We were holding our own, but we weren’t winning.
Fogwarth battered aside several more axe strikes, pushing the armored, mushroom-infested, huge corpse back when he could. His arm that had taken the initial axe blow hung limply at one side, but he still fought back as a stalwart defender even as he panted and heaved with fatigue.
Beside us our Golems were fairing even worse.
The flying rejected Avenged Sevenfold logo seemed to only have the laser eyes ability, which seemed to have a cooldown of around ten or so seconds but it was hard to tell in the midst of everything happening. Ix-Lok had only managed to fire off one more arrow, not even imbuing it with the frigid power as before, and it still failed to penetrate the thick iron of the helmet. Ak-Lok continued to pepper in the orbs of flame, which left burned and scorched marks over the head and even managed to burn away some of the mushrooms, but they had no effect with interrupting the eye beams being cast. The head had begun targeting the fire-wielding Golem and had missed a few of the beams, carving into the earth and leaving steaming grafts wherever they hit. Sadly they had also connected more than once.
My rose-hips came off cooldown a moment later and against my better judgment I casted it under the area the head had flown. The thorns, fruits and flowers dug out of the earth and rose high into the hair but still could not reach the fluttering skull.
“Shit… Shit!” I cursed at myself, wasting an ability that may have better assisting Fogwarth.
I dared to glance back at him and my eyes made it just in time to watch him block another chop, only to be met with the armored boot that followed it. The kick connected with his stomach, shoving him back and allowing the body to follow it with an additional cut of the axe. This time the edge managed to cut into Fogwarth’s thigh armor, leaving a trail of crimson in its wake and causing Fogwarth to drop to a knee. He managed to stomp with his other foot only a moment later, still reeling from the recent wound, and he summoned another earthen barrier that warded off another chop.
“Captain!” Toki’s voice shredded through the curtain of mist. Her heavy breathing could be heard as she walked further, white clouds giving way to her red garb. She held at her torso, blackened flesh visible through the charred hole in her robe thing. Despite her injury and pain she carried herself with a surprising amount of confidence. She glared with her unbandaged eye toward the flapping skull. “How…” Her fist clenched. “How could you be such a fool? How could you allow yourself to be infected by the spoiled flesh of Juniperscar?”
She walked further, pulling out one of the shorter blades that was held in her belt sash.
She inhaled, moving the chaotic strands of her bangs behind her ear, then pulling her other hand from her wound to grab at another weapon. “I may never know the truth, Daiki. I may never know if you had been taken by the [Flesh Cursed] or if you chose to consume that which you have fought to understand. Regardless, I will mourn you. We of the Wandering City shall mourn you… Farewell, Captain.”
One moment Toki was there, and the next she was fucking gone. Like really gone. The whitened mist swirled where she once stood as if it were stirred into a tornado, spiraling and dancing in place as it consumed the empty space she left behind. Before I could blink a second time she reappeared in a crouch only feet from where the skull flew overhead, and with a flick of her arms she threw both short blades forward. Gleaming metal blades soared, piercing through one mushroom-filled eye while the other lodged in the open mouth. In a flash she was gone again, leaping and pulling both blades free then vanishing from sight just before the splash of another fireball poured over the skull.
“Fuck yes! Bullseye!” I shouted uselessly from the sidelines like a mimosa-fueled soccer mom.
God damn was I pointless as Hell in my own story.
The shots weren’t enough to completely take out the flying skull, and soon it had unleashed beams once again, narrowly missing Toki as she reappeared beside Ak-Lok, but hitting the Golem off-center and knocking it aside. Another fireball bloomed in its hand, and judging by the slower pace Ak-Lok was summoning them I had guessed it was low on whatever the Mana was we used up for casting our moves. Before the Golem could fire back, literally, an answer to a lingering question decided to present itself with a roar and leap in Ak-Loks direction.
The [Brush Tigers] had made it this far south, and they also had interacted with the [Flesh Cursed] nightmares that roamed this area. Therefore, we had a mushroom-stuffed tiger to deal with just when we finally began to make headway. I cursed to myself again as the clash of pearl shield and axe blade sounded out beside me.
I had to do something. Anything. I checked both of my abilities but neither was off of cooldown just yet. The rose-hips would be free first and second, then I’d have another charge of the sunflower cannon, but that was a long wait when every second of the battle drew more blood and apparently brought more foes. I took a breath in, sucking in the mist and tasting the metallic flavor of my own blood on my berry tongue. What could I do? If this was a puzzle, where was the final piece I was missing?
