Chapter 2

“So you’re basically an insect that walks on two legs?” Jason asked.

“Essentially,” Rillia answered. “Although, there are other types of insects in this world. I’m an ant.”

“What are those?” he asked.

As she was steering the boat, he walked up to her and began running his hands along the antenna atop her head.

“Neat!” he said. “What are they for?!”

“Oh, lot’s,” she said. “They help me smell things from really far away. Us ants can even sense things moving from far away from reading air currents.”

“Wish I could do that,” Jason admitted. “They look so cool…”

Rillia was guiding the boat by shifting the green stems that grew from the large stem beneath the flower, controlling the vessel’s movement as carefully as she could. The current had been fast moving until they entered the river grass forest portion of the Blue River. While it was slightly difficult for Rillia to maneuver around the plants that were almost as thick around as she was, it was definitely preferable to the fast current they’d encountered earlier that morning.

The tall reeds that were surrounding them were far taller than the grass on land as they protruded from the bottom of the riverbed, the yellow bundles of pollen occasionally sprinkling down on them. The water around them was colored greenish yellow as a result. The river grass density prevented the water’s flow from being as fast as it once was. The thick reeds were known as a resting place for marine vessels as when it rained, sailors could be sure the grass forest would be more manageable than open water. Now that Rillia was in a more comfortable location she felt more affable.

“So are you sure you can’t remember anything?” she asked. “Like, you look a lot like how the old explorers described Giants.”

“Nope,” Jason said. “All I remember is waking up in the tall grass on some pine straw and before I knew I had to be facing down some real monsters trying to eat me. I was scared at first but after finding out how strong I was I figured I could have fun with.”

He began chuckling to himself.

“I don’t care about my past or where I came from,” he said. “All it will do is just hold me back from enjoying the good times here and now. Now that I know I’m stronger than most anything there’s no need to be afraid. I can go wherever I want and no one can stop me!”

“Well,” Rillia said. “You sound like me. I’d rather die doing something exciting rather than live a long time in safety, comfort and ease.”

“That sounds great to me!” Jason yelled back. “Die in a blaze of glory, doing what you love rather than living a hundred years doing you hate every day! Anything else is enslavement!”

Everything that he said caused Rillia to feel energized and refreshed. Her old friends back at Red Mountain always looked at her like she was crazy when she talked about exploring the unknown, vast reaches beyond Wassergras. Rillia could never understand why they always wanted to live a safe, comfortable life where they knew what they would do every day until they died.

The thought of being mediocre, doing nothing significant or seeing something she’d miss if she was too afraid scared her more than death itself. The other ants were the opposite, so afraid of not surviving until old age they’d have nothing in their old age worth remembering. Jason wasn’t like that. He was like her.

“You said you wanted to go where again?” he asked.

“The Primeval World,” she said. “A world that hasn’t been tainted by people’s greed or stripped away of its unique and exciting features. No one I’ve ever met has been there before and everyone stays away from it, ant or not.”

“How long until we get there?” Jason asked.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But it shouldn’t be more than a week if we travel by water. It’d take months to travel by land but the Blue River connects the entire world, Primeval World or not.”

“But if it’s so easy to get there then why doesn’t anyone go there?” he asked.

Rillia began laughing.

“Because that’s just how afraid everyone is!” she said. “They’re such cowards they won’t even go past their backyard! I just want to know what it’s like! I’ve read about it, but that’s nowhere near the same as actually being there.”

“You said it,” Jason said. “Who’d want to just sit around and read about great experiences all their life? Why not just actually go there and find out?”

“Yeah, I know,” she replied. “Honestly, you seem to be the only one to understand. Did you not grow up either?”

He chuckled.

“No,” he said. “Or I don’t know. Why, do I act like a child?”

“Exactly!” Rillia said. “Just like how I want to be.”

“But isn’t that a bad thing?” Jason asked. “I may not remember much...but I’m pretty sure that acting like a child is a bad thing once you reach a certain age.”

“Not to me,” she answered. “To me...it’s only necessary to truly live. Once you become an adult...you lose what’s the most important thing to you. The willingness to challenge yourself and those around you. Adults just sit around and do nothing, afraid to take chances and piddle while the world goes on around them.”

“Sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences with them,” Jason said.

“Yeah,” she said. “My best friend and I really wanted to go to the Primeval World...we even made a map of it all those years ago. And then...he grew up...decided it wasn’t worth heading there.”

She sighed, smiling sadly as a tear ran down her face as they began moving out of the river grass forest.

“He betrayed me,” Rillia said. “And didn’t even have the guts to tell me until it was too late. Just as gutless as the rest of my kind.”

“Sounds rough,” Jason said. “What’d he want to do instead?”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Like a professor, or something?”

She would have continued moving forward but her lotus boat hit something. Rillia began staggering as the collision caused both of them to be unable to stand still. She looked around the stem to find that she’d gotten temporarily distracted talking with Jason before finding that there were new objects completely surrounding them.

To her complete shock they’d hit a mushroom so large that was roughly as big around as their lotus boat’s hull and grew out from the river’s bottom. Upon closer inspection of the fungus in her way, it was exactly what Rillia feared. The mushroom was dark red in color, with white spots, meaning that they were in danger. And the fungus that was directly in their way wasn’t the only one growing from the river. Four large fungus formed a barrier from which their lotus boat couldn’t cross. When Rillia looked around, she found that a whole forest of red mushrooms lined the shore of the Blue River on both sides. There was far less tall grass that would normally tower over them and it’s usual green luster had yellowed.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked as he ran toward the front of the lotus boat.

“It’s-it’s the Red Fungi mob,” she said. “They’re a group of fungus men that have formed a crime group that takes over and invades territory by spreading the spores that grow these giant mushrooms. The mushrooms sap moisture and other nutrients that deprive other life forms of food needed to survive.”

“Huh,” Jason said as he stepped out of the boat.

He took a step out of the boat and onto the top of the red mushroom. To Rillia’s horror, he started bouncing on the large object repeatedly to find it was bouncy. Just as he started having fun and giggling, blackish-red particles started being released from the top of the mushroom’s head.

“Stop!” Rillia screamed.

The young man immediately stopped jumping up and down and stared in fear at her warning.

“What?” he asked.

“The mushrooms the Red Fungi grow are highly venomous,” she said. “They release toxins when directly impacted. It not only makes it difficult to live with them around but those very spores they release are helpful in constructing the swords the Red Fungi mob create to further bully people into submitting to them. The Red Fungi mob, however, are natural enemies of us ants as we can dilute and neutralize the toxins with our Venom Drench martial art. It seems the Red Fungi have grown quite bold in attempting to take over territory so close to the Red Mountain ant colony, who they know is their number one threat.”

“Alright,” Jason said. “Well, we gotta get rid of these mushrooms if we’re to continue travelling to the Primeval World. So just remove ‘em if your kind are so good at doing!”

“I can’t!” Rillia said. “Us ants aren’t strong enough to remove something so deeply rooted into the ground alone! While one ant proficient in Venom Drench can remove a whole host of mushroom toxins, it takes multiple ants working in a team together to physically remove one.”

“Wow,” he answered. “Sounds harsh.”

“Yeah,” Rillia replied. “That’s why the Red Fungi mob is so powerful. While they’re definitely powerful warriors in their own right, even clans and groups of people that have the numbers to deal with them, the mushrooms can’t be removed without a sizeable amount of force. And, even when you do, the toxins will kill everything in sight if not properly absorbed and rendered useless. The Red Fungi mob can remove them without the toxins killing people but they only do so at a high price or in exchange for political power.”

“Then I’ll just move them!” Jason said. “I’m plenty strong enough to do that!”

“Are you?” Rillia asked.

He nodded.

“Definitely,” he said. “And you can remove the toxins since you’re an ant!”

“Well,” she said. “Not all ants can use the Venom Drench martial art since it’s a learned ability rather than one that an individual is simply born with. But yes, I’ve mastered the Venom Drench martial art.”

“Alright then,” Jason said. “Then we’ve got ourselves a way to beat those Red Fungus creeps.”

