A Fungal Dream

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"Come one. Come on. Beat!"

Channeling more power into the crystal, the green heart finally started to move.

"Yes, yes, YES!"

BOOM!

The heart ruptured, its pieces splashing all over in the jar.

"Damn it!"

I hit the flask in anger, almost breaking it.

"Too much discharge. I need to limit it. Or find a stronger heart. I should check out if there are other bodies around. Is there a morgue around here?"

I put back the stone in my pocket and ventured out of my lab.

Contrary to what they thought, I did go out from my lab, invisible but still.

Walking through the complicated corridors, I arrived at an open area of the castle.

This was the training ground. A Colosseum-like area, with sand on the ground and people hitting each other with wooden swords or attacking the scarecrow dummies.

Nobody noticed me, I walked to one of the trainees, an insectoid monster, a daughter of the King.

Imagine a human woman, with dark chitin armor on her arms and legs, which were too thin to support anything, skin slightly gray, compound eyes, and two small mandibles poking out from the corners of her mouth.

Don't know what sort of taste the King has, but it isn't the same as mine. I like my woman's normal, thank you.

"Lady… Margaret, right? I have a favor to ask you."

"Hmmm, oh it's you, the doctor. What do you want?"

Damn it, her voice was so annoying, those clicking mandibles are disgusting.

"The King told me to find you. I need live test subjects for my strength serums' upcoming experiments. If you have unneeded people, I would gladly take them off your hands."

" … No, I have none. I already gave you a body-"

"The King did."

"-And I find the idea of you cutting up the bodies of our soldiers distasteful."

"Doesn't your species eat rats and insects? An insect eating insect, that's cannibalism, right?"

I might have pushed the wrong buttons, Margaret gave me a death glare and cracked her armored fist.

"Don't forget who you are talking to, physician. With my authority, I can get rid of you in a heartbeat."

We looked at each other for a while, waiting for the first one of us to make a move, when something hit me on the shoulder.

"Fuck!"

I grabbed it and pulled it out, making my black blood splatter on the ground.

It was a small knife; the sort of assassin would use.

"What the F-"

God knows how, I moved my head away just in time, the next knife only slightly cutting my left cheek.

"Tch, I missed."

The one who threw the knives was one of the training soldiers, a half ox beast human.

"Hey, kid! Do you want to die!? Because if you keep this up, I will put your head in a jar!"

" As if you can do that! You are just a weak healer, who can only run away!"

He and his buddies laughed loudly, as the other soldiers kept to themselves.

Normally, something wouldn't make me do the thing I was about to do, but after failing an experiment on which I have been working for days, it did make me irritated.

"Excuse me, my lady, I have some kids to kill."

Not bothering by her answer, I slowly unsheathed my short sword, took out my bone saw and ran at the kid.

He didn't expect a sudden attack, his reaction speed was too slow.

Before he could raise any sort of defense, I was already holding my knives at his throat.

"Do that again, and I promise, I will keep you alive so that you can see your organs outside your body."

"Get away from him!"

I stepped aside just in time, evading some idiot's wooden sword.

"Alright, let's be it that way."

Not wanting to kill them all, I put my weapons back, and I cracked my fists.

"I am warning you; this is my first time fighting with my hands."

"Kill him!"

*****

King POV:

"…and you almost killed them."

"It was a friendly fight, my king."

"Seven ribs, three arms, four legs, and a cracked skull. All this on one guy, and he is the least wounded."

"… Things….escalated."

The King breathed in deeply, massaging its head.

Before its throne, the new doctor and Margaret were kneeling before it.

The daughter was wounded, with scratches and bruises while the doctor was covered in wounds with their clothing torn, and he was even missing an arm, which he held in his still attached one.

He coughed a little, some black smoke escaping from his mouth.

"To be fair…they threw the dagger at me, so it was self-defense."

"Phil."

The king said his name, but he wasn't listening.

"They tore my arm off!"

"You unleashed a swarm of rats on them. "

"Shut up, mandibles, you cut my stomach open!"

"You cut off one of my antennas!"

"You don't have antennas!"

