Repair Corpse (Uncommon) - A spell which quickly and efficiently repairs the body by consuming its own material. Only works on corpses.

As Mark checked his skill description while walking, the noise of water intensified. It came to a crescendo when he approached the exit to a tunnel and a picturesque scene. In the middle of the area was a pool, shiny and beautiful, while three different waterfalls crashed down onto it from separate cliffs.

A mystical light sparkled inside the waters. The glow warmed Mark's heart, and he found himself smiling. He almost put a hand inside.

But Mark knew better.

[Infested Waters] - Water teeming with mana-absorbing creatures. Alluring to those requiring magical sustenance. Dissolves into mana when slain.

There was nothing else in the pool. He expected to find some hidden insect bodies or something, but the waters were pristine and sparkling. These creatures might be able to dissolve matter in addition to mana.

Mark let a skeleton sink into the pool, and its body began to flake away. Nothing remained after a minute except for clear, refreshing water. So how did the Carnivorous Vine manage to grow here?

He began casting Identify on the waterfall. Most of the time it was safe, but there were several occasions when the Infested Waters description appeared again. These creatures came from above, but there was still a way to defeat them, judging from how the vine continued to survive here.

Metal weapons were ignored entirely. They sank to the bottom of the pool and sat there, never to be retrieved. He decided to go with fire for his next attempt.

Mark had a minion fill up an empty water bottle with infested water, then boiled it in a jar. After enough time had passed, he gave the boiled water to a random skeleton warrior. But its bones still melted away, leaving behind a gaping hole where the water passed through. Still, the speed had slowed down. It seemed that boiling had some effect.

The only other choice he could come up with was to use his skeleton mage's necromancy to purge the water of all life. Though it was a risk, Mark admitted he wanted to see the effects of its death. Would it grant mana regeneration?

Deathly energies washed over a new jar of water his minion secured. And as he expected, the skeleton warriors were able to drink it without any problems after enough time had passed. A dozen skeletons perished to confirm that it took a few minutes to cleanse the water entirely, an inefficient process, but this was the best option he had.

His skeleton mage's mana began increasing as soon as it drank the infested waters. However, the item description did not change. Mark scooped up a few more jars and placed them in a barren corner inside his pocket plane. He'd never drink them willingly himself, but he had to admit they were useful.

Mark then looked upwards at the three waterfalls. Perhaps there was something up there, but he had no way to get there. With one final check around the room, Mark left, a little agitated by the turn of events. There were no plants, no animals, no insects, nor even a tunnel downwards for him to explore.

The tunnel near Aria and James was the only option left, other than chasing after Theodore. But that ship had long sailed. He was pretty sure they had either succeeded or failed, making it useless if he went back.

After paying the two one last visit, Mark confirmed with his own eyes that James had healed up. Though his body was still wracked with wounds, he was now able to walk. The man then waved goodbye and disappeared into a tunnel with Aria. There was nothing else left on this floor. He slipped up into their now empty hiding place and closed his eyes.

---

Mark returned back to the cliff area past the tunnel and summoned his skeletons. He walked down the sides slowly, taking care to scatter torches around so he could see.

More and more flora appeared the greater the distance he went. They first appeared as small patches of grass, which thickened in size and area until they spanned the entire pathway down. Eventually, they grew almost as tall as him, and even his torches failed to leave a scorch mark when they fell.

Mark almost jumped at the sight of a large vine coiling up towards the ceiling, but he calmed down when he saw no mouths. Identifying it with his magic revealed nothing odd, either. These were just local species of plants whose growth was enhanced by magic.

To rest, they had to clear out a small field to finally sit down. Mark meditated for a while, planning his next move, when he suddenly heard a scuffle. A small animal poked its head out from the grass and then immediately ran away.

He stared in its direction and waited. It had fled, but this confirmed the presence of other life in these mines. And that meant food and water.

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Mark felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He took out another package of magical meat and fed a good portion to his Pacified Goblin. The creature's body was beginning to grow some muscle, and it looked much healthier than when he found it. Still, its intelligence had not increased one bit.

Mark gave it some of the items he didn't need. Leftover portions of food, herbs, vines, and even some wine were all thrown haphazardly into its cooking pot. The goblin continued to do what it liked most while Mark returned to the mines.

When the floor leveled out, and the fields began to grow flowers, he knew he had reached the bottom of the cavern. Within moments, Mark discovered a pack of animals ripping up grass with their teeth. They ran away as soon as his minions crashed through.

