The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 724 Dream World 62
The scene before her suddenly changed; she came from a dark and narrow underground passage into a giant mine that was several times larger than the grotto where Shadow Village was located.

The cave ceiling was so high that details were almost invisible; only the giant, hanging crystal clusters refracted a mesmerizing halo of light like chandeliers.

The magical energy flowing across the surface of those crystal clusters sometimes undulated slowly like liquid, and sometimes burst forth with tiny sparks of electricity.

The most eye-catching feature is a cluster of purple stalactites, which seem to contain a galaxy, with starlight flowing silently within the crystal.

Various high-purity mineral veins coil like dragons and snakes on the surrounding rock walls, making one feel as if they have entered a treasure trove of minerals.

Crimson fire-patterned ore and crimson feather ore meander like lava on the black bedrock; silvery moonlight ore and dream silver ore form delicate feather-like patterns; dream gold ore appears and disappears like a spider web on the cave walls... even the ground is covered with fragments of various ores.

As mentioned in the forum guides, all the magical ores in the Dream World can be found in the Gold Mine dungeon.

From the most common iron ore to the legendary dream crystals, they are presented here in their most perfect form.

Moran, who was addicted to mining, couldn't stand the stimulation and felt dizzy from the sight.

She originally came here to practice magic, but now she's starting to really want to challenge this dungeon.

It's just a pity... these ores can't be mined directly! That takes away a lot of the fun.

Resources within a dungeon have their own acquisition methods, which differ from those outside the dungeon.

In instances like the "Gold Mine," the dazzling high-purity ores cannot be mined using conventional methods.

To take any piece of ore from here, you must defeat the corresponding ore monster.

Moran's prospecting and mining techniques were ineffective here; he was completely unable to lock onto any targets, as if the ores were merely realistic holographic projections.

She was standing on a circular stone platform in the center of the mine. The ores were still very quiet, but as soon as she stepped off the platform, she would inevitably come into contact with them, thus triggering a challenge.

This stone platform is the safe zone, and it's currently the only place where we won't come into contact with any ore.

The more common the ore, the easier it is to form a monster; the rarer the ore, the more difficult it is to form a monster.

Even more dangerous is the combination mechanism.

If multiple Ore Monster challenges are triggered simultaneously, they will not appear individually, but will randomly merge to form a completely new combination of Ore Monsters.

Moran had seen on the forum that an adventurer accidentally triggered both Fire Emblem Ore and Wind Whisper Ore at the same time. Instead of summoning two monsters, the adventurer summoned a Storm Lava Ore Monster wreathed in flames and hurricanes, which was instantly wiped out and took several months to recover.

The reason this dungeon has no level cap is that, theoretically, you can "explore" all the ores in the entire mine at once, causing the entire cave to be filled with ore monsters, forming a super ore behemoth.

It has been six years since the dungeon was discovered, and adventurers have experimented with various mineral-formed monsters, but no one has yet been able to get a perfect rating.

The prevailing opinion on the forum is that the condition for a perfect clear is to challenge all the ores in the cave at the same time and defeat the final boss that is fused together.

However, Moran does not plan to try it for the time being.

Although this dungeon has no level cap, the world level of the Dream World dictates that its maximum energy level cannot exceed level eight, corresponding to a Tier 3 Explorer. Moran's magic power far surpasses Tier 3, but his magic level is still far behind. Attempting to clear it now presents a chance, but also carries a certain risk.

She originally came here to train and improve her magic level; collecting ores was just a side thing.

In this instance, she could feel the reduction in magical suppression, allowing her to cast more powerful spells and even attempt some advanced techniques that were difficult to control in the real world.

Most offensive spells can be honed in the challenge of mineral monsters, but targets must be chosen carefully.

Activating too many things at once can turn training into suicide.

Her plan was clear: start with the scattered ore fragments to familiarize herself with the strength and rhythm of the ore monsters, while clearing the ground to avoid accidentally triggering any unplanned ore monsters. Who knows what kind of monsters might be formed?

With an open space, she could gradually challenge the rare minerals on the rock wall. After challenging each one, she could then trigger multiple minerals to challenge the combined mineral monster, gradually increasing the difficulty. This way, she could safely achieve her training goals.

If all goes well, once her magic level catches up, she should be able to try for a perfect rating.

Individual fragments of ore on the ground pose little threat, but their sheer number makes them akin to stepping into a minefield, where it's difficult to guarantee that only one will be triggered.

However, according to information on the forum, even if all the ground fragments are activated at the same time, the combined mineral monster is only as strong as the monster formed from a piece of dream gold ore on the rock wall.

Moran estimated that with her current skill level, she should have no problem dealing with it.

She quickly used all the spells that could provide her with continuous protection and various amplification effects on herself.

After preparing both protective and buffing spells, Moran took that step.

The stone platform was surrounded by iron ore fragments. With a stomp of her foot, they instantly transformed into more than a dozen ore monsters covered in iron ore pieces.

They come in various shapes and sizes, some like scorpions and some like spiders, but they attract and merge with each other the moment they appear.

Amidst the ear-piercing sound of metal clashing, a giant armored bear, even taller than her, lunged at her.

"Let's test the waters first." Moran raised her right hand slightly, and a small fireball the size of a fist condensed in her palm.

She deliberately limited the blast radius to ensure it wouldn't affect the ore on the cave ceiling and walls.

The fireball traced a perfect arc and struck the armored giant bear precisely in the chest.

"Boom!" Amidst the flames of the explosion, the armored giant bear let out a metallic, twisting roar. Its massive body was blasted into pieces, and a piece of fine iron ore with a metallic sheen fell to the ground with a "clang," its surface still carrying lingering heat.

Before Moran could examine the spoils closely, he felt the entire mine suddenly shake violently.

The shockwave from the explosion spread like ripples, and wherever it passed, all the ore fragments on the ground began to tremble and light up, then gathered together as if attracted by a magnet, eventually transforming into a monster the size of a small mountain.

Its body was pieced together from various minerals and covered with sharp, hard barbs, like a giant hedgehog. It curled up and rolled toward Moran.