A Fungal Dream

I discovered the best way to get ideas to write: Play D&D while drunk. Sometimes you have bad ideas, like making a potato tree, but sometime, sometime, you get great ideas.

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This place was beautiful.

The mold around us was sending me a warm feeling as the flowers slightly moved in the breeze. The spores that floated in the air felt like they were caressing my skin.

It felt like… I was home.

“Oh my god. Look!”

War pointed at a pile of mold which started to move.

Before our eyes, the thing took on the shape that somehow reminded me of a rhinoceros, which sniffed the ground before walking away in the distance.

“It doesn’t seem like it has a purpose. Could it be that the mold in this city has awakened some sort of consciousness that started mimicking real-life animals? Fascinating, just fascinating.”

“Will they attack us?”

I looked at Dark, who was looking in the direction of the beast with a suspicious look.

“Do not worry, you guys are with me. If we stick around, I can make these beasts purr and roll.”

“Can you do it now!?”

War was looking at me with such sparkling eyes that it was impossible to say no.

“…Give me a sec.”

I kneeled down on the ground and reconnected with the mold.

With the rhythm, I searched the surrounding area, looking for the remains of animals.

Once I found several piles of bones, I gathered them together and made them form the outline of a cat.

The small abomination of nature then was carried by the mold to us, slowly appearing before my feet.

“Here, War. You can keep it.”

“Yay!”

The girl picked up the small animal and hugged it tightly to her-

Crack!

“…I think I broke-“

“I won’t make another one!”

Shaking my head, I continued moving.

We were now in the rich districts a few hundred fleets of stairs separating us from the temple.

Where we were, I could feel the rhythm spreading through my feet.

I could tell that it was getting faster, becoming excited as I was getting closer to it.

Just what is this creature that lives here? Is it the monster that fused with the mold and retained its sentience or was it the mold itself that became sentient?

I needed to find out. The future of my species depended on it.

“…Everyone. hold onto me.”

Once again, I kneeled to the ground, calling for the mold.

In a meter area around us, the ground shifted as six spider-like legs grew out of the ground and listed a piece of the ground on which we stood.

“WOW! You are amazing Desmond!”

Still concentrating, I made the legs move, going through the terrain in a flash.

What must have been 2 hours of journey for us, became only half an hour.

The legs slowly put us down before the doors of the church doors.

“Can you hear it?”

Darkness looked at war with a worried look.

“Yeah. It’s like a heartbeat.”

“No.”

I slowly walked to the doors, listening to the rhythm.

“it’s a song.”

Without me touching it, the doors opened before me without a sound letting us enter.

“Amazing.”

The inside of the church was beautiful.

The ground was now a field of white flowers with vines creeping up on the once bone-white pillars.

Hidden between these constructs stood an army of silver armors, holding different weapons.

On the ceiling, several wines were hanging on which grew some flowers, which seemed to glow in the ray of light that came in from the broken windows.

At the back of this building, in front of the doors, I saw a mass of vines and flowers.

This was it.

It was the source.

As I stepped inside, the armors fell on their knees simultaneously, with their helmets hanging low.

“GLORY TO THE FATHER! FOR HIM, OUR LIVES! FROM HIM, OUR SOULS!”

What? Is this some sort of greeting?

“…All right. Rise, my knights.”

“AT YOUR COMMAND!”

The armors quickly got on their feet. and bashed their chest with their gauntlets.

War leaned closer to my ear and whispered.

“I didn’t know you had an army here.”

“That makes two of us.”

When I was standing before the mass of tentacles, I felt something coming from it.

It wasn’t a feeling but… words?

‘You are finally here.’

Before our very eyes, the mass slowly untangled, revealing what was hidden beneath it.

“…The hell?”

In the mass of vines was a bed made from white flowers.

Laying on it was a woman with pale green skin and hair that looked like the roots of a plant. Flowers covered her private areas, her belly was big, as if she were pregnant, with its insides glowing with a greenish light.

Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady as if she were sleeping but I could tell through the mold that she was wide awake.

“You… I know you.”

Her face, I saw it somewhere, but I couldn’t remember where.

‘Yes. You gave me this gift. I do not remember much of my past life, but I am glad that you made me into this. I am surrounded by my people who care for me, and our children are growing stronger.’

“… What? Children?”

I looked at her bulging stomach, sweat running down my forehead.

‘Yes. These are our children.’

….

….

…

HELL NO! NO! NICHT! NO WAY! HOW?! WHY?! I HAVEN’T SLEPT WITH ANYONE EVE SINCE I ARRIVED HERE! IN THIS LIFE, I AM A VIRGIN! I WILL NOT BECOME A VIRGIN DAD! I BARED WITH THE KAYERI CALLING ME FATHER, BUT THIS… NO! NOOOO!”

While I was screaming in my head, War leaned over her.

“Is she sleeping? Who is she?”

“She… She is the mother… of a new race.”

‘Oh, that’s cold, papa.’

“You. you stay quiet.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Not you, the … woman in the bed. She is connected to the mold so that I can speak to her.”

“Oh! … Can you ask her if I can touch her stomach?

‘Go ahead.’

“She says you can.”

While War was busy pampering her, I stepped aside and started to think.

What the hell am I going to do?! Should I take her with me?! Where the hell would I even take here?! Kill her then? But those kids… Those can be the next step in the evolution of the kayeri. Not turned but born members of our race.

“Fuck.”

I lit up a cigarette and breathed in the smoke.

“Darwin, we have a problem.”

I looked at Dark who had been standing away from us, his eyes closed.

“Tell me about it. What’s up.”

