Chapter 121: Tentacles Aren’t Necessarily Cool
Byron jerked his chin at Saul again, signaling for him to take the lead.
But after hesitating for a second, Saul refused.
"Senior, I have my own way down." He raised his hand and tapped the back of his neck.
A long, slender black tentacle extended from behind Saul’s neck.
The tentacle grew longer and longer, stretching to about three or four meters, twisting playfully around Saul.
Little Algae had been stifled for days.
It swung around Saul, quivering slightly, and then one tentacle split into two. Another tremor, and two became four.
The four tentacles waved in the air before transforming into sharp blades that stabbed into the ground.
Then, by pulling itself taut, it hoisted Saul off the ground.
Byron stared at the tentacles, his lightbulb-like eyes shifting slightly. "Hmm?"
"Senior, do you recognize this?"
"Hmm."
Saul sighed. "Let’s talk after we get down."
"Hmm."
Byron gave the tentacles one last glance, then floated down into the underground passage.
Saul commanded Little Algae to carry him down as well.
Since he had no solid foothold, his body swayed in the air, completely at the mercy of Little Algae’s movements.
The tentacles alternated, piercing into the surrounding rock walls at high speed. Occasionally, they had to be careful not to slam Saul into the tunnel walls.
Swinging back and forth, Saul felt like a roasted duck hanging in an oven—far less cool than he had imagined.
But at least he was doing better than Senior Byron.
Ten minutes later, he landed on the ground, covered in dust and looking utterly resigned. Just in time to see Wright struggling to hold back laughter as he untied the knot on Byron’s mouth.
Deeper underground, the space had unexpectedly widened.
At the very least, they could now all walk upright.
Bill stood on guard nearby. They were deep underground now, where enemies and monsters could appear at any moment. There was no room for the same level of relaxation as above.
Yet when he saw Saul being carried down by black tentacles, he couldn’t help but get distracted, stealing a few more glances.
Wright was the last to witness Saul’s new "look." He was so shocked that he abandoned Byron entirely and ran straight to Saul.
"Y-Your tentacles… are they from a Soul-Devouring Swamp?"
Wright couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the black tentacles, but the moment his hand neared, Little Algae instantly recoiled into Saul’s neck, as if deeply disgusted.
Wright failed to touch it. His disappointment was visible to the naked eye. He even turned to Saul and asked, "Did you pick it up in the abandoned lab under the tower?"
"I did."
The abandoned lab wasn’t a secret, so Saul nodded in confirmation.
Though, in truth, Little Algae had followed him out on its own—it wasn’t something he had just "picked up."
"But I’ve been there a few times, and the Soul-Devouring Swamp never leaves the lab. How did you manage to transplant it onto yourself? Can you sell me the method? I’ll give you 50—no, 60 academic credits!"
Saul was tempted by the credits, but...
"My method requires earning the Soul-Devouring Swamp’s favor. Wright, does it ever actively approach you when you visit the lab?"
Saul’s words immediately extinguished the excitement on Wright’s face.
"No, it doesn’t like me." The light in Wright’s eyes dimmed. "It only wants to smother me."
Hearing their conversation, Bill—who had been somewhat interested—temporarily set aside any thoughts about the Soul-Devouring Swamp.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Saul’s feet shifted.
The earth cracked open, and a fleshy, worm-like creature lunged out, its circular mouth wide open, aiming to bite Saul.
Saul instinctively leaped backward, pressing against the tunnel wall. His hands moved swiftly, ready to unleash a Strike of the Dead, when—
A cloud of purple mist enveloped the emerging worm.
The moment it was shrouded in the purple haze, the worm slumped back to the ground, motionless.
Bill inhaled the mist back into his mouth, revealing the now pale-purple worm.
"You need to learn combat casting as soon as possible," Bill said with a habitual smirk. "Enemies won’t always give you time to chant spells and make hand gestures."
Meanwhile, Wright was already crouched down, examining the worm. "It’s a burrowing worm."
Saul didn’t dwell on Bill’s words and stepped closer to look.
He had heard of burrowing worms before—they were creatures that lived deep underground.
Despite being called worms, their biology leaned more toward plants. Their digestive organs and outer skin were favored by apprentices for experiments.
But when Wright excitedly dug out the rest of the burrowing worms, Saul noticed something strange.
These creatures were supposed to be grayish-brown, yet they had all turned purplish-brown.
"Oh, Bill, you really need to stop randomly poisoning things," Wright grumbled, poking a worm with a metal rod. "Look, now they’re unusable."
Bill shrugged. "Then next time, you’d better be faster."
Hearing that the worms were ruined, Saul was a bit disappointed but didn’t show it. He figured there would be more opportunities later.
At that moment, Byron—who had returned to his normal size—walked up to Wright.
Without a word, his mouth stretched out and pressed against the purplish worm’s skin.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
Accompanied by a sound like boiling water, the worm in Wright’s hand gradually returned to its original gray-brown color.
"Byron, I’m really starting to like that mouth of yours!" Wright exclaimed in delight.
Bill, however, was less amused. He folded his arms and shot Byron a sidelong glance. "You should be more careful about what you absorb. Some of my poisons don’t even have antidotes."
Byron responded with a soft "Hmm," his expression unreadable.
Saul paid no attention to the subtle tensions between the third-tier apprentices. As a second-tier newcomer, he took the initiative to collect the spoils.
Wright enthusiastically helped him extract the intact burrowing worm.
The creature was about as thick as a forearm and roughly two meters long—a small one by adult burrowing worm standards.
The larger ones resided much deeper underground.
Saul pulled out a silk pouch from his backpack and gave it a light shake. The pouch unfolded to a human-sized bag.
Wright deftly placed the burrowing worm inside.
Saul cinched the bag shut, causing it to shrink to the size of a basketball.
This wasn’t spatial magic but rather a compression technique based on magical energy.
Saul patted the bag, feeling quite satisfied.
If he could collect a few more burrowing worms today, their trip underground would be well worth it.
The group continued forward with mixed feelings.
They seemed to have entered a flat, expansive area—unlike before, the tunnels now stretched horizontally rather than leading deeper.
Saul kept looking around, hoping to find more useful materials.
But the underground world wasn’t like a video game where enemies spawned every few steps.
After decades—possibly centuries—of exploration, it was normal for this place to be mostly picked clean.
Saul took a deep breath and adjusted his mindset.
Just then, Byron suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Saul nearly bumped into him.
Tilting his head, Saul noticed that Bill and Wright had also frozen. Their hands were raised, backs taut.
They were all in a defensive stance.
Peering through the gap between them, Saul finally saw what had put them on high alert.
Up ahead, for the first time, the tunnel branched into three paths.
Each passage was wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
But in the middle passage, grayish-white, translucent humanoid figures were emerging one by one.
They walked in perfect formation, lifting their legs high and placing them down lightly, tiptoeing as if afraid to wake something.
Their upper bodies swayed gently as they moved.
Their heads bobbed slightly.
And—
They had no arms.
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