Instructor Marcus staggered forward. His steps were slow, but steadily they pulled him forward.
And then finally, he reached it.
The Cafeteria.
The sliding doors hissed open, but instead of expected chairs and tables, a warm breeze kissed Marcus's face. Sunlight filtered through the glass ceilings. Flowers swayed.
He blinked. The cafeteria…? When did it become the Garden?
Whoosh...
The egg flew fast and shattered across Marcus's face in a burst of white dust and burning red pepper.
The cloud erupted like a smoke bomb, clinging to his skin and flooding his eyes, nose, and mouth with dryness and fire.
"NOW!" Soren screamed.
He rushed for the instructor with more eggs in his hands.
Crack. Puffffff.
More thick dust was released
"AHHH!!! My eyes." Marcus staggered, screaming in pain as his hands flailed about.
But it was not enough. Tommy also threw several eggs.
"This is not right. What kind of prank is this?" Pencil bit nervously into his flour-stained fingers at the corner.
"We are attacking an instructor. We are going to be in real big trouble." He muttered.
"Don't worry, Soren has agreed to take all the blame." Tommy added.
Vass moved.
"And that's why we are allowed to have fun!"
Whoosh ... poooshhhhh ...
Flames blasted on the instructor's back, stinging his skin.
At the same time, Soren also moved, sliding across the stone slabs.
He attacked from the front.
His target was the instructor's right leg.
"Forgive me, Instructor Marcus. This is in no way revenge for the way you treated me."
Soren kicked hard.
Crack!
Breaking his knee.
"AHHHH!!!" The instructor screamed in pain again, falling on one leg.
"Well, for me it is." Polystar grinned, coming from the other side and attacking the left leg as he adjusted his glasses.
Clap.
Crack!
The left leg was gone. Marcus fell face-first to the ground.
But Soren was not yet done.
After all, this was an instructor. He had witnessed instructor Marcus Soloing all the cadets in the cafeteria.
That was just how capable the man was; even though he was controlled by an eldritch worm, he was plenty formidable.
Soren was even of the opinion that Marcus was specifically chosen because of his combat capabilities.
But this. This was an ambush inside an ambush.
I can't match an instructor in strength. But strength isn't the goal. Disabling the host is.
Soren looked at the eggs in his hands.
A thin hole had been made at the oval edge of the raw eggs, then they were drained of the fluid inside.
After which, Pencil and Bloodshine poured a careful mixture of flour and grinded pepper, then sealed it with tape.
Soren once lived in a rundown town with very mischievous kids. A lot of these pranks were common there.
Then again, he had to choose his weapons wisely.
Firstly, he had Bloodshine cast an illusion on Instructor Marcus.
From the last time she did this, Soren knew that her illusions worked on the instructor.
This was most likely because the parasite was heavily dependent on the five senses.
Bloodshine carefully led him away from the cafeteria all the way to the Garden.
As the first step in the plan, it had not been easy. But Bloodshine was very willing to please Soren.
Next was the egg mixture.
The goal was to blind the instructor's eyes while overstimulating his other senses.
The pepper and flour got into his eyes, nose, and mouth.
And then the attack from behind by Vass was for the skin.
And then, the next step was to immobilize the instructor.
Breaking his knees was key.
When Soren had told Polystar about his plan, the young noble had first refused, but Soren knew how to get him.
"We are going to kill a Shade murderer."
Polystar had looked intently at Soren. And then he gave an evil grin.
Instructor Marcus was now on the ground, but Soren knew it was not enough.
He could already see him gathering his soul energy.
Soren would not allow this.
He used his Soul-steel dagger.
~Stab
~Stab
... right into Marcus' shoulders.
"AHHHH!!!"
"No matter how good you are as a Soulbound knight, you still need your limbs to move." Soren's voice was as cold and decisive as his attitude.
Pencil panicked at the corner, peeping through his fingers.
"Hey, Turd-face," Vass spoke up. "You said we were going to hunt an Eldritch."
"Wait for it." Soren had a knowing smirk. Then he waved his hand, signaling to Tommy as he waited eagerly in front of the fallen instructor.
Tommy knew what he meant, handing him a briefcase. It belonged to one of the cadets that came with a lot of luggage.
Soren did not care whose it was, just that it was useful.
He waited.
Vass sneered. "What are you—"
~Shush.
"It's coming." Soren whispered.
And then it did.
Its flesh writhed; hundreds of tiny fingers that acted as its limbs opened and closed like hungry mouths. Its three heads twisted in different directions, snapping at invisible prey.
"What in the bloodhell Neuralink is that?" Vass cursed.
The creature turned sharply to Vass's voice.
It launched itself for him.
Soren moved, box wide open.
Clam.
