I did get a sour experience when I took my first bite, but it quickly faded away so I haven't paid any attention to it at the time. I don't have taste buds, so I can't be exactly sure, if anything tastes different, I can only differentiate based on the amount of energy it provides. I figured it was just me converting the food to energy, but as it turned out, my body was processing the poison for the first time.

This slightly reddish mushroom was poisonous, and it lives among it's healthy ones. Interesting. I took another bite out of the mushroom, but now even the sour experience inside me was gone. It just provided less energy than it's white and healthy counterpart.

After finishing my meal, I wanted to check my current progress towards mastery. The fact that based on my understanding I could unlock rewards, boosted my already sky-high motivation to unseen levels. I knew I still had a lot of time that I needed to spend in the form, but regardless, I had a feeling that the last task must require me most of my remaining 5 or so hours.

With these thoughts in mind, I opened up my Evolution Status window.

[Evolution Status

Current form: Mushroom Bug (Tier 1)

Mastery: 40%

Tasks:

Use your mandibles to crush various objects (2/5) - Hidden Requirement completed!)

Climb 10 meters vertically, and jump down (10/10 - Completed - Hidden Requirement completed!)

Consume mushroom (40%)

Spend at least 6 hours in your current form (1/6)

*LOCKED*]

So both rewards were tied to specific tasks. I wonder if I have any additional ones to acquire. I had a feeling that the last task, the currently locked one, should provide me something other than bumping my Mastery, but I can't be sure.

'So the 2 types of mushrooms counted as 2 different objects. I hope that if I consume another mushroom from the healthy one that would still count otherwise, I'm not sure what else could I crush other than some pebbles hoping there are some minerals hidden within them.' I exclaimed inwardly.

Unfortunately the next cluster was a larger one, with a few Mushroom Bugs around them. Looking at them from the distance, I saw that they were mostly oblivious about each other, every bug kept to themselves, gorging on the healthy substance. Most of them were eating the gills, but I saw a few digging into the stalks as well. I even saw one little guy that was eating the cap of the red poisonous one, which I thought should be inedible. I took a look behind me on the remaining pieces of my previous meal, but in the end I decided it's time to get into contact with the others and see if it would be possible at all to communicate or interact in any way. The feeling I got from their behaviour was that they weren't developed enough for any type of communication, and they just kept to themselves. Regardless, I had to give it a try.

Calming my mind, I slowly started to make my way towards the cluster. Along the way I wanted to further test the crushing power of my mandibles on a pebble, so I kept moving around the wall. This increased the distance a bit, but I wasn't in that much of a hurry, as I still had 5 hours to spend. I picked up one simple looking rock which once again, defied my initial impressions about my capabilities. I thought I would have trouble picking up a rock that was easily my size, but I didn't even feel any weight. Then without thinking too much about it anymore, I closed my mandibles and easily crushed it to pieces. The feeling was similar to the stalk of the Mushroom, it literally felt like if there was only air instead of solid matter.

Confirming my objective had updated, I continued my small journey around the edges of the wall towards my destination. I was really hoping that I could just continue eating mushrooms without worrying about finding 2 more things to crush, as I would like to avoid fighting to the death with these peaceful creatures. I already felt pain in my heart that I had mindlessly absorbed so many of them previously, but at that time I didn't really know what I was doing.

I wanted to know if I could cut down another of the same mushrooms I already consumed, so I moved to one that was still standing and placed my mandibles around it, I cut it down. Luckily it did count, so with that in mind, I went to the white gills and continued my meal. At first I was paying attention to my surroundings, seeing if any of the bugs would come closer, but as none of them showed any sign that they even noticed me, I quickly lost myself in eating. I was happily eating away the energy rich substance without a care in the world, when I suddenly noticed something next to me, doing the same.

I quickly regained my senses and looked at the newcomer. It was a Mushroom Bug with average length, which compared to me, was very small. Some would think this would ignite fear in their hearts, but this one acted like I wasn't even there. I wanted to greet him, but it was at this time that I realized I had no idea how I should do that. It ignored me completely, and though I have a mouth, I don't think I'm capable of creating any type of sound, or even if I were, I wouldn't be capable of processing it. I haven't seen or felt any kind of sound processing organ on my head or body.

One thought came to mind, so I just moved my head towards his, and lightly poked him with my mandibles. I remember from somewhere that some insects were using similar ways to communicate with each other back on Earth. Sadly, it didn't give any reaction to my attempt, and just kept eating away.

