Quite a bit of time had passed during the operations against the bees.
Was it two or three days, or perhaps four or five?
Without a tool to measure time, relying solely on physical sensation made it feel like a very long experience.
The number of bees successfully hunted and eaten had also exceeded ten.
Compared to the total population of hundreds, it was not a significant amount, but the frequent losses had finally been noticed by the colony.
It was now very difficult to find solitary individuals.
Lumina gathered the fallen branches she had collected and used a Light Bullet to ignite a campfire.
This light magic, capable of producing high temperatures, was not only effective against enemies but was also a labor-saving skill for wilderness survival.
Their food consisted of mushrooms that Marlow had accelerated the growth of.
Because their cookware was limited, the mushrooms had to be skewered and roasted.
The mushrooms themselves were delicious, so she had not yet grown tired of them.
It was difficult to find clean water sources in the Woodland and Swamp Area, but a Slime could solve that problem.
Although the taste was a bit strange, it was indeed pure water.
The Elf survived in the Labyrinth with great difficulty, but continuing like this was not a permanent solution.
She had to explore more of the area to determine the path out of the Labyrinth.
Of course, attempting to map such a vast area with her personal abilities was like a pipedream, so returning to the Cavern Area to find the lost map offered a better chance of success.
It might even be possible if Miss Marlow helped.
Taking a bite of a mushroom roasted until it was slightly charred, she thought for a moment and said to Marlow, “Even if it’s the most delicious food, you must be getting tired of it after eating it for so long, Marlow.
Since the bees are grouping up and are hard to handle, why don’t we change targets?
How about the Grey Wolves in the Cavern Area, for example?”
“No.”
‘An expected answer.’
Time was indeed a healing medicine.
Not only had she adapted to the presence of Mushroom Miss, but through their brief time together, she had even figured out a small portion of the other’s thoughts.
For some reason, Marlow had an extraordinary obsession with the bees, as if mushrooms and bees were mortal enemies.
Even though Marlow could digest the crystalline cores of Slimes, she insisted on targeting only the bees for food.
It was not necessarily a bad thing.
Thanks to the continuous hunting of monsters, her level had increased by one.
She was now Level 26, only four levels away from reaching the level limit of a Bronze-rank Adventurer.
This was much faster than gaining experience through daily life.
Having refused the Elf’s suggestion again, Marlow also felt extremely distressed.
It was not that she was afraid of encountering a nightmare like the Wolf King by returning to the Cavern Area; the reason she remained in the Woodland was simply that she had not yet obtained the skill she wanted.
She did not know if the Elf had lost her luck along with her body when she woke up, but in any case, after deciding to obtain the Unified Will skill, she had hunted over ten bees and gained four skills—even her Paralysis Toxin had reached Level 4—but there was still no sign of Unified Will.
It was strange.
Could it be that this skill could not be obtained through titles?
It might simply be bad luck, but relying on quantity to gamble on the probability was now almost impossible.
Whether foraging or patrolling, the outgoing bees always traveled in groups.
With Lumina’s skill level, she could not perfectly handle monsters that coordinated with each other.
Once they made a move, if they could not end the battle quickly, they would inevitably be overwhelmed by the army of bees coming to support.
‘Do I just have to give up?
How frustrating.’
However, she could prepare the Cavern Area side first by spreading Mycelium to gain vision, at least to determine the location of the map the Elf had lost.
When the time came, they would return to the cavern, grab the map, and leave, minimizing the time spent inside.
Thinking of this, she said to Lumina, “In a little while, if there is no opportunity, we will go into the cavern to find the map.”
They both intended to leave the Labyrinth, so Lumina did not find this strange, though she was surprised that the mushroom had suddenly relented.
She had not expected Miss Marlow to have such an understanding side.
Since things were finally going her way, her mood improved.
The Elf squatted by the campfire, holding her two waist-length ponytails to her chest as several skewers of mushrooms were planted in the ground near the fire.
Swaying her head and body to a rhythm, she hummed a tune from the Elf’s Home that seemed to carry the scent of wind and freedom, like clouds drifting through a blue sky.
