They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 47: I Didn’t Mean To
The Monster Tide had subsided, but its effects were far from over.
The Fifth Stratum lay devastated.
Flame Beetles had burned a third of the trees in the forest. Charred trunks lay at every angle across the cracked earth.
Giant monsters had knocked down or trampled another third. Trees nearly a hundred feet high had been torn out by the roots, their trunks covered in claw marks and footprints.
The forest had lost almost seventy percent of its area. Great gaps in the once-unbroken canopy exposed the ceiling glowing with Bioluminescence.
The fallen trees could at least serve as beds for growing hyphae, so Evan found the damage tolerable.
Poisonmist Lake had fared much worse.
The venom-covered Three-Headed Serpent had crossed half the Fifth Stratum, leaving a trail of dark-green toxic crust where nothing survived. Poisonmist Lake happened to lie directly in its path.
Venom Lake would be a more accurate name now.
Every native species had vanished from the deep-green water. Only masses of dead fish and shrimp floated against the shore, rotting in the open air.
The poison had contaminated the surrounding soil as well. No vegetation could grow nearby, including Evan’s mushrooms.
He possessed Poison Resistance, but only at LV4.
Any spores scattered there died in moments. They could not withstand such potent venom.
The lake was not entirely lifeless.
A species of small Dragonbeast resembling a salamander covered in scales had settled there.
[Species: Dragonbeast: Mirage]
[Racial Trait: Protective Membrane (the body is protected inside and out)]
Evan did not understand how a membrane could completely isolate a creature from the venom, but the Mirages had unquestionably succeeded.
Combined with their natural poison resistance, the trait allowed them to live comfortably in Venom Lake.
Unfortunately, Racial Traits could not be plundered. Otherwise, wrapping a Puffcap in a protective membrane might have produced something interesting.
Evan doubted the Mirages would survive for long.
For now, they filled their stomachs with dead fish and shrimp along the shore. Eventually, the food would run out.
The venom had already destroyed the lake’s original ecosystem.
Once nothing remained to eat, the Mirages would probably die out naturally.
Then again, they possessed the [Scale Armor] skill. Perhaps Evan should raise them?
He did not yet know whether they ate mushrooms.
The lake and forest had suffered the worst damage.
As for the caverns, Evan had collapsed those himself. Excavating them again would be a lengthy undertaking.
Only the Marsh Zone remained largely unchanged.
The monsters had trampled every part of Evan’s mycelial mat in the marsh, but the environment itself had suffered little. The accumulation of corpses had even increased the local mana concentration.
It was one of the few pieces of good news after the Monster Tide.
Compared with the ground, the mycelial mat on the ceiling was completely unharmed.
Even the flying monsters had no reason to waste time destroying mushrooms overhead during the Monster Tide.
Now the caps of those mushrooms trembled gently.
Wave after wave of long-accumulated spores fell, covering the entire Fifth Stratum in pale-blue and gray snow.
Several wandering monsters remained, but there were too few to cause serious damage. It was time to restore life to the Mycelial Garden.
On the patch of mycelial mat beside the ruins of Dylan’s cabin, Evan accelerated the growth of a brand-new Puffcap.
He had especially high hopes for this one.
The mature Puffcap twisted its body, disconnected from the mycelial mat, and stood with vigorous energy.
A pair of claws lifted it.
Then the Dragonkin took a bite.
“How does this one taste?” Evan asked.
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