In the 24 hours I was incapacitated, I got to know the funny little monkey kid. Her name was Lia, and she was two years old. Her favorite words were ‘climb,’ and ‘eyes,’ and often scampered onto the stone I was laying on and pointed at my eyes. She was learning her colors and knew what the word ‘stink’ meant. I realized that when she entered the room by herself late at night, pointed at me like a creepy little demon, and said, “Stink!”
She was also a MAS user. My ability to speak finally returned to me after a good amount of my debuffs timed out, allowing me to ask Makiel about it.
“Oh, that MAS she’s using is mine. Before we were saved at the gas station by those blue angels, I rescued her from a group of Taboo Gluttons. I had it as a spare from my parents, who work on them for a living. I didn’t think she was going to make it if I didn’t give her an edge, so here we are.”
From other parts of her story, I was able to gather that Makiel, Lia, and I were close to one another at the truck stop as the area was swarmed by a small battalion of Mangle and their Manglet entourage. When everything looked hopeless, a wave of blue angels swarmed in, grabbing as many people as they could. Since we were in the same spot, the angel that was near picked us all up and took us to this cave. She said the angel flew quickly for about two hours before setting us down.
Apparently, when we first got here, this cave was just a normal desert cave with tons of dust, no water, and no sulfuric smell. Some time after the angel left and I was laid to rest in my cave room, the whole world started sprouting plants and animals that were not native to the area. She even said that there were some things further out there that didn’t look like they were from Earth at all.
I tried to piece together what could be happening, but my efforts to use logic were thwarted by desires to do anything other than think. When I was finally able to move around, I met Makiel in the main room of the cavern and had my fortune told by Atom, Makiel’s totem, again. I wanted to know where my brothers were and if they were alive.
“The stars deny the grave only if the woman awakes. Further information is denied. Fortune exceeds the 70% accuracy limit.”
I had no idea what that meant, but, reading in between the lines, I came to the conclusion that they were still kicking. A wave of relief flowed through me.
“You’ve done nothing but talk about your brothers since you could form words again,” Makiel growled, annoyed. “Sounds like you’ve got attachment issues.”
I winced at the comment. There was truth there, but there was no way I was acknowledging it to a stranger.
“No, wouldn’t you be worried if one of the members of your family went missing?” I questioned.
She looked me straight in the eyes and, with the most normal voice said, “Nope. Those suckers can die out there.”
I held her gaze for a few moments, waiting to hear a punchline or something. It didn't come.
“Well… besides you. I’m pretty sure most people would want, very badly, to look for their family. Right, Lia?” I said, looking at the monkey baby that hung from a vine at the top of the cave. She pursed her lips together and started making fart noises. “See, she agrees with me,” I quickly proclaimed before Makiel could say anything.
“Well, yeah, that's obvious. But you do it like you’ll die if you don’t get back to them. Exhibit A!” Makiel pointed to a diagram I had drawn on the wall with some mud. It read ‘Operation Ditch-These-Idiots-and-Get-to-My-Brothers.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was a joke! Come on. Even Lia got it, and I’m pretty sure she has brain damage.” It was not a joke. The second I woke up, I had started mapping out ways to leave these two and safely locate my brothers. I dropped that plan when Makiel told me there were monsters out there worse than Manglets. Now, my plan was to get them to come with me. Again, I wasn't going to admit it.
Lia then fell from the ceiling. Makiel caught her. The baby had fallen asleep hanging on the vine.
“We really need to teach that kid how to sleep on the ground,” I mumbled, changing the subject from my ingenious plans.
We spent the rest of that morning gathering sticks to make a fire and looking for something to eat. Most of what I had in my bags were the miscellaneous and medical stuff Kyle and I had picked up from the first house. The majority of the food was on him. I vaguely remember him trying to convince me to switch some heavy items for food, so it was spread evenly among us, but I declined, wanting to show off my excellent muscles.
The words ‘fat idiot,’ rang in my head. Stupid Sai. I’m not fat–I’m big boned, I muttered to myself.
