A Fungal Dream

Chapter 13

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In a dark hotel room, the elf and his comrades were staring at a crystal ball, which was sitting on a cushion floating 1 meter above the floor.

The sphere suddenly lit up in a blue light and a distorted voice could be heard coming from it.

"What did you learn?"

The people in the room bowed down before the orb, holding their heads down. The bravest of them, the werecat spoke in a firm and respectful voice.

"Our king, we have done as you ask us to do. We gathered all the intel we could about the city and its inhabitants. As expected, they are greatly weakened by the sudden appearance of the plague. If we act now, we can take over this city with half of the army."

"Perfect. And the target?"

"He is… strange. He immediately discovered our identities, yet he wasn't fazed by us. Also, the level 30 ninja we sent after him, lost him as if he teleported or turned invisible for a second."

"So, my wife's prophecy didn't lie. He does possess special powers from which our kingdom could surely use. Try to persuade him to join us. If it doesn't work, bring him here and I will do the talking."

"As you wish my king."

*****

Angela POV:

"Phew, I needed this!"

After taking a good bath I sat on my bed, thinking.

The spread of the infection is becoming worse. More and more people are getting infected, and we can't make enough suppressants for everybody. We need to think about a method to contain this before it becomes worse.

Some members of the holy congress are even planning to set the infected on fire in hope of stopping the spread, not caring about if the sick is a noble or a citizen. If this would happen, then almost half of the city would be engulfed in flames.

"I must prevent this from happening no matter what.

'-fa-'

"Who said that?!"

Hearing the strange voice, I jumped on my feet, channeling mana in all my body.

'-Father. We…found…you…'

As I heard the voice again, a sudden headache hit me as if my skull was about to split in two.

Somehow, I ended up kneeling before my full-length mirror, allowing me to see that horror that was happening to me.

He green rashes have started to spread, now reaching my stomach and the upper arms.

My already infected eye now completely become infected by the mold and it seemed like it got lit on a green fire.

As I tried not to scream, images started to pour into my head.

A cabin in the middle of a street…a flight of stairs… an underground village…a shack filled with strange things… and a tall man smiling like an idiot as it was covering something in mold.

"The Father… he is there. I need to find him! He must know how to stop the spread of the disease! I must go immediately!"

[You are now connected to the hive.]

[You are now set as one of the children of the Plague Father.]

[If bond isn't severed in 24 hours, you will lose the blessing of the wind and your humanity.]

"What?! What does that even me-"

'SHUT UP!'

A loud voice in my head almost knocked me unconscious.

"What the hell was that?!"

*****

in the cover of the night, a swarm of infected rats ran through the empty streets, eating and infecting everything which was in their way.

Amongst this swarm, several large bodies moved with them, monsters of flesh and mold. And the middle of all this a large humanoid moved with them, its body exuding a thick cloud of spores.

*****

"Wow, this shit really burns well!"

I threw away the burned sample and turned to the other materials on my table.

The white mice which I purchased from one of the merchants down here, were now completely infected and ready for the experiment.

I grabbed a handful of them, took them out of their cozy cage, and put them into another one.

"Let's start this cracking."

The first thing I did was dissecting them one by one and I started to stitch them back together with the needle and threads I purchased from a granny whose knees I treated a few days ago.

The result was quite fascinating. so much so that I grabbed my diary and started to write my notes down in it.

"Test no: 231.

The experiment is a success. it seems like the mold while absorbing the nutrients from the host's body, but also keeping it alive. When dissected, the infected organs kept on working on their own, and there seemed to be no rejection found when the organs were exchanged between hosts. My theory is that the mold enters into the nervous system of its host, forcing its body to work even after death. If this is true then the next experiment will completely suppress the mold, even killing it completely.

Once I was done writing, I took an ampul and inspected the purple fluid in it carefully. It was a nerve paralyzer made by me. I used several toxins from various plants and monsters. Thanks to my skills and limited knowledge of advanced chemistry, the process of making this thing was quite easy.

I also made another compound, which was entirely black, but for this experiment, I used this one.

"Let's see if this thing works."

From a nearby table, I took out a special syringe, which had two-needles and pumps in it.

I took the vial and a small amount of healing potion and sucked them up into the pumps.

"Judgement hour. Test subject one, good luck "

I took out one of the undissected mice and injected it with the stuff.

