63: Super large bacterial community

"I remember now!" Fiona's voice, muffled by the mycelial wrap, was particularly anxious. "These fungi resemble the hyphae of a fungus called the Rat-Eating Fungus. Rat-Eating Fungus actively preys on small animals from midnight until dawn. But I've never seen such a large colony of fungi! It's like some kind of mutation."

My heart tightened, realizing I absolutely couldn't just sit and wait now.

I sensed that the Dragon King was trapped high above. Although the mucus secreted by the hyphae couldn't harm it, the dense clusters of hyphae seemed to be causing it a great deal of obstruction, and it might not be able to return to my side for a while.

I concentrated, chanting a short incantation under my breath, casting the zero-ring trick—"Thunderous Rupture."

As the incantation was completed, subtle lightning elements began to dance in the surrounding air.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

In an instant, several lightning-like cracks exploded in the hyphae before my eyes.

Several extremely thin hyphae snapped under the power of "Thunderous Rupture," emitting tiny, crisp sounds.

Effective!

My heart filled with joy, and I began to continuously cast "Thunderous Rupture."

Each casting was accompanied by a violent surge of lightning elements in the air, and more hyphae broke under my magical attacks.

Fiona's hand moved, and through the gaps in the hyphae, she cast a healing spell on me.

Warm and gentle healing magic sprinkled over me, bringing a slight healing effect.

It seemed Fiona couldn't cast powerful healing spells temporarily either. This healing magic now might be similar in power to my zero-ring tricks.

Fiona's fingers continued to wave slightly, continuously casting healing spells for the three of us in turn.

Finally, after more than twenty minutes of effort, I broke free from all the hyphae on my body.

I took out a long sword from my system space and chopped at the nearby hyphae.

However, these hyphae were extremely elastic; no matter how hard I swung, I just couldn't cut them.

I switched to casting "Create Bonfire," and as expected, these hyphae scattered when they touched the flames.

However, as soon as the flames appeared, the hyphae immediately moved away.

However, the flames not only burned the hanging hyphae but also burned a large hole in the mycelial mat below, and the bonfire fell through.

I looked at the edge of the hole and found that the hyphae had burned into a pipe, extending infinitely downwards. I returned to the side closer to Fiona and shouted to her through the gaps in the hyphae: "Fiona, right now I can only break through these hyphae with 'Thunderous Rupture.' However, this is an area-of-effect attack spell, and if you're close enough, it will also cause you a small amount of damage!"

"I can bear it, start!" Fiona's voice carried a hint of anticipation. "My basic healing spell, when divided among three people, can't counteract all the damage the hyphae mucus is causing us. If I can break free from the hyphae's embrace, I can cast more powerful healing spells and Mana Vines!"

I began to continuously cast "Thunderous Rupture."

After more than forty minutes of effort, I used "Thunderous Rupture" to clear a path through the hyphae between me and Fiona.

Subsequently, the "Thunderous Rupture" cast close to Fiona's body began to cause her continuous minor damage.

Every now and then, I would stop, return to the side closer to Randall, and continue to clear the hyphae path leading to him.

Once Fiona had healed herself sufficiently, I would return to her side and continue to help her break free from the hyphae's restraints.

By the time Fiona's left wrist was completely exposed, she could already cast more powerful healing spells.

After she cast them twice on all of us, I felt that my corroded skin had completely healed.

The subsequent progress in breaking through the hyphae was even faster.

Twenty minutes later, Fiona completely broke free from the hyphae's restraints.

Thirty minutes later, Randall was also rescued by me and Fiona.

However, when Fiona tried to cast Mana Vines, she encountered an obstacle again.

"Still no good!" Fiona's anxious voice carried a hint of frustration. "There's no gap at all in the surrounding hyphae. Without soil or rocks, Mana Vines cannot be cast."

"Don't worry, I think if we break through in one direction, we'll eventually see a rock wall," I said.

Then, I had Fiona and Randall step back, while I continued to cast "Thunderous Rupture" forward.

For a long time, the continuous casting seemed to have overdrawn my mental energy.

My temples throbbed, and each time I cast a spell, it was accompanied by waves of headache.

Finally, after nearly an hour of effort, a small piece of rock appeared in a tiny hole in the hyphae in front of me.

Just as I called Fiona and Randall over to look, the thick mycelial mat beneath our feet suddenly became soft, and the three of us fell through one after another.

Below the mycelial mat was an even narrower tubular hyphae passage. We began to slide down continuously, with the symphony of wind and the crackling of breaking hyphae intertwining in our ears.

During the descent, we were still surrounded by corrosive mucus, and stinging sensations came from our bodies.

But fortunately, Fiona continuously cast healing spells on us.

Finally, after what felt like an endless slide, we fell out of this terrifying passage alive. We felt the hyphae's power, which had been Entanglement around our bodies, gradually weaken, as if being torn apart bit by bit by an invisible force.

We struggled with all our might, gave a sudden jerk, and finally broke free from that endlessly tangled hyphae cage. Our bodies lost support and we fell heavily onto an unknown surface.

The moment I landed, I froze.

This ground was not rock as I had thought, but had an unusual, cold and hard texture. On closer inspection, the ground was covered with various animal skeletons, piled up in a crisscrossing manner, some complete, some incomplete, forming a dead and terrifying scene.

We slowly stood up and looked around. Several meters above our heads was the hyphae pipe that had just "spit" us out, and at our feet were mountains of withered bones...

