The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 123 Rock-Eating Worm

The three chatted as they made their way forward, and about two hours passed. They had set off from the plantation to the rat tribe's stronghold in the morning but didn't arrive until noon, so they should return to the plantation around noon as well.

*Slap*...

At a fork in the road, the Shadow Wolf, who was walking at the front, seemed to have stepped on something, making a strange scraping sound.

"What is this? Sand?"

Yanami bent down to look and found that the Shadow Wolf's forelimbs were stuck in a pile of gray sand, and it looked wet.

Looking ahead, I saw that the road ahead was covered with sand.

"Strange, there shouldn't have been this sand when I came here. Did I take the wrong path?"

"No, I didn't go to the wrong place."

Daisy was the one holding the map. After hearing Yanami's words, she checked the map again and then shook her head vigorously.

"So, this is something new?"

"Hmm? Let me see."

Hyacinth noticed this too. After stopping the Rockbreaker, she walked to the Shadow Wolf, squatted down, and picked up a bit of gray sand.

She rubbed it with her hands, then brought it to her nose and smelled it.

"Ugh...it smells awful."

Hyacinth frowned, as if she had thought of something.

"Could it be a rock-devouring worm? But it should appear at a deeper level..."

"A rock-devouring worm?"

"Yes, it's a kind of worm that burrows into rocks. They swallow the rocks and then spit them out, which turns into sand like this."

Because they also like to burrow, you might sometimes encounter them inside tunnels, but they usually eat nutritious minerals, so they should be quite timid... they shouldn't be found on the cave floor.

Hyacinth pursed her lips, her expression filled with doubt and confusion.

Seeing her puzzled look, Yanami decided to ask Klein.

("Klein, what do you know?")

("Hmm... I'll try using my ability.")

Klein used his skill "Appraisal" on the sand on the ground.

Klein thought for a moment, unsure of which direction to focus on for identification, so he chose the application.

Success rate: 98%

[The excrement of the rock-swallowing worm: The rock-swallowing worm has fine teeth that grind and digest the nutrients inside the rocks it swallows before regurgitating them.]

【Use: Rock-eating worms have no sight and identify targets by smell. Applying this to your body will make them unable to detect you.】

It can be used for planting and as fertilizer.

Hyacinth was right; the sand was indeed the excrement of the rock-eating worms, and it served surprisingly many purposes.

("She guessed right, they really are rock-eating worms, and applying this sand to your body will make the worms treat you like their own.")

("Ugh? How disgusting... But I get it.")

It's really disgusting, but I'm just a seed, so it's okay.

Although Yanami received the information from Klein, she was unsure how to express it.

It must be strange that I didn't know what it was before, but suddenly I know so much about it?

"Could it be because of the Dragon's Might from before?"

While Yanami was still pondering, Daisy shared her conjecture.

"Hmm... I don't know, I'm not very clear about these things either, but it's certainly possible."

Are rock-eating worms dangerous?

"They're not very dangerous because they like to eat stones, not meat, and they're not very big. But if you disturb them, they might retaliate."

However, their biggest problem is their love of burrowing, which makes the rocks full of holes, making our tunnels prone to collapse. They are truly nasty monsters.

Hyacinth said through gritted teeth, it seemed they had been quite troubled by the rock-eating worms.

"Ahaha...I see."

As Hyacinth explained, she looked around and first explored the tunnel wall for a while, but found nothing.

Then I looked at the dome again, but still found nothing.

"Is there anything here?"

"No, but that's what's strange. There aren't a single hole in the walls or the ceiling, which means they were all dug up from underground."

There's sand they spat out on the ground; they probably stopped digging once they reached the surface because they couldn't dig any further.

Hyacinth walked to the sand again, drew her sword and stuck it into the sand, but the blade could not be inserted any further than halfway in.

"As expected, they probably came up from underground. But thankfully they came from underground, so the tunnel shouldn't collapse."

But why did they come up here...?

"Hyacinth is so professional."

"Hmph, of course."

Hyacinth, having sheathed her sword, smiled smugly upon hearing Yanami's praise.

"So what do we do next? Keep going?"

"Let's see how dangerous it is first. If there are many of them, they'll become bolder."

Hyacinth picked up a stone from the ground and threw it onto the sandy ground.

Snap, rustle, rustle...

The stone fell into the sand and sank in a little, but then the surrounding sand suddenly began to wriggle, as if many insects were crawling around underneath.

"Ah, it's showing up. It looks like rock-devouring worms, and there seem to be a lot of them."

As the sand writhed, long worms emerged, some as thick as an arm, covered with many fine segments.

"Ugh...it looks disgusting."

"Haha, after all, they're swimming around in their own excrement right now."

"Don't say it out loud, it makes me feel even more disgusted."

As they chatted and laughed, Hyacinth threw a few more stones in different places, causing the sand to churn and the figures of worms to appear and disappear within it.

"There are so many... I wonder how aggressive they are. They usually run away in fear."

Standing outside the sand is definitely safe, but it's hard to say if you're inside the sand.

These creatures don't usually attack unless provoked, but it's a different story if they use this place as their breeding ground; they'll even attack their own kind. However, throwing stones won't reveal anything.

If even your own companions will attack you, then covering yourself with sand probably won't do you any good, right?

"Ugh... what should we do? There's only one road here, and if we take a detour, it will be much, much longer."

Seeing Hyacinth's distressed expression, Yanami suddenly had an idea.

"I think I have a way to try."

"What?"

"Just step on it and you'll see, right?"

"Oh? That's dangerous."

"I didn't step on it."

Yanami glanced at the Shadow Wolf to the side and smiled.

"Ah, should we use the Shadow Wolf to test it? Indeed, it's very powerful, it should be fine, right?"

However, Hyacinth seemed a little reluctant to part with him; she seemed to really like Shadow Wolf.

"No, no, no, that's not it."

"What is that?"

Yanami didn't answer immediately, but walked over to the Shadow Wolf and pointed to the vines on its body.

"this."

"What?"

There was something wrapped up inside the vines. Yanami let the vines extend out and slowly untied the tightly bound vines, revealing what was inside.

"Walking mushroom?!"

"That's right! Let's let Walking Mushroom give it a try."