Chapter 39

Fireball (2)

There was a saying: if you had no teeth, you made do with your gums.

In other words, if the best option was unavailable, you came up with the next best thing.

Since my best option—magic—was gone, I needed to settle for an alternative too.

It was technically magic.

Just... magic with a little physics mixed in.

Similar to a Fireball, but slightly different in nature.

Pop!

I struggled to pull out the cork that had been wedged deep inside the bottle.

Fortunately, the dwarf had given me an opener along with the alcohol, so I was able to get it out.

“Ugh...!”

The instant I uncorked it, I couldn't help but grimace.

I had no idea how to describe the sensation.

It felt like the overpowering smell of alcohol was beating my sense of smell into submission.

Like a hired thug barging in and forcibly driving every other scent out of the place.

“Grragh!”

Even Tree Sloth, who was clinging to my back, recoiled in horror.

The little guy barely ever made a sound, yet even he was clutching his nose.

That alone showed how vicious the smell was.

He gave me this to drink? This is basically poison.

I was seriously curious about the alcohol content.

It had to be absurdly high.

At this level, I could probably mix in just a little oil and still get what I wanted.

Should I at least taste it once?

Still, it seemed like a waste to throw it away without trying it, so I decided to take a single sip.

Even if I got drunk, it shouldn't be a problem.

I had an internal energy cultivation method now.

I vaguely remembered hearing that circulating a cultivation method could sober you up.

I stared at the alcohol, which was still reeking like pure ethanol, then quietly brought the bottle to my lips.

Gulp.

Surprisingly, the first thing I tasted was sweetness.

There was the characteristic bitterness of alcohol too, but the sweet aroma was much stronger.

This is actually pretty good.

At this level, I could drink it like a beverage.

That was what I thought.

For exactly two seconds.

“HUARGH! UUUUAGH!”

Something was wrong.

I had clearly swallowed a liquid, so why did it feel like my throat was on fire?

Had I swallowed flames?

No, forget flames. Had I just swallowed hydrochloric acid?

I clutched my throat in agony.

And then I realized the truth.

That dwarf bastard had finally gone and poisoned me!

Right after that realization came the distinct sensation that my life was in danger.

I couldn't die like this.

I started feeling around the floor for an elixir, but before long, the pain gradually began to subside.

If it hadn't, I genuinely would have used up one of my elixirs.

That was how bad it hurt.

“Ugh...”

I rubbed my still-stinging throat.

Tears had formed in the corners of my eyes.

I had no idea what the hell that dwarf had given me, but it wasn't alcohol.

It was poison in liquid form.

Otherwise, there was no reason my throat should hurt like I had suddenly developed severe acid reflux.

And I wasn't even exaggerating.

I felt like drinking actual hydrochloric acid couldn't possibly hurt this much.

It's not like the dwarf is crazy enough to actually give me poison.

So they really drank this stuff as alcohol?

My respect for dwarves rose dramatically.

I sighed and stepped outside for a moment to drink some water.

After drinking from the hose, the burning pain finally eased.

I feel like this would catch fire even without oil.

There was probably no need to fill the whole thing with oil.

Muscle Mushroom was still a mushroom in the end, so it should burn fairly well.

If I filled the bottle entirely with oil and the fire spread, I'd be in trouble.

Let's check whether this stuff ignites first.

I went back into the cave and poured a little alcohol onto the ground.

Then I picked up a random twig and touched an ignition stone to it.

The dry branch caught fire easily.

It might have been dangerous to put the ignition stone directly against the alcohol, so precautions like this were necessary.

Whoosh!

“Oh.”

The moment I brought the flame close, the alcohol flared up.

Apparently, with an alcohol content that high, it ignited extremely well too.

In that case, there shouldn't be any problem throwing the bottle as-is.

Come to think of it, the bottle's glass too. Perfect.

Now that I'd confirmed it worked, all that remained was making the actual weapon.

Making a Molotov cocktail was simple, yet surprisingly tricky.

If I screwed up, I could end up setting myself on fire.

Its destructive power wasn't something to underestimate either.

I had heard they were useful enough to be used against tanks in wartime.

First, I need oil.

I planned to mix oil and alcohol in suitable proportions.

Like I said before, filling the whole bottle with nothing but oil could cause all sorts of problems.

At the very least, I needed to be able to put the fire out relatively easily.

And I'll add sand too.

Sticky oil and sand.

Just hearing the combination made it sound perfect.

I bought vegetable oil from the auction house.

Apparently, people sold that there.

As for sand, I just gathered some from around the area, dried it, and poured it in.

The last and most important part was the wick.

That was the part I wasn't completely sure about.

If it burns too fast, I'm the one in danger.

It needed to burn slowly enough while still catching fire easily.

Considering all of that, cloth seemed like the best choice.

Still, I needed to test it.

