In Lawrence’s understanding, a caster, especially at the apprentice stage, must avoid charging into battle and keep a distance of at least twenty feet from the enemy.
As for the hard work of close combat, that’s what warriors are for.
The caster only needs to control the field and provide buffs to the team. If they have some long-range attack methods, they can use them as the situation permits under the protection of their teammates.
Although he is reluctant to admit it, he knows that with only a grasp of tricks, an apprentice caster’s combat capability in direct confrontation is hard to match against a warrior’s.
The damage from swords, bows, and crossbows is more direct and not limited by magic power reserves.
As for why caster apprentices don’t learn melee weapons? On one hand, people’s energy is limited; on the other hand, without sufficient physical support, even if they master melee weapons, they can’t perform effectively.
Instead, the distraction might delay their normal magical cultivation and even lead to difficulties in concentration.
Lawrence shook his head.
He had never encountered a caster apprentice as unique as Gauss.
You could say he’s not doing his proper duties, yet his magic practice is even better than Lawrence’s.
...
After killing five skeletons, a short rumbling sound echoed from deep within the dungeon.
The entire dungeon seemed to have been awakened by their arrival.
Everyone huddled together, cautiously guarding their surroundings.
After the rumbling subsided, for a long time, no new enemies appeared.
After being on guard for some time and seeing that nothing happened, they relaxed, each dispersing.
At the hall entrance, besides the five skeletons, there were no other enemies, but some trap triggers existed.
Considering that they might return to the hall multiple times, to avoid accidental triggering leading to danger, the wandering apprentice Edith decided to use tools to dismantle the mechanisms and traps.
Gauss and the others stood before three different passages, peering inside.
The three entrances were one straight ahead and two on the sides, leading straight into the depths of the distance.
"Let’s explore the left side first; it feels like the structure inside shouldn’t be too different," Lawrence proposed.
As the initiator of this dungeon exploration, he had considerable say in the team.
Moreover, their party was almost considered the strongest among bottom adventurers, and in facing a micro-dungeon, they naturally had the ambition to explore it completely.
So choosing which route to take first was simply a matter of order.
"Agreed," Sok nodded, too lazy to think.
His thoughts were simple most of the time: where to go, who to kill, and how to escape if they couldn’t win.
Especially when in a group, he would pass the responsibility of thinking directly to his teammates.
Gauss naturally had no objections.
He surveyed the surroundings; the inside of the dungeon was terrifyingly cold, being far from the surface. In the cramped, low space, without the illumination of his Light Spell, it would be almost pitch black.
The dark brown almost black rock walls were crisscrossed with ravines, and occasionally small droplets would drip from the crevices, hitting the ground with a hollow "drip... drip... drip..." sound, like some kind of countdown urging noise.
Listening to it for a long time gave an inexplicable feeling of restlessness and unease.
Fortunately, the Light Spell was bright enough; otherwise, even with torches or other lighting devices, staying in such an environment long-term, the oppressive atmosphere brought by darkness would be continually magnified, eventually causing some psychological issues.
This wasn’t him exaggerating; exploring under tens of meters deep underground, the pressure seeping from all around like a tide could only be felt if experienced firsthand.
After a while.
The wandering apprentice Edith completed the dismantling of the trap mechanisms.
The group continued in formation towards the predetermined left passage.
"Be careful!"
The passage was just wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side; inside, the air was even more decayed, and the team members constantly cleared their throats as they walked.
On the rock walls on both sides, there were some blurred, strange runes and totems, the lines chaotic and fragmented. Even if their meaning couldn’t be understood, one could feel the madness and unease within.
Those who couldn’t resist looking around felt dizzy soon after and shivered as if a cold wind blew through the previously quiet passage, filling their hearts with unease.
"Don’t look at them; there’s something wrong with the walls."
Gauss reminded them.
His reaction was quick, and as soon as he sensed the malice hidden in the wall runes, he immediately drew his gaze away.
After Gauss’s reminder, no one dared to look at the walls again, swallowing nervously and staring straight ahead, walking silently.
With the illumination effect of the Light Spell, the thick, deep darkness didn’t completely engulf them.
After walking a certain distance, the group finally exited the passage and arrived at a new room.
Having passed through the eerie passage, the team members collectively sighed in relief.
Looking at the room, what appeared before them was a space filled with purple.
All six walls of the room were covered with purple mushrooms, their mycelium deeply embedded into the dungeon’s rock walls, emitting a purple glow.
As the group stepped into the room, they stepped on the purple mushrooms, and with the pressure of their tread, a faint mist was expelled from the center of the mushroom caps.
"Careful, the air is toxic!"
After inhaling the air, slight dizziness began to appear in the brain, and someone immediately warned.
"Put on the gas masks."
Toxic gas was also one of the common crises encountered in dungeon exploration, hence before coming, they had prepared gas masks in advance.
Gauss quickly put on his mask, adjusting his forehead, as the toxic gas had also blurred his vision; after a brief pause, the double vision gradually faded.
It was for this reason he noticed a deficiency in his Mage Armor.
It couldn’t block the poison gas, but then again, if it blocked the air, he’d be unable to breathe.
