Dragonspine Forest.
In the sky, a woman clad in a sophisticated black robe adorned with gold metal engravings and blood-red ribbons can be seen.
In her hand was a beautiful sword that looked like an ornate ceremonial sword, yet this very sword exudes a bloodthirsty and threatening aura. It was as if the sword was saying that it tasted the blood of thousands of people in the past.
"So this is what it feels like to become an Eternal" the woman muttered, feeling exhilarated by the power coursing through her whole being.
A kind of power that she never possessed before, and in this world, not many are as powerful as her.
Her every move seems to have the ability to shatter even the fabric of space. She may look like a young woman in her early or mid-twenties, yet her aura was overwhelming.
Whether it be the creatures living in the sky or the ground, none dared to approach nearby as if the woman's presence was a grave threat to everyone.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, the woman raised her head into the sky to see a magnificent scene.
Clouds gathered above her, and these clouds are far from normal. They were not white in color but gold.
"An auspicious omen" the woman muttered in surprise, not expecting her breakthrough to cause an auspicious omen, which was a pleasant surprise.
As more time passed, more and more clouds gathered, basking both the sky and the earth with a golden hue.
When the clouds were condensed enough, a golden rain suddenly fell, and the woman hurriedly moved to bathe herself and her sword with this golden rain.
An invisible power gathered the raindrops, preventing the golden rainwater from falling down on earth. They instead gathered and were absorbed by the woman and her sword.
For a moment, the woman's entire being exuded a bright golden light before she absorbed all the rainwater.
When all the golden rainwater was absorbed, the woman looked at the forest below her.
"This land enables my breakthrough. Let this golden rainwater be considered as my repayment. Whoever will absorb it, will surely benefit a lot" the woman said to no one in particular.
Floating in front of her was a single golden raindrop that she deliberately did not absorb earlier. With a flick of her finger, the golden raindrop flew randomly.
Any being that would absorb this raindrop definitely would have its fate changed.
Without looking back, the woman flew away, not even checking where the raindrop she randomly discarded landed.
This very raindrop fell on an unassuming mushroom's cap. The mushroom's cap was blue in color, its skin glistening slightly.
Such a mushroom was common in this forest, and this mushroom was nothing special. It was not chosen by fate to be the lucky one to absorb the golden rain; it was merely a coincidence brought by a random choice.
Yet, this random choice will forever change the life and fate of this mushroom. Whether it would be for better or worse, it is currently unknown.
As the golden raindrop landed and was absorbed by the mushroom, something inside it exploded.
Its dormant intelligence and awareness were awakened. From a creature that only has basic instincts, it became a conscious and intelligent life.
"Huh?"
"Who am I?"
"I am Nexus Morningstar."
"No, I am a Blood Boiling Mushroom"
"Am I Nexus or am I a Blood Boiling Mushroom?"
Confusion filled the mushroom's thoughts. It was unclear if it was a human named Nexus or a Blood Boiling Mushroom.
Fortunately, it didn't take that long for its muddy thoughts to be more organized, and it realized who it was.
"I am both Nexus Morningstar and a Blood Boiling Mushroom. To be precise, I was a human named Nexus in my past life, but now, I am a mushroom in a completely different world!"
If the mushroom had a face, it would definitely show a look of surprise. He didn't expect that from being a human on modern Earth, he would transmigrate into a different fantasy world and become a mushroom!
Yes, fantasy world!
From the vague memory he had that he remembered when he was still a normal mushroom, he had witnessed creatures that were not present in his original world. As such, he determined that this world was not the modern Earth.
"That golden rain drop, what was it and where did it come from? How did it help me become conscious, and I even remembered my past life" Nexus thought, marveling at the situation he suddenly found himself in.
Transmigrating and even being a non-human surprised him, but he easily accepted it. He had read countless webnovels with a similar plot, and his acceptance of such a thing was quite high.
He would prefer it if he became a human again, or if not, a powerful race, such as a dragon, would be better. But now, he is just a mushroom that cannot even move.
Rather than drowning in the fact that he found himself in such an absurd situation, he would rather spend his time trying to think about how he can survive as a mushroom.
Dragonspine Forest… this is a rather dangerous forest, and a mushroom like him was powerless in the face of danger.
Not to mention defending himself, Nexus can't even move!
"So… I am a mushroom and my ability is that after someone consumes me, I can temporarily increase their power by… well, boiling their blood. And after that, the consumer will explode and I will use the nutrients of the host body to spew out spores and reproduce…"
"Great, I am basically a suicidal mushroom."
Nexus was exasperated. A Blood Boiling Mushroom does not have any fighting capability, and the most it could cause was mutual destruction.
If a beast trampled it, then he could only say hi to Lady Death. If a beast consumed it, then it was slightly better; both the mushroom and the consumer would die, a mutual destruction outcome.
"This is so not what I expect would happen if I were to transmigrate."
