This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 21: Battle in the Swamp
The early morning sunlight penetrates the wisteria curtains, weaving golden patterns on the oak floor.

The girl, curled up in the velvet cushion, was still sleeping soundly.

"Hmm...so satisfying..."

Three rhythmic knocks woke the girl from her sweet dream.

"Good day, Miss." Butler Eric's voice sounded outside the door. "The new magic teacher will be here soon. Please make preparations in advance."

Ever since Inanna was found, Eric has been ordered by the Duke to serve her full-time, arranging her daily life and ensuring her safety.

As for the Duke himself, he was forced to stay at the border because of the small-scale military harassment constantly provoked by the Hermit Empire.

"Uncle Eric, I got it. I'll be there in a moment."

When the footsteps faded away, Inanna stretched herself, got up from the bed, and began to dress herself.

According to convention, the Duke's Mansion has a special maid who is responsible for helping the young ladies to dress up, but since Inanna came back, she has only been willing to take care of it herself.

Everyone speculated that this was a sign that the young lady had become more cautious after experiencing betrayal, and the entire mansion felt deep sympathy for Inanna's situation.

But in reality, this is not the case.

Inanna reached into her pink hair and touched the back of her head - there was a very, very small pink mushroom cap the same color as her hair.

Inanna told no one about her experience in the dungeon or the mushroom.

The former was because of Lin Jun's request, and the latter she herself didn't know why she had to hide it.

Maybe after telling others about it, everyone will find a way to wipe off the little mushroom cap, but I want to keep it.

After tying her hair up, Inanna went to the window and felt the warmth of the sun.

"What a nice day! I wonder what Lin Jun is doing right now. Did he successfully defeat any earthworms after I left?"

----

Hahahaha!

Yes, yes, blow them up! Blow these disgusting things up!
In the swamp area on the fifth floor, a war between Puji and the parasitic tree is in full swing.

More than a hundred lightly armed Pujis without shells but equipped with [Dodge LV7] were engaged in a fierce firefight with swarms of parasitic trees.

These days, the more Lin Jun fought with them, the more he felt suffocated. The reason for his suffocation was ultimately the issue of benefits.

[Fusion Parasitism] This skill is good. It can parasitize any humanoid creature with flesh and blood.

Among the opposing parasitic tree team, there is a small group of parasitic trees with jackals as tree stumps (the easiest type to deal with).

The problem with this skill is that there is no difference between level 1 and level 10!

This skill can only parasitize dying creatures, and the only bonus of upgrading it is that it can parasitize the creature when it is not so dying.

It can be said that it is the same whether it is added or not. Those who want to parasitize must have been caught by Lin Jun. Then you can hit them to any health level you want. Is this little bonus necessary?

So there is absolutely no benefit in this skill.

[Entangle] is also a good thing to have, it is useless at high levels. When fighting, I rely on elegant bombardment, and there is no need to use primitive tactics such as mycelial tentacles.

In the end, only [Toughness] is of some use. It can make the mycelium tougher, which will naturally increase the defense of the Pujis and make the mycelium tentacles stronger.

Useful, but not much.

For such a small profit, the loss is huge...

In the past few days, Lin Jun has encountered several high-level parasites, and each time caused him considerable losses.

Now in Lin Jun's eyes, these parasitic trees are just a group of cockroaches. It's disgusting to look at them, but he has to kill them - after all, he still has to take their swamp.

I have to say, swamps really suit mushrooms.

The humidity and temperature are perfect, and more importantly, the swamp is rich in magic! This swamp is practically perfect for a mushroom garden, and it only needs a little cleaning.

After today's battle, I have occupied half of the swamp area, which is a gratifying progress.

Watching the parasitic trees reduced to ashes in the mushroom cannon, Lin Jun's real body deep in the swamp of the occupied area couldn't help but shake with satisfaction.

The parasitic tree seemed to retreat under the fierce attack of the Pujis.

Just when Lin Jun thought this round of battle was about to end, a madly spinning individual rushed out from the parasitic tree team.

Just by its appearance, its spinning roots cut into pieces two parasitic trees that were blocking its way.

[Blade Storm LV8]? !

The parasitized individual is actually level 45!
No, buddy, you’re already a gold-level adventurer, why are you still failing on the fifth floor?

Isn’t it embarrassing?
In fact, most melee skills are severely deformed when used by the parasitic tree, and their power is greatly reduced.

But Bladestorm is obviously not among them.

It rushed into the Puji team like a tornado, and instantly twisted the surrounding Puji into mycelium.

The mushroom cannons fired by the Pujis were all cut off by the high-speed rotating roots, causing only minor injuries that were not painful.

This is not the end yet. A magical fluctuation occurred in the parasitic tree team, and two dirty-looking water elements made of mud and water appeared in the swamp.

Summoning magic!?
This was the second time that Lin Jun saw summoning magic. The last time was at the Flame Demon's place. He saw it summon a few puppets that seemed quite powerful but were ultimately of little use.

The summoner is hidden among the parasitic trees, and it is impossible to tell which one it is.

hateful!

The two water elements are only at LV35, but their water attack can blow away a large area of ​​people.

What's more important is that this thing is a summoned creature. It can be summoned again if it dies. Does it mean that Puji has to consume the summoner's mana?
The sudden appearance of two masters caught Lin Jun off guard, and the other parasitic trees also began to fight back.

Tsk.

retreat!

Several Puji attacked the water element and the Blade Storm parasitic tree, running to the sides while attracting their attention to lead them away.

The remaining Pujis retreated at full speed.

Fortunately, the parasitic tree was not a very smart creature. After killing the Puji used as bait, it found that there were no other Puji around, so it resumed its slow movement mode.

After the battle, Lin Jun counted and found that only about forty of the more than one hundred Pujis he sent out ran back, and half of them were lost in the final sneak attack.

The worst thing is that if you lose the battle, you won't be able to collect the remains of the parasitic trees to replenish your consumption.

It is foreseeable that the next round of offensive will be forced to be postponed.

Damn parasitic trees, there are still some big names that can be used!

But it doesn’t matter. The hidden thing is the killer. Now that it has been exposed, there are ways to deal with it.

But Lin Jun also discovered a problem. Although his Pujis had dodge skills, they could easily avoid single attacks.

But it is useless against large-area attacks like Blade Storm or Water Impact.

With his short legs, he couldn't run fast, so he was easily caught up.

It would be nice if there was a skill that could increase the speed, just like the most simple and practical skill [Acceleration] that the 10th-level werewolf has.

My own [Rolling Charge] doesn't count. It takes preparation to curl up into a ball, and it takes time to transform back to the original form. Moreover, it is inconvenient to use other skills to attack while rolling.

I don't know if there are any useful acceleration skills on this floor, so I might as well explore around while replenishing my Puji inventory.

(End of this chapter)