This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

A gentle breeze brushed across the barren land where a few stubborn weeds had managed to grow.

On one side stood the adjutant and the arriving puji army; on the other, surrounded like a queen by hundreds of storm elementals, was Inanna.

They stared at each other from across the field — separated now by a shimmering wall of wind and lightning.

The adjutant was the first to break the silence. “Miss Inanna… what exactly is going on here?”

“I don’t know either!” Inanna’s voice carried the same bewilderment. Looking at the docile storm elementals around her, she hesitantly guessed, “Maybe… it’s because of my talent?”

Lin Jun, however, saw it clearly.

[Favor of the Elemental Spirits: Elemental spirits assist the caster in controlling spells]

It was a fixed state Inanna had obtained upon reaching Level 30, not a skill.

Up until now, its effect had simply been to make her spells semi-autonomous — auto-targeting, auto-shielding, auto-following.

The talent itself was powerful. Lin Jun had often imagined how terrifying it would be if a high-level archmage possessed it.

Unfortunately, Inanna was a novice.

A pampered novice, at that, one who had never truly needed to struggle.

Norris had started much later than her, yet he’d gone from a copper-level weakling to nearly reaching gold at Level 39.

Inanna, on the other hand, had already been silver when she left the dungeon — and had only inched up to Level 34 since. Her laziness spoke for itself.

Of course, among ordinary humans, that speed wasn’t bad at all.

Lin Jun figured it was mainly thanks to his own “advanced” training system, far beyond what any mere ducal house could offer.

In short, this powerful talent had seemed wasted on Inanna, doomed to serve her as a toy for harmless spell practice.

Now, it appeared there was more to it after all.

Thinking carefully, the state’s name did explicitly include the words “elemental spirits.”

He’d always assumed that referred to the formless, unseen elemental energy floating through the world — the raw medium of magic.

Who could have guessed that tangible, physical storm elementals — creatures that could literally punch you — also counted?

Following that logic, could elemental lords themselves fall under its effect too?

There was still one slumbering beneath the northern territories, after all…

Tch.

Lin Jun suddenly found himself wanting to eat the pink puji again.

He sighed. Having such a noble moral compass was truly a curse — it constantly got in the way of his power growth.

Ah, being a virtuous mushroom was harder than it looked.

Meanwhile, the storm elementals continued to circle Inanna, forming a living barrier of wind and thunder.

Each time the adjutant tried to approach, arcing currents of electricity forced him back.

Though the elementals had retracted their killing intent, their bodies were still dangerous — step into them, and you’d still get shocked.

The situation left the adjutant at a loss.

Being alive at all was already a miracle, but their commander being trapped inside a living storm of hundreds of elementals, accompanied only by three puji, was a new kind of nightmare.

If it were anyone else caught inside — even himself — the army might have been able to continue marching without them. The war was urgent, after all.

But abandoning their commander? Impossible.

Especially not when her eight thousand puji troops were, by the adjutant’s judgment, stronger than the remaining forty thousand soldiers combined.

No — both duty and loyalty demanded they save her.

But how?

He didn’t dare order an attack. A chaotic battle might get Inanna killed.

Unable to fight or retreat, the adjutant could only pray for another miracle.

Raising his voice, he shouted, “Commander! Can you try to walk out on your own?”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Inanna turned in place, surrounded on all sides by swirling wind and lightning, unable to see even a single opening.

She tentatively stepped forward — and the storm elementals immediately mirrored her movement, shifting to maintain their perfect circle, sealing her at the center once more.

Inanna: …

Theoretically, there was a way to get rid of them.

Born from the chaos of unstable elements, these storm spirits could not exist long outside it.

If she stayed in a stable environment long enough, they would gradually weaken and fade.

But that would take far too long. They didn’t have that luxury.

Then Lin Jun’s voice spoke in her mind. “Pinkie, try channeling your magic.”

“Which spell should I use?” she asked instinctively.

“Not a spell,” Lin Jun clarified. “Just guide your mana and feel the energy around you.”

His reasoning was simple — a mage’s best way to communicate with elementals was through magic itself.

Inanna didn’t quite understand, but since it was her boss’s advice…

She lifted her staff, calmed her breathing, and began carefully channeling mana through her body, trying to attune it with the surrounding magical flow.

The moment her mana stirred, the storm elementals reacted.

They shifted and swirled, drawn toward the movement of power, but lacking a clear direction, soon slowed again, resuming their stationary formation.

She hadn’t actually cast anything, after all.

“Try a light spell,” Lin Jun suggested. “Throw it far.”

Since Inanna didn’t know any wind magic, this was the next best option.

Seeing how the elementals had responded before, she grew more confident.

Raising her staff, she summoned a warm orange glow — the most basic illumination spell.

At its appearance, the surrounding storm elementals grew restless, wanting to approach the pure sphere of magic light, yet hesitant — as if afraid of harming Inanna.

Good thing she acted quickly. As soon as the light formed, she hurled it like a stone toward an open area away from the group.

What followed was a sight to behold.

Hundreds of storm elementals surged forward all at once, like a pack of hounds chasing a thrown disc, racing after the flying orb of light in a roaring flood of thunder and wind.

The spectacle was both awe-inspiring and absurd.

The adjutant, stunned for only a heartbeat, seized the moment. He dashed forward, grabbed Inanna’s arm, and shouted, “Commander! Now! Run!”

“Ah—yes! Right!” Inanna followed him out in a rush.

A few minutes later, the storm spirits returned… and promptly surrounded Inanna again, pushing everyone else outside.

…

Meanwhile, northeast of Redstone City’s ruins.

“So, they retreated into Dragon Roar Valley? Good! Good! Good!” Sigmund laughed, savoring his triumph as his plans unfolded perfectly — his old foe walking step by step into the grave he’d prepared.

Draining the last of the sweet, crimson blood in his goblet, he felt it was the most satisfying day he’d had in decades.

At least, until a voice beside him said:

“Why did you drink my half too?”