[Sudden Quest!]
[You've found the source of the strange mutations plaguing Astoria Forest!]
[Reward: Class-related Mythic weapon, Achievement: You found me! Now what?]
Brandon looked at the peacefully resting tiny mushroom constantly expelling mushrooms. His staff was pointed at the head of the creature with a spell ready to fire. He thought to himself, what does he really get by killing this thing? Sure, there were the raid quest rewards, but he could get those even if he didn't kill the monster. The raid quest specifically said to find the cause of it and help those negatively affected by it. Not kill the source of it.
"Why don't I just take advantage of this little cutie for myself?" Brandon muttered to himself.
Brandon put away his staff and began filling his inventory with the mushrooms popping off from the monster's body. For such a cute creature, it had such a terrifying name, Harbinger of Doom Infant Mushroom. Brandon guessed the name wasn't inaccurate since it did severely increase the difficulty level of Astoria Forest. Players were now forced to travel in parties of three players and up, thankfully the experience was also boosted.
As Brandon was throwing out equipment and potions to fill his inventory to the absolute limit with the strange mushrooms, he noticed that each of the mushrooms had a question mark. This meant he had to test each different type of mushroom to learn what they did. Brandon planned to test each of these mushrooms one by one on a creature that wasn't himself, as the penalty for death wasn't so kind. Depending on how you died would result in different outcomes.
Death from a player randomly dropped loot and gold. Death from a monster dropped gold and reduced health on respawn. Death from environmental factors randomly dropped loot and gold at your place of death. Dying from mushroom poisoning would count as an environmental factor or monster. He wasn't sure which one this counted as since it was an item spawned from a monster. As a new player, Brandon didn't have that much gold on him. If he wanted gold, he'd need to solve quests. Quests that would need two or three other players for him to complete if they involved hunting monsters, thanks to this little mushroom.
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Sometime after Brandon left, Doom continued her days in a peaceful manner. Hiding out in tight places, releasing mushrooms without her control, and eating whatever she could find. It wasn't until the creatures that ate her mushrooms began to go wild with their newfound abilities that things changed significantly for Doom. It turns out that Doom received a portion of experience from the creatures that were enhanced by her mushrooms.
Name: Harbinger of Doom
Level: 20
Race: Infant Mushroom
Job: None
Health: 1,900/1,900
Magic: 0/0
Stamina 100/100
Skills: Budding* (X100), Bounce* (X100), Tackle I
Body: 19
Mind: 100
Magic: 0
SP: 19
So, one morning when she was waking up from her beauty sleep. Doom felt herself filled with an uncontrollable energy. It startled her so much that she nearly cried. She didn't know which path to head down for evolution since she didn't know which one would help her survive better. So, she left it up to fate, and a bright light engulfed her body.
Doom evolved from Harbinger of Doom Infant Mushroom to Princess of Doom Overlord Mushroom. Evolving into the second stage of her species gave Doom several boosts along with her divine boon.
Name: Princess of Doom
Level: 20
Race: Overlord Mushroom
Job: Royalty
Health: 2,000/2,000 (X100)
Magic: 1,000/1,000 (X100)
Stamina 100/100 (X100)
Skills: Budding* (X100), Bounce* (X100), Tackle I, Control I (X100), Ruling I (X100),
Body: 20 (X100)
Mind: 105 (X100)
Magic: 10 (X100)
SP: 19
With Doom's evolution, she transformed into an entirely new being thanks to the x100 Feedback System. Doom grew arms and legs, her mushroom cap transformed into the shape of a crown, and her body grew to the size and shape of a young woman. Her first thought when thinking of her new body was how difficult it was going to be to hide at this size. The good news was that she had complete control over her budding skill now. It didn't hurt anymore when she squeezed to stop it.
The biggest change was that she could see through the eyes of those who ate her mushrooms and directly influence their actions. She could switch viewpoints in an instant. The willpower of those who benefited from her mushrooms was powerless when faced up against her Mind stat. It didn't matter what type of monster they were. Her orders were absolute. A smile slowly appeared on Doom's face as she swapped to the viewpoints of the most interesting creatures...