"Wyden, wait! What are you planning to do?"
Inside the Dragonspine Forest, a pair of Butterfly Nymphs can be seen. The pair both have good looks.
The male was 6 feet tall, and behind him were a pair of dark blue butterfly wings. On the side of his face and in his arms, natural patterns were visible.
His hair was jet black, his ears were elongated, and the tip was pointy. He was not wearing any upper clothing, and his pants were made merely from leaves, looking like a valiant man from a primitive tribe.
As for the woman with him, she was equally beautiful. Her face was small, her skin akin to porcelain.
On her ash gray hair were some flowers, her ears are also elongated and pointy, and she also has beautiful patterns on her face and arms. On her back was a pair of light green butterfly wings, and unlike the man, she was wearing a full dress made from leaves and flowers.
The woman's face was filled with worry as she watched the man search for something in the forest.
"Iruline, you should have listened to me and stayed in the tribe. I wouldn't go far" the man named Wyden turned to look at the woman while sighing.
The Dragonspine Forest is filled with danger. The location of their tribe itself was not safe, and they were often attacked by beasts or other intelligent races, much less outside of their territory.
"How can I let you go alone?" Iruline retorted with a frown.
"Suit yourself"
Wyden can only give up as he continued his search. What he was trying to find isn't exactly rare, and it was only a matter of time before he found it.
"What are you even trying to find? I will help you" Iruline offered, and Wyden hesitated at first, but thinking of the tribe's predicament, he still spoke honestly.
"I'm trying to find a Blood Boiling Mushroom" he answered, and Iruline stared at him in bewilderment.
"A-a Blood Boiling Mushroom? What do you plan on using it for? Wait! You can't be planning on eating it, do you?!"
A look of panic flashed on Iruline's face, and from what it looks like, she will do everything in her power to stop Wyden from doing such a reckless, suicidal thing.
While the Blood Boiling Mushroom does temporarily increase one's strength, in return, the consumer will die without even leaving an intact corpse.
It was basically a one-way ticket and is often only used at the most desperate times, as it could at most cause mutual destruction.
Unfortunately, their tribe is currently in this very desperate time.
Wyden knew that Iruline, his childhood friend, would not let him consume a Blood Boiling Mushroom, but time is tight.
This mushroom is not exactly rare, but it grew randomly considering the method they use to propagate.
Depending on where a mushroom eater dies, that would be where the mushroom will reproduce. As such, despite the fact that there are quite a number of such mushrooms in the forest, one must still exert some effort to find them.
If Wyden wants to save time, since Iruline was already here, he might as well have her help him.
"You know our tribe's current state. The lizardmen are eyeing us, wanting to capture and make us their slaves. If we lose, almost all of us will be killed, while the women will be violated."
"I am only a mid-level Transcendent, and I am already the strongest fighter in our tribe after my father died. Not only are we outnumbered by the lizardmen, but they also have a high-level Transcendent with them."
"Only if I could also have the power of a high-level Transcendent can I potentially save our tribe from ruin. To make that happen, I will do everything!"
Wyden's tone was filled with courage and finality. No matter what, even if he has to sacrifice himself, he would not watch as the tribe falls into the hands of the enemies.
"Y-you… you can't! You are the most talented in our tribe. If you die, we will not have a future!" Iruline tried to reason, her eyes teary, but Wyden hardened his heart.
"Enough. If we can't even secure the present, we can't talk about the future. If you want to help me search, then help. If not, you may return to the tribe."
With that, Wyden continued his search, and despite her heart becoming heavy, Iruline still followed to search for the Blood Boiling Mushroom.
However, in her head, if Wyden really consumed such a mushroom, she would follow suit. She, too, is willing to sacrifice herself for the tribe!
After some time of searching, they finally found what they were looking for.
Just one mushroom was enough for Wyden, but he actually found an area filled with at least thirty Blood Boiling Mushrooms, which surprised him.
"Why are there so many mushrooms here? Typically, an area would only have one to four mushrooms at once" Iruline wondered.
Due to the peculiar way of reproduction of these mushrooms, there were rarely more than five of them at once. But now, there were actually more than thirty of them here, which was unusual.
"No matter what, it's good we found some. If there are others willing to be martyrs, they can also eat a mushroom" Wyden stated.
He knew that even if he were to eat a Blood Boiling Mushroom, it would not guarantee that he could kill a high-level Transcendent.
And even if he does manage to kill, his remaining time definitely wouldn't be enough to wipe out the remaining enemies.
There are more early and mid-level Transcedents on the enemy tribe than theirs. If they couldn't kill them, they would be defeated.
"Hmm?"
While the two Butterfly Nymphs approached the area filled with mushrooms, Nexus also noticed them.
With his efforts, he currently has over thirty mushrooms. Thirty-five to be exact. He was only fifteen mushrooms away from the transformation his instincts were screaming at him.
As he divided his mana into growing his mycelial network and the growth of his mushrooms, if nothing unexpected happens, he judged that it would take a month for him to grow fifteen more mushrooms.
What he didn't expect was that 'intruders' would suddenly arrive when he was just a month away from his transformation.
"Are they humans?" Nexus thought as he couldn't really see. He just has a mysterious sense with the help of his mycelium network that enables him to perceive his surroundings.
At first, he thought that they were humans, but from what he could sense, these people had wings on their backs. A human definitely doesn't have wings, so they can't be humans.
Just as Nexus was wondering what these creatures were, he felt some of his mushrooms being plucked from the ground, and he panicked.
A million thoughts swirled in his mind. These creatures seem to be intelligent, and what do intelligent people have? Knowledge and information!
Since this is a fantasy world, Nexus would not be surprised if there are alchemists who can use plants to create potions or pills.
Considering that his mushrooms are being picked and not eaten directly, they might he foragers that planned to sell him.
A beast has no intelligence, and they would at most trample or eat the mushrooms. The latter was better as eating the mushroom would result in death, which would leave fewer threats to Nexus.
However, for intelligent creatures that might have the knowledge of alchemy, things are different. They would definitely harvest all the mushrooms, including Nexus's main body.
If that were to happen, he might end up as a potion or pill ingredient.
"No! Stop! Stop taking my mushrooms!" Nexus roared. He tried to move his body to either attack or flee, but he could not.
He is currently just a mushroom rooted into the ground with no ability to walk or run.
Just as despair was about to consume Nexus, he sensed that the two creatures were startled after he screamed.
The woman even accidentally threw the mushrooms she collected away as she tried to find something or someone.
"Huh? What happened? Were they able to hear me?" Nexus wondered, and after speaking again, he found out that the two demihumans turned to look in the direction of his main body.
Imaginary cold sweat gathered at his cap. Nexus was afraid. Even if this is a magical world, it might still be surprising and unacceptable for a mushroom to talk.
"Y-you… Y-Your Excellency, y-you are sentient?"
Despite not having ears, Nexus still heard those words from the woman of these two demihumans.
However, to his surprise, although they are definitely not talking the language that Nexus used back on Earth, he could actually understand them.
At this point, he just attributed it to the golden raindrop as there is a more pressing matter at hand.
"You… you can hear me?" Nexus asked unsurely.
If these people can hear him then there might be a chance for negotiations between them