Chapter 310: Alright This Joke Has Gone Too Far

Drake attempted to inspect the creature in front of him, only to get no result.

"Damn it! Not having a real inspection skill is a bitch!" he cursed.

In front of him was a monster with an enormous bulbous head, slim body, and for some reason. Very baggy pants.

This is a mushroom right? Or is my head not in the gutter enough? Or am I just trying to convince myself I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing? He thought.

Drake looked around, scanning the area for more of the creatures as well as one thing that always seemed to accompany large mushrooms.

"Where the hell are all the badgers?"

"The what?" his younger self replied in confusion, "Do you mean Steel-toed Badger Tigers?"

Drake shook his head, "No just badgers."

His younger self looked at him deeply confused, "Why would there be just Badgers?"

Mir'phyra rolled her eyes, "All Asurans are idiots after all…"

Drake refocused. The mushroom creature hadn't made a move just yet. Seemingly sizing up Drake or waiting for reinforcements, which he couldn't assess just yet.

He was somewhat wary to jump right into battle like usual. His body didn't get excited for the fight, so he felt somewhat lackluster. However without a proper identification skill he couldn't be entirely sure.

And I can't use magic… He grumbled internally.

Through his aura he could tell that the others had found either monsters or similar creatures as new beings began entering the sphere of perception. However, everyone in the group was fighting their own battles save Ganner and Vale, who seemed to be observing for now.

Drake looked at his feet and formed a plan.

Raising his fist he plunged it into the ground upheaving a sizable block of stone.

The mushroom creature immediately went into a defensive stance, raising its thin spindly arms.

"Time to test," Drake grinned, smashing the block of stone and picking up a handful of smaller stones.

Tossing them into the air and catching them, he quickly grabbed a single one throwing it in a swift overhand pitch.

The stone flew through the air with a whistle, attesting to the power Drake put behind it.

However the creature managed to dodge the stone bullet. Or, more accurately.

"Damn I missed," Drake said, clicking his tongue.

The stone flew past the creature, slamming itself into one of the trees as it blew apart a large chunk.

It turned around staring at the damaged tree in horror.

Drake tossed the stones into the air again catching another single one between his fingers with a smile.

"Alright Mushroom man. How about some life or death dodgeball?"

He wound back his arm, throwing another stone and then another and another. His arm becoming a blur as he threw a barrage of them at the Mushroom Man.

"If you can dodge a hail of life threatening stones at a million miles an hour!" Drake shouted between stone throws, "You can dodge a ball!"

This time the Mushroom Man began bobbing and weaving for its life. Even deflecting the stones with the base of its palms where it could.

But Drake inundated the Mushroom Man with more and more projectiles. And the creature couldn't dodge or reflect them all.

Looks like it doesn't have a movement skill. And I'm keeping it suppressed with just the stones. I don't want to move in too quickly since I've seen so many shows with mushrooms having spore powers. He thought.

Drake continued to hail stone bullets upon the creature, keeping his distance incase of anything unexpected.

Unexpectedly however, Drake began to slow down, grimacing.

"Dude come on…gross much?"

The Mushroom Man had been berated with stones by Drake, its spongy like skin damaged all over and had begun to secrete a white substance in the place of blood.

"Dude please tell me that is you bleeding…" he gagged.

The temporary cease fire that resulted from Drake almost retching was enough time for the Mushroom Man to close the distance.

Drake's eyes opened wide in surprise. The creature's speed was unexpected.

Guess I was wrong, it does have a movement skill. I guess it was just biding its time. Drake thought, regaining his focus.

Drake reared back his arm, ready to put his gauntleted first right through the Mushroom Man's chest.

But just as he began his swing, he felt his heart skip a beat. Getting so close to the creature had gone exactly as Drake had worried. Something had entered his lungs or permeated his skin, making his vision swim.

However for Drake, it didn't matter.

He roared, throwing a barrage of punches in front of him. Striking whatever he could without restraint. And luckily enough Drake struck gold as he felt the feedback of his fist connecting with something several times in succession.

And in a blur he saw a figure careen backward.

You've killed Kinto Shira Ruma Level 24. Temporary Experience earned. Experience has been stored.

Drake paused.