He managed to shut the box just when the creature was inches away from Vass's face.
"Gotcha!"
"That was close." Polystar complimented.
Vass swallowed hard. He could only imagine what would have happened if that creature had made it to his face.
Shriek!!!
The eldritch gave out painful, ear-irritating grinding noises.
But Soren closed the box tightly.
It struggled, shaking the box ceaselessly.
"Tommy!" Soren called out.
"I'm coming!" Tommy hurried to meet him, a bigger box in hand.
Soren encased the box in a larger box, then he sat on it.
"What the hell? It's really an Eldritch." Tommy commented. "Will the box really hold it?"
"It should. This is a parasitic Eldritch. They can't do much on their own. Also, I filled the inside of the box with a lot of salt." Soren replied.
"Oh, like you would a slug." Tommy's eyes brightened.
"Yes. Right now, it's in a different kind of hell."
Soren had read extensively on parasitic creatures, worms, tapeworms, and slugs in order to come up with this solution.
The eldritch, being a parasitic creature, also took weaknesses of such creatures from this world.
The plan was an effective one.
Everyone gathered, including the fearful Pencil.
"We caught it. We actually caught it." There was a small celebration.
Tommy and Pencil embraced, and Bloodshine leaped on Soren's back.
Polystar chuckled gladly, and Vass smirked with pride.
It was truly a joyous moment.
There was no way there would be no reward for such a hunt.
When Commander Jared and Boyed returned, they would definitely praise them endlessly.
However, Tommy quickly noticed something weird. Soren was not celebrating with them.
"Soren, why are you not happy? We injured an instructor, but we still did good?"
"Yeah... and why did we capture the Eldritch and not just kill it?" Polystar spoke up, adjusting his glasses.
Soren sat on the box, hands resting under his chin; he had a focused look in his eyes.
"Because it's not yet over." He muttered.
"What do you mean?" Polystar asked.
However, Tommy, the bookworm of the group, suddenly came to a realization. A small detail he had missed because of his fear. "That Eldritch." He pointed, fingers shaking. "It can't be a..." His mind flashed back to the three heads and the limbs.
"Soren, was that a Cordycenex pupporum?"
"Yes." Soren replied simply, not turning his head.
"Oh shit!" Tommy fell to his knees. "We are so screwed."
He grabbed Soren's shirt, shaking him. "Why didn't you tell me it was a Cordycenex pupporum? I could have just stayed away."
"It wouldn't have mattered." Soren pushed the sobbing Tommy away.
Vass could tell that something was not right. He raised a questioning brow. "What is aCordycenex puppy... Bullshit?"
"It's not bullshit." Polystar interjected, also carrying a heavy look. "Cordycenex pupporum. Humans and other creatures like elves have conducted much research on Eldritch souls. Cordycenex pupporum is the botanical name given to a specific type of eldritch parasite, named after the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (the zombie-ant fungus).
This kind of fungus takes root in the brain of an ant, and then it drives it to its own death, only to spore anew from its corpse."
(Author's note: 'Cordycenex' mixes 'cordyceps' + 'genex' (meaning "taking over" or "replacement").
'pupporum' means 'of puppets.'}
"And so what?" Vass shrugged. He did not understand all the nerdy stuff and really could not be bothered by it. "We still got the Eldritch."
"That's the problem." Polystar continued. "In every recorded event of a Cordycenex pupporum, there has always been a mother parasite on the other side. One that controlled the little one."
All eyes fell on Soren.
Polystar was a noble brat. They had access to profound knowledge. There was no way he was lying.
Polystar sighed heavily, "When you said we were going to kill a Shade Murderer. This one was not what you meant, was it?" He pointed to the box.
Soren shook his head.
Vass looked at them. Aside from Pencil, who was obviously confused as to what was happening, even Bloodshine had a dreaded look.
"What is going on? Explain it to me, extra eyes, or you will be needing binoculars next." Vass grabbed Polystar by the shirt.
"I advise you save your strength." He adjusted his glasses peacefully, unbothered by the brutes' show of force. "The battle is just starting. Or is that not so?" Polystar turned once more to Soren, narrowing his gaze. "This is the reason you did not kill the parasite but made it suffer with salt. You are calling out its mother."
Soren's frown deepened. The clicking of high heels against the stone pavement resonated in the garden.
All eyes turned in a certain direction.
"She is here." Soren spoke up. "Instructor Ivory, a Soul Mecha Pilot. Or should I call you the parasite mother?"
She appeared, sunlight from above revealing her enchanting figure.
Soren grinned, patting the box underneath him, "Come claim your child."
(Author's note: okay, now that was beautiful. Come on guys, you have to clap. Please remember to send powerstones and golden tickets to the book. Thank you.)