Chapter 14 - Mushroohum Siege (Patreon)

Elania spent what felt like weeks practicing her ability to hunt. She had parted ways amicably with Skinner, but she had hoped that they would meet again. She was lonely, with little idea for what she should do, other than keep hunting and trying to learn the layout of the caverns.

She was very grateful for the leather belt; she had turned it into a sheath that went across her shoulder and was able to easily draw up to four javelins from it, although it had cost her the last four patches of her torn robe.

Still, it had helped a lot with how many projectiles she could carry. That was important because she found that throwing javelins without a target didn't seem to help her level her [Throwing Weapons] skill.

She had figured out that it was essential to level those skills. She hadn't noticed much difference in them at first, but that was because the effect they had was terraced at every 5 or 10 levels.

She called up her [Status] screen and looked at the results of her hard work.

[Status]

Name: Elania Reyes

Race: Lesser Demon (S Class Monster)

Level: 21

Power: 125/152

Karma: 24

Titles: [Locked]

[Some functions are disabled due to insufficient requirements.]

[Skills: Elania Reyes]

[Class: None]

[Affinities: Demonic, Mana, Darkwalker]

[Magical: Demonic Aura Lvl - 6 (Deactivated), Mana Manipulation Lvl - 12, Battle Concentration Lvl 1]

[Physical: Unarmed Combat Lvl - 4, Darkvision Lvl - 3 (Activated), Dodging Lvl - 18, Block Lvl - 12, Stealth Lvl - 31, Throwing Weapons Lvl - 24, Combat Mastery Lvl - 9]

[Mundane: Identify Lvl - 4, Universal Speech Lvl - 5, Reading Lvl - 4, Writing Lvl - 3, Athletics Lvl - 9, Improvised Crafting Lvl - 19, Tracking Lvl 4]

[Attributes: Elania Reyes]

[Current Attributes:

Demon Contract (1 Available)

Regeneration (Normal)

Demonic Self-Sustenance

Enhanced Physical Abilities (Strength, Mana Capacity)

Immunity (Darkness)

Resistance (Poison, Mana)

Weakness (Holy)]

She hadn't experimented any more with her [Mana Manipulation] because, without the Mana Shard, she wasn't ensured free Power. With her Aura off, the consumption of Power had reduced below what she had measured before, so it had continued to rise with each kill.

More than ever, she was more appreciative of just how much having that Mana Shard had saved her life at first. She'd never have survived the encounter with the other Demon if she hadn't been jacked up on 'Power' like an addict.

As the amount she had collected raised, so too had all her abilities seemed to increase across the board. She was faster, stronger, and didn't feel as much fatigue. It wasn't nearly as exaggerated as when she had gone over her power limit, but the effect was certainly easily felt.

Even then, she had almost been killed twice since meeting Skinner, and the cost [Regeneration] had meant that she had to maintain her vigilance constantly. Luckily, like food and water, she needed little sleep, only bothering to take a nap for a few hours between long expanses where she stalked her prey.

Absorbing the Dalkwalkers felt good.

Ralfots had the same effect, but immensely less potent. They did, however, have a good use other than just absorbing. They made good bait.

The whole concept of it scared her, although less than the realization, she had no way of stopping it.  She knew, deep down that, it had changed her... even if only a little. She emphatically did not want to become a monster.

She'd improved her skills enough that she felt it was time to get back her Mana Shard.

---

Elania kept to the shadows as she made her way around toward what she called in her head the 'Mushroohum Fields' where she had first encountered the Bone Demon. She'd avoided those areas mostly, not wanting to get in a fight with the Mushroom Men, despite her success dealing with Skinner.

The cavern hadn't changed, but she had. She'd absorbed enough Darkwalker essence that [Stealth] had become her highest leveled skill, and as her Power had risen, it showed. She wasn't quite capable of sneaking up on the Darkwalkers, yet, but she could get close enough to throw a javelin as long as she took her time.

Ralfots and Elnats were child's play in comparison, especially since she kept her distance with no intent to hurt the Mushroohum's herd animals.

Elania was torn between contacting them and trying to communicate, or sneaking in and trying to make a plan on how to retrieve the Mana Shard.

'Both options suck.'

Still, she had to try, and scouting the outskirts would be the first step she told herself.