Exiting the cave to find food was astounding, to say the least. When Makiel said things had changed out here, she meant it. Instead of the vast, dead desert, I was met by a veritable jungle: trees, whose roots twisted and dug deep in the earth as if they've grown there forever; wildlife, like snakes, boars, and giant lizards marched around as if they had always done so; and rain, falling from the sky in quantities this place had never before seen. I was floored.
"Yeah, things out here sure are nuts. But it's kinda good for us! Tons of animals and plants mean there are tons of things to eat," Makiel commented, as I stood there in awe.
She started pushing into the bush. I followed behind her. She looked back at me. “You know, we collect more food when we go separate directions, right?”
“I know that,” I replied. I did know that, and the plan we had come up with in the cave was to do just that. Why was I following her? The thoughts were jumping around in my head as Makiel began her trek again. Something in my stomach felt wrong as she inched away. I stepped towards her.
“Dude! Go that way!” Makiel said, pointing the opposite direction of where we were going.
My mind turned away from the feeling in my stomach. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me,” I stated, in a kind of daze. I then turned and began walking away from her. It took all my willpower not to turn around and see where she was going. What is wrong with me? I thought.
My stomach growled. I checked my stat sheet and found that the hungry and thirsty debuffs had yet to return. I was relieved, but I probably didn’t have long before those stat-killers popped up. I wasn't going to solve my problem if I was dying of starvation. So I started to look for food.
As I walked the jungle engulfed me. To my right, I heard the beating wings of insects, sounding almost like a weed wacker. I avoided that area. Let no one tell you that insects aren’t scary; those creepy little 20-legged monstrosities would eat you alive if they could. I continued on till I heard leaves shuffling up ahead. I ducked into the nearest bush. I was thankful I had done so when an iguana-like blue and yellow lizard, the size of a truck, pushed past me. As I sat in the thicket the sounds of exotic birds flying overhead filled the area. I was definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Once I was sure Godzilla had cleared out, I pulled myself out of the bush and trekked on. Eventually I came to a clearing where I saw a smaller iguana-like lizard, this one was the size of a dog. It was meandering around, looking confused by its surroundings.
Perfect, I thought to myself. I snuck up around the undergrowth by the lizard. When I got as close as I could, I jumped out of the bush and attacked. I didn’t know where my sword was, and I hadn’t asked Makiel about it yet, so I was hunting with only my hands.
Just as I was going to grab the tail of the lizard, it abruptly turned directly towards me. With a swipe of its claw, my surprise attack had been thwarted. I took 10 damage from the hit. A health bar appeared over the lizard, alongside its name and level.
Juvenile Devil Lizard - Level 1
Description: This is a Devil Lizard from the moon Hyperion, which floats around Saturn. The moon, thought to be uninhabitable, was left to its devices for millions of years, where an ecosystem, similar to Earth’s jungles, developed underneath the surface. The Devil Lizard is the apex predator of this ecosystem. HP range is between 30 and 45.
Special Properties: Poisonous Bite
The one in front of me had 45 HP. It lunged in to get another hit. I moved to dodge, but the thing was too fast. Its claw connected again, hitting a 15.
I want you to use that small, little, emotional brain of yours and think. Should a fat man, whose stats are focused on attack and defense, try to dodge, or should he tank the damn hit! The advice forced on me from Sai was rearing its ugly head as I failed two dodges. I badly wanted to focus my efforts on raising my dodging and dexterity to spite the man, but my fight with the Ash Collector taught me that this wasn’t the place for pride. I needed to take my situation seriously. If I had done so from the beginning, then I’d likely still be with my brothers.
I took a stance that helped me stay steady: my legs apart and my hands wide. I was going to kill this thing.
It came in for another blow. As its claw struck, I grabbed its whole body like a mouse trap. It tried to escape, but my 6 strength was more than a match for whatever it had. I slowly began crushing it. A 5 floated up every second I held the thing. After 8 seconds, it was able to wiggle its way out. I was standing at a cool 110 HP; there was nothing this little lizard could do.
My brain started pouring dopamine into me as the excitement of a successful hunt rose up. The Devil Lizard couldn’t even move, it was so banged up from my attack.
