Aiven used his superb "White Sail Swordsmanship" to defend this small space impeccably.

Not only was not a corner of his garment harmed, but segments of stone-like roots fell to the ground with a "clank clank clank."

However, these incredibly hard roots seemed endless, constantly emerging from the depths of darkness. Aware of the principle that prolonged defense leads to defeat, Aiven naturally wouldn't stalemate with them like this.

Even though their individual attack power wasn't strong, if entangled and continuously attacked by them, even the robust physique of an Official Knight couldn't withstand it!

Obviously, the ordinary Pirates presumably strangled in the previous two halls had died at the hands of these eerie plants.

However, during his prior observation, Aiven discovered that these roots were centered around the cracks in the corridor, only extending to the entrance of the "Radiance" Original Essence Hall.

Inside the hall and on the other side, there were none of these bizarre plants, suggesting that these things might be geographically restricted.

Aiven waved his hand and tossed a "Silver Talisman" to Gary, shouting:

"Pass through this hall at the fastest speed; with the talisman protecting you, merely being exposed to this blue light shouldn't be much of a problem.

Take the central gate, which leads to the seventh Original Essence 'Victory' Hall."

Milan and Gary, upon hearing this, didn't act bravely without reason. They were quite aware of the swordsmanship gap between themselves and Aiven and knew that stepping in at this time would only cause trouble and disrupt Aiven's defensive rhythm.

With the talisman given by Aiven, Gary was protected, and the wealthy Milan naturally needed no further mention. The two exerted force underfoot and dashed through the open gate one after the other, like whirlwinds rushing towards the exit on the other side.

Under the shine of the azure light, a faint layer of Extraordinary Spiritual Light emerged on each of their bodies, blocking most of the light's intrusion. With the non-human speed of an Official Knight, they were exposed to the light for only a few seconds before reaching the other end of the hall.

"Boss/Aiven, hurry!"

Since Skuk's previous exploration had stopped here, the exit hadn't been opened. As the two struggled to push open the heavy stone door of the exit, they called out for Aiven to hurry over.

Seeing the path opened, Aiven no longer lingered.

Like a nimble skiff gliding across the water, he swiftly retreated into the "Radiance" Hall, without even glancing at the magnificent Treasure Pearl in the center, and quickly dashed to the other side.

Though treasure hunting during adventures is a standard routine.

But knowing that this might be the culprit that caused Skuk to be cursed and mutate into a monster, and being unsure of its actual use, Aiven, though greedy, wasn't desperate enough to take it blindly.

Whoosh—

With just a few leaps, he was already beside the two of them.

Perhaps due to the territorial limit of the roots or constrained by this azure blue light, the roaring twisted roots almost piled up like a wall at the open gate, with not even the thinnest one entering the hall.

Possibly due to the stress response having passed, after a while, countless roots receded back into the darkness.

"These plants are kind of odd, huh?

They didn't move as we passed by, but suddenly surged when we reached the hall entrance, as if not stopping us from entering, but rather driving us forward.

And the divination result is the same as before still dangerous but not fatal, so weird."

Milan also sensed something was amiss. Logically, if these roots served as a guarding force, they should've attacked violently right as we approached, not behave this way.

"Additionally, such a large underground construction surely had its purpose when built. Be it a tomb, a treasure vault, or a secret base...

But as we walked through, this underground ruin neither matches the layout of a tomb nor has any supporting facilities.

And if it's a treasure vault, placing a 'treasure' in each hall like this, is that really appropriate?"

The deeper he ventured into the ruins, the more Aiven felt the place radiated oddity, but the premonition in his Spiritual sense grew increasingly intense. Aiven was now entirely captivated by the mysterious entity attracting him instead of the ruins' secrets.

Eager to unveil that mysterious, veil-covered secret!

Shutting the stone door, he completely blocked out the azure light.

Under the light of the "Lighting Technique," behind the gate was likewise a corridor, yet submerged in water deep enough to reach the calves, apparently the sound of water they heard outside the "Radiance" hall. originates from here.

The arrival of several people seemed to break the long-maintained tranquility of this place. From deep within the corridor soon came the sound of "splashing" water and "croak croak croak" sounds reminiscent of frog calls.

Hearing this commotion, the three of Aiven actually breathed a sigh of relief. A conspicuous creature emerging openly is far better than an unknown, lurking attack.

They didn't have to wait long, at the end of the view illuminated by the "Lighting Technique,"

a group of creatures no taller than an adult's waist, resembling giant standing frogs, yet covered in fish scales and with mouths full of sharp teeth, charged forward loudly.

