I wake up and am immediately greeted by inky blackness. Not sure why I should be surprised. I've never seen anything before so I don't know why I would be able to now but it's weird to know there is stuff outside of myself but not know what things look like. I sneeze or puff it's like my whole body shakes for a minute like I had to shake off a bunch of dust but I do not exactly know why I would be dusty.
Wow! I can see things or feel the things close to me I guess it's like there is a wave of awareness floating around me. Was that what the dust was? I do another little shiver thing. Once again I get a little wave of awareness to spread out showing me even more. I can see rocks, and a pool of water, and … moss. Alright well, the ground is rock and there's a lot of rock so I'm guessing I'm in a cave wait what is a cave? Or rocks for that matter?
All around me, there's a sound followed by a sparkling mist, and an idea is pushed to my attention like I suddenly remembered something I had been doing just moments ago.
Ding
You Have learned Dundar Standard Language
Without further ado, my mind was filled with all sorts of strange images and ideas. Well, this is fun do I get more the more I push out my spores, ooo fun new word. Oh, do I know the word for what I am? I push out yet more spores though these go a much shorter distance. The name of the shape my little cloud follows is a Mushroom so I will call myself Mr. Mushroom for now as that seems to be how names work.
Ding
You Have Depleted Your Spores Reserve
You Have Gained The Title Explorer
Your Spores Reserve Has Increased
A flow of energy passes over me and I shudder with excitement so much seems possible. I push my spores out even further and this time rather than floating lazily around me and getting pushed about by the slight breeze they drift outwards. They drift getting far further from me than ever before. They reach the nose of a rat ahh yes I thought there might be creatures here with me. As soon as the spores reach the rat's nose it sniffs in hard then sneezes seeming to stumble slightly. As It stumbles it seems to realize something and runs about a foot before falling on its side writhing and coughing. Aww, am I really that stinky? Well, l guess I won't be making friends that way.
Ding
You Have Killed: Rat
You Have absorbed the life essence of: Rat
Choose:
Drain, Absorb Trait
I do not know what either means but drain gives me the feeling of a dried empty rat skeleton devoid of energy. Absorb Trait either feels like me with little legs or covered in fur neither feels like me I'm pretty sure those legs couldn't even lift me anyway. Either way, Drain it is. As soon as I choose it I feel my perception shift my spores can be released from a much bigger area now.
Ding
You Have Grown In Size
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Spore Reserve has Increased
Spore Lethality Increased
New Trait Spore Transfer Rate
Alright sorry about that mr rat guess I have smells that can kill. Well Let me first say that was an accident and also that technically I am not at fault you know since I can't move so yeah you walked into my spore cloud bucko so no takebacks on what happened. Also thank you for the … life essence. It is very much worth a little bit of light manslaughter and greatly appreciated for the bodybuilding possibilities.
I continue in this way for what I believe is one day but I may be wrong there isn't sun or light or anything down here so there isn't exactly a way to tell but I poison and drain five more rats in that time and got a new trait too which has made things a lot easier.
Ding
New Trait Blind Sense
It makes it so I don't have to keep pushing off wave after wave of spores to see around and isn't quite as specific in what it shows but it does save me a lot of spores. It lets me know if anything moves within about ten feet of me then I just shoot that thing (Usually a rat) with some spores and boom! Free life essence.
It's now that I see a new creature enter the grotto as I have decided to call it. I believe they are called centipedes but these seem like a large variety. They skitter along the walls eating bits of moss and one even spots a rat or senses it and goes and kills it pretty quickly they certainly seem to enjoy eating it. They go to it and eat though rather than drain its life essence though maybe that's a mushroom thing. Pretty cool. The centipedes give me an idea I know I'm currently holding onto the ground with roots and that those roots look a lot like the legs of the centipedes so I wonder if I can walk like they do too. I attempt to pull up on my roots but they don't seem to move like the centipede does I can shoot out little spikes of root perhaps like the biting jaws of the centipede. But they do not want to come out to move me.
Ding
New Trait Poison Roots
Well, that makes it official. I look to try and shoot my roots out at different ranges and find the maximum seems to be roughly the same as my blind sense at roughly ten feet. Maybe if I can see further I can attack there too! I realize something. If the rat kill gave me the option to absorb its legs I wonder if I could do the same with the centipede. I shoot a deluge of spores towards either side of the closest of the centipedes and it does exactly what I hope. It dives forward to escape the clouds only to be skewered by a root.
Ding
You Have Killed Terra-pede
You have absorbed the life essence of: Terra-pede
Choose:
Drain, Absorb Trait
I absorb traits and find just as expected there is the option to absorb its legs.
Ding
New Trait Multi Appendage
When I try to focus on the trait I find something I have not with my inherent traits or the ones gained by doing something. Multi Appendenge lets me choose to make up to ten appendages across my body though it does warn me to be careful as though appendages can grow more specialized they are permanent. I decide to stick with four like the rats have but as I like my cap up and stalk straight I put them each on one of the four directions off the bottom of my stalk. As soon as I do four lumps appear on my lower stalk with little bars above them. I sit for a moment but the bars do not progress and neither do the lumps turn into actual legs.
Annoyed I draw my attention back to the swarm of centipedes. They do not appear to be aggressive towards me but that transfer trait is certainly doing its job. About four of the centipedes that walked by the one I killed have gained a few stacks of my spore and poison afflictions. As I watch the afflictions even gain another stack. Well, no reason to wait. I target each one to lay on more spores and one even grows a little me which gives me a sudden headache as my vision doubles to encompass the mini me too. That is certainly interesting. I get more accustomed to the feeling and he even sticks around as the centipede is laid dead by my power.
Ding
You Have Killed: Terra-pede
You have absorbed the life essence of: Terra-pede
Choose…
New Trait Mycelium Mentor
Very interesting indeed. It seems that I needed life essence to build my legs they have each spread into small moveable limbs. They look a lot like my stalk but the ends are already taking on a sorta diverging root look. Either way with the other three centipedes' life essence funneling into them they should be done soon. Nevertheless what truly has my attention is the Mycelium Mentor. This funky little trait allows me to have “Scions” which are other mushrooms I've either assimilated or spawned myself. Kinda cool to think I could have a land force of mini-me just like my clouds of spores.
To hopefully build to that I have concentrated a bit of energy on letting a few passing beasts die to my spores but not drain their essence which seems to make them perfect for growing mini-me.