Adeline's mission was not difficult.
Her target was a special plant called "Grey Paste Scale Fungus."
There was no need for political maneuvering with people, nor was there a need for a life-and-death struggle against monsters.
If she could collect a certain amount of Grey Paste Scale Fungus and bring it back to the Adventurers' Guild, her promotion mission would be a success. She would then earn the opportunity to officially ascend to the guild's second floor as a professional, gaining access to more resources and channels.
However, as one of the alternative primary ingredients for crafting [Minor Stone Skin Potions] and a useful stabilizer for some mid-to-high-level spells, the growth conditions for Grey Paste Scale Fungus were quite stringent.
This unique mushroom, which possessed a grey-white hue resembling rock and a surface covered in a fine scale-like grid pattern, shared the preference for damp, dark environments common to most fungi.
But it also had one mandatory growth requirement.
—The bodily fluids of a Petrifying Lizard.
Whether it was saliva, blood, urine, or feces, as long as the bodily fluids of this lazy eight-legged lizard were present, the Grey Paste Scale Fungus had the possibility to grow and proliferate.
Furthermore, Petrifying Lizards were common in the Underdark and were typical cave-dwelling creatures.
It was easy to imagine where Grey Paste Scale Fungus was most frequently found.
Naturally, it was in the underground nests where the Petrifying Lizards resided.
Adeline had only recently been promoted to a professional. Even though she held the reputation of "Green Blood" in River Valley Town, she was still far too weak to trade blows with a monster of this level.
Fortunately, she was not alone on this promotion mission.
Perhaps considering that acting alone would be too difficult, the guild had provided her with two temporary teammates as a prerequisite for accepting the mission.
They were also professionals who had just been promoted recently; under the coordination of the Adventurers' Guild, they had been assigned to a small squad to complete a second-floor mission together.
Of course, since this was a remote town on the fringes of the kingdom, no matter how dense the population of adventurers was, the harsh requirements for obtaining professional levels meant that the number of professionals who successfully promoted each year was not very high.
Gathering three professionals who had just completed their promotion and had not yet gained access to the guild's second floor within such a short timeframe was already quite difficult.
Consequently, the role distribution of the squad was not particularly rational.
Including Adeline, all three of them were "Warriors."
They only differed in the weapons they used and their fighting styles.
It seemed problematic, but in reality, it wasn't an issue.
No matter how rational the role distribution was—even if they had assembled a so-called "Tank-Mage-Healer" party—these three were still only level 1 professionals and were by no means a match for a Petrifying Lizard.
This required them to use cunning methods to obtain the Grey Paste Scale Fungus growing in the nest while avoiding a direct confrontation with the Petrifying Lizard as much as possible.
"What's the situation? Is this eight-legged lizard like the ones from a few days ago—falling fast asleep the moment it returns to the cave?"
Covered in grass clippings and soil, completely disregarding any notion of poise, Adeline lay in the deep grass of a terrain with a slightly open line of sight, far from the entrance of the lizard's nest. She asked her teammate beside her in a voice that was nearly inaudible.
"Yeah, it seems this beast found suitable prey today and had a massive feast. Its belly almost got stuck when it entered the cave entrance. It's currently in a state of hibernation."
The one responding to her was a dark-skinned, slightly lean man.
He seemed to possess some kind of perception-based combat skill. At the moment, he was in a distorted posture—knees on the ground, upper body pressed forward against the earth, and lower body slightly arched—with one cheek and ear pressed completely against the ground, carefully monitoring the movements deep within the cave.
They were all professionals who had fought their way up from the bottom. While their personalities differed, their professional standards during adventures were all high.
After communicating, discussing, and establishing the principle of avoiding combat, and once they had located the Petrifying Lizard's nest, the three of them quickly formulated a detailed and meticulous action plan.
First and foremost, the most important task was to figure out the activity patterns of this Petrifying Lizard.
When did it go out to hunt? How long did it stay away each time? Did it have a fixed route?
Secondly, this included, but was not limited to, determining if the nest had extra entrances, conducting a detailed survey of the surrounding terrain, checking the distribution and density of surrounding vegetation, identifying blind spots for emergency hiding, and even planning escape routes for sudden emergencies...
