Linden now felt like his eyes were about to be blinded—if he had eyes, that is.
Don't look at how many Puffballs there were in his mushroom garden; the basic Puffballs were standard 1 point in all five stats, with 10 HP, the bottom of the food chain. Could a normal Puffball reach the realm of 3000 HP?
Of course, it was still easy for Linden to handle her, but that row of fixed effects was truly enviable for a mushroom.
So enviable that he even wanted to eat her and seize her abilities...
Just kidding, it was rare to find someone he could communicate with.
Besides, from the panel, the Puffball in front of him was likely a human. Eating living people raw and such, Linden hadn't become that inhuman yet.
"Calmed down now?" Linden controlled the Puffballs holding her to loosen their grip slightly, not putting too much pressure on her.
Suddenly having a voice in her head made Inanna panic. She still didn't know if the other party was human or demon, only that the Puffballs nearby were all under their control.
Could this be a continuation of the conspiracy, the one responsible for executing me here?
"If... if you want to kill me, then kill me!"
"Why would I kill you? Could you please calm down?"
"Huh?"
This foreign mushroom was so impolite, messing up his mushroom garden and not even apologizing.
"I am the lord of all mushrooms on this floor. You can call me Linden. What's your name?"
"Mushroom... lord..."
Inanna didn't know how the words "mushroom" and "lord" could be linked together.
In her impression, weren't mushrooms just bottom-tier existences with a level cap of 10, who would be eaten by other monsters with only a few levels even when maxed out?
And the scene she saw here didn't look like something a level 10 monster could possess, not to mention this communication method similar to a 5th-tier magic telepathy.
Moreover, this was clearly more than just telepathy.
Since connecting, the range Inanna could perceive instantly expanded far beyond the few meters around her.
And it was even clearer and more detailed, as if she was receiving the perceptions of all the surrounding mushrooms.
Inanna couldn't judge the strength of this mushroom lord at all.
In any case, she would try to pretend she was also a Puffball and muddle through.
"I, I'm also a Puffball, I don't have a name or anything..."
"Then how about I give you a name? Let's call you Inanna."
"..."
Huh?
Why would he know?
Could this skill, similar to telepathy, also have a mind-reading effect?
The surrounding Puchi, which had scattered, slowly gathered again. Was she going to be killed for lying?
No way!
Fortunately, when there was still a sliver of space left, the Puchi stopped, and Linden's voice echoed in her mind again.
"I'm very friendly, but only if you don't play any tricks. Otherwise, I don't mind having a little more fertilizer to enrich the soil, understand?"
Inanna nodded her mushroom cap vigorously.
"Then let's try again. Name."
"I, Inanna Saint Claire..."
"Identity?"
"Duke... Amala's... daughter..."
A Duke's daughter?
Is the outside world structured similarly to the Middle Ages?
No wonder there was a blessing from the Holy See, and the Fruit of Life, and she could still have 3000 HP after turning into a Puchi.
No matter which world it is, having a good father is a shortcut in life.
"Tell me, how did a Duke's daughter like you end up here?"
Since her background was already revealed, Inanna saw no need to hide the rest.
Not only did she explain how she was harmed and fell down, but she also answered all of Linden's other questions truthfully.
Linden took the opportunity to learn a lot of information.
For example, the place he was in was actually a dungeon located within Inanna's family territory, and it was in the deep layers. No wonder there were monsters everywhere.
For example, there were various races outside, and humans were on the verge of war with the vampires among the demon race. The two traitors who wanted to kill Inanna were likely colluding with the vampires.
Not only that, but he also realized that Inanna, being a local, didn't seem to be able to see the panel. Otherwise, she wouldn't have tried to hide her name.
Perhaps this panel was a hidden benefit for "Heroes"?
In short, Linden, who had gained a lot, now found this pink Puchi much more pleasing to the eye.
"Inanna, you've become a Puchi now. Do you have any plans for the future?"
