Dismissing my character sheet, I looked around the battle torn chamber and Anastasia bounced up and looked excitedly.
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[Arachni Matriarch] Lvl: 15
Rank Two Divine Companion.
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As she climbed up my shoulder she seemed super excited.
'I'M a Rank Two!' she said Jumping up and down excitedly.
'Cool, what can you do now Anastasia?' I asked the little spider.
'Uh, I can take a humanoid form but fuck that why would I take the form of a monkey when my spider is clearly superior!' she said vehemently and honestly kinda made sense why would a spider want to take a human form.
'Oh, and but also the cool part Is that I can weave spider clones now!' she said before jumping off my shoulder and I watched as she weaved a spider completely out of webbing with color which was interesting as I wondered how it worked, was it like those multiple color pens you got from the school boom fair?
As she finished weaving the silk spider moved like an animated puppet.
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[Silk Spider Puppet] Lvl: 8
Rank One Construct
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Hmm it had levels, cool it moved around as Anastasia moved it, apparently she needed conscious thought or a basic command in order to control it.
My eyes turned to the pile of rubble that used to be my [Blessed Slate Golem]. I had one last use of it walking over I remolded the golem luckily the Divine energy I had blessed it with hadn't degraded. As I recreated it I noticed how weak it was and with a push of will I began taking in the nearby rock condensing it rapidly. Standing before was the new and improved golem, the rock at a certain point had its properties changed and the dull black color of the golem had changed to a deep black with a faint etching of gold from the Divine energy running along the seems of the limbs.
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[Blessed Basalt Golem]
Rank Two Divine Construct
This item originally crafted by a rank one mage and blessed by a minor Daemon has been recreated after being destroyed by a rank 2 Semi-Elemental. It's original slate composition has been hardened into a magical basalt and is highly intune with earth magic. It posseses a cavity in its chest big enough for a slightly above average sized humanoid. The magical basalt slightly magnetic to each other causing it slowly piece itself back together in its original composition without magical input.
Effects: [Greater Geomancy Resonance], [Magnetic Composition], [Sight Relay], and [Superior Material]
-[Greater Geomancy Resonance]
This item is substantially better at conducting [Geomancy] that flows through it giving a -5% cost to manipulate this item.
-[Magnetic Composition]
This item will attempt to restore itself to its most pristine condition, using magnetic forces to bring the pieces back together.
-[Sight Relay]
This item can transfer sight from it eyes to a sapient stored in its chest cavity.
-[Superior Material]
This item will take less damage from all attacks. -5% damage from all Rank Two attacks, and -10% damage from all Rank One Attacks.
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Sweet, this buddy was amazing, I was going to use when I attacked the Mind controlling mushroom. The Sight Relay would have been massively helpful in the fight against [The Festering Patriarch] but that was in the past. The five percent discount for manipulating it was massive as well as the damage reduction. It's best trait though was its [Magnetic Composition]
Looking at my [Blessed Slate Staff], I began to focus on empowering it. Putting its butt into the cave floor I began to funnel rock into it when I had an idea. Sifting through the rocks, I began finding rocks rich in carbon, and began assembling the flakes of them. And began compressing them with all my magic and power. Eventually I had a rough uncut diamond roughly the size of my fist. Then I opened the head of my staff and had it reform around it creating tendrils around the rough stone.
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[Blessed Staff of Greater Geomancy]
Rank Two Rare Item
This item once a rank zero staff made by a burgeoning mage has been blessed by a minor Daemon. It has been since remade with a much stronger and denser rock with a rough uncut artificial Diamond in its head.
Effects: [High Density], [Geomancy Insight], and [Mana Resistance]
-[Geomancy Insight]
The Wielder of this staff gains a temporary boost of +1 to their [Geomancy] Skill level to a max of level 5
-[Mana Resistance]
This item is resistance to outside influence that is not it's current wielder or Creator.
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Looking at my new staff fondly, I had the magic, I had the staff, all I needed was the robes and beard. Smiling I Twirled the staff for fun.
Looking back I saw Anastasia playing with what was now a small squad of silk puppets, moving on I walked over to the now open entrance and saw the Spiders waiting patiently. I manipulated my golem to follow behind me.
Walking through the war torn tunnel I noticed the once green brackish water was clear, although I wouldn't drink from it that was for sure. The dead corpses strung about the further into the tunnel the more decay that was shown clearly these things decayed fast. At the very entrance to the tunnel there was just skeletons with small seedlings propping up I would have to check back here before I left to see what plants might grow.
I followed Anastasias lead as we past by the outpost, with skeletons and seedlings just slightly bigger than the those in tunnel. As we walked through the caves we saw signs of battle from the other factions. Mole tunnels, bunny fur tuff, and dead mushrooms. Luckily we didn't see any sign of the bear which I was saving for last. Eventually we entered a side passage and into an overgrown ruin, vauge stone shapes of building foundations and walls overgrown by tendrils of various mushroom species. I saw a humanoid skeleton, its facial structure hinted that it wasn't human.
'What is this place Anastasia?' I asked her as I looked around, the area was illuminated by bright mushrooms along the floor and roof stinging my eyes after days in the dark caves.
'Oh, this is some ruin, it was the birth place of the mushroom, some Gardener accidentally propagated the wrong species of mushrooms and eventually made one strong enough to take over people, they were making an alcoholic beverage out of it took over the whole town in a day.' she explained, dam I guess don't eat mushrooms unless you were completely sure what species it was still held true.
