The Aged Shroom Demon was surrounded by Liam and his friends. It threw another spore bomb at Silver Blade. The tank's barrier had already been consumed but this didn't matter much. She expertly protected her body with her shield, blocking the force of the strike.
[Stance -21]
Even the cost of stance was not severe considering the party were riding their mounts, enjoying the advantage of their stance being tripled.
"Ready!"
Suddenly a low shout came from Fortune. Her cast was completed, her staff brimming with mana, faintly exuding the freshness of a clear spring. She pointed at the monster elite, and her first arcane bolt pierced the air, aiming to tear the demon's mushroom cap off.
[-2145!]
Fortune was more than satisfied with her damage. She fought steadily, focusing on hitting as many arcane bolts as possible. Even with all her experience the skill was still difficult to control. Fortune couldn't guarantee to land all ten bolts even if the target were not moving at all. And indeed, regrettably her next bolt missed. However, the third bolt landed, even coming with a pleasant surprise. Her staff surged with water magic, turning the arcane bolt a deeper blue. When the bolt crashed into the demon the faint sound of splashing water could be heard, and additional water damage was dealt.
[-2145!]
[-876!]
As there was not much difficulty to the fight, the friends had time to notice Fortune's achievements, leaving them impressed. But no one wanted to be left behind. The others all turned their efforts up a notch. Watchful Eye waved his flaming staff, gathered dense water at the tip of his weapon, and lunged heavy rocks at the demon. Quickstep conjured whirlwinds, striking the enemy with sharp windblades. Holy light rattled the demon as Liam's Holy Marks exploded.
The elite mushroom demon had little power to retaliate. He used a skill, spreading spores in all directions. Everyone touched would be afflicted with a Dot effect, but it wasn't enough to put pressure on the friends. Balm's healing was more than enough to negate the damage.
Until the shroom demon fell, the friends were never in any real danger.
"Quite easy…", commented Cyclone as she rode her basilisk. She swiftly approached the bodies for loot. Without any lengthy preparation she touched the shroom demon. She didn't want to waste any time, eager to leave this place as quickly as possible. She even planned to postpone inspecting the loot. However, when a strange white cloth appeared in her hand, she still stopped for a moment out of confusion.
"What's that? It's so soft."
Cyclone played around with the cloth while checking its information. It turned out to be Soft Shroom Tissue, a material for crafting robes.
"Huh. It's… actually not that bad. Here Fortune, want to try?"
"No no no. Stay away with that thing! Don't you dare to come closer!"
"Really? But it's so soft! Balm, you try it to!"
"If you touch me, you will have to complete this quest without a single heal!"
Balm's threat worked well. Cyclone grumbled but she didn't bring the tissue closer to Balm. Unfortunately, Fortune didn't have this kind of threat. Thus, Cyclone discovered a new entertainment, scaring her friend with the tissue as they advanced. Soon, the next fight arrived, and all jokes had to be paused.
The next group of shroom demons also dropped the soft material. Cyclone eyed Fortune but noticing that the latter was starting to get annoyed she put the tissue away and stopped fooling around.
Afterwards the group proceeded swiftly down the road. They discovered a few treasure chests but after opening the first one, they didn't show much enthusiasm when finding the subsequent chests. The reason was simple. Equipment found in those chests couldn't be worn by those of the order faction. Even some recipes were rather impractical should they require materials not commonly found in the territory of the order faction.
After realizing this, the friends couldn't muster much enthusiasm, speeding up the progress of the quest. They fought through a few more groups of shroom demons before arriving in front of the compound's main building, a big castle worn down by time and covered in patches of mycelia.
The friends stopped in front of the castle, studying the large gate which was covered in a white carpet.
"We should have brought a flamethrower.", said Fortune.
"Well, it's not that bad. I can just cut them apart, right?"
Quickstep got off her mount and stepped up to the door as she said this, but the lack of reaction caused her some doubts. She glanced over her shoulder towards Liam, noticing how the expert was sneakily distancing himself from the gate. Quickstep rolled her eyes.
