The Mushroom Spider took him to a familiar cave, it was the same one where he first encountered the Worm and where he planted [Myconid Matriarch Spore]. The cave has changed since then, it was full of mushrooms in various shapes and sizes. And the myconids were definitely back, little mushroom people were darting in between normal mushrooms.

“Are they hostile?” He asked the Mushroom Spider.

“No. Come.” The spider urged.

They went in deeper, the little myconids were peeking at him shyly from the mushroom cover. The cave was overgrown so he did his best not to step on anything that seemed important. At the spot where he planted the spore, he found a familiar spider. The spider was staring at the tall and all grownup mushroom, it was vaguely human-like with stubby arms and even a set of eyes and a mouth, however, the human features were still underdeveloped.

“Thou must be the King of Spiders and the one who planted me. I thank thee for that.” The mushroom bent its stalk to bow in gratitude.

He never expected the spore he planted to grow anything intelligent. It was just a spore! But here it was speaking to him.

“Ah, a Mushroom Matriarch I presume.” He also bowed.

“Thine servant told me about thou.” The Matriarch looked directly into his eyes. “Will you help us with our problem?”

They just met and this talking fungus was already trying to give him a quest. “What is it?” He asked curious.

“King, thine vassals, the Drow, come to this cave, they take my children away.” The Matriarch looked at shy myconids hiding around the fungi tree. “What can I do to end this injustice?”

The Drow were likely putting the mushroom people into soup. And he might or might not have tried that soup; it was a delicious soup! “I see…” He paused to think this through.

Animals ate plants, animals ate animals, people ate animals, and some people ate other people too – that was just how nature worked; a hierarchy of suffering. Was he really the one to deny the Drow their food?

“Well, the Drow need to eat… But not all mushrooms are intelligent are they?”

“No, only my dear children. But even then… I know what thy are thinking King, they aren’t more intelligent than an animal. But with time their minds can develop.”

He started to feel bad. He never thought that myconids were anything more than mere monsters.

The Matriarch used the silence to press her plea “They’re very precious to me and I would do anything to save my children. If it needs to be we’ll serve thy, our King, in bondage forever. Please save us from the soup of death.”

“Okay, I’ll just tell the Drow to look at what they pick. But they still need normal mushrooms, can you like grow them or something?”

“Doth King tries to say that we ought to fill the Drow bellies with simple fungus so that they won’t prey on my children?” The Matriarch tried to read his expression. “That won’t be a problem, we’re experts at Fungal Magic. But I fear they have developed the taste for other’s suffering.”

“Yeah, you see, they just need food, and mushrooms are easy to grow and pick. This place here, this is their mushroom farm. Well, it used to be Lamia mushroom farm but it doesn’t matter. I’ll speak with them, as long as there is mushroom supply there won’t be a problem. But Fungal Magic, tell me more about it.” He was curious.

He continued speaking with the myconid mother. The Fungal Magic was just a branch of nature magic, the myconids specialised in producing spores with various effects, growing fungal plants and turning the cave stone into fertile soil. In other words, they were perfect farmers for cave crops. The Myconid Matriarch was able to produce [Red Spores] and isolated spores of that mixture like [Illusion Spores], but most importantly it could make [Healing Spores]; all wonderful things to mix into potions or make grenades. Unfortunately, the Matriarch could only produce so many spores at a time, he received only a pouch of each as a sample. But with time he was assured that the quantities will be increased.

“Your abilities are very useful, Matriarch. I’ll make sure your children are safe and I’m interested in seeing your people grow. Is there anything you need to prosper?”

“The spiders thy left here would sometimes bring the leaves and other plant refuse from the outside. We need more of that to make good soil and grow the mushrooms.”

“No problem at all, there is a whole useless jungle just outside, but I will bring some TomGrape too. We found it to be good fertiliser.”

Hence so he will be trading with the mushroom people. Useless plant cuttings for precious spores, plus the mushroom farms will now be managed by them, the Drow won’t even be able to complain about it. He told the spiders to call more friends to protect this cavern, the Drow weren’t the only predators here.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

…

Back at home, in the endless field of blue bell flowers and just above the cloud of fine blue mist he was slurping out of the cup filled with Slug Jelly, it was freshly milked straight out of the Johny, the slug who kept providing. The slug had grown very large, an elephant large, with an equal appetite. And so far he was the only one who could milk Johny. The Slug was temperamental and refused to be approached by anyone else. However, it was a good thing. His monopoly on the jelly was secure, no naughty lamia could sneak up and steal some supplies.

But that was beside the point because Johny could speak, yes the slug was sapient.

“Please Have More.” It capitalised every word, it’s just a way it spoke.