My interface arose with a thought and I dug through it with the speed of a playful dog digging for a lost bone.
[Level: 4
Current Experience Pool: 702/950
Total Experience: 2163
[Experience Types Earned:
Quest: 0, 0%%
Labor: 0, 0%
Comfort: 0, 0%
Companion: 783, 36.2%
Party: 327, 15.1%
Combat: 1053, 48.7%
Familiar: 0, 0%]
Shit.
I was still a chunk away from my fifth level, and a fraction away from my combat experience threshold for one of the evolutions; though it didn’t really matter since I didn’t own some rare sword. I was so close and somehow it was all so hopeless. If my [Decay] debuff didn’t take me out then apparently it would be ravenous mushroom creatures. I inhaled and exhaled again, telling myself mantras back from my failed AA days to clear my mind and refocus myself. What the fuck was it again… Give me something to accept the things I can’t change… courage to change some other stuff… and wisdom. Whatever, close enough. In and out, slowly, just repeat it Barry. Come on.
Another clang of shield and axe, another ringing of blades on bones, another whoosh of flame. The pat of the tiger’s paws, the great flaps of the bat and crow wings on the skull, the clank of the armored corpse. Let it go, Barry. Let it go and think of what the fuck to do.
Then there was another sound. A creaking. A slow, weak creaking. That was it. That was the solution I needed.
“Ix! Ix-Lok!” I screamed, my voice barely cutting over the orchestral sounds of battle surrounding us. “Damn it, you stone piece of shit! Look over here!”
The Golem with the crown of embedded icey gems sluggishly turned its head to acknowledge me, but it did not speak. That is okay. It could conserve its strength for now; it would need whatever it had left to pull this off.
“Can you get to me? Are you still able to move?”
A nod. Slow, aching, but still a nod. Okay… Okay!
“Okay, listen carefully. I need you to trust me on this. Can you trust me?”
It stared back with a blank expression, as per usual, but it didn’t respond. No nods, no agreement. Beside me I heard the axe knock into Foggy’s armor again, and I looked over to see the big guy gasping for breath between defending the armor’s strikes, new blood gently trickling from a thing cut on his chest plate. I cocked my eyes back towards Ix-Lok, only catching glimpses of it in my peripheral due to my angle.
“Look, I get it. You don’t like me,” I said, trying to answer with whatever Hollywood shtick I could muster. “That’s fine. Don’t like me then. But if you don’t at least listen to me then everyone here is fucking dead. You got that? Fogwarth is dead. I am dead. Ak is very dead. Is that what you want?”
It took a moment, but it faintly shook its head.
“Okay then. Now the trust comes in. Slide your bow to Ak-Lok, it is useless to you and your garden statue of a sibling can’t interrupt the bat skull thing or inflict real damage without one. No time for questions, do it now!”
It peered to its sibling Golem, then back to me. A moment later it laid its bow on the ground, seeming dejected and weary as it did so, then he pushed it just enough to get it a few feet further, where it came to a halt just beside the fire Golem. Ak-Lok did not notice it right away, but it didn’t have to just yet. That was fine because the important part is that at some point it would notice it, and if it had even a pebble in its head it would grab it. I tried to shout at Ak-Lok twice but it was useless as the Golem did its best to fend off the tiger with weak flames while simultaneously keeping watch for errant laser beams.
“Good, Ix. Good. Now, I need you to get to me. Crawl, hobble, pull yourself like a slug. Doesn’t matter. You need to get to me, and grab that black sword on your way. Do you see it in the dirt?”
Ix-Lok groaned but it nodded, managing to stand up on shaky stone legs and carefully dragging itself toward me. I could tell each step was agony, but the Golem pushed on. More mushrooms had begun to sprout from joints in the stone limbs and smaller ones began to show at the entrance of its ears. In that moment I was genuinely worried for Ix-Lok. The mushrooms clearly had some type of hold on the brain, and it seemed that these were making their way there bit by bit. I threw those thoughts from my mind and focused on the mission at hand.
I had worried that Toki would hear me give the order to Ix about the sword. For whatever reasons she didn’t rush over to grab it, but then again she was attacked quickly and now was fully engaged in fierce combat with the head of her former Captain and possible lover. It didn’t totally matter anyway. If we managed to survive I would give the thing back, I only needed it for my last ditch effort to be completely useless.