"On second thought. Let's not…"
Before the female warrior could end her sentence, an inconspicuous magic sphere appeared before her eyes.
Oh no…
Quickstep jumped back with all her might, but it was already too late. As the magic sphere collided with the white carpet, suddenly a cloud of yellow spores covered the surroundings. Quickstep was still in midair when the spores reached her. She felt as if electricity was running through her body as she lost control of her muscles. Her status showed multiple stacks of 'paralysis'. She landed on the ground with one foot but was unable to find her balance, toppling backwards and landing on her shoulder.
"Ouh!"
"Babe! Are you alright?!"
Silent Acacia was shocked. As soon as the cloud dissipated, he rushed forward and helped his girlfriend up. Luckily, Quickstep hadn't taken any damage. But the sensation was highly uncomfortable. Without the spores she was soon freed from the paralysis, throwing an angry glare towards the mages.
Fortune was admiring her own fingernails while Cyclone and Balm were whistling innocently. Quickstep's eye twitched seeing them like this.
"Great, you three are sticking together, hm? Do you think I don't know who threw that attack? Cyclone?"
Cyclone flinched but she continued pretending to be innocent. However, at this time Silent Acacia whispered something to Quickstep. The latter's eyes widened as she turned her head towards Fortune:
"You?"
"Emh. Well. Does it really matter who attacked? Shouldn't you blame Mirage for not warning us?"
Hearing this, the rest of the group chuckled, suddenly chiming in as well.
"You got a point."
"Mhm. I'm really disappointed. Could it be that Mirage didn't know what would happen?"
"Number one in the federation? Walking encyclopaedia? I don't think so."
"I will only regain faith if he can show us how to pass this obstacle."
Suddenly becoming the centre of the joke, even Liam didn't know what to say. Seeing his blank expression the others couldn't help but laugh. After a while Silver Blade brought everyone's attention back to the quest. They stopped fooling around, turning to Liam for a solution.
"Now you want my help again? Fine… The mycelia can't be destroyed. We have to find another way."
Those words earned Liam another annoyed glance from Quickstep, but he ignored it. He brought his friends towards a building not far away which used to be barracks, housing dozens of soldiers. But now it was only inhabited by mushroom demons. The friends slaughtered the monsters and entered the basement, heading straight for a large storage room. There, in a corner buried under some damaged crates half of a trapdoor could be seen.
"That's the entrance? How is one supposed to find that?"
"It's not the only entrance, but the most convenient one for us. As for how to find it, there are a few ways. Luck, certain spells, or reading a lore book."
At the mention of a lore book, Silver Blade perked up, throwing a few extra glances towards the corners of the room. Liam noticed her reaction, saying:
"We will come across a lore book soon. I'll tell you."
"Nice!"
The friends worked together to push the few crates away and open the trapdoor. A ladder leading into a tunnel got revealed. The walls were covered in patches of mycelia giving off a light blue glow in the dark. Even Fortune had to admit that it looked quite beautiful.
Descending the ladder the party entered the tunnel. It was straight, with smooth walls, lacking any decorations. On the other side was a door, also covered by a white carpet. Silver Blade sceptically raised her brow. Just as the friends were about to question Liam, a loud bang suddenly echoed through the tunnel.
"What was that?!"
"Guys, the trapdoor closed!"
"Are we stuck here?"
"Mirage?"
Confusion spread among the friends, but it didn't last long. At that moment the mycelia covering the door began to squirm. All the white-yellow substance at the other end of the tunnel fell from the walls, gathering on the ground. It looked like some viscous slime as it crept along the ground, pooling together. The patches of mycelia connected with each other and took the form of a small shroom demon, its head not even at the height of an average human's knee.
The shroom demon moved its hands and legs, seemingly getting used to its body. Balm watched with big eyes, saying:
"I might have found this little guy quite adorable if I wouldn't have witnessed its birth..."