The mouse stayed quiet for a while before it started to squeak very loudly, almost shattering my eardrums.

Once it finally quieted down, its body became covered in a green aura.

"Did it work?"

[Congratulations.]

"Fuck! That almost gave me a heart attack!"

[You discovered the suppressant against the newly discovered [Mold Plague]]

"What plague?"

[You received title:[Medicine Pioneer]]

[You received skill: [Formula Creation]]

[Your name been written in The Halls of Medicine]

[Error]

[No name found]

[Please chose a family name and a surname]

[Nickname will be generated according to your past actions.]

"A name? Ehhh, I will definitely stick with Phil since it was my name on Earth. As for the family name…I will go with Smith. I never has been good with names so this will do it for me.

[Name been set as Phil Smith.]

[Generating Nickname…]

[Nickname generated.]

[New name set as : Phil Smith]

"Plague Father? What? That can't be right. Status!"

[

Name: Phil Smith 'Plague Father'

Race: [Low Molded Chimera Skeleton] Lv: 10/70 (20/60)

Main Class: [Life Scholar]

Sub Class: [Runner]

HP(Health Points): 60/60

SP(Stamina Points): 70

MP(Magic Points): 20/20

TMN (Tamed Monster Numbers): 1

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal]

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [Basic Fast Eye] [Formula Creation]

Passive Skills: [Basic Body Knowledge] [Basic Plant Knowledge] [Basic Medicine Knowledge] [Basic Stamina Enhancement] [Basic Movement Enhancement] [Basic Reflex Enhancement.] [Basic Sponge Mind] [Perfect Stomach]

Affinities: [Basic Farming Affinity] [Basic War Affinity] [Basic Pestilence Affinity][ Basic Fire Affinity.] [Basic Life Affinity] [Basic Death Affinity]

Titles: [The One Who Saw A Thousand Worlds] [Knowledge Driven] [Chosen by Flies] [Medicine Pioneer]

]

"Well fuck me. Wait, does that mean that if I inject myself with this stuff…will I kill myself? Or will it act like a suppressant that will limit my powers? I need to run more tests to determine if this stuff is safe for me before sticking it into my body. "

I poured the rest of the paralyzer into three other ampoules and hid them on me.

"Now, let's see about this plague-

[Requirements meant]

"Again?

[You are now able to connect to the Mold Hive.]

Hive mind? What's that?

[You are set as the leader of the hive.]

[Commencing connection]

What?!

'…father…'

"What?"

Voices. I could hear voices in my head!

"Did I finally lose it?!"

'…this feeling…father…Its Father!'

'Father!'

Several high-pitched voices started to chant this word, driving me mad.

"SHUT UP!"

As I cried in agony the voices stopped, quickly replaced by the letters of the system.

[Successfully connected to the system]

[Several skills received: [Hive Mind] [Hive control] [Hive Absorption] [Hive Repulsion] ]

[New title received: [Hive Master]]

[The number of tamed monsters has been increased from[1] to [232, 167]]

What? No, this must be wrong! Show status again!"

[

Name: Phil Smith 'Plague Father'

Race: [Low Molded Chimera Skeleton] Lv: 10/70 (20/60)

Main Class: [Life Scholar]

Sub Class: [Runner]

HP(Health Points): 60/60

SP(Stamina Points): 70

MP(Magic Points): 20/20

TMN (Tamed Monster Numbers): [232, 167]

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal]

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [Basic Fast Eye] [Formula Creation]] [Hive control] [Hive Absorption] [Hive Repulsion]

Affinities: [Basic Farming Affinity] [Basic War Affinity] [Basic Pestilence Affinity][ Basic Fire Affinity.] [Basic Life Affinity] [Basic Death Affinity]

Titles: [The One Who Saw A Thousand Worlds] [Knowledge Driven] [Chosen by Flies] [Medicine Pioneer] [Hive Master]

]

"FFFFFFuuuuuuck me! This is true! I am really connected to a hive mind! How the hell does it even work? is it connected to the system or it's a completely different animal? How do I activate it? Do I need to shout the name of the skill out loud? Hive Control!"

As I said do words, something happened.

As if my vision became layered, I could see the lab I sat up and a green holographic screen at the same time.

"Oh man, is this how it feels like to do drugs?"

Disoriented, I tried to concentrate on the hologram.

