3 3 - Summons

The creatures that appeared in the cavern that made up the fifth floor of Vault 22 ranged from two feet tall all the way to eight feet tall (0.6 - 2.43 Meters).

Doing some quick math, twelve of them were adults, and eight were Sprouts.

Most of the adults ranged around 6-8 feet tall with the tallest Myconoid appearing to be the eldest.

[Image of the Myconoids]

The Myconoids looked confused for only a moment before the tallest of them stepped forward and bowed towards my Spore Carriers.

Suddenly I felt something touch my mind and a 'weary' voice that spoke of great age spoke out to me.

"Greetings Maker, how can we be of service?"

"Maker?" I wondered.

"Your Title, you are a Maker, yes? Creator and spreader of Life?" The Myconoid asked.

"Wait...you can hear me?" I asked.

"Yes...my spores touch yours, allowing our minds to touch one another, allowing us to communicate through the surface of our minds. My people do not have mouths or any other conventional ways to communicate, so we do so through the spores we produce."

"Is there a limit?" I asked.

"Yes, our Sprouts (Kids) won't be able to communicate until they become adults and have developed their spores and control over their spores. As for our communication, we can only use this ability a few times a day due to how many spores we must use to communicate," It explained.

I continued asking more questions, eventually learning that this tribe of Myconoids were pacifists and their purpose was to live life at the moment and help spread the joy and wonders of life, with their natural abilities allowing them to connect with the plants around them and being able to grow a wide variety of fungi.

I even learned that it takes about five years for a Myconoid Sprout to reach adulthood and Myconoids could live to be up to five hundred years old.

I let the tribe live in the cavern due to it being the best environment for them to grow fungi and also where I could keep an eye on them with my Spore Carriers.

If they were to become hostile, all of my Spore Plants and Carriers in the area would be able to take them down, with my Spore Plants all being capable of biting and spitting acidic projectiles and my Spore Carriers being able to rip them apart if need be.

I at first found it strange how easy I found the thought of killing the Myconoids but eventually came to see it as just my change in nature. I was no longer human, after all.

[Spore Carrier and Plant images]

It didn't take long for the Myconoids to begin taking root around the cave.

According to the 'Elder' Myconoid, they rooted themselves into the ground to draw nutrients and water into their bodies and to begin spreading fungi into the surrounding area.

Each one of them had its own spores unique to their race that could be manipulated and controlled in various ways, to warn one another, to defend themselves, to heal, and even to reproduce asexually.

However, this manipulation comes with age, with the older a Myconoid becomes, the more they can control and manipulate.

I even learned that there existed 'Sovereign' Myconoids that had a similar ability to my spores that would allow them to take over a deceased body and turn them into a kind of fungi servant, but these reanimated corpses had expiration dates and were a bit weaker and less coordinated than what their host body was capable of when alive. None of them were of this 'class' and Sovereign Myconoids were quite rare, with their tribe having never had one due to their pacifistic nature.

Frankly, I felt threatened by their abilities, but I wanted to see if they were actually loyal, and I didn't want to just command them to do something self-harming, even though as they were plants they could just regrow and heal any damage done to their bodies.

It would take time, but eventually, I would know if they were loyal or not.

This led to the next problem, my two other summons, both of which would be extremely dangerous.

Even if the Weeping Angels were 'lesser' in some way if they were even a bit as powerful as the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who, then they would be extremely dangerous, being near-perfect killers.

As for the High Elf, if they were a trained mage of a high enough level, they would be able to decimate all of my Spore Carriers with Magic and be practically untouchable if they were good enough.

Though there was a chance they were also just a regular High Elf citizen who wasn't trained to become a Battle Mage or soldier.

So, I had all of my Spore Carriers in the vault travel to the Cavern and had them all ready to fight.

"Maker, what's wrong? Is there an enemy approaching?" The Elder asked, connecting with my mind once again.

"Possibly," I answer cryptically.

"Then we shall assist," The Elder informed me.

"Even though you are pacifists?" I asked, confused.

"We may not seek conflict, but if one seeks to destroy us, then we shall fight to protect ourselves and the life we foster."

"I see, well I do not know if the entity I summon will be hostile, but if they are, I will appreciate your help in defeating them," I informed the Elder.

"No need for thanks, Maker, it is our duty."

Not wanting to waste more time, I selected Vault 22 as the location and once again, a blinding light appeared in the cavern and a man with golden skin and green eyes with pointed ears and wearing simple white robes.

Focusing on the elf caused a screen to appear.

/========+========\

Name: Ailwin Ianrona (Randomly Generated Name)

Race: Altmer

Traits: [Highborn]

Talents: [Restoration Magic(C)], [Mysticism(D], [Fishing(A)]

\========+========/

Not letting my guard down, I readied my Spore Carriers and Plants.

"Greetings Natural Spirit, my name is Ailwin, how can I be of service?"

Confused, I stared at him through the eyes of my many Spore Carriers in the room.

The Myconoids were the first to calm down, seemingly knowing that the elf was not a threat.

Only after a few minutes did I lower my 'guard' but I still had my Spore Carriers ready to attack.

Though I couldn't control them as if they were my own body, I found I could give them mental commands and use them like puppets to do basic tasks, such as don't kill all the Myconoids for simply existing a few feet away from them.

I then noticed a predicament.

I couldn't talk to the elf.

My Spore Carriers couldn't speak, and their vocal cords hardly exist anymore, allowing them only to growl and screech when they ever decided to attack.

So, deciding against using the Myconoids to speak to the elf, I instead took control of one of my Spore Carriers and instead began writing in the dirt with the claws of the Spore Carrier I controlled.

"Hostile?" I wrote.

"Hostile? Are you asking if I am hostile to you Natural Spirit? If so, then no," The elf explained.

"Why?" I wrote.

"I have no reason to, my duty is to follow your commands and to protect you in case of danger, even if it threatens my own life," The elf explained again.

"Why?" I wrote again.

"Because that was the deal I made, in return for continuing to live, I had to serve you with my whole being till either my time runs out, or I die again."

"Deal?" I asked, concerned.

"The deal with the world, after I died I was offered a deal by the very world around me, as if the very trees, grass, magicka, rock, and air spoke to me, offering me the deal, a way to continue my journey. Though I got the feeling I had the option to let go, moving onto the afterlife."

Concerning...

I looked over to the Myconoids and decided to ask them the same.

I learned that they too were offered a deal after their small tribe was destroyed, though they used more 'flowery' words to describe whatever was offering them the deal.

Based on what they had in common, it seemed that both summons first died, and were offered a deal by their worlds to continue living or to simply move on with the cycle of life.

Knowing that something was definitely behind the scenes, I hesitated.

I was definitely being used, used for what? I had no idea.

Amusement? A tool? A weapon?

I had more questions than answers.

I was paranoid, no doubt about that, but it's those who are paranoid that survive the longest and see the world for what it truly was. An uncaring hellhole that cared not for us, we were little more than ants under a boot that could step on us at any time, and this ant would fight an elephant if I had to.

Taking a deep breath, I eventually decided against summoning the Weeping Angels for now until I could confirm that the summons did indeed have some kind of loyalty to me. If they didn't I wouldn't hesitate to destroy them due to their threat to my own survival.

But I was in this for the long game, so I shall wait and see, I will observe them at all times until I know they can be somewhat trusted, and even then, I'd still keep an eye out.

Never know when a mask could suddenly slide off, revealing the demon underneath.