Chapter 9
Drake’s unconscious form was lowered deep into the depths of the dungeon, far deeper than any normal adventurer had gone before, and was event meant to in the first place. Dungeons were kept under exclusive control of the Dungeon Master, the Dryad in this particular case, but given the vast amount of leeway she had given her ‘darling’, Aesir had formed his own area to govern. Far, far below the actual dungeon itself.
“It just keeps going down…” Yami murmured to herself, as she and Drake were continually lowered down into the dungeon. At first, she had expected to simply be given a small hole, away from any nearby monsters that might attack them, but that didn’t seem to be a part of the tree spirit’s plans. At such a depth, it would be well away from the normal paths of the dungeon, and might even be a part of some deeper system of cave or cavern.
“Just where is he taking us…” There was a palpable sense of tension that she just couldn’t shake.
They both kept being drawn further and further into the depths of the earth, until suddenly, Yami broke through the endless darkness of dull earth into what looked like a wide-open area, judging by the small specks of light. It was a faint light, yet warm and comforting all the same. Instead of the unnaturally blue flames in the dungeon above, it glowed with a bluish-green hue that lit up the area around it, although it was too far away to see just what it was.
As the seconds passed, more specks appeared, until eventually, they surrounded her on all sides. Most of all, and more disturbingly, she was beginning to pick up on faint mana signatures. The tell-tale sign that there were certainly some sort of creatures living down in these depths.
“Aesir… just what is down here?” Yami called out tentatively to the tree spirit, still unsure of the spirit’s intentions.
The response came slow, and heavily, as if it required much effort to respond to the simple question. Regardless, Yami received her answer. “The Myconid race… A group of fungal creatures that grow deep under my roots. They are naturally peace-loving, and will be of some help to you to apologize for Manna’s actions… She is meant merely to test newcomers that enter the dungeon, yet… she lost her temper due to the she-elf when she stole a vial the water I collect.” The deep, grinding voice responded with a faint hint of pity hidden deep within.
Manna? Does he mean the Dryad? Also, She-elf? Yami tilted her head to the side, before it suddenly hit her. “Morgan?! She’s the reason behind this!? Aagh!” She couldn’t help but throw a small fit, as more and more signals made themselves aware to her. The Myconid race Aesir mentioned, there were at least a dozen, maybe two at the rate she felt various signals increasing.
“She is of no consequence… She shall merely take the water as a prize if she finishes Manna’s trails… if not… it will be removed from her.” Aesir responded matter of factly.
“Still, I’ll be getting her back next time I see her.” Yami remarked sourly. Ridding her mind of the elf, Yami peered tentatively over the small platform Aesir had used to transport Drake down, only to be met immediately with the sight of this so-called Myconid race, along with an almost enchanting view of the city they had cultivated.
Concerning the Myconid race, simply put, they were mushroom men. They didn’t have a single unifying form, rather, their bodies seemed to twist and overlap, and sometimes grow in random directions. One arm might be decorated heavily with fungal protrusions, or their head might be misshapen to one side by an uneven growth. They weren’t intimidating by any means, rather, they looked to be rather curious by what was being brought down to them.
As for the rest, all along the cavern floor and walls were a wide array of mushrooms, some glowing a low, steady bioluminescence, while others provided a sense of almost artistic beauty, such as the bright blue variety that covered the small underground river with a glowing carpet of mushrooms that flowed through the village. There were others as well, growing almost as thick and tall as a tree, which seemed to provide the species with a respective home to sleep and rest.
“So pretty…” Yami whispered in a low voice, in a completely involuntary manner. All throughout her life, she had never been given any reason to respect a species, but the sheer beauty these creatures seemed to put into creating their environment caught her off guard. Then, just as Yami began to approach the floor of the cavern, the deep voice of Aesir returned again, this time leaving her with a warning.
“Do not harm them in any way… The Draconian will benefit greatly in his task with their help… and they will not attack unless provoked.”
“R-right.” She responded. As long as he gets some help… I don’t mind staying here a little longer. She thought with some excitement.
As the roots transporting Drake arrived on the floor of the cavern, Yami began to hear a short, low grunting sound from each of the mushroom men. They each seemed to be conversing among one another, as one of the roots that had transported her and Drake made its way to one of them. Undoubtedly, Aesir was using it to speak as it did with her. As if reaching a silent agreement, one of them split off from the group, as Yami quickly attempted to establish a connection with the strange race.
“Ahh!!” She recoiled immediately from the connection, as a gigantic force assailed her mind. It wasn’t the mind of a single creature, but one of a much, much larger beast entirely. It was as if there were dozens of minds all connected and working harmoniously. Truthfully, the scale of them was even larger than that of Aesir, a being that she had to be very careful about forming a connection with.
