"You want to explore what?" Aurelia asked while getting into the carriage.

"Mount Shroom," Zephyr said with a smile.

"Why?"

"Of course, to find some rare material."

"Mount Shroom has rare material?" Aurelia couldn't believe it.

Amongst all the natural dungeons in the kingdom, Mount Shroom was one of the least valuable ones. It was basically an entire mountain covered by mycelium. The inner caverns were filled with fungal beasts that spewed either poison or hallucinogenic spores. There were no rare resources in it, as Zephyr had said.

"Are you a mage or an alchemist? What kind of rare resources can you get from there? The fungal beasts don't even drop mana cores." She spammed a few questions and waited for Zephyr to reply.

Watching it, Zephyr got onto the carriage and sat opposite her. Meanwhile, Elenor followed suit and sat next to Aurelia. He glanced at the two pretty intermediate mages with a pleasant smile.

"What do you mean, there are no rare resources?" He inquired.

He thought it was common knowledge. But the mages don't know about the fungal cores present deep within the caverns.

'They haven't discovered it yet?'

'How could that be possible?'

'And if it's true…' Zephyr's smile widened. His eyes glowed just thinking about all the fungal cores he could get.

Fungal cores, as the name suggests, were the core of the mycelium clusters that make up Mount Shroom. It was a rare resource that could be used to create elixirs or craft certain magical weapons. In the early game, exploring the caverns and selling the cores were easy way to gather wealth.

While Zephyr was thinking, Aurelia began to speak.

"The fungal beasts have no mana core. That's enough to demotivate the majority of adventurers from exploring it. Then there was the constant barrage of poison and mind-melting dust. Unless you are wealthy and have a lot of money to waste buying antidotes, no person would ever explore it."

Zephyr nodded happily, hearing her explanation. Realising they have yet to fully unravel the mysteries of Mount Shroom, he rejoiced at his good luck.

Still, hiding his joy, he inquired.

"I thought the Alchemists were interested in the poison. Are they not?"

As he asked, the luxurious carriage started to move. It slowly moved onto the path leading to the exit. The horses in front neighed loudly as they picked up speed.

"Yes, the Alchemists value the poison extracted from the mushrooms and fungal beasts. But the quantity they require is minimal."

Zephyr nodded again.

If it were wartime, the poison would have become a valuable commodity. But now, in the era of peace, only adventurers who explore dangerous areas around the kingdom carry them.

The Alchemist Tower might have already built a supply chain surrounding the poison. So, there would be no reason to explore it further.

And, when you think about it, destroying the dungeon by clearing it was not really a good idea either. A perpetual supply of poison and material was always better than destroying the dungeon by defeating whatever boss monster was inside.

'This is great for me. No one has yet seen a fungal core, and I can sell them for sky-high prices. Don't need to worry about having my arm fixed anymore.'

Each fungal core was usually sold at a price of 50,000 sol. Depending on the quality and elemental property, it could fetch as much as 100,000 sol.

Just ten high-quality cores would be enough to buy an elixir that can fix his arm. If he had twenty, he could easily invite a master mage to heal the arm.

'There would be no need to live in debt. I will be debt-free soon.'

With a gold glint in his eyes, he turned to Aurelia. He decided to do anything necessary to invite them to explore the caverns.

"Oh! You don't know the secret about the fungal cavern." He spoke as if he were disappointed.

"The fungal cavern hosts more than the fungal beasts." He added to capture their attention.

Aurelia frowned slightly. As the princess of the kingdom, she had access to almost every information there was about the dungeon. Why was she not privy to this secret?

"Have you ever heard the term fungal core?" Zephyr inquired, seeing their doubt.

Mages were generally curious creatures. They are attracted to mysteries like bees to a flower. So, Zephyr just had to throw in a few words to catch their attention.

"What is a fungal core?" Elenor asked before Aurelia could.

"It can be thought of as the brain of a large fungus. It also acts as a vessel to store mana."

"We have never heard about it," Aurelia stated.

"Do you know why the fungal beasts have no mana core?"

