Chapter 19: I Am the Mycelium (Part 2)

With an Agility of 5, once distance was opened, the Treant found it difficult to catch up and hinder the bee’s movements.

The Elf also deliberately slowed her pace to let the Knight Bee chase her, using entanglement only to interfere with its straightforward attacks.

“Is it close enough?” Lumina asked urgently.

“There is still some distance.

Honestly, you should just let it charge straight at you.”

“How is that possible?

Wouldn’t that be seeking death?”

At the Knight Bee’s speed, being struck by that stinger would undoubtedly pierce her body in an instant.

The intense pain would immediately disrupt her precise control over mana, causing her to lose the ability to cast magic.

This was exactly why classes like Mages required a relatively safe environment to ensure spellcasting and avoid injury.

“You won’t die that easily, really.”

However, no one would believe such a thing based on words alone.

For instance, if someone told her she wouldn’t die even if her throat was slit, she would definitely think that person was a lunatic.

Thus, she could understand the Elf’s hesitation and concern.

After all, no one would gamble with their own life, let alone actually cut their own throat just to prove someone’s words.

So, she only had to wait.

In any case, once the Knight Bee bypassed the Treant’s defense, the Elf would be like a lamb to the slaughter with nowhere to run.

“Exactly how close does it need to be?

Is there a specific range, Miss Marlow?”

Seeing the Knight Bee approach again, the situation had truly reached a critical point.

Lumina’s heart pounded wildly, hoping Marlow would give her a definite answer immediately.

“About 3 meters.”

“3 meters?!

Are you sure you didn’t miss a zero at the end?!”

Hearing the other’s flat tone, the Elf couldn’t remain calm at all.

“Of course not.”

‘I’m so stupid, truly, for believing a mushroom’s nonsense.’

She stopped, resigned to her fate.

The little Elf’s teeth were clenched as she muttered insults under her breath, calling her a liar, a villain, and a stinky mushroom.

Mushroom Miss had hidden the most crucial distance, but if she were to question her, the other would surely say in an innocent tone, ‘You didn’t ask.’

Marlow was just that kind of mushroom.

Lumina had already grown used to it.

The Elf raised her staff, her gaze turning serious as she faced the charging Knight Bee.

Although she was completely unqualified in the use of a staff, she had to at least avoid her vitals.

That way, after being injured, she could endure the pain and use Intermediate Healing to recover.

Lumina faced the enemy with the determination to trade an injury for an opportunity, but she still underestimated the Knight Bee’s strength—or perhaps she overestimated her own ability to fight in close quarters with a staff.

The planned idea of parrying the attack with her staff and deflecting the thrust failed to materialize.

The stinger accurately struck her chest, piercing straight through her heart.

Her heart was… she was going to die.

She was definitely going to die.

Her heartbeat gradually weakened, and her vision blurred, yet her consciousness remained clear.

She could clearly feel the pain and the encroaching death.

It hurt so much.

Her nerves thrashed from the intense agony, her entire body’s muscles tightened, and her joints became as stiff as a puppet’s.

Tears poured uncontrollably from her tear ducts.

She felt she looked utterly pathetic.

It was a very familiar feeling—the same experience as when she was killed by the Wolf-shaped Magic Beast, and when she discovered the Mushroom Consciousness after waking up.

Was she going to return to the experience of eternal torture after death?

Hope had been given to her to live again, only for it to be ruthlessly stripped away like a fleeting dream.

‘This must be a dream.

Only in dreams would there be strange mushrooms.

Haha, it must be so.’

The small mushroom atop the Elf’s head, looking like a hair accessory, blew deep purple Spore bullets from its nozzle.

The first shot hit the Knight Bee’s sturdy iron armor.

The second landed in the gap of the armor’s joint.

The third…

Even as the Knight Bee hoisted the Elf up and pinned her to a tree, the attacks never stopped.

While it didn’t seem to shave off much HP, the pre-designed objective had been achieved.

