《A Fungal Dream》Chapter 4. Leg night
Advertisement
One jump. Two jumps. Three jumps. Jump. Jump. Jump.
I soared through the night sky, singing a very childish song in my head while looking for the perfect place for me to hide.
If I am this agile, I could look for somewhere high and hard to reach. At the top of a tower? Nah, setting up equipment there might be hard, depending on the state of the building!
I kept on running till I noticed something interesting.
It was a group of people, wearing black robes, running around the same speed as me, albeit not as agile on the roofs.
One of them carried a big bag which moved now and then as he ran.
Kidnapers. Definitely kidnappers. What should I do? Should I do something or let them past me? Ugh, what do I do?
I kept on running towards them, soon be noticed by them.
The group quickly stopped looking at me suspiciously, as I stopped before them.
"..."
"..."
...This is awkward. I rather not do anything.
I raised my hands and stepped aside.
The group stayed quiet for a second, before slowly walking forward, keeping their eyes on me.
There is no point in fighting them. I am not a hero, not even a human. This is not m-
"Sniff...Mommy...help...."
...Damn it.
Not thinking I quickly grabbed the one holding the bag and head-butted him.
Staggered, I kicked him in the groin, took the bag, and started to run.
The rest of the group, shouted as they started to run after me.
Great. Just great! Why can't I keep to myself?
"...please...help me."
Shut up, kid! I am doing that!
I jumped over a chimney arriving at a large street which was like a ravine for me now.
Don't fail me now, supernatural powers!
At the last second, I jumped with all my strength.
HOOOOOOLLLLLY!
Maybe because of the adrenaline pushing me forward, but I soared through the sky even with my baggage, landing safely on the roof.
I glanced back, seeing my pursuers stopping at the other side, looking shocked by my performance.
So long, suckers!
I flipped them off, before continuing to run away.
When I was a good kilometer away from them, I stopped and opened the bag, to free its content.
It was... a bird?
It had blue feathers, a wing, and yellow bird legs. The rest... well it was human. A kid with blue hair, face covered in tears and goo.
What is this? A bird beastman? I read about them in the book but seeing them is completely different.
I grabbed the kid and lifted it up, getting it out from the bag.
Wow, it's light! Those it has hollow bones to assist them in their flight. Those that mean that they are fragile? What about their lounges? Heart? digestive system? Brain?
As I observed it, the kid kept quiet, mortified by me.
Right, I should let it go.
I placed the kid back o the ground and stepped back, expecting it to fly away.
Rather it just kept standing there, looking afraid.
Come on kid, you are free. Go home!
Feeling that I have already done enough, I turned around and started to walk away.
Good luck, kid. Don't get kidnapped next time.
I was about to jump down when I heard crying.
Advertisement
I turned around, seeing the kid, sobbing uncontrollably as snorts and tears flowed of its face.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What do I do?!
Panicked, I ran back to the kid, kneeled before it, and started patting it as if it was a dog.
It didn't work. It just kept on crying.
Come on kid, shut the hell up, before you wake up the entire neighborhood!
Quickly losing patience, I stopped patting him, grabbed firmly its head, and made sure it looked directly into my eyes.
SHUT.UP.
I didn't need to talk, the kid immediately understood the message, he shut up and stayed silent.
Good, now IAAAAAAAA-
I as was about to stand up, I noticed a blade sliding before my throat.
Slowly I turned my head looking for the owner of the sword.
It was a knight. A full-body suit of silver armor standing right behind me, hearing loud breathing under the visor.
"You...under...arrest...damn, this is high!"
Behind him, I heard a rustling sound, noticing several other knights climbing up here.
Did the kids cry alerted a nearby patrol? What bad luck. No, wait this is lucky in a way. I can just leave the kid with them, naturally after I escape from them.
I breathed in, then, as quickly as I could, I jumped backwards, pushing the knight down. When his back touched the ground, I rolled on my back, falling off the roof, majestically landing on the street.
"Damn it! Get him!"
Not waiting for them, I turned around and ran, passing from alleyway to alleyway, till I couldn't hear them anymore.
Now, I found myself in a dirty alley, filled with garbage and dirt.
