Before I could make any changes, we needed to complete my tour of the grove. Maybe I should’ve left my whole speech until the end, but I felt much better that I had done so already and didn’t have to wait. It also gave Root time to feel a bit better and process everything. I would continue to speak with him about it and try to better understand his feelings; it wasn’t a simple or quick process. I did make a lot of assumptions about how he was feeling, even if I knew I was probably correct, which I felt somewhat bad about, but I had to make a choice.

I continued to hold him in my arms as he lay comfortably in them. Due to his unique nature, it was the first time he had ever been held. I was able to touch him when he was in my soul core, but not in the real world. I did have to expend a bit of soul mana to do so, but beyond it being what I wanted to do to comfort him, it also allowed me to practice mana manipulation more. I was slowly getting better at it, and I needed all the time I could get to work on it.

“This is my domain! The beginning of my eventual empire that will go far beyond this place!”

Munch - Munch - Munch

Spore spoke to us as she walked along her “domain”, the final layer of the grove before the garden, while munching on some black nightshade berries. She held a bunch wrapped in some webbing with one leg, using the rest to walk. Her leg was bent in a way that any normal spider couldn’t mimic due to their biology, only possible due to the fungal nature of her existence. Purple juice leaked down her face as she happily munched on the berries, their poisonous mana seemingly invigorating her instead of causing any damage. That wasn’t as much of a surprise as the poison they held, which only worked on some creatures, and I wasn’t sure if spiders counted, especially reborn ones that had fungal matter composing their entire bodies.

Sifter gave them to her before we left the garden, and we had to leave him behind as he couldn’t move from his spot. It turns out that, just six years ago, when he was alive, he was at the end of his life and made it to the center of the grove, sensing it would be the perfect resting place. He was a giant forest turtle and had always enjoyed spending time in beautiful places, so he decided to die in the center of the garden when he arrived. His desire to keep beauty alive was strong enough to keep his soul in the same place, still enjoying it long after his death. Root discovered him and recruited him as long as he could take care of the garden. Doba brought some ghoul fungus, fertilizer, and plants to his decaying body, making it become one with the garden.

The result was that he became completely rooted in the area and deeply connected to it. Keeping the condition that he could only stay in the garden allowed his previously weaker innate racial ability, Gardener’s Intuition, to become Gardener’s Spirit. His species of giant forest turtle was the forest's natural healer, pruning disease and rebuilding after wildfires, which is why he has an innate racial ability. The evolution of it allowed him to gain a complete understanding of everything planted within the garden and sense anything that entered it.

As he adjusted to his new body, it allowed him to create another ability called Gardener’s Touch tied to Gardener’s Spirit. This allowed him to manipulate the earth, water, and life within his domain, but as he’s only at Peak Gathering rank, he still had to manipulate the mana and form it in order to use it. It was stronger than a normal Gathering rank ability, but still limited even with the condition he set. Once he goes through the Transformation Ordeal and makes his body more compatible with the garden, gaining innate mana, he would have much greater control over the entire area. It made him the perfect guardian and caretaker of this space.

The main limitation was the amount of mana in the garden and grove, which had risen to a Late Gathering rank concentration, which was high, but would need to be higher. I was only able to reach Early Formation rank with the soul core, lots of time, and the energy from the grove to assist me. If the area’s mana concentration were higher, the process would’ve been much faster, and that goes for the others within the grove, too. Compared to the rest of the Forest, which was Basic to at most Mid Gathering rank in a few small places, the grove was much better. It was often the case that the forest creatures that made it to the garden would attempt to reach the next rank there, as it was a steady, calm area conducive to advancement.

One of the people I had to thank for all the mana the grove provided to me and the increase in the area’s mana concentration was Spore. She has significantly improved the area’s efficiency since she became a follower three and a half years ago. This was due to her setting up an impressive filtering system. Walking through her web and spore-covered domain, which took advantage of the towering, bumpy, yellow mushrooms growing all around, really gave a first-hand perspective on how the area worked.

Anything that came through this area that was too weak but smart enough would leave and probably make it through another time once it got stronger. Those weak, but too stupid to see the full danger, would go through and get trapped, becoming sustenance for Spore and the grove. Anything strong enough, stupid or not, would make it through to the center. Of course, this mostly filtered out the strong and stupid, which wasn’t ideal, but because of Spore’s control, she could free those beneficial to the forest and actively eliminate those that weren’t.

