Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 29 – Mushroohum Ville (Patreon)

A massive panther hunted her in the dark, but she had lured it into a trap. As she slowly rose from her crouch, she recognized the shape; it was a Darkwalker, not a panther. Water dripped from the cavern’s ceiling into small pools that leaked into a nearby stream.

Just as it was about to pounce on where it thought she was, she threw her javelin. The weapon pierced the predator’s side, right through its heart. A roar erupted throughout the cave before the beast collapsed.

A sudden pinch in her side stung like fire, and her throat dried out instantly. The pain was sharp, and her hand came back covered in blood as she tried to press on the wound.

A javelin was stuck, shoved through her chest. She yanked it out in a spray of blood.

A sudden certainty filled her: she’d hunted herself. She’d stabbed herself!

She screamed.

It was enough to wake her from the nightmare. Her senses immediately caught fire as she found herself naked and covered in sweat. Everything was dark; she flipped [Darkvision] on almost instinctively.

She was inside a metal wrought cage. Anger flared through her, but before she got up, she realized the cage wasn’t sealed. The door was tied open and there was no sign of any guards.

Was she not a prisoner?

One thing was certain, somehow, she’d ended up naked again. Somehow, it didn’t feel as much as a vulnerability as when she had woken in the Black Candle’s dungeon. Probably because there weren’t creepy ass cultists staring at her while wearing satanic robes and blood etched all over the floor.

Yeah. That was a good guess.

The mat she was sitting on was scratchy but plush. Some type of moss, the same texture as what grew on the Ralfot skins. Looking around, she froze when she spotted her mana shard. Her memory of the battle was a fuzzy vagueness, but she did somewhat recall the end and finally getting it back. She’d almost been hoping the entire sequence wasn’t real.

She’d turned into a cat. A darkwalker.

Instinctively, Elania reached out and picked up the glowing crystal and used [Identify] on it.

[Mana Shard (Condensed) 701/1456]

Apparently, her new rank in [Identify] was useful. That the shard was now less than half power, though, was less than ideal. Would she be able to shove excess power into it for storage? That would be amazing.

Being able to store power without having to ‘power level’ her maximum [Power] stat would be very convenient. She’d certainly risked and suffered, a lot for that perk.

Holding it in the palms of her hands, she focused on the energy she could feel. Pulling at it gently unleashed a sudden river of energy that flowed through her. After a few seconds, the flow constricted itself to a tiny trickle.

Her slight morning tiredness and icky feeling melted away until the air felt crisp, and a multitude of smells assailed her senses. Everything seemed more colorful; sensation felt more visceral. Her body seemed to agree as her heart began to pump faster and she felt a wave of electric wash over her skin as if the nerves there had suddenly woken up.

The feeling that she could jam her fingers into it and widen the power flow back up was there, but she refrained and flicked her [Identify] at the shard again.

[Mana Shard (Condensed) 476/1456]

[Power: 233/233]

Elania never been blind or deaf, but it fit the idea of someone suddenly being able to see or hear when they couldn’t before. The draw on the crystal was a lot, but she’d been very low on power. Strategically, it might not have been a good idea to draw power from the shard unless necessary, but tactically running around with low power was a bad idea.

She really needed to test if she could refill the shard. The sounds of work and people going about their business echoed around her, though. The desire to figure out if the Mushroohums were friendly now pulled her to her feet.

Glancing around again, she confirmed there weren’t any clothes. That wasn’t ideal, but modesty was probably…different for mushrooms?

When she stepped out of the cage, the half-open building she’d been stored in revealed itself. The tall wall was two stories tall, with the second open level being dedicated to storing a large amount of…moss? Ample amounts of the stuff hung out of various baskets, jars, and containers.

The lower level was awash with working Mushroohums, grabbing tools from various workbenches and walls that were covered in what she assumed were iron or steel tools. Shovels, Pickaxes, Hoes, and all sorts of things she didn’t recognize the name of.

Carpenters were busy sawing [Tower-Cap] logs into planks, while a row of a half dozen kilns were cooking what she assumed were bricks. The building was much longer than it was wide, and one of the long walls was missing, giving her a full view of the village palisade and cavern lake.

The aftereffects of the battle were still visible; crops had been smashed, the land was covered with puddles of water and mud. In the distance, she spotted Mushroohums carrying bodies of Darkwalkers toward the village, as well as other members of their tribe…village…group.

Despite being in her birthday suit, the Mushroohums totally ignored her. That was… good, but also weird. Looking around, she spotted a bunch of seated Mushroohums working with bolts of what looked like cloth or leather. She decided that was a good a destination as anywhere. She started feeling like she was a ghost when a big Mushroohum suddenly blocked her path.

A smelly “Glaaaaa!” exploded in her face.

Elania, although on alert, was not ready for that. She punched it in the face.

It wasn’t a piercing blow, but the Mushroohum lifted off its feet and landed on its back a few feet away.

