Chapter 319

Though invisible to the ordinary eye, the existence of something called Black Fungus was undoubtedly confirmed by Tatsuro’s Spirit Eye and Cardina’s Dispel Magic.

Thanks to the Dragon Tool created by Leah, which automatically absorbs Dragon Force to form a protective barrier around the body, it was also confirmed that the Black Fungus was being repelled without making contact with their skin.

“Good. Looks like we’re fine. Anyone feeling off?”

Turning to check on everyone, they all appeared healthy with no signs of distress.

Thus, as planned, the group set out to hunt the Shubelg Fungus, heading toward their first target.

Along the way, they had Leah investigate the true nature of the Black Fungus, but since it wasn’t visible at a discernible level, the All-Seeing Eye couldn’t analyze it effectively.

“If it were just a bit bigger, maybe I could see it. Can’t we gather it like dust or something?”

“If it can be repelled with Magical Power, perhaps it could be guided to one spot.”

“Since it’s all contained within the Barrier, maybe we could make a tiny version of that here and compress it.”

“So, we set up a Barrier in one area and gather a ton of it inside. Alright, let’s try it—Tsukuyomi.”

When it came to Barriers, it was time for Tsukuyomi, who possessed the Dragon Barrier skill, to shine.

As the core inside Tatsuro’s coat glowed brightly, wings for flight unfurled from his back, and with Amaterasu’s assistance, he shot straight upward.

“No obstacles up here, so it should be easy to work with. Go for it.”

In response to Tatsuro’s voice, Tsukuyomi generated six massive Dragon Barriers, assembling them into a cube shape.

Once the interior of the box was fully sealed, the enormous six-sided Dragon Barrier began to shrink.

When it was reduced to a one-centimeter Perfect Cube resting on Tatsuro’s palm, a faint, dark mist-like substance became visible to the naked eye.

“This method works. If we gather and combine more, we might make it fully visible. Keep going at this pace.”

The core flashed brightly to signal agreement, and using Tatsuro’s Dragon Force along with the combined computational power of Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, it produced hundreds of massive Dragon Barrier panels at once. Moving through various locations to collect samples, a cube containing a large amount of Black Fungus soon floated above Tatsuro’s hand.

“Now, combine them into one.”

At Tatsuro’s command, the small cubes began to merge, forming a larger Perfect Cube. The boundaries between them vanished, creating a single, seamless cube.

As it shrank further, a pitch-black mist became clearly visible to the naked eye.

“This should be enough for the All-Seeing Eye to figure out what it is,” Tatsuro said, descending to where Ai and the others waited. He immediately showed the cube packed with Black Fungus to Leah.

Leah detached the Spider Legs from her machine and stepped onto the ground, intently observing the cube and analyzing the black mist within using her All-Seeing Eye.

“…This is… remnants of a Magical Beast? …Or rather, something that failed to become one?”

“Failed to become one? So, something that couldn’t turn into a Magical Beast?”

“More like something trying to become one but failing for some reason, causing its power to scatter… or so it seems. Do you remember the black vortexes that appear when bosses emerge in dungeons?”

“Yes, I remember. Before meeting Leah, we even destroyed a vortex that was creating an Imomu.”

“Really? Well, anyway, this black mist can be thought of as fragments of those vortexes. Each fragment contains the power to become a Magical Beast, so if it touches one, it simply merges as part of that beast. But if a human touches it, it tries to forcibly turn their body into a Magical Beast, which the body rejects. Unable to integrate, the Black Fungus engulfs the cells, leading to blackening and ultimately shutting down bodily functions… That’s the truth of it. If infected by this, the only option would be to cut off the affected part. It melds so deeply with the body, trying to become one with it, so everyone, absolutely do not deactivate your Dragon Force barriers here. This is dangerous even to Magical Entities.”

“So, it’s the remnants of a failed Magical Beast. And since it’s still being endlessly produced, the Source—likely a black vortex producing Magical Beasts on Wind Mountain—is appearing for some reason but is being disrupted, scattering its power. That power then flows down from the mountain, eroding this forest?”

