Chapter 278: Life spark.

Turns out neither Lee nor Simone Lamart had Verdaria Prime’s coordinates.Before Lee got upset, Simone said something about having an idea, disappeared through a rift for a few days, and returned with a slip of paper and a haughty smile. The same afternoon Lee arrived to the familiar world, full of blooming flowers and lakes with crystal clear waters.

After loudly greeting the shroom lord, in case his presence was noticed, Lee threw off his clothing and dived into the closest lake. He hadn’t had a good swim in over a decade and spent a whole day happily splashing around and diving like a baby seal.

He spent the following night peacefully meditating, but in the morning said, "You might’ve guessed I came here for a reason."

There was no answer and for a moment Lee got a bad premonition that during the past centuries someone had taken the spark of life, when he heard the familiar cheery voice inside of his mind.

’What the heck? When did you get here? You can’t startle people like that!’

’Were you sleeping or something?’ Lee tried to formulate a clear thought in his mind, ’I’m here since yesterday.’

’Everyone can get tired. You’ll see it yourself in a few decades when you get older.’ The shroom’s voice in Lee’s head said, ’How’ve you been these past months?’

Lee froze in confusion, but then said in his mind, ’You do realize that more than six hundred years had passed since we met?’

’Really? No wonder, no wonder ... I had a nice nap, though.’ The shroom lord sounded genuinely surprised.

’As promised, I spread your spores in several worlds.’ Lee thought,

’Unfortunately, I had an accident that kind of prevented me from helping in your conquest.’

’It’s fine. You did better than expected.’ The answer surprised Lee, ’I sensed parts of me rooting down in new places ... what a pleasant feeling!’

"I came for a reason." Lee said out loud, changing the subject, "I’m not sure you’re gonna like it."

The answer was unexpected, ’Another century or two and you might’ve been too late! The spark has reached its maturity some time ago and will start to dissipate soon ... right, I forgot ... that’s the reason I fell asleep ...’

Ignoring the shroom’s yawn in his mind, Lee thought, ’How’s that possible? Doesn’t it mean you’ll die?’

’How can you say such ominous things to an elderly! That’s so impolite! Tsk ... the young generation surely has no clue how to behave! Too bad I don’t have any other options ...’ It was confusing how the shroom sounded energetic and sleepy at the same time, but the hard part was for Lee to not have unnecessary thoughts since the shroom was basically reading his mind.

’Can we talk in person?’ He thought.

’Why? ... oh, right, you want the spark! Go northeast ...’

The shroom lord was acting completely differently from what Lee remembered. The last time it kept chatting till he left, but now was hardly finding any strength to converse. And the fact that it knew Lee was after the spark also felt confusing.

The challenging part was to find it. Even if Lee was dropped in a random location in Verdaria Prime the next day after he left the first time, he would’ve had hard time finding the pond with the small grotto the shroom lived in. Now, without it giving directions, it would’ve likely taken years.

Four days later, after listening to countless yawns in his mind, Lee finally met the strange being. It was unrecognizable, though. Back then the shroom was three feet tall and its cap was in the size of a millstone, but now it occupied three quarters of the room sized grotto. It still glowed with golden light, but it was hard to tell whether it was brighter or dimmer because of the shroom’s size.

’No wonder you’re sleepy! You’ve grown fat!’ Lee couldn’t resist the thought.

’Mhm! Handsome, aren’t I?’

The shroom lord happily replied,

’I wonder how thick your roots are.’ Lee thought, and then awkwardly added, ’I ... should we make another deal?’

’A deal? ... right! That would be great! ... wait! What deal?’ The shroom’s tone in Lee’s mind kept constantly changing.

’I’m much stronger now.’ Lee said, ’And it’s likely I can spread your spores through many other worlds.’

’That’s sounds like a good idea! Can you do that?’ The more the shroom lord spoke, the weirder its behavior became.

’How about the spark?’ Lee asked.

Taking sparks from beasts never bothered him – after all he even ate them. And while he technically could eat mushrooms as well, for some reason he felt too close to this particular one. It was almost like it was his favorite pet, or even a distant elderly relative that was suffering from dementia or a similar disorder. The thing hadn’t even cursed him a single time – clearly it didn’t feel well.

The shroom said, ’What about it? It’ll start to dissipate soon ... so much time wasted ... sigh ...’

’Can I have it?’ Lee directly asked.

’You want it? Why would you need this thing? It makes one feel bloated ...’ The shroom said.

’I kind of need it to fix my spark situation.’ Lee said.

’You’ll have to tell me about it the next time ... I think I’m gonna have a nap ...’ The shroom sounded increasingly sleepy, and for a moment Lee panicked. He didn’t want to destroy the unique being, and similarly he didn’t want to owe it anything – that was the reason he suggested another deal.

’Hold on! I still need your spores.’ He thought, ’Remember, like the last time?’

’... right ... let me ...’ Shroom said a few words in Lee’s mind, and fell silent.

Lee already thought it might’ve actually fallen asleep, when one after another tiny flecks of light began to fall from the humongous mushroom cap. In ten or so breaths there were so many of them, it resembled a thick snowfall of light, but then the spectacle ended as abruptly as it started.

The last time Lee didn’t have the chance to witness it, and it took his artistic soul a few moments to recover. He gathered the spores along with a bit of the soil, in the end storing over five pounds of material that was enough to colonize hundreds of worlds.

’How about the spark?’ Lee asked in his mind.

When there was no reply, he gently tapped the mushroom cap, but there was no reaction either. He called out a couple more times, and in the end gently slapped the shroom lord.

’Um? What? ... oh, it’s you ... what’s up?’ The shroom was barely capable of putting thoughts together.

"The spark." Lee said out loud, "How do I take it?"

’Take? No ... wait ...’

Fer a wile nothing happened. But then Lee heard strange sounds in his mind ... grunting and groaning ... as if ... someone was trying hard to take a shit!

’Seriously?’ Lee got annoyed, ’Do you really expect me to put that thing in my mouth now?’

’Shut up, pussy! Make a small incision and take that thing out!’ The shroom lord’s energetic response shocked him.

If he had to do that the previous time, it would’ve been easy – the shroom was tiny in comparison. Now he had to reach inside of it up to his shoulder to get the spark.

When he grabbed it, he sensed the whole shroom tremble and a suppressed grunt of pain resonated in his mind. Realizing his actions weren’t as harmless as he’d imagined, Lee pulled his hand out, and hid the golden spark in a wooden box, then stored it inside the glove.

The small grotto turned dark in an instant, and so did his mind. The presence of the shroom lord had completely vanished. Lee called out a few times, then sighed, and swam back to the surface.

He had no clue what he had done to the shroom and why did it voluntarily give him a priceless treasure, but he noted he should come back a century or two later to take a look. That is – if he managed to fix himself.

He finally had all the sparks ... although he still had no clue what exactly he was supposed to do with them. Luckily he had an overlord who could advise him, although for some time Lee had the suspicion his plight was just entertainment or experiment for Overlord Seris.