Edge would never have been able to navigate the Deep-Gill Grottos if it wasn’t for the explosive growth he had experienced over the last few weeks.

  The endless network of tunnels and caverns formed a three-dimensional maze that was superimposed over the labyrinth created by the biome’s endless forest of fungi and resident predators. To continue pressing forward, he had to climb and swing his way across countless variations of difficult terrain, using a combination of Leap, Shadow Step, and Manifest Chain to navigate one obstacle after the next.

  Fortunately, most of the chambers featured one type of bioluminescent fungus or another, and while some of the passageways were claustrophobically narrow, most of them were relatively spacious.

  The bizarre arrangement of minerals and mushrooms was otherworldly and eerily beautiful—a stark reminder that he was living on an alien planet far from the world of his birth. The fungi came in an array of colors and forms—from vivid greens and oranges to the deepest purples and blues.

  As he made his way through the biome, Edge came across dozens of beasts that were too dangerous to tackle head-on, including some gigantic millipedes, slugs, slimes, and a particularly horrifying species of albino spider that sent him noping in the other direction. But after his stint in the Savage Garden, he was no stranger to running and hiding, and the subterranean predators were relatively easy to avoid.

  As he crossed from one cave to the next, he left markings on the walls where they would be easy to see, indicating the direction he was heading. It was an old hunters’ trick that helped crewmembers find each other after being separated. If anyone came across another hunter’s markings, they would follow them and eventually catch up.

  They would also leave warnings whenever they came across aggressive critters or environmental hazards, along with any sources of food, water, or shelter. Although, thanks to the supplies sitting in his vault, Edge only had to worry about the latter.

  From time to time, he walked through enclosures made entirely out of black stone, which meant he didn’t have to worry about killer mushrooms or anything hiding among them. He took advantage of these opportunities to relax and let his reservoir refill. After looting the Claws’ storeroom, he had plenty of copper aether and used it to top off his wayfinder’s internal reservoir. Thanks to the mapmaking device, he didn’t have to worry about getting lost, and he could study the image it displayed to get a better sense of the biome’s layout.

  When hunger convinced Edge to stop for lunch, he realized that he had no idea how long he’d been down here. The endless caverns and lack of sunlight played tricks on his mind, making it hard to judge the passage of time. I suppose I’ll just sleep whenever I get tired, although it’s bound to throw my circadian rhythms off.

  The magicytes flowing through the caverns were the densest he’d ever seen. The planet’s magic shimmered as it flowed around the bountiful sea of shrooms, rippling and dancing in a living, ever-shifting tapestry.

  While it was a gorgeous, awe-inspiring sight, it also sent adrenaline coursing through his veins. If the magic down here is this thick, there are bound to be creatures considerably more powerful than anything I’ve encountered yet.

  Fortunately, the mycanoids were the dominant predator in this corner of the biome. While the walking mushrooms were dangerous opponents, they were easy to spot, and he avoided them by Shadow Stepping through the forest of stalks while giving the big bastards a wide berth.

  The next beast Edge battled was an albino rat the size of an Earth donkey. He wouldn’t have bothered to engage it, but the creature was blocking his way forward—a narrow crack leading to a long black stone tunnel. The oversized rodent didn’t seem to see him coming, and after Leaping to close the distance and Double Slashing with his Elemental Blade-infused naginata, he scored a killing blow and ended the fight in a flash.

  The rat didn’t have any high-rank powers, but it did have an interesting skill that he decided to steal. It wasn’t a good match for his skillset, but it was a fantastic candidate for his Auxiliary Skill Slot. It was called Gauge Depth, and it let him sense how far belowground he was with a remarkable level of precision. He went ahead and Absorbed Penetrate Mist, fed its experience to Double Slash, then claimed Gauge before he lost the chance.

  Gauge couldn’t tell Edge which way to go, but it was an excellent tool to supplement the information provided by his wayfinder. As the hours ticked past, it helped him correct his course on two separate occasions.

  Later that day, he crossed into the first sub-biome he’d found within the Deep-Gill Grottos. The ceiling of the enclosure was studded with massive yellow crystals that were brighter than any of the bioluminescent fungus he had come across. They lit up the cave and let him pretend that he wasn’t trapped miles belowground in one of the most dangerous places he’d ever explored.

  The mushrooms filling the crystal sub-biome were different from any of the others he had seen, including its resident mycanoids. After watching them from Concealment, Edge discovered that instead of being Disruptive, chainsaw-wielding beasts, these shrooms fired shards of crystal from their arms like shotguns. It was the same lemon-yellow mineral that illuminated the area, and they must have been absorbing it to use as ammunition.

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  He also learned that the various species of mycanoids filling the Deep-Gill Grottos were at war with one another. He watched several battles between humanoid mushrooms unfold as he made his way across the sub-biome—brutal contests that lasted until one side annihilated the other, then fed on their remains.