While everyone was hesitating whether to temporarily withdraw.
From above.
Several slender forms suddenly fell from the purple sacs on the ceiling.
"Plop!"
The slender, unidentified creatures slowly stood up.
The group was finally able to see the creatures in full.
They were beings that seemed to have transformed from mushrooms.
Massive, cap-like heads held small, hollow eyes devoid of emotion. The grey-brown gill skin was curled and layered like waves of decay, giving a sense of uneasiness. The main body was like decomposed wood swollen with rain, with limbs made of bundled and twisted mycelium, which at the ends formed into fists and feet.
A tattered cloak woven from humus hung over their backs, fluttering and rustling violently in the poisonous air.
The mushroom people looked at the group, red light flickered in their empty eyes, and with a press of the wrist, the mycelium weapon they held pointed towards their direction!
The enemy appeared!
They were fully-grown mushroom people!
Information about this type of monster flashed in the minds of several people.
As they pondered, the passage behind them, with a "crack", had a barrier descend, blocking their retreat.
Turning their heads for a look, it was hopeless to return to the hall.
The anxious group could only focus their attention on the fully-grown mushroom people before them.
Generally speaking, mushroom people are intelligent beings capable of communication, often willing to exhibit friendliness.
But these few in front of them seemed different, their eyes emitted an uncontrolled chaotic dangerous glow, clearly in an abnormal state.
"Pluu pluu!"
Once the fully-grown mushroom people stood still, the glands beneath their skin began to release spores, which floated in the air and rapidly spread.
"Let’s go!"
After trying to speak some common language to the mushroom people without response, the group decided to go for a quick battle.
Their condition could only degrade further in the poisonous gas.
Against the mushroom people’s kind, using fire attacks would be best, but the team was now trapped in the same room, making fire attacks clearly inappropriate.
Warriors Liam and Sok stomped heavily on the ground, using the recoiling force to shoot their bodies swiftly towards the enemy, and every time they stomped, clusters of purple mushrooms grew recklessly like a carpet, getting crushed into pieces. Light purple liquid and poisonous gas continued to release.
"Swoosh!"
The sword swung like lightning cutting through the air.
The blade slashed onto the long arm holding the mushroom person’s weapon, severing the arm and weapon with it.
The nearby mushroom people, through telepathic spore connections, empathized with their companion’s pain and immediately lunged forward to shield the injured mushroom person from the two warriors.
The mycelium frantically lashed the shields, producing crisp whipping sounds.
The injured mushroom person retreated to the rear, with countless fine mycelium strands floating from its severed limb, slowly connecting to the wound. Amber sap quickly secreted at the connection point while innumerable tiny mycelium writhed and interwove like fine waves, rapidly reattaching the severed limb.
What strong regenerative ability!
Gauss watched with some envy.
He hadn’t forgotten that after collecting 20 types of Monster Atlas, he could proceed with the next talent draw.
If he could draw the mushroom people’s regenerative ability, then he wouldn’t have to worry about being injured.
Sadly, he was still far from reaching the number of 20, and even then, what specific talent could be drawn was not up to him to decide.
All he could do was kill the mushroom people in front of him and include them in his lottery pool.
He took out the White Bone Staff.
"Magic Missile!"
At the tip of the pure white staff, deep blue energy rapidly coalesced.
A missile formed with a hum, then targeted a certain mushroom person’s head following his intent.
The Magic Missile shot out with force!
"Boom!"
The Magic Missile was like an unfailing arrow, so far, once "leaving the bowstring," it had always hit the enemy.
It was no exception using it on the mushroom people this time.
Their actions were not swift enough to evade the Magic Missile.
"Bang!"
The Magic Missile hit a mushroom person’s massive cap-like head, exploding it just like a sniper bullet piercing through a watermelon.
Innumerable tiny mycelium scattered like drifting cotton fluff.
The deceased mushroom person didn’t even get to feel the tremendous pain of having its head blown off before the surviving mushroom people perceived it through the thought connection!
In an instant, all the mushroom people present convulsed wildly as if shocked, their heads trembling constantly.
"Killed one fully-grown mushroom person*1"
"Total number of monster kills: 111"
"Current variety of monster kills: 6"
"You have accumulated the kill of 1 fully-grown mushroom person."
"Earned the title [Mushroom Hunter], which upgrades as the number of kills increases."
"Current effect: Healing reduction. In battles against mushroom people and related advanced race creatures, injuries caused by attacks prevent the opponent from using self-healing abilities for 5 seconds."
Gauss nodded knowingly upon seeing the information reported from the Adventurer Atlas, understanding that mushroom people, like most creatures, had heads as their weak point.
They couldn’t regenerate when their heads were blown apart.
Moreover, the newly unlocked title ability also targeted and restricted the mushroom people’s healing capability.
Such targeted effects from these titles.
"Good opportunity!"
Others also captured the weakness of transmitting pain between mushroom people.
They swung their weapons forward one after another.
"Boom!"
When Gauss used Magic Missile, decapitating the second mushroom person.
The others had also settled the remaining fully-grown mushroom people.