Myconid Patch

Mushbaby would calm down when Mushhat decided to explain his reasoning causing him to her to step forward again and would attempt to drain the mana out of his body though she didn't know whether such a thing would even work. Mushgran would look at how easily that was resolved and nodded as it was a reasonable reason and they were both young myconid's with their innate naivety serving to make them easy to forgive if their life wasn't in danger. Still it wondered why Mushhat hadn't continued following his advice and decided to involve another Myconid but it figured the little one had his reasons or the situation caused him to panic and thus he was running on autopilot at the moment. Unfortunately it would seem that whatever Mushbaby was attempting wouldn't work and she would just use drain normally causing Mushhat even more pain.

Spoiler:

It stood there and attempted to feed it kin. Though the heat was only getting worse and it only grew weak from the feeding. "I don't think it's working..." It grew lightheaded as it fell backward onto it's back, hoping to break the drain from it's kin. It thought sharing was the answer but not to this arising heat. It had no choice but to listen to the words prior. It would go back to concentrating on the mana within and trying for it to come out. It had to think. Hot... The Ground's cool. Water is cool. "Mushgran!? Is their... Water close by? Where?" It was concentrating on trying to invoke it's ambient mana but it felt like the water would help it.

Mushbaby was upset that she couldn't help him though another wave of magic would burst out of Mushhat causing the burning sensation to ebb away though he was still overloaded with water still it's seemed to be decreasing soon. This would result in his intelligence increasing which would expand the options that he could potentially do as his brain would work better. For instance he now understood that although it was random it was imperative that he tried to use his mana and if he wanted to try to use anything else he would have to use it alongside his mana lest he not disperse enough mana in order to not be hurt by the excess mana which was being replenished

Spoiler:

Thoughts... Thoughts came to him. It was exhilarating. All the nuance vocabulary and deviant thought processes- ok no. His problem solving became a bit more clear. Mana Infused Drain! Other then his rock hard cappa he didn't know what else he could do... Wait the giant one! It stood up and jumped up a little as it began to feel better. But just to be safe it wanted to keep burning mana. "Giant one! Mushgran! I know i can eat. I know i can use mana! Can i do anything else? If not I need to feed more! Please Giant one help!" It pleaded as eating got it into this situation, eating should be it's way out!

Mushgran would perk up when Mushhat spoke to it and would raise a hand to scratch the underside of his mushroom cap and then offer some advice. "I've seen people control their mana and use it in various ways, so how about trying to do something and pushing mana into that. Also rather than holding back why don't you use more and more mana instead of just using a smaller amount, the best thing you can do however is keep using your Basic Ambient Mana even if you are going to try something else. The more you use it the better you'll feel." Mushgran said and would back up a little bit more whereas Mushbaby would take a couple steps back as well so that she wasn't caught up in anything he attempted. "I only had one spirit stone for you, if you want to eat more you have to leave the patch and go outside and hunt."

It didn't think of that before. It was focusing so hard that perhaps it was overloading itself. Needed to calm down. "So go big and always try! Thank you Mushgran!" It had to stop thinking of turning it on and off. It had to let the mana flow. So it changed it's mindset and would let it's mana course through it's body. "Ok! Here I go!" It got a running start and kept channeling it's mana. Then it began to leap forward. Maybe mana jumps, mana run. It did just gain consciousness. Their was going to be a good amount of trial and error. At the same time it kept the mana going and hoped it would surge!

A very shy Myconid watched carefully what was happening in front of it, seeing the baby get hurt scared Gus and it didn't want to come out, especially with this bully mush named Mushhat around. Gus was sticking out of the ground just enough to see what was going on. "Oh jeez I gotta get outta here, fat one will kill us all." it thought to itself with it's gaze fixated on Mushhat. Gus uprooted itself slowly, trying not to be noticed and turned to head towards the exit. However Gus took not one step before tumbling to the ground and rolling straight into the middle of Mushhat and Mushgran. "Owwwwww..." Groaned the clumsy Myconid, but it's worries weren't quite over as it looked up to see it had rolled straight into the path of Mushhat who was attempting to run and jump using it's mana. Gus shielded its face with it's hands and whimpered. "I should have just gone back to sleep this is the end for me!" it thought to itself frantically.