Marlow hurriedly shouted to the Elf, who was hanging from the bee’s weapon with a dazed smile, “Hey, Lumina!

The paralysis succeeded!

Use Light Bullet magic to finish it off!”

‘So noisy…’

The annoying voice and the pain radiating from her body continued to torture her consciousness.

Previously, there hadn’t been any noise pollution.

To think she was being told to use magic… she was already dead, and yet she was still being ordered around.

Besides, how could anyone concentrate on controlling mana under such distracting, agonizing pain?

Wait, a familiar feeling of pain?

[Proficiency reached a certain level. Skill acquired: Pain Mitigation Level 1]

‘Proficiency… proficiency…’

The Elf’s drowsy consciousness instantly cleared, and she snapped her eyes open.

Obtaining a skill was never the result of a single simple attempt or experience.

In other words, it required a great deal of practice to master the skill and accumulate experience.

And the training for the Pain Mitigation skill was, as the name suggested, to endure a lot of pain until the body could adapt to that level.

Before meeting the mushroom, she had never undergone any training to endure pain.

Thinking back to her experience of being unable to find peace even in death, the process of acquiring this skill wasn’t hard to guess at all.

“Really…”

A bitter smile hung on the Elf’s face.

She struggled to overcome her stiff muscles, slowly raising her staff and moving it up inch by inch.

Finally, through the gap in the helmet, she let the gemstone make direct contact with the Knight Bee’s head.

Just as Mushroom Miss had said, she had indeed become quite difficult to kill.

If a normal person had their heart pierced, only a cold corpse would remain.

How could they possibly maintain a clear consciousness, let alone move their body?

It was like a miracle.

Perhaps she could also miraculously combat the interference of the pain in her heart and successfully release magic.

“Light Bullet!”

Perhaps the Pain Mitigation skill had taken effect, or perhaps the Elf’s will was firm enough.

A ball of dazzling twilight bloomed from the gemstone.

Once the afterglow faded, only the headless corpse of the Knight Bee remained.

“Nice job, Lumina.

You can play on the swing later.

Run for now!

You don’t want to be poked into mincemeat by a bee army, do you?

That really would kill you.”

“Play on a swing?

You call this playing?!

You’re truly beyond help, Miss Marlow!”

Lumina pressed her staff against the tree behind her and pushed hard, shoving herself off the fixed stinger.

With the lubrication of blood, the process was somewhat smooth, but the intense pain generated by every movement was enough to make her wish she were dead.

No, no… at least while alive, she could understand the reason.

Being used at will by Mushroom Miss after death was the true hell.

[Proficiency reached a certain level. Pain Mitigation Level 1 > Level 2]

Ah, although a skill level up was a good thing, she didn’t really want to hear that right now.

“Think about it.

Fixing a pivot point on your body and then swaying left and right around that point… it’s very much like being on a swing, isn’t it?”

She didn’t want to hear that either!

“Heal.”

The Elf practically fell to the ground, but compared to her somewhat soft nature, her actions were not sluggish at all.

She stood up quickly while applying a self-healing spell to herself to accelerate the wound’s closure.

It was also at this moment that she further understood the changes in her body… her blood was sparse, and even with a wound in her heart, there were no signs of massive blood loss.

The interior of her body had fused with the slimy white Mycelium.

Her original vital organs were no longer as important.

The things that could truly bring danger were likely the loss of too much body tissue or her head.

The former was because the Mycelium wouldn’t have time to grow and repair, while the latter was where her consciousness and soul resided.

If that were injured, it would still be affected even if healed.

She looked like some kind of elemental lifeform.

Regardless, she was very much non-human now.

[Individual Level increased: Level 2 > Level 3. Base attributes increased.]

[Title effect triggered. Skill acquired: Unified Will Level 1]

She had finally obtained the skill she wanted.

Now, I am the swarm!

Well, it should be the mycelium swarm.

In any case, thanks to the Knight Bee’s generous gift, this would be a major stroke in the history of mushrooms.