In the back room of the potion shop, the air was thick with the mingled scents of various strange ingredients. The little elf Ruil was standing on a wooden stool, wholly focused on brewing a pot of Daylight Potion.
The potion in the cauldron was at the most critical reaction stage, emitting a soft amber glow; a single mistake could ruin the starlight moss and Midnight Orchid petals she had added earlier.
Ruil held her breath and carefully sprinkled the Moondew Butterfly Wing powder evenly into the pot. Watching the potion slowly speckle with delicate silver flecks, she finally let out a small sigh and stirred three and a half clockwise turns with a silver spoon.
“Puji! Where have you been these days? How did you get so fat!” Without that green strap, Ruil might not have recognized it.
Seeing the visibly rounder, more plump puji, Ruil suddenly wanted to hug it—surely it would feel nice.
She tentatively reached out, but the puji did not hesitate to press its mycelial tentacle against her, clearly refusing the affection.
After pushing away Ruil’s meddlesome little hand, the puji strolled into the inner chamber and flopped onto a high shelf.
This spot was both out of Ruil’s reach and offered a good vantage point to observe potion brewing—naturally it became the puji’ exclusive shelf.
Lin Jun had forbidden Ruil from hugging the puji for her own good.
This obviously plump puji looked like just a chubby scout puji, but in fact it was a special combat-oriented individual.
Besides conventional means of attack, its rotund body hid razor-sharp spines; when it exerted force it could bloom like a hedgehog. Combined with the skill [Blade Storm], it could tear an enemy apart in an ambush.
Its mycelial tentacles also hid tiny venomous needles carrying a neuroparalytic toxin. At its corporeal core, it even symbiotically hosted an A-rank magic crystal—besides amplifying skills, Lin Jun could, if necessary, cast spells through it. It was essentially fully armed.
Moreover, the Mycelium Carpet had already spread across the forest.
Although nothing noticeable changed above the trees, countless mushrooms now appeared everywhere in the soil below.
If needed, Lin Jun could quickly spawn a large number of cannon-fodder puji, though he preferred not to go that far.
The increase in mushrooms naturally caught some elves’ attention, but not as a threat.
After all, the forest had always been rich in fungi; this year they simply flourished more vigorously.
Even scholars who might have been interested in studying them were being reassigned to assist tasks in the Divine Tree Dungeon.
For ordinary elves, the biggest change mushrooms brought was a few glowing delicious mushroom dishes on the table and a uniquely textured mushroom juice—Ruil herself had secretly stashed a small jar.
She probably felt it improper to eat mushrooms in front of the puji, so she hid it away.
In short, Lin Jun had already made ample defensive arrangements.
If even with that Ruil couldn’t be protected, then it could only be blamed on the little elf’s bad luck.
If it really came to that, the only thing Lin Jun could do for her would be to send her to reunite with her grandfather.
As for Alawen, since the scout puji had been personally delivered to Salyan by her, the new puji couldn’t approach directly. It remained disguised and hidden in the forest near her hut, ready for emergencies.
…
Elsewhere, through the Mycelium Carpet, Lin Jun watched Iros leave the dungeon and head toward the Elf King’s city.
Pelagel, who was on Lin Jun’s side, had used the flanking route and therefore took much extra time; he had only just barely arrived at the lowest levels.
In truth, the bottom three layers were already relatively dangerous for a lone Diamond-rank ranger.
Fortunately, many of the Madness beasts had been eliminated in earlier clearing operations, and the special super-backpack puji on his back provided excellent reconnaissance and early warning, allowing him to traverse the dangerous areas with few incidents and gradually approach the elves’ frontline camp.
According to the rangers’ original plan, after clearing most of the Madness beasts and confirming there was no greater hazard in the Divine Tree Dungeon, the bulk of forces would gradually withdraw, leaving only a few elite squads to mop up remaining frenzied monsters.
However, an unexpected event occurred. Their leader, Captain of the Guard Eko, and several mages were trapped in an abnormal space. Only Iros managed to escape due to his deep knowledge and powerful spellcasting.
In the chaos, the chief only had time to rescue the student nearest to him; the rest were lost within.
Under these circumstances, retreat was out of the question. The entire frontline camp could only hold its position, awaiting the chief’s return to the royal city to discuss a rescue plan with the Elf King.
Before leaving, Iros temporarily handed command of the camp to the student he rescued—Serdan.
Lin Jun and Pelagel were naturally unaware of these internal changes. Pelagel’s original plan had been to bypass the camp and sneak directly into the central area to investigate that mysterious sapling.
But when he spotted a familiar figure in the camp from afar, he put away his longbow, changed his mind, and walked straight toward the camp.
…
“Pelagel? Is that really you? Tell me this isn’t a hallucination!” In the center of the camp, Serdan’s eyes glistened with incredulous tears as he looked at the “resurrected” friend before him.
Pelagel just crossed his arms and, in his usual tone, said, “You still haven’t returned that bottle of advanced mana potion you borrowed last time. Want me to give you another slap to confirm this isn’t a dream?”
“It’s… really you! You didn’t die! That’s wonderful!” Serdan cried with joy and opened his arms for a fervent hug, only to be stopped by Pelagel’s steady hand on his shoulder.
No hugging—otherwise Serdan might touch the mycelia on him.
“Don’t be so sappy,” Pelagel said coolly as he blocked the embrace and explained, “I just accidentally got some weird poison and hid out in a safe place for a while.”
“Poison? Is there any residue? Do you need me to—”
“No need,” Pelagel cut him off and moved to the point. “The chief encountered me when I returned and ordered me to assist you. To be honest, I’m still a bit at a loss about the situation here.”
Serdan opened his mouth as if to explain at once, but his eyes swept over other elves moving through the camp and he swallowed his words.
He motioned for Pelagel to follow and led him toward the area where the small sapling at the center of the dungeon was located.
Others were not allowed to come here.
After ensuring no one was nearby, Serdan cautiously used a magic dome to isolate their voices, then detailed everything he knew to his friend.