I bought wastepaper, old newspapers, cloth, and various other flammable materials from the auction house.

As expected, cloth is the safest.

After testing them, cloth turned out to be the most suitable.

I immediately stuffed a strip of cloth into the mouth of the bottle.

Even using a chopstick to force it in took some effort.

Finally, I turned the bottle upside down to check whether any liquid leaked out.

The cloth was thick, so there didn't seem to be any problem.

Title: Learned Fireball.

(Photo of a hastily made Molotov cocktail)

From now on, call me a fire mage.

└ Passing Dwarf) ??? Isn't that the alcohol I gave you?
└ Wild Grylls) Yeah, yeah. That shit's insanely strong lmao.
└ Passing Dwarf) Don't tell me you threw it away without even drinking it.
└ Wild Grylls) Nah, I took one sip. Thought I was gonna die lol.
└ Passing Dwarf) Assassination successful.
└ Wild Grylls) Are you insane? lmao. You call that alcohol? I'd rather drink rubbing alcohol.
└ Passing Dwarf) It's still pretty expensive stuff lol.
└ Why'd you make a Molotov cocktail? What are you planning to do with it?
└ Wild Grylls) Gonna kill that mushroom man. If its whole body catches fire, won't the spores burn too?
└ That's certainly the straightforward method. Didn't expect you to make a Molotov cocktail though ;;
└ Wild Grylls) How do people normally kill them? With mages?
└ Just throw a bottle of oil and then toss a torch. That's safer.
└ Grylls is alone, though, so this probably works better for him.
└ Mage (Physical) lmaoooo.
└ Starlight Princess) Fireball is really easy... It's not difficult at all.
└ Wild Grylls) Teacher?
└ Starlight Princess) It's nothing. I'm just a little disappointed. It's incredibly satisfying to understand the principles of magic one by one.
└ Is this magic (mathematics)?
└ Magic is basically advanced mathematics to begin with.
└ What did you mix into it? Did you add oil?
└ Wild Grylls) About half oil. The rest is alcohol and sand. I'd be screwed if the fire spread somewhere else.
└ You're not seriously planning to put it out with water after burning everything, right?
└ Wild Grylls) I'll smother it with sand. I'm not that stupid.
└ You know your stuff, huh? I was about to report you for arson lol.
└ Wild Grylls) Go ahead and report me. That'd be great for me lmao.
└ Allfather) You should be careful once the mushroom man catches fire. It will explode the moment it releases its spores.
└ Wild Grylls) I'll be careful. Are its spores especially weak to fire?
└ Allfather) They are weak to it, but it's also instinct. Spreading offspring when one's life is in danger is an instinct shared by living creatures.
└ Wild Grylls) Thanks for the advice. I'm heading out to kill it now.
└ Do you really have to kill it?
└ Wild Grylls) Yeah. Rabbits pass through that area, so I need it gone if I want to set traps there.
└ Then I guess you don't have much choice.
└ PraiseTheSun) Are you going to use the golden shield I gave you?
└ Wild Grylls) I'm taking it with me for now. It can block at least one hit.
└ PraiseTheSun) I'll give you a better shield later. Just wait.
└ Wild Grylls) I'm fine, though.
└ PraiseTheSun) Well, I'm not.

The preparations were complete.

All that remained was to get properly equipped.

I didn't need the crossbow, so I packed everything else.

The Molotov cocktail was a little cumbersome, though. It looked like I needed to buy a small bag.

I'll just grab something suitable.

I bought a small pouch from the auction house, one that could be hung from my waist.

I stored the Molotov cocktail and an elixir inside it. Just in case, I also packed the bottle containing extra oil.

I thought that was everything, but then I remembered one more thing I needed.

Ah. I need a shovel too.

A shovel for smothering the fire.

That was necessary.

Sword and shield in my hands, shovel strapped to my back.

Now it was time to go hunt Muscle Mushroom.

"Guard the house."

"..."

I entrusted the cave to Tree Sloth, who had already climbed down from my back, and started walking.

Wonmo was still peacefully taking a nap even as I left.

He was cute, so I'd let it slide.

Everything was ready.

I set off with a slight sense of tension.

I needed to eliminate Muscle Mushroom before I could set traps and hunt the smaller animals in the area.

And while I was at it, I could also inspect the inside of the cave the mushroom had been blocking.

I wonder what's inside.

Honestly, I was curious about the cave just as much as I was interested in setting traps.

There had to be a reason Muscle Mushroom was guarding it.

It's not some kind of dungeon, right? And the mushroom is literally the gatekeeper?

If that were the case, going inside would be no different from poking a hornet's nest.

There was a reason people said curiosity killed the cat.

Half worried and half excited, I headed toward the place where Muscle Mushroom was located.

Rustle—

Something suddenly sprang out of the bushes while I was walking.

Long ears and an adorable, tiny appearance.

"Squeak?"

