The Wererat pointed upstream of the underground river.
“As for the location of the Construct, it’s at the source of the underground river, which is inside the volcano. However, I’ve only seen the Construct from a distance. The temperature inside the volcano is too high, so I can’t get in at all.”
Lynn frowned. “Then how am I supposed to get there?”
The Wererat looked a bit guilty, clearly worried that Lynn might lose his temper, and quickly explained, “The kobolds’ mine tunnels connect to the inside of the volcano. As long as you prepare a fireproof potion or other fireproof equipment, you can enter!”
Lynn’s expression softened slightly. He actually knew the location of the kobolds’ mine tunnels. It had been mentioned before that volcanic activity northwest of Wingen Town had formed several mineral veins. At first, they were occupied by kobolds, but with the establishment of Wingen Town, the mine tunnels had now been taken over by humans.
But a fireproof potion...
Lynn had no idea where to get one. He didn't recall seeing this type of potion in the Mages' Association's shop either. He wondered if Minari, the master alchemist from the School of Transmutation, could brew such a potion. Even if she could, it would probably cost a fortune.
Sigh, he was still too poor.
Thinking of the mere five silver coins left in his pocket after his recent spending spree, Lynn could only look toward the direction of the Construct and sigh in frustration. Fortunately, the harvest from this trip was already bountiful enough, so Lynn stopped obsessing over this Construct for now. He simply made a mental note of it.
He would save up some money first, then see if there was a chance to acquire the Construct.
Seeing Lynn's somewhat dejected expression due to his self-proclaimed poverty, the Wererat thought he was dissatisfied with the reward it had offered. It gritted its teeth and spoke up again, “I’ll give you another jar of glowing mushrooms! This stuff seems to be quite popular among you humans.”
Lynn looked at the Wererat in surprise. Excluding Betty, the wealthy noble daughter, this was the first time he had met an employer who offered to raise the price on their own initiative. But since the employer had offered, Lynn naturally wouldn’t be foolish enough to refuse.
The Wererat sniffed the air and quickly caught a scent. Following the smell to a clearing by the river, it found a few greenish mushrooms standing out conspicuously among a patch of light blue ones.
Lupa couldn't help but wipe the corner of her mouth. “It smells so good!”
Lynn also curiously picked up a mushroom and held it in his hand. Having just been plucked from the soil, the fresh mushroom still emitted a faint luminescence. The aroma of this mushroom was indeed very fragrant. Even Lynn, who hadn't been very fond of fungi since childhood, had to admit this.
Seeing this, the Wererat quickly spoke up, as if afraid Lynn would stuff the mushroom into his mouth. “Lord Mage, if the glowing mushrooms aren't cooked, you surface-dwellers can't eat them directly.”
Lupa, standing nearby, hurriedly threw away the mushroom in her hand with a guilty look.
Lynn glanced askance at her. “What happens if you eat it directly?”
“You’ll probably go mad... Glowing mushrooms seem to have a strong mental stimulating effect on surface-dwellers. According to that regular customer who sold me the silver necklace, these mushrooms are usually mixed with three other types of mushrooms and brewed into a potion according to a special recipe. Mages use them to seek mental stimulation.”
Hmm...
Why did this sound a bit like a mage's version of cigarettes, or even weed? He just didn't know how much this stuff was worth.
The Wererat scooped away the damp black mud handful by handful, and before long, a clay jar was filled to the brim with greenish mushrooms. The amount in this jar was about half of what was in the clearing.
The Wererat reluctantly handed the clay jar to Lynn. Lynn, on the other hand, chuckled and even found the mood to pat the Wererat on the shoulder.
“Don’t be so downcast. Next time I come to see you, I’ll bring you something absolutely unique in this world. It’ll definitely be more precious than any of your collectibles.”
The Wererat, who had been feeling down about losing nearly half of its assets, instantly perked up upon hearing this. It eagerly asked Lynn what it was, but Lynn only smiled without answering.
In this world, if he just put together some random gadget from his previous life, wouldn't it be unique?
...
“Goodbye!” Behind Lynn and Lupa, the Wererat, who had transformed back into its rat form, waved its short little paws to bid them farewell.
Lynn, meanwhile, could not wait to return to the Moonflower Inn to activate his new monster bloodline.
On the way back, as they passed the Wererat's cave dwelling, Lynn looked up at the ceiling where the specter had appeared.
What exactly was up there? Why would a specter manifest?
Specters usually only formed in places where corpses were concentrated. Near Wingen Town, only two places fit this description: one was the public cemetery used by low-level adventurers, and the other was the graveyard used by upper-class merchants and nobles.
However, the corpses kept in both places would undergo a purification ritual by a Priest before burial, using holy light to eliminate negative psionic energy. Therefore, no specter should have formed...
Unfortunately, Lynn didn't know their exact location relative to the surface. Otherwise, he would have known whether the area directly above was indeed the cemetery or graveyard.
If only he had a magic item that could determine direction and location.
He had heard from a Monk that among those elite adventurer parties entirely composed of class-holders, many would purchase enchanted maps. Within a certain effective range, such magic maps would mark the holder's position on the map, which was extremely useful in places like labyrinths.
But the price... was naturally not very pleasant.
Without an item to determine their position, Lynn could only speculate that the area above the cave might indeed be the public cemetery for low-level adventurers. Perhaps some newly arrived young Priest had slacked off and failed to perform the purification ritual properly, allowing a corpse to spawn a specter!
Unable to figure it out, Lynn simply stopped overthinking it. In any case, this place was quite far from Wingen Town, so it wouldn't affect him.
As he pondered, the Adventurers' Guild drew closer.
He would hand in the quest first, then return to his room to activate his new bloodline!
The reward for the Dungeon Slime quest this time was not low. However, it still couldn't compare to the windfall from the gnolls.
As the saying goes, "A horse doesn't get fat without night grass, and a man doesn't get rich without windfall."
If he wanted to make a fortune, simply doing quests honestly was still not enough.
Hopefully, on his next quest, he would stumble upon some dragon's treasure, allowing him to buy fireproof potions, magic weapons, and brand-new armor in full cash...
Rate on N.U.