Mushgus seemed to be onto something as when he started channeling mana into his body he would find his jump boosted by mana causing him to jump pretty far, though it didn't seem as if the running worked for him and perhaps in his excitement he would let out another burst of mana which bolster his resilience so that when he collided with the wall and then Mushgus rolled into him he wouldn't be harmed at all. The burning feeling was now much more reduced he felt like any moment now and it would just be gone and the dreaded flood of mana would settle. "Ah you finally woke up Mushgus, if you can move away from your fellow Mush and come over here I have a gift for you!" Mushgran said beckoning the other little myconid to come closer to him in a reassuring voice, truth be told it was safer for it because Mushhat was experimenting with his mana. "Try not to be like Mushhat and drain it all at once because it has enough nutrients to last you 15 days if you drain the bare minimum at a time"

Spoiler:

Having learned how to jump and bounce was so fun. It would try one final jump, channeling all the mana it could muster it would try to to take off. It wanted to touch the canopy of their safe little haven. Yes with mana jump active it would bounce high but it wanted more. It loved the feeling of the air surrounding it’s body as it ascended and descended. After it’s little experiment to jump as high as it could It felt ready. Hunger was soon encroaching again... it approached Mushgran and noticed another mush that wasn’t Mushbaby. ”Hello! I’m MushHat! MushGran I think I am ready for the outside! Should I get food for you!?” it asked with a giggle filled tone. It was happy as it finally felt okay. No more burning. No more panick. All that was left was hunger and curiosity.

Mushgus would let out a huge sigh of relief as it managed to avoid getting stomped on by Mushhat. It pulled itself off the ground and sheepishly waddled over to the much larger mush that beckoned Mushgus over, happy to get farther away from Mushhat. The elder Myconid's words soothed Mushgus's nerves, and it began to feel more comfortable as Mushgran spoke. "Thank you large one..." replied Mushgus as it took hold of the stone looked down at it intently. "So this will give me the yummies?" Mushgus muttered aloud. It focused harder on the stone and attempted to drain from it as little as possible, so as not to be like the crazy one named Mushhat, who had approached and Mushgus promptly ignored. That one was trouble.

Spoiler:

Mushhat's experiment would be a success at the cost of emptying his mana and almost coming close to landing on his head when it came down from his jump. The myconid patch was quite spacious after all and thus he wouldn't be able to reach the top of the place they called all called home. "Yes it will give you the yummies, if you want more however you have to go outside, and do get a drink of water from the ground for the time being there are still some wet parts." Mushgran said while pointing out a spot for Mushgus to use drain on in order to quench it's thirst. Mushbaby would shake her head when Mushgus ignored Mushhhat and would instead go over to him trying to make amends. "I'll go with you if you go outside. Least I can do." she said using her hands to pull down her mushroom cap in slight embarrassment for draining Mushhat repeatedly.

Spoiler:

MushHat will remember this

He was being ignored and an urge to headbutt rose again. But he was smarter then he was before, he could't just hit someone for something petty like that. It that's how they wanted to act then two could play this game. He would look over to MushBaby and if he could smile he definitely would've. Friends were always nice. "Sure! Their's got to be more food out there! Let's go!!!!" Being excited it would begin to  run toward the exit of the grove. Stopping at the exit it turned and wave at the giant one. "I will be back with food giant one! Catch up Mush!" It bolted out and wondered what awaited out in the outside world.

[EXIT]

It seemed Mushhat had finally calmed down but in the blink of an eye it was out of the patch and on its adventure. Mushgus didnt love the idea of leaving the patch but it didn't take a genius mush to figure out that everyone had to leave the patch and learn to fend for themselves. Mushgus sighed as it waddled over to the spot that Mushgran had pointed out, sticking it's limbs into the soft soil. It was so comfy, the thought of leaving this place made Mushgus feel sad. "A-am I a bad mush for not wanting to leave? I don't know what is outside but it scares me." it said to Mushgran as it used drain once again to pull the water from the soil. The unknown was far more terrifying than Mushhat's reckless magic would ever be. "What if there is bad mush out there? Or other bad thing?"

