Despite what Ellephwen said, the young Mushman rushed out as soon as dawn rose, wanting to make up for the lost time from the day before. She rushed to her usual hunting spot, for there was a particular foe she sought this day.
A Lesser Poison Frog. One of the first beasts she saw on her very first day of training was one of these Frogs. She avoided it entirely, it was a step above every else she had been training against, but today, with the dormant skill awakened, Ellena felt a new level of confidence.
After just an hour or so of searching, the Mushling found a target. It was smaller than her, purple skin with a huge rotund belly that looked like a cyst, deceptively thick skin since it held the creature's poison. It was an odd choice of name really, as the creature spat the poison at you, so it should have been called a Lesser Venomous Frog, at least according to Ellephwen.
It was also apparently very aggressive. As soon as the small and quite angry creature spotted Ellena, it spat a full glob of its grim purple venom at her. She jumped to the side and watched the liquid burn rock like acid.
Ellena growled and charged the creature, thanking her new skill for calming her fears. A split second later and it would have thrown another glob at her, instead a single clawed toe pierced her head as she rammed the creature into a tree.
The Mushling winced in pain as she stumbled back. The frog still lived, but it huffed, its body bruised. Ellena readied for another charge, but stumbled a little. Something felt off, she hurriedly checked her stats.
[Health: 10/12]
[Health: 10/12]
[Health: 10/12]
[Health: 09/12]
It was slow, but it appeared as though her health had begun to tick down. She had been poisoned, which meant the name was not that inaccurate at all. Her vision had also started to blur just a little.
I thought this was a LESSER Poison Frog?! What’s the Greater one like!? She screamed into the void and began a second charge.
This time, despite its broken body, the frog was prepared, though it was smaller than the last, another glob of spit flew at the Mushman, splashing against her head. She winced and cried out in pain, slamming into the beast shortly after and sending it flying into the same tree as before.
“[Overall level has increased from [Level 38] to[Level 48]]”
That was the most levels she had received in quite a while, for good reason too, the poison attack was still draining her health slowly, though the level ups did help with that.
As her vision continued to blur, Ellena remained as rational as she could, but even her new skills couldn’t stop her from panicking a little. Of course Ellephwen wouldn’t have sent her out completely defenseless, just as with the food that she could summon, there were also a few medicines. An antidote surely amongst them.
The mushling squeezed her eyes shut and imagined a cure, a healing remedy to her slowly declining lifeforce. The sound of glass hitting grass filled her ears. She opened her eyes to see a small corked vial on the ground.
Hurriedly she did her best to prop it up using her legs and mouth, then yanked off the lid with her teeth, rocking onto her back with the base of the vial squeezed between her button like legs.
A few splashes of liquid filled her mouth, a foul taste, like rotted bread, but the Mushman instantly felt better. After a few breaths, Ellena willed the vial back into the mysterious inventory space and sighed, her vision returning to normal. If it weren’t for the Dryad's resourcefulness, she may have just lost her life for the second time.
If they had fought even a few days ago, she would likely have lost her life already, so she was quite glad she never attempted it. Still, now that things had calmed down the Mushling wanted a quick look at her new stats.
Name: Ellena
Age: 49 days
Species: Forest Mushling, Mushman
Height: 1.5”
Sex: N/A
Level: 48 +10
Health: 08/14 +2
Mana: 3/3 +1
Stamina: 13/26 +4
Energy: 16/26 +4
Attack: 12 +2
Defence: 29 +5
Magic Attack: 3+1
Magic Defence: 13+3
Titles: Kin of Ellephwen
Skills: [Pain Resistance lvl 3] [Night vision lvl 2] [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 4}] +1
[Tough Stomach lvl 1] [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 2] +1 [Swiftfoot lvl 1] [Warriors Heart lvl 3 ] Gained! [Warriors Will lvl 2] Gained!
Mushroom helmet also leveled up, which made sense as it was the only part of the body Ellena could currently use to fight with. She was beginning to worry that she would struggle when she did finally gain arms, it had been so long since she used any.
Speaking of which, there was a strange nagging feeling the small Mushman had had for a while. Why was it not driving her crazy? She was used to having arms, the very idea of losing your limbs completely was enough to make most shudder, but she wasn’t the least bit bothered. Sure she wanted some back, but she felt no discomfort at her lack of arms. Another blessing of being reborn a monster surely.
As her mind wandered so did her body and without realising she came across a new sight, a tall cliff. The Mushling had been to the frog's territory multiple times, but this was the first time she saw a cliff. It was definitely not the same one that she travelled down with her parents all those days ago either.
It must have stood around fifty feet tall and travelled a decent distance in both directions, disappearing through the shadows of the forest. Ellena still had plenty of time, so she decided to follow it a distance to look for a cave.
There was a good reason to search for caves. Though she had never seen one, dungeons were famously often found in caves and there was nowhere better to grind levels than a dungeon. Of course most caves did not hold dungeons, but if there was going to be one, deep in the largest forest on the planet seemed a likely candidate.