It was a sentient being, not a monster?

He felt a sliver of regret for a moment, but his vision normalized as did his senses. Reminding him that the Mushroom Man known as Kinto had also tried to kill him.

Drake moved over picking up a small leather bag that had appeared at the corpse, as well as the small smooth glass stone.

Skill Stone: Abnormal Effect Resistance [Uncommon]

It was a stone that most likely would help him. His original set of skills gave him such an advantage against adverse effects he had forgotten how it felt to be under them.

Stretching his sphere of perception with his aura, he could see the others had finished their fights as well, all gathered around the last remaining fight.

He looked at the corpse one last time feeling nothing but confusion.

"I don't know if I should feel bad or confused, or just plan grossed out… Who bleeds sticky white goo? Like what are you? Bishop? Even in that movie it's unsettling… And to do it in real life?"

Drake frowned looking at his gauntlet, "Aweeee mannn, I got it on my hands!"

He desperately wanted to use some sort of water magic but decided against it. Instead moving his way over to everyone else, wanting to see why they hadn't finished the fight yet.

After sprinting to the fight, Drake was left further confused.

No one was injured. It didn't even look as if anyone had struggled so far. Even Norris had returned, standing with the rest of the group seemingly waiting.

Drake turned his head looking at the fight everyone else was observing. Tan against the largest pen- Mushroom Man, Drake had ever seen. Even if he only had one other one- or two - to compare them to.

Unlike Drake's opponent, this Mushroom Man was several times bigger. And much bulkier. Instead of the smooth large white bulbous cap, Kinto had. This one had a large red cap with white spots. It was also extremely ripped.

"Kinda looks like Majin Buu, if he had a cap instead of that long dangly thing… Okay! This planet is making me think of all kinda nasty things. Can we leave!?" Drake sighed.

A few dubious looking faces turned towards him,but immediately turned back.

Not because they were concerned for Tan, but they seemed to have enough of entertaining Drake's ramblings.

Tan stood in front of the Mushroom man, waiting for it to make the first move.

Drake moved closer to the group, "Why isn't everyone just jumping the Mushroom guy?" he asked.

Dolf grunted, "Are you sure you have Asuran blood?"

Drake pointed to his head, "Pretty sure."

"Then you should know it is dishonorable to interrupt a one on one fight."

Vale yawned, stretching her arms, grumbling lazily, "Boys will be boys. Asurans and their customs," she sighed, fanning herself, "But all primordial races have their quirks I suppose."

"What are Phoenixes'?" Drake asked absentmindedly.

She smiled back, "Wouldn't you like to know…"

"Sorry I asked…" Drake shivered, taking a step away, "So are we just going to wait until Tan is finished then?"

"Yup!" Ganeer answered, thumbing behind us, "I'm sure you've noticed by now, but we have babysitters."

Drake turned, unable to see anyone or sense anything following them.

"Oh yeah, they've been following us for a while now," Drake lied, but nodded in faux understanding.

Ganeer laughed, slapping Drake on the back pushing him forward in a stumble.

"Don't need to lie, Blondie! The vipers are hard to find, but you bet your smooth ass they're there! And we have to wait because we didn't know the planet was inhabited so we need to talk to good old 13th little prick to find out what to do next. Only one that can call the little bastard is Tan."

Drake righted himself and nodded, trying his best not to rub his back where he was struck.

Finally Tan and the Mushroom Man moved. The Mushroom Man fixed his stance, using a skill that enveloped his body in red light. Then quickly screamed again, another sheen of red covering its arms.

Tan pushed off with one leg moving to intercept the Mushroom Man.

Drake was surprised at Tan's straight forward assault. Was he not afraid of any debuffs or effects like the spores of the Mushroom Man he had fought?

The Mushroom Man looked in confidence at Tan moving closer. Shaking its head visible spores dispersed from it forming a cloud around it.

Tan was unperturbed. Rearing back his leg, he swept it in a broad arc, the force of it sweeping up any and all spores in an instant.

Drake frowned. Why didn't I think of that…

The fight continued. The Mushroom Man's face turned from confident to one of frustrated anxiety.

Drake watched closely. Not at the Mushroom Man, but at Tan fighting. Trying to dissect anything he could.

