"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.
Just as Lucius was about to knock them out, one of them whipped its head around, letting out a toxic cloud from its red cap. It felt like acid fire in his body, burning him from the inside. His vision went hazy, and it felt as if he were drowning on land, but no matter how hard he tried to breathe, no air would enter his body.
"Did you get it?" one of the shroom-beings asked as they stood over Lucius's aching body.
"Of course I did," its comrade replied, seemingly inspecting its prey.
"How did you know it was following us?" its partner asked as it got a closer look at Lucius.
"It was obvious,]. ?? warned us that they might be getting help. And suddenly two of our members go missing on the night of the attack? Sure, the weakling going missing wasn't something to worry about, but the second one is strong, I know it," its comrade replied as if it were common sense, before stepping on Lucius's torso.
"Should we tell ??? 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 o?r, 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 ?o?l? feel was pain. Pain emanating from every fragment of his being.
