Chapter 145: Monarch Altering Fungus

Chapter 145: Monarch Altering Fungus

Astrid frowned. It felt unlike the other times where she simply absorbed it and that was that. This time, it was as if the eye-ball was fighting back.

The will of the tree king refused to bend.

But what was defeated once before, was always destined to be beaten once again. Astrid connected to the mana container within her eye as the liquid swirled within. The highly concentrated mana was the fuel to the machine. It travelled the short distance from her eye, to her mind, before transmitting it straight into her Dominating Sovereigns Eye.

Battling the tree king's eye was much like wrestling with a wild beast. It was uncontrolled, wild, but most importantly–it was powerful.

Psychic chains formed around the eye as she attempted to force the eye into submission.

Astrid’s blood turned hotter than usual as she rekindled her efforts to obtain her prize. Her mind bashed into the eye repeatedly, and tightened the chains to the limit of her power, but it seemed like it was going to be a long drawn-out war. Well, thankfully she had time.

For what felt like a life-time, Astrid fell backwards. She had used up all of her mana, with not even a trace to use Levitate to cushion her fall. Thudding onto the ground, Astrid quickly checked the time left until the birth of the evolution stone. The submission of the eye had taken a lot longer than she expected.

She was even worried that she had missed all the fun, but thankfully, she had made it.

Time remaining until the birth of the evolution stone: 6:27:32



Twenty-two whole hours battling with the tree king’s eye, fighting sleep, and multiple mana potions later–she had finally succeeded.

Dominating Sovereigns Eye has extracted the Skill - Monarch Altering Fungus - From the Tree King.

Monarch Altering Fungus: Fungus of the rulers. Implant fungal spores into the target's brain to increase their attributes depending on the host's specialty. Increases power by 50%. Control is affected negatively depending on the Monarch’s familiarity of the body.

Would you like to merge with - Monarch Altering Fungus Y/N?

“Yes!” Astrid balled her hands into fists. It sounded awesome. She accepted it in place of Berserking Rage, and placed it within her eye bank.

Glancing behind her, an eye that was almost the size of her head floated behind her shoulder. A vivid pink glowed from within its iris. It blinked at her, as if it wasn’t some sort of inanimate object, but it had its own mind.

It was eerie, and if Astrid hadn’t had so much experience with eyeballs, then it would have freaked her out.

Alongside it was an eye of ice. It had an aura of cold around it that would have seeped into her bones if it wasn’t directly connected to her. It was the Ice Blood eye. Capable of imbuing her attacks with a frigid cold–and increasing their strength.

Astrid pinched her chin in thought. She didn’t know where to start with her new eye Skill. Where could she obtain someone capable of mind controlling with strange mushroom spores? Someone she was familiar with that wouldn’t mind protruding mushrooms out of their brains. Or someone where she had an understanding of their body...

Her eyes widened as a lightbulb shone within her mind. She instantly created a Void Clone. Astrid already had the Skill instinctively learned within her mind. She focused on the connection to the tree king’s eye, then created another link to her clone's mind.

Activating the skill, her psychic mana transformed into millions of miniscule pink spores. They latched onto the clone’s brain.

Astrid was expecting it, and had even imagined it even before obtaining the Skill, but seeing it in practice was completely different.

From the spores, mushrooms formed, then pushed up against the bone cage of the clone. Crack. The skull split. Viscous red seeped, but strangely–there was no damage done to Astrid’s fake body. The mushrooms emerged, pink as cotton-candy, just like the newly transformed eyes of the clone.

Astrid commanded the clone. It was seamless, as if she was simply moving her own body.

The fake body created a [Crash] against the wall as it exploded. Then, Astrid tested a bunch of other movements. From flying, to physical strength with its matter enhanced body. It was clear the clone wasn’t as strong as her, but it had undergone an incredible mutation.

She could now rely upon it in combat. After all, with the strength increase, and focusing on its Constitution, it was no longer any different to another System enhanced user.

It was also a reminder of why she was able to defeat the tree king despite its strength. It relied too much on its clones, rather than having its own personal strength.

Astrid noted it mentally before moving onto the System notifications.

