The Rotten Mushroom Swamp was the Underdark's southernmost domain.
Because of the Snake Witch, most people who went there on their own would never come back.
The Snake Witch had set traps everywhere and then retreated to live in a cabin in the middle of the swamp, spending all her time researching how to remove the curse from the Witch Queen.
Unfortunately, she might never have the chance to remove that curse.
Because today, Marvin was coming to visit!
Marvin had never been a person who liked to slaughter aimlessly, but a villain like the Snake Witch was different.
That woman was considered a viper in the annals of Feinan's history.
Because she failed to seize the power of the Witch Queen, she defected and divulged the location of the Anzeds' headquarters to their enemies, making the Anzed Witches suffer heavy losses. Afterward, she entered the Underdark and tried to take over a force so that she could at least rule over something. But because the man she was supporting was also having contact with other women, she used the poison that she was so proficient with to kill that man, and made the entire city fall into fear of poison and disease.
At least 3000 innocents died because of her actions.
As it was recorded, that year, over three hundred nobles were poisoned to death in [Mottled City], and as for the lowly commoners and slaves, there were too many of them to properly count.
Even though it had been a famous city of the Underdark, Mottled City was unable to recover, continuing to decline over time.
Ultimately, the city became a ghost town, and the people who once lived there went far away, many migrating to the Rosen Strongholds.
This was all caused by the Snake Witch's vicious attack.
And when the Witch Queen came to make her pay for her actions, she tried to collude with a being from an external plane, but her attempts were seen through.
The aberration had been banished to the Astral Plane's Void, and she was cursed.
She still had her alluring appearance, but once she left the Swamp, she would become extremely ugly.
If the sun shone upon her, her skin would begin to fester.
And because of the curse, no one would like her. Everyone would feel an indescribable loathsome feeling when seeing her face.
This was the punishment that the Witch Queen had given her.
For a millennium, the Snake Witch had been living in seclusion in the shadows.
The power of hatred was formidable, and she also wanted to remove the previous Witch Queen's curse.
Some players in the game had mentioned that it was possible to choose to assist with the Snake Witch's revenge.
But that quest would normally only be taken by evil-aligned players, because if successful, the Anzeds' wrath would soon descend upon them.
And the Snake Witch would also launch a series of revenge plans herself.
Unfortunately for her, in the game, the quest had been broken by a group of players.
They received a counter mission from the Anzed Witches to find out the specific circumstances of the Snake Witch, and once they arrived at the swamp, they killed her.
Marvin had found out about the Snake Witch when news of this quest had been revealed.
That woman was very powerful. In fact, if she didn't have such a malicious character, her extreme talent could have made her a very helpful person.
Her Alchemy and Potioneering, particularly when it came to making poisons, had reached an extremely high level, and if used properly, she would have been able to amass an incredible amount of wealth through completely legitimate means.
Unfortunately, history had proved that this woman was unwilling to give up on attaining power, and she wasn't someone that was easily convinced.
Marvin came here to learn about her Potioneering, and to get her Alchemy Items.
And if he had to kill her, it would be just a matter of getting rid of a trouble for the Anzeds. He could do it on the way.
After all, Hathaway was the current Anzed Witch Queen, so getting rid of one of her enemies was the least he could do for her.
There were traps all over the Rotten Mushroom Swamp, but Marvin knew of a path that safely went around the center of the swamp.
That path was actually an escape route that the Snake Witch had left. To use it, one would have to circumvent Devil Town and enter the swamp from the southern wildlands.
The Snake Witch had felt that the Dark River was a sufficient obstacle that it should be fine to leave this small path for times when she would need to leave.
But it was too bad for her that Loremaster Marvin had arrived in this world.
She was likely to die this day in her swamp!
A faint rotten smell floated in the air.
Will-o'-wisps and the occasional exploding mushrooms made sure that anyone taking this path had to stay alert.
Marvin activated his Stealth and slowly walked forward along the muddy path, going from cover to cover.
He knew that he had to remain careful.
The Snake Witch was a very crafty person. She had set up many traps and monitoring items on the path.
If he was careless and triggered something, it would give the Snake Witch some time to prepare.
The Snake Witch was a Legend in the 3rd Era, so the fact that she was still alive now meant that she must have a lot of skill.
Marvin was confident that he could kill the Snake Witch if he caught her off guard.
If she was prepared, it would be a lot more troublesome.
Thus, he proceeded very carefully as he approached the almost unmoving Dark River.
'Living all her life in a place where even the birds don't dare to shit. Even a regular person would become abnormal after all this time…'
Marvin inwardly sighed.
Just as he had this thought, a crow landed on a large clump of grass in the river ahead of him, making Marvin stop.
The crow's eyes were red, and it pecked at the grass. From the gaps in the grass, it could be seen that there was a thick, shredded corpse!
Marvin glanced at it and determined that it was the corpse of a lizard.
He still didn't move.
This crow was one of the creatures that the Snake Witch used to monitor the surroundings. Although Marvin's Stealth was high, in front of an intelligent lifeform that had been tampered with, it was better not to risk exposing himself.
Marvin decided to go with the safest option.
Wait!
As a Legend rogue, Marvin knew the importance of waiting, and he also had the patience to do so.
He would wait for that crow to fly away and then take the opportunity to jump to the clump of grass.
That pile of grass was floating very slowly down the river. If it moved too far away, who knew when he would see another pile of grass?
In this swamp, rashly using a displacement skill could likely be sensed by the Witch.
Marvin had to be extremely low-key.
But looking at the distance between him and that clump of grass, Marvin couldn't help wanting to scratch his head a bit.
'Looks a bit far.'
'If I do a long jump and then use the second midair jump, I can probably land on it, but that kind of movement skill might trigger an alarm of some sort…'
Marvin was thinking about the best approach for him to take, when suddenly, he realized something.
'Hold on… My Dexterity…'
'My body… When did I break through?!'
When his sight fell onto his interface, he suddenly became stunned and overjoyed.
Because at this moment he saw that under the attributes section of his interface, it was written:
[Dexterity: 35] (Post-Godly Dexterity)