"I remember now!" Fiona's voice, muffled by the mycelial wrap, was particularly anxious. "These fungi resemble the hyphae of a fungus called the Rat-Eating Fungus. Rat-Eating Fungus actively preys on small animals from midnight until dawn. But I've never seen such a large colony of fungi! It's like some kind of mutation."

My heart tightened, realizing I absolutely couldn't just sit and wait now.

I sensed that the Dragon King was trapped high above. Although the mucus secreted by the hyphae couldn't harm it, the dense clusters of hyphae seemed to be causing it a great deal of obstruction, and it might not be able to return to my side for a while.

I concentrated, chanting a short incantation under my breath, casting the zero-ring trick—"Thunderous Rupture."

As the incantation was completed, subtle lightning elements began to dance in the surrounding air.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

In an instant, several lightning-like cracks exploded in the hyphae before my eyes.

Several extremely thin hyphae snapped under the power of "Thunderous Rupture," emitting tiny, crisp sounds.

Effective!

My heart filled with joy, and I began to continuously cast "Thunderous Rupture."

Each casting was accompanied by a violent surge of lightning elements in the air, and more hyphae broke under my magical attacks.

Fiona's hand moved, and through the gaps in the hyphae, she cast a healing spell on me.

Warm and gentle healing magic sprinkled over me, bringing a slight healing effect.

It seemed Fiona couldn't cast powerful healing spells temporarily either. This healing magic now might be similar in power to my zero-ring tricks.

Fiona's fingers continued to wave slightly, continuously casting healing spells for the three of us in turn.

Finally, after more than twenty minutes of effort, I broke free from all the hyphae on my body.

I took out a long sword from my system space and chopped at the nearby hyphae.

However, these hyphae were extremely elastic; no matter how hard I swung, I just couldn't cut them.

I switched to casting "Create Bonfire," and as expected, these hyphae scattered when they touched the flames.

However, as soon as the flames appeared, the hyphae immediately moved away.

However, the flames not only burned the hanging hyphae but also burned a large hole in the mycelial mat below, and the bonfire fell through.

I looked at the edge of the hole and found that the hyphae had burned into a pipe, extending infinitely downwards. I returned to the side closer to Fiona and shouted to her through the gaps in the hyphae: "Fiona, right now I can only break through these hyphae with 'Thunderous Rupture.' However, this is an area-of-effect attack spell, and if you're close enough, it will also cause you a small amount of damage!"

"I can bear it, start!" Fiona's voice carried a hint of anticipation. "My basic healing spell, when divided among three people, can't counteract all the damage the hyphae mucus is causing us. If I can break free from the hyphae's embrace, I can cast more powerful healing spells and Mana Vines!"

I began to continuously cast "Thunderous Rupture."

After more than forty minutes of effort, I used "Thunderous Rupture" to clear a path through the hyphae between me and Fiona.

Subsequently, the "Thunderous Rupture" cast close to Fiona's body began to cause her continuous minor damage.

Every now and then, I would stop, return to the side closer to Randall, and continue to clear the hyphae path leading to him.

Once Fiona had healed herself sufficiently, I would return to her side and continue to help her break free from the hyphae's restraints.

By the time Fiona's left wrist was completely exposed, she could already cast more powerful healing spells.

She cast them twice on all of us, and I felt that my corroded skin had completely healed.

The subsequent progress in breaking through the hyphae was even faster.

Twenty minutes later, Fiona completely broke free from the hyphae's restraints.

Thirty minutes later, Randall was also rescued by me and Fiona.

However, when Fiona tried to cast Mana Vines, she encountered an obstacle again.

"Still no good!" Fiona's anxious voice carried a hint of frustration. "There's no gap at all in the surrounding hyphae. Without soil or rocks, Mana Vines cannot be cast."

"Don't worry, I think if we break through in one direction, we'll eventually see a rock wall," I said.

Then, I had Fiona and Randall step back, while I continued to cast "Thunderous Rupture" forward.

For a long time, the continuous casting seemed to have overdrawn my mental energy.

My temples throbbed, and each time I cast a spell, it was accompanied by waves of headache.

Finally, after nearly an hour of effort, a small piece of rock appeared in a tiny hole in the hyphae in front of me.

Just as I called Fiona and Randall over to look, the thick mycelial mat beneath our feet suddenly became soft, and the three of us fell through one after another.

Below the mycelial mat was an even narrower tubular hyphae passage. We began to slide down continuously, with the symphony of wind and the crackling of breaking hyphae intertwining in our ears.

During the descent, we were still surrounded by corrosive mucus, and stinging sensations came from our bodies.

But fortunately, Fiona continuously cast healing spells on us.

Finally, after what felt like an endless slide, we fell out of this terrifying passage alive. We felt the hyphae's power, which had been Entanglement around our bodies, gradually weaken, as if being torn apart bit by bit by an invisible force.

We struggled with all our might, gave a sudden jerk, and finally broke free from that endlessly tangled hyphae cage. Our bodies lost support and we fell heavily onto an unknown surface.

The moment I landed, I froze.

This ground was not rock as I had thought, but had an unusual, cold and hard texture. On closer inspection, the ground was covered with various animal skeletons, piled up in a crisscrossing manner, some complete, some incomplete, forming a dead and terrifying scene.

We slowly stood up and looked around. Several meters above our heads was the hyphae pipe that had just "spit" us out, and at our feet were mountains of withered bones...