When we neared, Anastasia sent out her silk puppets to scout ahead. When they returned with information that the mushrooms puppets were approaching I entered my golem Im pretty sure I imagined the new car smell but whatever. I activated [Sight Relay] just in time to see them, shambling like zombies they had mushrooms sprouting from them and their eyes were lifeless.
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[Mushroom Puppet] Lvl: 15
Rank Two Animated Undead
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'Hey, Anastasia why are these things Rank Two?" I asked her, as it doesn't make sense cause if the Mushrooms where rank two how in the hell did they not take over the factions?
'oh you forgot, remember the Secret Bosses match you in level and rank, and their minions do too.' she explained dam I should have remembered that.
The Shambling puppets snapped to attention, their dead soul less eyes flickering for a moment, before an alien voice came out of the mouth of one of the puppets.
"Hello, Spiders I have seen you have allied with the Daemon, and I watched through my spores as you have slain the Ants and the rats, and now you have come into my home intending to do the same" it spoke its voice wavering in anger at the last bit.
I spoke up, my voice transferring through the golem.
"You are a mind controlling Mushroom that puppets others a fate worse then death" I returned not about to be scorned by a creature whose whole thing was enslaving other creatures.
"Hmm? I never intended to enslave my caretaker who nurtured me so, that was until he chopped me up and boiled me alive, for booze, FOR BOOZE of course I took over them, and the those that threaten my life such as you" its voice spat out.
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[Bonus Quest]
You have discovered the area of the [Secret Boss], The Mushroom which was cultivated by a gardener for its lovely aroma and color, it felt a kinship for the Gardener seeing it as a father figure as it slowly gained higher thought. However the Gardener was pressured into making into a Vodka, unaware of his Mushrooms sentience he did what he was told and served it during a festival, infecting the whole town with the fungal spores of the mushroom. He now serves as it's primary host, slay the Primary, Secondary, and Trinary Hosts inorder to kill the Secret Boss [Ophiocord Mushroom] Permanently.
Secondary Quest Option
Ally with the Mushroom.
*Warning you can Only Ally One Tutorial Faction at a time*
First Quest Option Reward: +25 Achievement Points
Secondary Quest Option Reward: +35 Achievement Points.
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Yeah no way was I trading the spiders for a mind controlling Mushroom for 15 extra Achievement Points. I focused on the Puppet that was speaking daring to hope it was one of its three primary hosts.
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[Mushroom Puppet(56th Host of the Ophiocord Mushroom)] Lvl: 15
Rank Two Animated Undead
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Eh, might as well with a flick of mind I speared the Mushroom puppet through with [Geomancy]. The all hell broke loose, rising from the plant life where hundreds of puppets, some like the one I just killed other where, ants, rats, and rabbits. Each one had a bright yellow mushroom growing from their death wound. All of them Rank Two. As the rushed forward I activated [Knight's Bulwark] and a Spectral Shield appeared in my golems hand and surrounded the ground of spiders. Draining 10 Mana, looking around it looked like a giant Shield Wall the Spiders began picking off mushroom puppets. Each time they killed one they ranked up, thankfully breaching the gap between our two forces. As they failed to break through [Knight's Bulwark] they seemed to back up for a moment, waiting for something.
Wondering what it was I waited for a brief moment before a force slammed against the shield right behind me, looking behind me by twisting the head of the Golem 180° degrees I saw a giant pillar of a mushroom slamming into the shield wall. Holding the Spectral Shield firm I reached a tendril of Mana out and began battling the large tendril of mushrooms with [Geomancy]. Meanwhile Anastasia focused on keeping the other mushroom puppets back using her venom and silk puppets.
I had tried to cut through the fungal material of the mushroom tendril unfortunately I was prevented from doing so as the mushroom was surprisingly durable and as soon as I let up it would heal. Most of the Spiders had ranked up and were using the Bulwark as defensive structure that weaved from and to using hit and run tactics on the mushroom puppets.
Looking up I saw right above the tendril was a wicked looking stalactite. With a tendril of Mana I managed to sever its connection to the roof of the cave. Meanwhile I distracted the tendril yet kept in the same spot, easy to say hard to actually pull off. The stalactite fell like the judgement of an angry god or more accurately Daemon. It struck true cleaving through the tendril dealing enough damage to cut it off. The nearby mushroom puppets shrieked rattling me even inside my golem. With that gone I let down the Bulwark and the remaining mana flowed back to me.
The Puppets soon came in droves, the spiders retreated to the cave roof where they began breaking off stalactite and dragging mushroom puppets up to their webs.
My new and improved golem had greater swing power and with my [Daemonic Club] I Jumped into the horde of mushroom puppets and began swinging. Sending spikes of hardened earth and walls using [Geomancy] to control the battle field. Behind me a line of silk puppets fashioned after the [Lesser Myrmidon Warriors] formed a shield wall corralling the mushrooms. Which allowed the spiders to hit them like shooting fish in a barrel. While the slik puppets were substantially weaker then their mushroom counterparts they were easily replaced as rows of reinforcements followed in step behind them.
Then, she began dropping skirmishers into the fray causing more chaos than actual damage. Meanwhile I focused on breaking up the Larger groups that formed forcing their puppet master to send reinforcements and regroup them.
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[Level Up]
You have Leveled up from killing countless [Mushroom Puppets] Rank Two Animated Undead. You have 10 stat points to allocate and you are now level 16
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Dismissing the notification I returned to my slaughter.