Festers. They're an anomaly. Nobody really knew where they originated from. Maybe it was punishment for humans being at the top of the food chain for so long? Maybe their existence was necessary for the balance of the world? Anyone could make up theories and excuses as to why they existed... But it didn't cover up the fact, that all Festers are inherently evil. However it was their choice to act on their nature, or choose to nurture a better one.

Walking deeper into the Fester nest, Oliver could feel an ominous aura coming from the core. Each step he took, the worse that feeling got. It wasn't just him who felt it, many low ranking investigators who hadn't gotten used to descent energy pressure, began to vomit and faint periodically. It got to the point, where Bianca had to force those who had low tolerance for descent energy to return back to less contaminated areas, in turn dwindling their defences significantly.

"Damnit... Sending newbies out to a mission like this... The hell are they thinking..." Bianca said, as she watched the Investigators leave one by one.

Clenching her fist, she turned back to the group, seeing only a handful of investigators left. She began counting them up, before sighing and crouching down with her head low.

"Argh! I'm the only A tier here!" She exclaimed.

Her comment ruined the group's morale, thinking that she was insinuating that they weren't good enough for the mission. She didn't deny their accusations, however she did tell them to prepare themselves for anything.

"The core will be in Iris park. Just a few kilometres away from here. From the intel I've received, it's highly probable that the Fester we're going to face, is nearing the stage of disaster..."

Hearing the word disaster come out of Bianca's mouth, the group slowly turned their heads to Oliver.

"Looks like I'm popular...." Oliver thought to himself, feeling their gazes stab him like daggers.

While it's true Oliver did defeat a disaster class Fester, he barely managed to do it, and that was with the help of his suit. The gap in strength between a hyper and disaster class Fester, was like comparing a snake to a dragon. Even if the Fester was only "nearing" the stage of a disaster class, that amount of strength would be extremely difficult especially since he couldn't transform in front of so many people.

Oliver breathed a sigh, before pleadingly looking at Bianca.

"Can I go bac-" however his pleas were immediately shut down by a cold straight forward "no".

Oliver curled up into a ball on the spot, rocking himself back and forth to stay calm.

"Are you okay, Oliver..." Tabatha asked, looking down at him with slight pity.

After a short rest, the group finally made their way to iris park. The once beautiful park famous for its lush trees and lakes, now reduced to an overgrown garden of chaos. At the center of it all, a statue wrapped from base to top with vines, and an ominous looking bulb sat atop of it.

Cautiously taking out their attachment units, a few investigators began inspecting the area. There were no signs of the near disaster class threat Bianca mentioned, which brought them immense relief. Obviously, those who were experienced in the field, knew not to trust calmness as a sign of hope. Instead, a cautionary sign.

An exhausted investigator leaned his back against the statue, pulling out a cigarette to smoke.

"Investigator, I think you should get back here... It's no time to relax! We have to stay vigilant" Tabatha said.

The investigator looked at her with a dirty look before slowly walking up towards her.

"Why should I? I haven't gotten a proper rest since we got here ya know? Every time I'm about to relax, you bastards wanna keep going deeper. Well screw off, I need my break too" he said, flicking a lighter.

Burning his cigarette, he took a drag before blowing it into Tabatha's face.

"Fucking newbies.... Learn to respect your elders next time. Maybe you wouldn't have to smell like tar for the whole day then" he said, turning away from her.

Seeing such disrespect right in front of his eyes, Oliver couldn't help but feel enraged. He took a step forward to intervene, however it only made him realise the glares he was recieving from the other investigators. They looked at him like a parasite, ruining the natural order of things. Like it was normal for seniors to bully their juniors. He turned to Bianca in desperation, finding that even she turned away.

"What the hell? Aren't we... Supposed to be a team? Why the hell are they just ignoring Tabatha..." Oliver clenched his fist.

The rude investigator leaned back against the statue, looking proudly at the disheartened Tabatha. Though he would find that his smirk would be wiped up quickly, as Oliver punched him in the face. The investigator fell down, dropping his lit cigarette near one of the many vines.

"What the hell was that for?!" The investigator yelled.

It was strange. Oliver had never acted like this before. He had never punched someone before, for disrespecting others. Usually, he'd just sit aside and let the situation pass so he wouldn't have to bother with the consequences of helping others. However this time, he felt extremely justified in doing it. Like he was supposed to do it. Like his body told him to do it.

Oliver looked down on the man, asking if he seriously thought that he did nothing wrong.

"You blew smoke into my friends face... Then proceeded to look so happy that she was sad... You think you're innocent?" Oliver asked, clenching his fist tightly. A small smirk began creeping up his face.

