CHAPTER 28: WHISPERCAP

The cavern that leads to the Underdark is big enough to let three carts pass by, side by side. It is a natural formation, but in the last centuries several works have been done in it, giving it the air of a dungeon.

Several adventurers walk on that path, some coming from the cave, while others go into the cave.

"Huh? I thought that nobody used this place..."

"Hehe. It isn’t an official channel of trade or anything, Missy. But, to us adventurers, it can bring fortune. Aren’t you the same, looking to make a quick buck gathering materials? Ha ha ha ha ha."

A boisterous man overheard her and clarified things for her, even though he was working from a misunderstanding. Yet, Cecilia chose not to correct it.

"Oh, yeah. Some mushrooms from the Underdark fetch a good price, don’t they?"

"Of course! After all, they can’t be found anywhere else, and some are great ingredients for alchemy. My eldest son dabbles in alchemy, so, if you ever need a potion, you can buy it from him."

The man looked a bit too young to have a son in the age of dabbling in that sort of stuff. He’s bald and burly, but Cecilia wouldn’t have guessed he was more than 24 or 25 years old.

((Well, Marya looks like a child, and she does make potions. I guess that if the person have the skills and techniques, they would be able to do stuff outside their age range.))

The two of them walk together into the cavern system, chatting happily about ’kids these days’ and other trivialities.

They followed the same path for some time, choosing the same way when it forked. Sometimes, they would pass by a group of adventurers heading back in a bad state, battered and injured.

Every time, Cecilia would offer to heal them. And every time, they would become very happy and grateful, and sometimes they would even offer to pay with materials they gathered for the healing. She refused all of them.

A couple hours later, the corridor they were in was a lot smaller, and no other adventurer party had been seen for the last half hour, when they arrived at another fork.

On the left was the bald guy’s target, a big cave with a mushroom field where Widow’s Lace was abundant. Cecilia was very familiar with it, as she had farmed that particular cave to exhaustion during the time of the game.

To the right, the corridor had a sharp downwards slope. It led to some ruins of the ancient dark elf civilization, and, after those ruins, another set of corridors would lead to Mycorgloom.

"I think that here is where we part ways. Oh, I just noticed now that we haven’t introduced ourselves. My name’s Cecilia."

"So you’re really going to those ruins, then. Name’s Gantz. I wish you the best of luck down there, it’s a very dangerous place. Last time I went, my best friend died in front of my eyes. I’m not going back there even if they paid me a million elendar."

"Don’t worry, Gantz. I’m more capable than I look. Oh, by the way, this cave has more than just Widow’s Lace. That fern grows from the mana that oozed from the blood of a Spider Matriarch that once lived in this cave.

But, if you look carefully between their roots, you will find some small spots of pure blackness. You can notice them only if you are looking for the absence of reflection, so use your light and be aware of them.

Those mushrooms, called Whispercaps, are very powerful and rare. I bet that you can sell them for a hefty price."

Gantz stopped and stared at her with an open mouth. Then he quickly recomposed himself and smiled.

"I see that you are indeed very capable and knowledgeable. I’ve already seen your healing skills, but now you nailed it. In all those years gathering herbs in this cave, I have indeed sometimes noticed these minuscule areas without reflection. To think that they could be so valuable..."

"Hehe. I’m glad to be of help. See you around."

"Thank you so much, Miss Cecilia. See you!"

With that, they parted ways.

:::

Three hours later, Cecilia decided to stop and rest. She was at the entrance of the ruins of what was said to have once been the capital of a dark elf kingdom that spanned the entire continent’s underground.

She wasn’t exactly tired, but she knew that stopping and resting was good for the mind anyway. And it was better to do that from time to time and then be in your best form when facing a sudden encounter than to become tired when you face an enemy.

In the game, this area had monsters whose levels were already in the 400-700 tier. She would still be able to solo them without problems, but she didn’t want to create extra difficulties for herself.

When she was walking with Ganz, he had a magical lamp he carried on the tip of a staff. But that was because he is a human, so he doesn’t have any darkvision abilities. But dark elves were able to see infrared light, emitted by every being and object in the world.

She had to switch consciously between infrared sight and normal sight, but that was something as natural as blinking for her body.

"Heh, being in a fantasy world is amazing..."

She was sitting on the stairway that led to the main gate of the ruins. Inside it, she would find wraiths and other undead monsters, if knowledge from the game was still reliable. But, as a priestess of death, it wasn’t frightening at all.

"I bet that the old me would be terrified. But, to this body, it feels so normal. Like, I can just blast them with radiant energy, no big deal. I hope things are really that easy."

Her customized priestess job had several techniques and spells tailored to deal with undead, a lot more powerful than normal priests would have.

:::

Meanwhile, Gantz was gathering his herbs, putting them in a sack he had brought. Every time he unearthed a patch of Widow’s Lace, he would check for spots of darkness.

Until he finally found one.

He touched it, and it really had the feel and texture of a mushroom.

"Well, my son was very insistent that I get this technique. Let’s see if it’s as useful as he claimed. Appraisal."

He had tested it on objects in his home, but those were all everyday life items. He wanted to see if it would work with things he didn’t already know.

[Whispercap (gold)

A fungal organism found only in caverns dense with Widow’s Lace and ambient death-aspected mana. A diminutive, ear-shaped fungus that absorbs all surrounding light and sound. It anchors itself to the roots of Widow’s lace, feeding on its excess necrotic mana.

When properly distilled, Whispercap Essence grants the user limited telepathic attunement to nearby sentient beings.]

Gantz whistled, impressed by the finding.

"This is the real deal. Telepathy, huh? And gold rarity... I’ve never even seen anything gold except for furniture from the age of players. And that woman not only knew about it already but also expressed no intention of getting them... Who the hell is she?"

He shook his head, stored the mushroom carefully in a special pouch, and continued his gathering, with even more attention and care to find more of those.