Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Mushrooms you say?" Gelgar looked at the mushrooms growing in the surrounding walls with a puzzled expression. These mushrooms which seemingly grew everywhere on the floor was the reason behind the death of spawned monster? He couldn't figure out how were these insignificant mushrooms the cause of all these incidents.

"Yes, Sir Gelgar it is precisely these mushrooms that were the cause. I believe they are not some ordinary mushrooms you find growing everywhere but mystical mushrooms that have enchanting properties" Berd said carefully observing the monsters that have died inside the traps.

Mike listened intensely to what Berd was saying as he too plucked a mushroom and inspected carefully. The mushroom seemed unremarkable and didn't look poisonous to him.

Gelgar closed his eyes as he pondered for a moment. He wasn't a fool and figured out that they have been played. The real trap wasn't those pitfalls and acid swamps but these extremely inconspicuous mushrooms. Those obvious traps were set to make their guard down while the real trap did its work when they were being negligent. It was only now that he realised why the floors did not have any guarding monsters. it was precisely because of these unorthodox traps that worked as a dual-edged sword, that there were no guarding monsters on this floor.

Berd continued "when I rushed to the scene, I saw something strange. These monsters that were supposed to follow the orders and search for the entrance to the next floor, were frantically rushing to eat mushrooms on the walls. They had a feverish light in their eyes and an intoxicated look which made them fall into the traps that they could previously dodge without any effort. It was as if their minds didn't even register that they had fallen into a trap. But what was surprising was that even while they died they did not scream and even until their death, they didn't show any signs of struggle. Instead, these monsters still had that feverish look on their faces. "

Gelgar narrowed his eyes at this point even a child could figure out what it was. "So the more you eat the mushrooms, the more you crave for it. And the more you eat the deeper the effect it has on your mind" he surmised as he crushed one of the mushrooms in his hand. He must admit that even he had never heard of such a mystical mushroom in his three hundred years of life and this dungeon was full of such mushroom.

"It is as you say Sir Gelgar, the monsters that have died had eaten quite a number of mushrooms that have deprived them of their minds and ultimately…" Berd did not finish his sentence but everybody understood the meaning without having him complete it. These monsters have fallen for the petty traps because of the effects of these mushrooms had on them.

"Tch, truly a wicked move, it seems like I have underestimated that lowborn demon. He is trying to reduce our numbers with these unorthodox traps. Make sure you pass my command to all of the monsters that are not present here. They are not to randomly eat anything on the walls in the future" Gelgar's voice had an added depth at the end as he completed his words. Looking at the corpses of the dead monsters, he admitted that even he didn't know that these mushrooms had such dangerous effects up until now. However, what he didn't understand was how did that low born demon get his hands on such a mystical item.

"We obey Sir Gelgar" Mike and Berd immediately fell on their knees as they said in unison.

"How goes the exploration? Did we not find the entrance to the next floor yet?" he asked as looked at the two of them, his mood quite sour. These mushrooms had reduced their numbers by quite a bit and if they stayed on this floor any longer, he didn't know how many more casualties there would be. Although to him, these monsters were nothing but expandables that would fight and die for his cause, he felt like losing them here would be a waste.

Sensing that the mood of their leader was quite sour, Mike didn't mingle any words and immediately replied "We have almost explored all of the areas of the floor however since the paths always change their direction it becoming a little difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the entrance. But given a little more time, we are sure to find it soon".

Gelgar nodded and the two of them hurriedly left to relay his commands. Now all alone, he stood there in silence for a long time. After a while, he turned his head and looked at the mushroom covered walls "Where did these mushrooms come from? it doesn't look like an item that should be growing on a low-rank dungeon such as this". He thought over it for a while before shaking his head "It doesn't matter... though I must admit that you played me there, but if you think such lowly traps are enough to stop us, then you are thinking too highly of yourself you lowborn demon".

Soon after they found the entrance to the fourth floor and organized themselves before descending to the next floor. During this time there was no added death or injuries among their numbers as they became aware of all the traps that laid in wait for them. After all of them descended the floor became eerily silent, the dead monsters that dotted the floor slowly disintegrating, forever becoming the nourishment of the dungeon.

[Scavenger Mummies X15 died, acquired 225,000 DP]

[Big Poison Scorpion X25 died, acquired 190,000 DP]

[Scavenger Mummies X20 died, acquired 300,000 DP]