A Path of Bone and Poison 121 I.T. 24 Magic Mushroom

The six of us stood at the edge of the grotto, staring inside. We could see nothing out of the ordinary at first, just the same moss that grew everywhere else. The Mushrooms cast five different florescent colors on the moss, creating a weird kaleidoscope effect. The grotto actually looked unbelievably beautiful.

Behind us hunter began to scream for us to run. We did not have time to react as the ground of the grotto began to tremble, breaking into large wooden pieces. From the destruction rose a large rainbow-colored mushroom cap. The mushroom exuded a strong pressure, a pressure that was far outside the reach of our level one bodies.

I could see all my teammates lying dead before me. Pools of blood surrounded them as I planted deeply. I stared at the mushroom as I weakly held my left arm with my right. My pistols were nowhere to be found. I did not have the energy to activate my arcane body, all I could do was passively wait for my death to come.

As I stood there trembling, I could feel a maniacal laughter coming from a place outside of my body. Following it was a voice filled with scorn.

"Is this all my heir is capable of? trembling to death before an illusion created by a mere B ranked boss monster? Perhaps I wasted my time in selecting you. The other candidates would never have fallen to such a trick. This is what happens when the weak rely on the weak."

Indignation filled me as I listened to the words. How dare that old man talk about me in such a way. I was not strong, but with team we could fight enemies that were much stronger than ourselves!

The Necromancer kings face looked at me from the abyss. His skeletal face twisted into a look of disdain as he stared down at me. I could only grimace as I forced myself to my feet. The old man's words filled me with rage. Just because I was battling alone did not mean I could not win. I would prove that bastard wrong.

As my determination began to peak the images assaulting my mind disappeared. Around me I could see my teammates all had a similar look; an aura of holy energy resounded them. 3 of them were the familiar feeling of the goddess of war. The fourth was different, but also had a familiar feeling to it.

All our eyes had a look of resolve as we stared at the mushroom before us. Only a single thought engulfed our minds. It had to die. Only if it died would we be able to face those who had granted us power. Only if I killed it would I eventually be able to spit on the corpse of the Necromancer King.

I was not the first to act, that ho or went to Leisha. Her beast transformation has been triggered by her overwhelming desire to fight. Her instincts took over and she rushed at the enemy. No longer did she resemble the peaceful woman she normally was, an aura of pure bestial power oozed from her very being.

Sierra acted soon after. Her staff was already glowing with a vortex of fire energy as a massive fireball formed at the tip. The fireball flew, striking the mushroom before Leisha had moved more than 5 steps. What followed were multiple steel arrows that rained down from the sky.

Not to be outdone I began to fire my bullets. Lucifer who was hovering next to me followed suit. Our combined power caused what must have appeared to be a never-ending stream of bullets, some of them regular arcane power, while others held a hint of toxic energy.

Behind us I could feel Bailey beginning to power up her elemental bullets. The huge fluctuation of energy was like a beacon, causing the mushroom who had yet to act to finally pay attention to us.

Two large whip like vines emerged from the ground and shot towards Bailey at a speed that could not be tracked by the naked eye. I did not have time to think, but my body moved on its own. Arcane body had activated instinctively, as all the energy was once again focused on my legs. My movement was not as exaggerated as before, but I was still able to move in time. I barely managed to intercept the blows, but the attacks sent me flying towards the body of one of the surrounding mushrooms.

With my arcane body still activated I had time to change its focus. I quickly switched to dexterity, which gave me time to readjust my body. As I was in the air, I once again switch focus to strength. When I crashed feet first into the mushroom, I felt a strong force recoil into my body causing an extreme pain in my legs. I did not have time to focus on it as, I pushed off the trunk of the mushroom, shooting myself back into the path of the incoming vines. Protecting Bailey as her attack charged up had become my biggest priority.

The girls continued to act. My brief flight had happened in less than a second, but a second was a long time in a battle of this scale. Leisha had managed to approach the mushroom by now, her claws ripping into the soft flesh of its body.

Fireballs repeatedly struck the mushroom, yet the damage they caused seemed to be insignificant. Before each impact, the mushroom would slightly rotate its body causing the fireballs to strike the florescent red stripe on its cap. The fireballs would harmlessly dissipate when it stuck the red section, causing no damage to the mushroom. She was forced to switch focus, using her fireballs to heal any wounds that appeared on us. Thankfully, she had been aware of the strike I had intercepted, and a timely fireball healed the damage I had taken.

The wounds produced by Leisha and Hylia were healing at a rapid pace, but as of yet they were still able to damage it. The mushroom continued tried to turn to find a way to block the bullets the Lucifer repeatedly shot at it, but no matter the color the bullets continued to pierce it. The wounds did not heal, and I could only imagine it was the result of the poison.

The mushroom was enraged by the strikes, which we were perfectly aware of because of the angry howls we could hear behind us that originated from the still bound Hunter.

I did not have time to focus on his howls, as I was once again about to be struck by the vines. I had managed to land in front of Bailey, and I barely had enough time to switch focus to Constitution and brace for impact as the fines struck me.

My skin was not ripped from my arms, but I was quite sure my bones were broken as the vines struck me. A fireball hit me moments later, healing the damage I had taken. The wounds began to heal a rapid pace, but broken bones would take much longer to heal than a flesh wound. The healing power of her fireballs would not be enough for this.

I was not sent flying from the force, but I was pushed back by almost a meter. I could feel tears forming in my eyes from the pain, but I refused to budge from my spot.

Before the next round of attacks could hit, I saw Hylia throw something to me from the corner of the eye. I did not know what it was, but I instinctively reached out to catch it. My arms screamed at me for the move, and I almost missed the flying projectile. When I opened my hand, I found that it was the [Ant Queen's Brilliant Earing] She had received a long time ago. I only nodded as I quickly equipped it.

I could feel my bones healing at an accelerated pace as the power of the earring began to enter my body. With this maybe I would be able to protect Bailey long enough for her to be able to fire.

Chapter end