The Death Forest lived up to its reputation. It was one of such places that existed only at the edge of borders, far from the world of ordinary men. The atmosphere in the Death Forest was akin to the pervading mood. It was a ghastly, deathless and morbid scene. There was no escaping its lifelessness. After entering the Forest of Death, the astute ones among the trainees took a minute to get adjusted to their new surrounding. Those who were less adaptive than the top brass quickly tuned to others and bound themselves in groups. It was a primitive response to danger that was ingrained in all of humanity- survival.
Before long, the five hundred trainees soon adjusted and began to split up in groups. The tech savvy youths and the nerds who weren't inclined to physical tasks huddled together in groups of twos, threes and fours. Those with a little bit more confidence sought each other out and formed A-teams of their own. Virtually everyone with even the lowest level of intelligence knew that numbers and groups were the best bet against the unknown and terrifying dangers that were locked up in this Death Forest. Everyone but Xerxes Vale.
As soon as he emerged on the other end of the portal, Xerxes immediately went into hiding. He wasn't completely sure why he did that but he did anyway. Obscured from all sets of eyes, Xerxes remained hidden and his absence went completely unnoticed. He had chosen a very peculiar hiding spot for himself, it was a small corner in the enclave of the dark woods. The natural blackness of the Forest of Death gave him the perfect shield from any and all prying eyes. And thus, while the other trainees formed alliances and bounded themselves in groups to ensure their survival, Xerxes Vale chose to stick with hiding and remained in the comfort of his hole.
Within a very short period, his peers began to slip away into the woods in groups of small numbers. Soon enough, Xerxes was left alone. But he wasn't without a plan. While he was in hiding, Xerxes had begun to formulate the ideal strategy that would get him through this arduous task.
Xerxes took a deep breath, willed himself to focus and began to grow mycelium. Having come this far, Xerxes didn't need to struggle to get in tune with his symbiote. It was as easy as breathing. The growth was instantaneous, the mycelium expanded and immediately took on an impressive form and swathed in the wind. Xerxes' entire ability was well suited for reconnaissance missions so he was more than aware of the fact that he was in a very best situation to showcase his talent. The spores began to float in the wind as the breeze carried it on its wings.
It is pretty interesting to note that Xerxes' spores weren't reliant on just the wind alone. There was no doubt that his spores worked hand in hand with the wind in the smooth delivery of perception, but in addition to the moving or still air, Xerxes' spores also depended on ordinary animals like rodents, birds and just about any animal that was within his sphere of influence. This was a trait that greatly influenced Xerxes' spores' abilities as they could spread out and cover more ground. The animals increased the mobility of the spores, so they weren't limited to just a certain environment. They could spread, take over and disperse as far as the animals could go. The ability to maneuver and also gain control of organisms, objects and small animals through parasitism was something that the young Xerxes was really looking forward to exploring. Indeed, the possibilities were endless. Especially as they were no limiting factors.
As Xerxes' mycelium flapped in the wind, the full scope of his abilities began to become clearer. The more he made use of his symbiote, the better he understood his abilities. He decided to test the waters a little more by conducting an experiment. So Xerxes made a move to break beyond his confined space in a bid to explore some more and dared to extend it further. The mycelium responded immediately and extended eastwards. Soon, his spores picked up on a little mouse scavenging a short distance away, Xerxes wasted no time and plunged his spores into it. The little rodent was innocently going about its business until Xerxes' spores delved into its skin and took over its entire biochemistry with its parasitic nature. The mouse jerked and attempted to resist, but it was futile. Xerxes' spores took over, attached itself to it, and in a minute, the process was completed.
He was more than thrilled. He could use the mouse to scout out his terrain, inadvertently, he could know what was coming from a distance even before it could be seen with his naked eye. And it wasn't just that, he could decide to merely attach his spores to any organism without choosing parasitism. He could also leverage his hold on them by making ample use of them to enhance his perception.
Xerxes was so amazed and impressed with his own abilities that he almost chuckled aloud with excitement.
"What an exhilarating feeling! The world is my oyster!"
Despite his impressive sensory skills, Xerxes knew that he was far from being ready for actual battle. His spores would do very little to aid him in the event of an all out, close range physical altercation. He considered this and shrugged as he made a mental note to himself;
"I guess I have to stay away from any and all confrontations with high level spiritual beasts. I am still a rank one trainee anyway so its better that way."
Xerxes thought of anyway he could spin his abilities into an offensive maneuver that would be effective as an attack, but he came up short every time.
"I can't afford to give up on attacking techniques. Not right now anyway."
He tensed as he considered something;
"… I know I can develop my abilities to a stage where I can take over an entire field by spreading my spores. If I merge both the parasitic and weakening aspects of the spores, I can stay one step ahead of any form of danger and at the same time, increase my propensity for killing!"
The plan made perfect sense and Xerxes knew it. He was beginning to finally accept the fact that maybe he had gotten a pretty good deal. Right now, the only thing he needed was something that everyone was short of- TIME.