"Bang!"
The bodies of the Mushroom People scattered across the ground.
After the team killed all the adult Mushroom People, the fence behind them was retracted again with a series of "click-click" sounds.
At the same time, the mushroom colonies growing like carpet on the six walls suddenly began to wither and decay in large patches.
As if with the death of the adult Mushroom People, they too were deprived of life force, quickly shriveling up, becoming small grayish withered fungal carpets.
"It’s over!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Just at the moment the fence fell, there was a bit of panic among them, feeling like they had become trapped prisoners.
Fortunately, after successfully dealing with the Mushroom People, everything returned to normal.
"Why does this feel like a training ground?" Gauss shook his head, as this dungeon did not specifically trap them, and the blockage was lifted after the battle ended.
The purpose was to make them fight the Mushroom People.
"Indeed." Lawrence agreed with Gauss’s perspective. "Many say these dungeons are training camps used by the Lost Realm to train their own warriors."
"Kill monsters, clear stages, gain loot, rest, and continue."
"But I don’t know the specifics either, it’s just what I’ve heard from others."
Gauss nodded.
Bottom adventurers like them didn’t need to worry about too much useless information; they just needed to know this place could yield loot and hone their skills.
"Boom!"
After all the mushrooms had withered, a stone pillar slowly rose from the flat floor in the center of the room amidst a rumbling noise.
In the central groove of the stone pillar, several small peculiar items were placed.
Gauss and the others crowded forward.
They discovered that on the stone platform were three amber-colored gel spheres, with purple fungus-like lines inside them, and deeper inside were densely packed compressed spores resembling fish eggs.
"Spore Bombs!"
For some reason, at the moment they saw the spheres, a voice simultaneously echoed in everyone’s mind.
The group quickly exchanged glances.
Instantly understanding the role of the three spore bombs as loot.
Once thrown, the high-pressure spores released can generate tremendous impact, causing damage to enemies or terrain.
Of course, it’s worth noting that the user needs to maintain a distance as well, as they aren’t intelligent enough to be immune to harming "allies."
In short, they are highly powerful one-time-use items.
"Let’s put them away first." Lawrence signaled the Wandering Apprentice Edith to take action. "Be careful, my little body can’t withstand their explosions."
"Don’t worry."
Edith nodded, taking out a small cloth bag with padding to carefully pack the three spore bombs inside.
"We might need them in our future dungeon exploration."
"If we don’t use them, we can discuss how to split the profits later."
The others had no objections either.
At this moment, Gauss was immersed in a special feeling.
After the acquisition of the spore bombs.
He sensed a special change in the environment and body, an indescribable peculiar sensation.
Some invisible energy in the air slowly seeped into a few magic models engraved deep within his will in his brain.
Opening the Adventurer’s Handbook.
Sure enough.
There were new changes.
"Entered special map, Forgetfulness Country, micro-dungeon."
"Skill Mage Armor proficiency +1."
"Mage Armor Level 3 (27/50)"
"Skill Magic Missile proficiency +1."
"Magic Missile Level 2 (19/20)"
"!!"
Two skills increased by 1 point in proficiency.
Was it because we just cleared this "Mushroom Monster Room"?
Gauss’s gaze subtly scanned the faces of the others.
Noticing they showed no sign of any anomaly.
So this skill proficiency reward only appears on me? Is it because I have an attribute panel that can fix it, or is there another reason?
He judged that the others probably didn’t experience his situation; although there was no artifact like a panel to digitize skills for them.
But he first sensed something unusual, relying on his awareness because he felt the mastery of several spells engraved in his will improved, and then he checked the panel for confirmation.
If others had such abrupt skill boosts, they should more or less notice some anomaly.
Gauss swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Looking at the dungeon room extending further ahead.
While 1 point in proficiency might not seem much, there are many rooms here.
This dungeon indeed seemed to be the right place.
He didn’t expect to gain additional benefits while exploring here.
Could this really be some ancient civilization’s training ground? But why is it that only he can improve? Is it really just because of the panel?
If others could also gain skill proficiency by clearing rooms within the dungeon, there would be a rush of people scrambling to get in.
Gauss’s mind was not at peace.
"Let’s take a break."
Listening to his companions calling for a rest.
He tidied up his excited yet slightly perplexed mood.
After clearing the mushroom room, the group didn’t rush further into exploration.
The air had already returned to freshness.
They removed their masks, seizing the time to recover their strength.
No one knew what awaited them in the next room; although Edith had previously explored some rooms in the first half of the dungeon, it was done without the dungeon being fully activated.
The current state within the dungeon differed again from her exploration, so they had to adjust their condition urgently to prepare for any potential danger.
Gauss gulped down the fresh water from his canteen, feeling even more excited for this dungeon journey.
...
Several days later.
"Roar!!"
"Lead them together, my Light Spell seems to be able to suppress them," Gauss shouted to his teammates, who were leading a large group of zombies in circles.