Of course as it stood, if she stepped foot inside a dungeon she would likely be torn in half. Even the opening level of a dungeon would attract monsters stronger than those she had fought thus far. An evolution or two would be necessary, but she could at least find one.
Eventually, the small Mushman came across something akin to a cave. Though it was more a den of sorts. A wide opening in the side of the cliff, it looked like it had been carved over decades. A few bones and various corpses were scattered around it, and it the center a group of beasts were chewing on the corpse of a dear.
A group of Black Wolves, not an entire pack, just three, likely pups judging by their sizes. That didn’t matter though, Ellena knew that at her current level she stood no chance, even against children. Hoping that they wouldn’t notice her tiny presence, the Mushling backed away slowly, back along the cliff wall.
Unfortunately, it was too late, the closest pup began sniffing the air, then after it looked around for a while, its attention shifted fully on the helpless mushroom. Eyes filled with a predator's gleam. All it took was a growl and a bark then all three darted out of their den.
Ellena ran, as it was all that she could do. Her tiny legs were taking her much faster than the last time she had to run like this. Darting around trees, over roots and bushes, dodging each one with surprising calm.
Even then they were wolves, and they had no issues keeping up. The Mushling watched her stamina depleting slowly, feeling the exhaustion hit her. The beasts behind showed no signs of fatigue.
“[Skill [Swiftfoot lvl 1] has increased to [Swiftfoot lvl 2]”
Just that alone was a clear difference, a change that would help, she felt her speed increase, glancing behind to see a speck of distance finally gained and not a moment too soon. Her stamina fell dangerously low, all she wanted to do was reach the house, but that wouldn’t be possible, she would run out of breath before then. Instead, the little mushling turned back towards the cliff. There was a chance that of another drop further along its edge, it would be a risk, but less so than trying to fight wolves.
From an outside perspective, Ellena could only imagine how ridiculous this image was. A tiny Mushling running faster than a pair of wolves. Her little blob-like feet barely touched the ground and she lurched towards an unknown destination. Even in that moment the tiny mushroom monster had to stifle a chuckle just picturing the absurd situation she found herself in.
Her eyes glanced over her stamina bar, reaching ever closer to depletion, but, just as her panting became painful she found exactly what she needed, and did not hesitate, launching her tiny body over the edge, angling head first. She may be the only case where landing head first might actually be safer.
The Wolves now far above stood on the edge of the cliff, one howling. Just as she had hoped they were not going to risk their lives for an extra meal, they wouldn’t be as stupid as she was.
The small mushling braced herself as the forest canopy below approached at an alarming rate, smacking straight into a pointy bed of leaves. She knocked into multiple branches as they slowed her fall, her health tanking with every slap, but finally, she hit the bottom, in a lot of pain.
Her vision blurred, which she had become frightfully accustomed too recently. A little blood washed a corner of her sight red, but she was alive for now. It didn’t feel as though death was approaching, but it definitely didn’t feel good. As her consciousness escaped her, Ellena took another look at her stats, praying that it did not indicate her death.
Name: Ellena
Age: 49 days
Species: Forest Mushling, Mushman
Height: 1.5”
Sex: N/A
Level: 48
Health: 02/14
Mana: 3/3
Stamina: 01/26
Energy:02/26
Attack: 12
Defence: 29
Magic Attack:
Magic Defence: 13
Titles: Kin of Ellephwen
Skills: [Pain Resistance lvl 3] [Night vision lvl 2] [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 4}]
[Tough Stomach lvl 1] [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 2] [Swiftfoot lvl 2] +1 [Warriors Heart lvl 3 ] [Warriors Will lvl 2]
Certainly, her gamble had paid off, but it was a huge risk, no doubt Ellephwen would be quite mad when she got home. Especially considering her consciousness had begun to fail her. Light left the corners of her vision, she wasn’t scared, just very worried, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now either way.
The Mushman looked up to the sky through the canopy. At the very least it was still morning, so there was a chance she would wake up on the same day. That’s what she hoped anyway.
A little risk for our little Mushrooom. so I write two things at once so that I don't get burnt out on one story, currently its this and the Wattpad novella contest, which I have to write a lot for since it's got a time limit. When that's done I'm not sure what to write for my second story. Originally I was thinking the sequel to Pocketful of Shrapnel, since I now have the cover for the first book I comissioned (I'm going to sell it after i edit it one more time but I'm not hopeful), but since that didn't do too well I might do something else and leave it a while.
I'll get back to my Kenshi fanfic occasionally, but that's a once in a while thing anyway. Otherwise I've got the prequel spin of book set in the same world as Mushroom Reborn currently just called Chevalier. It's about a medieval french Chevalier that is sent to this world set about seven hundred years before Mushroom Reborn. It's tentatively kingdom building? Anyway, enough of my rambling.