I scanned the forest while pushing my mounting fear down. I started making a checklist of the facts. I was alone. I could no longer feel my familiars. We were in a fungal forest. The fungus is still here. Each statement of fact calmed me down enough to think clearly. I twirled my hands, only to realize that my staff was gone. A chill of fear ran down my spine, but I kept my focus. I reached for the part of my mind that held my spells and began casting. I looked to my side, expecting to see my magmite rip its way into the world. Nothing happened. I started again and looked for the red glow of pyro magic. When it failed to materialize, I began to panic. If I couldn’t cast and I couldn’t find my familiars then I was truly fucked.

Before I could decide what to do next, the voice came back. It sounded like several women all speaking at the same time. “Who are you!” I did my best to put some bass in my voice to hide the mounting fear and dread, but the voice didn’t even slow down.

“Monster!”

“Murderer!”

“Thief!”

Suddenly, the voices started shouting, their voices slamming into me as if they had a tangible weight. They screamed accusations at me with enough hatred that it forced me to my knees.

“Coward!”

“Useless!”

“Weak! Weak! Weak!”

I covered my ears, hoping that it would block out the sound, but it made no difference. The world began to change around me. One second I was standing in my parent’s house as my dad yelled at me for failing a test. Next, I was at school when my girlfriend scolded me for forgetting about her. Then I was standing next to my mother as she bled out on the ground. Each image lasted just long enough to drive a spike through my heart. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached up from the ground. The hands wrapped around my ankles and arms. The voices reached a crescendo in their shouting as I began to be pulled down. The fungus began crawling over my body as if trying to bury me beneath the ground. Suddenly, almost all the voices faded except for one. The last voice was soft and filled with pity.

“Surrender. Your fight is over.”

Darkness began to fill the edges of my vision. Part of me wanted to keep fighting against this sinking sensation, but another part. A stronger part wondered what was the point. Why am I going through this at all? Why not just give in?

“Master,” A muffled voice called out from somewhere else. I knew that voice. It was important to me. Why couldn’t I remember?

“Master” Another voice, this one darker and more primal, reached me.

Suddenly, there was a blast of blinding light and utter darkness. Pain shot through my entire body, light lightning. My awareness slammed back into place. I was curled up into a ball on the ground.

“Master!” Tenebris and Sanaa’s voices slammed into me like a truck. Confusion, rage, and concern flowed into me and threatened to drown me in emotion. I pulled myself into a seated position.

“You must remove the plants.” My mind felt like it was submerged in molasses, but I started casting. The process took twice as long as it should have and I didn’t relax until I heard the manic laughter. I gave it a mental command to listen to my familiars as the darkness claimed me.

When I next woke up, it was to a pair of hands shaking me. I pushed back against them, wanting to hold on to the wonderful bit of sleep. The hands refused to give up, and they brought a voice with them this time.

“Darterrius, wake up. We have to keep moving.” Zakia pushed me one final time before moving away.

I opened my eyes and looked around. The surrounding ground was a scorched black color. All signs of moisture are gone. If I couldn’t still see some of the fungus in the distance, I would have thought we had gone into a different chamber. I was about to ask what happened when I noticed the blinking notification light in the upper left of my vision. I pulled it up and cursed.

You have been afflicted with Violet Cordyceps poison. You have resisted the effect of Violet Cordyceps.

I focused on the message, hoping that it would pull up more information, but nothing more came up. I checked my body, and the image of mushrooms growing out of everywhere went through my mind. Leaving so much of my skill exposed was no longer a fun idea. Thankfully, there were no so mushrooms.

“Is everyone alright?” I called my familiars to me and checked over both of them for mushrooms.

“That was a nasty piece of work. I am going to be washing the smell of mushrooms out of my fur for hours. We still haven’t found anything to fight.” Tyrus grumbled his response.

“Fine. What in the hells is a Violet Cordyceps?” She added while pacing.

“I am not sure exactly, but we had some in my homeland. They could grow inside of other creatures. They are terrifying. Did—” I hesitated for a moment. “Did you all see something?”

“I uh ye-yeah, I would prefer not to talk about it.” Zakia was the first answer.

“Same here, my lord. It was not a pleasant experience.”

“I guess that the poison is designed to make us hallucinate and pass out, and while we are unconscious, the cordceps would spread. Eventually, we would have died and joined the garden. I wonder how many of these mushrooms were formed because someone died?”

“I have no idea, but we need to figure out how to go forward. Do we just start burning everything?” Zakia added before stopping at the edge of the circle.

