"You... why do you have such good magic crystals?"
"How long do you think I've been here..."
Lin Jun wasn't sure exactly how long he had been in this world. There was no day or night, no seasons, deep within the dungeon. But Lin Jun himself felt it had been at least two or three years.
Even just counting from the time he started building the mushroom garden, it had been a long time. This entire rock wall was his personal mine. After mining for so long, it was natural to find some high-quality magic crystals.
However, Lin Jun collected them not because he knew their value, but simply because the clean purple crystals looked better. Placing them around his main body could attract magic and also serve as decoration.
"Can you cast other spells faster with this?"
"You'll let me use this? Really?"
Even though he wasn't very familiar with Inanna yet, he could tell that this guy genuinely liked magic crystals, or rather, things related to magic.
"Of course, I also want to see more spells. Speaking of which, Inanna, I haven't asked you yet, what spells do you know?"
Lin Jun could indeed see things like [Light Magic LV4] on the panel, but this only indicated that the highest level of Light Magic the other party could cast was Tier 4. He didn't know the specific spells.
Each school of magic had a wide variety of spells of different tiers, and some spells even had many variations. For example, Biological Transformation could be further divided into transforming into an eagle, transforming into a dog, transforming into a Puji...
Inanna stood still for a while, seemingly recalling the spells she knew.
Lin Jun felt that if she were still in human form, she would definitely be counting them on her fingers one by one.
"Let me see... Water Snake Technique, Water Mirror Refraction, Ice Blade, Purification, Healing Light, Invisibility Technique, Illumination Technique, Water Creation Technique, Energy Protection, Mud Swamp Technique... Gulp... That's all."
That's quite a lot.
"Then try casting Mud Swamp Technique on this Puji."
A mining Puji that was smashing rocks with its shelled mushroom cap was moved by Lin Jun to the empty space where the self-explosion had occurred earlier. At the same time, another tentacle extended from under the mushroom to help Inanna tie the A-grade magic crystal onto her mushroom cap.
"Be careful not to break it again, this is the last one here."
"I'll be careful."
Magic power surged from Inanna's body into the magic crystal. Unlike the previous time, as soon as the spell began to be cast, the surrounding magic power swarmed in. The A-grade magic crystal on top of Inanna's head was like a small vortex devouring magic power.
No wonder they say it can be used as a staff. With such a large amount of magic power enhancement, no matter what kind of spell it is, its power will definitely double.
"It's cast!"
The mining Puji sank slightly. The originally solid ground turned into a puddle of mud. The Puji tried to lift its foot, but it was stuck and couldn't move.
In reality, Mud Swamp Technique should only have the effect of slowing down movement. Even if it was enhanced by the A-grade magic crystal, the direction of enhancement should be the range.
The mining Puji couldn't break free purely because its shell was too heavy, and the Puji itself didn't have enough strength, so it was pressed down in place.
"Try using Ice Blade on it again."
"Huh? Is that okay? It might..."
"It's fine, go ahead."
It was just a Puji. If it died in the mushroom garden, it would just turn into fertilizer and be recycled. The loss was minimal.
"Then I'll release it."
Before long, an Ice Blade condensed in front of Inanna, startling even herself this time.
Unlike the Mud Swamp Technique, the Ice Blade Technique showed a very direct change after being enhanced. The Ice Blade, which was originally less than a meter long, grew to over two meters under the enhancement.
Moreover, the deep chill emanating from it made Inanna realize that its power had likely increased significantly as well.
"Go!"
The carapace and the Ice Blade met, and after a crisp sound, the blade cut into it, slicing through three-quarters of the way before stopping.
Even Lin Jun thought this power was impressive. One must know that it was a LV4 chitinous shell. Lin Jun himself needed two hits with a LV6 Mushroom Cannon to break through its defense, yet it was cut open by more than half with a single blow from an Ice Blade of the same level.
He just didn't know if it was the spell itself that was powerful or the A-grade magic crystal enhancement. Perhaps it was a combination of both.
Magic is truly amazing. If he knew magic, he wouldn't have suffered so much in the early stages.
But it's not too late now. Although he can't use magic for the time being, having a helper who can use magic means some plans to go to the upper levels can be attempted.
Of course, this doesn't mean killing the Flame Demon guarding the passage. Lin Jun had seen that guy through the sacrificed scouting Puji. Although the level gap was too large to see any detailed information on the panel, just the extremely high level of LV64 made it clear that he couldn't possibly challenge it now.
But who said you had to go up through the passage?
"Inanna, do you want this magic crystal?"
"You want to give it to me?"
Huh?
Is this mushroom being so nice to me some kind of trap?
Having just experienced betrayal, Inanna was now extremely cautious, not to mention that the target was a monster like Lin Jun whose true form was unknown.
"Of course, it's not free. Cooperate with me to hunt some monsters, and it's yours."
"Okay!"
Hearing that there were conditions, Inanna felt relieved instead. She really wanted this magic crystal, but if Lin Jun just gave it to her, she wouldn't dare to accept it.
But monsters?
Speaking of which, this is the deep level of the dungeon. Too many strange things in the mushroom garden made her almost forget about this.
But a mushroom is actually going to hunt monsters...
How to hunt? With Puji?
"But what kind of monster are we going to hunt?"
"Earthworms, do you know them?"
Earthworms?
So familiar, where have I heard that before?
Ah, I remember...
"Sorry, are the Earthworms you're talking about those huge ones with skin like rocks, who like to dig deep underground and eat ore every day?"
Lin Jun thought for a moment. "That's right."
"Are we going to hunt the young earthworms?"
"Adults."
"Aren't adult earthworms at least LV45, large monsters that require a complete Gold-level adventure team to safely hunt? Mr. Lin Jun, I'm only LV28!"
Inanna's mind was currently filled with: Me, fighting an earthworm?
Even if she wasn't transformed, an earthworm could swallow her whole in one gulp.
Is this mushroom-brain broken? A mushroom going to hunt an earthworm?
"It seems you have a slight misunderstanding of my position..."
Seeing her incredulous, pink, puffy appearance, Lin Jun suddenly remembered that he hadn't taken her to see the boundary of the mushroom garden yet.
No wonder she was so distrustful of his strength.
Hunting earthworms was something he had wanted to do for a long time. These insects possessed a skill called High-Temperature Drilling.
They could generate high temperatures to brittle rocks, then use their rotating mouthparts to shred the stones and swallow them, expelling the unneeded components from their side gills to reinforce the tunnel walls.
If he could acquire this skill, he could dig a direct passage through the rock wall to the upper levels, instead of risking sneaking past the Flame Demon.
However, these insects were excellent at digging and would burrow away if they couldn't win. Additionally, they were large and had thick hides, making it take a long time to kill them even when they were at low health.
He had tried once before, and the result was significant losses with nothing gained.
But after seeing Inanna's Mud Swamp Technique just now, Lin Jun felt hopeful again. An earthworm probably wouldn't be able to move quickly in mud.
Before that, however, it was indeed time to get used to working with the new member.
"It's not like we're going to hunt earthworms right now. You still need practice using this magic crystal to cast spells, right? This is a good opportunity to go out with the expedition team and get some practice."
"Expedition team?"