Zephyr threw a hint, allowing them to connect the dots. Suddenly, they widened their eyes and stared at him.

"Are you saying the fungal cores act as a mana source for the beasts?"

"Yes."

"But we thought the mana was being absorbed from the walls of the dungeon."

"Not entirely wrong. The mycelium under the wall does send the mana across the caverns, but it stores the majority of the mana in the cores."

Zephyr corrected them to let them see the full picture.

"Why hasn't anyone else discovered the core you are talking about?"

"Perhaps they have…"

Zephyr shrugged.

"Are you telling me that someone is keeping it a secret? From the official of the kingdom? Who would?"

As Aurelia thought, her expression changed a few times. Like puzzle pieces fitting together in her mind, she realised something.

Zephyr had doubts. The Alchemist Tower was a large organization with its towers spread across the continent. They are given the freedom to work everywhere like the adventurer guild, because of the great services they provide.

Most of the high-ranking Alchemists were also master mages. So, they were also not lacking in strength.

Therefore, it was difficult to believe that the Alchemist tower didn't know about fungal cores.

It could either mean two things. They were keeping it a secret deliberately, or the adventurers they hired were keeping it a secret.

Both meant they were deceiving the kingdom, which was supposed to get a steady stream of taxes from the material sold outside the dungeon.

Aurelia, as the princess of the Azure Kingdom, would be interested in it. Zephyr knew of it and thus let her believe the Alchemist tower was deceiving the Kingdom. Anything that could motivate them to explore the fungal caverns was a good thing from his perspective.

'I need the two as my bodyguards to make my life easy.' Zephyr said to himself, observing the changes in the other two's expressions.

Aurelia looked out of the carriage, through the open window, and thought for a few seconds. Then she turned to Elenor.

"What do you think?"

"If there is such a thing called a fungal core, a rare resource. Hiding it from the kingdom can be classified as a criminal offence."

"Would the Alchemist Tower do it?"

Aurelia was asking Elanor, but Zephyr interjected.

"We know after a simple investigation. Let's explore the dungeon together. For intermediate mages such as yourself, it would be easy to uncover the truth."

Aurelia hesitated for a few seconds.

However, Zephyr continued to speak about pros and cons without end, finally convincing her to explore the dungeon with him.

Zephyr wore a wide smile as they left for their destination.

—-

The first day of travel was uneventful. They did not meet any dangerous beasts or monsters as they left Viscounty. That night, they camped on top of a hill and spent the night.

The second day, they travelled further, crossing a river and mountains, moving away from human settlement.

This time, Zephyr could see thick forests lining either side of the road. As they entered the forest, the mana in the surroundings increased. Zephyr could feel the change as he meditated.

More mana meant he could increase his core count faster. However, it also meant danger.

Mana beasts and monsters like to live in areas with higher mana density. They hunt and kill anything that might pass through their territory, making it difficult to pass through.

The main roads of the kingdom were maintained by the lords of the region. There would not be many mana beasts or monsters around here because of the period of subjugation. Still, it was dangerous to travel alone.

Zephyr didn't care about it at all. With two intermediate mages as his bodyguards, he could relax and meditate without ever worrying about it.

Unless a five-star beast or monster jumps out of the bush, he doesn't need to be concerned about anything.

Keeping his eyes closed, Zephyr continued his meditation. Considering the speed at which he was forming cores, in a few hours or so, he would cross the 2000 threshold, pushing him closer to a peak 1-star mage.

The swift improvement thrilled him. In a day, he could create about 200 mana cores without exhausting himself. So, in a year, he could create 73,000 mana cores.

Disregarding the unpredictable change in mana density a beginner mage gains as he breaks through to become an intermediate mage, Zephyr would have close enough mana quantity to consider himself one, too.

A year to grow the mana pool from beginner mage to intermediate could be considered genius-level talent. And yet, Zephyr was not satisfied with it.

It only gets difficult from that point on. He didn't think he would be strong enough by the time the war started.

Ambient absorption of mana was not the right way to grow stronger. Absorbing mana directly from a mana core would be preferable. He thought while silently meditating.

Like that, day two of their journey also passed.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.