Just what was that? She shook her head, as if to rid herself of the feeling.
The Myconids looked to each other with a sense of caution, as the one who approached Yami let out a fume of spores from a hole in one of his arms. He then slowly made his way down to the ground, before sitting and gesturing her forward, as if to say, “Please, enter the spores.”
Yami frowned, as she placed the meat she picked up from the Displacer Beast’s up above to Drake’s side, before slowly floating over to the cloud it released. As she did, the same massive presence she felt before appeared in her mind, only this time, there was a deep, almost overwhelming feeling of calm as well.
“Spirit. Friend. Injured?” The Myconid spoke to her, as it tilted its head slowly to one side. As it spoke, brief flashes of images appeared, as if to complement the broken speech. Images of what appeared to be an intimidating man, coupled with Drake, and a brief image of his shoulder suddenly appeared in her mind before disappearing. For a species that prized peace, being able to speak with others seemed to be among the most important for them.
Rather than making a connection through mana, the spores itself seemed to be the vector for translation between various races. It was actually very similar to Drake’s own method of forming a crystal and connecting those who he needed to in that way. Rather than needing to understand the language, it acted as a medium for automatic translation between those who were connected.
“A-ah, yes! His name is Drake, and he was seriously injured up above. The tree spirit, Aesir, said you could help him.” Yami said, looking to the various Myconid with a strangely trusting expression.
There was a sudden rustle from the surrounding creatures, which to her ears seemed almost like laughter. Several more separated themselves from the crowd, as they approached Drake as if to inspect him.
“Bad wound. Sealed. Similar mana…” The eyes of the surrounding Myconid seemed to tighten as they glanced to each other. There seemed to be a visible tension as they looked to the crystal that Yami had used to seal Drake’s wound. There was a brief picture that flashed through her mind of a horribly powerful woman who had entered before attempting to wipe out and subjugate the Myconid. She too had deep-red mana, only it seemed to burn away at the Myconid, instead of Drake’s own corrosive effect.
“I… I’m sorry.” Yami shook her head, as tears began to well up in her eyes. The images, they had an intense emotion behind them. Loss, sadness, and an overwhelming feeling of death that pervaded the scene in her mind.
What Yami had expected from the telepathy was simply a method of communication, but to the Myconid, it was something much, much more. Acting as a single unity, they tended to their environment, and melded their minds together in a process that wasn’t wholly dissimilar from being omniscient. Taking in everything at once, and sharing it among the group equally, they each lived as many lives as there were members of the group.
A useful and effective method to be sure. However, those who weren’t apart of the Myconid had to be careful not to be too enraptured by the feeling. It was entirely possible to become so entranced to that feeling of belonging, of ‘oneness’, that you felt you never wanted to leave. Although it was rare at such a point in time, all over the world, more than a few had already fallen prey to such a feeling, and never wanted to leave the Myconid ever again.
“Sovereign. Move. Wounded.” They spoke aloud, but even before they spoke, they were already beginning to move Drake, each of them acting in a completely seamless fashion to Yami’s eyes. Four of them took a position on each of Drake’s side, before lifting him and carrying him with an unnaturally steady walk.
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As Yami watched them seeming to take great care of Drake, she relaxed visibly, thankful that they seemed to differentiate between the person that attacked them and Drake and herself.
“U-um… So, what exactly are you?” Yami made her way up to one of the Myconid that was accompanying the transport for Drake, her arms playfully curled behind her back.
The Myconid she was hovering next to looked to be almost a foot shorter than most, but was undeniably stockier as a result. As Yami asked her question, it merely turned to her, its eyes tightening as if to smile.
“Existence. Peaceful.” It gestured to itself, before directing Yami to its surroundings. Brief flashes of its life came through. Simple tending of the surrounding mushrooms, or taking in the experiences of the others. It seemed that this individual was still fairly young, and wasn’t born when the Myconid were initially attacked.
“Individual. Group. Sovereign.” More images came through. It was looking at a reflection in the water, and pondering on its appearance. Brief images of a large group of Myconid appeared again, before finally, a large grouping of eyes made itself known, as if it were present in every piece of fungi at once, even right now, staring at herself and the small Myconid sprout.
That’s… Her head shot towards the source of vision in the brief vision she was shown, only to be met with a wall of mushrooms. It was just like all the others, perfectly normal, and acting merely as a source of dim-light as they walked through the cavern.
