Chapter 10：Arrival at the Destination

After a careful read, Allen roughly understood the origin of the corpse.

The body likely belonged to the previous owner of the parchment scroll.

Due to an accident, the owner fell into the tree hole and couldn't escape.

In the end, they struggled, suffered, and died in the tree hole. The entrance closed, trapping them in a dark, confined space until Allen found them.

As for why this Botanist Mage fell into the tree hole, Allen guessed it might have been due to a beast attack.

Or perhaps some mysterious ritual.

After all, within the Beast-Warrior branch of the three mysterious professions, there is a peculiar subset that requires merging with plants.

The parchment scroll "Dark Ritual" briefly mentions the three major professions.

Beast Tamer, a profession that involves commanding powerful beasts in battle, especially those that guard magical treasures.

Mage, clearly a group of powerful individuals who wield magical energy.

Beast-Warrior, who modify their bodies using various extraordinary items, transforming themselves into unique beings.

Each of these three professions has countless peculiar sub-branches.

Beast Tamers are ferocious attackers, exceedingly brave!

Mages are mysterious and can kill without being seen!

Beast-Warriors are bizarre and fierce, with tenacious lives!

Each has its own characteristics.

As for why a Botanist Mage would risk becoming a Beast-Warrior by merging with a banyan tree, Allen wasn't sure.

Perhaps they had no hope of advancing to a higher level and took a desperate gamble.

But this was just Allen's speculation, not a certainty.

In any case, the previous owner was dead, and the parchment scroll "Dark Ritual" was now Allen's.

Moreover, Allen decided to stuff the corpse back into the tree hole before setting out at dawn.

Then, he would pour oil and burn the banyan tree and the corpse to ashes.

Returning the body to the earth was something Allen could do.

"Magic Brain Mushroom?" Allen stared at a page of the parchment scroll, his eyes filled with curiosity.

According to the parchment scroll, to become a Botanist Mage, one must not only have the corresponding qualifications but also take a mystical enlightenment potion with the "Magic Brain Mushroom" as the main ingredient.

Most of the materials needed for the enlightenment potion were herbs or miscellaneous items that could be purchased.

Only the "Magic Brain Mushroom" was a headache for Allen.

"According to the parchment scroll, the Magic Brain Mushroom is a level-one magical treasure!" Allen muttered, frowning.

"A level-one fungal magical treasure, resembling morel mushrooms on Earth."

Finding the Magic Brain Mushroom wasn't the most troublesome part; obtaining it required evading the guardian beast.

The "Dark Ritual" records that the guardian beasts of the Magic Brain Mushroom are mostly Striped Dragons.

These are legless, giant venomous dragons with snake bodies and dragon wings, a common trait among pseudo-dragons.

Allen, being just a strong ordinary person, would be dreaming to think he could handle a Striped Dragon, which could be equivalent to a level-one or even level-three beast!

Thinking this, Allen reluctantly closed the parchment scroll.

"Even if I have to face the Striped Dragon, I must be prepared."

For now, his team wasn't strong enough to deal with guardian beasts, so it was pointless to think too much.

The most important thing was to seize this opportunity to earn enough wealth in the black market.

Then, he could recruit subordinates and arm himself.

Once strong enough, he could then aim for the Magic Brain Mushroom.

Besides recording the enlightenment potion for Botanist Mages, the parchment scroll also clearly described the advancement methods for Botanist Mages.

Unfortunately, the decayed and moldy parchment scroll didn't have more records.

Advancing to a level-three Botanist Mage was the limit.

The advancement method for level-four was vague, almost speculative.

As for level-five, there were only a few lines describing a dead end, the words maddening and filled with gibberish.

Clearly, the previous Botanist Mage hadn't completed the breakthrough.

Perhaps this was also why they died in the tree hole.

Forty pages of the parchment scroll, with only half containing key content.

Besides information on Botanist Mages, it also included some fragments about Beast-Warriors and three potion recipes.

Allen valued the potion recipes highly.

Perhaps it was related to his past life of smuggling contraband, driven by the maddening profits!

One recipe was called "Botanist Mage's Curse!"

This was a hallucinogenic potion similar to marijuana but with strong addictive properties.

It was called Botanist Mage's Curse because its main ingredient was a fungus very similar to the Magic Brain Mushroom.

This fungus was named the "Lesser Magic Brain Mushroom" by Botanist Mages.

It resembled deer truffle.

With a brown cap, twisted and bloated, it looked very much like a human brain.

Its rarity was second only to level-one magical treasures, making it a rare find.

The Lesser Magic Brain Mushroom, combined with the red fireflies from the Bakken Rainforest and the eggs of the rainforest bullfrog, could be made into the Botanist Mage's Curse!

This was the simplest potion recorded in the "Dark Ritual."

Mystical profession advancement potions were called enlightenment potions, while other potions were called magical potions.

Allen had a good memory, enough to remember everything after a few readings.

A long life of danger meant that a poor memory could be deadly.

So, after reading the parchment scroll and firmly memorizing all the content of the "Dark Ritual," Allen burned the parchment scroll to ashes.

He would write it down later when he returned home and found a suitable time.

By now, it was late at night, and the area around the banyan tree began to flicker with starlight.

These were the fireflies commonly seen in the Bakken Rainforest, flying around amidst the chorus of frogs and insects.

After cleaning up the ashes and extinguishing the torch, Allen entered a half-sleep state.

Under the banyan tree, it was Bernice's turn to keep watch.

...

By the time everyone had taken their turn to rest, it was already 4 AM.

The night was still dark, but Allen's team was ready to set off.

Under Allen's orders, they continued their task from the previous day.

In pairs, they took turns clearing new paths ahead, removing obstacles.

With Allen's rich experience as a forest ranger, he found the shortest routes through the dense rainforest.

From the early morning, for an entire day, everyone pressed on without much rest.

Even meals were taken on the move.

By nightfall, everyone was utterly exhausted.

Only Allen and Bernice were still relatively alert, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

The benefit of such fatigue was that they finally reached their destination.

They arrived at least half a day earlier than expected.

'Whoosh'

In the distance, a waterfall sprayed cool mist as it cascaded from a nearly vertical 40-meter cliff, a torrent plunging into the deep, unseen depths of a pool below, said to harbor terrifying giant pythons!

But that was irrelevant to Allen. Their goal was a red tree about a hundred meters away from the pool.

Since it was nighttime, even if they felled the red tree, they couldn't navigate downstream in the dark.

Moreover, everyone was already exhausted.

"Everyone, make camp. Eat and rest immediately," Allen ordered, seeing the weary faces around him.

At 3 AM, they would begin chopping the red tree, taking the most valuable sections and transporting them on a raft.