As that thought left my mind my rose-hip ability came off of cooldown. With the time it was taking Ix-Lok to creep its way over to me I would have time to use it to help one of the others and still use it a second time by the time my plan actually swung into action.
This time I cast it on the armored corpse that had engaged Fogwarth to buy him even a moment to catch his breath. Stems, thorns, all that jazz, sprung up and grabbed the armor, giving Fogwarth a chance to use his charge, which seemed extraordinarily painful with his current open wounds, and he was able to use the weight of his pearl shield to knock the entangled armor off balance and send it onto its back. A moment later Fogwarth got on top of the thing, using the pointed bottom of the shield as a bashing weapon and trying to crack into the armor like a fresh coconut. I could see dents form on the iron carapace, and each hit knocked small spurts of its blood from the puncture wounds we had made earlier. I knew the rose-hip bush wouldn’t last much longer but it did its job and now I just had to hope Foggy could last a little longer.
Ix-Lok bent down to grab the handle of the black sword, stumbling and collapsing as it did so. To my complete shock, the Golem pushed itself back up with shaking arms, the sword gripped tightly in one hand, and got back to its stone stumps of feet. It made its way closer and as it got into better view I could slowly see the mushrooms grow more and more.
Just a little long, Ix-Lok. Just hold out a little bit longer. Please.
“Yes! You got this Ix-Lok!” I screamed as it hovered over me.
“...Here…” It responded, its voice low and rumbling like a dying earthquake.
“Alright. We got this, Ix. This next part is going to be… tough. But again, you need to trust me. Okay?”
It nodded its response.
I took a deep breath and readied myself. “I… I need you to pull me out of this shell. Undo the latches, and get me out of this thing.”
“W-Why…” It groaned back, clearly very aware of how easily my squishy body could be destroyed in this Hellish place.
“Because… Because you won’t be able to lift me, Ix. I can see how much whatever this all is has taken out of you, and if I stay safe and sound in my shell you can’t lift me. If you can’t lift me, then we die. Hell, I’m probably dead either way, but maybe we can save them. Now, get me out of this thing and let’s do this!”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Okay…” It groaned, then lurched down and slowly began to fidget with the locks on the carapace. “But… You owe… me… a favor…”
“What?” I asked, hearing the first latch click open. “A favor? What kind of favor?”
The Golem was silent again, all but the grinding of its stone limbs and joints as its hands crawled like drunk sloths over my armor to disconnect it. It took longer than I expected, leaving Fogwarth back on the defensive as the axe-wielder got unbound and managed to knock him off once again. A moment later the last latch fell open, and the armor shed to either side to reveal my bloodied, blueberry body. There I was, naked and exposed, and ready to die.
I eyed the cooldown on my next rose-hip ability carefully. 24 seconds. 23 seconds.
Moments like this are when I wished I was back in my world. The real world. My problems were hating my job, making it to the end of the day for a drink and a quick meal in front of a piece of shit TV, rallying away the hangover. Worrying if I hadn’t called my mother enough versus worrying I would be eaten by a mushroom tiger. Fearing I’d die alone with a life full of emptiness versus fearing I’d die here, surrounded by weirdos in some farm or orchard. I still had high hopes that this was a dream but… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some enormous doubts at this point.
Focus Barry. Focus unless you want to get berried. Time to preserve life. We need to get out of this jam. Other puns.
“Yes! Awesome work, Ix!” I said, saving its ask for a favor for now. “Okay. Now, stick the handle of that black sword right in my mouth. Come on now, get it in there. Right between the old chompers. Let’s go.”
The golem just stared at me with its blank stone face without even a word, though I could have sworn I saw it shrug after a few moments. Eventually I felt a stone hand placing the handle in my mouth, and I chomped down with my berry teeth, hoping they were as hard as regular teeth.
The handle was solid. Real solid. Clearly cut from the same black of obsidian or onyx that the blade was and fashioned in one solid piece. I was momentarily happy I could actually taste it, regardless of the fact that it tasted like dirt, sweat, and blood. I did my best to keep the sword held right in my mouth while still talking out of the corner like Popeye the Sailor Man.
17 seconds. 16 seconds.