" Then you threw rats in my face!"

"You ate them!"

"SHUT UP! Both of you!"

Raising its voice, both of them shut up.

"First of all, the next time you need bodies, you tell me. Don't go down the training ground and ask for corpses. As for you, Margaret, don't attack somebody from behind, gut them, and rip their arms off. Are we clear?"

"… Yes, my king."

"Good. Now, go heal yourself, you look like someone who is going to die."

They nodded slowly, before going away, the doctor leaving some stains of blood on the floor.

"What the hell is that guy's problem? Can't he behave like an adult?"

Next to the king, a figure appeared, that of a young man whose clothes was entirely white like his skin and hair.

"My son, Specter. What did you see?"

"Nothing. He didn't use his strange powers, but I learned quite a number of things. He possesses speed and reflexes that of a trained veteran, but his movements are those of an amateur. Not only that, but he also seems to be talented in summoning, he managed to summon an army of rats from thin air. "

"Summoning. What a unique power, yet he's a scholar. I wonder where he learned it."

"Probably self-taught. He does have an impressive number of books. If only he didn't put those small monsters there to keep his collection safe."

"I heard of those. Tentacles in flower vases, right? How did he get his hands on them?"

"Maybe he summoned them. They are inoffensive, but he will surely notice it if some of them get destroyed. My opinion is that we shouldn't test his patience even more. Let us just give him those test subjects he wants and let him work."

"Right…or we can do my idea."

The phantom boy looked at his king with a worried face.

"I know that look. I don't like that look."

*****

"A what raid?"

I was in the middle of sewing back my arm in my lab.

Turns out that even with all my new blood, my body was still made from mushrooms, and it seems like after a threshold of pain I would feel nothing. After the stitches are done, I would dose the wound with some healing potions, and I would be good.

"He said a dungeon raid. Are you stupid or what?"

The insect girl was with me, using MY stockpile of healing potions to heal herself.

"I didn't ask you! Stop drinking my potions and crawl back to the hole you came from!"

"Would you like to repeat that, you living mushroom!"

"Bring it, insect girl!"

We both grabbed our weapons, ready to jump at each other.

"… If I may, the King ordered me to tell you that any more disputes aren't permissible. Please do not continue them."

The messenger was a sharply dressed man, rocking one of those butler uniforms. If only he had a face and not just a gross mouth in the middle of his head, he would be more pleasant to look at.

"You do realize that the King itself ordered me to work. Now I need to go into a dungeon? Is it in my work contract for me to go down fighting monsters?"

"Its Royalty have deemed that clearing this dungeon is more important. You will receive compensation."

"… Alright, alright. When will I be departing?"

"As soon as the physician is ready."

"… I will need to restock on my potions and grab a few things, so it will be around an hour or two. Oh, if you could send somebody with some new clothes, that would be great."

"Any preferences?"

"Ahh, if you can get me a coat that has many pockets, that would be great."

"Certainly."

After the butler and the insect left, while sighing, I grabbed a small black book from my shelf.

It's around that time.

[Contact made with drifter item: Book of Calces]

[Commencing dive…]

My surroundings started to shift as I started to spin, finally arriving back at the apartment from my first arrival.

I have been here three times, not counting my first arrival.

Each time, I managed to stay here, even longer, now able to stay here for an entire day or so.

By crossing through worlds, I learned a few things.

First of all, I had a theory about my title, [The One Who Saw A Thousand Worlds], and its effects.

This world, the world I was currently working in, apparently practiced hero summoning.

From the records containing the accounts of various heroes that I found in the library(which I raided mercilessly), there is only mention of bright light or a white being explaining the things, when they arrived here. In my case, I wasn't invited here.

While the cool heroes were riding the party bus, my hand was caught and got dragged through the road.

When I was…' burning' I saw the same thing when I was diving. I don't remember much, but I believe that when I was brought here, I went through different worlds which were between my own and that one.

It seems like even if I am unconscious, it seemed that me being there counts as seeing them.

In the description of my blessing, there was something about being able to see things,

What if the combination of my blessing and skill would cause something like dimensional travel?

