The new dynamic duo made their way out of the forest while searching for food. It was slow and monotonous in Tyler’s opinion. He couldn’t go too fast, as when he had tried, Kelsie had gotten scared. So he was moving out at a brisk pace, making sure to avoid any monsters the best he could. He may not like having to drag along an orphan on his back, but that didn’t mean he was willing to let her get hurt by monsters. He wasn’t that much of an asshole.

Fluorescent fungi lit their way out and it took several minutes for it to clear enough that Tyler could see better. Hopefully this meant he was getting close to the exit. He did get a little sidetracked when he followed the demonic energy after all.

“I’m hungry…” Kelise grumbled from her position as Tyler’s makeshift backpack.

“Yeah yeah, I’m looking. Don’t need to say it every ten minutes.”

Tyler mentally rolled his eyes at the girl but he couldn’t really blame her. She was still growing after all. He supposed it only made sense for her body to require more food. With that in mind, he decided to double his efforts, activating Void SIght and stretching it as far as he could with his current Perception. It took another two hours of dodging monsters and moving across the forest until Tyler found something other than mushrooms and mushroom-man flesh.

In a small clearing, where a crack of light shone from the surface, stood a singular tree. The tree gave off a dense aura of some type he couldn’t place. It felt cold, but also empty. Yet at same time it also felt like intense heat. The tree’s bark was black as the night sky, and its leaves were a bright alabaster white, giving a strong contrast between them and the bark. The real prize though, were the fruits.

Bunched up in cloisters of four to five were strange seven-pointed fruits that looked like a cross between a dragon fruit and a fingered citron, or Buddha’s hand. It also somewhat reflected the light given off by the crack in the underground sky. All in all, it looked like a very strange tree with equally strange fruit. Then again, this world was full of fantastical things like this. So it should be safe to eat, right?

Still, to be safe, Tyler approached the strange flora and grabbed one of the small apricot-sized fruit. Sniffing it, he couldn’t get any real read off of it. Then he tried invoking Analyze but all he got was a blue box that read “Fruit”. Great help, that one. Thanks System. Having no other alternative, he raised the fruit to his mouth and took the smallest of bites.

Immediately he could feel the taste as he bit onto the flesh of the fruit. It was like a peach, combined with mint leaves and ah. There it was. Some sort of spice-like after taste that reminded him of habaneros, making his body burn slightly. Tyler waited for several minutes to see if there was an adverse effect, but aside from a slight burning around his body that faded easily, nothing seemed to happen.

With that in mind, he split one of the fruits in half and handed it to Kelsie. The young red-skinned girl took the offered fruit with eagerness and popped the food into her mouth. Tyler watched her reaction as he looked over his shoulder at her, not wanting the fruit to end up poisoning her or something. The girl scrunched her face and squirmed a bit but that seemed to be the worst of it.

“This fruit tastes weird, it swims in my body like a fish.”

Tyler had to snort, popping another fruit into his mouth and chewing on it before spitting some kind of pit into his hand. He looked at it, then at the tree before shrugging and pocketing the left over into one of his trouser pockets.

“Well, at least save the pits. When we get back to the village I can try and plant them and make more trees. Then again, that might take a few years to blossom.”

Tyler mused to himself on the benefits of being an arborist. Mostly since he just liked to let his mind wander. Once he shook himself off of such thoughts, he moved towards the base of the tree and set Kelsie down before sitting cross-legged and basking in the slight sunlight before basking in the slight rays of glorious light for the first time in…well he didn’t know how long.

“What are you doing?”

Tyler opened one eye to look at the speaker, who was, naturally, the young girl. She had several fruits in her mouth, making her look like a chipmunk. He sighed.

“I’m meditating.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to calm myself down and process stuff in my brain. I’ve been basically running around killing and all that. It’s good to center your mind.”

Did Tyler know what the hell he was talking about? Of course not, he was no expert on…well, anything. But he might as well satisfy the girl’s curiosity. Kelsie simply hummed in response and copied him, crossing her legs as she sat down in a similar lotus position, albeit with some difficulty.

Well, he supposed it was better she sit here and copy him as opposed to doing whatever kids her age did when bored. That being said, she was processing the death of her parents rather well all things considered. Maybe she was just in shock but he had no idea how kids process grief or loss, or if that even worked for her race, whatever she was. Pushing his random thoughts to the side, Tyler fell into a pattern of slow and methodical breathing as he took in air with a slow deep breath, then exhaled with a similar motion. Meditation was a neat skill. It allowed him to rest and reset himself similar to sleeping but left him able to respond quickly if he was needed to. He had meditated a few times back on Earth when he was in his late thirties to try and cope with his cancer diagnoses, and while it was nice and claiming back there, here in this world there was a tangible benefit to meditating. Magic was funny like that.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He sat there, meditating with Kelsie, breathing in and out to pass the time and let his mind calm down and spirit rest. He vaguely saw flashes of his skill leveling up but paid it no mind.