Tan was not using any skills that Drake could see, no enhancement skills, no combat skills that were overtly being shown to activate. Tan hadn't even bothered to use the skill he prepared when giving last rites to the Asuran woman in camp on Drake's first day.

Drake supposed the Mushroom Man simply wasn't worth it for Tan to display his skills. Which he felt was slightly. Well, sad.

A fight should be conducted with one's utmost effort. But Drake felt the thought didn't come from him, but from something deeply seeded within him.

That's right…

This fight wasn't… fun. Wasn't…honorable.

There was no…

No pride in it.

Drake continued to watch with the others but was wholly unimpressed. Tan from the start of the fight seemed as uninterested as Drake had become from observing. And was completely and utterly in control.

Anything the Mushroom Man could conceive to do was countered or halted in an instant by Tan. The Mushroom Man's face souring by the second as it was very quickly realizing it was not only outmatched and outskilled but outnumbered.

Its eyes darted around seeing the others observing the fight and Drake could visibly see the change in the Mushroom Man's face the moment it realized it had lost any hope of making it out alive.

Instead of continuing the fight it jumped backward, dropping to its knees as its skills dissipated one after another.

"Looks like it's given up?" Drake said.

"Looks like it has then," Ganeer agreed, the others nodding, "Doesn't matter much, still has to die."

Drake's brows furrowed in confusion, "What? Why? It's a person and it's given up?" He pointed out.

He had killed plenty of people by this point. Drake had essentially wiped out towns, but each of those people had made a choice or had struck first. Threatening his life and his family's lives. It had to be done. It was his familys' lives over theirs.

To Drake that was an easy choice, no way about it.

But this was different. They were the invading force here. Sent by an overbearing group of Old Bastards that they didn't even like. What reason did they have to kill the people here for them?

"Come on Tan, you don't have to do it right? He's giving up!" Drake blurted out.

"You're wrong," Tan replied.

"How am I wrong? This isn't entertaining! What do you gain from this fight? Nothing! There isn't any honor in it! No real gain."

Tan turned, his face devoid of emotion just as it was normally. However, Drake could feel the cold glare of his eyes as if he had missed a very important and pertinent detail. An open secret that everyone but he knew.

"Those vipers," Tan began his voice slow and cold, "They are not simply here to watch us and keep us from fleeing. They are here to make sure we do our job. And our job is to kill anything the Old Gods tell us to." 

Tan stepped in close to Drake, a sliver of emotion piercing the veil of his mask as his voice rose in anger.

"If we do not kill him, they will kill us!"

Suddenly a spear appeared in Tan's hand, a split second later he threw it, skewering the Mushroom Man's leg to the ground as it tried to escape now that his back was turned.

"And they will not only kill us. They will kill this entire squad. They will go and find your village, everyone you know, everyone you've ever loved, everyone you have ever interacted with and kill them too. Then they will kill your entire planet's population just for the sport!"

Tan grabbed Drake by the hem of his shirt, jerking him as if trying to shake him awake.

"Because that is all we are to them! Sport! They don't care about me or you, not really. They care not for race, religion or age. They care about whatever pet will give them the most fun and entertainment as they live out their own long and prestigious lives. It doesn't matter how strong a pet gets, so long as it isn't stronger than them, so long as it isn't disobedient! That is the whole point of me bringing you here! To find a way out of this hell, to find a way to transcend into the realm of the Old Gods and break us free of this!"

He pushed Drake back, balling his fists in frustration, "Because I can not do it alone."

Tan walked over to the Mushroom Man, still struggling to pull the spear from the ground to no avail.

"So what is it going to be? Us or them? Are you really going to say that their life is worth more than ours? Than our families? Our own future?"

Drake bit his lip. He had forgotten. Forgotten his own convictions that he had used to steel himself. If it was someone else or his family, the choice was easy.

"No… I won't."

Tan turned to the Mushroom Man, "Your strength will become my own, so that I may move forward."

Tan pulled the spear from the ground with ease and with one swift motion, bisected the man. Turning he addressed the group.

"Our orders are to wipe them out. We are to remove any living creature from the planet. Prepare for a long campaign. We will not return for some time."