I shrugged and picked up my stuff off the ground. Its weight was reassuring in my hands. I wanted to resummon the magmite, but that spell was still on cool down. I cast Lesser Swiftness on Sanaa and as soon as the spell took effect; I felt a surge of speed flow into me. It took a second for me to connect the dots. This had to have been the benefit of the soul bond. I got the same boost as Sanaa.

“I should have buffed as soon as we got in here.” I scolded myself while waiting for the cool-down to end. As soon as I could, I cast the spell a second time, targeting Tenebris. This time no new feelings hit me, which sucked but was expected. Once we were buffed up, I decided to test something out.

“Both of you get close to me. As close as you can. Tenebris and Sanaa are back on my shoulders.” My familiars obeyed without question, but Tyrus and Zakia were a bit slower on the uptake. Once we were all snug, I cast a lesser flame barrier. The barrier of fire formed around all of us.

“Nice! So it appears the barrier doesn’t protect me specifically, but the surrounding area.” I turned my attention to the forest outside and began casting. I unleashed a lesser gout of flame and shifted into a Lesser Pyro bolt. My casting only made it a few minutes before the ground began to shake. A shriek shattered the calmness of the garden. I pulled my hands down as the largest of the mushrooms stood up. It was a dark black and purple that shone against the rest of the room. A whip-like appendage tore through the air and slammed into the barrier a second later. The monster let out a wet and squelchy sound that made me want to throw up. The flames from the barrier scorched its tendrils.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I reached out and grabbed Zakia and Tyrus before they could touch the barrier. “Don’t! If we touch the barrier, the spell will end.”

“So, what do you suggest we do? We can’t just sit here.” Zakia asked through gritted teeth.

I started casting again, forming a bolt of pyro magic on the tip of my staff while my other hand went through the spell’s motions. I shouted the word of power and a bolt the size of a basketball shot out. The sphere hit the mushroom's center mass, forcing it back a step.

“I am going to deal as much as I can until it breaks through my barrier. Once it does, we all go out and blast it with everything we got.”

The creature slammed into the barrier again, this time causing a web of cracks to spread across the front. I started charging up my next spell as they ready-readied themselves for battles. A massive gout of fire shot out and ignited the moist limb.

“The barrier will hold for one more attack. Zakia, I want you to take the lead. Tyrus backs her up. Tenebris and Sanaa will take to the air. Watch out for anything that might be hiding in the—” Before I could finish, the whip-like appendage slammed into the barrier. The barrier held for a second before shattering in a rain of pyro magic. Everyone scattered with Zakia and Tyrus rushing the monster.

Zakia’s swords slashed through one of the mushroom creature’s limbs, while Tyrus’ claws dug into another. The pair fought like machines, but they were acting at a disadvantage. Vines and tendrils would reach up from the ground and slash at them or attempt to catch their limbs. They were avoiding it for the time being, but it was like watching two people dance on the edge of a blade. I turned my focus back to what I needed to do. I cast a lesser revelation, wanting to see if I could learn something useful.

Myconid, Violet: Level ?

Myconids are a species of partially aware mushroom creatures. They are born from the corpses of other creatures that are consumed by fungus.

I read the prompt twice, my frustration growing each time. First, none of that information told me anything that would help me beat this thing. Second, it couldn’t even tell me the things level. Did that mean it was that much stronger than me, or was there something else wrong? I watched as the myconid slammed into Tyrus, sending him flying through the air. I cursed and started casting. Part of me wanted to summon the lion, but I decided against it. There was no guarantee that we wouldn’t have a more dangerous enemy later. I selected my spell and a few seconds later, a bolt of burning flame launched from the top of my staff.

The bolt struck the myconid just after Zakia removed one of its tendrils. The flames caught and began spreading across its front. The myconid let out a cry of pain and shot two of its remaining tendrils toward me. I brought up my staff in time to block the first, but the second slammed into me. It threw me out of the circle and into a patch of purple fungus. As soon as I hit the ground, the tendrils reached up and grabbed at me. My newly enhanced strength allowed me to rip myself free.

“We need more fire,” I mumbled to myself as I looked around. The entire room was a fungus garden. There was nothing that I could do. As soon as I finished the thought, I face-palmed. “Tenebris, can you summon the magmite? Are you able to dual cast?”