Every item they could think of was proposed and resolved one by one during their long wait and observation.
Under normal circumstances, if it were any other creature—or even a slightly more normal Petrifying Lizard—Adeline and her group should have been able to complete the mission smoothly.
But what made this one troublesome was that the three of them encountered problems right from the start when observing the activity patterns of the eight-legged lizard in the distant underground nest.
There was absolutely no pattern!
Its origin in the Underdark had not caused this bloated, obese reptile to develop a habit of being nocturnal.
Every action seemed to exist solely to fill its never-ending stomach.
The timing of its hunting trips was inconsistent; basically, if it caught prey, it ate it on the spot. If it wasn't full, it continued hunting. If it was full or too lazy to move, it returned to the nest to sleep and rest.
Its resting time was equally inconsistent, depending purely on whether the contents of its stomach had finished digesting. Once it felt hungry, it would charge straight out of the nest into the woods to find something to eat.
Adeline had even seen it go out to hunt three times consecutively within a five-hour window.
Its activities were irregularly distributed across any point in a twenty-four-hour cycle.
They had observed it for three whole days!
They couldn't find a single safe window with enough time-margin to allow them to venture deep into the nest to collect the Grey Paste Scale Fungus.
"Maybe... one person from our team could split off and secretly follow the Petrifying Lizard when it goes out to hunt, while the other two take the opportunity to enter the nest and collect the mushrooms."
"And when the Petrifying Lizard finishes hunting and intends to return, the person tracking it rushes back first to warn us?"
The final member of the squad, a burly man several sizes larger than Adeline with a face full of coarse flesh and a bald head, suggested this to the other two with a meticulous thought process and tentative tone that contrasted sharply with his appearance.
Frowning slightly, Adeline thought it over for a moment.
She gently shook her head.
"The uncertainty is too high, and there's no room for error. It would easily create unnecessary danger, and it would be difficult to execute exactly as planned."
"First, although we've prepared plenty of scent-masking spray and have all pre-purchased [Petrification Resistance Potions], the person trailing the Petrifying Lizard would be in the highest danger. If they are discovered... you know the instantaneous explosive power of that thing. Escaping might require some luck."
"In that case, for this role... who goes?"
Seeing the bald man beside her hesitate, as if he wanted to volunteer for the position, Adeline waved her hand, signaling him to let her finish.
"Second, if we do as you say, we already need one person outside to keep watch before we enter the nest. If we split another person off to trail the Petrifying Lizard, that means only one person would be going deep into the nest to collect the mushrooms."
"We haven't even figured out the specific conditions inside the cave. If someone goes down alone, who knows what other dangers they might encounter?"
"If they happen to get trapped and unable to escape just as the Petrifying Lizard returns, wouldn't that be a death trap?"
There were obviously many more loopholes in the plan proposed by the burly bald man, but the two points Adeline raised were enough to completely veto the suggestion.
Despite his fierce appearance, the burly man remained exceptionally calm, accepting the rejection of his proposal naturally.
After all, they were temporary teammates in the truest sense. The three of them shared common goals and interests, and their professional standards as "adventurers" were good.
Naturally, they wouldn't fly into a rage like many ignorant fools.
"So we... just keep waiting for now?"
The bald man glanced toward the cave entrance from a distance, then subconsciously shifted his gaze away, asking in a low voice.
"Yes." Adeline's expression was serious and solemn. "We just wait."
"The mission deadline is still far off, and our supplies are plenty. If we conserve, we could stay in the woods for half a month. With enough time, we can observe every single move of this eight-legged lizard."
"Be patient. We'll find an opportunity."
The two of them were discussing the next plan in low voices.
Suddenly, a low shout from beside them made their hearts tighten.
"Stay alert!"
"The crawler is coming out!"
The lean man, who had been pressing his ear to the ground, suddenly half-rose and warned the other two vigilantly.
"How is that possible? It only just returned, and it looked like it ate a lot. It should sleep for at least two hours, right?"
A look of surprise appeared on the burly man's face, but his body tensed the instant the other spoke, completing his preparations for action.
Adeline's frown deepened. She trusted the judgment of her temporary teammate, and at the same time, the Petrifying Lizard's abnormal behavior caused a faint sense of unease to well up in her heart.
