What I had taken for a flower proved otherwise as it uprooted itself from the ground. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the animal that emerged. It looked like a giant toad with the stem of a flower protruding from the top of the head. It wasted no time in attacking once it had freed itself from the compost and hive the Horvee had constructed.

Thutmose used a [Charge] skill to interpose himself, bashing the creature with his shield. His action was able to interrupt the creature's attack, a barbed tongue that had shot out with uncanny precision. If the attack had landed, I would have taken actual damage. My training masters would have had me on punishment detail until I dropped from exhaustion for letting my guard down and acting in such a hasty and foolish manner.

Thutmose's engagement allowed me to retreat a few steps and activate [Inspect]. A quick update to the bestiary and the creature was identified as a [Toadstool] an amalgam of plant and insect. An insect/plant hybrid that appeared to be a toad and attacked like one. It was just further proof, that we could take nothing for granted on Ijal, and that we needed to [Inspect], [Inspect], [Inspect].

The [Horvee] insects that had built their hive, camouflaging the [Toadstool] in the process, had developed a symbiotic relationship. The giant toad allowed the insects to gather nectar and pollen from the flower that it had adapted as bait, and the insects facilitated protection when predators approached.

Fights usually ended very differently than the complete defeat that the Horvee had suffered, stuffed within the maw of Bob. Usually, they were strong enough or numerous enough to overwhelm whatever might bother the Toadstool, or be attracted to the false flower that the hybrid sported.. The predators becoming a meal that all parties shared.

The [Toadstool] had powerful leaping abilities, a secondary attack that when used in tangent with the piercing ability of the flicking tongue could instantly kill the unwary, but the skill required an enormous amount of energy. Energy, that it marshaled jealously.

Frog legs were a delicacy on Talahm, the meat tender, and when deep-fried and slathered in butter a gastronomical delight. Toad legs? Not so much. One of the strange peculiarities of the species on our planet was an adaption to the skin, a mild hallucinogen that was secreted could impair even a Sidhe's cognitive functions.

I had no idea if this creature had evolved to include that type of protection, but I decided to remain in the Unseelie form for this battle. I didn't want to take the chance of biting the creature and exposing myself to a type of narcotic that would leave me incapable of attacking or defending myself or my party.

Taking that twisting sidestep into the shadow realm, a move that I was becoming proficient at, I established on how best I could attack. The plant stem and flower seemed vulnerable. I wasn't sure how it was attached, but it seemed likely that the [Toadstool]'s blood and nervous system interconnected and nourished both sections of the hybrid's body.

[Inspect] had included information about the creature's habits, as well as a detailed analysis of skills. An outlet of bodily fluids from the stamen was actually body waste. It was an ingenious method for the insect to trick the Horvee into eating what was in reality urine and feces. The faux nectar and pollen that attracted and baited prey to come within reach was concentrated, the smell irresistible.

The stem gave off the smallest pool of shadow, not enough to notice unless you were attuned to the element of Shadow like Beag and I were, but enough to use. Size of the pool of darkness that we would use had little effect when using [Shadow Passage]. The magics involved expressed our bodies, morphed them from two-dimensional to three-dimensional when we stepped through.

The shadow zone lacked the dimensionality of the real world, it was a pale imitation of reality, and the only way we were able to travel between shadow, the only way we could move so quickly and easily between the two realms was by embracing the difference in dimensionality.

I had become used to the process, forgetting even that the changes to self that occurred while in that zone had no basis in logic. It made no sense that I could exist, function, think as a two-dimensional caricature, an echo of my real self. That somehow, I could fold the extra dimension that gave me shape and form.

One of the tricks I had learned when exiting the shadow zone had to do with spatial alignment and my proprioception. I had learned to transition so that I was facing any direction I wanted. This made using [Backstab] effective, but it also allowed me, in this instance, to exit shadow facing away from the stalk of the plant.

The pool of shadow I used to exit was not in an ideal location, and I wanted to give myself enough time to make a precision slice with my dagger, I eschewed [Backstab]. With a freshly created [Shadow Blade], I instead, made a surgical incision where the plant's stem and [Toadstool]'s head met.

The difficult part was riding a toad that was leaping and attacking, it was an experience in and of itself, but my dexterity and agility were high enough to make it possible. I had to saw through flesh and cartilage, the stalk unsurprisingly durable. It would have to be in order to remain attached through whatever acrobats the toad might engage in during the course of the battle.

It used leaps and kicks in tandem with the tongue attacks, attacking Thutmose with unrelenting ferocity. If the faux plant had been easily dislodged it would have defeated the purpose. Nature would have found another means of adaption, and the [Toadstool] would have gone extinct.

The blood that began flowing when I'd finally detached the appendage was sap like in consistency. It also had the texture and smell of maple syrup. It made me wonder if the toad's entire circulation system was comprised of the plant part of the hybrid.

With the skin flapping and the skull exposed, I engaged my [Shadow Blade], stabbing as hard and deep into the cranium cavity as I could. I'd assumed the brain was located under this flap, but that assumption was proven wrong.

The [Toadstool] had adapted with a nervous system that was unique to plants, there was no accumulation of brain matter, instead, the neural network and folds were scattered and distributed throughout the hybrid's body. Each neural node creating a bud, a partition of the brain with redundancy built into all the nodes so that it would be almost impossible to destroy higher brain functions.

The [Toadstool] would have to be slaughtered by attacking the body. Once we discovered this piece of information, the battle became a slash and hack fest. Each of us employing our attacks in random patterns and vital areas. None of us had a poison attack, but I did have a spell that was well suited to counter plants. Ice was the natural counter.

Bob managed to detach a leg and was out of the fight as he was forced to consume the appendage that had gotten lodged in his throat before he could continue. The leg was a network fibrous strands that comprised the creature's root system. Sieph had riddled the creature with dozens of holes as she sent her metal constructs shooting, again and again, careening into the body. Thutmose blocked every attack the toad made using its tongue, effectively removing that organ as a weapon.

And I channeled [Icy Breath], creating the conditions required to force the plant side of the hybrid to enter dormancy. Now that we had some understanding of the creature, it was easily defeated.

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Name: Ryu de Teigh y Cyronax]

[Race: Volar-fey/Unseelie/Cu-sith]

[Class: Shadow Druid]

[Level: 5 (145/8300)]

[Hit Points: 265] [Magic Strength: 165] [Stamina: 230]

[Strength: 18 > 23] [Agility: 25 > 30] [Dexterity: 20 > 25]

[Intellect: 12 > 17] [Will: 11 > 16] [Constitution: 20 > 25]

[Pet: Beag (level 5)]