Except things didn't go according to plan. Once she got closer, it became clear that the Elnats and Ralfots she'd been 'sneaking' past were absent. The gates to the Mushroohum village had been somehow torn apart, giant gaping holes in the fungal walls evident.

Conflict roiled through Elania. She wanted her Mana Shard back, but she didn't wish the Mushroom People harm...

Elania didn't blame them for taking it when they found it, or even for attacking her when they found her with their animals. She'd learned how predatory the caverns were in the last few days.

As she moved closer to the breaches, she realized she could hear sounds coming from inside. Growls and hisses and roars that she'd recognize anywhere.

'Darkwalkers?'

Why, how? They were predators that usually hunted along as far as she knew. It would have taken a dozen or more of them working together to tear down the wall like it had been, in her opinion. As far as she knew, they were just beasts that followed their instincts to stalk and hunt the wild Ralfots.

She slipped through the hole in the wall and started up a narrow tunnel that sloped downward slightly. A musty odor filled her nose, and the air seemed to turn more humid and warm.

The sounds grew louder, and the familiar cry of the Mushroohum's was barely discernible. Whatever battle that was ahead of her was still ongoing.

When Elania finally reached the end of the tunnel and stepped out onto a small ledge, she felt her breath catch.

It was a circular cavern, with a steaming lake centered in the middle of the caldera-like formation. Numerous buildings surrounded the water in a semicircle, while the rest of the cave was dotted with the familiar fungal growths she'd seen before.

The source of the battle sounds riveted her eyes as she took in the rapidly evolving action. There were dozens of the Darkwalkers, and they were tearing the Mushroohums to pieces.

Little groups of spear and shield-wielding Mushroom Men still stood defiantly, huddled in small circles, or falling back into the stone buildings.

It didn't make sense to Elania. Darkwalkers were lone predators; what was causing them to work en masse to assault the Mushroohums?

'I should get out of here, and come back later. There are too many, and the Mushroohums might even attack me.'

It was a very human emotion that had held her captive, before eventually winning out. Greed.

Dozens of Darkwalker corpses were strewn in lines, mixed with Mushroom Men. Elania set off at a jog toward the battle. There was no sign of any rearguard, or any tactics on the part of the Darkwalkers, only pure fury, and a forward driving attack. It left Elania free to come in behind them, and she beelined for the nearest corpse in the line between her and the conflict.

She just had to reach the corpse and touch it, the sight of the body turning into essence and mist was no longer novel.

[Do you wish to absorb the Darkwalker's Essence? Y/N]

[You have absorbed 4 Power!]

[You have gained a level in Stealth!]

[You have gained Darkwalker Affinity!]

[Consume more Darkwalker Essence to enable Darkwalker Transformation!]

She sped down the line, repeating the same process for each corpse until suddenly she skidded to a standstill to stare at the new [System] prompt.

[Absorb the lingering Power from ???? - Mushroohum - Level 27's corpse? Y/N]

She'd absorbed a Ralfot and many Darkwalkers already, but she'd considered them animals, or even in the Darkwalker's case, something more like a monster.

Mushroohum's were people. Awful to look at, while smelling bad, but still people. The Bone Demon didn't count; it might have been a person at one time... but Elania hadn't seen any humanity left in the thing. The terrifying thought of that happening to her...

She refused immediately, leaving the dead Mushroohum be, and continued to pick up the Darkwalkers in her path.

[Your body is reaching the limits of its capacity for Power!]

[Your body has reached the limit of its capacity for Power!]

[Find a stronger body or reduce your current Power!]

[Your body has exceeded the limit of its capacity for Power!]

[Your body is experiencing slight thermal degradation!]

That was fine. She felt the heat building inside her, but she could handle a little discomfort, and trust [Regeneration] to handle anything worse.

There was a Darkwalker that hadn't died yet but was still squirming on the ground, a spear impaling it to the ground. Elania paused briefly, just long enough to finish it off with a quick thrust from her spear.

She felt light on her feet; she was high on the Power now that she had gotten used to how it flowed through her.

[Your body is adapting slightly.]

The shouts and noises of the conflict in front of her had grown with the narrowing of the distance, and for the first time one of the Darkwalkers turned on her with a snarl. That seemed to alert the other beasts, and suddenly half a dozen of the monsters halted their attack on a haggard Mushroohum formation and charged at her.