Splash.
A shadow squirmed in the pitch black sewer.
This shadow pounced on a rat that jumped from the side.
Sploosh.
The thing that looked like slime captured the rat. It appeared to suffer for just a second, before the viscous liquid blocked its respiratory tract and ended its life in the blink of an eye.
“Less, rats, around.”
Whispered a human shape that seemed to emerge from the slime. The face on this human shape had Rihalzam’s facial features.
Apparently he had gotten used to his mushroom tongue, because he was much easier to understand than before.
“Damn, Rust. Destroyed, moles, I sent. So, annoying.”
The meat of the rat Rihalzam absorbed was quickly dissolved. Only the bones were left, and they were also dissolving.
After he was done eating, Rihalzam headed towards the wide area underground where he slept.
This was the sewer system underneath the capital. Rihalzam had made this his new dwelling after being chased away from the surface as a demon. Sometimes he would eat bugs and rats, and sometimes he would expel fungal filament to create separate bodies or take over nearby living beings via parasitism.
The beings he attached his mushrooms to became his pawns, and if they were especially compatible, he could even share their senses.
He also noticed that if his pawns absorbed other beings, they could combine, and he began to actively attach his mushrooms to living beings around him.
He sent his new mole army against Rust, but in the end, it was completely crushed. It was a fruitless endeavor, but his wild delusions related to Rust were the only thing that helped him retain the mind he had as a human.
“Moles, and rats, are, no good. More, power. There are, others, I can, use.”
Mumbled Rihalzam as he returned to his dwelling.
One wall was covered with hypha, and one mole with a mushroom growing out of its head moved around quickly for its master.
As the human shaped part of Rihalzam wobbled, the mole approached him to report to him.
“What? I’m, busy. Intruder? Understood. Lead.”
Rihalzam spread his myxomycete part wide and jumped on the mole, absorbing it and its memories.
This mole had previously absorbed a bug, and Rihalzam saw its experiences through its compound eyes.
He saw three shadows in the sewer. Judging by their equipment, they appeared to be adventurers who went there to investigate. Rihalzam recognized them as Deden and his partners.
“Deden? Nostalgic. They, left, me, and, ran. I have, to welcome, them. Fuha, haha.”
The laughter echoed for a while, before Rihalzam turned back to his myxomycete form and crept along the floor.
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Yep. The Stay-Dumb Mushroom Man!