Chapter 9 Curse Frog, Curse Frog, Curse Frog!

It changed again.

Overnight, Sain Dungeon has undergone another abnormal change!

Such a frequency of change is unheard of!

Steeran had a bad premonition, and she wanted to turn around and leave, to stay away from this eerie Dungeon forever!

But that was not possible.

They had accepted the City Lord's commission, and leaving now would deal a devastating blow to their squad's reputation.

At least... half of the team would have to die for the City Lord to understand the seriousness of the situation.

Steeran signaled to Huynh with a look, and he immediately understood and nodded in agreement.

"How come you haven't left yet? It stinks to death here!"

A garishly dressed youth came forward, covering his nose with a handkerchief, continuously complaining.

"Please, feel free, Mr. Wild, if you want to leave, you can go,"

Wild, Earl Bed's second son, had nearly no combat value. The only noteworthy thing about him was his talent in identifying ores, comparable to senior experts.

"That won't do, I've promised to bring back trophies for my ladies,"

Wild tried to appear brave, but his expression shifted dramatically when he saw his delicate boots soaked in the swamp.

"Alright, Wild, cut down on the complaints, you are the one who insisted on coming,"

A tall and sturdy man, not losing out in build compared to Huynh, held Wild by the shoulder, making him immediately look feeble and mutter, "Big brother Charon..."

Charon clapped his hands, wearing a bright smile, and said to Steeran, "We rely on you for this journey, beautiful lady. If there's danger, please prioritize protecting the experts behind; I have upper-tier strength and can protect myself."

Charon, Earl Bed's eldest son, almost certainly destined to be the future head of the Bed Family. Unlike the family tradition of engaging in trade, he preferred combat, and it is rumored he once joined a Gold Level adventurer team but had to leave due to not keeping up with their skills.

This team consisted of Steeran's four-member squad, two sons from the Bed Family, and the rest were experts like ore specialists, cartographers, and pharmacologists, aiming to quickly determine the value of the changes in Sain Dungeon post its transformation.

"I would still advise caution," Steeran muttered, and said to the team's Mage, Ellie, "Use [Mid-tier Poison Resistance] magic on us, the swamp here is highly toxic,"

"Yes," Ellie, who had experience, skillfully cast the magic, but casting a buff on ten people at once was really a test of her stamina.

Steeran pointed towards a dark fortress looming in the depths of the swamp, "Let's head towards that building,"

Thus, led by the most robust Huynh, with Danya, who could briefly merge into shadows scouting ahead, and the Mage Ellie and Steeran bringing up the rear, they formed a formation that kept the experts protected in the middle.

The muddy swamp made movement extremely difficult, everyone's moving speed was reduced by at least half, and they needed to be careful not to step into any deep pits.

Every step made a "squish" sound against the slimy, thick swamp, and lifting their foot not only splattered muddy water but also pulled up various nauseating unidentified objects.

And dirty, wriggling maggots!

Every step was a severe test of everyone's spirit, and just in this short while, several people in the team had already thrown up.

This was Gong Qiying's handiwork, using a disgustingly overwhelming scene to stimulate the adventurers' senses, generating significant psychological fluctuations, and increasing the total amount of spiritual power emitted!

Even with poison resistance magic, the toxins in the swamp were still slowly accumulating, requiring them to intermittently drink a Detoxification Potion, truly an ultimate torment.

But the main reason for the slowed movement wasn't the swamp, but Steeran's squad.

"There are no monsters hidden within fifty meters ahead, move forward with confidence,"

"There are no hidden goblins in the trees,"

"Who will check that giant rock? Huh, such a good spot and yet no skeleton ambushes, strange,"

Steeran and her team perfectly embodied the saying "once bitten, twice shy".

They had to look around with every step they took, fearing sudden monster attacks, and any rocks or trees blocking the view made them extremely cautious, necessitating a detailed inspection.

There was no help for it, the experience from their last exploration was too painful.

But contrary to their precautions, as they moved along, monsters straightforwardly charged at them and were easily killed, none attempting stealth attacks, completely different from previous behavior patterns.

Thus, there were naturally those among the experts who were dissatisfied with their overly cautious approach.

"With your snail's pace, we'll hardly explore half of it today. Can't you go faster?" Wild said with an unpleasant expression, "I at least need to see Blood Essence today, or any kind of ore will do, you can't even meet this small request, can you?"

"It's really dangerous here, the last time we came—" Ellie tried to explain.

"That's exactly why we hired you, your job is to eliminate dangers, right? What's wrong with demanding you work more efficiently? You've been all tense for nothing, the monsters came at us like idiots, isn't this a waste of time?"

Here it comes, the classic scenario of an amateur instructing professionals.