"Timid, aren't they?" he asked his skeleton mage. The undead stared back with its head tilted. It seemed to understand what he was saying and launched a Death Bolt in their direction. "Don't do that," he scolded.

The skeleton turned its head downwards to stare at its feet, as if saddened by his words. Mark felt a smile approaching, but he pushed it down. He couldn't get too emotional with his minions since their lifespans were quite short.

Walking through the brush became an arduous task. Taller than even him, it took his skeletons a lot of time to break through, and the durability of their weapons dwindled very quickly. But other than that, Mark had no serious problems blocking his path. There was plenty of time to wait. And if a weapon broke, so what? He had an entire armory stored inside his pocket plane.

With his skeletons' eternal stamina, they worked while he rested. Mark checked the system clock a lot more since he basically had nothing to do. About fifty hours had passed since the tutorial began. He made a lot more progress than he thought he would.

Still, it made sense to him. The tutorial only gave him a few scraps of food, enough to last a few days. He had to rush down here in order to survive. Perhaps the second floor would give him a few weeks, but in the end, only the third floor could provide food for three months. It was clear this floor was very important, though he didn't know its exact size.

Time flew while he continued identifying the things inside his pocket plane, and the new plants he found. Some of the flowers were different from others, but many species were the same. The ones he saw the most were those who flowered in dark, damp conditions. He looked up. This area might've been under the vine's pool area. Water trickled downwards, didn't it?

The skeletons eventually broke through to a clearing right as Mark leveled up his Identify skill to an Uncommon rarity. Its description hadn't changed, but now he could see more information concerning the items he had. His skeleton warrior's enchanted artifacts finally became known to him.

[Gleam: Sword of Ruined Light (Uncommon)] - A damaged artifact. When fueled by mana, emits a bright light enhancing cutting power. Has lost its passive and overloaded effects.

[Glare: Helm of Ruined Light (Uncommon)] - A damaged artifact. When fueled by mana, discharges concentrated light. Has lost its passive effect involving an enhancement to base vision.

As named items, Mark understood they were more significant than the others he held. The Staff of Fire, Goblin Ring of Resilience, and Magical Crown of Bone still carried generic names. Perhaps they had carried a quality level above Uncommon before being damaged.

Then something roared, forcing Mark to exit his pocket plane. A new monster had appeared, lupine in appearance but with no eyes. It outmaneuvered his undead orc, tearing apart three skeleton warriors in moments, yet caught a few Death Bolts from his skeleton mage and began rotting away.

Once Mark added in his own Death Bolts, the Eyeless Wolf quickly fell under their barrage. But its withered flesh also meant he could not eat this food. So he decided to use Magic Missile unless he really needed the damage.

"Stop using those Death Bolts," he ordered the skeleton mage, who ducked its head in apparent sorrow. "You can use them against the grass though." It raised its head up high.

Mark had no use for most of the plants around here, since they were inedible. A tree grew in this clearing, but its fruits were more like acorns. After a brief glance with Identify, he threw some into his Pacified Goblin's cooking pot. Then they continued hacking away at the tall grass once he replaced his dead skeleton warriors with new ones. They reached the second clearing sooner than he expected.

A family of critters lived here. After they fled, Mark inspected their food source: a group of plants with massive flowers. Though they were inedible to humans, Identify said, they could feed any animals or insects he brought in later. So he tried his best to uproot them into his pocket plane while his minions continued to work their way deeper.

He only managed to successfully bring one inside. It now sat in a small hole, with some sleepy sap dripped onto its petals to help it recover. The others had all died from his inexperience. Still, Mark was pleased with himself. He took the remains and placed them next to the Pacified Goblin.

"Can you make something with these?" he asked. It was worth a try. The goblin had worked with food before, so it might be able to make something from these flowers instead of the other plants around.

It sniffed the flowers. Then, it threw them in as well. A viscous green substance emerged with a horrific smell, and Mark almost gagged. But he decided to leave the goblin to its own devices. This one was a survivor, after all.

Mark was able to scan a few more items with his upgraded Identify, but it didn't seem like much changed. The Magical Gems and Coin had the same description. Only when he looked at the weird orb did he finally get something of value.

[Shell of Stone (Rare)] - Hides something inside.

"That tells me so much."

Once his minions had opened up another path, he left to go join them. But this time, the grass had turned into a wall, and looked more oppressive on the other side of the clearing than before. Still, he continued onwards. Mark's team broke through five more clearings before something other than random plants and animals appeared.

Voices.