Chapter 40: • Mushroom Mountain
Although it appeared to be one, mushroom mountain wasn’t actually a mountain. It was more like a hill, and the two participants didn’t have to climb to ascend.
The hill, while steep in some parts, was riddled with the mushrooms of varying sizes and colors. Some were firm enough to act as footholds, others broke under the weight of their steps, releasing faint puffs of spores that sparkled momentarily before vanishing into the air.
Repeatedly, Deremiah adjusted his grip on his sword as they continued upward. He needed to get a swordhold or a sheath to hang by his belt for his sword. Carrying it this way was not doing his posture any good.
As he thought of this, he glanced toward Elora and saw her moving up the hill with no stress at all. Her boots found steady purchase on the uneven terrain and that made it clear to him that she’d probably walked up here many times before to hunt down the NeonSquid.
"So," Deremiah began, breaking the silence between them, "do you have a plan, or are we just going in and fighting it?"
Elora tilted her head slightly toward him but didn’t stop walking. "You should always have a plan if you’re going to battle, Deremiah," she said.
"What is a battle without a battle plan?" She paused briefly, then turned to look at him. "A burial."
Deremiah squeezed his lip, and when she turned forward and continued walking, he let out a breath. "So you do have a plan then?" he said cautiously.
"I do," she answered.
Deremiah nodded. "Mind filling me in on this plan? Climbing up this hill to face the beast while being in the dark feels very... ominous."
She glanced at him over her shoulder, looking at him from the toe to his face like she was reaccessing him over again for some reason.
He frowned.
Elora Cassiel had to have some serious communication issues. Deremiah had no choice but to come to this conclusion as he’d noticed that he was the one to usually instigate a conversation between them.
Her answers were always straight forward and whenever she did take her time to answer, she’d only turn it into a new lesson for him that continued to shape their relationship into one of master and student rather than participants working together.
This was probably because of the way she was raised. Elora didn’t spend much time around children her age, and was usually moved from one master to another as her training progressed.
This was the only kind of relationship she knew.
"You have nothing to worry about," she assured him, marching forward. "I’ve faced this beast many times already."
With that tone of assurance, Deremiah would have certainly been confident in her strength and ability. But he knew better. His presence here meant that the beast was going to be stronger.
"Besides, you know how to defend yourself now. So, if I’m down and can’t help you... lift your sword and help yourself," she added after.
Inwardly, Deremiah groaned. ’That’s very helpful. Thanks,’ he thought sarcastically but kept his expression neutral.
Elora glanced ahead, and when she saw that they were getting close, she let out a tentative sigh.
"But I’m not going to walk you into a fight without the knowledge I have. You’ll need it." She paused, taking a moment to pick her way over a cluster of glowing mushrooms before continuing.
"The NeonSquid is a powerful beast, we already know this. But it’s also too predictable for its own good, and unfortunately for it, there’s nothing it can do about that."
"How so?" Deremiah asked, pretending to not know what she was talking about.
She slowed her pace slightly, as if to give her explanation the weight it deserved. "You might have noticed that like the plants, the lights in the Paragon’s body also change colors. However the mechanism that causes this in the beast is quite different than for the plants."
Deremiah waited for her to continue, following closely behind her. "The lights in its body change according to its state. It’s almost like a code — a language it can’t help but speak. If it’s preparing to attack, it glows red. When it wants to retreat, it glows yellow. If it’s formulating a plan against you, it glows blue. If it feels threatened, it glows purple. When it goes on the defensive, it glows orange. And when it’s calm, green."
Deremiah’s face lit up as he looked at her. He couldn’t really help but feel particularly impressed at how she had managed to capture all of that in just three battles with the monster.
He’d spent hours coming up with that stuff. It was a way to test the Mancers’ awareness in battle, resourcefulness and overall battle IQ. Since that was the case, Elora has basically scored a hundred out of a hundred in the test, all she just needed was to complete the goal.
"You memorized all of that?" he asked her. "I’m starting to see why you’re so certain this time. That’s a huge advantage."
"I’m certain," Elora corrected with a cool tone, "but I’m not overconfident. Even though beasts are mostly predictable, they are still wild. Underestimating them is a quick way to end up dead."
"Fair enough," Deremiah muttered. ’She genuinely always finds a way to make everything a lesson.’
He looked at his sword in his right hand and tightened his grip around it, trying to snap himself back into sobriety. To focus. The NeonSquid was of the Gilded Echelon, one rank higher than the Moltenshark.
Gilded ranked Paragons were naturally defensive which was why Elora was the one hunting it and not it hunting them. However, being defensive didn’t stop the NeonSquid from having very dangerous attack mechanisms.
Deremiah knew to be careful. Very careful.
The sunlight grew brighter as they ascended, painting the hill’s rocky face with warm hues. The glowing plants and mushrooms became less vibrant under the sun’s rays, but their faint luminescence remained visible if one looked closely.
As they neared the upper face of the hill, Deremiah glanced toward the spot where he had seen the NeonSquid slither behind last night. They were getting very close now, and he began to once again go through his mental notes and his plan.
Understanding that most of it depended on Elora, he turned to her and asked a question. "So, I’ve been meaning to ask; you spoke about a lot last night but you didn’t bring up techniques. Especially yours. I saw you use it during the fight with the Squid. You can control plants, right?"
Elora stopped walking and squinted her eyes in the distance, checking if what she’d seen was just a trick of the light.
Deciding it was nothing, she answered him. "My Technique is called [Darkness in Verdancy]."
She once again looked at him briefly before replying. "It doesn’t just give me control over plants. I’m not mother nature. The kind of plants I have control of are not normal ones, they’re dangerous. The ones most people wouldn’t dare touch."
Even though he knew how, Deremiah still asked, "Dangerous how?"
Elora found the question a bit nonsensical. "Dangerous in any way you can think of. Plants that spit out venom. Vines with thorns sharp enough to pierce armor, or dermis strong enough to squeeze the life out of an elephant. Flowers that can release seeds with... unique powers. The Technique is too complex and powerful, and I’m only in the 1st Grade."
Deremiah pouted, pretending to be astonished. Then he attempted a joke, scratching the back of his head. "Woah. And here I thought you just had a green thumb."
Elora glanced at him, but her face was as emotionless as steel. His joke fell flat.
"I did not take you for a jokester initially," she said.
Deremiah sighed nervously. "Well, I’m just trying to lighten the mood be—"
Suddenly, a large translucent tentacle wrapped around Elora’s waist. His eyes widened. She looked down and saw it, then looked up to lock eyes with Deremiah.
"Wha— what do I do?" Deremiah asked frantically, seeing that her hands too had been restricted.
Elora narrowed her panicking eyes angrily at him. "Raise up your sword and f—"
The tentacle dragged her high into the air and the rest of the word; "fightttttt" echoed through the Gigantic Ether Forest.
Deremiah’s eyes dilated in terror. "Elora!" he screamed out.