Moss continued on his war path, locating every grass blade that hosted his enemy and destroying it. The initial battlefield had been fought to a standstill and after the enemy agents were notified of Moss’s counterattack, they had retreated back to defend their home bases.

 

But despite that, Moss and his agents did not falter. Though they lost their initial momentum, they still pressed on with small victories here and there. It got to the point where the enemy had suffered major losses in territories.

 

But both sides were stubborn. And it took nothing but a standstill as well as the interference of other species in the complex to make them compromise. There was only one thing they could do to solve this issue once and for all.

 

The enemy virus sent out its strongest agent to challenge Moss to a duel. The rules were simple. Both sides sent out their strongest. They will each infect the same eukaryotic cell. Once inside, they will compete in a life and death duel until a victor was decided either through the death or surrender of the loser. The loser virus will submit to the winner. Anything goes and the battle will take place three days later.

 

The enemy seemed so sure of winning and emphasized that the battle should take place three days later. This emphasis on their part caused Moss to suspect. Why were they so confident? Were they planning a breakthrough? Even if they did break through, Moss still had the confidence to win and so, he agreed.

 

Sure enough, two days later, the enemy leveled up. Now, there were three levels difference between Moss and the enemy virus. Everyone thought Moss would back out of the fight. But to everyone’s surprise, not only did Moss show up for the fight, he arrived before the other bluegrass virus. It was as if Moss didn’t need to worry about spending as much of the day as possible to level up as much as he can.

 

The bluegrass virus agent approached the cell that the duel was taking place in. The viewers could see a difference in size between the two competitors. The bluegrass virus agent was at least a nanometer larger, not to mention, it looked twice as bulky.

 

The bluegrass agent sneered at Moss. “It’s not too late to back down. All you have to do is submit to us and we’ll let you go.]

 

[Ha! Stop bullshitting me. It should be you who should submit to me!] Moss countered with a chuckle.

 

[You! Good, good, good! We gave you a chance but you decided to dump it on the floor. Prepare to die!] The enemy agent shook with anger before infecting the cell.

 

Moss glanced back at the viewers and smiled inwardly. Without a moment’s hesitation, he also entered the cell. As soon as he stepped into the cell, the duel began. The enemy agent charged towards Moss with a body slam. Bystanders viewing out the cell could sense the ongoings within and gasped at the ferocity of the attack.

 

 But what came after shocked them to their core. The bluegrass virus agent smashed into Moss but instead of crushing him like the agent had hoped for, the virus agent was stopped in place. There wasn’t even a crack on Moss’s membrane.

 

The bluegrass virus agent wobbled back dazed. [H-How’s that possible? We’re level five and you’re clearly level two! How did you withstand that attack?]

 

Moss harrumphed with an inward smile as he recalled what had actually happened to him the night before.

 

Late last night….

 

It was the last night before the big duel. Moss had spent most of his time absorbing DNA from entire bluegrass blades and only clocking in the minimum daily quota. He had chosen quality over quantity.

 

Because of that, he had gained tremendous improvements in his power and toughness. The time was a minute before midnight. He had just finished another blade of bluegrass when he was suddenly alerted with the familiar system notifications.

 

DING!

 

SUFFICIENT DNA ABSORBED

 

ASSIMILATING DNA…ASSIMILATING COMPLETE

 

SKILL <<VIRAL INJECTION I>> ACQUIRED

 

Moss had just received a full completion powerup! He quickly checked his status to look over any changes to his stats as well as understand what his new skill entailed. <<STATUS OPEN>>!

With a boost in his overall stats, Moss could consider himself to be on par with a typical level five virus. In addition, now that he had a new skill, he could infect his opponent during the match and make it his own. Moss chuckled silently as he looked on. Tomorrow’s match would bring many a surprise.

 

Presently….

 

Everyone gasped when Moss successfully defended against the large virus agent’s attack. The virus agent itself staggered back in shock as well. But, maybe because it was of lower intelligence, it didn’t believe Moss’s strength even when he stood right before it. The virus agent charged once more.

 

However, Moss did not defend against the body slam. This time, he quickly maneuvered his body around the lumbering virus agent and activated <<DNA Extraction>>. Sampling only a small amount, Moss retreated and watched as the enemy agent slowed to a stop.

 

It’s body wobbled as it began to feel disoriented. Moss’s opponent tried to get up and it almost looked like it succeeded. However, just as the bluegrass virus agent stabilized itself, Moss slammed into it and knocked it down. Before the virus agent could find its bearing, Moss extracted another small amount of DNA.

 

Moss continued to toy with his opponent until finally, the bluegrass virus agent laid silently in exhaustion. Nearly ninety percent of its DNA was extracted and absorbed by Moss. The virus agent trembled in fear as it felt Moss approaching it.

 

Moss bent down and placed his extractor on the virus agent’s head. [Shh! Shh! Don’t make a sound, don’t make a sound! It will all be over soon. Shh. Shhh.]

 

Before the virus agent could whimper out a response, Moss fired his extractor and extracted the remaining DNA from the virus agent. Having lost its DNA, the virus agent started to die. However, something new happened. Something that was just a spark of imagination lighting up in Moss’s mind a few nanoseconds ago.

 

Moss had an idea. Why not use his new skill on this dead virus agent? Could he be like those necromancers and raise an undead virus? Moss knew that the virus agent would die in a second’s time. So, without hesitation, he injected some of his own DNA into the corpse.

 

Ten nanoseconds went by…thirty…two hundred…finally, a full millisecond went by when a reaction occurred in the corpse. Signs of life began to flicker and in a matter of nanoseconds, it sprung to life. It was now an undead virus!

 

DING!

 

SKILL <<RAISE UNDEAD>> ACQUIRED

Satisfied with the new skill, Moss observed the silent giant next to him. Could he view its stats? Moss stared at the undead virus agent until a notification sounded in his mind.

 

DING!

 

PLEASE NAME VIRUS AGENT

 

Name the virus agent? Moss was surprised that he even had that option. He racked his nucleus a couple of times before deciding on a name. [Alright, from now on, your name will be Lichen.]

 

DING!

 

NAME REGISTERED

 

SKILL <<VIRAL INSTABILITY>> ACQUIRED

 

SKILL <<ZOMBIFICATION>> ACQUIRED

 

SKILL <<UNDEAD LOYALTY>> ACQUIRED

After Moss understood what had happened, he exited the cell along with Lichen. Everyone crowded around the two virus agents, hoping for an answer to the duel. Moss looked around before proclaiming himself to be the winner. When everyone looked towards Lichen for confirmation, all they could see was it showing subservience towards Moss.

 

The viruses looked towards Moss in a new light. After all, a mere level two had defeated a level five. This was unprecedented unless Moss had some hidden trump cards. Moss left the area, claiming to be too tired to interact with the other species. Meanwhile, the opposing virus – too embarrassed to deal with the questions of the other species – took Lichen away.

 

Back at a bluegrass….

 

The Bluegrass Yellow Patch Virus ordered Lichen to be apprehended and destroyed for losing the match. The virus planned to not uphold on their agreement and continue assaulting Moss where he least expected it. What the virus did not expect was that Lichen was not their agent anymore.

 

When the representative virus agent turned around and waved for the agents to end Lichen, the zombie virus attacked. With unrestrained brute strength and infectivity, Lichen injected its DNA into the two agents beside it before charging towards the representative virus agent.