Even though nobody had said anything, Abe was starting to get the impression that the sporeking guards were growing suspicious of his wandering about.

He had tried to play it cool over the last couple of days, walking around the highest levels available to him and into any of the open branches. But he often found himself unwelcome, wandering into what were living quarters, and even on the occasion that the doors were unlocked and open, there was an expectation that strangers didn’t just wander in, and on more than a few occasions, he was chewed out and asked to leave. The most interesting part about it was that he had seen several strange dreamer species in these branches, often divided into several boarding rooms where multiple people slept. And it seemed that Old Silveroot held another job in this domain as an international hotel of sorts.

He turned down a corridor that wrapped around the trunk like a tunnel and turned out onto a balcony as he exited. The two sporekings had tried to act inconspicuously, but he could read their energy signals as plain as day and knew they were the same two sporekings that had been following him for 2 days now. Changing the color of their caps' color wouldn’t fool someone like Abe.

They had no doubt sensed something when he used his wight eyes but probably couldn’t make sense of it since they couldn’t sense any deathly energy around here. And a suspiciously acting sporeking probably only confused matters further. Still, even if they didn’t attack him, their presence on his back was annoying. If he was going to have a chance at completing his plan, he’d need some privacy.

Outside, with the wind pelting his face, Abe glanced across the facade of the giant tree and spotted a branch not too far from him. He didn’t want to rely on his deathly abilities again, and in his mushroom form, he had greatly restricted physical attributes and could only jump to the closest branches.

Lowering into a crouch, he shot out and landed on the branch's edge, quickly grabbing at its side to stop himself from sliding off. He would be seen from the balcony if the sporekings arrived before he jumped away and hastily eyed the next platform, not wanting to risk suspicion growing larger.

Jumping up, he took hold of the next branch and used his moment to swing across to the next. Within a moment, he had jumped across several branches and was hidden by the trunk's curvature.

Panting, he cursed his mushroom body in his other form; with the assistance of the tendrils that had once been worms, he could have easily flung himself through the branches.

Pressing his back against the bark, Abe controlled his breathing and meditated to reduce his energy signal. He wasn’t quite where he wanted to be, but it was a good enough place to rest until tomorrow if he had escaped the watchful eye of the suspicious sporekings.

It took a while, and he could sense them searching for hours, but eventually, they gave up, or at least pretended to. It didn’t matter, though; Abe wasn’t planning to stick around. And soon, they would all see him as an enemy anyway.

“I guess it’s time to get this started,” he mouthed, looking up at the branches above.

Through his meditation, he had a pretty good idea of when the ship would be leaving, even without a watch. And departure wasn’t far away.

Ribbons of white flesh sprung forth from across Abe’s body, wrapping around the branches above and flinging him up and into the tree.

Even though he was still in his sporeking form, using the tendrils, which were formed from deathly energy, would alert guards, although they wouldn’t be as strong as an actual living dead in this form, which would hopefully confuse and delay them.

He flew up through the branches, bouncing between them at a speed the mushrooms couldn’t even dream of. He was headed to his next hiding spot, where he could prepare for his assault on the acorns when the ship was about to leave.

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Flinging himself to a higher branch, he surveyed his surroundings again. Even if his presence was weakened, there was a chance the guards would be on the looking for anything strange. At least, it seemed that Old Silveroot didn’t care, couldn’t sense or see him, or saw him as too insignificant to get involved.

As he continued higher into the tree, he spotted sporekings through the foliage standing guard at various points atop branches. They were the first he had seen standing guard outside.

Continuing up, he felt the powerful pulse of energy sources coming from the seeds twist the air above him. Standing in a ring around the distorted air above were two dozen sporekings.

Okay, this complicates things.

Their energy sources were strong. Sporekings were already at the same stage as him, but despite that, most had felt considerably weaker, but not these ones.

Landing on one of the highest branches below the ring of guards, Abe glanced down at the ship. He could reach it from here, swinging himself with his tendrils, and if he timed it right, perhaps he could land on it as it pulled away from the dock. Of course, he had no idea what communication between the domain and the ship was like, and there was no doubt a chance that it would turn around the moment he landed on it. But the alternative was leaving empty-handed, a prospect Abe didn’t want to entertain.

I’m not going to reach the top by ignoring opportunities like this, he reminded himself.

Even though the sporeking guards were at the same stage and held similar power to himself, Abe was fairly certain he could take them out in one-on-one combat. Partly because he could feel his own immunity to the mushroom abilities, thanks to the mushrooms that he had absorbed, and if they used similar techniques, their best attacks would likely have little or no effect on him. And while he was limited in this form, he could revert to his true form if things got bad.

But he had time. If this plan were going to work, he would need to wait until just before the ship was ready to leave.

Moving with incredible care, Abe silently made his way around the branches near the top of the tree, planting down his mycelia. He had been careful at first, worried that planting it on the tree’s branches might alert and awaken the giant tree, but even that seemed not to bother it.

It took hours to plant his mycelium down around the lower branches, but he had to remain slow and stealthy. There was still about an hour before the ship left, and if he acted too soon, it would all fall apart.

Finding himself a particularly concealed spot among the branches, he focused on containing his energy and entering a meditative state. From here, he could sense his mycelia in a heightened state.

The sporeking below had restarted their search for him; he could sense them, no doubt triggered by the use of his tendrils. But the ones above remained still. And if he had to guess why, he would assume that it was because their job was to strictly remain guard of the acorns and leave everything else to the lower guards.

While he meditated, he also found himself growing a closer bond with his mycelia. Like spider webs, they heightened his senses of everything within the area and helped him mentally map out how he was going to steal the seed.

He remained in this semi-conscious state until it was time to launch his attack. The sporekings below would still be searching for him, but as long as he moved quickly, he wasn’t too worried about them.

His eyes shot open as an invigorating breath of air filled his lungs, and a matrix of energy signals glowed brightly in his mind’s eye.

Eyeing the ship below, Abe stood. He could already see the tiny dots of passengers boarding it below and began to count. The heist should only take seconds if planned correctly. He wouldn’t engage the guards but rather move around them and take the treasures under their watchful eyes.

The thought of giving up on the evolutionary brains or whatever mushrooms had by not consuming the sporekings was an annoyance but one he could live with if he got his treasure. Since fighting them wasn’t an option. Even if Old Silveroot didn’t get involved personally, there were far too many of the sporekings for him to deal with them alone.

“Almost,” he mouthed.

Ribbons of white flesh flew out from across his body, taking hold of several branches around him as he watched the crew untie ropes and ready the ship for departure.

He turned his gaze to the barely visible black acorn near the crown of the tree in the distance, and his chest thumped with renewed excitement at the thought of taking hold of the priceless treasure.

As his dreamer energy began to swell, and he took note of the path he would travel, the sporekings of the upper ring began to awaken. They had felt his energy now that he let it flow. But he had no choice; they were too close to hide from unless he kept his energy to a minimum, and that wouldn’t be possible for what he was about to attempt.

“Okay, I guess this is it,” he mouthed as he watched the sporekings straighten from the henched stances; bright green forming in their eyes and glowing, they sent pulses of energy rippling outward as the mushrooms stretched and readied their weapons. They might not know what or who he was, but that didn’t seem to matter. Using his energy near the acorns without explanation was clearly concerning enough as it was.

“They are not happy,” Abe smirked as he flexed his tendrils and narrowed his eyes on the black acorn.