Chapter 573: Chapter 290: Three-Person Squad, Eerie Wrath
Adeline’s mission wasn’t difficult.
Her target was a special plant called "Gray Scales Fungus."
No need to engage in scheming with people, nor to fight demons to the death.
By collecting a certain amount of Gray Scales Fungus and bringing it back to the Adventurers Guild, her promotion task would be a success, granting her the opportunity to officially ascend to the Association’s Second Floor as a professional, and access more resources and channels.
However, as one of the alternative main materials for making the [Secondary Stone Skin Potion], an important stabilizing agent in some mid and high level spells, the growth conditions for Gray Scales Fungus are rather stringent.
This unique mushroom, with its grayish-white, rock-like color and fine scale-like mesh texture on the surface, likes moist, dark environments just like most fungi.
Moreover, it requires a specific growth condition.
——Petrified Lizard fluid.
Be it saliva or blood, urine or feces, as long as there is biological fluid from this lazy Eight-legged Lizard, the Gray Scales Fungus has the potential for growth and proliferation.
In addition, Petrified Lizards are commonly found in the Dark Territory, being very typical cave-dwelling creatures.
The most common place to find Gray Scales Fungus is thus obvious.
It’s naturally in the underground nests where the Petrified Lizards reside.
Adeline had only recently been promoted to professional; even though she had the nickname "Green Blood" in River Valley Town, she was still far from being able to face off against such level of demons.
Fortunately, this promotion task wasn’t hers alone to undertake.
Perhaps considering the difficulty of acting alone, as a mandatory condition for taking the mission, the association provided her with two temporary teammates.
These were also newly promoted professionals who had been assigned into a team under the Adventurers Guild’s management to complete the tasks on the second floor together.
Of course, being a remote town on the border of the Kingdom, even with a relatively high number of adventurers, the harsh conditions required for professional level meant that not many manage to succeed in promoting each year.
It’s quite challenging to gather three professionals who had just completed their promotion and had not yet gained access to the Association Second Floor in such a short time.
Regarding the team roles, naturally they weren’t very balanced.
Including Adeline, all three were "warriors."
They only differed in their weapon use and combat styles.
It might seem somewhat bad, but actually, it’s not really an issue.
No matter how well the team was structured, even with the so-called "war-spell-heal" lineup, they all were still just Level 1 professionals, by no means a match for the Petrified Lizard.
This required them to avoid direct confrontation with the Petrified Lizard as much as possible and use clever tactics to acquire the Gray Scales Fungus growing in its nest.
"How’s it looking, does this Eight-legged Lizard just fall asleep as soon as it returns to the cave like the previous days?"
Covered in grass clippings and mud, disregarding any sense of decency, Adeline lay in the depths of a bush with a slightly open view far from the lizard’s nest entrance, almost inaudibly asking her nearby teammate.
"Yes, today the beast seems to have found suitable prey and had a big feast. Its belly almost got stuck at the cave entrance on its way in, and now it’s already in a hibernation state."
Responding to her was a man with dark skin and a slightly lean build.
He seemed to possess a perception-type battle skill, currently in a twisted posture with his knees on the ground, upper body pressed forward, and lower body slightly arched, with one cheek and ear completely pressed against the ground, carefully listening to the cave’s deep sounds.
All were professionals who had worked their way up from the bottom; although they might have different personalities, they all had high professional competence during their adventures.
After communicating and discussing with each other, establishing the principle of avoiding battle, and locating the Petrified Lizard’s nest, the trio quickly formulated a detailed and thorough action plan.
First and foremost, it was crucial to figure out the activity patterns of the Petrified Lizard.
When does it go out hunting? How long does it stay out each time? Does it have a fixed route?
Secondly, but not limited to confirming whether there were any extra entrances to the nest, the detailed investigation of the surrounding terrain, distribution and density of surrounding vegetation, whether there were any blind spots for emergency hiding, and even escape routes for unexpected situations...
All potential scenarios they could think of were brought up and resolved during the long waits and observations.
Under normal circumstances, with any other creature, or even with a slightly more predictable Petrified Lizard, Adeline and the others should have been able to complete the task smoothly.
However, the challenging part was that regarding the Eight-legged Lizard in the distant subterranean lair, the trio encountered problems right from the beginning while observing its activity patterns.
There was absolutely no pattern to speak of!
Originating from the Dark Territory didn’t instill in this fat, bloated reptile a habit of moving during the day and resting at night.
Everything seemed solely aimed at satisfying its ever-unsatisfied belly.
Going out to hunt, the times weren’t fixed; it would eat its prey on the spot if it caught any. If not full, it continued hunting; when full or too lazy to move, it returned to its nest to sleep.
Rest times were equally unpredictable, purely dependent on whether its stomach contents had been digested; once hungry, it would rush out of its lair to the forest in search of food.
Adeline even witnessed it go hunting three times in a span of five hours.