Chapter 34 – Surrounded by Puffcaps

At the foot of the stairway between the Fourth and Fifth Strata, a campfire burned quietly. Its flickering light illuminated the cross sections of the circular stone steps around it.

Inigo and his Pantherkin companion, Miro, rested against the wall.

Their original plan had been to reach the Fifth Stratum in half a day. In the end, the journey took a day and a half.

The reason was simple. They had gotten lost.

They assumed their memories from two years ago would guide them down easily, so they had not bought a map.

Only after entering the dungeon did they discover that those memories were not nearly as clear as expected.

By the time they finished wandering in circles, exhaustion forced them to rest.

They did not take turns standing watch. Confident in their safety, both slept at once.

For one thing, they were inside a stairway, a safe area no monster could enter.

For another, the keen senses and instinctive vigilance of Beastkin would awaken them as soon as another adventurer approached.

That was precisely what happened now. Two faint puffing sounds made Inigo’s ears stand upright even in his sleep.

He did not move immediately. Instead, he opened his tiger eyes to narrow slits and glanced toward the source.

A mutated Puffcap stood at the entrance, a place no monster should ever have been able to reach.

The Puffcap appeared equally surprised to encounter them. It remained motionless in the doorway.

After a long moment, it began to retreat quietly. It stretched its pair of short legs as far as possible with every slow step, this time without making even the faintest puff.

It had almost withdrawn to the Fifth Stratum when the Pantherkin moved before Inigo could even rise.

Like a streak of black lightning, Miro vanished. In the blink of an eye, he returned to the fire with half a Puffcap in each hand.

He tossed the two halves onto the ground. There was no triumph on his face. Instead, he frowned.

“No wonder the Guild issued this quest personally. I’m afraid it won’t be simple.”

Inigo nodded in agreement and studied the creature’s exposed interior.

“It ignored the dungeon’s rules, displayed obvious intelligence, and its structure has plainly undergone extensive mutation.”

“Should we go back and prepare more thoroughly?”

What Miro meant was that they should recruit one or two more Gold-rank adventurers.

Their healer and support specialist had died in the mists of the islands, leaving only two offensive fighters in the party.

It was an extremely unhealthy composition.

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They had only just returned to Hushwind in disgrace and had no time to gather information before seeing the quest.

An A-grade commission on a relatively simple stratum like the fifth had looked like easy money.

Even without support, two Gold-rank adventurers should have been more than enough.

Now, however, a monster had entered a safe zone in defiance of common sense.

Miro suspected the quest might be far more dangerous than expected.

He was beginning to consider retreat.

Inigo stared into the fire for a moment, then crushed the Puffcap on the ground beneath one foot.

“We’ve come this far. We keep going. These walking mushrooms are strange, but they aren’t much of a threat.”

Turning back now would make him a laughingstock among the people who knew him. Still, as a precaution, he added one condition.

“If we find real danger, we can retreat then. Even if we can’t win, surely we can escape.”

Inigo’s confidence was not unfounded. As feline Beastkin, both he and Miro possessed skills related to speed.

If they could not escape even by running at full strength, something would be terribly wrong.

This was only the Fifth Stratum.

Miro found no fault in the reasoning and nodded his agreement.

They had rested long enough. The two extinguished the fire and entered the Fifth Stratum.

“Was the Fifth Stratum always this dark?”

Only a few mushrooms glowed faintly in the distance. Not a single stalk of Glowgrass could be seen.

“I don’t think so...”

Fortunately, both men possessed night vision, so the darkness caused little inconvenience.

The quest required them to investigate the entire stratum, with particular emphasis on the Marsh Zone.

Inigo decided to examine the other three regions first. That would let them estimate the difficulty of the quest before deciding whether to enter the marsh.

After half a day, however, strange expressions appeared on both their faces.

They had already visited the caverns and Poisonmist Lake without seeing a single Puffcap.

If they had not encountered one Slime along the way, Inigo might have suspected the entire stratum had been emptied.

* * *

What were these two Beastkin doing?

First, they caught the Puffcap sneaking up to the Fourth Stratum. Now they were wandering back and forth as if taking a leisurely stroll.

As usual, Evan moved the Puffcaps away in advance so they would not encounter these high-ranking adventurers.

Their current behavior, however, made him wonder whether they had come specifically for him.

Under Evan’s watch, the pair left the caverns and headed directly for the marsh instead of entering the forest as he expected.

Tch. Troublesome.

Now he had no choice but to stop them. The Marsh Zone was his absolute boundary.

* * *

A Spore Cannon blast struck the ground in front of the two Beastkin, splashing them with filthy water.

Inigo studied the ten Puffcaps that had appeared before them. After that single shot, they made no further move.

Was this meant as... a warning?

Were these mushrooms truly that intelligent?

Inigo glanced at Miro and found his companion already watching him, waiting for a decision.

The walking mushrooms’ attacks were undeniably powerful. Even Inigo and Miro would be injured by a direct hit.

But power meant nothing if the attack could not land.

There were only ten walking mushrooms.

Inigo signaled to his companion with his eyes. The Pantherkin understood.

In the next instant, both activated Haste and charged from opposite sides.

The Puffcaps reacted quickly, opening fire the moment the pair moved.

The two Beastkin lowered their bodies and nimbly dodged several Spore Cannon blasts.

Within moments, Inigo and Miro had plunged into the Puffcap formation.

Miro worshiped raw strength. His leopard claws tore through several Puffcaps in succession.

Inigo drew a crimson saber from his back. Its blade could even split apart the spheres of mana fired by the Spore Cannons.

The ten Puffcaps were soon annihilated.

Miro instinctively started to lick his claws, then remembered he had killed Puffcaps. There was no blood on them, only filthy water. He pulled back his tongue just in time.

“No wonder it’s an A-grade quest. These walking mushrooms are organized and know how to cooperate.”

“They’re still only mushrooms.”

Inigo sheathed his saber and prepared to continue deeper into the marsh. He had taken only one step when he stopped again.

“Miro, does it seem brighter around us?”

“Now that you mention it...”

The two looked around. At the edge of their vision, points of dim light joined into a continuous glow. It grew brighter and drew closer.

Both their expressions darkened completely.

Puffcaps. Countless Puffcaps glowing with Bioluminescence had surrounded them.

Miro swallowed with difficulty. “How... how many are there?”

“Three hundred? Five hundred? More?” Inigo drew a deep breath and unsheathed his crimson saber again. “Too many to count. Prepare to break out...”