Mushroom Reborn [LitRPG]

At this point, dungeon delving had become second nature to Ellena. She had been doing it for months. Whilst she still did her best to be careful, it had to be said that most days had become something of a routine for her. She had now seen all that there was to be seen of the Cissions ivy tunnels. Well, all but one particular room.

For the most part there was no structure to the ivy tunnels. The Cissions appeared to be the wildest of wild monsters on the second floor. There were nests darted around sure, but the different subspecies and variants didn’t seem to get along. She had occasionally seen them fighting for territory.

This was the case for all of their tunnels, all of their territory barring the aforementioned room. It was larger than any other room she had seen in this dungeon. It must have stood sixty feet tall and over a hundred feet wide, yet somehow it didn’t intersect with the first floor. In the center of the room hung a single vine that continuously dripped pristine water into a small pool.

The room had to be that large though, to house its singular occupant. A Cission that stood far larger than any other than she had seen. From head to tail it was somewhere between thirty to forty feet long. The giant beast had a long face like an alligator but with two thick tusks sticking out either side. It had four red eyes and spiked leaves along its back to the tip of its tail. The tip itself had a spiked end. It drank from the single small pool in the center of the room, looking away from Ellena, which she was quite grateful for.

What was most important sat behind the giant. Another doorway. This one interested Ellena as the ground visibly sloped down, something she could see even from the other side. Probably thanks to her enhanced vision.

Not that she was ready to face such a beast. If there was trepidation in facing the Black Wolf pack leader, then this was tenfold. The unfortunate conclusion was that so far, both bosses on this floor seemed a bit too above her level, but she couldn’t just hunt down the mob beasts as that would damage the ecosystem again.

The only route she was yet to seek out was to take on the Shadow Rats. The main issue with them was that Ellena found them incredibly uninteresting. She liked monsters that fought directly, that gave her a good battle. Still, it was currently her only choice down here, unless she really wanted to risk her life against the big bad wolf.

On her way back home after first seeing the giant Cission, Rugtug stopped Ellena for another chat. Or rather, several sentries at random points from the large chamber going back guided her to his room. She was planning on going that way anyway so it felt rather unnecessary.

“Ai’ lass. Ma’ sentries say they spotted ya’ eye’in up the Cission Rex, ya’?”

Ellena sat down. “Is that what it was?”

Rugtug nodded a big grin on his face. “Aye. Nasty bugga’. Wont let us get past ta’ visit the third floor. Mana’s too thick for me to burrow down dat far.”

“Well, I’m probably not gonna be able to deal with him fow quite a while yet,” she responded, sipping her tea.

The little Tugglit waved his hand. “Course not! He’s a tough sunuva bastard anyway,” he paused to sip his own tea, then sat forwards. “I stopped ya’ cus I have a favour ta’ ask for when ya’ finally do.”

The Mushman shrugged. “Alwight.”

“Ya see. When ya’ take care of it, I wanna request ya’ to leave it’s corpse to ma’ progeny.”

“Why?”

He smiled widely, tapping his fingers together. “Ah. Every part of a Cission is useful, lass. Even more so from a Rex. Da’ more evolved they be, da’ better weapons der’ bones makes. Same with the hides for armour.”

Ellena tilted her head. “Theiw skins mostly just leaves and ivy. Or like, the monstwous equivalent.”

“Aye, but da’ bigger ones have thicker vines that can be dried out n’ stretched. Do it da’ right way and ya’ get light but tough leather. Unfortunately’ only ever been able to make one set meself thanks to a lot a’ scavenging, we ain’t strong enough to face a Rex directly.”

It only took Ellena a moment of consideration. She had been learning how to tan and manipulate leather, but this sounded like a whole different task entirely. “Suwe, but i’d appweciate if you make me a little something for my twoubles.”

“Got no problem with dat! Anything particular?”

“I dunno yet. I’ll let you know when I actually get to that point.”

Ellena reached over the table with her hand outstretched. The Tugglit took it and shook with a wide grin. A deal struck for what it was worth. In all honesty Ellena did have an idea of what she wanted, but it would still be a while away yet, so she had a chance to really think on it.

For now though, it was another day over, but for once she was not looking forward to the next few. Grinding through Rats that could hide in the shadows was not going to be as fun as fighting large leaf-skinned lizards, but it was important to preserve one's life where possible.

***

Ellena’s prediction was quite apt and on point. The Rat tunnels were not an enjoyable venture. It took her just under a week to fully explore their territory and that wasn’t due to the size.

The basic Rats could manipulate shadows to hide their bodies. The stronger variants could do so much worse. Some hide doorways in shadow. Or traps. Others could create shadows so dark that even Ellena could not see through them.

Simply put. It was a slog. A very very long slog. None of the Rats were a challenge. Even the strongest variant was weaker than the Rat Lord from the first floor. At the very least they were decent level farms though.

The biggest disappointment came at the end of her stint in the Shadow Rats realm.Their own personal boss. A three headed Shadow Rat sat in a room so dark it became nothing but a void.

The Shadow Rat Council as it was apparently called also didn’t pack much of a punch, but three bites every time it surfaced from the shadows behind her was incredibly irritating. Slowly it gnawed her health away, not letting her get a single shot in.

Her solution was simple, a return to an old faithful. She summoned two shields and span them around her body at max speed, letting herself take a little damage, waiting for the perfect moment. Then, whether it was luck, or just the Council messing up, one of the beast's heads was crushed by a shield and that was it.

It fell, despite two heads still being intact, it fell. She got a lot of levels for that one, enough that she felt almost confident enough to face the Black Wolf pack leader. In fact, she had even managed to evolve another skill.

A lot of level ups and more importantly she was now apparently an expert in unarmed combat. In less than half a year she had become an expert. No doubt that would upset a few masters who had been training for decades.

There was no reason to leave the Shadow Rat council where they died though. She had heard their hide held many of their abilities. A lot of thieves and hunters used Shadow Rat hide in their armour. Helped them blend into the shadows, though of course not to the same degree. It wasn’t something particularly useful for her, but she could make something for others. Maybe even something to sell.

That was something else Ellena realised she would need on her journey. Money. She had nothing. If she was to travel through mortal lands it was something she needed and leatherworking was the best bet for that out of her current skills.

Before all that though, the Mushman was just relieved to finally be done with that particular section of the dungeon. It did thankfully lead to many levels. Enough that she felt confident.

First, she would take a short well deserved break. Mess around with the shadow leather she was about to make. Then, she would challenge the beast. The Black Wolf packleader. A little more confidence didn’t equal certainty though.