Good as any place to sit down and think.
I dusted off a slightly clean part of the side, sat down there, and started to think.
I can't hide in high places; the patrols seem to be in a very good shape. Then the only place I can go is...below.
I looked down, while I was working my brain.
This is a city. Filled with humans. Humans eat. Humans go to the toilet. So, there must be a sewer system. Maybe there I may found a hiding spot where I can work.
I took of the sac of my head and breathed in deeply.
This is getting complicated. I was lucky to escape the kidnappers and the guards. From now, on, till I figure out how to become a human, I need to stick to myself.
Yes, I need to-
"I finally found you!"
I immediately put the bag on my head turned around, my heart beating like crazy in my chest.
It was a young girl around her twenties, wearing a brown leather armor matching her hair and eyes. She smiled at me friendlily as if we were friends, but I somehow immediately knew that she could kill me in an instant with the two swords she was carrying on her hips.
"Man, you are hard to catch. Even with the skills I possess, you moved more agilely than me. I wonder what your class is?"
Skills? Class? There are skills and classes in this world? Like in a video game? Do I have those? No, right, a question for later. Now I need to run away AGAIN. I definitely have a running skill by now.
Advertisement
Slowly I stood up, just realizing how short this girl is, then I jumped with all my force.
I soared through the sky almost 3 meters in the air. And she followed me.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't run away like that! I want to ask you some questions!"
SHIT!
I landed on a nearby roof and ran with all my speed, only daring to glance back when I felt like I lost her.
No luck, she kept running after me, her body surrounded by some sort of green glow, keeping her smile.
She is catching up; she is catching up!
Feeling pressured I used my secret weapon.
When I jumped over a wide road to land on a nearby house, I reached for a small bag which I tied to my colon and took out a hand full of green lumps.
Still, in midair, I turned around and threw the potato bombs at her, before turning back, landing, and running with even greater speed.
Seriously, how big is this place! Haven't I circled over this whole city by now!
I turned around again, seeing nobody behind me.
Thank god, I lost here! I should use these potatoes more often.
I jumped off the roof and checked the ground for something.
Come on, come on, where is-Bingo!
When I found it, I lifted the heavy metal plate, letting out a groan as the smelly steam hit me.
It was the sewer entrance.
Okay above ground, you suck. Hello underground!
*****
???POV:
It hurts so much.
While I chased that guy, I became careless believing that he was nothing but a small fry who could only run fast.
Then, when he threw those things, I didn't think properly, I just cut them realizing the smoke contained in them, stupidly inhaling some of it.
Immediately I lost breath, falling down on the road, my body feeling hot and cold at the same time, while pain spread from my thought towards my throat and organs.
"P-Poison."
With twitching hands, I took out a small vial from one of my pouches, containing a light green liquid in it.
Quickly I smashed its tip with my bare hand and poured its content into my mouth.
When the fluid reached my stomach, the pain slowly dissipated, and I could breathe yet again.
"Nice. Now if I'm quick enough I might be able to catch his tail, with m-UUUGGGHAAAAAAAAAA!"
Just when I was about to stand up, the pain returned, this time it quickly spread all over my body, gaining intensity by the second.
I fell face-first as the pain grew bigger in me, making me believe that every part of my body was being destroyed and rebuild at the same time.
While I tried to move, I could see the skin of my hand slowly turning green, with black bumps growing on it.
"N-Need an-antidote.
With my remaining strength, I took out a vial now containing a dark purple fluid.
This time, I bite the top of, not carrying about the glass cutting my mouth and thong.
Once again, the pain faded when I drank the potion.
I waited for a while, but the pain didn't come back.
"Sigh, it finally stopped."
Little shaky, I stood up while checking my hands.
The black bumps have disappeared, but they still looked kind of green, maybe a lingering effect of the poison.
"That bastard, throwing dangerous substances like that! When I catch him, I will be sure to beat him senseless."
I breathed deeply, getting myself together before activating one of my skills.
"[Wind Leap]."
By surrounding my legs with wind, I could move more easily than normal, but I didn't go on full speed, since I was a little woozy from all of this.