'Hmm.. So I can't talk to it, and bumping into him didn't work either. I don't really see any other way… Enya, do I have any other ways to communicate with them? Are they even capable of such actions?' I asked my companion after a brief moment of thinking.

[No Aiden, your assumption is correct, they are not capable of such actions.] answered Enya.

With that confirmed, I could do nothing then to also forget my attempt to make a new 'friend', and just continue completing my tasks to get a better grasp of things. I should continue to eat until my objective would go to 100% while I would chop down a few more stalks to complete the other task, before leaving this cavern.

I spent the next half an hour cutting down and eating mushrooms. I kept eating mostly the gills, but seeing that the others were eating every part of it, I tried the stalk and the cap as well. They gave varying amounts of energy, the best was the gills, closely followed by the stalks, while the cap gave only a miniscule amount.

I kept wondering where all the energy went, but then when I traced it, I found it was going into the pool of energy that Enya kept referring to as my 'Soul Power'. While referring to them as a Pool of Energy wasn't that far fetched, Enya told me, I see it as a pool only, because my mind processed it that way, in reality it doesn't have any shape. She also told me once again, that this is the power that I can use to manipulate the various elements, bending them to my will as well, and that I could tap into it freely to enhance my current senses. In fact, I have been constantly using it since I started using my Dark Sense, and by now it became like second nature, I could do it unconsciously.

After confirming that both of my tasks were completed, I looked towards the exit. I knew I can't stay here any longer, I did what I could, and I still needed to unlock and complete the last task before I could think about my future actions.

Having made up my mind, I made my way to the entrance of the corridor. I tapped into my Soul Power and used it to enhance my Senses to map out as much of it as I could. The corridor wasn't long, maybe around a few meters at most. Moss was hanging from the walls, and the occasional cluster of mushrooms with its usual residents was ever-present, just like inside this cave. Nothing different from the previous time. I could see all the way to the next cavern.

Before leaving however, I wanted to check my main status screen. I gained a lot of new passive skills, and with my Soul Power increasing, I wanted to see if there was anything else.

[Name: Aiden

Race: Primal (Evolver)

Form: Mushroom Bug (Tier 1)

Condition: 100%

Soul Power: 2

Might: 1

Agility: 1

Spirit: 10

Skills:

Primal Absorb (Level 1)

Effects:

Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 1), Fall Resistance (level 1), Water Resistance (level 1), Poison Resistance (level 1) ]

As I expected I had a new row for displaying my Soul Power. I had a faint idea what the number represented, but it was always better to ask my faithful companion.

'Enya can you tell me what does the 2 mean next to my Soul Power?'

[It works similarly to your Might, Agility and Spirit attributes. Every point shows you your current depth of that resource, or you can refer to it as a rank or level as well. In simpler terms, the higher the number, the more you can tap into and use it.]

I decided that I will keep working in the future on improving it as much as I can. Looking back into the cave one last time, I mentally said my goodbyes, then I stepped into the corridor. I kept moving alongside the wall, as for some reason that felt safe, it was uncomfortable to be away from it for any period of time. It might have been a false sense of security, but as it kept my mind calm, I decided to follow this instinct.

Even while I took a brief stop at one cluster of mushrooms to have a brief snack, it still only took a very short time to cross the distance and arrive at the entrance of the new cavern.

This 'room' was mostly similar to my previous one, however I noticed a bigger rock surrounded by various mushrooms, even some that I haven't seen previously. Between them, I saw a few small darker white, almost yellowish looking, oval shaped objects. I wasn't sure what they were. Curiosity drove me forward in my previous life as well, so I made my way closer to them.

The objects were slightly bigger than me, and the darker white color turned out to be a mixture between a mushy white and mild yellow. There were about 10 or so of these scattered between the mushrooms. Deciding to check it's sturdiness, I moved closer to one of them, tried wrapping my large mandibles around them. I could open them up more, making the gap wider, to grab onto larger objects, so this action took no real trouble. First I wanted to check it's weight,, so I tried lifting it up from the ground. It was around the same weight as one of the larger rocks I lifted previously, but not heavier. I noticed that the insides might be hollow, so I prepared to snap my mandibles to cut into half and check the insides. Just as I was thinking that, I suddenly had an awfully bad premonition, like if something terrible is about to happen.

I put the object down, and turned around to be met with a pair of glowing yellow predatory gaze from above me. It was just now that I realized that the objects I was playing with weren't just hollow rocks...