Steeran glanced at him and said, "Mr. Wild, you're welcome to take the lead. You can go as fast as you like,"

Regarding this privileged second-generation, she didn't need to show too much respect, because the money for the commission came from Earl Bed.

"Ha, you think I'm stupid? I'm not going up front,"

Wild chuckled and went directly to the back of the line, standing next to Steeran with a triumphant look.

"This is the safest place,"

"Swoosh!"

The next second, mud erupted, and a dirty skeleton monster suddenly jumped from the swamp, grabbing Wild in its arms!

Not only was he smeared with highly toxic filth, but a lot of it also went into his mouth!

Merrily wriggling maggots clung to his meticulously styled brown hair, joyously burrowing in and out.

"Help, save me!"

Wild screamed out.

"Whizz—"

An arrow pierced through the skull of the skeleton monster, and Huynh immediately swung his heavy sword blade, smashing the skeleton into pieces.

"Damn, damn!" Wild gasped heavily, glaring at the adventurers. "Did you do that on purpose!?"

"Sorry, my negligence,"

Huynh apologized sincerely with an honest face, "I didn't expect there to be Monsters hidden inside."

"Don't think that just because you look as honest as a potato, I'll believe you!"

Wild was so angry that his hair was almost standing on end, but Charon patted his head.

"Stop it, little brother, you're the one delaying our journey right now,"

"But—"

"Don't make me report you to father when we get back,"

Wild immediately stiffened, and after a moment, he spit in discontent and silently returned to the middle of the group.

"Please forgive him, this child has been spoiled since childhood," Charon spread his hands.

Steeran nodded slightly but didn't say much.

Charon seemed to think that the skeleton monster that launched the surprise attack was deliberately left there by them to shut Wild up.

Actually...

I can't believe I didn't notice there was a Monster hidden here, how embarrassing! Steeran's face flushed in private, but luckily it was too dark here for anyone to notice.

"I found this thing inside the skull," suddenly, the chubby map expert pulled out a dirty cloth strip "It's written 'To enter the fortress, light three Beacons,'"

"Let me see," Steeran took a look "There's also a map on it... this is drawn so abstractly, who can understand this?"

"I can," the map expert raised his hand.

"For real?" Steeran was shocked.

The map expert pointed at the abstract map on the cloth strip, "Look, this place is the path we came in from, these irregularly shaped boulders are very noticeable, this irregular pattern probably points to the small hill nearby, and the dark area is probably the fortress…"

He ranted on ceaselessly without taking a break.

"No wonder he's the expert..." Ellie was dumbstruck.

"Hehe, that's the caliber of the person my family hired," Wild resumed his proud demeanor.

After discussion, everyone followed the map expert's instructions, trudging through the muddy swamp, reaching a protruding high ground.

A dark Beacon Tower stood atop the hill, a winding path around the high ground led there.

"I'll go up first," Huynh raised his shield; the path was narrow, they could only advance in a single-file column.

Sure enough, just a few steps in, a spear "bang" struck his shield, sparks flying.

Huynh grabbed the spear with a backhand pull, and while the attacker was thrown off balance, he slashed with his Longsword, and a scream pierced the sky.

Upon closer inspection, it was a large goblin, a kind of Monster bigger than ordinary goblins, limbs more human-like, hence overall combat ability was heightened.

[Large Goblin (Spear)]

[Spiritual Power Required Per Unit: 10]

[Life: E, Strength: E+, Intelligence: F+, Endurance: D, Speed: E, Overall Combat Ability: E]

At the moment the large goblin was slain, two more spears thrust at him from the front and above, a few strands of grass on the rock face slightly trembled, and in a blink, four small Monsters made of vines emerged!

[Grass Man]

[Spiritual Power Required Per Unit: 6]

[Life: F, Strength: F+, Intelligence: F+, Endurance: F, Speed: E, Overall Combat Ability: F+]

"[Low Tier Fireball Technique]!"

A scorching Fireball timely exterminated the Monsters, followed by arrows piercing the goblin's skull, Huynh seized the moment to rush up the high ground, and Danya suddenly appeared from nowhere, leaping onto his shoulder.

After a flurry of combat noises, the high ground returned to tranquility.

Immediately after, orange flames soared up, billowing smoke drifted upwards.

"Well done!"

Steeran couldn't help but smile.

But suddenly, she felt an eerie sensation, as if being watched by some malevolent presence.

She swiftly turned her head, finding the source.

Not far away, a pair of huge eyeballs emerged from the swamp, ominously staring at her.

This was a kind of Monster she had never seen before, hence could not comprehend its Horror.

[Curse Frog]

[Spiritual Power Required Per Unit: 25]

[Life: E, Strength: E, Intelligence: E, Endurance: E, Speed: D, Overall Combat Ability: E]

A low overall combat ability does not mean the Curse Frog is weak.