Symbiotic: Chapter 10

Sara leaned against the base of the tree, the mist of spores from her robes glowing faintly in the dim morning light. She had been turning the numbers over in her mind since checking her status, trying to understand why her Mycorrhizal Network felt different, stronger, yet still limited. What determined its growth. Its abilities?

“Mycorrhizal Network”, She whispered as she focused on the web of fungi inside her, the silver threads now visible up to her shoulders.

[System Notice: Mycorrhizal Network Parameters]

Definition: The Mycorrhizal Network is the bearer’s fungal lattice, a living system that absorbs, stores, and redistributes energy from defeated creatures. It is tied directly to the bearer’s Soul.

Maximum Capacity: Determined by Soul Self.

- Current Soul Self: 20

- Network Capacity: 1500 Microbes

- At Soul Self 25 Network Capacity: increases to2000 Microbes

- (Additional Network Abilities determined by Soul Self & Mind Knowledge)

Absorption Rate: Determined by Soul Sum.

- Current Soul Sum: 15

- Absorption Efficiency: 50% of creature biomass converted into usable Microbes.

- At Soul Sum 20: Absorption Efficiency increases to 60%.

Stat Growth Energy Storage: Determined by Soul Sum.

- Current Soul Sum: 15

- Current Limit: 1.0 × creature stat value.

- At Soul Sum 20: Stat Growth Energy Storage increases to 1.25 × creature stat value.

Sara frowned, tapping her fingers against her knee. "So my Network is based off Soul, not body. Well damn. So far most creatures have been lacking in the Soul department!”

“Soul Self determines the size of the network, and how much I can hold… but the Soul Sum decides how many microbes or Stats I can actually absorb.”

She tried to puzzle it out. If I want faster growth, I need more Soul. But how do I find creatures with high Soul?

The System remained silent, offering no guidance beyond the numbers.

Sara sighed, running through possibilities. Jungle Cats had speed and instinct, Rock Constrictors had brute force and defense, the Mountain Bear had overwhelming physical stats. None of them had been particularly “Soul-rich.” The Magmites were the only creatures that had been high in Soul stats.

Her best guess was that Soul wasn’t about size or strength, but about uniqueness. Creatures with special abilities, strange adaptations, or powers beyond the ordinary might carry higher Soul. Magmites with their heat-sense and magma bite. Creatures with Special abilities that improved themselves or affected others, those might be the kind of beings that could push her Soul higher.

But planning was a futile exercise. There was no clear way to measure Soul until she could [Identify] the creature, no way to know if a creature was worth the risk until she was already risking bleeding for it.

Sara clenched her fist, frustration mixing with determination. “Fine. The only way our is Through. If I can’t predict it, I’ll fight everything. I’ll take every scrap of Soul I can find. And my Network abilities will continue grow.”

The silver threads of her robe pulsed faintly, as if echoing her resolve. The Mycorrhizal Network was her lifeline, her differentiator, her force multiplier. Literally her weapon and armor, and now she understood it better. Without it, she was just a Level 2 scientist. With it, she was Mycorrhizal. The network was tied to her Soul, and her Soul would decide how far she could go.

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Sara moved through the jungle with deliberate caution as she headed towards the river she had seen from the canopy, her boots sinking into the damp mulch. The canopy above filtered sunlight into shifting emerald patterns, and the air was full of sounds of creatures in the distance. Bird calls, Animal chirps. So similar and yet discordantly different to Sara at the same time. Somewhere ahead, the river she’d glimpsed from above carved its way through the undergrowth, but nothing moved in the woods near her.

Until her [Danger Sense] thudded in her mind. Then the hum began.

It was faint at first, like wind through reeds. Dispersed. Undefined. But it grew, layered, resonant, and louder by the second. Sara paused, eyes scanning upward. Above her, the sky fractured into motion. A cloud floating by suddenly shattered into movement. A swarm of pale-winged creatures hovered in loose formation, their bodies barely visible against the green haze. They looked like drifting clouds.

Until they dove.

[Quest Notification]

Extermination Pest Quest Activated

Objective: Eliminate Cloudwasp Swarm

Condition: Eliminate Enter Cloudwasp Swarm

Reward: +100 Experience for all participants. Resource Yield Increase 50% Token for highest contributor.

The first sting grazed her shoulder before she could react. Pain flared. Sharp, numbing. She spun, shield raised, but the wasps were already gone, retreating to the canopy in a shimmering veil. She cursed under her breath. They were too fast. Too coordinated.

[Identify Activated]

Cloudwasps (Swarm Creature)

[Body: Force 12(20) | Speed 25

Mind: Thought 16(22) | Knowledge 6(12)

Soul: Self 10(15)| Sum 8(18)]

EXP: 100

Microbes: 50

Cloudwasps are fist-sized aerial predators that swarm in drifting clusters, their translucent wings shimmering like mist. Their name is derived from their ability to look indistinguishable to a Cloud when travelling high above as a swarm.

Abilities:

Swarm (Special): Stats increased when attacking in groups of 3 or more.

Venomous Sting (Active): Piercing damage plus numbing paralytic poison making it difficult to know when injured as well as eventual paralyzation if left untreated.

Cat-sized, with translucent wings and segmented bodies, they moved like smoke and struck like dagger sized poisoned needles. Their stingers were more than just sharp knives, they were devilishly barbed and laced with paralytic venom. The swarm above shimmered like a living cloud, and when three or more clustered together, their speed surged, their instincts sharpened. She could feel the quest trigger ripple through her system: Exterminate Pest. If she could eliminate the swarm, there’d be a reward. But that was a big if.

