Venerable Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Eating Gross Mushrooms

Read chapter 19 of Venerable by Jade_White on NovelPedia.

Thud. The heavy body of the monster hit the stone floor. Dustin pulled his steel dagger free and wiped the dark blood off the blade onto his pants. He had just killed another beast deeper in the dungeon. The system flagged it as Level 9. The creature looked like a rabbit, but it was almost five feet tall and covered in thick, wiry grey fur. A single, sharp black horn protruded right from the center of its forehead. Dustin could not even pronounce the complicated, ancient-sounding name the system had given it. He decided to keep things simple in his own head. He just called it the Single Horned Grey Rabbit. He stepped over the carcass and kept walking. After fighting that giant monkey earlier, a giant rabbit did not even make his heart rate spike. He was getting used to the madness of this place. After walking for some time, the narrow tunnel opened up into a wide, humid cavern. He found a massive patch of fungi growing out of the rocky ground. There were hundreds of mushrooms clustered together. They were bright red in color and covered in distinct white pores. Dustin stopped and focused his eyes on them. He used the system to analyze the strange plants. He had been doing this for quite some time after he killed that Level 14 monkey. He made it a habit to scan almost every plant and strange object that caught his eye. Knowledge was power, and power meant survival. DING. [ Crimson Blood Mushrooms (Level 3) ] [ Description: Can be consumed raw to lessen the stiffness in muscles, cure mild injuries slowly, and provide relief from physical pain. Higher level variants can be used to make powerful medicines or healing potions by individuals with the Alchemist class. Once these mushrooms reach above Level 50, their essence can be used to forge weapons with blood-related powers. ] "So it acts like some kind of organic painkiller," Dustin said as he analyzed the details in front of him. His body was screaming for relief. The healing potion he took earlier had fixed his broken arm, but his entire body was still incredibly sore and stiff from the relentless fighting. He bent down, plucked one of the bright red mushrooms from the rock, and popped it directly into his mouth. He bit down. Ptht. Ptht. "Ahhh, gross," Dustin yelled. He quickly spit the chewed pieces out onto the ground. "What kind of terrible taste is that? So gross." He wiped his tongue with his sleeve. But a few seconds later, a warm sensation spread through his limbs. The deep stiffness in his muscles actually became noticeably less severe. "At least it works," Dustin muttered. He reached down and took another mushroom. This time, he tossed it to the back of his throat and gulped it down whole without chewing it. The stiffness and pain in his muscles lowered again. "I am so incredibly hungry right now that I can eat just about anything," Dustin said to himself. He grabbed a handful of the mushrooms and gulped a few more down. He had not eaten anything substantial for a very long time. The last proper meal he took was the leftover fox meat from his storage vessel, and that felt like it happened a lifetime ago. More importantly, he had not had a single drop to drink. His throat had started to dry up completely, feeling like it was coated in sandpaper. He did find a small, clear pond on his way through the dungeon earlier, but he refused to drink water from it. Dungeons were filled with many kinds of magical traps and weird biology. It was highly possible that the underground water had some kind of special, negative effect. It was always better to not take the risk if it was not absolutely necessary. Because of that intense thirst, Dustin was really hoping to find enough monsters to complete the system requirements quickly. He wanted to get out of this glowing dungeon, get back out to the real forest, and find that familiar rushing river so he could finally get a drink and find some decent food. After he forced down around ten of those bitter mushrooms, the lingering pain in h