“There’s been a big influx of creatures from outside of the forest coming to the grove,” Spore told us as she showed us around. “They’re a lot more powerful and disruptive, so my webs have been full of dealing with them all. Some are sneaky and got through even though I didn’t wish for them to, so I need you to hurry to expand the area so I can get stronger!”

Taking a turn around a particularly webby corner, we came upon an oak tree-sized yellow mushroom with a white stem and a few giant orb webs. The orb webs were connected to a section of the Curling Wall that made up the maze-like structure in which Spore’s domain was placed. The webbing in the area caught the spores that fell from the fungi, creating a thin layer of yellow across the white constructs.

“This is one of my production areas for my Spore Orbs! I weave mana into small orbs of webbing, allowing the spores from the zombie fungus to land on it and then continue creating layers of both. Eventually, once they get big enough for my liking, I move them to different areas of my domain as traps. If a creature triggers it, the orbs will burst open, covering the area with sticky webbing and zombie spores. I grew them myself!”

She turned to Root and me with purple juice running down her face, clearly proud of her creation. I didn’t say anything for a few moments as I studied the yellow mushroom, gently spewing small clouds of spores that floated with the wind onto large orb webs.

“You’ve really done a good job setting this all up, Spore! Did you help grow the zombie fungus Root?”

Root nodded his head at me, much more shy than normal. Looking back up to address her after getting confirmation from Root, I asked her another question that was on my mind.

“Spore, I’ve noticed your body is made up of two kinds of fungus, both ghoul fungus and what you’ve said is zombie fungus. How did that happen?”

Her body dropped a bit, and the arm holding up the berries sagged as she heard my question, and with much less spunk than usual, she answered.

“Well…I-uh died after being infected with the zombie fungus.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Spore,” I said after an awkward pause, rubbing the back of my head, realizing I hit a sore spot. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“N-no, it’s ok. I…don’t really like to talk about it since it’s a lot to think about, but I think you should know. Since you want to expand the grove, you’ll probably find out about it later on, and my powers are centered around it, too. It’ll be better if I say it now than wait. I want to protect our…home, the best I can.”

I gave her a light nod and sat down on a mossy rock that didn’t have as much webbing as the rest of the area.

“Alright then, tell me what you want to, but please don’t feel pressured to say it all.”

“T-thanks,” She said nervously, putting down the berries as she sat down too and gave a sigh. “I guess the first thing to know was that I lived in the forest near the grove for just six months before I died. My species isn’t actually native to this area, and my mother, who was pregnant, came from the mountains just southeast of the forest. I don’t know much beyond that, since when I was born, my siblings and I immediately ballooned off to other areas. I only got word of it through my surviving brethren after some time. Most of us didn’t survive the new environment, but I got lucky with some good opportunities, and my larger size allowed me to take advantage of them.”

“It was close to winter when I was running out of food, and I had to keep traveling further away from my home to find some. During one of these times, it began to rain all of a sudden, and I had to rush into a small cave nearby as my only protection. At that point, I had found nothing, and it was getting colder, so I needed to eat something. Further inside, there was a dead raccoon next to a small water puddle that I decided to eat. As I ate, I noticed small bits of yellow fungus growing on its back, but I was starving, so I ate it anyway and went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, and the rain had stopped, I felt this horrible pain in my stomach. I can only describe it as something that was moving within, and it caused me to puke everywhere. Bits of yellow fungus were in the bile I spit up and…that was when I realized I was infected.”

She sat still after she finished speaking. I could tell her mind was working on how to continue. I didn’t say anything and let the silence stay uninterrupted as she decided on her next words.

“I…could tell I was dying after just a day. Fungus began to spread all across my body at a rapid rate as my mana was being drained to fuel its expansion. The mycelium even started to emerge from my mouth as it spread further. That was when I remembered the grove. I had heard of it before but didn’t trust it, so I never went there. I decided to go try to find something there that could heal me. I was able to make it there, and at that point, I was barely alive, with the zombie fungus taking over most of my body. I survived only by preying on other creatures to gain more mana to stave off dying completely. I was at the end of my web.”

