It succeeded.

Bone Elemental: Rare (Fused Hoarfrost Serpent, Fog Jellyfish)

Level 23

Ability: Bone Assimilation (B) – Rank 2

Facet: Cobra Strike (B)

Talents: Enhanced Hearing, Emotionless, Hoarfrost Venom, Fogmind Neurotoxin

Vitality: 25 -> 26

[Cobra Strike (B)]: A facet that hastens the user and lets them unleash a lethal strike at the enemy’s vitals. All types of venom belonging to the user are amplified for the strike. Haste lingers for a few moments after use. Cooldown is fifteen minutes.

Excitement filled Caesar. The Bone Elemental’s shards did not produce the neurotoxin either, making a good less lethal option to disable enemies. But anyone hit by its other tools would be in grave danger, especially when cobra strike was active.

The corpse of the jellyfish was too damaged to make use of. The cave contained a small patch of glowing algae, but the system didn’t register it as a material or catalyst. It’d probably need to regrow first, but he didn’t have time to wait around.

Back up at the surface, heavy rains poured down outside the cave. Occasionally, he could still hear an enraged roar, but they dwindled in number and intensity as time passed. His party made themselves comfortable inside the cave. After such an arduous day, having time to relax was a blessing.

“Alta, what are your plans?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want to learn alchemy? I might be able to get you some understanding of it, but you’ll still have to go somewhere else for more knowledge.”

She nodded her head. “I understand.”

“Great.” He unsummoned Alta and pushed the Rare Essence of Humanity into the Doppelganger core.

Fused Doppelganger: Rare (Fused Uncommon Essence of Humanity, Rare Essence of Humanity)

Talents: … Deciphering

[Deciphering]: A talent that allows the user to communicate more intuitively.

Presence: 26 -> 28

Vague, but I’ll take it. “How do you feel?”

“My mind feels clearer. I think I can recall the recipe Magnus used to make his bombs.”

“Good.” Caesar handed over his mother’s journal on herbalism. “This contains some information about materials. Study it, and we’ll see how you do.”

-------

While they stayed in the cave, the rain continued for two days before it lightened enough to leave. Fallen branches and leaves littered the forest floor along with shredded bark and torn-up soil. His boots squelched on mud as he trekked up another hill to spy on the fort, with an Illusory Veil to keep them unseen.

He noticed the sparseness of archers on the walls, and the gates began to open shortly after. Two pairs of guards stepped out on both sides of the entranceway where teams of people streamed out in waves. Once they left, nobody walked back in.

These teams seemed vastly different from the spy team Alta had seen. Apart from every group having a leader who seemed to know what to do, most of the other members of each team looked a little hesitant. Some pointed their fingers at interesting things in the distance, to which the leaders shook their head.

More archers walked up to the battlements to overlook the territory. Their eyes passed through his hiding spot and swiveled around. Time to go.

------

Caesar and Alta headed northeast of their current location disguised as two elders. Hours ahead, a river roared north, bolstered by the previous night’s rain. Clear waters brought him a glimpse of giant fish lurking beneath the water’s surface, and giant crocodiles waited near shores to snatch them up. Common creatures – but some had levels above ten.

The hippo rushed into the river and submerged itself within its domain. Like a ruler, it immediately made its presence known by killing a few of the stronger fish that attacked. Caesar and Alta followed it downstream, confronting some ferocious animals unafraid of their presence. He opened his map. It didn’t show the entire river. If he continued too far, he’d get lost.

Caesar recalled his Bone Elemental and kept going for half a day before he frowned. Something was off about the river. A few foggy fish had appeared during the journey, falling into the mouth of the hippo below. They could at least shift into their fog form but had no real power.

“Hey! You’re headed the wrong way.” The leader of a team stepped out from the forest, interrupting his thoughts. “Wait. Where’s the rest of your team?”

Caesar held up his map. “We found traces of Magnus and followed him here. The trail’s gone, so we were thinking to consult the other areas.”

The man’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward with a hand on his blade. “I see. May I join you then?”

Alta lunged. She hammered her fists into his face, catching the rest of his team completely off guard. They stood by the trees in shock, watching as Caesar brought down his halberd onto the man’s neck. They only started to panic once she sprinted toward their location. Two of them fled so quickly they left their other teammates behind.

Alta stepped into the trees and hounded a man and woman pair forced to defend themselves against her onslaught. She crashed into them without speaking and relentlessly pounded their bodies with iron gauntlets, then swung to the side and slammed an elbow into the man’s stomach. He hobbled backwards a little, stumbling in fear, before she wrapped her hands around his body to hurl him into the woman.

On the floor, the two groaned. Alta moved above them and kicked both in the ribs, then landed a few more punches on the man.

“Stop! Stop, please. What do you want?” The woman tried to defend her partner, but Alta ignored their pleas. She instead beat him unconscious and turned her ire onto the woman. A few more hits later, she rummaged through their clothes and retrieved a map and a plaque identifying the duo as a mercenary team. Then, she smeared dirt on their eyes and walked back.

Caesar took the loot from her hands and studied them. This map gave a much broader overview of the dungeon, with more places and towns to visit. But it also contained less details. The spy’s map held information on special places not available to the common mercenaries this empire had enlisted.

He checked the plaque. Other than serving as identification, it only gave power to specific mercenary teams led by a patrolmen to enter the bases – nothing special. Although Masquerade allowed Alta to change the plaque to fit his team instead, it wouldn’t matter unless he seized the exact form of identification these patrol teams had.

