Arc 1 - Ch 10: "The Fungi Campground"

CHAPTER 10 - "The Fungi Campground"

This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki

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-Siegfried and Azure approached the campsite, and upon arrival, realized that it had been completely abandoned. There was nobody to be seen, yet the tents were full of supplies, and they had a fire going as they were actively cooking food.

Siegfried: "There's...nobody here? Azure-san, something feels off about this place."

Azure: "I'm sure that if someone were to leave an area this well-stocked with supplies, that they would at least be close by. Let's search the surrounding area to see if we can't find somebody to talk to that is camping here."

-As Siegfried and Azure prepared to search for campers, they heard a loud rustling come from the trees above them, followed by a hail of shouting.

[??? x4]: "YAAAAAAAAAH!"

Siegfried and Azure: "WA-" *boom*

-It was at this moment, that Siegfried knew, the party had just been ambushed, exactly as he had suspected...

-Everything went black and remained that way for a solid minute. However, Siegfried was not unconscious. His hearing was muffled, and he couldn't move. However, he could make out the words that he was hearing.

???: "What do you think we should do with them, chief?"

[???]: "Wait until they wake up, and we will question them. They trespassed on our property, and we captured them. We must gather their motives before making a decision on how we will punish them."

-Siegfried opened his eyes and looked to his left. He saw Azure, tied to a tree, with a rag over her mouth. She had been completely immobilized. Who could have done this, and what did they want from the party? Siegfried came to his feet, alerting the chief of the camp that he had just woken up.

[???]: "You're awake. Tell me your name and where your affiliations are aligned. You have unlawfully stepped onto our campground, and for that, you have been apprehended."

[???]: "I am asking this of you because I noticed the attire of the Dark Mages that you carry in your bag. I must confirm you are not an enemy. We have been watching you since you entered the forest, as we are the forest's protectors."

-Siegfried took a good look at the chief, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. His eyes were NOT deceiving him. The chief represented a man who was half man half mushroom. A mushroom man, in fact! He was short and had the aura of a poisonous fungus, growing in the woods, which was to be expected. Around him, were three other fungi-men, all with their weapons drawn and pointed at Siegfried.

-Before speaking, Siegfried whispered to himself-

Siegfried: "*sphaera*"

-Siegfried's aura changed to match that of the forest, and then he began to speak-

Siegfried: "My name is Siegfried, I am a new adventurer from the town of Formai, just down the road. I am on a mission to defeat Hasher and put an end to his agenda. I sincerely apologize for stepping foot on your campgrounds."

[???]: "Interesting, so the attire of the dark mages is a disguise to try and breach Hasher's homeland? I have a hard time believing that. Who is this mage that you have brought along with you, Siegfried?"

Siegfried: "That is my party member, Azure-san. She is a water-air hybrid mage and has agreed to journey alongside me on my journey to defeat Hasher. The clothes I carry are my old clothes, I have no affiliation with the dark mages, I promise."

???: "I don't believe -em for a second boss, we should chop -is head off!"

[???]: "Calm down, Soh, that won't be necessary. I don't sense any dangerous aura's emitting from this traveler, he seems as innocent as he looks. He is under-leveled for an area such as this, he poses no threat. The girl, however, must remain bound, we do not know what danger she could pose to our campsite..."

Soh: "Whateve' you say- boss!"

Siegfried: "Yes, please do not chop my head off. I'd like to keep it, if possible. I'm sure I would have no chance fighting against the four of you."

-The four men were very small, about half of Siegfried's height, yet he could tell their hearts burned with the passion of the forest in which they resided. Soh seemed especially dangerous, his aura was the only one that differed from the rest. His was an aura of a thousand spores flying through the air, representative of a powerful poison-mage, a subclass of nature magic.

[???]: "My name is Koh, I am the chief of this campsite. These are my fungi-knights, Roh, Moh, and Soh. We are a family of fungi-men who reside here in the Vilona Woods. We may be small, but our hearts are as big as the green-skinned giants roaming the fields of Laeval!"