Meditation is Level 3

…

Meditation is Level 19

The sound of snoring broke Tyler out of his trance and he opened his eyes to see Kelsie, fast asleep with her head on his lap. Since when had she gotten there? Shaking his head at the girl, he picked her up and with some difficulty managed to place her back in the makeshift backpack and sling her over his shoulder. Thankfully it seemed she was a heavy sleeper. Grabbing the pits the girl had thankfully NOT eaten, as well as much fruit as he could stuff in his pockets without crushing them, Tyler made his way out of the clearing, giving one last look and a small bow towards the strange tree. It only felt right.

The next several hours passed uneventfully until, finally, he exited the Fungal Forest. He wasn’t sure how long he was stuck in there, but he was glad to see the rest of the Underground. Well, maybe glad was the wrong word. It was still as bleak, gray, and rocky as ever. Still, it was better than being surrounded by fucking mushrooms.

Thankfully, after a few more hours of light walking he made his way towards the Duergar village. The stone walls and buildings are a welcome change of pace from the glowing fungi. The only thing he had left to do was find some place for Kelsie to stay, and inform Agha what happened. Hopefully they had spare rooms or some kind of orphanage available.

Giving a nod to the guards, who gave him slightly curious glances at the girl on his back, he made his way towards Agha's home. A few minutes later, he knocked but got no answer after waiting for ten or so minutes. She must be in the Hall with her father. Just his luck. Regardless, Tyler turned around and wert through a few looping alleys until he found himself on the main path, and headed towards the Great Hall, Kelsie grumbling in her sleep as he walked.

A few minutes later and a bit more stone dust on his pants, Tyler was standing in front of the large doors that led to the Great Hall. The intricate stone doors were as majestic as ever, carved from the same dark gray-blue stone as every other building but polished to a shine and depicting several Duergar warriors battling a variety of beasts. Before Tyler could approach the guards and ask for entrance however, the heavy doors opened and Agha stepped out in all her stout and fierce glory.It took her a few seconds to process what she was looking at, her eyes moving from him to the bundled up girl on his back. Her look changed from one of stoicism, to shock, and then a glare that could have burned a hole through him.

“And just what thae hell did ye do this time?”

Tyler scrunched his nose at the accusation and snorted, rubbing the back of his head.

“What’s that supposed to mean, I didn’t do anything.”

Agha’s stare made him think that she really didn’t believe what he was saying and..okay fair. A lot of the weird things in her life, as far as he knew, must have started happening because she met him. But that wasn’t fair, it wasn’t like he asked for this!

"We dunnae have any orphanage or anythin' if yer askin' about that kinda shite. But Pa and I were discussing your lodging arrangements a few days ago. So congratulations are in order I guess."

Agha fished through her pockets and took out a metallic key made from bronze and handed it to him.

"Looks like we're gonna be neighbors. And yer now a single father. Well kinda single, I mean we are courting, ya?" Agha winked at him before her visage returned to a more serious one.

"Also, ye came just in time. Apparently there's going to be a delegation of Drow coming in a couple days. Pa thinks it's about some upcoming tournament."

Tyler nodded softly at her words. Drow were...dark elves, as far as he knew. He wasn't sure what this tournament thing was about but he supposed it might be fun so long as he didn't have to risk his life. Then he blinked as he finished processing her words.

"Wait, A few days ago? How long was I gone?"

Agha looked at him as if he were an idiot and...well she wasn't too far off really.

"Since ye left? Little over two weeks, ye daft idiot. I was worried ye bit off more than ye could chew and...given the Netherling kid ye brought back, I'm sure ye have quite the story tae tell us."

He frowned at her words. Over two weeks? Had he really been gone that long? He had thought maybe a few days at most but man...he was REALLY bad at telling time. Especially with no gods damned sun to see if it was night or day. He’d have to see if he could make a rune to help him tell the time or something. He did have to do work for Fizzlespark anyway if he wanted to keep up his apprenticeship.

“Well, whatever. Take Kelsie here and uh…I dunno. Place her in my new home to rest I guess. I’ll meet you there with some food and we can discuss what happened.”

Agha simply rolled her eyes and gave a mock salute, but took the young Netherling in her arms with relative ease and walked off, leaving Tyler alone. He just couldn’t catch a break could he? Now he was saddled with a kid. He had no idea how to take care of a kid, he’d never had a chance to do so back on Earth. ANd he was not really looking forward to recounting what happened in the Forest. Mostly because he was still irked that the guy had gotten away. What was his name? Albus? Well, whatever. He’d never see that guy or anyone connected to him again anyway, so it was pointless to worry about.

Tyler made his way towards one of the street vendors, who seemed to be selling some kind of street taco made with mystery meat, and bought three with some of his funds, which were running low. As he nibbled on one, he started thinking about the Drow. How would they react to him, an outsider who wasn’t part of the Duergar or any other race of the Underground. The Duergar had accepted him rather easily, so surely the Drow would be the same. At least, that was his hope.