They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 28: Deep-Strata Caverns Were Easier
While Dylan spread the new “guide,” Evan kept busy with work of his own.
His research into [Parasitic Fusion] was almost complete. It was time to use up these woefully inefficient Gnolls.
After the recent clashes with adventurers, almost no one below Silver rank ventured casually onto the Fifth Stratum anymore.
Only a handful of high-ranking adventurers still came, and their sole purpose was to reach the lower strata.
As long as they did not try to cross the Marsh Zone, Evan ordered the Puffcaps to avoid them.
Hyphae and mushrooms had gradually spread almost everywhere, so he could detect the adventurers early and move his forces out of their path.
With Silver-rank adventurers avoiding the Fifth Stratum, the caverns had naturally been left undisturbed.
The Crystal Bats and Rock Lizards living there had enjoyed the change more than anyone. Without those troublesome adventurers, they could roam the entire cavern system in search of food.
Their happiness did not last.
Evan arrived with his Gnolls and Puffcaps.
The Rock Lizards could wait. Their stone armor was so heavy that any Puffcap equipped with it would probably become a stationary turret.
The Crystal Bats’ [Crystal Symbiosis], however, was a valuable skill.
It allowed them to consume Mana Crystals, transform the crystals inside their bodies, and eventually make them part of themselves, strengthening the power of their skills.
There would have been nothing remarkable about a skill that merely attached Mana Crystals to the body.
Evan was hardly short on firepower. If one Spore Cannon could not solve a problem, he could fire ten. He could produce as many Puffcaps as he wanted.
Crystal Symbiosis, however, had a hidden effect. It could refine the crystals!
Evan realized this only after noticing that the Mana Crystals on many Crystal Bats’ wings were a full grade better than the ones mined from the caverns.
Admittedly, the skill only refined them from D grade to C grade.
That was merely because the Crystal Bats had low skill levels, generally between LV3 and LV4. They could not display the skill’s true potential.
If the skill reached a high enough level, could Evan heap together a mass of mostly useless low-grade Mana Crystals and refine them into one large S-grade Mana Crystal?
He did not know whether it would work, but it was worth trying!
Gnolls and Puffcaps flooded into the caverns in a great tide. The monsters immediately sensed the threat and grew restless.
They were only on the same general level as Ember Gnats. Evan did not take them seriously.
The Puffcaps unleashed one crisp volley. After the violent shaking finally subsided, nothing remained.
The Crystal Bats were gone. The Rock Lizards were gone. Even the cavern entrance was gone.
What?
Was it really that fragile?
Back when Evan was in the Deep Strata ... wait.
The Earthborers had excavated the caverns and tunnels in the Deep Strata. As they dug, they expelled the stone they consumed around their bodies, reinforcing the surrounding rock.
That was why the Puffcaps could bombard those tunnels without worrying too much about a collapse.
Evan had almost forgotten that the caverns on the Fifth Stratum were the normal kind.
Fortunately, the collapse was not complete. After the Gnolls cleared rubble for half a day, they finally reopened the entrance.
What now?
He could not use his prized Spore Cannons. Detonation was presumably out of the question as well.
He had taken quite a few skills from adventurers lately, but their levels were too low to be useful.
Was he truly going to rely on these few dozen Gnolls?
Without Spore Cannons, these useless Gnolls could barely cut through a Rock Lizard’s shell. He could not count on them.
Wonderful. His cavern expedition had reached an impasse before it even began.
With no better option, Evan opened his Status Panel and searched the cluttered heap of skills for inspiration.
Magic?
Thanks to the adventurers’ contributions, he had finally assembled Mana Control. Spells, however, had to be learned. Where was he supposed to study them?
Magic was out.
Carapace combined with Rolling Charge?
He pictured the thick stone shells on the Rock Lizards and dismissed the thought.
Slime Digestive Ooze, or the Caustic Acid skill he had recently acquired?
They might work on the bats, but surely they would do nothing against stone armor.
The more Evan considered the problem, the more he realized that the turtle-like Rock Lizards were the hardest enemies to handle.
Come to think of it, were they vulnerable to poison?
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