“No, I can’t. There are roughly ten thousand spiders on my farm; they all deserve a share.” He swirled the liquefied jelly in his cup so that it didn't harden. “Today ten thousand, next month…” It was time for spiders to lay eggs and he struggled to wrap his mind around the numbers.

“You’ll Be Alright. The Farm Is Ever Expanding. Here Have Some More.” Johny squirted some fresh jelly right into his cup.

“Thanks man. You always put me at ease.” He was very glad that he had Evolved the seemingly useless pet slug, now he felt that he had a true friend.

“You Can Do Magic Now, Yes?” This was just a way for Johny to ask for him to show some magic tricks; Johny was fully aware that he was a mage for a while.

“Yeah, look at this one.” He used a scroll to produce a red arrow and shoot it into the air like a rocket.

Johny jiggled the fat slug body in happiness. “Again, Again.”

“Mmm, I had to use Fire Spirit Stone to make that one… Maybe something cheaper.” He fired a green arrow and then a yellow one.

“Marvelous!” Johny looked in awe.

“If only my spiders knew how to cast spells.”

“Why Don’t You Evolve Them?”

“Well…” The more complex thing he tried to evolve the bigger the backlash was. That’s why he limited it mostly to plants, but even then “I might die…”

“You Can’t Die!” The slug shook its body in protest.

“Your right…” he thought on it. “If I die I’ll be resurrected.” He remembered. “Plus, I have that blessing the strange entity gave me, Chaos Blessed.” It was chaotic but the outcome never has been bad. “You know what, I’m willing to give it a go.” He finished slurping the jelly and was ready to look for a volunteer, but…

[Farming +25000exp]. This meant that the spider eggs just hatched.

[Congratulations! You now have over 10 000 spiders]

[Requirements have been met. Hidden Evolution unlocked.]

“Guh!” He choked on the jelly out of surprise. “Can humans even evolve?”

[Do you want to Evolve?] – The message asked.

“Eh? Into what?”

The messages were silent.

“Tell me. System!!!”

[Do you want to Evolve?] – It repeated.

Well, this was once in a lifetime chance, and it must be some sort of an upgrade so... “Okay. Hit me.”

[Evolution] – The message printed into his vision and mind.

“I don’t feel any different. Do I look any different?”

Johny looked him over. “No?”

“Hmm…” And then it hit. It felt like there was a tornado in his stomach trying to rip him apart. “Oh boy!” Everything hurt and he felt an irresistible urge to take his clothes off. He ripped the cloth off his body like a savage brute. “Ahh!” he roared.

His left hand, the one with black veins, the one he used to channel Dark Magic, it began to change. His fingertips grew claw-like nails. The veins thickened further turning purple and the skin took a shade of dark grey. Those veins, he had them then activated the Dark Essence, at that time they stopped by the shoulder, but now they grew all the way to his chest reaching his heart. It felt like his heart exploded, it probably did because there was a sound of ribs breaking. He collapsed to the ground struggling to take even a single breath. This was the worst pain he has ever felt.

The pain lessened, and the ribs clicked again mending themselves. However, his head began to hurt. He felt like there was a hammer hitting him from the sides. He grasped it with his normal, non-clawed hand. He could feel tiny horns growing from his temples. He regained the lost breath and just screamed “Fuuuu…” but the change wasn’t over. Muscles bulged all over his body. He felt strength leaving him again and he collapsed face-first to the ground. blackness filled his vision.

…

The pain was gone, actually, he felt amazing, he felt like he could push the mountains. He found himself resting on the squishy slug flesh, a transparent tentacle was patting his dishevelled hair.

“You’re Awake. Want More Jelly?” Johny asked expectantly.

He didn’t care about that, he felt different from his usual self. “What am I?” He asked philosophically.

[Congratulations! You have evolved into Monster King] – the message screamed into his head.

“Fuuuu…!” He roared again.

It sounded awfully close to the Demon Lord his friends would mention now and then.

“A Monster King, eh?” He checked his body again.

His left hand no longer looked human, it was clawed and more muscular than the right, and the skin was permanently dark grey, not to mention all the bulky purple veins. On the left side of his chest, there was a massive scar, the purple veins flowed right towards his heart was. On the sides of his temples, there were two dark obsidian horns, they were little, no bigger than a thumb. The rest of him, at least on the outside, seemed to remain mostly human.

“I do feel stronger. I feel as though I have more magic power.” He voiced his feelings.

“Good, Your Evolution Went Well.” Johny patted his shoulder with a tentacle.

“This is not what I signed up for, but this doesn’t feel bad at all.”

He felt like putting his ‘improved’ body to a test.