Gnolls and Puffcaps.

The Rock Lizards could wait. Their stone armor was so heavy that any Puffcap equipped with it would probably become a stationary turret.

The Crystal Bats’ [Crystal Symbiosis], however, was a valuable skill.

It allowed them to consume Mana Crystals, transform the crystals inside their bodies, and eventually make them part of themselves, strengthening the power of their skills.

There would have been nothing remarkable about a skill that merely attached Mana Crystals to the body.

Evan was hardly short on firepower. If one Spore Cannon could not solve a problem, he could fire ten. He could produce as many Puffcaps as he wanted.

Crystal Symbiosis, however, had a hidden effect. It could refine the crystals!

Evan realized this only after noticing that the Mana Crystals on many Crystal Bats’ wings were a full grade better than the ones mined from the caverns.

Admittedly, the skill only refined them from D grade to C grade.

That was merely because the Crystal Bats had low skill levels, generally between LV3 and LV4. They could not display the skill’s true potential.

If the skill reached a high enough level, could Evan heap together a mass of mostly useless low-grade Mana Crystals and refine them into one large S-grade Mana Crystal?

He did not know whether it would work, but it was worth trying!

Gnolls and Puffcaps flooded into the caverns in a great tide. The monsters immediately sensed the threat and grew restless.

They were only on the same general level as Ember Gnats. Evan did not take them seriously.

The Puffcaps unleashed one crisp volley. After the violent shaking finally subsided, nothing remained.

The Crystal Bats were gone. The Rock Lizards were gone. Even the cavern entrance was gone.

What?

Was it really that fragile?

Back when Evan was in the Deep Strata... wait.

The Earthborers had excavated the caverns and tunnels in the Deep Strata. As they dug, they expelled the stone they consumed around their bodies, reinforcing the surrounding rock.

That was why the Puffcaps could bombard those tunnels without worrying too much about a collapse.

Evan had almost forgotten that the caverns on the Fifth Stratum were the normal kind.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Fortunately, the collapse was not complete. After the Gnolls cleared rubble for half a day, they finally reopened the entrance.

What now?

He could not use his prized Spore Cannons. Detonation was presumably out of the question as well.

He had taken quite a few skills from adventurers lately, but their levels were too low to be useful.

Was he truly going to rely on these few dozen Gnolls?

Without Spore Cannons, these useless Gnolls could barely cut through a Rock Lizard’s shell. He could not count on them.

Wonderful. His cavern expedition had reached an impasse before it even began.

With no better option, Evan opened his Status Panel and searched the cluttered heap of skills for inspiration.

Magic?

Thanks to the adventurers’ contributions, he had finally assembled Mana Control. Spells, however, had to be learned. Where was he supposed to study them?

Magic was out.

Carapace combined with Rolling Charge?

He pictured the thick stone shells on the Rock Lizards and dismissed the thought.

Slime Digestive Ooze, or the Caustic Acid skill he had recently acquired?

They might work on the bats, but surely they would do nothing against stone armor.

The more Evan considered the problem, the more he realized that the turtle-like Rock Lizards were the hardest enemies to handle.

Come to think of it, were they vulnerable to poison?

With “crystal” and “rock” in their names, they sounded so much like inorganic matter that poison had never occurred to Evan.

It had also been a long time since he used poison in battle.

There was only one way to find out. Evan accelerated production and sent several spore Puffcaps into the cavern, spraying spores as they went.

A purple haze soon filled the tunnels.

The narrow caverns kept the spores from dispersing. Crystal Bats dropped one after another from the ceiling, and the Rock Lizards soon collapsed and lay still.

They really were vulnerable to poison!

It was even easier than Evan’s original plan for a direct assault.

The Puffcaps dragged the monsters outside and turned the first group into fertilizer.

[Sin of Greed triggered.]

[Skill Plundered: Crystal Symbiosis LV1]

[Skill Plundered: Infrasonic Attack LV1]

[Skill Plundered: Echolocation LV1]

[Skill Plundered: Stone Eater LV1]

...

Unfortunately, the cavern passages branched in every direction. Evan had no idea how deep they went.

A few spore Puffcaps could not clear the entire system.

He would have to wait until he produced them in greater numbers before continuing.

In the end, the Gnolls had done nothing at all!

They were so useless that even spending their lives proved difficult.

Evan had good reason to be eager to get rid of them.

The parasitized Gnolls had mushrooms all over their bodies. Anyone who saw them would immediately think of Puffcaps.

The Puffcaps had already earned enough hatred by occupying an entire stratum. If people discovered they could parasitize and control humans just like Parasitic Trees, the consequences would be disastrous.

Evan was destroying evidence.

If necessary... he could simply decompose the Gnolls.

The trouble was that decomposition would yield only mana. As with the people controlled by Parasitic Trees, creatures completely parasitized by Evan produced no skills when decomposed.

He still had not understood the principle behind it.

Evan was used to that. Amethyst Deep contained far too many things he did not understand.

Who had established the “rules” governing the stairways between dungeon strata?

How did the dungeon move an entire Hidden Chamber?

When the stone door vanished from the marsh, Evan had not sensed the slightest disturbance.

He now strongly suspected that the Hidden Chamber moved at the same time its treasure chest refreshed. The last time it happened, Evan himself might have been transported along with the chamber.

Yet he had noticed nothing from inside.

Evan needed to learn more about the dungeon itself.

Perhaps Dylan would know how when he returned.

* * *

Someone knocked softly on the guest room door. A young adventurer named Vera, who had briefly met the bandaged Dylan, called from the hallway.

“Faye, Fiona, are you in there?”

Inside, the twin sisters exchanged a glance. Wearing only their underclothes, they hurried to dress before letting Vera enter.

“What do you want this late?”

Faye, the elder sister, wore an expression that promised suffering if Vera had no good reason to disturb them.

Vera seemed not to notice. Excitement covered his face as he handed Faye a sheet of notes.

“The latest guide to the Fifth Stratum?” Faye skimmed several lines, her expression turning strange. “Isn’t this a little too detailed? Where did you get it?”

“I bought it for fifty silver coins from an adventurer named Dylan. He said we got along well, so he added a piece of special intelligence at the end.”

“Fifty silver coins!?” Faye’s voice rose to a squeak. They got along well? It sounded more like a confidence trick. “That much? Don’t tell me you were cheated again.”

Several unpleasant memories involving her childhood friend surfaced in Faye’s mind. She was already tempted to beat Vera.

Vera knew exactly what she meant and rushed to explain.

“I asked the tavern keeper. He knows Dylan. The man became an adventurer here a long time ago and has a decent reputation. He retired for a while, but it looks like he recently returned to the trade.

“All things considered, the information has some credibility. More importantly, look at what the guide says. If it’s true, fifty silver coins were absolutely worth it.”

Faye pouted down at the “guide.” The purchase had already been made, so what else could she do?

If it turned out to be false, she would hang Vera up and beat him.

While Vera and Faye carried on like a bickering couple, Fiona, the other twin, watched silently as though she were invisible.

Of the three, she was the one who never objected to anything. Whatever the other two decided was fine with her.