“Okay, you’re doing great, Ix. Hang in there for me. Only one part left.” I gave an animated gulp and then firmed what little resolve I had. “I need you to pick me up, and bring me to the tiger. Can you do that? When we get there I’ll tell you what to do, then we are done. Then you get to rest. Can you do it, Ix?”
Ix-Lok stumbled as it tried to stand, collapsing back down to a knee as a fresh crack formed over its left eye and a single small mushroom cap protruded through. We just looked at one another, each of us trapped in our cycle of uselessness and burning with a desire to help those who fought on our behalf. Fogwarth had been my protector and guardian since the moment we met, and now he was on the verge of a brutal death all because I couldn’t help. At the same time, Ak had done all it could to pull the attention from its sibling, going so far as to take massive blows from the beams just to protect the other Golem.
Ix-Lok reached out, scooping me up and slowly pushing their way to their feet again. I held the sword firm in my mouth, refusing to let it go even as my berry jaw throbbed. I might be a fucking blueberry, I might be worthless here, but I’d be damned if I don’t make a damn fine weapon sometimes.
Ahead of us could see Ak-Lok, and the Golem had retrieved the bow without hesitation, now firing off imbued and unimbued arrows to interrupt the beam casting while simultaneously throwing orbs of fire in between toward the tiger to pin it down. Ak had still caught multiple slashes, but it seemed to be fighting back the pain throughout its back and forth volley.
However, Toki was in a rage. She paid no mind to the tiger’s presence, even when it would lunge at her or even shred the leg of her robe. Instead she was solely focused on the head. She vanished and reappeared less frequently, clearly using up whatever Mana cost it had fairly quickly, but I had also seen a glimpse of her using some kind of shadow cloud ability to offset the beams briefly. Whatever the ability was it must have a high cooldown if I only got to see it once.
Even by just watching these people fight I was slowly learning the way of the world.
7 seconds. 6 seconds.
We moved forward like snails, but we were gaining ground. Ix stumbled multiple times, having to take brief breaks to compose itself enough to continue. I couldn’t imagine what the Golem was going through, but I gained new respect for it all the same. This creature was an absolute warrior through and through.
As the timer clicked down with only 2 seconds left, I looked at my Sunflower. 12 seconds left on it. It was too long. I miscalculated just a bit, this would never work. It all rode on the others surviving the next 12 seconds. Not just them, but Ix. We all needed to survive 12 entire seconds.
“You… you believe you are a worthy opponent for I, Fogwarth, the Flightless Guard?” I heard Foggy shout from behind us as we pushed our way toward the tiger. “You have failed to garner my respect, humble armor. Hear me now! I am Fogwarth! Someday it will be I, the 7th Heir, who carries the weight of this kingdom upon my shoulders!”
Ricochets of metal on pearl rang out one after another. The sounds enveloped us, loud and crackling like gunfire. The ground shook and signaled that Foggy had used some kind of stomp move again, and it made me wince. I had expected one of his stomps to be off cooldown and it needed to happen with the casting of my abilities. Rose-hip popped off of cooldown a half of a second too late, and I heard the sickening crunch of the axe blade carving into Foggy’s armor, followed by the juice-curdling scream of pure agony rip from his lips.
Fuck. Fuck!
“Fogwarth!” I screamed. I felt tears well in my eyes even if they stared daggers at the tiger. “Foggy, hold on!”
Seconds remained on the sunflower, but it would have to do. I wouldn’t let Fogwarth die.
“Face me at Fogwarth!” I shouted. “Hurry!”
Ix collapsed from the strain, but it managed to face me enough toward my Companion that I could cast. I saw the axe then. The armor pulled it out with a sickening slurp, practically wrenching it from Fogwarth’s collarbone. My friend had fallen back to his knees, still bellowing in pain and unable to lift his legendary shield. The armor held the axe firm, thick blood coating the axe blade and leaking off in globs of droplets.
I cast my [Entangling Rose-Hip] and began hoping my Plan D would be the one to work.
“Toki! The body! Go after the body! Quick!” I screamed as the warrior woman slashed and stabbed the skull, weakening it without actually taking it out. “Fast! There isn’t any time!”
She turned to look at me, only offering me a second of her time.
“Go! I can’t hold him much longer!” Even as I screamed it I could hear the armor ripping out from the tangle of the bush, tearing roots and kicking clumps of dangling dirt.