“At the grove, I made it through the first two layers as I took my time to eat some of the dead, but ended up getting killed in the third thorn layer by some birds. I-… I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live longer. I guess, because my emotions were strong enough, my soul survived, and I met Root. He gave me an opportunity, and my body was placed in the pit. What remained of my old body was replaced with ghoul fungus, which, combined with the zombie fungus, created a whole new body for me. Now I’m something new…something better.”

She spoke the last sentence as though she was trying to convince herself of it, but the quietness of it made it clear that she didn’t fully believe it. Turning her head upward, bits of spore floating off her back with the movement, she looked at Root and me.

“I have new abilities now. A new opportunity in life and a much better chance of not starving again. I wish I could’ve done more before I died, but at least I’m here now…Thank you, Root.”

Root lifted up from my hands and drifted over to Spore, resting on the ground beside her. He channeled a bit of his own mana into a mushroom beside her, which tilted and patted her on her leg. She clacked her mandibles together in happiness at that, and we stayed in that moment for a while.

Wooooo-

Spore let out a breath of air, exhaling the negativity, and then inhaled a new breath, filled with spores. She picked herself up, took a bite of one of the berries, and looked towards me, just a little brighter.

“Once I got my new body, I was able to start experimenting with everybody’s help to see what my new capabilities were. The zombie fungus was named by Root, who said it’s very similar to the zombie ant fungus found in your home jungle, but effective on more than just ants and a few other insects. I can use the spores to attach to creatures, and once it does, the mana I formed within the spores connects with the prey’s mana, completing the process to trigger my ability Fungal Infection.”

“As the zombie fungus did to me, my ability drains the mana of those it infects, and as it takes over more of them, I gain increased control over their actions. It’s limited based on range, power, and the creature’s abilities, but it’s a good power to have. Using that, I made one power and discovered another, both of which you saw earlier that I used on Doba.”

She pointed to a small bit of webbing and spores between us, infusing her web at her feet with a bit of mana that traversed through it, reaching the spot she gestured at. Once there, the spores became infused with mana and hatched into a small clump of whitish-yellow spiderlings. I could see how the mana within them was evenly distributed and was even being nourished by the mana still within the web. Soon, though, the spiderlings ran out of energy and fell down, dissipating into ash and disappearing, leaving nothing behind.

“I discovered that my new form granted me an innate racial ability called Mana Web that allows me to infuse mana into my webs and store it within or send it longer distances. Previously, I was an Orb Mountain Spider, which had no racial ability, but now I’m an Orb Spore Spider with a naturally higher concentration of mana, which gave me this power. It’s really versatile, and due to previously using webbing so much before, it didn’t take much to work out all its abilities.”

“One of the other things I can do with it is to activate my other ability, Spiderling Expansion, which I just showed you. I have to infuse spores from the zombie fungus with my specially manipulated mana to activate it, as it only works with that specific fungus, but in doing so, they can autonomously operate and move. As soon as they run out of mana, they will die, but the good thing is that when I infect targets with Fungal Infection, I can create spiderlings using their mana. Mana Web also allows me to store manipulated mana for longer periods, partially mimicking what innate mana can do, but it degrades faster the more mana I use. Still useful though. These are the abilities my new life has granted me, and I use them to protect the grove! You may now applaud my genius!”

I didn’t deny her the applause she deserved, clapping my hands and even whistling to show my enthusiasm. It was an amazing ability, all of which worked well together, but were also super practical and versatile. She was definitely downplaying her own work, though, attributing most of it to her new body. While it was true she wouldn’t have been able to develop these specific abilities without it, it was clear she was a genius not just at making them, but at using them. The “luck” she attributed to her survival when her sibling didn’t clearly see wasn’t true; it was due to her own intelligence and capabilities, and to her ability to take advantage of opportunities others couldn’t.

My applause continued on, and she seemed to be getting a bit embarrassed at this point, clearly not expecting so much. Root had joined in at this point, clapping with two mushrooms that were side by side. He controlled and copied my whistling, but it was very off-pitch. Even with her embarrassment, she continued posing proudly, clearly unwilling to admit that the praise she had asked for was too much.

Spore is based on an Orb Weaver Spider that has been infected by zombie fungus, a real fungus that has been found in the Amazon and in a cave in Ireland. I also recently learned about a species of spider in the Amazon that mimics fungi that parasitize some of them. Also the word “balloning” I used is referring to how Orb Weaver Spiders can move through the air by releasing threads that get blown around. Typically it's done by spiderlings to disperse so I decided to use it here.

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