“That’s what I think. But here’s where another question arises.”

Leah raised her right index finger, looking at everyone. Ai responded.

“What’s that?”

“These don’t contain the kind of effect that promotes the growth of Magical Beasts, as you or Tatsuro initially suggested. They might slightly boost Magical Power, but they can’t shorten a century-long growth period.”

“So, you’re saying the fact that twelve fully mature Shubelg Funguses, a rare Magical Beast, are thriving here has some other reason?”

“Exactly, Athena. If it were just one, you could argue that an Imomu’s pupa survived a hundred years without being eaten by other Magical Beasts or that a subspecies of Imomu grew abnormally fast, reaching maturity quickly. But for twelve fully mature ones to appear suddenly? That’s like hitting a one-in-a-million chance twelve times in a row—an impossible situation.”

“So, there’s another mystery besides the Black Fungus. That’s a bit unsettling. But that’s not part of our request, so for now, let’s focus on taking down the Shubelg—er, Shube-dono—and eliminating the Black Fungus Source. If there’s something else, we can come back and investigate later when things settle down.”

“Indeed. Let’s hurry up and go for the hunt.”

“Peewee!”

“Neigh!”

Leah still seemed eager to investigate the cause, but she quickly shifted gears as they approached the location of the Shubelg Fungus and fully entered her machine.

After a brisk walk for a few dozen minutes, Tatsuro’s group came within 150 meters of three Shubelg Fungus subspecies in the midst of devouring a beast-type Magical Beast.

“Let’s take down those three first. The others don’t seem much different in ability, so this’ll be a good test for what’s to come.”

“And you want to use Level Eater too, right?”

“Yeah. If possible, I’d like to capture those three alive. They’ve gotta be worth more SP than your average Magical Beast.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper fight!”

While Athena gleamed with excitement at the sight of the impressively large insectoid creatures, Leah zoomed in with her camera, finishing her analysis of their skill composition with the All-Seeing Eye.

“All three have different skill levels, but their skill compositions are the same,” she said, listing them:

• Rapid Growth
• Plants’ Support
• Kin Enhancement
• Scratch
• Poison Stinger
• High-Speed Flight
• Shockwave
• Wing Blade

The top group had no levels, while the bottom group had leveled skills.

Explaining the rarer skills:

• Rapid Growth: A skill that drastically increases growth speed.
• Plants’ Support: A skill that strengthens the user the more plants are nearby.
• Kin Enhancement: A skill that strengthens the user the more of their kind are nearby.
• High-Speed Flight: An advanced version of Flight, specialized for high-speed movement.
• Shockwave: A type of Wind Magic that releases concentrated wind from a distance.

Currently, the effects of two of these skills were boosting their overall power.

“So, Rapid Growth let them become Imomu Papas, and it’s easier to take them down when there are fewer plants and fewer of them around.”

“Yes. It’s curious why every individual has a skill like Rapid Growth… But putting that aside, I found something else concerning.”

“What’s that?”

“As far as I can tell, those three are Magical Beasts that have been tamed by someone.”

“Tamed… So, you’re saying those over there—and possibly all the Shubelg Funguses in this forest—might not be wild Magical Beasts?”

“Right. So, I have a hypothesis: There was a Tamer here with a special skill that could grant Rapid Growth to Imomus and maintain twelve Shubelg Funguses. But while exploring this forest, they fell victim to the Black Fungus and died. As a result, the masterless Shubelg Funguses became semi-wild. That explanation fits, more or less.”

“Couldn’t they be controlled from outside the Barrier?”

“It’s not impossible, but the intent is unclear, and the fact that their orders seem significantly faded suggests the master hasn’t been in contact for a long time.”

“So, it’s more natural to assume the Tamer died somewhere in this forest. But in that case, how do we handle the Magical Beasts? Is it okay to just take them down?”

“It should be fine. Even if the Tamer is alive, this is already a nuisance, and since it’s an official request from the Adventurer’s Guild, any issues can be pushed back onto the requester for insufficient investigation.”

