Mycelium stretched in the fungal approximation of the motion. Little filaments extended outward before beginning to go through the feeding cycle that all fungi go through. It was thus that Razum’s first experience of his Sapient life was one of hunger and confusion. He knew he was different than he had been before, memories flickering through his mind. They were simple memories as he’d had no recognition of himself as a being. His memories were all stimuli of various kinds, diverse and…not all his.
He explored that for a moment and found a host of hazy personas surrounding him, each one of a similar base nature as him. He, however, was something more as his father had promised. A fiery feeling began to grow within him, shaping his nascent Spark in ways he couldn’t really understand. The results were felt, however. The fire grew, drawing in a brand new substance that grew in strength. It felt like liquid light, glorious and alive. The light shifted in nature transforming into something else.
As if reacting to the substance, the Awakened shroom felt his Mycelium Nexus absorb this new substance and become something more itself. He did not know it but his Nexus absorbed the new Mind Affinitied Aether to form what a magician would call a Mental Matrix. A more simple man might have called it a magical brain and left it at that. With the Mental Matrix in place, the System now had a place to display itself and Razum had his first experience of a System message.
Congratulations on your Awakening!
Welcome to the System, Sapient!
As an organism that has been ritually Awakened by another Sapient entity, you have become a brand new race upon the face of Aldem. Your former Level of 139 has been consumed to fuel your transformation. As such your Rank of S(28) has been reduced to F(1). That Potential has not been lost but rather transformed. Due to your old Rank, the System has seen fit to grant you Titles and Boons in association with its own prerogatives and the Maker’s commands. Please utilize your System Status to see the various Titles and Boons that have been granted. To utilize your System privileges all you must do is mentally proclaim “Status” and you will be granted access.
Congratulations Sapient and welcome to the world of Alinor!
“Hello Razum. You will find a few extra perks among what the System has given you. See them as your Father’s reward for a successful first try. He will know what I mean. They should help you get mobile to meet him faster.”
- The Administrator
Razum had to read the notifications multiple times to understand what they meant. His “brain” rapidly grew in power as the aftereffects of Awakening stabilized. He flexed his mental capabilities and found them to expand and contract in interesting ways that were nonetheless natural. He reached out and found that his mind could expand through his mycelium to reach the other fungi he was connected to. When touching those filaments he received back more of those hazy needs that he remembered from before.
He withdrew and consolidated his mind and found his faculties accelerating. The closer to his main fruiting body he drew it the quicker his mind processed the information nearby. It was in this hyperfocus that he realized what his next move should be. Shoving outward with his mind he thought of the word “Status” and found blazing words running across his vision.
Razum
Race:
Overmind Sporecap (Awakened)
Chosen Name:
None
Bond:
Dug Shardaal (Blood Covenant)
Class:
Unchosen*
Rank: F(1)*
Level: 0*
Experience: 0/200*
Main Attributes
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Strength: 4 (F)
Dexterity: 3 (F)
Constitution: 20 (E - Tempered [Copper])
Intelligence: 28 (E - Tempered [Copper])
Wisdom: 16 (F)
Charisma: 17 (F)
Spark: 6 (F)
Razum now knew his name, though he had no tongue to speak it to himself. The meaning however flickered into his mind immediately. Mind, intellect, reason, understanding. All of these were viable interpretations and he latched onto them even as he looked over his Status. There was sense of diminishment that he instinctually felt when looking at his attributes. He felt as though he should be more, that he had been more before Awakening. As if to answer his question the System provided a message.
Congratulations on your Awakening!
Welcome to the System, Sapient!
As an organism that has been ritually Awakened by another Sapient entity, you have become a brand new race upon the face of Aldem. Your former Level of 139 has been consumed to fuel your transformation. As such your Rank of S(28) has been reduced to F(1). That Potential has not been lost but rather transformed. Due to your old Rank, the System has seen fit to grant you Titles and Boons in association with its own prerogatives and the Maker’s commands. Please utilize your System Status to see the various Titles and Boons that have been granted. To utilize your System privileges all you must do is mentally proclaim “Status” and you will be granted access.
Congratulations Sapient and welcome to the world of Alinor!
“Hello Razum. You will find a few extra perks among what the System has given you. See them as your Father’s reward for a successful first try. He will know what I mean. They should help you get mobile to meet him faster.”
- The Administrator
And it was the same as the first one he had received. This time though he had the brain power to recognize its meaning. He latched onto the central message and understood. He was diminished and yet he wasn’t. He had been gifted things in exchange for his previous unawakened existence. A strange feeling welled up in him, a sense of anticipation that left him weirdly jittery. He had no words to explain the feeling but he knew instinctively how to check.
Show Me. His simple projected thought was nonetheless interpreted by the System rightly and he found his Status expanding to include a new section.
Titles
Father of Monsters (New - Maker’s Decree)
Progenitor (New)
Boons
Divergent Overmind (Upgraded from Overmind)
Nutrient Synthesis
Spore Generation
Durable Fruiting Body
Sensory Mycelium
Mindbender
Experienced Potential (New - System Granted)
Hive Lord (New - System Granted)
Sporecap Locomotion (New - System Granted)
Malleable Sporecap (New - System Granted)
There was a lot to take in. The meanings of those Titles and Boons flooded into his mind and Razum staggered from the weight of it. He frantically pushed them to the side for the moment but his thoughts latched onto the last two. He was going to be sure to read the descriptions in detail later but for now, the basic meaning supplied by the System was enough. His main fruiting body shivered before forming a rough, though grotesque, caricature of a humanoid frame.
Small stout stalks raised the mushroom higher and much longer arms grew from the top until they almost reached its stalk-legs. It wobbled for a moment as it adjusted before the rough approximation of a face formed in the main stalk right under the cap. This was done almost subconsciously as Razum did not have the same senses as a normal humanoid. It was rough in the way an amateur ceramist might work with clay.
Finished, the body began a shuffling gait through the garden. It traveled in straight lines, often using its arms to maintain balance. To Razum piloting the body was a strange sensation. It was him and yet it was not. It required access to his mycelium network for him to move it which had it moving in weird ways to follow the circuitous path his mycelium cut through the garden. In an instinctual way, he knew he was doing things inefficiently but he also knew it would require him to sift through System messages to figure it out.
Instead, he plodded along, searching for something. It was only when he caught sight of a figure in the distance that he realized he had been searching for a someone. The figure was small and green though still larger than Razum’s Sporecap. In his hand was a staff of wood with a vibrant green gem situated on top that gleamed with power. He was familiar in a way that made Razum ache. It was a good ache, a longing he didn’t know he’d had.
The figure turned at some unseen prompting and Razum came face to face with his creator and father. He tried to speak but his new mouth could only make harsh sounds. With a warm chuckle, his father approached and laid his hand on the top of the Sporecap. The familiar gesture sent warmth shooting through Razum even as his father’s voice echoed in his newly Awakened mind.
Yousa ‘wake now Razum? Dis beez good. My name beez Dug. Dug Shardaal. And yousa my son. Weesa ‘ave a lot to talk about.