Rillia was absolutely shocked at the sheer strength he possessed as Jason tore the final two red mushrooms in their way with a single hand each. The combined strength and technology of the Red Mountain ants alone was a laborious process but the way Jason held the mushrooms in the air by the brim of their heads was absolutely awe inspiring, the white stems twice as tall as he was stretching across the river’s surface. Helping his heroic scene was the fact he was treading water with his legs alone, no arm movement necessary to fight the harsh current he was in.

What a monster. She thought. If there’s any more out there like him, I might just be done for if I go any farther into this world.

After the stems were pulled up, Jason spores began releasing from their place they had grown from the water below. It began to color the river a dark red before the toxins were released into the air as they floated from the river’s surface. The sight made Rillia sick to her stomach.

As the toxins began spreading from their source, Rillia willed green liquid to flow from her arm and forced it to spiral into the water. The reddish toxins contaminating the water were consumed by the liquid venom and were assimilated into the greenish substance before she willed the venom to spiral upward. The tornado of liquid venom swallowed the tiny, powdery particles of blackish-red before Rillia withdrew it into the spaces in between her plating.

Ants were immune to the effects of poison so long as they had been diluted by the venom that naturally coursed through their body. After she removed the fungal poison from the area, Jason tossed the mushrooms into the river for them to float downstream before he swam up to her boat. She smiled back at his joyful expression as she stood at the edge of the lotus vessel. The boat was held in place by a fetter of hardened venom wrapped around the stem of the lotus while the end of the rope dug into the ground of the shore. The rope of hardened venom excretion was strong enough to resist the tide of the river.

“We did a good thing, Rillia!” he said.

She nodded before turning up to look at the sky, noticing the dark clouds had long since dissipated.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “Well, time to head out to the Primeval World. From what the skies are telling me, it shouldn’t rain for the foreseeable future.”

“We can’t go now!” Jason said. “What about the other red mushrooms?”

She looked surprised at his exclamation, shrugging while almost grimacing.

“So?” she asked. “The Red Mountain ant colony will deal with it. We got to get a move on if we’re to take advantage of this river’s increased speed.”

“But what about all the people this will affect if the other ants can’t beat them?” he asked. “These red fungus guys seem pretty powerful.”

Rillia rolled her eyes.

“We can’t afford to deal with them,” she said. “We’re explorers, not heroes. If we went around solving everyone’s problems...well, it’d be the same as everyone living safe, cushy lives and growing too lazy to do anything about it themselves. That’s how the Red Mountain ant colony is. We have other ants whose only job is to protect the people from others’ warriors, so most people don’t have to lift a finger and never fight. Lazy, selfish cowards who’ve lost the will to explore and live life to the full. It’s the reason I don’t care if my ant colony survives or doesn’t.”

“No!” Jason cried. “We need to tear up the mushrooms and fight these bad guys! It’ll be fun!”

“What?” Rillia asked.

“Yeah!” he said. “Part of adventure is doing dangerous things just for the sake of it! And one way is to fight opponents who are dangerous to tangle with!”

“But what if they’re too dangerous to win against?” Rillia asked.

“You said it yourself didn’t you?!” Jason shouted. “You’d rather die doing something exciting rather than just live a boring life for the sake of living!”

“Well, yeah that is true,” Rillia said.

“And that’s why I want to fight these guys!” he shouted. “Being a hero is something I’d want to be! I’d much rather be a hero who dies for the right things than a coward who lives long enough to see a thousand heroes rise up in his lifetime!”

“But-” Rillia said.

“Come on!” he said. “If you beat these guys then you’ll show all those ants who never took the chance to come out here you’re braver than they are!”

She sighed a little before shrugging.

“All right, fine,” she said. “As strong as you are, you can uproot all these mushrooms by the time the Red Fungus notices!”

He frowned at that, clearly wishing to fight the mushroom mob.

The process was more arduous than Rillia thought it originally would have taken. Jason was strong enough to rip the mushrooms out of the ground like plucking fruit but the really hard part came when she had to assimilate the spores into her venom. Using the liquid she excreted, Rillia had to catch every single particle. Even a few spores could cause damage to the environment as anything that an animal ingested might make them sick or kill them. If they died after having eaten it, their corpse would make for tainted food for a carrion eater who ran across it.

Chain of poison they called it in my ecology class. She thought.

