An Owl's Rise

When Krunnen received a message back from his superior in relation to the Mind Manipulating Mushroom, the giant tortoise frowned deeply.

"So, what did they say?" Evelyn asked.

She could already tell it was not good news from Krunnen's reaction but was hoping it would not be too bad.

"The other Rangers are spread too thin dealing with uptick in elemental activity to send me any aid right now. My boss just told me that the primary focus of my mission has been changed to locating the main body of the Mind Manipulating Mushroom and that I want get relived until I do. She said that only once I have found my target will a strike team be sent out to deal with the blasted fungus."

Krunnen held his head in defeat after relaying the words of his superior.

While the task he had been given was not necessarily a suicide mission, it was pretty close to one.

Not only would he have to be wary of getting infected by the Mind Manipulating Mushroom, but the powerful aberrant magical fungi would also certainly have several beasts as its mind slaves to defend it.

Evelyn, on the other hand, was not particularly bothered. So long as she kept Krunnen alive he would tell her all the information she wanted to know about the Inferno Field. She would make sure of it.

"I am guessing that this mushroom must be fairly close. With me here you don't have to worry. I'll make sure that you don't die or get your mind enslaved." Evelyn said assuredly.

It may have seemed that she was acting overconfidently, but she had reason to believe that this Mind Manipulating Mushroom was no threat to her.

Her heavenly flame had been more than enough to burn away the small mushroom controlling the orange stoat. Even if some of the fungus touched her and attempted to take her over, she was certain that her magic would be enough to protect her.

Of course, there were also the beasts that would be protecting the mushroom, but Evelyn knew she could handle over a dozen beasts at the same level as the stoat from earlier without any issue. And in the worst-case scenario, she had a couple trump cards she could use.

Thanks to Evelyn's reassurance, Krunnen perked up a bit and told Evelyn more about their target.

"It depends on the amount of magical energy it can store, but the Mind Manipulating Mushroom has a limited distance it can control its mind slaves from. Normally they are eradicated pretty quickly, so this one is probably a young one. I don't think its range of control will be greater than seven kilometers. That still leaves us a large area to search, but it should be manageable.

Especially with you being able to fly and scout from the air." Krunnen said, feeling a lot better about the prospects of his mission with Evelyn coming along.

With Evelyn leading the way, she and Krunnen began searching for the Mind Manipulating Mushroom.

Luckily, it did not take nearly as long as either of them had expected to find their quarry.

Around five kilometers from where they encountered the stoat that tried to sneak attack them, Evelyn spotted several small orange mushrooms that had sprouted up out of the ground.

These were the offshoots of the main body of the Mind Manipulating Mushroom that it used to lure in beasts and control them.

'Those look crazy delicious!' Evelyn thought the moment she spotted the mushrooms.

Their shape and luster were designed to appear appealing, and despite being in the air and still several hundred meters away, Evelyn could distinctly smell a delicious scent coming from the delectable looking fungi.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Evelyn was descending towards the nearest mushroom.

Her mouth was watering as she landed, and she was moments away from taking a bite when she felt a searing pain in her chest.

The Aethersphere had begun moving and she felt a wave of energy from within it wash over her.

Unfortunately, the divine item was still badly damaged, and the only way it was able to help Evelyn snap out of her stupor was to induce a great deal of pain.

Evelyn was unable to stay upright and writhed on the ground because of the pain in her chest. It was far from the worst she had experienced, but it was still enough to incapacitate her for several seconds until she got more used to it.

'What the hell is wrong with this thing? I thought it was finally starting to work properly.'

Eventually Evelyn braced herself against the pain and the Aethersphere calmed down.

Once again, she looked at the mushroom, but this time she had steeled her mind and resisted its allure. She was certain that another wave of pain would be coming her way if she so much as thought the Mind Manipulating Mushroom's offshoots looked mildly tasty.

Now that she was back in control of herself, Evelyn looked around for Krunnen and saw that he had applied some sort of mask to his face.

'So, he has a magic item to protect himself. I wish he would have told me exactly how enticing these mushrooms were. I could have better prepared myself.' Evelyn thought bitterly.

When she had heard that the offshoots attracted beasts to them, she figured that it was similar to other magical fruits, herbs, and the like. She had not been expecting such a powerful compulsion that nearly took over her mind.

Soon enough Krunnen had reached Evelyn and wore a worried expression on his face. He had seen her land next to one of the offshoots before falling over in pain.

"I am glad you are alright." Krunnen said once he saw that Evelyn was still in control of her body.

"Yeah, I managed to resist the temptation to eat one of these mushrooms. It was more difficult than I was expecting, but I managed to keep my wits about me." Evelyn replied.

The offshoots were still trying to entice her to eat them, but she only needed to remember the terrible pain she had experienced to keep herself from slipping again.

"We should be close to the main body now. Once we have located it, I'll leave a tracker there and call in a strike force to deal with it. Then we can get out of here." Krunnen said.

Thankfully he had only been ordered to find the dangerous fungi and not participate in the battle to destroy it. After he had finished his job, he was going to leave immediately.

With Evelyn taking to the skies again, it did not take but around five more minutes for them to find where the Mind Manipulating Mushroom's main body was.

It may have hidden itself undergrown, but there were still signs of its existence that it left on the surface. The area was noticeably less lush, and the soil looked like it had been drained.

Krunnen took out a tracker that all of the Inferno Field Rangers kept on them and tossed it towards the main body. He hit a few hundred meters away, but it was good enough. Both he and Evelyn could sense that there were beasts hidden near the mushroom and ready to attack if they got too close.

"Let's get the hell out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near this place when the battle erupts." Krunnen said.

However, as he and Evelyn turned to leave, they were met with an unpleasant surprise. From all sides several beasts had encircled them and were blocking their way.

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