In the dark depths of the mushroom caverns, a group of lizardmen was tied up and rendered unable to move.
"Var, it's about time we settle what we will do with them" The devout lizardman, Girusk, told Var who held a pensive expression.
Following the revelation that Ed was missing, the refugees were put on edge. As Var had the qualities of a leader, it made him a threat to the position of some other lizardmen.
Becoming the leader of the refugees was akin to becoming the owner of your own tribe. Who hadn't dreamt of such a future? However, W had poured cold water on them with his call for Bloody.
"It's weak!" Someone had called from within the crowd. Who exactly said those words were unknown but they entered the ears of the lizardmen like a sweet lullaby. The so-called deity was a small red blob instead of an expansive field of mushrooms. It should be a piece of cake!
As it would turn out, W was weak but Bloody was not. The blob not only charged at the lizardmen, it even killed a couple of them and drank their blood to grow in size. To Bloody who had turned extremely toxic, killing a couple of Lizardmen could even happen by accident.
The paralyzed and defeated foes were then tied by a thick Octocrawler thread. With the enemies roped and rendered incapable, Var and the others were able to plan their next actions.
Ultimately, they landed on heading out closer to the exit. The cavern was not the problem but their depth certainly was. Staying meant risking another weird abomination coming to attack them.
On that same note, the magic mushrooms became very proactive after Ed disappeared. It wasn't clear how they learned he disappeared, but they all started to battle one another and started to cover up the exit path.
This wasn't an issue since Bloody could easily open it up again but it was weird behavior. The lizardmen stayed for a couple of extra odd days but that didn't mean W and Bloody did the same.
The two wandered the vicinity a bit more and even entered the territory of the mushrooms. Bloody was doing some killing to grow. This was obviously risky since it resulted in them being assaulted last time. W however also found these trips to be beneficial.
'With assimilation, I've gotten quite strong' While Bloody could increase the level of its skills, it could not easily increase its attributes. The piece of Bloody W invited looked much sturdier than when W first entered it.
He also inherited practically non-existent versions of some of Bloody's skills. They were fortunately strengthened enough with practice. That included the Blood integration. W had become very optimistic about the changes he made to this body. The only pity was that W could not check his status in this body.
Bloody and W both had just returned from their killing spree when the Lizardmen inquired Var again.
"Var…?" They asked uncertainly. Lately, he seemed to not be paying attention, as if he was trying to talk to something. But in this case, it seemed he was paying attention, this inquiry merited a response.
"We will untie them" Var said with conviction. There were simply too many downsides to leaving them there.
Var planned to leave with his entourage but they had been a bunch of warriors more than anything. There was also not a single female which made it impossible for them to have a future. This group did have some, however.
Though that made one wonder why not take only the females in that case. Simply put, they also needed the manpower. With Kurgher still out there causing trouble alongside Eon, there was no other choice but to prepare for the worst.
Leaving the refugees to die at the hands of those mushrooms was a waste. They were better off being fed to Bloody if they were to be just left there. That also brought the next thing Var had taken into account.
Bloody.
It served as a perfect deterrent for future shenanigans.
With all of these things as a reason, the refugees were better off alive. They were swiftly untied. Some wanted to complain but the figures of W and Bloody had become much more intimidating than a couple of days ago.
They couldn't stand a chance before so how could they now? The only thing left for them to do was to follow Var and his group as Bloody paved a way out through the mushroom field.
Paving was a tinge misleading though as Bloody was just burning through everything with its toxic acids. W was still on its head as he was still blind.
The group was silent as they continued to traverse the depths of the cavern. They rose closer and closer to the surface until they eventually finally came to a wide expanse in the cavern. This had been a point closer to the middle between their original position and the exit of the cavern.
Var saw it fitting for a settlement and it had indeed been his original intent to guide them there. W who had been following his commands for the time being then became quite amazed with his foresight.
"Let's start the digging and construction" Var instructed. The lizardmen under him nodded while the refugee lizardmen seemed to be semi-confused. They had come from further away lands than Var and his group and didn't necessarily have any interaction with caverns and rocks.
Yet Var was teaching them techniques to create structures and to acquire stone according to his studies from ancestors of before. His knowledge about the mushroom deity didn't come from nothing.
Var's lineage at the very least had lived in the cavern before and learned to make tools for mining. Var had recycled some spears to make some sub-par pickaxes and other equipment which Ed didn't know if had been taught to him or was a result of improvisation.
What mattered was that in a mere couple of hours, the lizardmen were able to create a hospitable environment. They had sturdy bodies and plenty of stamina from walking through the swampy terrain.
As amazing as this was, W did not stay staring at this for hours. He had in fact started to do some experiments.
W did not have the spiritual mark to make use of and was no longer a mushroom so holding multiple images seemed impossible. But actually, Bloody had the ability to integrate and sever itself. It could even see and everything. Shouldn't it be possible for him to share sight with it?
Up until now, he had been merely standing on it but what if he used the blood integration skill to become a part of Bloody. All in all, it was a risky thing to intend to test out. But W did not hold back.
'Bloody, don't do anything stupid' The blood clot loved to mess with him when Ed wasn't around although they were exactly the same. Well, the only real difference was that W could not force Bloody no matter what.
Either way, it would be bad for Bloody to somehow cause him to leave the body and die. Ed would not allow such a thing to go unpunished. Yet at the same time, how would Ed ever know?
W felt the Blood Clot suddenly felt more sinister but he activated the skill all the same.
The Blood integration started up and Bloody did not do anything at all as it happened. W felt his body which he had increased the attributes of slipping away slightly. Only slightly.
Within moments the process was done, and…!
He failed right off the bat. His body was too different but after some more fiddling W managed to get a grasp of it. He just had to let go of all ability to control anything but his thoughts as well as disperse his body more evenly across Bloody.
'I- I can see!' He could indeed see what Bloody was seeing. W was lodged into Bloody rather than properly integrated, this was the only way to retain this as his body and not clash with Bloody.
This also meant he could only stare at what Bloody stared at and more often than not Bloody stared at the lizardmen.
'Why do they all look like blood bags to you?' W chastised inwardly before recalibrating his thoughts.
'Ah whatever, this is good' Without the system space W could not make a new body or adjust himself to have an independent vision. What mattered now was exploring the outside.
'Bloody, are you ready to venture out?' W asked daringly. The blob which often acted with energy froze on the spot. An opportunity to see the sun was always welcome! Bloody had been forced to leave without appreciating much of it at all the last time.
'Now the only problem is these lizardmen' If Bloody could stay things would be ideal since the lizardmen could be kept in check but they both had to go under this solution.
While the odds of conflict starting again were smaller than last time they weren't zero. W decided to be stealthy about this.
'I will be leaving' He transmitted to only the 11 original. Now that he could see this was pretty easy. He didn't have to ask Bloody about their positions or actions anymore.
That was how W had known of the conflict and made some deductions about who was worth keeping. Bloody could hardly be trusted but Var and the others had shown they were quite devoted to him so he didn't doubt them.
"Wh-" Some lizardmen exclaimed surprised.
'Keep it a secret' He added before they had a chance to rat themselves out. Ed didn't leave it there either.
'Let's go Bloody!' He immediately took off towards the exit of the cavern. He would finally get to see what the floor was all about!