A rabbit.

A rabbit had suddenly appeared.

The moment it saw me, it raised its body high, and its long ears shot upright as well.

Anyone could tell it was on guard.

Even so, the way its mouth kept twitching was ridiculously cute.

"Hey, hey. Go on. Shoo. Shoo."

I had no intention of hunting it right now, so I lightly nudged it with my sword.

Maybe even that felt threatening to the rabbit.

CLANG!

The rabbit suddenly kicked the sword with all its strength.

Not the edge, but the flat of the blade.

Judging by the clear metallic sound, the kick carried considerable force.

It was strong enough to throw me off balance and make me stagger.

"What the hell...?"

I stared in disbelief as the rabbit fled into the bushes.

I had almost fallen over from a single kick.

Apparently, even rabbits were different when they lived in the Forest of Four Seasons.

If that kick hit me directly, I'd probably end up with a cracked bone at minimum.

What kind of ridiculous forest is this?

Now even the rabbits were dangerous.

This was absurd.

If I wanted to set traps, I would probably need to use something with serious killing power.

Otherwise, those rabbits might just destroy every trap I set.

My head was already starting to hurt, but hunting the mushroom came first.

"...Found it."

Following the familiar path, I arrived at Muscle Mushroom's location.

It was still stationed in front of the cave like a gatekeeper.

As long as I didn't approach too closely, it probably wouldn't wake up.

I carefully pulled the Molotov cocktail out of my bag.

Crackle!

I lit the wick with the ignition stone, and flames immediately began licking upward.

I stared at Muscle Mushroom.

It still hadn't moved an inch.

Apparently, it really did only wake up when something came close.

"Hraaah!"

With a forceful shout, I hurled the Molotov cocktail as hard as I could.

It flew through the air while spinning, leaving a ring of flame behind it.

Muscle Mushroom remained rooted to the ground right up until the bottle reached it.

Crash!

The Molotov smashed against the mushroom's body and shattered.

WHOOOSH!

A huge blaze engulfed the entire mushroom.

The easily ignited oil and alcohol fed the flames, while the sand clung thickly to its body.

"Kuuuuuu!"

Sensing danger, Muscle Mushroom began pulling its arms and legs out of the ground.

I didn't miss the opening.

I charged forward exactly as planned.

The flames were hot, but I only needed to get close once.

Slash!

Before one of its legs could completely pull free, I severed it with my sword.

No matter how muscular it was, losing a leg was enough to make it fall.

BOOM!

Muscle Mushroom crashed to the ground.

The flames intensified.

Pop-pop-pop!

"Ugh!"

Then a series of small explosions suddenly erupted.

Fortunately, I had already backed away.

Otherwise, I might have been caught in them.

They were only about as powerful as firecrackers, but burns were still serious injuries.

It released its spores.

Allfather's advice had been right.

Apparently, it had tried to scatter spores to reproduce, only for them to explode in the flames.

The creature thrashed around for a while.

Only after its entire body was engulfed in fire did it gradually grow still.

Perhaps because it was a mushroom, the smell of it burning wasn't particularly unpleasant.

If anything, it had a strangely appetizing aroma.

That doesn't mean I'm going to eat it.

Thanks to the strategy I had prepared in advance, I defeated it without much trouble.

Still, I planned to wait a little longer to make sure it was truly dead.

Crackle. Crackle.

After some time, Muscle Mushroom had been burned completely black.

The flames gradually began to die down as well.

Deciding that was enough, I pulled the shovel off my back.

Then I covered the remains with sand and completely extinguished the fire.

Animals might come because of the smell.

The aroma was pleasant enough that it might attract beasts.

I thought about what to do before deciding to move the mushroom corpse.

There might still be embers, so I'll push it somewhere with less grass.

I shoved it along with the shovel until it was tucked away in a corner.

Even if an animal came, it would probably be more interested in the mushroom than the cave.

With the cleanup finished, I finally looked into the cave Muscle Mushroom had been guarding.

Because of the angle of the sunlight, the interior was extremely dark.

I could see reasonably well even in darkness.

But if I wanted to investigate properly, I would probably need a torch.

Good thing I brought some cloth.

I picked up a large branch from the ground.

After wrapping it tightly with cloth, I lit it using the ignition stone.

Whoosh!

The moment the torch flared to life, the inside of the cave became much brighter.

Overall, the interior resembled the cave where I lived.

It was spacious in every direction, giving it a surprisingly comfortable atmosphere.

"Not bad..."

I stopped halfway through looking around.

Thanks to the torchlight, I could now see what was at the far end of the cave.

It wasn't some dangerous beast.

It had just caught me off guard because it stood out so much.

Sparkle. Sparkle.

"...A mushroom?"

A golden mushroom was shining brilliantly.

Is it poisonous?

It looked like the kind of thing no sane person would ever want to eat.