Some of them were barehanded, while others held stones, bone clubs, or wooden sticks in their webbed claws. Despite marching through the water, they moved rapidly.

Species: Unknown (Frog-man?)

Attributes: Constitution 0.51-0.72

Strength 0.6-0.74

Agility 0.55-0.69

No need for direct contact, the "Data Visualization" already provided a rough data display of these "little monsters" by comparing the force exerted on the accumulated water.

Although it appeared small, it was already much stronger than a normal adult human. Dealing with such creatures, even three ordinary farmers might not be their match.

This was the first time since Aiven arrived in this world of the supernatural that he saw with his own eyes some kind of humanoid intelligent creature—a creature that could use tools, which could be considered intelligent... right?

But no matter how strong a mortal is, as long as they haven't reached the extraordinary, there is a qualitative difference compared with a few of them.

Aiven didn't pay them much attention and was about to rush up and casually dispatch them when he was interrupted by heavy breathing coming from behind.

Huff... huff...

"Gary? Gary? What's wrong?!"

Turning back, he saw Gary, who was tall like an iron tower, silently hanging his head, his shoulder breaths becoming increasingly heavy.

Sharply sensing something wrong with Gary's state, Aiven and Milan didn't rashly step forward to check, but instead carefully took two steps back, softly calling his name.

Their "enemies," however, paid no mind to whether there were issues on their side. The group of "little monsters" approached closer, coming within less than ten meters of the three.

"Gwa gwa gwa... gwa gwa gwa..."

Gary suddenly raised his head!

With this action, his body abruptly grew taller, his short hair bristling like sharp spikes, and his eyes turned from whites to smaller pupils, resembling those of some kind of fish monster.

He exhaled a mouthful of hot white mist.

"Ha——"

With a shout, Gary lifted the longsword in his hand, spinning it into a windmill, his feet pounding the ground as he transformed into a fierce storm, hurtling into the midst of over thirty small monsters.

Instantly, a scene of blood and carnage erupted!

Stones flew, bone clubs and wooden sticks were severed, and even the toughest skulls were as fragile as cardboard in comparison.

Limbs and innards flew through the air. Even the strongest "little monster" couldn't withstand a light strike from Gary's longsword.

Gwa gwa gwa...

Wah wah wah...

Soon, the irritating croaking turned into a sharp infant-like cry, and then within less than a minute, it all ceased completely.

Not a single "frog-man" was able to escape...

Huff... huff...

With his longsword resting on the ground, Gary knelt in the filthy pool of blood-stained water, still gasping for air.

Behind him, Aiven and Milan were in shock, momentarily forgetting how to react until Gary dispatched all incoming enemies and they came back to their senses.

For the extraordinary, the knights' emphasis on physical strength manifests externally, while the wizards' emphasis on spirit is introverted.

It is hard for others to observe a wizard's capability through means like spiritual vision, but with an external glance, one can easily tell if someone is a knight or even their knight rank.

At this moment, in their spiritual vision, the life energy field surrounding Gary burned intensely like a furnace, but while the fire of life was fierce, it was stable and showed no signs of losing control.

"Gary? Can you hear me? Give me a sign!"

Taking a few steps forward, Aiven cautiously asked again.

"Boss... Boss! Whew... I'm fine, just a bit tired." As he spoke, Gary turned his head.

In less than a minute, he had returned to his original state, including his build, hair, and eyes, as if everything that just happened had been an illusion.

However, the severed limbs on the ground clearly indicated it was no illusion.

In fact, at that moment, Aiven realized he made a small oversight in his analysis of the Deep Blue Treasure Pearl.

Exposure to that deep blue "curse" light in small amounts wasn't problematic, especially for official knights like them who had robust constitutions.

But Gary was different!

He was undergoing an extraordinary transformation, second only in importance to "birth" in an extraordinary's life.

While Gary was in the midst of his transformation, his entire body's cells and tissues were at their most active state, and at that moment, he got exposed to the culprit causing the "White Shark Sku" mutated curse.

Even under the protection of the "Silver Talisman," which significantly minimized the exposure, it still caused some cellular-level change, resulting in him acquiring some traits of the source of his extraordinary traits, the "Gun Stabbing Split-tooth Fish," during the frenzy.

This clearly resembled a frenzy ability that White Shark Sku had once exhibited.

However, being able to recover after the frenzy suggested this ability could potentially be autonomously controlled with training, and if well harnessed, it might be a formidable skill.

Yet, given the terrifying precedent set by "White Shark Sku," its potential side effects are unpredictable.

Given Gary's current condition, Aiven decided to pause their exploration and return above ground to ascertain Gary's situation before proceeding with anything else.

"But now the question is, do we move forward or back?"

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