You have defeated - Tree King - Level 204

Greater extra experience is awarded for defeating an enemy 100 levels above!



Extra dungeon mission part completed.

Experience gained!

The battle with the tree king had provided her with a whopping eighteen total levels. She added all the Stat points she had just earned straight into Intelligence. And along with the Void Metal Emergence, and the King Slayer Title, it resulted in eight-hundred and six Intelligence.

Astrid was inching closer to the Stage 4 milestone of Intelligence, soon, it would be within her grasp–the power along with it.

Next up was the System notifications for her max levelled Skills. Her palms itched in anticipation.

Void Storage has reached maxed level for [ Stage 1 ]

Requirements met for Void Storage [ Stage 2 ]

Evolving Void Storage to [ Stage 2 ]

Void Storage: Open up a void within the palm of your hand and swallow objects. Nothing can remain alive within the void. Taking projectiles with force may destroy you from within. Size of the storage scales off Intelligence.

| [ Stage 2 ]: Void Storage capacity has increased.

“That’s it?” Astrid asked out loud, but she suppressed her disappointment. Not every upgrade could be earth shattering. Even with the storage increase, it would prove incredibly useful for all her future adventures. It was time to test how much exactly it had improved it by.

Astrid opened the spiralling void within her palm and delved her into the deep, dark depths.

She was immediately stunned at the size increase. From a typical wardrobe, to a full sized bedroom. It was enough to hold up-to fifty people all huddled together. Now it was possible to hold everyone's bags, and the equipment they needed.

The sudden thought of her missing friends tugged on her mind, but she remained hopeful. They were strong. Astrid reminded herself before moving onto the next upgraded Skill.

Psych Warp has reached maxed level for [ Stage 2 ]

Requirements met for Psych Warp [ Stage 3 ]

Evolving Psych Warp to [ Stage 3 ]

Psych Warp: From your training, and experience of creating something out of nothing. You have met the requirements to finally succeed. Concentrate your psychic mana to form objects out of matter. Walls, weapons, buildings. Anything you want to create is up to your imagination, and mana container. Weapon damage and structure integrity scales off intelligence.

| [ Stage 2 ] - Advanced Creation: You can now create objects with increased speed and control. Durability is increased.

| [ Stage 3 ]: You can now create objects with even more increased speed and control. Durability is increased even further

Just like Void Storage, it wasn’t much, but it would prove useful with creating weapons–and anything else for that matter. Whether it was building camp, creating traps, or mending anything she saw fit. It was perfect for a utility–jack-of-all based Skill.

With all her System now sorted out, Astrid checked the time once more.

Time remaining until the birth of the evolution stone: 6:14:12



She had time... to sleep. Astrid yawned. All the battling, especially with the tree king’s eye–had exhausted her. She closed her eyes.

Time remaining until the birth of the evolution stone: 17:15

Bellona and Calum bypassed the insane noises coming from the east. It sounded like an entire army was currently battling, but if the others were going to be anywhere, it was at the pillar of light.

Well, Bellona hoped anyway. Either that, or their insane push into enemy territory, and the wounds they had suffered, would have been for nothing.

It was also a pain in the ass having to drag Calum along with her. She had suffered a few injuries she would have otherwise dodge–if not for him. Anything to keep the lady happy. Bellona sighed.

Bellona took Calum and entered an area away from the hustle and bustle of the fighting. It was a shallow valley that had been covered by the thick jungle foliage. They reached a bush and looked through it.

The pillar of light was shining on top of a short hill. Rocks and boulders covered most of its flank, making only the front side available for view. A stubby stone structure was slowly emerging from the ground. By her estimation, it would fully emerge after the six hours or so had passed.

Gazing around to nothing. It appeared they had found their hiding spot until she was certain the others were in the vicinity. It was too dangerous to move now as they were too close to the pillar of light. Although she couldn’t sense others, she was confident they weren’t the only ones here–waiting.

Just as Bellona was about to settle, a smell of rotten eggs assaulted her nostrils. It was repugnant. She was about to exhale it out from her nose, when she felt the fine hairs at the nape of her neck tingle.

She was in danger. It was life-threatening.