In my mind, this battle was done, but as I raised my hand to finish it, it let out a shriek. A status appeared under its head.
Distressed Baby
This baby is crying. An adult of the same race is forced to fight for the baby. 100% chance of success.
From the bushes jumped out another lizard, the size of a horse. My mind raced as I wondered if dodging would be the best move for this. After all, getting hit by a small lizard was different than getting hit by a big one. I dug my feet deeper into the earth. Something about the ground made me feel powerful. I met the lizard straight-on.
As its head connected with my body, I was pushed back, but I was not flung off the ground. Instead, I slid, grasping its head like a football. The thing tried to escape, but I had it well trapped. I then pinned it under my armpit and raised my other hand to start punching its sides. Every punch dealt 20 damage. Its health was 80. I was able to get two solid punches before it slithered its way out.
I smiled. I too had taken damage, but not nearly as much as it had. I looked at my health. I was standing at a comfortable 70HP. Its initial charge did 20 damage, and the claw-swipes it got in while I held it did another 20 damage.
I watched its eyes scan the area for an escape. Before it could do so, I jumped on its back and smashed both my hands into its spine. The number ‘40’ floated up from the monster. It died, dropping its head to the ground with a great thud.
A gray number with the ‘EXP’ sign floated up from its corpse. A notification appeared on my HUD.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
*** EXP is not available to practice MAS users. ***
it read. Tsk. I muttered.
I looked at the baby Devil Lizard. It stared at me with eyes of complete fear. It sported the Terrified debuff from my intimidation. I raised an eyebrow at the creature.
“I got what I wanted. You're good to go. I’ll be eating off this thing for at least three days.”
The lizard's eyes got wide, as if it was going to cry.
I smiled at it. “Get going before I change my mind, you little runt.”
It scampered its way into the thicket.
I grabbed the tail of my prey and began to make my way back, which took way longer than I thought it would, probably two to three hours. At this point, Makiel would have already dragged in her catch and started cooking. My stomach growled again and I saw that the Hungry and Thirsty debuffs appeared on my HUD. Dang it, I thought, as the work of pulling this giant thing went from being a chore to becoming a burden.
As the cave came into view, I heard something that worried me. Makiel was shouting, as if in battle. I dropped my prey and ran into the cave. The first thing in my mind was the fact that we had left Lia to sleep inside my room.
Turning the corner, I witnessed Makiel kill three monsters that looked like living mushrooms. Not real-life mushrooms, more like the kind you would find in a Super Mario game. Their heads were as big as a suitcase and red, mouths were filled with teeth made out of mushrooms, and their bodies were made of wood, which was odd, since it didn't match the fungus aesthetic they were going for. I examined them before they died.
Mushy Men - Level 1
Description: A Manglet Formation that is accessed when a Manglet eats cave mushrooms found on the planet Lito. HP range between 55 and 65.
Special Properties: Their first attack will always carry the Lady of Mushes poison.
I relaxed, thinking everything had been handled. I walked towards Makiel, hoping to get help with my haul. Then, she started swaying from side to side, looking a little off. I rushed in as she tripped over a rock and fell on the floor. I caught her, keeping her head from the water. She was breathing heavily and her skin was hot to the touch. I examined her.
Makiel Lamberte
Race: Human Age: 24 Level: 3 Exp: 129/250
Active Effects
Rotting Poison: You are poisoned. You will take 10 damage every minute until death, or cured. The Lady of Mush provides poisons for all her children. Cures include tears of the gigolo, lacewing eyeball, Mushy Mushroom, and cure potions of any type.
HP: 190 / 200
DNA Combination: Elk (+10 Speed, +10 Intelligence)
MP: 300
Totem Name: Atom
Intelligence - 12 Will - 10 Charisma - 1 Rage - 2
Skills
Fortune Teller
Inventory
Mangle Matter (Common) X14
I gripped her head. I didn't have any of those items.
She mouthed something to me, “They came from deeper in.”
I looked into the darkness that was the rest of the cavern and figured what she meant.
The thought to kill her and take the special MAS in her ear crossed my mind, but she had nursed me back to health, and the baby crying my ear off was not something I wanted to deal with. I wasn’t a hero, but I was definitely not a monster.