A poison that reacts negatively to healing potions. I never heard anything like that. Is it a new weapon? How the hell did a guy like that got his hands on something like that? While I was chasing him, I couldn't feel any energy from him, so he isn't a Skill Holder nor a Heretic. He looked quite funny though, so he was maybe a Demi-human. It would explain his strange movements and speed.
"In any case, I need to report this to the higher-ups! This could b-CHUGH! CHUGH!"
I stopped for a second, coughing up a handful of black slime, probably the poison which was rejected by the antidot.
"This is disgusting."
*****
THIS is disgusting.
I walked through the sludge of wastewater, which reached my ankles while breathing in the foul air surrounding me. I didn't know how I could see in the darkness, but I could somehow 'tell' what was around me.
Yet again, since I am a skeleton held together by mold, this is the perfect place for me to prosper. Its moist, damp, and the water is probably filled with organic nutrients. Still would prefer to work in a place more...sterile. No offense but it would be annoying for flies to fly around me when I am reading. if only I could find a service tunnel that isn't filled with sewage, then I could work something out.
I continued walking, my brain working on a solution when I remembered something.
That girl who chased me just now...she mentioned skills. Those that mean that this world has a system like in a video game or they just call magic like that.
Even though the book I just read didn't mention it, magic was a thing in this place. Glowing rocks, half-humans, people running like the wind, it could be magic, or the laws of reality were completely twisted here.
I wonder if I have any stats. let's try it out.
I stopped dead in my tracks and concentrated.
Here goes nothing. SYSTEM.
...
Nothing. Okay, then. STATUS.
This time I felt something.
as if my vision got split in two, I could see letters forming in my mind, forming words then sentences.
[REQUEST RECEIVED FROM[UNIDENTIFIED]]
[NO HISTORY FOUND]
[CONFIRMED NEW USER.]
[SCANNING...]
[SCANNING...]
[SCANNNING...]
[SCAN COMPLETE.]
[UNKNOWN RACE FOUND]
[UNKNOW BIOMETRICS FOUND]
[UNKNOWN PHYSICAL COMPOSITION FOUND]
[UNKINSOWN SPIRITUAL COMPOSITION FOUND]
[SYSTEM PROCESSING NEW DATA...]
[PROCESSION COMPLETE.]
[SYSTEM CONNECTED.]
[STATUS BOARD CREATED]
[NEW USER'S AGE CONFIRMED TO BE[28]]
[AGE REACHED REQUIRED THRESHOLD.]
[CLASS CAN BE ACQUIRED.]
[ERROR.]
[NO HISTORY DETECTED]
[COMENCING CLASS GENERATION THROUGH PERSONALITY AND MEMORY.]
[GENERATING CLASSES...]
[CLASSES BEEN GENRATED.]
[CONGRATULATION.]
[USER RECEIVED MAIN CLASS [LIFE SCOLAR] AND SUBCLASS [RUNNER]]
[UNIQUE TITLE BEEN GENERATED...]
[YOU RECEIVED THE UNIQUE TITLE:[THE ONE WHO SAW A THOUSAND WORLD]]
[CONGRATULATION AND WELCOME TO OUR WORL [NEW USER]]
Advertisement
- In Serial38 Chapters
Beast
A threat to the galaxy has come from another, and the Union of intelligent life will go to any length to stop it. Military Quarantine has held for hundreds of thousands of cycles. Traders, merchants, colonists, and Pirates live risky lives along the fringes as the politics from the inner systems fail to see the larger threats beyond their borders. A lone human finds himself far from home with no memories to how he arrived. A failing Trade vessel plays on a desperate gamble, while a malicious parasite searches for a suitable host. ............................................. Author's note: Beast is a story that I wrote a long, long time ago. Some of you might have read it then, back when it was posted on reddit over at r/HFY. It was my first webfiction and made in the spirit of that subreddit's "genre" of humanity being awesome. But, it is also a story that has bothered me a little bit. Just like most new writers tend to do, I made mistakes and errors that feel painful to reread. A Space Opera will be a Space Opera, but I had prose that makes present-me cringe. Still, at the same time, the story is still very much a tale I've never given up on. It was my first adventure into fiction: Beast was a crazy adventure with bodysnatching aliens, galactic war, threats from across the universe... Posting this story here is a way to try and redeem myself a bit. I won't call it a complete rewrite, because it's not, but I have wanted to go through and correct some of the major issues Beast has for a long time and put it somewhere more accessible to read (instead of as posts/comments on reddit) and I figure that now is as good a time as any. Additional corrections you might notice are welcome.