Jason continually had a scowl on his face as he glared at Rillia during the time it took to clean up all the fungal toxins because she was taking too long. Every time he ripped one mushroom out of the ground by lightly grabbing the stem and lifting his arm, Rillia had to be quick to catch every particle that leaked out of the white stump. She held her Venom Drench over each mushroom that Jason clutched and ripped out of the ground to ensure she was catching all of it. After doing it for dozens of them it became tiring, stressing her to no end to painstakingly sweep away all the blackish-red toxins without leaving any behind.

And that was after they had finished one side of the Blue River’s shore. They removed dozens of mushrooms before switching to the left side of the land near the river. The mushrooms were even more plentiful on that side, causing even more frustration. Rillia had lost count after the fiftieth mushroom was removed from the left side as she began removing the toxins that released from Jason ripping it from the ground.

By the time they were half way done with the left side of the river, it was night with the full moon bathing the area in silver. While acting quick to grab the particles before they reached the ground, she momentarily lost control of the venom she was manipulating and it fell to the ground. The green excretion acidic quality was revealed as it began melting the pine straw beneath it.

“Nice job,” Jason said.

“Well look at how much you do!” she replied.

“I’m doing all the heavy lifting!” Jason replied.

“That only appears to be the case,” Rillia retorted. “You’re so strong, lifting a hundred of these things to you is no problem. The clean up, however, is a far more delicate process that I’ve grown tired from. Manipulating venom this much even for a master is killer for your stamina.”

“Well…” Jason said, shifting his gaze. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t take into account your feelings when deciding upon doing this.”

She crossed her arms.

“Well…” she said. “Just let me have a break.”

“Yeah…” he said. “And besides...we need to wait for the fungus mob to show up.”

“Oh,” Rillia rolled her eyes. “Don’t count on it. When the Red Fungus mob sets their sights on a territory they want, they usually don’t just have one or two particular spots they like. They usually have multiple places that they release their spores into before routinely checking on those places. They likely won’t show up.”

“Don’t count on it,” a voice said.

Her entire body went stiff with fear as she glanced to the left. Jason gasped in excitement as Rillia shivered in fear as the Red Fungus mob approached them. There were ten of them in total and they looked as fearsome as they’d been described to Rillia.

Like most fungus men, their body was bipedal, like the ants and Giants. However, they looked more like Giants in that they had two arms and legs. But that was where the similarities ended. Half of the members’ bodies were spotted and mottled with black spots decorating their lime to dark green bodies. The other half of them were red bodied with blue spots along their bodies. Their limbs were made of tendrils that had been wrapped together into thick structures and sharp ended toes and fingers. Their eyes were usually black but some were yellow, with their mouths covered by a covering that naturally grew around from the back of their neck and wrapped around the front of their face.

Atop each of their heads was a wide-brimmed mushroom head that formed a slightly domed, hat-like structure. And, like every Red Fungus mob member, they had swords at their sides that were sheathed in blackish-green scabbards, the red hilts strikingly dangerous looking. Rillia had heard much about the infamous black venom swords the Red Fungus used in battle.

It’s a highly complex forging process that uses mold, mushroom toxins and even stone to create a weapon amongst the elite in terms of hand to hand combat. She thought. But what makes their blades so dangerous is that when melded with fungal toxins, the blades’ cutting power are increased as well as leaving a struck opponent feeling sick afterwards. Enough slashes can severely poison a foe, although it takes several dozen for the poison alone to be lethal.

“Oh my gosh!” Jason said. “Walking plants! Cool!”

This caused every member of the Red Fungus mob to glare at Jason as his words had unintentionally offended them. Due to the similarities of fungus and plants, the fungus people were mixed up with those who truly were both plant and animal, like the acorn people. Some purposefully used this retort against fungus people to insult them as it was seen as a dishonor to their species. This only ensured that they would not survive this encounter.

“I hope you were willing to die for that insult,” a mob member said.

“Insult?” he asked. “You guys are way awesome looking! Is your hat removable, because I’d like one!”

“Pieces,” one of the red ones said. “That’s what they’ll find you in.”

“So,” one of the green fungus men said. “Looks like we have some rabble rousers making a mess of the place. You know, I hate having to clean up vermin on my territory.”