“There are probably Mushy Mushrooms where the Mushy Men came from. I’ll rush in there and grab some. I promise I’ll cure you,” I frantically whispered as I picked her up and took her to the room of the cave she had been using.
I then gently picked up Lia and brought her over to Makiel’s room. To be extra safe, I rolled some boulders in front of the entrance. I uttered a quick prayer, hoping the snakes wouldn’t find them, and took off, deep into the cavern.
Running into the cavern depths, I noticed that my work boots had started to come apart at the sole. This wasn't ideal for jogging, but I didn’t have any other options at the moment. I had also become painfully aware that my whole wardrobe was completely in tatters: my shirt was ripped where I was slashed by the Ash Collector, and my jeans were burned where the Manglets had attacked. When I get the chance, I need to switch out these clothes.
The longer I ran, the darker it got, until the darkness was too much. I started hugging the cave wall, hoping it kept me going straight. The wall abruptly turned left.
Rounding the corner, I saw several gentle lights flickering. Among the lights, I glimpsed the bright red heads of a few Mushy Men. Probably a group of five.
I looked closer and noticed they were farming something: bright red shrooms. I’d bet my practice unit those were the Mushy Mushrooms I needed.
I clenched my teeth, realizing I had to do something about the creatures. There was no way I would be able to grab the Mushy Mushrooms without them noticing. I also seriously doubted I would win a head-to-head fight. Especially with my stats in tatters from being Hungry and Thirsty.
I looked at their campsite for anything I could possibly use to get an edge. The area around them was lit up by black roots. I had forgotten about those things, since the jungle seemed to eat them all away. In the middle of their camp was a roaring fire. It was being fueled by the very mushrooms they picked. As they melted, they turned into a sticky, bubbling material. Some of the Mushy Men were shoveling up the sticky burned muck and putting them into a wheelbarrow. Behind the Mushy Man camp was a black wall made of the same muck that I saw at the ravine. I examined it with my HUD.
Mangle Fortress
An outpost that serves a similar purpose as a Mangle veil. It is meant to produce Manglets that take over an area, and eventually establish a safe point for their armies to move. The production of Manglets depends on its level. A level 1 Fortress produces a Manglet everyday and each level it receives increases that number by 1.
The Fortress that I was looking at was level 0. From the description, I assume that meant it was making 0 manglets a day. That implied that these mushroom freaks had just established this place. How could they have done so without alerting us, though? We’ve been at the entrance for at least 2 days. There must be another opening deeper in. The possibility was both scary and interesting. I put that thought away, saving it for when this was all over.
I continued to look around. After a minute of examining and thinking, a plan finally formed in my head. A really dumb one, but it was the only thing I could think of knowing I had a time limit. I grabbed a few rocks from the ground and checked my HP. I was back at 110. I thanked the gods for my quick healing and sprang into action.
* * * * *
Big King tells me I am SoSha. He tells me I pick little ones and burn them. I want Big King happy. I want him to like me more than GoKah who brings him people-meat. This means I have to be faster picker than everyone.
I hear something. A Splash.
“SoSha hears a thing, family glamly!”
We all turn and walk together towards sound. There is nothing, but stone pebbles. I kick the waters edge. This is sad. I want thing to kill to bring to Big King.
We turn around, back to camp.
As I turn I see the Shadow of a big monster looking back at me from camp. It smell like dead humans GoKah bring from outside.
Family a little spooked, but they stay still. Goody. I bring out Mushy spear. Rest of family copy me. We move towards monster together.
“Who goey there? You want die? Big Kingy more scary than anything!” I make sure my voice is loud to scare monster. I most brave of all Mushy Men.
Instead of running, it open mouth and start making noise. It just sound like gibberish to me.
“Move up family glamly, we kill it!” I command like true leader, like Big King say I am.
Monster then jump into fire. I no believe what I see. It start to run at scared family.
“Ahh!” Monster scream, like mad Mushy. Family all scared! They begin to run!
"Family come back here now! I tell Big Kingy you runy run!"
They too afraid to listen. All run back inside Fortress.