“It’s the apostle. He is in the city. I can feel it.”

Baffled, I instantly connected to the mold, going through it.

Sure enough, I could feel something moving towards us, not on the ground but … above.

“HE CAN FLY! SHIT WAR! DARKNESS! THE KID BE HERE AT ANY MINUTE! YOU! GET BACK INTO YOUR COOKSON AND HIDE! I AM TAKING OVER THE CONTROL!”

‘I like it when you are in char-‘

“SHUT IT!”

I stomped on the ground, connecting with the mold.

I cannot allow that guy to come here. I need to bring the fight to him. Fuuuucccck, this is going to be a pain.

“Let’s see how you are going to handle my soldiers now, pretty boy.”

*****

Joshua Riker’s (The apostle of Light) POV:

I flew through the broken houses looking at the ruins which used to be a buzzing city.

Where once people were walking safely, friends laughing and children playing, now became a hotbed of contagious infection filled with monsters born from the very people who lived there.

“Unforgivable. I must defeat him!”

When I flew over one of the houses, several tentacles grew, crashed through its roof, and reached towards me.

“Shit! Holy Shield!”

I surrounded myself with a barrier of light.

Normally, if something would touch my power, they would burn themselves into ash, yet the appendages grabbed me tightly and slammed me to the ground.

The barrier took almost all the damage, but I felt sick from the shock of the Impact.

“So, you came.”

The vines from the houses extended and wrapped around my body, lifting me in the air.

Standing on the back of a giant monster was a man wearing a black coat, a blackish green suit, and a top hat.

His upper face was wrapped in bandages, which seemed to be stained with dried blood, and on his left, he held a magnificent-looking staff made from gold and some unknown black metal.

“I will be frank with you, I expected you to take more time arriving here, with you carrying your friends around. Did you throw them on the ground while you were flying? What sort of friend are you?”

“Shut it! Where are the others?! What did you do to the others?”

“The others? Right, I had a change of plans with all the craziness that’s happening around. Your friend, the emo goth guy is probably around, shaking in fear. As for our gentle lady-“

STAB!

“-IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU!”

Something flew through me when I heard a woman’s voice shouting.

Something made a hole in my abdomen making blood gush out on the ground.

“Wh-What?”

“Sorry, but I have learned my lesson.”

The monster approached me as the man standing on it aimed its scepter at my face.

“I left someone at death’s door before, only to have them escape and give me troubles. I will not make the same mistake twice. Lightning, the fire of the sky, the rage of heaven, come down upon the enemy of your son. Shock Flare.”

From the tip of the staff, sparks of electricity have gathered, with a metallic smell lingering in the air.

“Holy Wings!”

With the wings appearing behind my back, I managed to free myself in time.

The second I flew in the air, a bolt of lightning flew out of his scepter, burning one of the houses and the things in it to ash.

Trying not to scream I put my hands on the wound and concentrated.

“Holy Light Heal.”

Pumping a large amount of mana, I closed the wound, leaving only the bloodstains behind.

“You can do that? Damn, would have choked you.”

“You bastard!”

In anger, I flew toward him with my sword filled with energy.

Boom!

From the houses, several

“I have already defeated your minions! These are nothing.”

“Defeat? Are you sure?”

As he spoke, he jumped on the ground, the pieces of meat shivered and started to move towards him, gathering and being absorbed by the monster behind him.

“Those two were just test subjects, meant to slow you down. With me here, no monster under my command shall die.”

The man lifted his staff in the air.

“I wonder if this will work. Lux! Praesidium! Sanctitas! Da mihi pennas tuas ut verbum pangam! Latus Caelum! (Light! Protection! Holiness! Give me your wings so that I may spread the word! Side of Heaven!)”

From the scepter, a halo of light formed that flew behind him from which pair of angelic white wings grew out early similar to the ones I had.

“ I am not done. Tartara! Desperes! Damnatio! Afferte ad me flammas tuas! Parte Orci! (Hell! Despair! Damnation! Bring your flames to me! Side of Hell!)”

The end of the scepter lit up in burning flames as it was twisted to take on the shape that looked like a pitchfork that the devil would use.

He spun the weapon a few times in the air, before pointing at me, the mass of flesh behind him taking the shape of some sort of snake-looking thing, with a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth.

“Now then. Apostol of Light, shall we do the obligatory fight of evil and good?”

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[

Name: Darwin Tim Right 'Plague Father'

Race: [ True Kayeri (Mechanically Augmented)] LV: 1/10 000 (1/10 000)

Main Class: [Dark Apostle of Putrefaction]

Sub Class: [Life Father]

MP: 6000/6000

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal] [Blessing of Airmed]

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [[Hive control] [Hive Absorption] [Hive Repulsion] [Mold Field] [Basic Spirit Voice] [Aether Vision] [Steam Engineering] [Dagger Arts][Presence Concealment] [Lock Picking] [Mold Manipulation] [Fly manipulation] [Plant Manipulation] [ Decomposing touch] [Rot Embodiment] [Inorganic conversion] [Plague Mist] [Face Switch]

Passive Skills: [Body Knowledge] [ Plant Knowledge] [Medicine Knowledge] [Stamina Enhancement] [ Movement Enhancement] [ Reflex Enhancement.] [Basic Sponge Mind] [Perfect Stomach] [Hive Mind] [Music Instrument Knowledge] [Healing Hands][Medical Senses] [Medical Mind] [Surgical Precision] [Mechanical Skeleton] [Toxic Air] [ High Regeneration] [Organic Clockwork] Demon’s Presence]

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] [Giver of Life] [The 13th Dark Apostle] [Father of New Race]

]