Thank you all for reading! It really is so amazing! I love it! <3
When Michael woke up again there was definitely something different about him. He wasn’t a different person, so to speak, but something in his eyes had changed.
Perhaps there was a glint of confidence in there. Perhaps a hint of p...
2024-11-05 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“’Break to go home’?” Eik read out loud. “That’s what it says on this thing.”
“So we really did do it?” Heath asked. “We can go home if we break that?”
Eik turned it over in his hand. The flip side was blank and unadorned, the material appearing to be some kind of semi ...
2024-11-04 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostFor several moments Eik was lost in the feeling of the Profound Toxin surging through the kilometer long underground mycelium network.
His consciousness was pulled in and through the tunnel-like structures. It was as if he had become a part of the Profound Toxin itself. Even in the darkness inside of the extensive body ...
2024-11-01 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Aw, shit! Are you guys seeing three of them as well?” Eik asked.
“Yes…” Michael nodded, swallowing hard.
“What do we do?” Heath asked as he raised his shield protectively. “I don’t think I can keep the attention of all three of them or even survive it if I could.”
The three newl...
2024-10-31 16:17:35 +0000 UTC View PostRepeating the one step to bring out the boss from the beneath the mycelium network, Sonja stepped up to the edge and got into a stable kneeling position as she drew and nocked an arrow on the string to pull her bow to its full length. The moment she let the arrow fly her hand was already moving to the quiver to prepare anothe...
2024-10-29 16:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostNext was the whole arm, cracked and bark-like skin decorated with the same moss that grew plentifully throughout the entire region. It bent at the elbow and put a palm against one of the many limbs, hauling itself up and out of the ground to reveal the whole of the being.
What emerged was a tangled mess of roots and mos...
2024-10-28 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostIgnoring the pain in his leg, Eik leapt on his good foot. The Gohkamorian didn’t seem to have expected that because Eik’s Viper Fang went into his stomach with little more than a hand raised halfway in response.
A breathless gasp escaped the alien’s mouth as the blade went through skin, fat, and muscle, twisting i...
2024-10-27 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAs if guided by a sixth sense, the Gohkamorian whirled on his feet, axe coming up in a deadly, two-handed arch. Profound Toxin was already gushing from Viper Fang, drawing a luminescent blue line through the night.
The lethal blade made brief contact with the giant’s skin and penetrated into flesh at the depth of abou...
2024-10-26 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostUnfortunately, anesthesia and pain killers were a luxury they had no access to here in mushroom world. Heath had to use his other hand to cover Michael’s mouth to prevent him from howling in agony. Even if they had run a good distance away from the where the pursuers had originally found them, they could never be careful en...
2024-10-25 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostAnother bolt of sailed over their heads, impacting a mushroom trunk and scorching it black.
“They’re shooting! I’ll try to return fire!” Sonja warned.
She let one fly but she had trouble aiming properly. She tried again but the second and third shot didn’t go much better.
Without being prompted by ...
2024-10-24 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostBlotting out the sky, the titanic fungus looked like some manner of alien space craft arriving to lay claim to the planet.
Eik and the others were still far enough away from the thing that they hadn’t noticed it until now with the cap cover. A real ‘can’t see the tree for the forest’ kind of moment. If anything ...
2024-10-23 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“Someone’s here with us,” Eik said.
“But… how the hell did Menka Tokanami’s people come after us that quickly? Wasn’t Atla supposed to stop them from following us through the fracture,” Heath exclaimed.
Sonja shrugged. “Anything could have happened after we left. If Atla and Mikla were forced to ...
2024-10-21 20:08:43 +0000 UTC View PostAfter about half an hour of trudging through thick moss they came across a small pond no more than a few meters from edge to edge. Although Eik was hesitant to put his face into the water, he also realized the importance of locating a drinkable source of water before their rather limited supply began to ran out.
What th...
2024-10-21 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostEik put on his pants and ran into the hallway where Atla was knocking up the others. Mis followed him, seeing a chance to beg for a rare midnight snack.
Sonja was up and alert in seconds, Michael following soon after. Heath was still trying to get his eyes to open all the way by the time Eik made it there.
“She...
2024-10-20 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post“72496!” the judge announced, his face saying that he still wasn’t sure he had sensed that right.
Eik stared at the man, not sure if his ears had gotten the number correct either. His optimistic hope for the score had been something around double Heath’s 6748, but 72496? The potency of Profound Toxin was honestl...