When he didn’t immediately respond, I began scanning the room, searching for any sign of the dragonling. I found him a second later. He dived, brought his wings close to his body, and let himself fall to the ground just as the myconid swung out at him. The creature’s limb narrowly missed and then the dragonling stretched out his wings and returned to the air. It was one of the most impressive things I had ever seen. Once he stabilized himself in the air, his voice came through our bond.

“I can summon one master, but I can not dual cast.” I could feel his adrenaline and excitement through our bond. I let the feeling wash over me as I gave him new instructions.

“I want you to summon a magmite. Summon and set out to destroy all the surrounding mushrooms. After that I want you casting pyro magic until you run low on MP. We need to burn everything down.”

“Yes, Master!” He disengaged from the battle and began casting.

I turned my attention to Sanaa’s magic pool. She had just enough to get off the summon. “Sanaa, you do it as well. Summon up the magmite and then I want you flying around. Unleash your breath weapon when you can. Avoid using your frills unless you are sure you won’t blind the others. As soon as you have enough MP to cast a pyro spell, I want you to do it.”

I didn’t wait for her to confirm. I turned my attention to the area next to me and unleashed a gout of flame. I became a flame thrower as I waited for all the mushrooms to catch. The sound of battle reminded me of how little time I had. When the flames started to spread on their own, I cut off the flow of magic. The constant laughing of the magmite was music to my ears. I turned around and took in the state of the battle. Tyrus and Zakia were not doing great. One of her arms hung limply at her side. She had lost one of her swords and she swaying on her feet. Tyrus was covered in a myriad of wounds. His fur was matted down in red and purple, but he was still moving. It reminded me of the lack of healing magic we had. I gripped my staff and started casting. I buff Tyrus with swiftness, hoping to help him dodge. Once that was done, I unleashed bolts of fire. My MP dipped beneath twenty percent, forcing me to summon a healing potion.

I quaffed the liquid and felt energy rush through me. My wounds knit themselves up. I couldn’t help but be impressed by how fast I could be healed. Once my MP was fully restored, I started slinging spells. The battle only lasted a few more minutes. The myconid collapsed into a heap of ash and broken mushrooms a few minutes later. I scanned the room for threats until the notification appeared on the right side of my vision. As soon as the battle was done, I summoned two potions. I handed one to Zakia and the other to Tyrus.

“Now that was a fun hunt. I could do without the fungus next time, but beggars can not be choosers, as they say.” Tyrus smiled before tipping the potion back. It was freaky watching the wounds knit themselves back together and part of me wondered just what the limits on that were.

“Next time, we will burn the creepy garden before we get into the fight,” Zakia grumbled before handing me her empty vial.

Tenebris and Sanaa landed on my shoulders a moment later. Thankfully, both of them had avoided most of the attacks. I still gave them a potion to top them off, just in case. Once everyone had recovered, I realized that the burn-it-all-all strategy had a pretty big flaw. There was nothing to recover. We did two laps around the room and either this place was designed as just a death trap or that some of those plants were important. Then again, there was probably something valuable in the giant mushroom monster that was born from corpses. Either way, there was nothing to be done about it. I cast a couple of Spira spells to blow away most of the ash before we settled down for a rest.

Once we could get comfortable or as comfortable as we could get in a cave that was filled with monsters that wanted to kill us, I pulled up the notification from the last battle.

You have been awarded 1100 experience from defeating Myconid, Violet-level 11

The battle had earned me some pretty good experience. It wasn’t enough for a level, but it was enough for some considerable advancement. Sanaa and Tenebris were getting closer to their next level as well, which was pretty good news. I couldn’t see anyone else’s screens, but no one seemed upset, which I was considering a win.

“I am thinking that we will wait here for another hour and then head further in. If you need to do anything, now is the time.” I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.

An hour later, I stood up and stretched my muscles. Thankfully, everything was as we left it. I caught sight of both Tyrus and Zakia, who were just getting up.

“Did you two keep watch for us?” I asked through our bond.

“Yes, Master,” Sanaa replied before lowering her head into the nap of my neck.

“It would be a poor hunt if we were attacked while you were resting,” Tenebris added.

“Well, thank you both. How are you feeling? Are you ready to continue?”

“Of course Master.” They replied.

I gave them both a smile before making my way toward the next doorway. “Let's form up like we did before. I will bring up the rear and hopefully take out any threats before they can reach us.”

“Sounds like a wonderful plan,” Tyrus added before taking his position.

Zakia gave me a head no before placing both of her hands against the stone door. She pushed and both doors slowly opened. I cast Sphere of Light, splitting it into three and sending them forward. It was time to see what the rest of the dungeon had in store for us.