She raised her shield and readied her spear, but as the first group dived at her, it was all she could do to keep her shield positioned as the slammed into it one after another after another. By the time she was able to stabilize her stance to attack back, they were already passed her and the next group was incoming. This wouldn’t work. Her spear was great. But choosing the right tool for the job was better than trying to use the same tool for everything.

Shield and spear disappeared into the Pocket Dimension and out came her first summoned weapon, her trust softball bat.

The fungal bat slapped into her palms with a welcome solid weight, spores blooming faintly along its grain. She took one look at the incoming flight of Cloudwasps and ran… not towards them, but away. Into the trees. The only way to survive was to break their formation. It wasn’t until she started her dash to cover that she realized her leg was injured. A knife deep stab, bleeding profusely, but unnoticed due to the numbing sensation of the paralytic poison. She could immediately see the danger. Not even realizing you were struck until there was enough poison pumped into you that your body failed to respond.

Between paces, she summoned her healing spores.

[Ability Activated: Repair Self] Wounds Restored. Poison Eliminated. Mobility Restored.

[Cost: 50 Microbes. Remaining Network 700 of 1500]

Sighing in relief as her pace sped up, she ducked under low branches, pivoted around trunks, forcing the Cloudwasps to scatter. Their divebombs became erratic, their hum fractured as they were forced to separate and lost whatever gained them their hive bonuses. One clipped a vine and spun out. Another slammed into bark, stunned.

As it slowedSara swung.

The bat connected with a satisfying thud, releasing a burst of spores that clung to the Cloudwasp’s wings. It dropped, twitching, then grew still. But others kept coming. She pulled her reinforced hood up, shielding her neck and scalp, but even that wasn’t enough. The stingers pierced through folds and seams, injecting venom that slowed her limbs and slowed her movements, something she could not allow at the moment. She staggered behind a tree, gasping, and triggered Repair Self.

[Ability Activated: Repair Self] Wounds Restored. Poison Eliminated. Mobility Restored.

[Cost: 50 Microbes. Remaining Network 650 of 1500]

The microbes surged, knitting tissue, flushing toxins. She moved again, bat raised. Another set of stings. Another home run swing. Another race for cover. Repeat until healing necessary, then repeat some more. Thankfully, and what a world this Tutorial was to be thankful for this, the Cloudwasps seemed to grow more and more enraged the more of them she killed, and hounded her until she had batted each and every one out of the sky.

She tried to limit her Microbe use, but was forced to heal herself four more times, dropping her Remaining network to a third of its capacity.

[Ability Activated: Repair Self x3] Wounds Restored. Poison Eliminated. Mobility Restored.

[Cost: 50 Microbes. Remaining Network 500 of 1500]

Before it was blissfully over. The mind numbing hum of the Cloudwasp wings silenced.

*Ding* [Your party has killed Cloudwasp x10.]

500 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (1501) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: 311.33 of 500]

*Ding* [Quest Notification]

Extermination Pest Quest Complete

Objective: Eliminate Cloudwasp Swarm

Condition: Eliminate Enter Cloudwasp Swarm

Reward: +100 Experience for all participants.

Current Experience to next level: 411.33 of 500]

Resource Yield Increase 50% Token rewarded to highest contributor: Sara Bloom

Sara spared a brief moment to [Identify] the new Token as her robe repaired itself around her.

[Resource Yield Increase 50% Token Identified]

Function: Increases the yield of a selected resource by 50%.

Use: Apply to a resource Node: (flora, fauna, mineral, or mana).

Duration: Permanent until Territory is lost or bearer dies.

Limitations:

- Token may only be applied once.

- Effect is bound to chosen resource type.

- Cannot be reassigned after use.

- Multiple Tokens will not stack on the same Resource node, and the highest effect Token will remain in effect.

“Huh. Well that’s something for Future Sara to definitely consider!”, she huffed as she tossed the Token into her Pocket Dimension and started absorbing bodies and collecting crystals.

*Ping* [Compatible Biological Sample Detected: Cloudwasp x10]

Cloudwasp Sample 1-5 of 5 absorbed.

Effect: Stat growth stored to be triggered during Regrowth.

Note: Stat increases limited to 5 samples per biological source.

NO MORE STAT GROWTH MAY BE GAINED FROM CLOUDWASP SAMPLES

Condition: Growth only occurs if source stat exceeds host stat.]

ERROR: NO SAMPLE STATS EXCEED HOST. NO STAT GROWTH MAY BE GAINED FROM CLOUDWASP SAMPLES

“Well isn’t that just the suck. All that, and the little buggers didn’t grow stats a single point!”

*Ping* [500 Microbes gained. Current Network: 1000 of 1500]

Items Gained: Small Cloudy Crystal x10

“And into the pocket you go.”, she said as she added the crystals to her Pocket Dimension Inventory.

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By the time Sara reached the riverbank, her robes were mostly repaired, and she was back to feeling ready and able.

She knelt by the edge of the Jungle, watching the river, but could not make out a single creature. Since coming within sight of the water, her [Danger Sense] had not stopped thumping in her head. That combined with the fact that for the entire time she watched, not one creature went anywhere near the water, had her deeply on edge and trying to figure out a way across.

“Hey Spores. Buddies. Pals. Don’t suppose you want to tell me how to just teleport across all nice and safe? I’ll feed you all the yummy bodies you want if we can do this without getting wet?”

“Or Eaten…”

“Definitely without getting Wet or Eaten!” But the Mycorrhizal Network, buddies or not, remained silent on the topic of instant Teleportation.

“The hard way it is. Like this Tutorial knows any other ways!”

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