8 182 - In Serial74 Chapters
From My Enemy to My Love (bxb)
* I thought it might be time for me to pull away now that he was calm, but Vincent surprised me. His long arms, slowly wrapped around me. I hadn't expected this. I hadn't expected to get warmth for warmth. I couldn't pull away now. I held him tighter. "I can't believe you," he said quietly next to my ear. "But I want to believe you. Maybe you are different." He lifted his head off my shoulder, but instead of pulling back his face got closer to mine. "Maybe you and you alone are different." He kissed me.* Vincent has always had a desire to protect his best friend from those who would take advantage of his wealth. So when his best friend starts dating someone that Vincent is convinced is only out for his money, Vincent is determined to do all he can to break them up. Chet has never seen his best friend date anyone, so when he starts dating someone and is genuinely happy, Chet wants to support him anyway he can. Especially when he finds out someone is trying to break them up. This book is intended for a mature audience. The main characters are adults. This is a male/male romance story. There will be sexual content. Names, characters, events and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. Copyright 2019: All Rights Reserved
8 199 - In Serial31 Chapters
Death Regulator
Humans have lived on earth unopposed and alone for thousands upon thousands of years. Finding mundane existence boring, they have created stories of magic and monsters to sooth their lucrative imagination for as long as history can remember. Arik was one of these very same humans. It wasn’t until tragedy struck his mortality that he learned just how wrong everyone truly is. Not only did he awaken from death, but he awoke with what he could only describe as super powers. The stuff of comic books. He was a deathless. Normally it would be all sunshine and rainbows, but Arik is inevitably brought face to face with others like him. Only they aren’t half as kind, and are intent on “eating” his super powers. The battle for his unlife is on. Can he make this second chance worth it?
8 309 - In Serial24 Chapters
Leave Bad Enough Alone
Something has been amiss in the city’s theaters as of late. The local bards have long done a respectable job of keeping the audiences entertained, weaving high concepts with skillful performances. But lately, a new set of bards, and their illusionist cohorts, have captured the crowd’s attention. Compared to the theater’s usual fare, their work is hackneyed and poorly plotted, with unskilled acting, bad special effects, and unsatisfying resolutions. Worst of all, the audiences like their work more, and these upstarts are far more profitable than the city’s decent bards! Clearly, there must be some dark secret behind the success of these newcomers, and it’s up to the city’s true artists to find out what it is and expose the conspiracy! Or maybe the city’s bards have just become too hopelessly pretentious and derivative. It’s hard to tell. But investigate it they must! Failure is not an option! Victory, or...well, they’ll have to get day jobs or something. Original cover image generated by NightCafé.Master story list here.
8 126 - In Serial12 Chapters
An Average American in A High-school Academy Anime
An American versed in narrative tropes and more than mildly acquainted with anime wakes up in a completely different bed than the one he went to bed in. Now he has to scramble to understand where he is, what's going on, and hope to God he isn't in a relationship drama. I don't expect this to be good or well-received, but I have plenty of time this quarantine, so I'll try to get a chapter of 4000-10000 words out every one or two weeks. (haha) Please let me know how it can be improved. I'm an avid reader of fiction, but I've never really fallen down a rabbit hole so hard that I can name all tropes and settings and such by heart. I'm not sure if this will be effective satire, so I preemptively apologize. Inspired by: "My Life is Not a Manga, or maybe..." by EO Tenkey and "The Simulacrum" by Eganthale. Check them out if you want probably better stories than this one.
8 146 - In Serial34 Chapters
Building An Army In Another World With My Smartphone
I woke up in a strange new place and learnt that I had sacrificed my memories for a powerful gift during my transmigration to another world. I guess all I can do is to build up my army...using my smartphone.
8 445