"Plans for the future... You really won't turn me into fertilizer, will you?" Having been pressured earlier, Inanna was a little afraid of Linden now.
"I promise."
"I want to go back to the surface..."
Inanna not only wanted to return to the surface but also wanted to find her father, lift the transformation spell, and then seek revenge on the two traitors!
"Ah, returning to the surface,"
Linden was amused when he heard that.
"I want to go to the surface too!"
But as you can see, you're a mushroom and I'm a mushroom. How are we supposed to fight our way through this underground world full of terrifying monsters to reach the surface?
Let's not talk about anything far off. Just on this floor, the passage upwards is in the lair of a Flame Demon."
A Flame Demon, that's a high-level monster at least LV55 or higher!
Even if Inanna hadn't been transformed, she wouldn't be able to defeat it. It's even questionable if she could escape if she encountered one.
"Speaking of which, won't your Duke father come to rescue you?"
"He should..."
Inanna remembered what the two traitors said about her father being finished, and she felt uncertain.
Her pink mushroom cap visibly wilted.
Yes, after turning into a Puji, she couldn't even use her most proficient magic. How could she possibly return to the surface?
"Alright, alright, since you're here, make the best of it. You've been upset for so long, you must be hungry, right? Let's eat something first."
He couldn't let the interesting new thing he just found starve to death.
A Puji with a green cap jumped out of the mushroom patch and walked up to Inanna to lead the way. And Inanna did feel a bit hungry.
"Is this you?"
"Yes and no. All the mushrooms here are me."
In reality, he had a mushroom body, but he wasn't planning on mentioning it.
Inanna nodded, half-understanding. The two then arrived at a mycelial mat formed by converging hyphae.
Linden thoughtfully demonstrated to Inanna how a Puji eats.
The Puji he controlled lay down on the spot, allowing the hyphae on the ground to connect and transport nutrients. It was fully replenished in less than 5 minutes.
Seeing this, Inanna's mushroom cap changed color.
What is this?
Letting a bunch of hyphae insert into her body and inject unknown substances?
This scene before her eyes was difficult for Inanna, who had only consumed food through her mouth for 16 years, to accept for a moment.
Linden didn't rush her. If a child doesn't eat, it must mean they aren't hungry enough. Once they get desperate from hunger, they'll know to eat on their own.
Her gradually weakening body eventually made Inanna lie down on the mycelial mat.
This feeling!
Nutrients surged in from countless connection points beneath her. A sense of being fed and then filled with satisfaction arose spontaneously.
So happy...
It wasn't until she was full of nutrients and the hyphae stopped supplying them that Inanna reluctantly got up.
Being a mushroom seems unexpectedly good?
No, no, what am I thinking!
Inanna, has your brain turned into a mushroom too?
Oh, my brain really has turned into a mushroom cap, and it's pink...
Linden didn't know about Inanna's little thoughts. Seeing that she had finished eating, he began to introduce her to the different areas of the mushroom garden.
"You know the dining hall, and you've seen the Puji planting area, that's where you knocked over my Puji."
"See that rock wall over there? Below that is the mining area."
"That side is the breeding area. We raise some Rolling Beetles and Slimes there. They're all aggressive, so don't go over there casually."
"See that giant mushroom on the right? That's the division of labor area. It's a bit troublesome to explain, you can go see it yourself later and you'll understand."
"Don't go in that direction. If you go that way, you'll be outside the mushroom garden area, and it's not safe."
Linden introduced everything on his own, while Inanna, who was beside him, had been frozen since the first word.
What planting area? What breeding area?
Inanna felt that Linden wasn't introducing areas within the dungeon, but rather a fully functional small town.
Am I still in the Amethyst Dungeon?
What about the other monsters?
After all, they're just a bunch of mushrooms, how can they have such a large territory in the extremely dangerous depths of the dungeon?
Inanna's mind was full of questions, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she became. She only felt that the depths of the dungeon were incredibly strange, and even common sense didn't exist here.