Just too… foreign. Yami initially recoiled from the image. It was simply too alien of a thought process. Unlike herself, who basically had the same emotions as a standard human, these creatures worked off a different basis entirely. A state of being that allowed all to exist within one consciousness, and for that one to exist within all. For a creature such as herself, who prized her individuality, she rejected that basis for living at an instinctual level. Who would want to give up their individuality, to simply live in the emotions and lives of others, after all?
Still, they’re… nice. Not naïve by any means, unlike the smaller Lamia Drake took a liking to. Yami thought to herself with a contemplative smile.
Even with their numbers, they understand they can’t do much. That’s why they live under the protection of Aesir. They can actually grow and thrive under those conditions. The personality of their species is likely the exact reason why the spirit of the tree accepted them under its roots in the first place. She pondered.
“Spirit. Friend. Sovereign.” The Myconid in front of her caught her attention, as it gestured ahead of itself.
Drake’s injured form had been placed in front of an utterly gigantic, twisting pillar of mushroom, rock, and wood. Judging from the appearance, it looked as if one of the gigantic roots from up above had melded with a structure that the Myconid had constructed here. Although for what purpose exactly, she was still unsure.
As for Drake, the Myconid seemed to have taken great care to treat him properly, even going so far as to place him on a small bed of moss to ease his pain somewhat. Just as Yami was about to speak up, and ask one of the surrounding Myconid what they were doing, there was a sudden, almost sickening squelching sound as a large series of eyes opened on the Pillar in front of her.
“Sovereign…” The Myconid called out in unison.
“A-ahh…” Yami floated there, in complete shock at the frightening image in front of her. In contrast to the others, the thing in front of her looked like some sort of eldritch abomination. A horrible mixture of wood, and fungi, combined with wide, peering eyes that seemed to look and pry at her every thought.
“We are pleased to greet you, finally, in a cordial manner.” A sickeningly sweet voice echoed out from the mass in front of her. It reminded her of the few small children that she had heard in Fortress. A voice that was in complete contrast with the terrifying form it held.
“Now, what is it that you desire of us?”
*****
“Why, why, why! Why did you take him from the dungeon, darling? He was the reason I even allowed the others entrance to the dungeon, otherwise I would have never let such a deceitful wench into my domain.” Manna yelled out, pleading for the Aesir tree to return Drake to the dungeon. It wasn’t wrong to say that he was the only one she thought worthy of even gifting her prize for finishing the dungeon, so for Aesir to remove him entirely left her with a deep sense of betrayal.
“You lack the perspective needed for the task, Manna.” The sapling in front of her swayed back and forth purposefully, as if scolding a child. Given their link, communication was much easier for the sapling and despite its small stature, it had already grown a full foot in the day that had passed, proving that it was truly starting to come into its own.
“Tell me, did you know of his true nature? Why he allowed himself to be so badly injured when initially, you were nothing but impressed with his performance against the Hobgoblins? He was hiding his true form, yet you were simply going to allow him to leave at the rate he was progressing through the dungeon, despite his severe injuries. For a being like him to be truly tested, he merely needed a bit more energy.” Aesir mentioned with a peculiar laugh.
Despite the tree spirit’s jovial attitude, his judgement of Manna’s performance was swift and unrelenting, leaving the image of a dignified, proud Dryad in tatters. Met with such a harsh scolding, and left in a vulnerable state, small, pearl-like tears began to slowly run down her face, leaving her looking more like the newly born being she truly was. Despite this, Aesir’s words did not betray any sense of allegiance it held with the Dryad, rather, it carried with it great deal of caring, as if he was scolding his own child.
“You’ve done well, but to be overzealous with our first guests is unbecoming of you. If you had merely waited and allowed me to separate them as they made their way to the next task, you would have been given the opportunity to witness his true power without my intervention. It was a blunder, to be sure.” He said offhandedly, a faint chuckle accompanying his voice as he finished speaking.
Truthfully, Manna had a small amount of control over the creatures that inhabited her dungeon. Nothing so strong as possession, or even overt direction, but a much simpler matter, such as the amount of aggression to display to potential enemies. In a way, the anger she felt from Morgan inadvertently had injured Drake, otherwise the Displacer Beast’s might have easily retreated the moment they felt they couldn’t win.
The sheer tenacity of the beasts that Drake and his group had fought was a strong example of the aggression the Dryad felt towards their group.
“But then… darling, what the elf who stole from you?” Manna’s voice was choked up, clearly hurt from how Morgan had taken advantage of the situation. “Truly, she deserves punishment for defiling your good wishes towards the dungeon-goers, doesn’t she?”