The man staggered for an answer, however the lit cigarette bud gave him an opportunity to weasel his way out of Oliver's interrogation. The vines burst into flames, caused by the cigarette ashes. The closed bud on top of the statue began to bloom, an eye immerging out from the center. It screeched like a dying cat, as its vines whipped and slammed around to put out the fire. The investigators were flung back due to the force of it's movements, causing them to momentarily stagger.

"S- shit... Should I have... Not done that?" Oliver thought, as he looked at the beast in front of him.

The near disaster class Fester had finally revealed itself to the investigators. Gathering all of its tendrils, it began constructing itself a more stable body. The plant matter began to weave like muscles and fibres on a human body, until it finally resembled a giant hulking beast. The core of the nest itself, the Seeding Fester, had appeared.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The investigators readied their weapons, however the Seeding Fester began showing off it's true power. In almost an instant, two C tier and one B tier investigators heads were cleanly decapitated by the Fester's vines.

As if to taunt the investigators, the Seeding Fester began slowly consuming the investigators heads. As it grinded and chomped on their heads, a squishing sound could be heard. Many Investigators fell to their knees, their morale completely diminishing after such grotesque taunting.

Diminishing their morale wasn't the only reason the Fester ate their heads however. As it swallowed the mixture of brain matter and crushed bones, red veins appeared on it's green chest before slowly spreading across it's entire body.

Lifting it's arms up high, it smashed the ground, causing it to shatter. The impact caused the investigators to be flung back, some further and harder than others.

Luckily for Oliver, his fall was broken by some bushes, thought the pain from being tossed around twice was starting to get to him. Holding his head, he noticed the rude investigator from before near him.

"Great this guy's here..." Oliver thought to himself, grimacing.

When the rude investigator noticed Oliver, he rushed over to him and began gripping his shoulders tightly.

"If you didn't punch me! We could've taken it out while it was sleeping! This is all your fault!" He yelled.

Oliver was stunned for a moment, as he couldn't refute his words. If Oliver just ignored him, nobody would've gotten hurt. However, would it be right for him to just ignore what he did to Tabatha?

"Just shut up! It's no time to blame each other! We have to kill that thing!" Oliver shouted, desperate to stop questioning himself.

The investigator paused for a moment before pushing Oliver away and running. Oliver fell to the ground, hitting his head on a rock. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but the pain was excruciating. He watched the man run away like a coward, all the while he was laying on the ground bloodied and beaten. A weird feeling grew in his heart. He wanted that man to die. More than anything else in the world. It was the first time in his life, that he wanted another human to perish. It sickened him.

Oliver wondered when he started feeling this way? Was it the time he got his driver?

"No... I didn't feel any different even back then".

Was it after being promoted?

"Probably not. Even with an inflated ego, I still felt normal"

So... Was it always there? Was he always this vindictive as a person? Maybe he didn't feel bad because he was becoming a bad person... Maybe it was because he realised that he was already one from the start. The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he felt about himself. And the more he began questioning his decision to becoming a "hero".

With his right ear filling with blood, he couldn't even hear Tabatha calling him from the distance. It was only when she helped pick him up, did he even realise she was there.

"Are you okay?!" Tabatha asked, worried.

Oliver slowly nodded before looking at the ground. He then began apologising to Tabatha, saying that if he didn't punch the investigator from before, nobody would've gotten hurt.

Hearing that, Tabatha's face softened a bit, though she was still on guard.

"It's not your fault... I mean punching him was definitely your fault, but the monster thing isn't. It was bound to wake up sooner or later. And besides that guy deserved it. Honestly I wanted to punch him myself, but I was too scared... So thanks for being my hero" Tabatha said, smiling.

A smile creeped up Oliver's face as he heard that, though he didn't want to admit it.

Hearing the other investigators calling for back up, Oliver tried getting up, but was obviously too injured to stand.

"Stay right there and heal up. I'll deal with it" Tabatha said, picking up her weapon.

He really didn't want to sit down and do nothing, however it couldn't be helped considering his situation. All Oliver could do was sit back and watch as the investigators who hadn't lost their will yet, already began to fight back against the Fester.

Two B tier cadets wielding medium ranged weapons flanked the fester from the side, giving a third investigator time to hit a sneak attack. The plan worked, causing the Fester to momentarily stagger.

It was Bianca's turn next, using a nearby railing as a step to jump up. He pointed her gun at the fester, flicking the burst mode button on the bottom of the magazine. The plates on the gun shifted slightly, as energy began gathering up at the muzzle. Letting it charge up for a few seconds, Bianca pulled the trigger, sending down a large beam of descent energy onto the fester. The kickback she received from the recoil almost damaged her fingers, however thanks to some special medication, she managed to recover quickly.

"Those bastards in the medical ward sure do know how to work huh..." she commented, trying to calm herself down.