Toki turned to the skull, then to the body, and finally she vanished. I thought I heard her only another second later from behind me, along with the sounds of blades on armor, but I had to ignore it for now. I’ve done what I could, Foggy and the new girl would have to manage for now.
The tiger slashed at Ak-Lok, the golem not even daring to glance in our direction as we approached. It side-stepped the strike, underhand pitching another fireball at it to caution it off right before it pulled back the massive bow string and fired a great arrow to interrupt the next round of lasers.
4 more seconds to go for the sunflower.
We hovered at the rear of the tiger, barely even noticed by the creature as it shook away the flames.
3 seconds.
We were nearly in range now. Ix-Lok walked beside the creature and within the wrap of its stone arms I could feel the tremble of the pain-induced fatigue. It could barely even stand.
2 seconds.
“Are you ready?!,” I blurted out with a mouthful of sword grip.
1 second.
Ix gave me all I had needed then; a simple nod.
I cast the [Sunflower Beam Cannon] instantly, targeting the opposite side of the tiger. The energy burst forward from the yellow flora, catching the predator off-guard while dropping it to the ground in a momentary stun. The window would be narrow, but we would just berry-ly fit.
“Now!”
With all of the strength it could muster, Ix-Lol rose me high in the air like I was baby Simba, and then brought me crashing down over the tiger skull with my sword blade tightly squeezed between my teeth. I felt Ix-Lok’s hands leave me as it collapsed back into the churned earth, landing with an explosive thud. The tiger was motionless below me, and even with my lightweight buoyancy I was falling fast down to the beast with the heavy obsidian blade leading the way.
My eyes were firmly closed. I cringed for a moment, expecting harsh resistance and preparing for the handle to get lodged in my berry throat. But it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen at all.
A splash of cold, sticky blood made it into my mouth and I shuddered at the putrid taste.
The mushroom-infused skull of the creature welcomed the sword blade as if it were on the guest list. The point easily slid through the gnarled flesh and into the brittle bone. I felt it carve open as the sword entered where the brain would be, I stood slicing deep into the central system of the mushrooms. I held onto the blade firm, holding my berry body up just by my teeth alone.
A squirm shivered through the tiger and the red mushrooms faded and died, shriveling and drying until they were nothing at all. Thick, syrupy blood leaked from the wound in dribbles until finally I was hit with the notification I needed.
[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger - Alpha; Flesh Cursed - Level 15. You are awarded 176 experience points]
[Mutagen Contracted: Pantherathropy, tigris-strain. Find a healer to avoid side effects]
I didn’t know what that meant, but I also felt no different and had no debuffs. I’ve now become real familiar with the [Flesh Cursed] mutagen though, and I’ve seen what it did to all of the dead things around here. I’d be sure to find a healer the second we got back to the kingdom. I only let my mind wander for a split second, then I returned to the task at hand.
“Get it, Ak! Don’t waste Mana on fire arrows and shit! Just hit it dead on, throw a fall when you can, and don’t get fucking hit!”
With the tiger down the skull became Ak-Lok’s prime target again and it unleashed two arrows in rapid succession. Both landed with pulverizing force, sending the flapping skull spiraling toward the ground where it barely maintained its flight. A wash of flame coated it as it rose back into the sky, burning more of the decayed flesh and parasitic mushrooms. Ak-Lok readied another arrow and let it fly, this time catching the distracted skull right in the socket of the eye.
Ak-Lok seemed reinvigorated and refocused. The burden of the tiger was gone, its brother was safe from attackers at the moment, and the swordswoman was defending the down and out Fogwarth. The Golem seemed to take the opportunity for what it was and proceeded to burn through all that he had left. It tore through great arrows until the enormous quiver had been tapped out, firing off another two orbs between the hail of shots. Though the flying skull had not taken any direct shots that penetrated into the brain, it still had absorbed enough overall damage that it was beginning to slow down. The wings flapped in awkward motions, the bat wing flapping at twice the speed of the bird wing which had an arrow sticking out of it, and the energy beams fired at cockeyed angles that came nowhere close to hitting Ak-Lok. It fell close to the ground several times and struggled to get back up.
This was it. We had them on the ropes.
“Ak! Take it out!” I called, my jaw feeling like it was on fire as I held the sword grip in my mouth. I couldn’t risk letting it go now. Not when we were so close. “Grab me!”
Ak-Lok looked over, seeing me again and really noticing the sword clutched in my teeth. Arrowless and out of Mana, Ak only had one viable option and that option was Barry.