Caesar had searched his entire body but found nothing resembling a plaque. He hesitated a little, then unclothed the man’s torso. Carved into the torso was a small mark that glimmered above the heart. It resembled the face of a fox.

Unnerved, he wondered if he should backtrack and check that same spot on the patrol team from before. As he stood there, his Doppelganger narrowed her eyes at the man’s chest. An inkling of suspicion wormed its way into her mind, but it disappeared soon afterward. His hippo devoured the man’s corpse and they instead continued onward, taking care to hide in the foliage instead of walking on the shores.

--------

A few rank two animals lived in their own territories along the river. His hippo launched itself at each, killing all of them with ease. Necromantic energy polluted their lairs and brought the beasts out and into the behemoth’s jaws. It took three defeated Uncommons over five days before visible progress appeared.

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Tomb Hippopotamus has leveled up to Level 23! +2 Free Stat Points

Near nighttime, he stopped. A great mountain of fog hung over the river and trees. He could still hear the occasional sounds of water splashing from within but sensed nothing else of importance. Although both maps contained no information about this place, he knew it held a major purpose. But it wasn’t time yet, so he continued west instead of north.

--------

Caesar traveled for another five days before finally encountering another miniboss location instead of weak animal packs without a suitable leader. It seemed that the spherical source of fog from before was a better location for finding suitable enemies. He guessed the fog was where the river ended, and it might even hold a boss. But the mercenary teams also liked the place more and avoiding them would be in his best interest.

A swarm of butterflies accompanied by their monarch lorded over other animals in a corridor of trees. They flew over the grove and clumped around giant beasts, keeping them docile with some sort of ability. He identified the enemies.

Butterfly Monarch – Level 26

[Rarity]: Rare

Butterfly Baron – Level 21

[Rarity]: Uncommon

A few more tamed rank two animals posed a decent threat to his party, totaling nine in number. He waited for his Bone Elemental to return from its scouting trip before he engaged them in battle.

A tiger immediately stood up and pounced, but Alta cleaved into its underbelly. The butterflies fluttered around, and small magic missiles poured down like rain, doing nothing. His hippo’s barrier and damage resistance ability was the worst thing they could have faced.

Each butterfly baron was like a miniature version of the butterfly monarch, whose Magic Missiles managed to deal some damage to their barriers. A Necrotic Fog forced the rest to retreat, while they let their charmed animals do the fighting. Portions of the swarm plummeted from the sky, along with a rank two butterfly baron hit by a Bolt of Decay.

But animals without armor also posed zero threat to his party. The Bone Elemental massacred them with lethal doses of venom. A few direct hits from its Bone Spikes could slow down big beasts enough to make them easy prey. It activated its Cobra Strike and plunged its fangs into the side of the largest rank two bear, who stumbled and eventually fell before reaching Caesar. Another bite at its exposed neck disabled it for good.

The hippo fought the beasts who did have an armor-type ability. Two wolves with rocky armor tackled it but couldn’t break through the behemoth’s shield. Instead, its weight proved to be their undoing as it smashed the armor into pieces and tore at their flesh.

Caesar and Alta danced around the beasts, hacking away at their legs. Poisoned animals provided a good barricade for them to weave around. Soon, corpses filled the clearing. He looked up at the sky for swarm but saw nothing. The butterflies had left.

He uncovered their food source – milkweed. They were a material that gave no stats to him upon eating it, but the same might not apply to the butterflies. Perhaps other insect creatures would also enjoy this type of material.

-------------

Caesar was walking along a small stream when he suddenly noticed a scuffle in the woods next to him. His Bone Elemental battled two humans, who seemed to have hidden inside a spot good for an ambush. Powerful metal armor covered their whole bodies, which the serpentine horror rammed. Alta dashed forward and entered the fray. He hid behind a tree and watched her khopesh fracture one’s armor in three blows.

The two knew they wouldn’t win the fight, and instead rushed toward one another. Something happened and the Bone Elemental missed its headbutt, but Alta managed to slice into the belly of her foe. The other human picked up his teammate and launched him straight into Caesar’s direction.

Instead of running like they had expected, he wielded his halberd and materialized his crown. He was more than a match for the injured enemy and made short work of him.

The man bore the same mark as the patrolman from before: fox face on his chest.

Alta had wrestled the man down, enough for the Bone Elemental’s spikes to pierce the gaps in its helmet. His breastbone contained the exact same fox symbol as well. Now, a problem had arisen. How had they found him? And why did they strive so hard to kill him specifically?

“What do you think, Alta?”

“That spy from the camp. It seemed a little suspicious how we kept running into Rage Powder, and how we found the patrol group so quickly. It’s like they were following Magnus.”

“You think these fox-branded people can send messages to one another? Or even, detect each other’s location?” He took out the plaque disguised by Masquerade and flung it into the stream.

Both men wore rank one Reinforced Iron Armor, strengthened by some material his system couldn’t identify. Enchantments made them lighter and stronger, enough to defend against the Khopesh of Shattering’s once-a-day effect. After Alta equipped their armor, she narrowed her eyes again at their torsos again. But instead of leaving it alone this time, she slashed open a chunk of flesh to reveal the rib-cage.

Blood dripped from her fingers and onto the dirt, yet they both continued to stare at the man’s corpse. His jaw tightened. The breastbone had an extra marking below where the fox’s face would have been, resembling a tail.

After his hippo disposed of their corpses, he said, “Let’s keep going west.” This dungeon was truly massive. Although the fog seemed too high-level, he doubted other places were the same.