In this maddening multiverse or wherever I was, this could make sense.

My blessing would identify 'drifter items', objects coming from different worlds, and when I touch them, my skill would use them as portals to arrive here.

If I am correct, then if I can find an item from my original world, I could possibly return there, making me meet the heroes and steal their stuff one of my top priorities. Right, after continuing my experiments.

As much as I wanted to sit before a computer, watching films, there was some sort of sadistic pleasure in me working on these things.

Anyway, now being on Planet Steampunk, I continued my work.

I put my mask back, for safety purposes, and started looking around in the house.

From my previous excursions, I learned several things.

I can't take everything with me, I can only use books and there is a limit to how much I can take with myself.

The last time, I bought five with myself to test my limits, and when I returned, I was vomiting blood while my head almost split in two.

Once it was over, I realized that not everything would grant me a skill.

A cooking book would go into my [Formula Creation] skill, while the rest would be just lost.

Meaning, that there are things that I can learn, and things I can't.

So today, I will go select two books, which are close to my personality.

Being an avid fan of music, I grabbed a book having different types of songs and instrument notes as my first choice.

Maybe I will be able to play an instrument someday.

As for my second choice… yeah. This place doesn't have anything else. Time to bail.

For the sake of not looking too suspicious, I prepared something.

It was a cape, which I made from the materials I found here. I even added a small mask to it with the cross eyes and creepy smile, making me remind of those Japanese rain dolls.

"It's night, so let's go terrorizing some locals!"

Putting on my costume, I took a deep breath, and like in the shop, I broke the window before running out into the night.

*****

"Dispatch, this is HQ. We received reports of a strange individual breaking into a bookstore on Cladded Road, near the intersection of Grease Street."

"Dispatch here. We are near the place, so we will check it out. Will contact you when we are done."

"Roger that, HQ out."

The small radio thingy, finally shut up.

"Damn it, these new 'walking-talks' really are killing me. Why do we even use these things?"

"You heard why. It's much easier to talk. Plus, I know that you are old-fashioned, but you have to love these new toys."

The policeman showed the bulky-looking gun to him, which let out a hiss once he loaded it.

"A steam gun. I still can't understand why we need these things. A good whack with a sword is enough to deal with all sorts of problems."

"That way of thinking is outdated! These days, with those steam knuckles around, close combat is suicide! If you want to live a long and happy life, keep your issues far away from yourself."

"You and your friends are all the same! Trusting these new gadgets rather than doing the work yourself."

"Oh, said the-Were here."

The bookshop was small, it was squeezed between two houses, with the display window smashed open.

"Yes, we are. I will go in first, you cover my behind with that weapon of yours."

"Don't get yourself killed, old man."

"Bah!"

The old policeman jumped through the broken glass, with his hand on the handle of his sword.

The glass cracked under his feet as he walked in.

The lamps inside got extinguished with different books thrown on the floor.

"Whoever is here, come out now!"

Thud!

One of the nearby books fell from its shelf, scaring the old man a little.

"Give yourself up, and you may escape with just a fine!"

There was no sound, the creepy silence made his skin crawl.

Then, his foot hit it.

"What the-"

It was a bundle of clothes, held together by a black string.

When he lifted it up, he noticed the head, which was nothing more than a sack, with its eyes and mouth nothing more than black strings.

"Well, isn't that delightful?"

He threw the cloth back on the ground, but it didn't fall.

Instead, it stayed in the air, its eyes looking at him.

"What-"

He couldn't finish his sentence.

The cloth thing jumped on him, without the sound, painting his world in darkness.

[

Name: Phil Smith 'Plague Father'

Race: [Molded High Elf] Lv: 1/100 (0/100)

Main Class: [Life Scholar]

Sub Class: [Runner]

HP(Health Points): 240/240

SP(Stamina Points): 260

MP(Magic Points): 160/160

TMN (Tamed Monster Numbers): [231.810]

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal]

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [[Hive control] [Hive Absorption] [Hive Repulsion] [Mold Field] [Basic Spirit Voice] [Aether Vision] [Steam Engineering]

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] [Hive Mind]

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]

]