Flora squatted down and pinched a small clump of soil. “The soil here has mana, just like the Mana Garden back at the apartment, but the concentration is much lower.”
“And it's been here for a very long time.” Flora poked at the soil, which was filled with many tiny root systems.
“Yes, this space was likely moved directly from the outside world. The original owner was highly skilled in space magic, and Keyins probably only renovated it,” Chen Mian said, looking out at the dense sea of trees.
“Let's go. We'll head straight for the marked location deep in the sea of trees.” After speaking, Chen Mian took the lead and walked down the path toward the sea of trees.
“I wonder where the strange plants Leila mentioned are growing?” Flora quickly caught up, curiously observing her surroundings.
“Does that count?” Loviki patted her shoulder, pointing toward the base of a large tree on the right. There, a red mushroom with legs was slowly shuffling along. Upon noticing their gazes, it quickly scurried into the bushes.
“Eh? A long-legged... mushroom?” Flora's mouth fell slightly open as she stared in disbelief at where the mushroom had disappeared.
“Flora, if a mushroom has legs, is it an animal or a fungus?” Loviki tilted her head and asked curiously.
“Structurally, it should be a fungus, but it has legs...” Flora fell into deep thought, feeling for the first time that her botanical knowledge was insufficient.
Chen Mian reached out his hand, and the mushroom in the bushes quickly flew over and landed in his palm, its two stalk-like legs still flailing. “We'll know once we cook it and have a taste.”
“No! That's kind of gross!” Loviki shook her head repeatedly at the red mushroom flailing in Chen Mian's hand. “And what if it's poisonous?!”
“It's not poisonous,” Chen Mian said with a confident curl of his lips.
“Even if it's not, I'm still not eating it!” Loviki waved her hands frantically, her expression resolutely firm.
“Alright. Flora, help me cook this in a bit.” Chen Mian handed the mushroom to Flora.
“Okay!” Flora looked at the mushroom in her hand with curiosity, her eyes sparkling slightly.
“Flora! Why are you on board with this too?!” Loviki said, looking at the mushroom in exasperation.
“This mushroom has a very strong aroma. It might actually be delicious,” Flora said earnestly, looking up.
“But it has legs! That's super weird, okay?!”
“Animals have legs too.” Flora held the still-flailing mushroom and examined it closely. “See? Its legs are actually made of mycelium. They just move and look like legs, that's all.”
Loviki leaned in to take a look, but her expression was still full of resistance. “No matter how you look at it, it's creepy. I'm not eating it!”
“Alright then~” Flora used magic to seal the mushroom and put it into her backpack. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
“Absolutely not!”
The further they went, the denser the trees on both sides became, and Flora encountered more and more plants she didn't recognize along the way.
They even witnessed a wolf-type magical beast being swallowed whole by a man-eating flower hidden underground as they walked.
The ecosystem here was completely different from the outside world; many peculiar plants actually sat at the top of the food chain.
Along the way, they caught two more long-legged mushrooms. These things weren't uncommon in the forest. Loviki's resistance was completely futile, as both Chen Mian and Flora seemed very interested in cooking them.
Gradually, the path began to narrow, and the first fork appeared. Chen Mian took out the treasure map left by Keyins and walked toward the right path.
With the first fork as a reference, they realized they were still a long way from their destination; they would have to pass through more than twenty of these intersections.
After passing through a few more forks, they found that each intersection looked almost identical. If they hadn't left magic markers, they would have doubted whether they were just walking in circles.
“The path we came from is gone.” Flora stood at a fork and glanced back. The path behind them was already covered in dense vines, making it hard to see unless one looked very closely.
“Yes, and there's another strange thing. There's clearly only one path, but we haven't run into any other adventurers at all,” Loviki said, somewhat puzzled.
“The plants in this dungeon guide intruders. It's likely similar to the second floor; since we are carrying Keyins's items, we are being guided along a different route through our choices at each fork,” Chen Mian said, looking at the intersection.
Loviki nodded. “Yes, that's the only explanation. That adventurer named Raylin said this place isn't very dangerous. The other adventurers should be somewhere in this sea of trees as well.”
One fork followed another, and the plants inside grew increasingly bizarre. They also came across the glowing peaches mentioned in the dungeon intel along the way. However, the plant itself was exceptionally short, only half a meter tall, and bore only two deep-red peaches the size of fists.
The surface of each peach emitted a faint glow, but they contained a very high concentration of mana, and their aroma was much richer than that of ordinary peaches.
“They really are glowing... like magic lamps.” Loviki leaned in to examine the peaches on the plant. “The intel said eating these can increase one's mana.”
Flora flipped through Keyins's log, but this fruit wasn't recorded in it. “Yes, I wonder how Keyins cultivated them. It would be great if there were more logs.”
“There should be some at the marked location,” Chen Mian said.
“Should we pick them first then?” Loviki turned to look at Flora.
“Yes!” Flora carefully reached out to pick the peaches and placed them into her backpack.
...
“I'm so hungry... The fourth floor of the dungeon is a bit too big. We've been walking for half the day and haven't even covered a third of the way,” Loviki said as she sat on a rock to rest, her rapier set aside casually.
“If we go past two more forks, there'll be a lake. We can rest there for a bit,” Chen Mian said, pointing to the lake's location on the map. “We can also deal with these mushrooms then.”
Loviki's face fell. “Aside from mushrooms... are there any other options?”
“You can eat the peaches, or jump into the lake to catch some fish,” Chen Mian said with a shrug.
“Alright.” Loviki stood up and patted the dust off her cloak. “Then you two can eat the mushrooms, and I'll catch some fish. If you end up grossed out by how bad the mushrooms taste, I can begrudgingly feed you some fish.”
“By the way, do you actually know how to cook fish?” Chen Mian asked, looking at her with skepticism.
“Nope! Having eaten Flora's cooking, I've already become a useless person who can't even manage my own meals,” Loviki said as if it were only natural, then pressed her hands together and looked at Flora. “So please cook the fish for me, Lady Flora!”
“Alright! Leave it to me, Miss Loviki~”
“Since there's a lake, we can also wash our clothes and things, Lady Flora.”
“Mhm! Indeed~”
Rate on N.U.