“Pesky ants,” a red one said as drew his sword. The entire blade was a deeper red than the toxins usually were, almost scarlet with a black hue mixed in with its coloration. “Always getting in our way when we close in on our territory. I don’t understand, you Red Mountain pests have so much territory...why can’t we get any?”

“Look…” Rillia said. “We’ll just leave and pretend this didn’t happen. I think we should just-”

“Shut it!” a green fungi said as he whipped the sword from its scabbard. The greenish blade stretched out at her to reach the ant’s throat, her entire body going stiff in fear. It was a sudden reminder that fungus men could control the length of their weapons so long as they were in contact with them. “You Red Mountain ants have taken too much territory from us other species, and now you dare try to weasel your way out of it?! I loathe your kind for how much power you flaunt around like it’s nothing! Say goodbye!”

Just as it would have reached any further toward her, Jason ran over and knocked the overly long sword out of the fungi man’s hand. Just as the sword was sent rolling across the pine straw laden ground, the green mushroom man looked on in surprise as an angry faced boy stared at him. The fungus man’s otherwise evil scowl became a mask of confusion.

“Nice hat,” he said.

Just as he began to retreat, Jason lunged at him and grabbed hold of the mushroom brim atop his head. With the ease of ripping paper apart, he tore the mushroom head from the mob member. With an ear splitting scream erupting from him, the mushroom being fell over in agony with green bodily fluid fountaining up from his now bald scalp. Jason put it atop his own head, the green fluid leaking onto his black hair.

“You came up here thinking that you could take us down with your fancy swords, your spotted bodies and your ridiculous looking sombreros,” Jason said as he stood over the dying fungus man. “But you didn’t count on one thing…”

He then pointed to his new fashion addition.

“I. Wanted. Your. Hat!” he yelled.

He then raised his fists into the ear and let out a scream loud enough to shake the ground beneath their feet.

“I want all your cool hats!” he shouted.

The red fungus men who were closest to him drew their blades and slashed at him after they grew long enough to reach him. Jason dodged the strikes by curling up into a ball and rolling backward across the ground, deftly putting distance between him and the mob of ten mushroom men, the “hat” he gained falling off. Two green fungus men rushed at him as they drew their blades Jason jumped to his feet. Just as they neared him, before their swords had fully left their scabbards, Jason grabbed hold of the mushrooms’ heads and tore them off.

Before they let out a scream, the young man threw the torn fungal heads at two other mob members. The criminals didn’t even attempt to dodge as the circular objects spun toward them, too stupefied to even act, clearly unable to believe what they were seeing. This cost them dearly, as the mushroom heads circled so fast to them they slashed right through their rather thin bodies, cutting them cleanly in half.

Upon seeing half their crew readily eliminated, the others started backing away very slowly. However, Jason was by no means done. He charged forward, full on tackling one of the mushroom men with such force he was knocked through one of the mushroom stems behind him. The remaining four drew their blades in an attempt to slice him down before Jason batted one away with a swipe of his hand, the mob member tumbling into the grass as his green blood colored the vegetation. One of the remaining two red fungus men drew his sword and extended it in a move so fast it could barely be seen with the naked eye.

However, just as it neared Jason’s face, he caught it in his right hand before grasping a hold of it. Red blood began leaking from his palm to drip down the blade of the sword. The Red Fungus member tried moving his sword from Jason’s hand but his grasp was too strong. He stared the crime member down, his eyes in a blood crazed frenzy at the sight of his own blood.

Rillia had never seen such a ferocious looking being in the Red Fungus member looking so helpless. Rillia had seen innocent ants die before at the hands of monstrous predators and the fungus man looked like defenseless prey before the wild beast clamped down onto its vulnerable body. Jason’s wide-eyed enthusiasm and playful nature was gone as he stared down with murderous rage as blood continued pouring from his wound.

“Parasites like you deserve to be killed,” he said. “All I can truly remember about my former life is anger...anger at monsters abusing their strength in order to advance...seeing others and their freedom as nothing more than stepping stones in their quest for power…”

After Jason tightened his grip just a little more on the sword blade, the weapon shattered into pieces. The fungus man jumped in surprise at the boy’s strength, quite the feat as black venom swords were known for their durability. Jason’s hand was completely bloodied as the fragments of the sword dug into his hand.

