Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

Greta thought for a moment: "A kobold needs about half a pound of meat a day. If there are thousands of them, that's four or five hundred pounds a day."

"Four or five hundred pounds?!" Cielsa's eyes widened. "Where would you find so much meat in a mine?"

Finn, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "There are lots of mushrooms in the mine."

Everyone looked at him.

Finn remained leaning against the tree, his eyes fixed on a certain direction in the darkness, his tone calm:

"Kobolds can live without eating meat. Their digestive systems are much stronger than humans'; they can digest many mushrooms that would poison or even kill ordinary humans."

"Mushrooms?" Cielsa blinked. "But...can you get full from eating mushrooms?"

"If there's enough of them, that's it," Finn said. "The depths of the mines are dark and damp, perfect for mushrooms to grow. They might have dug up huge underground fungal gardens, or even cultivated them artificially."

Drak scratched his head: "I've heard that some subterranean races do grow mushrooms, but kobolds do too?"

"Normally, kobolds won't," Finn said calmly. "But when the number of kobolds reaches a certain threshold, a more intelligent individual will emerge, and it will often teach other kobolds a great deal of knowledge."

Cecilia listened in stunned silence, and it took her a long time to say, "So... they actually live by eating mushrooms?"

"That's most likely the case," Lance nodded.

He paused, then suddenly a slight smile appeared on his lips: "Besides, aren't kobolds related to dragons?"

Cielsa blinked. "Huh? What does this have to do with dragons?"

"Because dragons can eat dirt to survive," Lance said seriously.

"So it makes sense that kobolds can survive by eating dirt, right?"

Sissa: "...Huh?"

Drak scratched his head: "Lord Lance, something doesn't quite sound right to me..."

Sielsa tilted her head and thought for a moment: "Lord Lance, is what you're saying true?"

"Of course I'm telling the truth!" Lance said innocently. "Dragons can eat dirt, so why can't kobolds?"

"Because...because..." Cielsa wanted to refute, but couldn't find a reason for it.

"See, you can't explain it either," Lance said, shrugging.

Cielsa puffed out her cheeks and stared at Lance.

But as she stared, she suddenly blushed and turned her head away.

Greta tried to light the fire, striking it several times with the flint, but it still wouldn't ignite.

Seeing this, Lance immediately cast a spell.

[Flame Arrow!]

In a flash,

The flames suddenly shot up, twitched, and then slowly grew larger, making crackling sounds.

A warm yellow halo spread out, illuminating the group of people sitting around.

Dulac took out a pot and ingredients from his backpack, preparing to cook dinner.

Logan went over to help—or rather, went over to wait for his turn to eat.

Finn was still leaning against the tree, but a little closer to the campfire.

Little Black lifted its head from Lance's lap, twitched its nose a few times, and stared at the meat in Durac's hand with bright eyes.

Cielsa reached out to touch it, but Xiao Hei slapped her away with its paw.

"You—!" Cielsa was speechless with anger.

Little Black swished its tail triumphantly and buried its head back into Lance's legs.

Lance stroked its back and looked up into the darkness in the distance.

The kobold-occupied mine is in that direction.

"Hopefully, the kobolds will let me level up to level 5..."

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Lord Lance?" Cielsa noticed his expression. "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing," Lance said, withdrawing his gaze.

Steam began to rise from the pot.

Dulac added dried meat, dried mushrooms, and a handful of freshly picked wild vegetables, stirred it, and the aroma wafted out.

Little Black was fully awake, its ears perked up as it stared at the pot, its tail swaying gently.

The fragrance brightened Sielsa's complexion considerably: "It smells so good..."

"Of course!" Drucker stroked his beard proudly. "My skills are no joke!"

Logan squatted by the pot, staring intently at it, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Greta sat expressionlessly on the rock, but somehow a bowl had appeared in her hand.

The broth was ready, and Dulac served everyone a bowl.

Little Black got a small piece of meat, which it picked up and slowly gnawed on.

Lance held the bowl, took a sip of the soup, and thought it was indeed quite good.

Night completely enveloped the woodland.

The campfire crackled, its warm yellow glow creating a small patch of sky in the darkness.

Lance finished the last sip of soup and handed the bowl to Cielsa.

Then he stood up and dusted off non-existent dust from his robe.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Drak, who was licking the last bit of broth from the pot, looked up at the question: "Important business? Lord Lance, it's almost bedtime, what important business could there be?"

"Sleeping is the important thing," Lance said.

He raised his hand, and a faint silver light emanated from it.

[Magic Rope Technique!]

Light surged from his fingertips and shot toward the three-meter-high tree trunk above his head—a silver spot of light appeared out of thin air on the trunk, and the spot of light quickly expanded into a shimmering silver halo.

The halo was pitch black, with no bottom in sight, as if a space had been carved out, from which a rope extended.

Logan's mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an egg: "Magic... Magic Rope Spell? Lord Lance, you actually went to the trouble of using a second-circle spell slot to memorize this spell?!"

Finn's pupils contracted slightly, but quickly returned to calm.

Greta stared blankly at the silver halo, her lips twitching slightly—though subtle, it was still a shock to her.

He paused, then looked at Drucker: "Didn't you always worry about who to put on night watch?"

Drucker nodded blankly: "Yes..."

"No need to make arrangements now."

Lance pointed to the silver halo above his head.

"Everyone, go inside and sleep."

Durac stared blankly for a long time before managing to stammer out, "Th-thank you, Lord Lance."

Logan had already crept up to the tree, craning his neck to look into the halo: "What's it like inside?"

"Why don't you climb in and see for yourself?" Lance said.

Logan grabbed the dangling rope and climbed up in a few quick movements.

The moment his head peered into the halo, he froze.

Two seconds later, his voice came from inside, muffled:

Holy crap!

This is Logan's, or more accurately, everyone in this team's, first time experiencing the "Magic Rope Technique" firsthand.

In the past, when working with a mage, the mage would never waste a second-level spell slot just to sleep.

As for magic scrolls... those are truly rare items.

Even single-ring spools are frequently out of stock, and single-ring and higher spools are not available in the general market.

Even if someone were to sell it, they certainly wouldn't be willing to buy it—they can't possibly give up their entire reward for a good night's sleep.

Drucker snapped, "What the hell?! Explain yourself!"

Logan poked his head out from the halo, his face flushed red, his eyes gleaming:

"Captain, come up here quickly! This place...this place is bigger than my house!"

Without saying a word, Dulac picked up the pot and climbed up the tree.