It was composed of different screens a big one and several small ones.

The big one showed what seemed to be an incomplete map with a cluster of dots moving towards two other dots.

The other screens showed several points of view of things running through dark streets.

"Is this some sort of surveillance device? Am I able to see the number of people and where are they going? It seems like they are approaching me, and this is bad. I need to diver them to another place. Let's see, if this works."

I touched one of the buildings on the map. Immediately, mental fatigue washed over me, the first I ever experienced since I came here.

"Fuck me this is hard."

Suddenly, I could see the swarm moving to that location then stop there.

"Damn, I hope that house is empty, if not, I will pray for the occupant. I should go there as soon as possible, to assess the situation. But how do I turn this thing off? Oh, never mind."

I just needed to think about it and my vision turned back normal.

"Wait does that mean."

I concentrated and yes, the screen appeared again.

"Interesting."

I turned down again and I was about to leave when I heard a knocking on the door.

What? Now? Really?

"Who is it?"

"It's me Yui. We meet at the bar later this day. May I come in?"

Yui? Who the hell is Yui?

"Yes, you may."

I quickly sat down on my chair and acted like I was continuing my experiments on the mice.

There is no point in letting her stand there since I talked to her. I will listen to what she has to say, then I will send her away, before going to that meeting point.

The girl with the many eyes entered, still wearing the same robe, with the hood on, only showing her face.

"Thank you for inviting me in. It was quite hard to find this house, not a lot of people know about it even existing."

"I bought it from an old lady. She said that it is haunted so that's why nobody wants to live in it. I took it because it was cheap, and I always wanted to see a ghost."

Yui looked around, her many eyes moving in different directions.

To be fair calling this place a house was generous. One big room, no windows just a table and a chair. Around me were the books and scientific equipment that I bought myself.

In a corner, on a pile of books, the plant monster that I created wiggled happily as it snacked some mice that I gave to it.

Home, dark hole home.

Once she was done scanning every corner of my room, all her eyes looked at me.

"I want to excuse for the rudeness of my coworker. She can be quite impulsive sometimes."

"No problem. I didn't pay attention to her."

…

Awkward silence.

"So, now that you apologized you can leave. I have some work to do."

"Right, work. I also came about that." She inhaled and as if she was reciting a speech, she started to speak in a monotone voice. "Dr. Philip, the king of the Night Thong Kingdom is requesting your services! In exchange for your talents in medicine, we offer you payment, shelter, and resources!"

"No."

Why the hell would I accept this offer? They targeted especially me, without me accomplishing anything significant, at least nothing public. Wanting me to go there can only mean two things: the king isn't picky with his doctors or they know what I am and want to dissect me. Both options are terrible.

"Now if you have nothing else to tell me, I have other matters to attend to. I suggest you leave and don't come back when I am not here."

I pointed at the tentacle plant.

"It bites. A lot."

*****

Angela POV:

I waited above the house listening to the noises coming from the inside, with my wind magic enhanced ears.

The house was filled to the brim with infected monsters all gathered here by a mysterious force that even dragged me here.

This is surely the place where that Father is planning to come here. Once he is here, I will capture him and force him to cure me and the city.

As I waited something happened.

The air around me started to turn cold and hard to breathe.

What is happening?

Suddenly, the noises of the creatures died down, replaced by a pressing silence.

What?

Confused, I climbed down to the window of the third floor and looked through it.

No one, not even an infected mouse.

Where are they?

Carefully, using my wind magic, I pushed the window open so that I could climb in.

Once inside I used my enhanced hearing, but I still couldn't hear a thing.

Where are they?

I quietly exited the room, crawled down the stare case, arriving on the second floor.

There standing before the window a man was looking outside. He wore a white coat and a black hat.

Without turning back, he spoke in a calm voice.

"I have been waiting for you. You are not as stealthy as you presume to be."

He slowly turned around showing his twisted face to me.

He was pale white with green hair which looked like several green tentacles. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, but I could see some sort of green luster behind them.

"Are you the father who controls the monsters?"

"Right, we never exchanged our names before."

He bowed exaggeratedly then when he looked at me, he took off his glasses.

He had no eyes, in his empty eye sockets two small balls of green flame were burning in a sinister light.

“I am indeed the Father or whatever you people call me. Nice to meet you, my soon-to-be daughter."