2024-10-19 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“Go all out?” Michael repeated, the blood draining from his cheeks and forehead. “On that thing? What if it wakes up? I’m an F-ranker! A B-rank monster could sneeze on me and I’d die!”
“It won’t wake up,” Atla stated confidently.
“How can you be sure?” the young healer exclaimed.
She po...
2024-10-18 16:00:30 +0000 UTC View PostDespite holding the highest rank in their team of four, Eik didn’t even manage to get close to Heath’s impressive score in the endurance test. At fourteen seconds he was on his knees and at seventeen seconds he was out. Without Noxious Invigoration he really was more fragile than Sonja.
“You’ll probably make the...
2024-10-17 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAlthough Eik’s suite was still the largest and most exquisitely furnished, each of the three rooms granted to Heath, Sonja, and Michael had everything one could ever desire from a living space.
The wall that had been destroyed when Menka Tokanami tried to kill them after the rescue mission had even been fixed to the p...
2024-10-16 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostA second after the battle had begun, a series of explosions of pink smoke covered the entire field. An opaque shroud now hung heavy.
Muffled sounds of struggle followed, accompanied by the shrill shriek of Travis’ Lightning Judgement of Tyrannical Ruination. Moments later a scream sounded from inside that traveled rap...
2024-10-15 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostAtla was the first to step inside, followed closely by Mikla. Both wore the same type of ceremonial robe decorated with intricate color patterns woven into the fabric that Atla had worn for her first contact with Earth.
“You!” Boulder Fist Gary snarled and stood. His face showed equal parts fury and trepidation. Mos...
2024-10-14 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe Mission Central building had been vacated completely to make space for the tribunal. Guards circled the outer walls and milled about the perimeter. Apparently they didn’t want to risk any Awakened with abilities that heightened their senses to discover any of the information to be discussed inside.
Their eyes were...
2024-10-13 16:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post“You know who’s doing it?” Eik asked, eyes wide. “Who? Who is it?”
Mikla raised his hands to calm him down. “As certain as I can realistically be, yes. Have you heard of the Gohkamorians?”
“Of course I haven’t. I’ve barely heard about you.”
Mikla chuckled. “Right. Dumb question… Any...
2024-10-12 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 12]
[Acquired (Unique) Profound Toxin — Lv. 37]
[Skill evolution available. Skill available for evolution: (Unique) Profound Toxin]
[Choose one]
[(Unique) Profound Toxin ...
2024-10-11 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostEik, Michael, Sonja, and Heath sat around a table at a cafe. It was one of many located along one of the side streets that branched out from a main road that connected the Central Square as the city hub of Forest. Central Square was still overflowing with barricades and Awakened to keep a constant, vigilant eye on the fractur...
2024-10-10 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post“We were worried sick!” Sonja cried. She had apparently been crying since before Eik got back, but it had intensified once they found out he had survived the attack.
They were walking back toward Forest with Eik and Michael carrying Heath between them. A stretcher had been provided for the big tank who stil...
2024-10-09 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostEven as the poison flowed thickly through its veins, attacks from the high-rankers outside continued to batter the lake serpent without pause. More than once, Eik almost lost his grip on Viper Fang which was the only thing that kept him from sliding further down the twisting sphincter and into the deadly stomach acid.
V...
2024-10-08 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostWhen the fist came down Eik could do nothing to avoid it. It was too fast and too heavy. Life should have flashed before his eyes, but what he saw instead was Heath’s wide back obscuring the attack.
The metallic crash of a truck hitting a wall tore through the forest and a deep boom like that of a powerful bass pulse...
Rock Fist Bart stopped his squad with a raised hand when he saw the crocodilian monsters, taking another couple of cautious steps before noticing the other Awakened ahead. He frowned at the sight of Eik but quickly directed his attention back to the two monsters between them. He locked eyes with the robed man who had led Eik...
2024-10-06 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostHeath’s breathing was growing more ragged by the second, the affected skin bubbling up into angry welts. Profound Toxin probably wouldn’t kill him very quickly without access to his circulatory system, but that didn’t change the fact that he would become unable to fight if his skin was flayed from his flesh.
“I ...
2024-10-05 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe monstrous fiend got in a fifth lunge before a massive shock wave knocked it backwards into the lake, sending another large wave out in all directions.
“Something’s happening!” Heath hissed, clutching his shield tightly as if he was in the midst of the battle himself. As the serpent rose out of the lake again, ...
2024-10-04 16:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post