  He wasn’t sure how their conflict was playing out across the region, but he paid close attention to the mycanoids’ behavior since the info was bound to come in handy. While he was investigating the site of one of their battles, he stopped to gather all the glowing shards he could find, storing them in his vault to use as a disposable light source.

  He also found a chunk of crystal the size of his head that the shotgun shrooms had extracted from the walls. They had been in the middle of eating it when the latest fight had broken out. He added it to his growing pile of resources, then continued on his way.

  While Edge was crossing through one of the biggest caverns he’d come across yet, he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks—a chest bearing a seal from the System that must have been down here for ages.

  Just like dungeons, the System had spent a portion of its obscene wealth to seed high-threat biomes with sealed chests—to encourage exploration and rack up views on the feed. Being one of the first people to explore a frontier region could be incredibly rewarding if you survived long enough to claim your prize. He rubbed his chin as he scanned his surroundings while contemplating his next move. Whatever is in there is bound to be good.

  He was in a hurry, but it would be crazy to pass up something this promising unless he were left with no other choice. That being said, sealed chests were invariably placed within dangerous locations—surrounded by deadly creatures, hazardous terrain, or insidious traps. It meant that before he tried to claim his prize, he needed to perform some reconnaissance.

  Edge proceeded with caution, ready to use Conceal, Harden, or Shadow Step as needed. The chest was sitting in a cluster of protruding minerals—ringed by a squadron of mycanoids who were in their dormant mushroom state. He would have to deal with them eventually, but first he needed to clear a path.

  With that goal in mind, he removed the scapula shield he had taken from the Gardener and secured it to his right arm. It was gruesome and a little unwieldy, but he knew from experience that the shield was incredibly durable and resilient to a wide range of elemental attacks. Once he was used to the weight, he manifested Foebinder, extending the chain to its maximum length to probe the intervening fungi and search the ground for mechanical traps.

  On his way to the chest, he passed by dozens of mushrooms that dispersed various toxins. Most of them were easily countered by blocking their discharge with his shield or using Purge Fungal Toxin to cleanse their spores from his system.

  The nastiest shrooms he came across squirted clouds of aerosolized acid that would have been extremely unpleasant to get hit by. Fortunately, the solvent was water-based, so Edge was able to Repel it away, dissolving a wide swath of nearby fungi in the process. Half an hour later, he was drawing near his destination, having received a crash course in dangerous mushrooms along the way.

  There weren’t any shrooms growing beside the chest other than four mycanoids, who were all the crystal-shard-blasting variety. He transferred the shield to his left arm, strapped his polearm to his back, and then manifested his iceblade in his right hand. Now then, how should I go about killing them?

  He wanted to take out one or two before they knew he was there, since dealing with eight crystal shotguns at once was a recipe for disaster. He couldn’t counter that many projectiles headed his way regardless of which skills he used, and he needed to simplify the battlefield before engaging the beasts head-to-head. Once he launched an alpha strike, he would pull back to open some room, then decide on his next move based on what happened after the killer fungi woke up from their naps.

  Fifteen minutes later, he had decided on his approach. It took the mushrooms a few seconds to grow arms and legs once they were roused from their slumber, and he intended to use that quirk of their anatomy to his advantage.

  Edge began by flaring Leap and using Foebinder to swing from a cluster of crystals protruding from the ceiling, coming to a stop about thirty feet above the dormant beasts. Then he conjured Warlord’s Mantle, activated Shadow Step, and let go with the chain.

  He waited until he was only a few feet away before materializing, then let loose with a Double Slash of his iceblade before his boots hit the ground, adding the momentum of his plunge to the power of the skill.

  The rune-covered sword split the first mushroom from the tip of its cap to the base of its stalk, bisecting it lengthwise and killing it instantly. By the time he completed his swing, the other three had begun to rouse, growing arms and legs as they swiveled to orient on his position.

  Edge knew that as soon as their arms finished forming, the beasts would start blasting, so he let loose with two Slashes in a row, felling another animate fungus as the other two raised their living weapons and ignited their cores.

  Since their crystal blasts were infused with mana, Shadow Step wouldn’t protect him, as he was still vulnerable to magic in that form. Instead, he Hardened his back and darted away while Foebinder used the shield to guard his six.

  Blam. Blam. All four arms fired a spray of crystals before he could get out of range, hitting him so hard that he nearly fell flat on his face. The scapula shield blocked part of the spread, but his calves were caught in the periphery of the attack.

  Most of the glowing yellow crystals deflected off his diamond scales, but some of the larger fragments penetrated Harden’s defense. Not with Disruption, since he was running a counter, but in a pure contest of skill versus skill.

  Combined with the buffer from Warlord’s Mantle, his scales kept his limbs from being reduced to ragged lumps of shredded flesh, although the shards hurt like hell and penetrated deep. He kept on running, taking several more shots until he fled the cavern and was clear of the mycanoids’ line of fire.

  Edge came to a stop while panting for breath as blood and sweat ran down his body. He was pleased with how the battle had gone up to this point, but the hard part was yet to come.