“Leah’s pretty sharp about these things, huh? But if that’s the case, we can go all out.”

Though an unexpected situation came to light, it didn’t seem to affect their next steps, so Tatsuro and the others felt relieved and ready to move into combat.

“Alright, let’s get started. I want to secure those three for Level Eater, so I’ll handle it. Tsukuyomi, make sure they don’t escape.”

Confirming that Water Orbs floated behind him like a Thunder Drum, Tatsuro aimed Amaterasu’s Staff at the three still-feeding creatures, forming a magical image.

Preparations were quickly complete, and with a glance to signal the others, he fired a one-meter-wide, power-adjusted Laser.

““Giii—!””

The two creatures not facing Tatsuro’s group, startled by the sudden light, dropped chunks of meat from their mouths and looked up, attempting to flee into the sky.

But before they could, the Laser split into needle-like beams, scattering over a wide area.

“““Giiiii!?”””

Each thin Laser exploded upon impact, riddling the two attempting to float and the one slow to react with tiny holes, leaving them tattered and collapsed on the ground.

“Now for the rest—”

The moment they fell, Tatsuro manipulated the ground with Earth Magic, entangling their bodies to pin them down.

“Three secured—huh?”

“Whoa, they broke free with brute force.”

Despite being hit by small-scale explosions all over, they used Shockwave to blast away the entangling earth, charging forward with their six legs as if uninjured.

“They’re pretty tough. Hard to hold back with these guys.”

“““Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”””

“What noisy bugs.”

The three charged with a deafening cry that would make a cicada in midsummer pale, loud enough to make an average person faint.

It was quite a spectacle, but to Tatsuro and the others, they were just slightly stubborn pests.

Without panicking, Ai stepped forward.

“If we’re not killing them, leave it to me!”

“Oh, sure. Go for it. Magic makes it tricky to gauge how much is too much.”

Ai swiftly drew her Gem Sword, pulled the trigger to activate the Magic Brain, and as the enemy entered a five-meter range, cloaked herself in the Lion’s Mantle blade.

“They’re full of energy, so as long as they’ve got a head and body, they’ll survive—right!”

“““Giii…?”””

In an instant, Ai closed the distance, swinging her Gem Sword freely, severing the legs, wings, and tails of all three.

It was so fast they didn’t even notice their body parts were gone, moving forward confusedly until they realized they couldn’t move.

When they finally noticed, they screeched “Giiii!” again, unleashing Shockwaves repeatedly.

But these were blocked by Tsukuyomi’s Dragon Barrier, and they were soon trapped within walls of Dragon Force.

Still, the Shubelg Funguses didn’t give up, continuing to cry out.

“—Tatsuro, doesn’t it seem like they’re trying to call their allies?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. And it looks like you’re spot on.”

Responding to Leah’s voice from the machine, Tatsuro, synced with Cardina’s Dispel Magic, confirmed that the remaining nine were heading straight for them.

The enemy had a skill that made them stronger the more of their kind were gathered.

If they were raised by the same Tamer, the others likely had it too.

To an average adventurer, a Shubelg Fungus was something to flee from on sight.

The idea of an enhanced subspecies growing even stronger in a group would terrify most—but Tatsuro’s group remained utterly relaxed.

“They’re coming to us? Looks like we’ll get home early today!”

“How strong will they get with all twelve together? I’m excited!”

“They’re not opponents we’ll lose to, but don’t get too cocky.”

The atmosphere was so lax that Tatsuro felt the need to caution them, though he himself was as laid-back as ever.

“Alright, we’ll deal with these three first, then head over. Handle the nine until then.”

“Can we kill them?”

“Well, we’ve got three secured, so go ahead and go wild.”

“Here comes the hype!”

Like moths to a flame—though the temperature here was a bit chilly for that analogy—Tatsuro thought as he approached the captured three to use Level Eater, leaving the incoming nine Shubelg Funguses to Ai and the others.