In a laboratory just past the Galeburst's mountainous range, an insomniac man rubbed his stubble. His eyes were sunken from lack of sleep, and his lab coat was crumpled and dirty. Nevertheless, the man giggled.

"Hehehe.." His laugh sound nefarious, but that was far from the reality, it was a laugh of glee!

"HAHAHAHA" The man, Zahid Zephyr, was of course happy over his recent alchemical success. Though perhaps describing it as such was an understatement.

"My name forever will be written down for ages and eons to come!" He confidently declared as he stared at an orange potion before him. This potion was worth at least that much recognition!

The effects were to strengthen the body.. permanently! To strengthen it permanently!

The animal and mob testing yielded no noteworthy side effects. There was the risk of strengthening the bacteria inside your body, but as long as one was healthy, they had nothing to worry about. A stronger body needed stronger bacteria anyway.

"Hm? Actually, I'm not sure about that.." Zahid was an alchemist, not a doctor.

The point was, the potion was good stuff. So good, in fact, that the alchemist that brewed it was starting to have second thoughts about delivering on the request.

"Hahaha! Argh! I hate my morality!" This was a high paying request. He couldn't just chug the potion down and cross the border to escape the claws of responsibility.

After some more laughing and lamenting, the eccentric alchemist finally came to terms with the idea of parting with the potion.

"Though mountains, rivers, and forests, may stand in our way.. Know that a part of you in me forever remains" Zahid said some romantic words before downing a shot glass of the strengthening potion.

"Blargh! It tastes horrible!" All the materials Zahid put it in were horrible, so it made sense. But the satisfaction in the master alchemists' eyes could not be hidden by this small displeasure.

The professor still held a subtle smile. He looked forward to the future.

***

The water in the lake was murky and bloody, but with so many streams and directions the blood could take, it was being quickly diluted.

'How disappointing' Ed was not sure how great a diluted hydra blood clot would be. Now he would have no choice but to find out. No matter how much he gathered at first, there was some water mixed in no matter what.

'Maybe the branding room can help me out with that' The process could take a long while depending on the amount, but it would be possible to get a non-diluted version through it.

With the blood collection no longer yielding good results, Ed had to hurry over to the corpse of the hydra.

"Waaaa..." Somehow, A felt the pained yet warbled vibrations of a tremendous creature. The hydra was alive?

One of the creature's many heads opened its large bright eye. Even with the murky water, the piercing gaze could not be missed. It almost struck fear into Ed but the hydra ended up closing its eye once again.

'Hurry A!' Ed shouted mentally. The hydra definitely didn't have long to live!

'I am trying, ok!?!' The problem was that A was controlling a blood clot which controlled the puppet Ed created. This already limited the dexterity and speed of the puppet. Being underwater with uneven terrain..

The dungeon could very well claim the dying hydra before they got a chunk of it.

Fortunately for them, they were able to reach the hydra just as it let out a final mournful wale. The dungeon was immediately starting to reclaim it.

'It's disappearing!' The very moment A transmitted this to Ed, the system space welcomed a chunk of the hydra. Ed used the large area store to claim a piece of the pie just in time.

[Warning, do not steal]

Ed even received a warning message that made him want to roll his eyes.

'I don't have eyes' But if he did, he would be rolling them. The dungeon was now teaching basic manners.

That aside, A, though having terrible vision, was able to see a glint of something. Being underwater, he found only one explanation for it.

[Hydra Necklace (Magic Necklace)]

[ An A tier magical necklace. Regenerates the wearer's head before then entering a 24-hour cooldown ]

Ed was both excited and disappointed. He was excited because the necklace could mean an extra life, but also disappointed because it COULD be an extra life, it wasn't guaranteed.

The cooldown after activation was rather long, that was.. alright.. But the ability to regenerate only the head specifically could be more overpowered.

'It's just a once a day chance to not die, can it be any less broken, tsk!' Of course, Ed was being partially sarcastic. It was just that his mushroom body had such high regeneration that the necklace was made worthless.

'Well, a mushroom wearing a necklace is already a funny picture' The other bodies might be able to use it better, but.. the skeleton was a skeleton. Who knew if it could work.

The orc could make use of this necklace and actually, it looked pretty cool. It had 9 hydra heads attached, each head had a slightly different style. Some might have horns and the horns might be of different lengths, number, or type and the string that connected them looked like a tendon.

That was enough about the looks, Ed stored away the drop item.

'I can revive' That was the biggest contributor to the slight disappointment. This was an item that might come in handy, or might go forever unused. In a battle where he lost his head, his odds of winning were slim from the start.

'Forget it. A, see if you can find Eon's body' Ed transmitted without confidence. The reason why he wasn't confident was that Eon was not a giant monster. Well, maybe in character but not physically, and that made him harder to catch in the murky water with already crappy vision.

In the end, even after minutes of mindless wandering, Eon was not found. Given the timeframe, his body was more likely than not already collected. If he was alive... the old geezer's vitality was meaner than he first assumed.

'That only leaves my other earlier question without an answer' He needed to know whether the next floor was now open. Logically speaking, the boss had been defeated, there had to be an opening for the new floor.

'Where could it be?' There were no apparent changes outside the water. A had taken note of this before jumping into the water. As for anomalies in the water.. once again, the visibility was too low to ascertain.

'How cunning' if the dungeon hid the entrance to the next floor underwater, Ed had to praise it. Going underwater upped the skill ceiling significantly for any attempts to come into contact with its core.historical

Now, any potential invaders had to make a decision. They could continue to try and find the entrance to the next floor, or they could leave and try again later. Ed also had to make this decision.

'If only I could use magic as a mushroom' The possibility was there, Ed just hadn't gotten around to figuring it out. The mushroom seemed to be lacking the ability to manipulate mana though it could store it.

Manipulating mana came in many forms and none was right. It could be chanting, gestures, or it could be thoughts. Mushrooms however were not known to have thoughts.

'I do have thoughts but..' It still wasn't working. His mana count was pretty pitiful though and that could definitely play a part.

After some more wandering, Ed decided they should retreat. They couldn't explore the bottom of the lake right now.

'The other floors probably need me' The lizardmen needed him, the orcs might not need him immediately, and the anti-skeletons were probably in a skirmish with humans.

If there was another floor, Ed might receive another body. He could always enter the floor through the dungeon first.

'Now.. how do we get out..' Lakes weren't like a giant bowl, or this one wasn't. The ground level did not go up steadily as it might at the beach.

'Hmmm... Maybe you can try grabbing me as a blood clot and floating up' As long as Ed stored the puppet they wouldn't be making any losses from that either.

A moment later, at the surface, Var Agus who had the mushroom god suddenly disappear on him could not bring himself to jump after him.

"The mushroom god must know what it's doing.. The mushroom god must know what it's doing.." Var Agus was chanting the same thing over and over again hoping it would somehow come true. Ed knew exactly what he was doing.

It was then that the other lizardmen ships started to steer towards Var Agus' position.

"We won Var! Why are you looking so down?" A lizardwoman asked from a passing boat.

"Nothing" Var replied before sprinting off towards the edge of the ship. He heard a splash!

A and Ed were both emerging safely from the dark water. This was good news for Var.

"Phew.." He could finally relax.

"Wait.. where is the armor?" Var suddenly realized the missing puppet suit. His emotions became unstable. Did the mushroom god sacrifice its subordinates equipment in exchange for their safety?

There was no way for Var Agus to know if that was the case. There were not many things that might cause them to be in danger after the death of the hydra and Eon. The only threat was that the human remained alive or something of the sort.

Var Agus suddenly felt enlightened. Deducting things had to be his true calling in life!