[Bonus chapter]A Starry Night (2)

"I will make sure to report this," the shroom-being snarled, before going back to look for its lost comrade. It was clear to Lucius that whoever was instructing them seemed to be reasonably capable. However, their bickering and lack of conviction for given protocols also proved that their leader lacked proper control over them. He gave them guidance, but could not properly enforce them.

~I guess I'm lucky that the leaflings aren't as intelligent as these creatures seem to be~ he thought to himself, as he stalked the lone shroom-being.

Once again he tore a piece of leaf flesh from a shrub, and snuck up behind the shroom-being, stuffing its maw and quickly dragging it into the bushes before pummeling its head.

[+4 Agility]

[+2 Strength]

~I get points for fighting?~ he thought to himself as he took a breather. It seemed all this sneaking around and taking out enemies was tiring work.

As he sat there, he inspected the shroom-being's body. It seemed the only plausible weapon they could make use of were the sharp fang-like projections in their maws. He tested its sharpness by trying to pierce a piece of leaf with the sharp end.

~Yea, best to avoid getting bit,~ he thought to himself as the projection pierced through the leaf as if it were nothing, turning it a few shades paler a few seconds later.

~Poison,,,~ he thought, quickly dropping the remaining piece of leaf, fearing that the poison might spread to his hands.

~Anyway, what am I going to do about the remaining two?~

Lucius doubted that he could get the remaining two shroom-beings to separate from one another, and at the rate they were moving, they would soon close in on the leaflings.

~Of course, this is all under the assumption that all the groups are moving at the same rate. For all I know, there could be another group already devouring my children,~ he thought, stopping himself as he called them his children.

~Children, huh? I guess they sort of are like my children.~

~~~

"Papa, you're back like you promised," shouted a little boy, running towards a lean man standing in the doorway.

"Of course I am, I said I'd be here for your birthday, didn't I?" the man replied, picking the child up.

"Where did you go this time?"

"You know I can't tell you that," the man smiled, carrying the child into the house.

"Lucius, you're back," smiled a woman, walking to hug the man.

~~~

"What's going on tonight?" he whispered to himself, shaking his head as if trying to get rid of the memory before moving on.

"Ghost," he whispered, stalking around where he had last seen her.

"Here," she whispered back, coming out of hiding.

"They'll be at the camp soon. I'll draw their attention, and you'll run and tell Alpha that it's clear to go, understand?"

"What about you?" Ghost asked, a worried expression on her face.

"I'll catch up. Just keep going straight up the river, remember to keep protocol, you see danger you run. Okay?" he replied, before moving past her towards the remaining shroom-beings.

Lucius ran at full speed and caught up to them a few minutes later, he could see the camp from where they were, they seemed to be waiting for something as they hid behind a shrub and just stared at the leaflings.

~What are they waiting for?~ he thought, watching them from close behind. ~Well, that doesn't matter, they won't be waiting much longer,~ he continued, picking up a nearby twig.

He moved closer towards them, each step carefully calculated before being placed on the ground. He stopped his breathing, and every movement he made was nearly mechanical.

What little sound his footsteps made were canceled out by the billowing wind and after what felt like several minutes of careful movement, he was right behind them, within striking range.

In one fluid movement, Lucius kicked one of them to the ground, while grabbing the arm of the other, shattering it with his knee. He smashed his fist into its head, knocking it out before it could so much as make a sound.

However, right as he was about to launch on the shroom he had kicked to the ground, another shroom appeared from the forest, letting out a toxic cloud before Lucius could get to it.

Lucius tried to close his mouth, to hold his breath before the poison could get into his body, but it was already too late. He managed to get a hit off the shroom that poisoned him, but his strength had already been significantly drained.

"Did you get it?" the shroom-being that had been kicked to the ground asked as they stood over Lucius's aching body.

"Just barely, it nearly got me," its comrade replied, seemingly inspecting its prey.

"Should we tell 𝘏𝘐𝘔 about our capture? The creature looks like it might be a worthy meal, perhaps we can even go up a few ranks," the other shroom-being asked excitedly.

"What do you mean 𝘰𝘶𝘳, capture? This is my food, I shall decompose him and improve my poison alone," its comrade replied with a toothy grin.

*Crack*

"Huh, did you hear that?" it asked, whipping its head to the direction that the sound came from.

"Go check it out, there might be another," the other shroom-being whispered.

Once its comrade was gone, the remaining shroom-being looked at Lucius in an almost lustful way, opening its maw as it came closer to him.

In a single swift movement, Lucius spun his leg, sweeping the shroom-being to the ground, before shooting to his feet.

He couldn't see a thing, the world was dark, and his body felt numb.

Using his legs to feel around, he quickly stomped down on the shroom-being, not caring where he hit.

The shroom-being saw this, and grabbed Lucius's leg, biting into it. Lucius could feel its cold poison permeating into his body, wreaking havoc on his leg. And just like that, his leg buckled, and he fell to his knees.

He fought the urge to let out a scream, and punched at the shroom-being's face, pummelling it till it slackened its bite, and continued further until he felt the strength drain out of its body.

The poison spread slowly from his leg all the way up to his torso. Paralysis. Lucius couldn't feel any part of his lower body. The only thing he 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 feel was pain. Pain emanating from every fragment of his being.