The expected encirclement and threatening spears and javelins didn’t materialize, nor did the Mushroohums pay much attention to the altercation. Her interloper stood back up and released another ‘Glaaa!’ then turned and walked to the tailors.

It wadded up a ball of something and threw it at her. She almost let the bundle hit her in the face, not understanding. When she unrolled the leather, and it was [Darkwalker] leather, it was a loose outfit in the same style as the Mushroohums wore. Sized for a Mushroohum, which was to say, for someone twice as big as her.

Without needing any prompting, she pulled it over her head anyway, then used a loose strap to tie it around her. The Mushroohum was still staring at her.

“Umm. Sorry for punching you. Thank you for the clothes? Do you know where my other stuff is?” Elania asked. It stared at her for a bit longer before leading her over to another area where there were various sets of equipment.

It pulled out a belt and knife and gave it to her. It wasn’t the same one as she had traded Skinner for, but it was the same type, almost like it had been made on a manufacturing line.

Glancing at the long workshop…building…thing, she expected maybe they had done just that for the belt and pouch. Although she didn’t see any evidence of a forge or metalworking, maybe they traded for those.

Once she had the belt on, the Mushroohum turned and left her. Not really understanding what was going on, she decided to explore on her own.

The cage she had woke up in wasn’t the only one inside the workshop, but when two Mushroohums carried in a corpse and tossed it into one of the others, she froze. All the other cages were occupied with bodies of the dead. The Darkwalkers were being skinned, and their meat cut up before it was all tossed into the cages.

She reached up and pulled on her nose. She didn’t smell anything bad. Was her sense of smell even working? But she’d smelled the spores from the Mushroohum.

Whether the building was the mushroom version of Home Depot or a Funeral Parlor, she wasn’t equipped to determine. However, she decided it was time to look around somewhere else. Outside, there was evidence of more industry; buildings that had been damaged were being repaired. People seemed to be everywhere, working on cleaning up.

She found herself attracted to a charred spot near the lake. Copious amounts of blood painted the rocks a darkening red. The corpse of the Darkwalker Demon was nowhere in sight, she wondered what the Mushroohums had done with it. There was so much damage visible everywhere, melted rock, torn gouges in the terrain where they had fought, and it looked like the ceiling was still periodically dropping rocks from above.

A bit of guilt pricked her, but she quickly dismissed it. They’d stolen her mana shard… she had it back now, though. Why had there been an attack by a horde of Darkwalkers and a Demon on the village, though? Was this a normal occurrence for the underworld? Somehow she couldn’t imagine it was considering the state of things.

She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. “Urgh!”

“Glaa.” Heralded a neutral scent from behind.

Elania whipped around; Skinner was standing with his spear, using it as a walking stick. His wounds seemed to have crusted over, leaving ugly looking scars and the mushrooms that had been growing in them had been pruned off.

The memory of his previous appearance clicked things together; the corpses of the Mushroohums, piling the refuse on them all…the Mushroohums were growing new baby mushrooms? She’d have to use [Identify] on the cages later to confirm if she was right.

Skinner repeated his communication. “Glaa.”

Elania sighed. “Glaa to you too. Don’t suppose you can vocalize something with information in it, so we can talk?”

“Glaa.” Skinner turned and headed away.

Frustrated, Elania followed him. He took her on a tour of the village. Around the outskirts, out into the Ralfot and Elnat fields, even. After a few hours of what she assumed was patrolling and guarding the domesticated animals, they returned to the palisaded village.

The large gates opened and welcomed them in. All the warriors and guards bowed with respect; she assumed it was for Skinner and not her, although she caught a few fearful glances and avoidances that were directed to her for sure.

The reception as they ascended into the older stone ruins, the reception was less warm. The guards were armed with fancy cloaks and metal shields. When they entered the chamber, she realized it was some sort of mushroom styled throne room. There were fancy metal weapons and cloth tapestries on the wall, sure, but there were also mushrooms growing from the ceiling.

On the throne was what she thought was a fancy dressed Mushroohum corpse; until it finally gestured toward them. Mushrooms grew from his body in tumor-like masses. Liquid dripped from his body onto the floor while two attendants mopped up the spill as they approached.

Old age was not kind to Mushroohums, she assumed.

Guards and other Mushroohums assembled themselves in rows as they approached. Was this where she got her reward for saving the kingdom?

They reached a certain point, and Skinner fell and knelt on one knee. She supposed she should have done the same, but a certain stubbornness pricked at her and she decided not to.

That’s when the prince strode out from a room behind the throne. He stood in front of the throne and pointed at her.

“Glaaaa!” Of course, the proclamation smelled like shit.

Elania added up all the things she’d learned since waking up.

Skinner was well respected by most of the village, and most of the Mushroohums deferred to him.

The prince hated her, probably wanted her dead.

The king was, to the best she could tell, a corpse sitting on a throne with mushrooms growing on him.

What else could go wrong?

A horn sounded in the distance.