As strong as he is the black venom sword is too strong to be broken without severely wounding him. Rillia thought. That hand’s definitely going to be out of commission until he gets it bandaged and healed up.

“You thugs don’t have the spirit of an adventurer,” he explained. “You don’t have the desire to see and explore this vast and open world. You just want to steal others’ accomplishments and product of their hard work. I hate people who are nothing more than complacent slaves, with their spirits broken by tragedy and restrictions. But those that I hate even more are those who instill that feeling of helplessness in others.”

The fungus man dropped the hilt of his now useless sword.

“A world without people living to the full is an empty world,” he said. “It can have the most vivid of colors, the most wild of animals and untamed of lands. But without people to explore and observe its majesty...who’s there to enjoy it all?”

He then sprinted forward and speared his arm through his chest. He flailed around in agony, screaming in pain as Jason looked on at his victim without remorse or pity. Merely rage.

“Fall dead like the rest of your kind,” he said as he removed his arm from the fungus man’s body. “Those who deprive this world of adventurers.”

He wiped the green blood off his hands before looking at the last Red Fungus member. Rillia had been so focused on Jason beating down the fungus men that she hadn’t even noticed the strange thing the last one had been doing since the youth grabbed the sword blade. He was pressing a red, circular spore he had produced from his body with both his hands. It took Rillia a second to notice what he was doing before the spore grew to the size of her head.

“Jason, stop him!” she yelled.

He turned toward the fungus man to see the criminal quickly threw the oversized spore to the ground before Jason was able to close the distance between him and the mob member. He knocked the fungus man to the ground with a single punch before tearing his mushroom “hat” off. The young man then smiled as he put it atop his head.

“I think I like the red ones more than the green,” he said with a big grin.

“That’s not the thing you should be worried about!” Rillia said as she pointed to the ground where the spore had been placed.

It quickly dug through the floor of pine straw before burrowing itself into the soil beneath the brown foliage. After a moment something huge enough to clear away the pine needles and other dirt from around the area sprung upward. From the ground sprung a black hood, like a dark cloak billowing in the wind. The black, cloak-like organism was decorated with hexagonal shapes to almost look like a beehive before it wrapped into a cylindrical structure. The cylinder of black wrapping bent down to peer at them with wide yellow eyes that blinked back at them.

“What the heck is that?!” Jason shrieked in panic.

“The black shadow fungi!” Rillia said as the organism that was ten times as tall as she was examining them. “It’s a special type of organism that the fungus people use as their ultimate soldier. They deplete all nutrients in their body and release it before it kills everything in sight. It’s only used in emergency situations.”

“Fine,” Jason said. “Time to mow down another mindless goon!”

“NO!” Rillia shouted.

But it was too late as he already flung himself at the monster before giving the fungus’s black wrappings the strongest punch he could. However, upon contact with the cylindrical beast, the organism merely began wiggling a bit after lurching backward. It swayed from side to side before returning to its mostly dormant position, completely unharmed by the strike. And Jason was rolling in the ground in pain as he grasped the hand he had punched with.

“WHAT-!” he yelled. “What was that?!”

From the hollow, interior portion of the black shadow fungus’s body appeared red tendrils that attempted to reach toward Jason. Although exhausted and unable to produce much venom, enough green ooze leaked from her left arm before it spiralled into the air above her. She then willed the green liquid to solidify into blackish-red matter to form a large claw that sliced the tendrils before nearing Jason.

The stumps of tendrils returned to the black shadow’s interior before it let out a gurgle of disappointment. As soon as it did, Rillia’s conjured claws fell to the ground before she fell to her knees. She panted in exhaustion as she winced in pain.

Can’t do much more than that. She thought. Wasted all my strength on purifying those toxins.

“What is that thing?!” Jason said as he stood back up. “It barely flinched from my punch!”

“That’s because…” she said in between her pants. “Black shadow fungi immediately inflict damage to the nervous system of any organism that happens to come in contact with it. It’s not even poison it harms other organisms with...its outer body’s exterior is specially designed to inflict pain on a cellular level.”

“Darn,” he said. “Well...we can’t just run away from that thing! It will cause who knows how much damage.”