“Wait a moment.”
The Elf replied in an elegant, aristocratic tone, “Please, speak.”
“Why was the pronunciation you used just now to light the campfire the same as the pronunciation for Screaming Wood?”
Lumina’s movements stopped abruptly for a split second.
She said very seriously, “They are synonyms.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
She nodded emphatically.
Marlow expressed her disbelief.
The little Elf’s current performance was exactly like an AI making things up with a straight face and telling you that was just how it was.
It couldn’t be that Screaming Wood was called that because it was thrown into the fire as kindling, right?
Actually, that seemed quite logical.
“Let me ask first, language is considered a skill, right?”
“Yes.”
This time, the answer came without the slightest hesitation.
“Then, to what extent does a Level 10 language skill master the language?
Is it total mastery?
Or is it just having no difficulty in daily use?”
“It allows you to proficiently handle all scenarios in daily life and have an understanding of some specialized terms.
The stage beyond the language skill is Language Proficiency, a skill mostly found in scholars who do research.”
Lumina explained to the mushroom, though she felt a bit guilty.
She then patted her chest and promised, “Rest assured, the level of my Human Common Language is high enough for me to be a teacher.”
‘Is that so?
But I see on your System Panel that your Human Common Language is only Level 9…’ Marlow grumbled internally, though she did not directly expose the flaw in the Elf’s words.
Although it was high, according to the rule that Level 10 was the point of proficient use, it meant the Elf was not yet fully fluent.
It was no wonder she made small mistakes occasionally.
Of course, as someone who had not even obtained the skill yet, she had no right to look down on the other.
[Proficiency has reached the required level. You have obtained the skill: Human Common Language Level 1]
Speak of the devil.
But it came at a bad time.
Wait, she seemed to see a solitary target.
That was truly rare.
As bees possessing Unified Will, their movements should all be commanded according to the will of the leader.
Was this an uncontrolled, special individual?
“Let’s go.
I found a new target.”
She urged the Elf to set out to avoid missing this hard-won prey.
Lumina first polished off a skewer of mushrooms before clapping her hands and standing up.
Taking her staff, she followed Marlow’s directions and arrived near the bee with practiced ease.
This was indeed a special individual, different from the usual bees.
It was twice as tall as a normal bee, like a giant, and the patterns on its body had shifted from yellow and black to silver and black.
It had no stinger on its tail; instead, one of its ventral legs held a spike that looked like a rapier.
[Status Window]
Race: Knight Bee
Level: 22
Skills: Unified Will (Will Node) Level 3, Grand Pierce Level 4, Flight Level 7, Paralysis Toxin Level 3, Iron Armor Level 2…
Its Level 22 status and stats, which far exceeded those of a normal bee, undoubtedly indicated that the creature before them was an elite individual within the colony.
Looking at its attributes alone, it still could not compare to the Elf’s status.
However, when comparing a Priest with limited attack power to a warrior clearly proficient in close combat and skilled at flying, those gaps were not enough to guarantee victory.
Normally, she would not want to risk provoking such a creature.
But the supplementary explanation of “Will Node” in its skill column was completely different from the subordinates of ordinary bees.
This was likely the reason she had been unable to obtain the skill.
If Unified Will was compared to a network, ordinary bees were merely terminal points connected to that network.
If they dropped off the network, they would likely end up like the first bee they had encountered.
Therefore, the key to this skill lay in the network itself.
The terminal points were useless, but a node acting as an extension of the network would surely allow her to get what she wanted.
However, the Knight Bee possessed many skills.
To pull the jackpot of Unified Will from among them… at this point, she could only trust in her luck.
“Go for it, Lumina.
This will be the final showdown.”
“Who?
Me?
I’m fighting a Knight?”
Hearing this, she pointed at herself with a look of surprise and helplessness.
A knight will clear all threats for the Queen to ensure her safety… When she saw the appearance of the bee, those words she had read in a book naturally surfaced in the Elf’s mind.
That was absolutely not an opponent she could defeat.
‘Miss Marlow always likes to joke… this must be a joke, right?’
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