They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 4: Crystal Lessons
Rock walls bordered two sides of the Mycelial Garden. They looked like bones gnawed by some colossal beast, their dark gray layers riddled with honeycomb pits.
Clusters of deep purple crystal had formed in some of the hollows, scattered across the stone. Mana was always more concentrated around these Amethyst Crystals than elsewhere.
The so-called Mining Zone existed to harvest them.
Burying an Amethyst Crystal in the soil did not turn it directly into nutrients. Instead, it drew ambient mana from the air, increasing the efficiency with which the hyphae harvested it.
Many of the Puffcaps in the Mining Zone possessed the Chitinous Shell skill. They formed thick armor over their caps and used it to chip crystals from the wall.
At only LV4, the shells were not especially hard. Mining was slow, and the impacts sometimes killed the Puffcaps themselves. Evan’s resources were limited, however. Extracting any crystals at all was achievement enough.
Elara had set her sights on a fist-sized Amethyst Crystal and was struggling to clasp it between her short legs.
“What are you doing?”
“E-Evan?”
The pink Puffcap jolted so violently that she tripped over the crystal beneath her.
“Don’t start talking inside my head without warning...”
“Do we have another way to communicate? Get used to it.”
Elara considered that and had to admit he was right. She still doubted she would ever grow accustomed to someone speaking into her mind whenever he pleased.
“You have so many Mana Crystals here.” She picked up the Amethyst Crystal again, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.
“Mana Crystals? You mean the Amethyst Crystals I use to enrich the soil?”
“Enrich the soil?”
A green-capped Puffcap hopped forward and lifted the cap of a large mushroom nearby. Half an Amethyst Crystal stood buried beneath it.
“You use Mana Crystals as fertilizer?”
“What else would I do with them?”
“They’re Mana Crystals! You can use them to make magic items or as the foundation of a magic circle. Even small fragments can serve as spellcasting materials. How can you waste them on soil?”
Elara sounded heartbroken, as though Evan were destroying priceless materials in front of her.
“Have you forgotten that this is a dungeon? They do have another use, though.”
A tendril woven from hyphae emerged beneath a mushroom and activated the skill [Bind LV3]. It wound around an Amethyst Crystal half the size of a palm, fastening crystal and Puffcap together.
Mana poured steadily into the crystal. Its dull surface brightened, then began to flicker. The Mana Crystal became dangerously overloaded.
Once cracks appeared and the crystal began to shriek under the strain, the Puffcap bounded into an empty patch of ground with its burden.
It exploded.
The shock wave knocked Elara over again.
“Powerful, isn’t it? These are excellent against monsters.”
Elara lay on the ground, unable to find words.
She had just watched Evan expend a C-grade Mana Crystal as a disposable weapon, producing an explosion comparable to an LV4 Fireburst. With a little refinement, that same crystal could have become the core material of a wand used by a Silver-rank adventurer.
Not even the most ignorant newly rich noble in the Southern Federation would squander precious magical materials like this.
The crystal set in Elara’s personal wand had only been B-grade.
“You still haven’t told me why you wanted one,” Evan said.
The abrupt return to the question caught Elara while she was still silently condemning his extravagance. The truth slipped out.
“I want to try casting through it.”
She grew nervous as soon as she spoke. Elara did not know whether Evan would regard her magic as a threat. If he did, her life might be over.
“Oh? Didn’t you say you couldn’t cast after becoming a Puffcap?”
There was no suspicion in his voice, only curiosity. Elara relaxed.
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