Making a decisive call, she spoke
"Something's wrong. We retreat for now!"
The moment the words left her mouth, a high-pitched beastly roar filled with violence and boundless rage suddenly erupted from the depths of the cave, seemingly causing the surrounding air to tremble slightly.
Dust mixed with rubble showered down, permeating the air with an ominous feeling. Two ghostly, pale-green vertical pupils suddenly appeared in the darkness, and behind them, in the deeper shadows, was a massive, bloated, and terrifying silhouette.
Sharp claws tore through the shadows, slamming violently onto the ground at the cave entrance. Under the pressure of its heavy body, the claw blades, dulled by stone, instantly embedded themselves deep into the soil.
Muscular, short legs exerted a sudden burst of power. Brown bone spikes, resembling underground crystals, protruded from the top of its skull down to the end of its spine, revealing a lizard head covered in blue-grey scales and filled with fury.
The Petrifying Lizard was too obese and had charged too hastily, causing its bloated belly to get stuck halfway through the cave entrance as it emerged.
Its massive body was like an overly fat mole; its four front legs struggled frantically, pushing and pulling against the mud and stone edges of the cave entrance.
It wasn't until the entire cave entrance was nearly collapsed that this massive, bloated eight-legged lizard finally crawled out amidst the rubble and dust.
And upon that face was a human-like, unprecedented rage.
Regardless of what had happened, Adeline and her two teammates had already retreated for several seconds.
Clearly, given the Petrifying Lizard's current state, let alone sneaking into its nest to steal things, a direct encounter would be a fight to the death. They could not get close!
And just then, as if sniffing out a certain scent in the void, the anger on the Petrifying Lizard's face subsided slightly, replaced by an unprecedented focus.
Its neck suddenly straightened, and as its head swayed gently from side to side, its snake-like tongue flickered and its nostrils flared, as if it were smelling something.
Despite the considerable distance, which was beyond the range of the Petrifying Gaze, Adeline could see very clearly.
The amplitude of the Petrifying Lizard's head movements... was getting smaller and smaller.
It was as if it were gradually confirming the location and direction of its target.
And her group was exactly within that range.
Adeline suddenly felt a chill shoot from her tailbone to the top of her head, and cold sweat broke out on her back.
While retreating rapidly, her concentration intensified, staring almost obsessively at the head whose swaying speed was slowing down.
Until those ghostly, cold vertical pupils... suddenly froze through the gaps in the shrubbery!
Eye contact!
*Buzz...*
It felt as if an invisible hand had squeezed her heart. Her breathing froze in that instant, and the entire world seemed to fall into an indescribable silence.
*Gasp—*
Like a drowning person who had finally managed to break the surface of the water, Adeline took a sharp breath, and the sounds of the surrounding world instantly flooded her ears.
Without a hint of hesitation, and no longer masking her volume, a female voice nearly screamed through the woods
"Drink the potion!"
"Prepare for battle!!!"
Seeing Adeline's abrupt behavior, her two teammates were very surprised.
In the rush, they didn't have time to react. In the next second, they watched as she used her teeth to pop the cork of the pre-prepared [Petrification Resistance Potion] and downed the entire bottle.
Simultaneously, a loud crash of a splitting tree trunk echoed from not far ahead.
Only then did the two realize the reason for Adeline's actions, and they followed suit by drinking their potions.
To be fair, the reactions of these two professionals weren't slow; in fact, because of Adeline's warning, they were faster than they would have been on their own.
But even so, compared to this figure who had already made a name for herself as "Green Blood" among low-level adventurers, they were still a full one and a half seconds slower.
And it was precisely this one-and-a-half-second time difference.
Driven by its rage, the Petrifying Lizard erupted with an exaggerated instantaneous speed, closing the distance between itself and the group to a range where the "Petrifying Gaze" could take effect.
The effect of the resistance potion Adeline had used was just reaching full potency, while the other two had only just finished drinking, some even still clutching the empty bottles they hadn't had time to throw away.
The burly bald man's entire body stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal.
But the lean man's speed plummeted instantly, and a grey-white hue appeared on his arm joints, chest, and cheeks.
*Roar—*
A beastly roar filled with endless rage echoed through the depths of the dense forest.
Above the canopy, countless birds took flight in alarm.