Merchant Of Yliaster

Darve was startled when a desert fish suddenly launched itself up from the ground, piercing through sand like it was water.

He was quick to draw his sword and send a wind blade toward the creature, but he was surprised to see that his blade was absorbed by a wave of darkness suddenly appearing on its path.

Now, he could actually see the mercenary on top of the fish, as the man was standing on it like it was a ship. How did I not see him before? He questioned himself. Fortunately, his mind was quickly occupied by something else.

"Jump in," the mercenary said, pointing at the disgusting mouth of the trapfish.

Darve looked at the weird man with an incredulous glance. "In the fish?" He asked, not believing the man would ask something like that of him.

"What else? There is a cave system down there," Maxwell said, pointing to the ground.

"How do I even get inside it? Look at its teeth!" The young man said, completely failing to understand this unreasonable man.

Maxwell glanced at the fish for a second. "Hey, put your teeth away." He said to the fish. Darve was pretty sure that the mercenary was losing his mind due to the heat then, but he watched in surprise as the teeth of the trapfish were slowly retracted into the creature's mouth, leaving fleshy bumps. Now, there was a round spot where he could sit in the creature's mouth.

"And it just listens to you?" Darve asked sarcastically, receiving a shrug from Maxwell.

Darve just shook his head tiredly before starting to walk toward the creature. Sure, it was disgusting, but he was at least sure that this man could kill him if he wanted to, without using dumb tricks like this.

He stepped on the obedient fish's mouth before sitting down with a disgusting fleshy sound. The ground was bumpy, and he could feel the sharp ends of the creature's teeth on his back, but it would do as a temporary voyage.

Before he could change his mind, Maxwell made the dish shut his mouth before they dived to the ground.

The first half of the journey was eventless, and Maxwell could see Darve making a concentrated expression if he focused his dominion on him. The man was probably in the most disgusting situation he has ever been a part of.

The second half, though, started to pose some problems. Maxwell could see that only high-level trapfishes existed this deep, as the pressure was way too much for the low-level ones.

As they progressed, Maxwell could see his trapfish's eyes starting to balloon up and its body constrict. Darve was only alive because Maxwell's command over the beast was absolute, so it didn't take out his teeth even in this situation.

Maxwell, though, could see that the situation was far from ideal. He started to pull mana out of the sand on their path, trying to make the fish progress faster. He also infused some vitality mana to the fish, along with the mana he pulled out from the sands.

The effect was immediate as the fish almost doubled his speed. It was still on death's door, but it would at least reach the destination.

They crashed into the rocky wall of the caves, and Maxwell quickly started weakening them with his magic carving, causing them to fall into the cave in a shower of sand.

He quickly grabbed Darve with telekinesis while commanding the creature to open his mouth, and started flying in the cave with a tide of sand following him.

The caves were not as dark as he expected them to be, and Darve was soon staring around in surprise. Maxwell made him land on the ground, and they started to run from the tide side by side.

"Wow! A genius idea!" Darve screamed as he took a quick glance behind to see sand approaching them.

"It worked," Maxwell said, feeling a bit ridiculous. Soon, the tide stopped, and they could finally take a breather. Now that they could actually examine the place, Maxwell noted that the air was too fresh for an isolated cave.

"What are these?" Darve asked, looking at the walls in fascination. The walls were almost completely covered with something similar to mushrooms, and they were radiating a soft glow of different colors, making the cave look beautiful. Maxwell observed one of them.

Iridescent Mushroom - Tier 2

A mushroom infused by years of mana exposure. The color of the glow indicated the element the mushroom contains.

The mushroom uses the surrounding sand as a resource and forms rocky formations, creating its own habitat.

This... this mushroom was just something else. Maxwell was pretty sure that he was sitting on a treasure trove. The glowing mushrooms had many colors, but Maxwell could see that they were actually limited. This meant that only a limited number of affinities were actually compatible with the mushroom.

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He could identify earth, fire, and wind with a glance, but there was no sight of water. Even the air seemed almost completely devoid of water mana, and this place would definitely be the bane of people with water affinities in the future.

Maxwell pulled out a red mushroom from the wall, and he was surprised to see it suddenly expel all the mana inside it into the air immediately. What he was left with was only a gray, lifeless husk. He observed the mushroom he was holding.

Mushroom Husk - Tier 1

A former part of a great network of fungi, now only a husk of what it once was. Has the ability to store mana, but containment is poor due to the broken connection.