-Laeval was a province still unfamiliar to Siegfried, yet he didn't like the sound of the "green-skinned giants" that were yet to come.

Roh: "So, why have you two come to this campsite?"

Moh: "Perhaps they want to rob us and steal our food supply!"

Soh: "Or perhaps they want to mooch off of us, knowing we have a copious amount of resources!"

Koh: "Would all of you please be quiet, lower your weapons, and take a seat? Allow me to question the boy. You three should instead turn your attention to the girl whom you have tied to the tr--...Soh?"

Soh: "What's up, boss man"

Koh: "...where's the girl?"

-Siegfried and the others turned to look at the tree in which Azure had been bound. Azure, was nowhere to be found. She had escaped! But how? The ropes and cloth were tightly secured!

Koh: "...which one of you three tied her up?"

-The three men each pointed fingers at each other, not wanting to claim responsibility for royally screwing up their task.

Koh: "Well, if nobody fesses up, then I guess all three of you will have to face punishment. You were tasked with securing her to the tree, and now, because of your incompetence, we have a crazy mage girl roaming about!"

-The three men reluctantly pointed to the true culprit who had failed his task. Soh had not secured the rope right enough and left a small enough gap for Azure to escape through.

Koh: "Siegfried, that girl with you, is she dangerous?"

Siegfried: "Define dangerous."

-Siegfried knew how intimidating Azure was, and to top it all off, she was larger than these mushroom men, and none of them knew who she even was!

Koh: "Will she attack us, given we apprehended you?"

Siegfried: "I'm not sure, but just in case, let me call out to her, to let her know not to attack you guys."

Siegfried: "AZURE-SAN, please do not atta-"

-It was then, that Azure had jumped from the trees, and landed on top of Koh, putting him into a chokehold.

Azure: "SIEGFRIED, NOW'S YOUR CHANCE, THESE MEN AMBUSHED US, ATTACK THEM!"

Siegfried and Koh: "-- --"

Soh, Roh, and Moh: "YOU THERE, REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE CHIEF IMMEDIATELY, OR FACE THE WRATH OF THE FUNGI."

-As the four fungi men realized what was taking place, their expression changed instantly, and their language became unanimously refined.

Siegfried: "AZURE-SAN, get off of him! These men mean no harm! Please."

Azure: "But they ambushed us! They obviously have malicious intent behind their actions, Siegfried!"

Koh: "Soh, Moh, Roh, do not approach her. Allow me to handle this."

-Koh then cast a spell from the top of his mushroom-crowned head, it was a gaseous spell that expelled a purple-colored substance into the air. They were spores!

Koh: "Sporae!"

-As the spores filled the air, Azure became light-headed, and released her grasp on Koh. Azure fainted. Sporae is a spell used by poison-mages to inflict a drowsiness status effect on their opponent. It worked, and Azure fell asleep. Siegfried had not inhaled these spores.

Azure: "AHH, YOUR GAS ISN'T ENOUGH TO STO-sto--stop..me...eugh.." *plop*

Azure: "z z z.....z z z....seigi-kun...z z z..."

Siegfried: "AZURE-SAN. Why did you have to go and do that!? Now you've gotten yourself into some real trouble..."

Koh: "Soh, would you be so kind as to place this girl's body near one of the tents? It's going to be a bit before she wakes up."

Soh: "Yes, sir!"

Azure: "z z z z z"

-Soh lifted Azure's body up and transported her near one of the tents, wrapped in a blanket to keep her safe.

Siegfried: "I apologize for her incompetence, Koh. Do not take this the wrong way, allow me to explain our situation."

Koh: "Go ahead, Siegfried. Also, do not worry about her sudden surprise attack. It only made sense for her to want to attack us, given we tied her up and all. But do go ahead, what is your reason for coming here?"

-Siegfried began to explain his situation to Koh.