Spoiler:

Mushgran understood being afraid after all it hadn't ever hunted anything either, the only reason why it lived this long was pure luck as any time it's life was in danger it had other people who could protect it, or in the absence of them had managed to flee for it's life. "Well you don't have to go outside if you don't want to, you can live for a long time just if you stay here and wait each day for the little water to filter in here, and eat nutrients from the Earth Spirit Stone I gave you. But if you don't want to feel hunger that way you will have to go to sleep immediately It would be a nice comfortable life, and when you get older you can maybe have some Mush of your own. Just surviving each day can allow you to get some levels you know" it said with a small chuckle as it knew that the little one didn't have those urges yet, but if it lived for five more days it would definitely feel the need to procreate as all monsters did. It was a constant cycle of eat, sleep and breed the only time it got disrupted was for the end of all cycles, namely death.

Spoiler:

Mushgus lit up when the elder one said it didn't have to leave the patch if it didn't want to. The idea of having it's own little mush to look after was frightening to Mushgus, for it didn't even feel capable of keeping itself self much less baby Mush. What then would Mushgus do here if it was to stay? Sleep a lot no doubt, but other than what Mushgran said about reproducing, there was nothing else for Mushgus here. As it thought a little deeper on the subject Mushgus' opinion change and it knew what it had to do. However it would do it.... later.... Yes, leaving the patch is future Mushgus' problem. "Methinks I will sleep one more day and then maybe this Mush will look outside a little bit, just a peek... maybe." It replied to Mushgran before returning to its previous spot, the soil still warm and soft from it's previous inhabitant. "Mmmmm this is nice..."

Spoiler:

Mushgus would spend the rest of time relaxing while practicing Drain & Basic Ambient Mana while staying safely within the Myconid Patch, with Mushgran nodding and approving of their choice as that would allow them to quickly level their skills in a safe environment thus allowing them to build some experience so that their first hunt would be more successful and not end up in them dying or getting seriously hurt. Either way time would fly eventually Mushgus would wake up and feel stronger than he did the previous day, after all he had survived to the next day and thus would be more powerful due to it.

Spoiler:

Mushgus let out a big yawn as it began stirring in it's spot, fighting the subconscious urge to wake up and leave the warmth of the soil. After a good bit of this Mushgus finally gave in and lifted itself out of the ground. "Good morning Mushgran." it said in direction of the elder Mush. Mushgus almost immediately felt the pangs of hunger and remembered the events of the day before. "Oh right!" Mushgus pulled out the stone that Mushgran had given yesterday. Holding it carefully, the Mush did what it was taught before and attempted to drain the smallest amount of nutrients from the stone once more. "I guess todays the day huh? Umm.... Do you think maybe you could teach me what you taught Mushhat yesterday?" Mushgus sheepishly asked Mushgran. If it was going to be leaving the patch it wanted to be as prepared as possible, and that magic stuff could really come in handy.

Mushgran would look confused for a second before realizing Mushgus was talking about what it had told Mushhat about magic and thus it would oblige them. "Focus within yourself and feel your mana if you need to use it focus on pushing that feeling outward. But the only way you can gain what Mushhat did is if you drain the Lesser Earth Spirit Stone I gave you all at once rather than a little by little, but it is very dangerous and could kill you." he said and if Musgus seemed like they were considering it Mushgran would promptly start to back away.

Spoiler:

Mushgus felt the hunger and thirst dwindle away until it was gone, replaced with just a refreshing feeling. Mushgus felt pretty good, maybe good enough to do something crazy. It listened to what Mushgran had to say about the magic and Mushgus' short lived bravery immediately disappeared at the description of the danger it would face if it tried to do what Mushhat had done. "U-umm... is there any... you know......... safer alternatives?" it replied cautiously. The last thing Mushgus wanted to do was die before even leaving the patch. Just the thought that there was such a power within it to cause damage to itself was a bit scary to Mushgus. All of a sudden it got the feeling that it could just spontaneously combust at any moment. Of course this was just it's own lack of understanding as to what Magic and Mana really is.