So they can't be harvested? He was pretty sure that they could be with a specific method, but unfortunately, this world was devoid of any intelligent life-form that could destroy the ecosystem in an efficient way.

He put the husk in his ring, and they started to walk into the cave. Darve was still absorbed by the lights, as the man usually couldn't see the colorful world of mana like Maxwell did. As they walked, the man kept prodding the mushrooms with his finger and watched as ripples radiated on their surfaces.

The cave was sloped downwards, and Maxwell could see no end to it with his dominion. Below them, there were different caves, but he was pretty sure that all would be connected at some point or another. He didn't want to puncture through the tunnels if he could avoid it.

There was also something quite interesting about the caves. From what he could see, there were no animals in the caves, and it made Maxwell remember the time with the Traveller.

Why would this world go through the initiation? He asked himself. While the formations here were fascinating, Maxwell couldn't see how this world was picked for initiation.

Outside, he could still feel marine creatures lurking. Their levels were around level 40 in general, but Maxwell was pretty sure that it would be a bad idea to attack them now. He was sure that he would survive, but Darve would be crushed under a tide of sand.

As they continued downward, Maxwell checked a couple of notifications he received.

Hypnotic Stealth Leveled Up 3→5

Soul's Dominion Leveled Up 13→14

Skill "Riding" is acquired.

Riding: You conveniently place yourself on things and discover that they move towards your destination.

That can be considered riding? Maxwell was more surprised by getting the skill than the stupid explanation. He was used to getting humorous explanations for his mundane skills at this point.

Hypnotic stealth leveled up due to him not being able to hold himself back from scaring Darve. He knew it was not very mature of him, but he had his moments, too.

Soon, the tunnels started to widen and mushrooms started to thicken, suggesting that they were getting closer to something like a nexus for the mushrooms. Maxwell had a bad feeling about this, as the creatures in this world were hardly weak.

"We will probably run into something too powerful for you," he said to Darve, who was still looking around like a kid on a sugar rush. The man had been silent since they discovered the mushrooms, and Maxwell could see that he was completely captivated by the environment.

Maxwell could see with his dominion that the other tunnels around them, too, were slowly widening, supporting his theory of a nexus. If the mushrooms created their tunnels themselves, it would only be natural for them to have a starting point.

"What was the highest level you have seen here? Darve asked. He was probably starting to consider turning back after hearing Maxwell's warning.

The average is around 40. I can see a 42 level… something," Maxwell said, observing the said creature through his dominion. He was not sure what it was, but it looked like a blowfish.

Crem - Level 42

That explains so much… Maxwell thought. He could guess that this was something like a blowfish, but Maxwell failed to understand how the creature would expand in sand.

"42? Can you beat that?" Darve asked, looking horrified.

"Yes," Maxwell answered without hesitating. He dealt with this level difference even when he didn't have many of his current skills. He was sure that he would be able to deal with something of this level right now without much problem.

"Well, I'm starting to think that my father had a point in hiring you then," the young man said, and they kept walking in silence.

At some point, though, Maxwell abruptly came to a halt, making Darve stumble. "What?" he asked, startled by the sudden stop.

What? Maxwell mirrored the man inside, as he could detect something in the periphery of his dominion. He quickly focused his dominion in one direction to get better detail, but he was no less surprised at what he was seeing.

In the tunnel ahead, a creature stood. This was surprising, but not to the degree that Maxwell would be speechless. Problem was that, the creature was a big-ass mushroom with little legs. It has something like eyes on its cap, and Maxwell could see that the creature was almost burning with the amount of mana it contained. It's kinda cute… He couldn't help but think, but the amount of mana quickly distracted him.

The mushroom had so much mana that Maxwell could see that it would be able to rival him in sheer resources. It was staring in their direction, and Maxwell could sense that it was connected to the ground with a weird cord. So, can it sense us using the mushrooms? This pointed to the creature having at least some level of intelligence.

"There is a.. Mushroom monster ahead," Maxwell said, trying to keep his voice even. Fortunately, his mask destroyed any humor left in his voice that he might have failed to isolate. He also observed the creature. Even if it could sense it, it already knew they were here, so Maxwell didn't hesitate.

Iridescent Brother - Level 49

What's with that name? Maxwell was truly disturbed by the creature. Immediately after he observed it, the creature turned physically toward him.

"Mushroom monster?" Darve sent him a weird look. "Is that his real name?" he continued.

"Real name is worse," Maxwell said before resuming his walk. To be honest, he was kinda excited. It was not every day that he saw such interesting things after all. Maybe the creature would even taste good.