Siegfried: "You see, Koh, I am a new adventurer who is looking to defeat Hasher, and recently, I had a curse inflicted upon me. The curse will kill me in 24 hours unless I can find a shaman to remove it from me. Azure and I are currently in pursuit of this shaman, and we were looking for Mana Flowers to brew a mana potion so that Azure may refill her mana vat. By doing so, we stumbled upon your camp. I apologize for any misunderstandings..."

Koh: "Ah, you say you were cursed by a shaman? Perhaps it could have been the hooded man I saw passing through here not long ago...?"

Siegfried: "You mean to say, you saw him pass through here? How long ago!"

Koh: "About twenty minutes or so ago. I'm sure he's not far along the road by now, although considering your friend Azure is asleep now due to the effects of my spores, I'd say it would be best to stay here until she wakes up. You might want to have her around if you're going to confront a shaman. They're quite powerful, you know."

Siegfried: "How long will the effects of the spores last?"

Koh: "No more than 30 minutes. I expelled only a small amount."

Koh: "Until then, please, allow us to help in any way we can. We apologize for our earlier suspicions. We were tasked with keeping this forest pure and protecting it from the dark mages, so seeing the colors of their cult only kicked us into instinct mode."

Siegfried: "Well, we do have some mana flowers that we would like to brew into a potion. Do you think you could let us borrow your cauldron and fire over there? We really need these potions made."

Koh: "Feel free to use any of our tools, Siegfried. When we ambushed you, we saw that you had a basin with you. We assumed you were going to use it to make way with our supplies, to be honest, but now that you mention wanting to use our cauldron, I see its true purpose now.

Siegfried: "Thank you so much, Koh. We will be out of your hair, or should I say, spores, as soon as Azure-san wakes up."

Koh: "Ha ha ha, Siegfried, you're a comical lad. Please, feel free to use our cauldron. Soh, would you lead Siegfried to it?"

Soh: "As you wish, chief."

Koh: "Roh, Moh, watch over Azure and make sure she recovers successfully. If she tries to attack again, hold her down until Siegfried can find his way to her, and let him explain the situation to her."

Roh and Moh: "Understood, Chief."

Koh: "Go ahead Siegfried, the cauldron is yours."

[???]: "Ah, I found you, and I seem to have also found some allies?"

Siegfried: "Koh, who's that over there?"

Koh: "Where?"

-Standing behind Siegfried and Koh, was a hooded man, with the aura of a willow tree residing around him, representative of a poison-nature hybrid mage. Could this be the shaman Siegfried had been chasing?

Koh: "Who are you, and what do you want with our campsite? You are unlawfully trespassing on our property!"

-The hooded figure lowered his hood to reveal a masked face. This was a different mask than the one Azure and Siegfried had seen the day prior, meaning this was a different person entirely...

[???]: "My name does not concern you, however, if you feel so inclined to know why I have come, perhaps the man next to you can explain."

Koh: "Siegfried, who is this man?"

-Siegfried looked at the masked man with a look of anger-

Siegfried: "You... where is the other shaman who cursed me?"

[???]: "Heh, Rigel? I'm sure you know him quite well. He's far away by now, in the town of Oakheart. He sent me to stop you two from reaching him, however, it seems like I'll only have to deal with one of you today, how delightful! That makes my job a hell of a lot easier."

-Suddenly, the masked man pulled a short curved blade from his hood and sliced the air to show his dominance. He was an assassin!

Siegfried: "Koh, if you and your men would be willing to, could you help me take down this assassin? I have a few questions I'd like to ask him..."

Koh: "Surely. With the four of us, we should have no trouble overpowering a single opponent, plus, our poison magic is unparalleled, fungi warriors have the strongest poison spells known to man!"

[???]: "Heh, we'll see, mushroom man. Well, Siegfried, it looks like your little journey is about to end. Prepare to spill your guts all over the dirt..."

-The assassin looked almost giddy as if cutting people open was his hobby... Regardless, Siegfried and the four mushroom warriors were about to take on this masked assailant. Not only did they have to bring him down, they also had to make sure to protect Azure until she woke up! Without Azure, this battle was going to be incredibly tough.

-Siegfried has about 15 and a half hours remaining on his curse clock...

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