Chapter 9: Days of the rush

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Status:

- HP: 300/300

- Sta: 25/25

- State: Cursed(all stats are 20% lower except health and stamina)

Hivon first thinks about taking quests and making profit and leveling up at the same time. But it would be a waste of time back and forth for supplies. Instead of taking a quest, he buys a map from adventurer guild, a compass and huge packs of flash powder. At first, it looks like suicidal gear but then Hivon buys a sling and a few leather sheets. He gets to the inn. The host seems surprised that his regular brings a lot of flash powder than usual. He tries to convince that flash powder shouldn't be used with a great amount. But then Hivon convinces back that bullet form would make it more stable and flexible, beside he has a sling now.

Then next morning after a night of preparation, he leaves the mythril coin at the counter of the inn.

"Don't die so I can entrust my inn to you in a distant future" The inn owner waves

"I put the coin there doesn't mean that I will die or anything. It is a gratitude. I will survive"

But in reality, he worries that he might not return after a rush of leveling run. He goes to a provision shop, buys around 10 days worth of food. The food is cheese bars and hard tacks. Both are very dried out and very compact. The worst part of these kinds of food is dehydration. But where Hivon is about to go is not going to be a lack of water.

The Swamp of Haunting dream.

This place is packed with monsters that are infected with fungus. Since killing both monster and parasitic fungal gives twice the amount of experience but is also dangerous. They have thick layers of protection by time. Why is this place called the Swamp of Haunting dream?

First is the fungal monster and the second is the amount of adventurers who get caught in hallucinations caused by fungus. If one escapes, he would still get those whispers in his head. The worst case would be, well, one of them in few hours.

To protect yourself from getting caught by fungal spores, don't touch random corpses, stay away from red mushrooms in this area, cover your ears by all means and lastly, don't get infected.

The fungus can only infect directly to the brain through ears and eyes. It won't survive in the lungs , fortunately.

Hivon steps into this fungal land, the view is truly horrendous. The stench of rotten is scattered by those mushrooms lingering everywhere in this forsaken place. The hollowed trees are as good as dead, either by ravenous monster's claws or perhaps as a shell for a new generation of mushroom parasites.

The thing he has to worry about first is four legged monsters. They are quite slower than normal but still are fast enough to ambush and bite down the closest prey.

Second case is humanoid monsters. Infected adventurers, infected children and other infected humanoid creatures are very tough to fight against but their intelligence is simple as zombies. The best way is to lure them with sound since they are blind.

Foot prints of wolves, boars and felines. This is not going to be an easy ten-day trip. What good about these infected creatures is that they have tough leathery material after treating it right. They can be used for making tools or sometimes rucksacks. But Hivon is not going for such material. He is aiming for leveling up and a rare infected brain. The brain might be useful for making fearless drugs.

**Warghhhhh**

'Well damn it' Hivon lowers himself. An infected humanoid creature. This one is kinda recent so it doesn't have proper armor yet. This should be a level 4. Bleeding is an option to make this thing die out.

**Swish**

He throws his hook and reels back quickly. That thing has a brain issue and this hook is a bit dirty so he swipes it on the ground to clean up.

As expected, it dies due to lack of fluid or so called blood. It is a black substance that has the consistency of melting wax. Kind of not very pleasant to watch.

This way is kind of ineffective. He needs a way to clump them up and finish them up in an area. Unfortunately, the ground is hard to dig with a shovel, let alone bare handed.It becomes sticky as honey and disgustingly smells like a pile of dead rats in a sewer as all rotting material gathers underground.

Flash powder is usually quite flammable and combusive. Unfortunately, Hivon only has a handful of them currently. These tiny pebbles are for escaping. Bleeding is quite effective, Perhaps, shrapnel is a way to kill them effectively.

Rotting branches are no good for making small bomb shells like that but they make a good smell disguise. No shell creature nearby. These bones of that dead one are too mushy due to fungal infection. Stones are one of options for making such shrapnel shells but they are too scattered and small. Metal left behind is the true perfect option to make shrapnel bombs. But then only metal cases like helmets or gauntlets would make a do for such shrapnel bombs.

As the time goes by hours, Hivon keeps ambushing one by one to bleed them out with hooking and reeling their arteries off. He needs to rest at night. Afterall, he is only a human.

-- level 9--

+Job: scout

+Weapon affinity: hook

+Magic affinity: none

- HP: 803/1000

- Sta: 30/30

- Str: 20

- Agi: 40

- End: 30

- Int: 33

- Evasion: 62

- Luck: 42

Tonight's meal is just ration. It is kind of an unpleasant and bland taste of a meal like this. Even though cheese is a bit less hard to eat but too fatty on taste, hardtack is almost inedible as they are too dry and must be softened off by boiling water. But Hivon is not a chef or cooks so often, hardtack becomes mushy soup and dried bits of cheese make life a bit easier.

Alarm traps would attract other infected and sleeping on ground is no good option. Fortunately, he camps between two trees without any fungal signs. Makeshift rope hammock should do. For alarming, a simple spring trap that makes the hammock falls should alarm Hivon.