I Have a Task Log

After a short rest, Colin and Ale set off with the Little Myconid, following the stream southwest.

To avoid being discovered by the Kobolds, they stuck to the rock ledges.

To be honest, he would have liked to stay another day, but the Mushroommen hadn't seemed particularly hospitable.

As they moved forward, Colin glanced at his Task Log.

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[Quest: Liberate the Mushroommen]

[Rating: Not Started]

[Reward: Uncalculated]

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Advancing cautiously, Colin mulled things over in his mind.

'Come to think of it, the quest to save the village isn't even finished yet. The Panel still shows the rating as uncalculated. I wonder what the final outcome will be.'

Perhaps their strategy of sticking to the ledges was working, as they didn't encounter a single Kobold along the way.

Before long, they reached the end of the rift.

Peeking out from the edge of the ledge, Colin gazed at the scene before him and marveled, "This is incredible!"

At the end of the rift was a wide ledge, upon which rested a remarkably complete draconic skeleton.

Countless fungi grew around the skeleton, a dizzying array of caps of all sizes.

The skeleton, wreathed in fungi, was enormous—estimated to be a hundred meters from head to tail, with a wingspan of about thirty meters.

The entire skeleton was curled up on the ledge, high above the rift's mist. Its posture suggested the dragon had crashed headlong into the rock and died on the spot.

Colin carefully observed the skeleton's proportions.

Its neck and limbs were long, and its wingspan was relatively small, but the bones in its wings looked thick, as did its tail.

'It looks like a Green Dragon,' Colin thought. 'Of all the Giant Dragons, Green Dragons are the Dragon Species most fond of living in forests.'

'Compared to other Dragon Species, their wings are narrower and more powerful, as are their tails.'

'This allows them to turn in much smaller spaces than other dragons, letting them fly through complex forests, while their long necks and limbs help them navigate troublesome undergrowth.'

Based on its length, Colin figured the dragon must have been quite old.

'Thinking about it, the lush vegetation in the Fog-Locked Rift might be connected to this Green Dragon's corpse. After all, this Dragon Species is skilled at cultivating and twisting plant life.'

'Taking it a step further, maybe the entire rift was carved out by this dragon's impact.'

'Unfortunately, the Green Dragon's bones are probably useless. There's a Kobold lair right next door; if they were valuable, the Dragon Worship Cult would have carted them off long ago.'

"What do we do now?" Ale asked, gently tugging on his Cloak.

Colin said, "We'll have to go straight in. We'll just have to see how much this Little Myconid can help us."

Since they planned to head straight in, they kept their backpacks on as they moved forward.

As they neared the Green Dragon's skeleton, the Myconid perched on Colin's shoulder tapped his Helmet. A childlike voice echoed in Colin's mind. [Entrance... tip of the tail.]

Colin immediately led Ale toward the spot the Myconid indicated.

After a closer look, he saw a narrow fissure in the rock hidden behind a cluster of mushrooms. Without being told, it would have been nearly impossible to find such a concealed spot.

Colin glanced at the tailbone on the ground and tentatively stepped on it.

He barely applied any pressure, but the section of bone instantly crumbled to dust.

'Looks like these bones have weathered for too long to be of any use.'

Disappointed, Colin turned to Ale and said, "Alright. Now it really begins."

He pulled off his visor, slipped off his backpack, and squeezed sideways into the tunnel beyond the fissure. The tunnel's interior bore clear marks of excavation, obviously dug out recently by the Kobolds.

He hadn't squeezed far before the view suddenly opened up...

Well, "opened up" might be an exaggeration. It was just a slightly larger, man-made cavern.

They shouldered their packs again and continued forward.

With the Little Myconid's warnings, they safely avoided several small traps. Colin led Ale through a few caverns until they reached another excavated tunnel.

They hadn't seen a single Kobold along the way—or any living creature, for that matter.

'The Kobolds should have posted sentries at the entrance,' he thought. But Colin didn't have time to dwell on it. He just focused on leading Ale and pressing forward.

Before long, they came across a partially rotted wooden door set into the side of the tunnel.

Colin peeked inside through a crack in the door.

It was identical to the food storeroom he'd seen in the last Kobold lair, filled with shelves made of mushroom-wood and laden with food.

However, due to poor preservation, waves of putrid stench billowed out through the crack. Even Colin, who had braved the sewers of Thousand Masts City, felt the urge to vomit.

Suddenly, he felt a tight grip on his forearm.

He turned to see Ale clutching his arm, her eyes fixed on the ground where a black cockroach was tentatively scuttling about.

"It's fine, let's just get past it," Colin whispered, quickly leading her forward.

He thought about the storeroom he'd just seen, connecting it with what he'd observed on their way here.

'Have the Kobolds already moved out? But the Mushroommen would have no reason to lie to us.'

'I remember reading that Black Dragons are one of the few Dragon Species that enjoy eating rotten food.'

'If the Kobolds haven't left and all the food in the storeroom is rotten, then the truth is likely that this group of Kobolds is serving a Black Dragon, or a half-dragon with Black Dragon ancestry.'

Just as they were about to reach the end of the tunnel, Colin suddenly heard faint voices conversing.

"Have those idiots caught them yet?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Those rats probably aren't here for us, otherwise they wouldn't be so unprepared. But this place absolutely cannot be exposed. We have to catch those damned flies."

'Someone else is trying to get in?' Colin frowned. 'Could it be Kase and his group?'

[Is this the way out?]

[We don't know... We only know... where there is death,] the Little Myconid replied.

[Tell the person next to me to get ready to fight. You should get down and hide somewhere safe.]

After the Little Myconid had gone, Colin gently took off his backpack and set it aside.

He gripped his sword hilt, drew [Burning Blood], and entered the Burning Blood state. Then, step by step, he quietly approached the entrance to the cavern where the voices were coming from.

"By the way, how much longer on the excavation? Make those Kobolds work harder. There's no more time to rest."

"Yes, as you wish."

The conversation in the cavern continued, but the topic had shifted to trivial matters.

Colin carefully crept to the cavern entrance.

Despite the enhancement from his Magic Power, his armor still made faint scraping sounds. He could only pray the noise wouldn't attract the enemy's attention.

Having crept cautiously to the mouth of the cavern, Colin peered inside bit by bit.