"Don't these need to be buried underground?"
"I'm not a plant..."
Do people in this world still not know the difference between fungi and plants?
The Cow and Horse Puki have already transported all the Fire Mosquito pieces and their larvae back to the Mushroom Garden.
The Fire Mosquito, a demon that relies mainly on agility and evasion, doesn't have a strong body. Once hit by a Mushroom Cannon or crushed by an armored Puki, it's hard to leave an intact corpse.
Now they are spread evenly in the planting area, with the first batch already starting to sprout mycelium.
These demon corpses, once decomposed, will provide Lin Jun both skill proficiency and magic power. An individual Fire Mosquito doesn't contain much magic power, but there's a significant amount overall.
All of this magic power will be invested by Lin Jun into producing new Puki.
The Mushroom Garden, currently relying on natural absorption of magic power, can accommodate about 300 Puki, with 100 of them in the logistics group to maintain daily operations, leaving the rest as combat Puki.
This time, Lin Jun plans to exceed the limit and deploy 400 combat Puki at once, putting them all into the upcoming Earth Worm hunting operation.
If too many survive after the operation, they'll just disband some. Ensuring success is the most crucial part.
There isn't a second Fire Mosquito nest nearby that can provide him with such resources so easily. If they fail this time, who knows when they can organize another round.
"Lin Jun, look, I think I've got a new talent!"
At some unknown point, Inanna was playing around with the Water Snake Technique. Lin Jun had seen her use this skill in battle, and while it couldn't be considered invincible, it was at least useless.
Not only does it have a short range and poor power, but it can't even take down a Fire Mosquito with a direct hit. The only advantage is that it can be somewhat controlled after being shot out, but under Inanna's abysmal skill, it became a negative effect.
Compared to the Ice Blade, it's completely outclassed.
Inanna probably realized this herself, and after using the Water Snake twice, she never used it again.
But now, the Water Snake that Inanna cast is nimbly swimming around her, like a small protective green dragon.
This is definitely not Inanna's normal skill level. Lin Jun decisively pulled up her status panel again.
Sure enough, her level had risen to Level 30. Even a small fraction of experience from hundreds of Fire Mosquitoes was enough for her to level up twice.
A new fixed effect had appeared: [Favor of the Elemental Spirit: Elemental Spirits assist the spellcaster in controlling spells].
"Try using the Ice Blade to attack that stone over there."
The target Lin Jun set was 100 meters away from Inanna, a distance at which a Puki would almost never miss.
"Huh? I'll try."
The moment the Ice Blade was shot out, Lin Jun knew she had missed her mark terribly. But the Ice Blade surprisingly adjusted during flight, finally managing to clip the corner of the stone.
"Wow... it actually hit!"
Inanna looked incredulous herself.
In fact, if she hadn't aimed so poorly, the Ice Blade might have hit dead center. The fact that it could graze the target despite being so off shows how impressive the Elemental Spirits are.
Lin Jun also noticed that when Inanna used the Ice Blade, the surrounding Water Snake Technique wasn't canceled.
So, is it like an AI-assisted control ability?
Except here, the Elemental Spirit takes the place of an AI.
Speaking of which, there really is such a thing as Elemental Spirits in this world; I thought magic was just magic on its own.
Furthermore, it seems that humans, like myself, automatically gain a fixed effect or skill every ten levels that suits them, just like my Mushroom Cannon and Fungal Network.
Inanna calls it a talent.
It seems this isn't unique to me. Humans are like this, so other races or demons probably are too.
However, there are slight differences. Possibly because she can't see her panel, Inanna's talent is acquired automatically, while I have a three-choice option.
Lin Jun glanced at his Level 44 status, still a long way from the next talent selection.
————
In the following days, Lin Jun threw himself into a large project called a troop surge.
The good news is that his long-unused Spiritual Integration skill has finally been leveled up to Level 6. Otherwise, Lin Jun really couldn't control so many Puki at once.
But even so, he didn't have the time to chat idly with Inanna.
Inanna didn't mind, though. She was recently engrossed in exploring her new talent.
Besides helping her adjust trajectories with auto-aim, Elemental Spirits are also more adept at tasks like following with the Lighting Technique or providing 360° automatic defense with Water Mirror Refraction. They are much smoother to use than when operated directly by her.
However, spells like Purification and Mud Swamp Technique show no change—the Elemental Spirits don't enhance the power of spells themselves.
As the days went by and everything seemed to be getting prepared, a strong magic fluctuation emanated from outside the Mushroom Garden.
"Lin Jun, what's happening? Why does it suddenly feel so oppressive?"
It was like the aftershocks of a Level Eight earthquake from a distance. Even Inanna, without the Magic Perception skill, sensed something was wrong, while Lin Jun directly felt waves of magic vibration crashing in like tides, making him uncomfortable.
Lin Jun checked the monitors he had set outside. These sporadic mushroom clumps couldn't provide Lin Jun with a visual, but they could sense the magic fluctuations in their surroundings.
Soon, Lin Jun pinpointed the source of the disturbance—from the direction of the Flame Demon's nest.
Knowing it was from the Flame Demon's direction, Lin Jun calmed down, casually reassuring the frightened Inanna and continued with the final touches on the troop surge project.
It's not that Lin Jun wasn't afraid of the Flame Demon. On the contrary, being the strongest demon discovered so far, Lin Jun has always been wary of the Flame Demon's movements.
If he ever found the Flame Demon moving toward the Mushroom Garden, he'd immediately grab his bucket and make a run for it.
Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet.
In fact, through Lin Jun's observations, the Flame Demon was almost like a recluse.
Unlike himself, who was rooted to the ground and couldn't move easily, the Flame Demon simply seemed too lazy to move, likely content just soaking in lava to meet most of its needs.
However, being a recluse doesn't mean it never goes out. The surveillance has noted the Flame Demon going out three times so far.
Each trip would cause nearby magic fluctuations like today's, making Lin Jun suspect it went out to fight.
But who it fought with and where exactly the battle took place remain mysteries, as does whatever opponent can challenge the Flame Demon. Lin Jun's explorations cover only a small section of the overall deep layers.
Lin Jun's original plan involved sneaking past the Flame Demon's lair when it left, making a quick escape to the upper levels.
However, that plan was quite risky as Lin Jun had no control over when the Flame Demon would return.
The three past occurrences ranged from merely a few hours to an estimated three or four days.
The sneaking plan was truly life-risking, hence it got replaced by the tunneling plan.
Who knows how long the Flame Demon will be out this time? Hopefully, nothing changes to interfere with his Earth Worm hunting.