Inside the Magic Potion Shop, the air was filled with the intermingling scents of various exotic ingredients. The little elf, Riel, stood on a wooden stool, fully concentrated as she brewed a batch of Celestial Light Potion.
The potion in the cauldron was in its most crucial reaction phase, glowing with a gentle amber light. Even the slightest mistake could render the previously added Starlight Moss and Night-Condensing Orchid Petals useless.
Riel held her breath and carefully sprinkled Moon Dew Butterfly Wing Powder evenly into the pot. Watching as the potion began to shimr with delicate silver specks, she finally let out a gentle sigh of relief and stirred the potion three and a half tis in a clockwise direction with a silver spoon.
Just then, a familiar creaking sound of the window fra being pushed open ca from outside.
Riel was delighted, recognizing it as the sound of the Big Mushroom coming in through the window.
After her grandfather left, only Big Mushroom would accompany her in the shop, watching her make potions.
Big Mushroom hadn’t shown up for several days, which worried Riel, wondering if it had been caught and eaten by a big bird.
After all, Big Mushroom did look both delicious and easy to eat.
What puzzled her was that the creaking sound of the window never stopped. Big Mushroom didn’t usually play with windows.
Riel was montarily distracted, inadvertently stirring the potion a few extra tis. By the ti she realized her mistake, the potion, which had been shimring with silver hues, had already ford small yellow clumps.
"Ah... it’s ruined!"
Frustrated, she tossed the silver spoon aside, puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, and stord out of the studio. She imdiately saw the mischief-maker causing the chaos—a round Puki, stuck in the middle of the window fra, wriggling its body, trying hard to squeeze inside.
Riel quickly ran outside the door, carefully confird the green cloth tied around Puki’s leg, and then reached out to help, giving it a hard push to finally squeeze the fatter Puki inside.
"Big Mushroom! Where have you been these past few days? How did you get so fat?" Without the green ribbon, Riel might not have recognized it.
Seeing the noticeably plumper, more rounded Puki in front of her, Riel suddenly wanted to hug it, imagining it would be very comfortable.
She tentatively reached out her hand, but, as expected, Puki unhesitatingly blocked her with its mycelium tentacles, clearly rejecting this affection.
After pushing away Riel’s restless hand, Puki waddled into the inner room, fluttering onto a high shelf.
This spot was not only out of Riel’s reach but also offered a good view, allowing it to clearly observe the potion-making process, making it Puki’s exclusive perch.
Lin Jun didn’t let Riel hug Puki, actually for her own good.
The Puki in front of her might appear to be just a chubby scout Puki, but in reality, it was a specially created combat unit.
Aside from its usual abilities, its plump body was filled with deadly sharp spikes that could unfurl like a porcupine when activated, and combined with the Blade Storm skill, it could tear apart its enemies in a surprise attack.
Furthermore, its mycelium tentacles hid tiny venomous needles containing neurotoxic venom. Within its body core,
a symbiotic A Level Demon Crystal resided. Aside from enhancing its skills, Lin Jun could even use it for casting when necessary, making it fully ard.
Moreover, the fungal mat had already spread throughout the forest.
Although no changes were visible in the trees, various mushrooms had already appeared throughout the land beneath.
If needed, Lin Jun could rapidly spawn a large number of fodder Pukis, although it was best not to escalate to that level.
The increase in mushrooms naturally caught the attention of so elves, but they didn’t see it as a threat.
After all, the forest was rich in fungi this year, simply growing more vigorously than usual.
Even if scholars were interested in deeper research, they were currently dispatched to the Divine Wood Dungeon to assist with missions.
To the ordinary elves, the biggest change brought by the mushrooms was a few glowing delicious mushroom dishes at the dining table, along with a uniquely textured mushroom juice. Even Riel secretly stored a small jar.
However, she probably thought that eating mushrooms in front of Puki wasn’t good, so she hid it away stealthily.
All in all, Lin Jun had made ample defensive arrangents.
If even under these circumstances, Riel couldn’t be protected, then it could only be attributed to the little elf’s bad luck.
If it truly ca to that, the only thing Lin Jun could do was send her to reunite with her grandfather.
As for Elarwen, since the scout Puki was personally entrusted to Salian by her, the new Puki couldn’t approach directly and had to hide in the forest near her cottage for ergencies.
...
Elsewhere, through the fungal mat, Lin Jun watched as Ilo exited the dungeon, heading towards the Elf King City.
anwhile, Perragel, having cautiously bypassed the "safe corridors" cleared by the rangers, spent considerably more ti, just now barely reaching the lowest level.
In fact, these bottom three levels were already quite dangerous for a solo Diamond Level ranger.
Fortunately, many of the frenzy demons had been eradicated by previous clearing operations, and with the superb reconnaissance and warning capabilities of the special, supersized backpack Puki he carried, he was able to traverse the dangerous areas without incident, gradually approaching the elves’ frontline camp.
According to the initial plan of the ranger troops, after clearing most of the frenzy demons and confirming no larger threats were present in the Divine Wood Dungeon, the main force was supposed to gradually withdraw, leaving only a few elite squads to continue sweeping the remaining dented ones.
However, an unexpected event occurred. Their leader, Captain of the Guard Eco, along with several mages, were trapped in an anomalous space. Only Ilo’s chief, utilizing his profound knowledge and strong casting ability, managed to escape.
In the chaos, the chief only had ti to rescue the closest student to him, while all others remained trapped.
Under such circumstances, withdrawal beca impossible. The entire frontline camp could only hold its ground, awaiting the chief’s return to the Royal City to devise a rescue plan with the Elf King.
Before leaving, Ilo’s chief handed over temporary command of the camp to his rescued student, Seldan.
These internal changes were naturally unknown to Lin Jun and Perragel. Therefore, Perragel’s original plan was to bypass the camp and directly sneak into the central area to investigate the mysterious sapling.
However, when he caught sight of a familiar figure in the camp from a distance, he decided to stow his longbow, change his mind, and head straight towards the camp.
...
"Perragel? Is it really you? Please tell this isn’t my imagination!" In the center of the camp, tears of disbelief shone in Seldan’s eyes as he excitedly gazed at his "resurrected" friend.
Perragel simply crossed his arms, speaking in his usual tone: "You still haven’t returned that bottle of Advanced Magic Potion you borrowed from last ti. Need to give you a slap to confirm if this is a dream?"
"It really is you! You’re not dead! This is wonderful!" Seldan was overjoyed, opening his arms for a warm embrace, only to have Perragel firmly hold his shoulder.
Hugging was not an option; Seldan might end up touching the mycelium on his body.
"Don’t get so sentintal," Perragel calmly blocked the embrace, explaining, "I just accidentally got poisoned by sothing strange and hid away in a safe place."
"Poisoned? Are there any lingering effects? Do you need to..."
"No need," Perragel interrupted, smoothly transitioning to the main topic, "When I recovered and returned, I happened upon the chief. He sent to assist you. Truth be told, I’m still a bit clueless about the current situation here."
Seldan opened his mouth as if to explain imdiately, but seeing the other elves moving about the camp, he swallowed his words.
He motioned for Perragel to follow him, leading him to the area where the little sapling was located in the dungeon center.
Here, no other elves were allowed.
After confirming no one else was around, Seldan cautiously used a Magic Shield to isolate their conversation before explaining the situation in detail to his friend.
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