I most brave of all the Mushy Men, I show family that monster is no scary. I ready my spear to fight. I about to stab monster, but vision go fuzzy. Something hit my head.
Monster grab my spear and start stabbing over and over. I don't want to die. I just want to make Big King happy and be the best picker. I no want to die.
* * * * *
“Ahh! My God!” I screamed as I killed the only Mushy Man that didn’t run away. I was lucky I held onto one of the rocks while I was still on fire. It saved me from getting potentially poisoned. I’m also glad I ripped this spear away from that thing. Turns out the poison effect is on the spear itself, and these guys didn’t have a resistance to it. The slime-like ooze coating my body provided a layer of protection so that the fire didn't melt my skin. But it still hurt, since it also kept the flames burning. Every second I had this fire going I lost 2 HP. With only 20 HP left, I must have been on fire for a solid minute.
I quickly leapt into the nearest puddle of water once I had killed the last Mushy Man. It had been doing this crazy scary yell, like a wounded animal, but I was more concerned with the fire on my body than anything it might have been saying or doing.
The best part about this whole thing was that lighting myself on fire wasn't even my main plan. It never even crossed my mind. What I had wanted to do was scare the piss out of the monsters with a Mushu from Mulan performance. I even went behind the fire and made a big shadow and started doing the best scary voice I could muster, saying things like, “I have come for you Mushy Men! Your heads will line the cave if you do not leave! OOOOOOOOOoooooOOOoooooo!!!”
I honestly don’t even think they knew what I was saying. A language barrier was not something I was planning on.
At that point I couldn’t run away, because then they would chase me, kill me, and find the other two. So I improvised and lit myself on fire. If I was going to die anyway, I might as well do it burning alive, I say. I don’t actually say that, but today I did!
I quickly collected a handful of mushrooms and sucked up the dead Mushy Man on the floor.
Obtained: Mushy Matter (Common)
The reamins of the fungus varient of Manglet. Add this to any recipe and it will give the item or consumable the Poisoned trait.
I did a fist pump as the excitement of a successful plan took hold of me. Even if it was improv.
The excitement didn't last long though. I limped back towards the entrance. Getting back to Makiel and Lia was proving to be an issue, as I hit the darkened section of the cave. At that moment, I wished I had been smart enough to cut a glowing root from the Mushy Man camp.
I tripped and stumbled over invisible rocks and moss.
I wondered, with great anxiety, if my companions were still safe, if snakes had found them, and, especially, how much time had passed. With a loss of 10 HP a minute, she had only 19 minutes before death. It must have taken me at least 5 minutes to get to the camp, and who knows how long to take care of the Mushy Men. My stomach churned.
Tell me what to do brother. The words again assaulted my mind. She wasn’t my brother, but I knew that my issue wasn’t specific to losing one of my siblings. It was the crushing sense of loneliness. I don’t want to be by myself. I need someone, anyone. I’ve never seen a boy so adamant on doing nothing for himself! Sai was right.
I let out a loud scream, venting my frustrations, and tried my hardest to stay focused on finding the entrance.
I’m not sure how long I was lost, but when I saw the light, I sprinted like I had never done before. I came upon the boulders and began pushing them.
When I had done so, I examined Makiel’s health. It was at 20. I held a Mushy Mushroom in my hand and made sure she saw.
“I got it, Makiel! Take it!”
She tried to reach her arm out to grab it, but I could tell she wasn’t fully conscious.
I didn’t want to do this, since she was virtually still a stranger, but I opened her mouth with my hand and shoved a few shrooms down her throat.
As they entered her mouth, I saw that they became liquid and went straight down into her belly.
That was very weird, I thought to myself. But not the weirdest thing I’ve seen, so it doesn't matter.
I held my breath as I watched the ‘poisoned’ status effect disappear from her. A sigh of relief exited my mouth.
I then heard the sounds of tiny little footsteps. I looked in front of me and saw Lia pointing.
“Stink!”
I laughed so loud, I was more than certain the rest of the Mushy Men heard. I didn’t care. I patted the little girl on the head and said, “Yeah, very stinky.”