Nexus sighed internally before his interest was piqued by something he could feel from his instincts.
A normal Blood Boiling Mushroom only has one ability, and they can only use it once they are consumed.
However, Nexus is currently not a so normal mushroom. The golden rain drop not only awakened his intelligence, it also let him awaken an Innate Magic.
Yes, magic!
If this world can have such a 'wonderful' mushroom, it definitely also has the existence of magic and cultivators.
"Gluttony… that is my innate magic"
His awakened Innate Magic was not a combat-type magic as he had hoped, but at the very least, it could open doors to more possibilities.
Without further ado, Nexus activated his magic, and his mycelium underground suddenly issued a suction power.
After activating [Gluttony], Nexus's mycelium started to absorb all forms of energy it came into contact with, whether it be the soil's nutrients or mana.
"Wait! Absorbing all the soil's nutrients might not be a good idea!"
As of the moment, aside from the vague memories that Nexus had prior to awakening his intelligence and the natural instincts he has as a Blood Boiling Mushroom, he doesn't know much about his new race.
However, he does know that mushroom needs nutrients to keep living and propagate. If he were to absorb all the soil's nutrients in one go, he might soon starve to death.
Fortunately, as an Innate Magic, Nexus already has good control over [Gluttony] despite using it for the first time.
This time, he controlled his mycelium to only absorb the free mana particles in the surrounding.
A soil's nutrients will take more time to replenish while mana particles are present everywhere. Even if Nexus were to exert his full power, he cannot possibly absorb all the mana around him.
"This… the absorption rate is quite slow…"
Nexus can't help but frown. He can absorb mana particles using his mycelium, but it is a rather slow process.
"Is it because my mycelium is lacking?"
Currently, Nexus's mushroom body is only two inches tall, and his mycelium underground also only has a diameter of two inches. Such short mycelium naturally cannot absorb a lot in one go.
Thinking of this, Nexus used the mana particles he absorbed to expand and grow his mycelium, but since his current absorption rate is slow, his growth naturally was also painfully slow.
"At this rate, it would take at least a whole day for my mycelium network to grow even just half an inch."
At this point, Nexus can only accept his slow growth. It's not like he can do something about it.
He can only let nature take its course. In any case, he had been peacefully living in this forest for quite some time already. Surviving for a bit more surely isn't that hard, right?
Time passed, and after a whole day since Nexus awakened consciousness, his mycelium network finally showed some improvement.
It grew by 25%, from 2 inches in diameter to 2.5 inches.
Growth is still growth, and Nexus was happy to see this. His mycelium's growth also means he could absorb mana 25% faster than before, which meant adding another half an inch to his mycelium network will take less than half a day this time!
With the patience of a mushroom, Nexus continues to wait, and sure enough, in less than a day, his mycelium grew another half an inch in diameter!
As of the moment, it broke through the three-inch mark, and Nexus's vision expanded.
Speaking of vision, as a mushroom, Nexus does not have eyes for vision, but he can still vaguely sense his surroundings; however, the range depends on how large his mycelium becomes.
Since his vision also depends on how big his mycelium is, Nexus became even more motivated to once again improve his mycelium's range!
"Hmm?"
After Nexus's mycelium grew to four inches, he felt it hitting something hard, and when he focused his senses, he saw that his mycelium actually touched a tree's root.
"What the hell! It's absorbing the nutrients of my mycelium!"
After his mycelium and the tree's root made physical contact, the latter started to absorb the former's nutrients instinctively.
Nexus can feel himself weakening, and if this goes on, he might be sucked dry, and that is not something he wants to happen.
As such, he exerted more effort to use his [Gluttony] and absorb the tree's nutrients instead.
A war of attrition between a mushroom and a tree started, but the former was clearly losing.
"This can't go on. If I can't defeat you by using [Gluttony] on my mycelium equally, then I will focus on the ones touching your root!"
With renewed determination, Nexus changed his strategy. Instead of using [Gluttony] equally on his mycelium, he focused all his energy on the ones touching the tree's root.
From being at a disadvantage, the situation was instantly reversed, and now, Nexus is on the winning side.
Fortunately, the tree doesn't have the same level of intelligence that he does. It merely continues trying to compete without changing its strategy.
In the end, Nexus's mycelium grew exponentially after it started absorbing the tree's energy.
His Innate Magic enables him to absorb various forms of energy to replenish his own energy as well as for his growth. The energy he can absorb includes a tree's life force!
Soon, the tree's root withered and broke down into ashes, but Nexus was not yet satisfied.
He sensed that absorbing the tree's life force made him grow faster than just absorbing the free mana in the surroundings.
Since that is the case, for his own growth and survival, Nexus has to be the villain and devour all the energy of this tree!
With one root down, Nexus focused his mycelium's growth into a single direction to make contact with the root of the tree.
It didn't take that long before he succeeded, and he started to unscrupulously drain the tree's life force as if his life depended on it