Breathing heavily, Bianca watched as the dust settled, revealing the Fester completely unharmed. Shocked by this revelation, she barely had time to react to the tendrils coming her way. The vines grabbed her, ripping her left arm clean off. Bianca screamed bloody marry as the Fester slowly brought over her arm as a snack.

Watching her arm be devoured in front of her, Bianca lost all will to fight. The Fester knew that would happen, hence it's grin spreading from ear to ear. Unfortunately, it's hubris was it's downfall, as Tabatha appeared from behind to save Bianca. Stabbing the Fester vines, it temporarily shifted its attention to Tabatha, causing it to drop Bianca face first into the ground.

The Fester didn't seem to care that the vines were cut, attempting to restore them just like it did before. However, the vines did not restore. Its eyes glared intensely at Tabatha, who was catching her breath.

"You like that? This attachment unit has a herbicide effect. The perfect counter" she explained.

Enraged by her taunting, the fester shot out more vines at her, as if to disprove her explanation. Cutting away the vines using her spear, Tabatha looked over at Bianca who was in no condition to fight. Gripping the handle of her spear tightly, Tabatha rushed over to the Fester, attempting to fend it off herself.

The Fester sent vines towards Tabatha, attempting to restrict her mobility, however she used them to her advantage. Using them as platforms, she jumped from vine to vine before eventually twirling and cutting them all in one motion. The bodily fluid that gushed out of the vines temporarily blinded the Fester's vision, giving Tabatha time to attack one more time.

Getting some footing by landing on its shoulder, Tabatha pierced the Fester's eye with all her strength. The Fester screamed in pain as Tabatha continued to dig it deeper and deeper. Once it was deep enough, Tabatha stood up, raising one leg up and resting it on the bottom of the handle. Pressing the button on the side of the attachment unit, she activated it's burst mode. The plates on the spear shifted, although only barely due to the Fester's flesh getting in the way.

"I'm not done yet!" Tabatha yelled, raising her leg as high up as she can, before smashing it down.

The spear cut cleanly through the Fester, causing it to slowly begin falling. Tabatha crashed into the ground, though she was more happy about killing it than anything. Just as she was about to celebrate, a voice interrupted her.

"Mmm... Tasty nutrients. You investigators just live feeding me don't you?" A voice said, coming out from the Fester's body.

Tabatha quickly turned to face the corpse, only to find the bud form before emerging from the body of vines. The fester reoriented itself, now its bloomed flower resembling a hat on its long lanky grey body. The vines from before formed a dress as the Fester grabbed the spear that once pierced it. It grinned a sharp smile as it pointed the weapon at Tabatha.

"H- how....?" Tabatha asked, dejected.

The Fester laughed, before gesturing to the attachment unit in its hand. The aura of descent energy surrounding the weapon had completely disappeared, which shouldn't happen after using only one burst hit.

"Plants need sunlight to grow you know... And Festers are no different. It's just instead of sunlight... We need descent energy" it explained.

Tabatha's pupils dilated, realising the implications of what the Fester mentioned. She clenched her fist tightly, as she grit her teeth.

"No wonder that attack did nothing to you... You've just been eating it up like a buffet..." Tabatha said, her hands shaking.

The fester laughed before raising the spear high up. It tilted its head slightly, almost as if it pittied Tabatha.

"Since you gave me such a delicious meal... I'll make your death painless!" It said before swiftly bringing the spear down.

Tabatha closed her eyes, not wanting to accept death.

Fortunately for her, death wouldn't come just yet. Hearing the sound of grunting, she looked up to see a bloody Oliver blocking the spear with his dagger. Seeing such stubborn voracity coming from Oliver, it staggered for a moment, giving Oliver time to counter attack. He slashed the Fester's chest, causing it to stumble back. Oliver quickly took both Bianca and Tabatha as far as possible, as the Fester began recovering.

"We should be safe for a bit... Even a shallow wound would hurt coming from this thing..." Oliver said, observing his dagger.

He looked at the two women, who had lost all light in their eyes. He tried snapping them out of their trance, but they were too far gone for someone like him to help. All he could do, was feed them some medicine and hide them away. Clenching his fists, he punched a nearby tree.

"Damnit... It's all my fault... If I had just gotten... No" Oliver stopped himself, looking at the fester with determination.

"I'm not just gonna blame myself and run away... Even if it is my fault... I'll take on the responsibility... And bring this bastard down" Oliver thought, his grip on his attachment unit becoming tighter.

With his focus now on the fester, he noticed the wincing expression it was making. The cut he made had fully healed, so what was causing it pain?

"Don't tell me..." Oliver paused for a moment before hitting the tree again.

It was faint, but the Fester's face showed discomfort after he punched the tree. Seeing such an opportunity, Oliver smiled.