"Hm..keep practicing the magic you have, the more you practice it the more it can show you, and then focus on what ever it did before and try to recreate that feeling and you might be able to get a controllable one. Other than that, you have to go outside to push yourself." Mushgran said before deciding it had spoken too much and decided to take a nap. This would leave Musgus would three choices, it could do what it did yesterday and practice until tomorrow and maybe get a chance to ask Mushgran more questions before it took another nap, or it could practice until night time and then head outside the patch, or it could head outside the patch and try it's luck outside. Any choice would make it stronger but while one was a guaranteed safe way, the others were varying degrees of dangerous.

It seemed there was no way around it, every path led to leaving the patch. Sure Mushgus could stay in the patch and practice what it knew some more, but it was already getting such a late start it felt, the time was now. "I think I get it... Thank you Mushgr-" before Mushgus could even finish Mushgran seemed to have fallen asleep. Mushgus now, feeling a bit alone, nodded to itself. Surely leading all the others out of the patch had been very tiring on Mushgran. "Thank you Mushgran... I hope to see you soon." Mushgus finished, delicately patting the Elder Mush. Finally, Mushgus turned towards the exit of the patch. It was time to tuck its fears away and see what this life had to offer. With a step into the light, all that was left was to put one foot in front of the other.

[Mushgus exits.]

Mushtoad and his party would return to the patch, both Myconids looking as though they were on the brink of death. Three of the five original party members seemed to be dragging a corpse from their adventure, two of which carried the hairy bodies of two beastmen, while Mushtoad brought up the rear carrying the corpse of the Fallen Mushthin, looking particularly downtrodden from the days events. He would place the myconid body on the ground, looking over their beaten body, blaming himself for letting his new tools get killed like that. Most of all he was feeling shame for having drain Mushbuff of all their nutrients. While looking over her body, he would notice her fist closed up around a small berry in her hand and took it in his own. "We're Back Mushgran"

Mushgran would radiate sadness as they brought back corpses of their own but would quickly get over it as such was the way of things in the Great Forest. "Welcome back, I see you survived a difficult encounter, even though two of our number didn't that is good at least, especially when you left without this." Mushgran said before dropping a Lesser Earth Spirit Stone (+Nutrients) on the ground near Mushtoad before taking a step back. "Your fellow Mush had that to stave off hunger, perhaps if you had waited before running off you wouldn't of had to deal with such dangerous things to get a meal. Still you brought back a captive again Mushautumn, I take it this one I can take and place in a more secure place, unless you are trying to have her as a pet like the Elf child?" it said looking over to Mushautumn while Elfkid seemingly divided the spoils so that he could have a new outfit from the miner's clothes, a single corpse while giving the remaining outfit, the other corpse and the two other pickaxes to Mushtoad.

Mushtoad would just stare at his hand, Absorbing the poison in the berry that Mushthin died holding onto as he listened to Gran chastise him for leaving before he was ready. It wasn't until Gran brought up a second captive that Mushtoad snapped out of his stupor, and would stand up looking at Autumn with a determined look on his face. "Can I talk to the big furry one in private? And those sharp bug things?" He would ask as he walked over towards the two beastmen corpses, and would start dragging their bodies to an unoccupied part of the patch. He wanted to ask the beastwoman some questions and with the sporelingo skilled Autumn taught him it would make things a lot easier. He was hoping that by time he got the second corpse to the specified area, the beast woman would arrive with the locust mandibles.

Autumn would look between their captive and the child they had taken in "Mushgran, I think I have a soft-spot for strays. I'll be sure to keep her in line, but the slothwoman is under my protection!" Autumn gripped the spear they held and gave a nervous giggle "You can talk to her, but no lasting damage! She's probably scared enough to tell you whatever you want to know anyway, poor thing."

Autumn was worried about their new companion when they were hurt themselves. Elfkid returned from divvying up the haul and turned a worried look on Autumn. The Myconid pat their head softly "We've been through a lot, what's say we rest hm?" Autumn ushered Elfkid to a free patch of dirt and laid them down, petting their hair softly and humming a sweet tune. Once the child was off to sleep, they stood using their little spear as support. They moved over to the corpses and gave them a very serious look before reaching out...and attempting to Drain one as Mushgran had instructed them to do to the ground for water and nutrients.