The mushroom’s future went without saying, but there was still a problem right in front of her.
Why could she use Metal Armor?
And why couldn’t she use Flying Tongue?
The duality of the results, which felt like a cursed program execution, had been bothering her, and she had yet to reach a precise or reasonable conclusion.
While she could save a lot of mental effort by chalking it all up to metaphysics and randomness, she still hoped to figure out the rules behind such an important ability. She didn’t want to regret her current ignorance later.
That was easy to say, but the reality was far more complicated.
She really couldn’t find any common ground among these various skills.
According to her previous theory, the key to why she couldn’t use skills like Flying Tongue, Flight, or Claw Strike was that a mushroom didn’t have the matching hardware. Yet, Metal Armor completely ignored this rule, directly using mana to generate the corresponding configuration.
Even though it manifested as a miniature iron bucket, it was indeed a set of Metal Armor tailored specifically for a mushroom.
If this happened to a human, would a set of steel armor grow directly from under their skin?
‘That would be so cool.’
Unfortunately, she couldn’t add skills to the Elf. Otherwise, she could have verified her hypothesis immediately.
Suppressing the slight regret in her heart, she shifted her thinking to the monsters themselves — hm, maybe it had something to do with innate abilities. After all, when people thought of bees, they thought of wings and stingers.
Those were innate abilities they were born with.
As for Metal Armor… what normal bee would wear armor and hold a rapier like a guard?
So, this was the truth behind why she could or couldn’t use a skill after eating it.
Although there were still some skills, like those from Slimes and Glow Grass, that she couldn’t explain clearly, this was the most realistic conclusion she had for now.
As for whether she was right or wrong, she would think about it when she had more information.
‘It’s definitely not because it’s too brain-draining that I’m giving up.’
She switched her focus back to the Elf’s side.
“Marlow, you left again just now, didn’t you?” Lumina said with certainty, having noticed a subtle change.
Hm? Wait!
“How did you find out?”
‘Wait, I’m a mushroom. I can go wherever I want. Why do I feel like a kid caught by their mom sneaking snacks in the middle of the night?’
The Elf let out a mischievous smirk as if her scheme had succeeded. She blinked and slowly drawled, “Ho ho, so you weren’t actually resting, then?”
‘Crap, I got played.’
She had accidentally slipped up in front of the Elf, but she still said with a straight face, “Oh my, what are you talking about? I was resting. After all, a mushroom needs plenty of sleep to grow up healthy. I can’t be like you, tsk tsk.”
So what if she was noticed? The Elf didn’t know what she had done after leaving. As long as she refused to admit it, it was as if she hadn’t slipped up at all.
‘What a perfect way to handle it.’
Lumina stamped her foot in annoyance.
She had successfully baited out Mushroom Miss’s secret, but if Miss Marlow was going to play shamelessly, there was nothing she could do.
More importantly, the other party had actually resorted to a personal attack. Although she wasn’t surprised by it, she still felt a bit offended.
How was she? Really, she was just a little flat. But for a half-Elf, wasn’t it normal not to be fully developed at this age?
She didn’t care about her looks.
Even though her youthful appearance often hindered her — leading others to reject her from their teams because she looked too young or small — she didn’t care.
“Tsk tsk.”
The Elf was so annoyed that she imitated the mushroom’s disdainful clicking of the tongue.
They were like two children who had a falling out over something. They didn’t have the complex, calculating minds of adults; they only had the childish tactic of mimicking the other person when they couldn’t win an argument.
‘It’s pretty fun, isn’t it?’
It was no wonder she wanted to mess with the Elf whenever she had the chance.
Next came a long silence. Perhaps the mushroom had hit a sore spot for the little Elf, or perhaps she was being cautious after her careless slip. Either way, they both tactfully ignored each other.
Lumina used her staff to clear the wild grass around them, the rod whistling through the air as she swung it.
Even though the grass wasn’t blocking the path, it unfortunately became the target for her to vent her emotions.
She was angry, but her emotions came and went quickly.
After all, she was living with Mushroom Miss. If she didn’t have this kind of adaptability, she probably would have been driven to death by anger long ago. Because Marlow was just like that, and she had grown used to it.
Once her emotions subsided and her logic returned, she couldn’t help but wonder what the mushroom was doing when she left.
Did “leaving” mean leaving her body like she thought? Were there any restrictions, or could she just choose not to come back after leaving?
She wasn’t sure and couldn’t ask, because the mushroom was being secretive and definitely wouldn’t tell her clearly.
That shouldn’t have mattered, but she felt an unexpected sense of emptiness in her heart.
She was perhaps far less composed than she thought. When she realized that the mushroom wasn’t unable to leave her, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of loss.
Once they left the coverage area of the Fungal Network, the advanced Navigation Mode could no longer function. The method of guidance switched back to Mushroom Miss’s voice broadcasts.
Always dragging out her words with a lazy tone, Marlow’s voice sounded like an orange cat basking in the sun, filled with warmth and the vibe of afternoon tea as she carefully pointed out the way.
Sometimes left, sometimes forward, and then a sudden stop.
A high-pitched tone, like a honking horn, was enough to startle the Elf out of her travel-induced daze.
Thus, that drowsy, warm feeling would suddenly vanish.
Without realizing it, the unique Screaming Wood of the woodland had disappeared. It was replaced by grey-black rock walls, tiny blades of grass emitting a faint glow, and rustling low bushes.
They had returned to the Cavern Area.
Although she had lost the convenient vision provided by the Fungal Network, there wouldn’t be monsters like the bees that used the advantage of the airspace to attack from above in this limited space.
With the help of the Elf’s excellent vision, Marlow could also rely on the System Panel cheat to sense enemies in advance, directing Lumina to avoid the monsters wandering in the cavern.
It was just like when she had left the Cavern Area before.
She didn’t have the intention of letting the Elf kill a few monsters along the way to make some extra pocket money. Since she already had the map in her hands, there was no need to be in such a hurry.
So, taking more time to detour or waiting for the monsters to leave was a viable option.
After all, even when dealing with Slimes, which were a sure win, they might attract the attention of other monsters without the Fungal Network to assist their vision.
In fact, it wasn’t a big deal. Most of the local monsters in the Cavern Area were Grey Wolves. These loners couldn’t compare to the bees and didn’t pose much of a threat. However, there was a Wolf King here, and that was where the real danger lay.
Out of caution, avoiding contact with monsters was the best way.
In the most ideal situation, they would sneak back in, grab the map, and immediately sneak back out without anyone knowing.
Perhaps her hidden luck attribute was pulling its weight, because the journey really was peaceful.
When she reconnected to the Fungal Network, she could already feel her other mushroom body in the rock crevice — that patch of mushrooms and the Elf’s wrap tucked among the mushroom cluster.
“It’s right there, I see it,” she urged the Elf. “Once you grab it, let’s leave quickly to avoid any complications.”
The two bodies were too close to each other, so she couldn’t afford to be careless. She wasn’t only afraid of a sudden attack from the Wolf King, but also afraid that the Elf might discover something.
If Lumina found out, Marlow’s mushroom cap would definitely be at her mercy.