“That matter is simple, dear. If she makes it to the end, make it her prize. Surely, such a vial of my water is of less consequence than the true prize, is it not?” There was an audible laughter that rang throughout the room as Aesir answered the Dryad’s question.
There was a short pause, before Manna acquiesced to the will of the Aesir tree. “Fine then. I’ll go along with what you want, darling.” She answered in a rather cute manner, pouting as she did.
“Don’t worry about our guest, my dear. Simply play with the others, without the strenuous tests you wanted to employ initially. They will train, as you were tasked to do, without endangering them too badly. Honestly, opening up all the differing passageways would have been too difficult if it hadn’t been for our main guest. Two of them aren’t suited for even the base rewards.” There was another audible chuckle as the entire dungeon creaked and groaned, the layout already changing to accommodate the other three who remained inside the dungeon.
“In the end, at such a time, it’s better to merely wait and see what our guests will achieve.” Aesir laughed playfully.
*****
“… and so, the great one guided us to assist your friend with his task, as it will likely take much longer than he anticipated.” A child-like voice stated.
Drake’s eyes fluttered open, as he slowly became accustomed to his new environment, as well as the considerably strange voice he was hearing speak. It was dark, even more so than the dungeon he knew that he passed out in. Despite that, bioluminescent light lit up hit surroundings, leaving the entire environment bathed in a gentle, all-encompassing light.
“Yami…?” He called out weakly, his eyes barely opening as he took in the environment. He had thought that Yami would simply hide him away somewhere in the same room, she was capable of that much. But this…
“Where am I?” He muttered weakly.
“Drake! Drake, you’re alright.” Hearing his voice, Yami quickly landed next to him.
“Listen, I know it doesn’t make much sense, but you need to shift over to your Draconian form.” She stated.
“Fine…” He responded weakly. Drake brought his mind into the deep-red castle in his mind, before connecting himself to the opaque gem there. Feeling his body dissipate, he quickly shifted into the dragon-like form he had grown used to, his cloak and other clothes ripping slightly as his body expanded.
“Truly impressive. The great one was correct in his assessment.” The same child-like voice Drake heard before spoke, leaving him in a confused state.
“Yami, who-”
“Now Drake, don’t freak out, they’re here to help, ok?” Yami warned.
“What do you… Ah!” Drake eyes began to clear as he attempted to stand up weakly, only to fall flat on his back as he stared wide-eyed at the towering figure in front of him. Much like Yami, the multi-eyed pillar of fungi was more than a little frightening, especially to someone who just woke up.
“Ahh…” Drake clutched his shoulder, as he winced from the pain. The wound had closed as soon as he had shifted forms, but the damage had still remained. An unfortunate truth of the matter was that his mist form merely internalized the damage he suffered, weakening his body as a whole. Despite that, transforming sealed the wound completely as if it was never there. A great boon given that he had passed out from blood loss.
“Yami… what the hell is that thing?” Drake asked.
“They’re called Myconids. Don’t worry, they’re completely peaceful.” She responded cheerfully, a mischievous look clear on her face. It was obvious that she was enjoying Drake’s reaction to the Myconids to some extent.
“Right…” Drake answered simply.
“We are pleased to speak with you. The imp has been quite in distress over your condition.” The pillar undulated slightly as the eyes visibly shifted in place, as if it was attempting to get a better look at his new form.
“Yes, quite impressive indeed. Young imp, just what is he?” The mass shifted again, only this time for a cluster of eyes to surround Drake.
“He’s my best friend, and my lifelong partner. To my mind, he has to be one of the only Draconians with demonic magic, and he can shift forms with an ability of his. Besides that, there’s not much to say. He was here with a group of humanoids, and we came here to investigate a strange ruin that ended up as the dungeon above.” She explained in a rather official manner, smiling cheekily as she finished.
“Ooh, young imp, do you mind?” The writhing mass took a rather inquisitive tone, and Yami happily agreed, which seemed somewhat strange given Drake’s natural view of her.
[Yami, what did it mean by that?]
[Hm? Oh, you wouldn’t know, but most of this race speak in what are essentially images and emotions. This one here is their leader, and acts as a ‘hivemind’ of sorts, so it can actually speak in a real language, even if that isn’t the best way to explain it.] She replied in a cheerful manner.
[They just wanted to see the outside, and what I explained to them, so I shared some of my memories with them. While they enjoy their life, it gets rather boring to them sometimes, which is why they seem to place so much effort on making this place so beautiful.]
Drake raised an eyebrow, and shivered slightly as he looked up to the writhing mass of eyes.
Just what have I gotten myself into?