The Golem rushed me, sliding along the ground and avoiding another stray beam as it did so. It stomped its stone trunk down on the tiger, splattering the corpse juice of the creature as it wrenched the sword and I out of its skull. Ak-Lok held me up, gore dripping from the black blade and covering some of the glowing runes, and it began to charge forward at the flailing skull thing. More beams fired at us, one going wide while the other nearly hit Ak on point but the Golem managed to duck down just enough to avoid taking a face full of hot beams. I growled like a dog with a bone as we got close, eyeing the head as it bobbed and weaved in haphazard patterns.
It was at that moment, only feet away from it, that I got a good look at it. A real look. Unlike the tigers, wolves, boars, snakes, and roaches, this creature was different. It wasn’t a creature at all, or at least it didn't used to be. It was a person. A sentient, intelligent person. A Captain of some kind. But now, staring deeply into the rotting sockets where its eyes had once been, I could see that no spark of that person remained. A logical person would sense their defeat, they would run and escape to survive. This creature? It could barely lift itself off the ground and yet it continued its endless fight against us.
The head descended too close to the ground again, and Ak-Lok loomed over it a moment later, raising me high into the air just as its Golem sibling had before plunging me down.
Obsidian met iron in a brief clash, then obsidian won. The sword bit in deeply, struggling for only a moment against the helmet before slicing through and entering the wet matter where a brain once was. I felt the handle grind against my teeth, felt the pressure of the pommel nearly choke me, but I held firm until the sword pierced through the bottom of the severed head and protruded from the hole where only the flesh of a ragged, rotting neck once was.
[Your party has slain the head of Saito Daiki - Captain of the Wandering City Scout Sect; Flesh Cursed - Level 24. You are awarded 313 experience points]
[You have gained a level. You are now Level 5. You are 1093 experience points from Level 6]
I took a few deep, panting breaths as the notifications came and went. Come on. Come on! My mind swam in agitation and frustration. Had I fucked up? Had I miscalculated again? Shit… shit…
Ak-Lok let go and left me pogoing much in the same way its sibling had, and I watched the Golem run off toward the downed Ix-Lok, picking it up and cradling it close to its chest. It made me a little choked up, but I had to push that down and focus on the problem at hand. What had gone wrong? Was it the sword… I focused on it close enough to bring up the sword’s details, similar to what I had done for the pearl shield or the scythe.
[Obsidian Arming Sword - Rune Etched; Arcane. Type: Short sword. Rarity: Rare. Damage type: 61% Slashing, 21% Piercing, 18% Arcane. Effect: Arcane Rune adds a flat percentage of Arcane damage per strike. Description: Obsidian sword crafted by Saito Daiki. It was carved from one piece of aged obsidian ore from blade to pommel. This weapon has been Rune Etched and may not be Etched any further]
[Would you like to claim the Obsidian Arming Sword - Rune Etched;Arcane?]
What? What the fuck did it mean about claiming it? The fucking thing was in my mouth! Of course I wanted to claim it! I mentally told the system just that, and immediately felt something strange tingle all throughout my berry. I could feel the skin ripple like a breeze brushing a pond, I could feel a new kind of power echo from my seedless pit and surge through my berry juices. It wasn’t as though I had grown more powerful, but more so that I had the option of obtaining power. It’s tough to explain, you just have to trust me on this.
[New Evolutionary Path Unlocked: Calypso Brawler - Tier 1 Evolution. Would you like to accept the evolutionary path? Note: This path will take 9 seconds to complete]
It wasn’t my first choice, but it was my only choice. I briefly scoped the field and hoped there was any way out of this choice. Ak was too concerned over Ik to assist Toki, who was having far more trouble against the body than she had the head. Foggy was still down, the pool of crimson surrounding him like a chalk outline. Shit. There was no way out of it. We needed all the power we could get if we were getting out of this, and I wouldn’t turn my back on Fogwarth now. If there was even a fraction of a chance this could give us an edge then I had to take it for his sake.
With heavy reluctance, and the image of the [Berry Rootling] I had hoped for fading from my mind, I accepted the evolution.
[Warning: Mutagen detected. Evolving prior to curing a mutagen could result in adverse effects. Please seek out a healer. Continue with evolution?]
I gave a mental shrug and said, “fuck it, everyone’s been patiently waiting for this,” then finally continued with the evolution.