I Have a Task Log

The Potion tasted of pine needles and moss, mixed with a sweetness like honey.

After drinking the Potion, Colin felt the scenery around him distort. A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, followed by a series of sharp POPS and CRACKS from his bones all over his body.

The distorted view gradually stabilized, and Colin stared blankly at his own hands.

He didn’t feel any different than before he’d drunk the Potion. As his body shrank, his gear shrank along with it.

Then he looked around.

The giant trees around them seemed to have grown several sizes larger. Dorn, who had previously only come up to his chest, now looked like a wall of flesh—broad and thick. It reminded Colin of how he felt when looking up at Kase.

He glanced to the side. Even Kase was now half a head shorter than Dorn.

"Honestly, I’m suddenly thinking it’s a good thing I’m the only one who didn’t drink a Potion." The towering Dorn was all smiles. He looked down at the others and said, "I’m really enjoying this feeling."

"Enough nonsense. Let’s get started," Colin said, waving his hand dismissively.

The group moved behind one of the giant trees.

There was a narrow crevice in the trunk, surrounded by soft moss. Beneath the moss lay fine gravel.

The moss was lush and verdant, showing no signs of being disturbed by foot traffic.

If not for the Elf’s Magic marker, Colin was certain he never would have guessed that a cave lay within the crevice.

"Alright, can you hear me?" Dorn, at the very front, turned to look back at them. "I’ll take the lead. You four shorties had better follow my command. This is no joke, understand?"

"Alright, let’s go, big guy," Colin said.

Dorn ducked his head and squeezed sideways into the crevice—yes, even the 1.3-meter-tall Dorn had to hunch over to get inside.

Colin and Kase followed close behind.

Thanks to the Potion, they were even shorter than Dorn, so they entered with more ease.

Inside the small fissure was a narrow path. The walls were made of dirt and rotting wood, and the overpowering musty smell was enough to give one a headache.

As the group advanced, the passage began to slope downward.

The tunnel also widened slightly. Colin freed a hand to pull off his faceplate so he could see better in the dark.

"Stop."

A moment later, Dorn’s Mind Communication sounded in Colin’s head.

The party immediately halted.

"There should be a small cavern ahead. Colin, come take a look. I’m going to scout it out."

Hearing this, Colin silently walked up to Dorn’s side.

He stepped forward and quickly scanned the chamber ahead, finding no trace of Magic. Then, he also used Mind Communication to let Dorn know.

"Alright, then. I’ll go take another look. Places like this usually have a hidden sentry or something."

With that, Dorn crept forward.

Colin waved to the others behind him, and the party waited silently in the tunnel.

"You can come in. The sentries were on the right side of the chamber. I’ve already taken care of the two Guards."

Colin then led the others into the chamber.

The chamber was filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The entrance faced the exit, and it all looked no different from a natural cave.

He looked to the right, where Dorn was waving at them from behind a thick stalagmite.

When they went over, they saw that the two Guards he had taken out were two Ordinary Kobolds dressed in rags.

"There’s only one exit. Let’s head over."

After speaking, Dorn continued toward the exit on the other side of the cave.

The group followed him to the exit.

Ahead of them was a downward-sloping ramp. The cavern below was filled with large clusters of fungal growth.

Some were only a few centimeters tall, while the largest were nearly the size of a grown adult. Through his night-vision goggles, Colin could only make out their varying shapes, which were dizzying to look at.

’This must be the Kobolds’ fungus farm. It’s highly likely that many of these are edible mushrooms, and it serves as good camouflage, looking like a natural fungal grove.’

He looked ahead again.

On the far side was an upward-sloping dirt hill with the entrance to another chamber at its top.

"Lucky for us, there are no shriekers down there. Those things scream if any creature comes within ten meters, and they’re a pain to deal with."

Dorn said as he started walking down.

Orelia, who was behind him, hurried forward and tugged on his shoulder. Then, standing on her tiptoes, she pointed to a step below.

"There’s a trap on that step. Don’t step on it."

After speaking, Dorn led the group into the mushroom field and toward the entrance on the other side. He hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he suddenly stopped.

"Dammit, there are some Purple Mushrooms over here. These things pretend to be ordinary mushrooms, but they have tentacles covered in a corrosive toxin. It’ll be a problem if we get hit... Stick close to me!"

Hearing this, the others followed the Dwarf in front of them with even greater caution.

The group cautiously made their way to the next cave entrance, and the scene inside the chamber came into view.

This area was a bit smaller, but the chamber had three openings leading elsewhere.

"Our mission is to clear out this nest, so let’s check them one by one," Colin said, his voice in their minds. "Let’s check the left one first."

"You’re the boss, human shorty."

The party spoke as they walked toward the leftmost entrance.

In that instant, Colin suddenly noticed an eye had appeared on a nearby stalagmite. The eye had no white and was as large as a man’s palm.

"Dammit, a Roper! ’Silence’, quick, ’Silence’!"

Just as Dorn’s voice echoed in his mind again, several tentacles shot out from the ground.

Even with his quick reflexes, Colin only had time to draw [Burning Blood] from his waist; he couldn’t block in time.

The tentacles wrapped around Colin suddenly tightened, dragging him toward the stalagmite with the eye.

He quickly chanted a Spell.

The silvery-white mist of [Misty Step] instantly enveloped Colin, Teleporting him to the side and freeing him from the tentacles’ grip.

Before the silver mist had even dissipated, Orelia’s low prayer could be heard from behind: "Morninglight of the Morninglord, sever the clamor, be silent as the dawn, and cleanse the darkness!"

The instant the last syllable fell, Colin felt as if all sound had been ripped away from his ears. It was like an invisible hand had snatched him up and carried him a thousand miles away.

Everything around him fell completely still. The silence was so profound that only a faint ringing remained in his ears.