“We couldn’t outrun it anyway,” Rillia replied.

The black fungi then began to stretch its body as black particles began to burst from the interior of its structure. The particles were not a normal, powdery substance but large spheres bigger around than her head. Upon the huge orb shaped spheres touching the grass and pine straw, the vegetation immediately dried up of moisture and began to grey and shrink in size.

“The spores of the black shadow fungus will absorb all moisture from all organisms they touch and have their water absorbed,” she said.

She looked up at the spores raining down on her and Jason and sighed.

“I only wish I had had more of your spirit,” Rillia said. “And lived with no regrets like you had, Jason.”

And then the spores were overcome by a streak of white. A pure, snow white blade cut through each and every spore that was both airborne or had touched the ground. The speed of the weapon was unbelievable as it sliced through several dozen spores in a matter of seconds. Upon being cleaved in half, the spores began to crumble to dust. Rillia turned to see the user of the weapon arriving as he walked around the black shadow fungi, recognizing him to her utter shock.

He was a fungus man but far taller than the others they had just encountered. His body was a dark green with yellow spots decorating his body, his wide brimmed mushroom head wider than his species contemporaries. His red eyes were almost invisible as very little of his face could be seen between the mushroom head and face covering. However, those eyes made Rillia recognize who he was.

The sword in his hand’s hilt was so dark green it was almost black. The blade retracted back after slicing away all the released spores to reveal it was slightly longer than the others had been and white as a lily. The black fungi then bent down to look at the new swordsman before growing red tendrils from the interior of its body.

Without a moment’s hesitation the fungus man carved the tendrils coming toward him away. After disposing of the closest thing the fungus had to limbs, he stretched his sword at the black shadow fungus. Upon the white blade piercing through its exterior the creature let out a loud gurgle before withering like a dry leaf before crumbling to dust.

After turning the creature into nothing more than a pile of ash, the fungus swordsman turned to the mushrooms planted by the Red Fungus mob and extended the white blade at them. With each slice, the mushrooms’ withered and dehydrated before crumbling to dust. Rillia was amazed at the speed of the swordsman before he sheathed the blade in the dark hilt at his side.

“No…” she said. “It can’t be...not him...why would he help us?”

He approached Rillia, giving her a hand in a gesture of kindness.

“I’m sorry for my peoples’ actions,” he said. “Penance for my kind is that I am here.”

“Yeah!” Jason shouted.

He ran up to the fungus man before running his fingers along the brim of his mushroom head.

“You are so cool!” he said.

“Thank-you,” he said. “I just happened to be in the area, chasing off others of my kind when the Red Fungus decided to set their sights on this area. And...what are you?”

“I’m me!” he said.

“Jason!” Rillia shouted as she stood up.

She jumped between him and the fungus man, the taller creature looking slightly confused as she did so.

“This is Melsil Dushil!” she said. “He is the son of the Red Fungus mob’s leader, Juchil Dushil! His father’s lineage is well known for having the most ferocious of red eyes! And Melsil has been fighting with some weird white sword that no one has ever seen before...why would a member of the Red Fungus save us?”

“Because I’m not a member of the Red Fungus,” Melsil said.

Rillia shook her head, never expecting him to say those words.

“Oooooh!” Jason said. “Can he join us on our way to the Primeval World?”

“No way!” Rillia said. “We can’t trust him! He’s our enemy! He’s-he’s not...not-”

“Trustworthy?” Melsil asked. “Okay...that’s fine. I need to get travelling downstream anyway...more red mushrooms to pull up.”

“We have a boat!” Jason said. “We were going down the Blue River with it just today.”

“Oh,” the fungal swordsman said. “That could really help me get to Slab Lake sooner.”

“No!” Rillia said. “What if you just-?!”

“Kill you?” Melsil asked. “I could have done that...well, right now if I wanted to.”

The ant frowned as Jason jumped up and down.

“It seems you two knuckleheads need some protection with his hand bleeding and you’re Venom Drench tired out,” Melsil said. “Give me transportation to Slab Lake and I’ll be on my way.”

Rillia glared as Jason turned to her and nodded.

“Neat to meet plant men and ants in less than two days,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.”

“Hahaha,” Melsil chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”