Seeing his teammates running over, the White Bone Staff in Gauss’s hand immediately released a wave of magic power.
"Light Spell!"
Dazzling white light burst forth along the White Bone Staff!
Gauss now realized too.
His Light Spell was not ordinary.
Especially when cast with the White Bone Staff, it seemed to carry a very strong Divine Attribute.
Some Dark Creatures would be restrained by this intense light.
Sure enough, the dozen or so zombies brought over by his teammates paused momentarily under the radiant illumination of the Light Spell, the light within their hollow, sunken eye sockets continuously contracting.
Their cracked lips tore back, revealing black fangs as a series of extremely painful, hoarse wails squeezed out from deep within their throats.
The burning pain made their originally swift movements suddenly slow down, as their joints made creaking sounds like decaying wood breaking during movement.
"Let’s go!"
Initially worried that zombie bites and clawing might cause virus infections, upon seeing the zombies weakened, everyone gathered their courage.
"Chop off the head!"
The Dark Creatures in these dungeons all possessed a certain regenerative ability; most could only be completely killed by chopping off their heads.
"Understood!"
Gauss’s actions were also quick.
One hand wielding the White Bone Staff, continuing the effects of the Light Spell, while his other hand swung a sword at the zombie’s maggot-infested, mud-caked, blood-crusted neck.
He indeed effectively restrained the zombies.
With the White Bone Staff in his hand, the suppression effect on the zombies around him was the strongest.
Whenever they got close to him, the zombies would be burned by the close-range Light Spell, their actions slowed, and in those moments, it was enough time for Gauss to swiftly decapitate them.
"Zombie killed x1"
"Gained the title [Zombie Hunter], this title will upgrade with the number of kills."
"Current Effect: Sharpness. In combat against zombies and related advanced species, attack penetrative power is increased by an extra 10%."
Gauss quickly scanned the panel, not wasting any time.
With a quick step, he rushed toward the next zombie.
"Swish!"
The sword light flashed; this slash was more fierce and vigorous!
The sword light precisely landed on the zombie’s swollen, decaying neck.
The dark green neck tore open with a ripping sound under his blade, leaving a bowl-sized gash, and murky blood gushed out.
A few minutes later.
The last zombie was also killed by the team.
"Boom boom!"
On the stone platform rising at the center of the room, there were a few bottles of red and blue potions, and Edith, already very familiar with the process after many days of dungeon exploration, walked up to collect them.
After the battle ended, everyone sat on the ground, panting heavily.
Even though during these days of exploration, they had left the dungeon to camp and rest on the surface, the continuous dungeon exploration still left everyone feeling mentally and physically exhausted.
Every morning when they awoke, they had to face the dark, oppressive dungeon space and those foul-smelling monsters.
It made everyone’s minds completely numb.
"Rest a while longer, the remaining rooms in this dungeon shouldn’t be many," Lawrence suggested, seeing the exhaustion written all over their faces.
Gauss nodded, sat down on a clean patch of ground, and rested.
Meanwhile, he checked the personal panel on the Adventurer’s Handbook.
There weren’t many changes in attributes on the panel, but the skill proficiency had notably changed.
Skills:
0th Ring Trick Light Spell lv2 (5/20)
0th Ring Trick Mage’s Hand lv3 (25/50)
1st Ring Spell Magic Missile lv3 (13/50)
1st Ring Spell Mage Armor lv3 (45/50)
Basic Swordsmanship lv2 (10/20)
Talents: Rapid Digestion, Magic Resistance.
These days of dungeon exploration allowed both the Light Spell and Basic Swordsmanship to upgrade to lv2.
At the same time, Magic Missile was also raised from lv2 to lv3; upon reaching lv3, Magic Missile unlocked a rapid-fire effect, allowing him to release 2 missiles consecutively in a very short time, with almost no interval, and the speed of the Magic Bullets also became faster.
Mage Armor increased a whole 18 proficiency points, bringing it to the verge of leveling up.
Thanks to the rapid rise in proficiency, his understanding of internal Magic Resonance also deepened greatly.
He was very sure at this moment, that lv4 Mage Armor was the key to unlocking his path to becoming a Professional.
Apart from these changes.
There’s also the...
"Monster kill count: 178"
Only 22 left to meet the stage goal of two hundred.
Gauss looked at the map in his mind.
They had fully cleared the paths on the left and right sides of the hall.
The only route left was the central one.
Judging from the number of rooms on the previous two routes, it seemed there weren’t many rooms left on this central path either.
While he pondered, Lawrence reminded everyone.
"Everyone still needs to be extra cautious."
"According to my information, these types of dungeons might have special rooms, although we haven’t encountered any yet, we must keep our eyes peeled."
Lawrence marked an X on the grid representing this room on Edith’s hand-drawn map.
He gazed toward the passage leading to the next room.