The next day... right?
I'm not sure. The world, this world, whatever it is and wherever it was is weird. I've been here for so ti already and even with my limited senses, I couldn't help but notice.
The world isn't right, the sky especially. Sotis it glitches, or cycles unnaturally between twilight and noon.
It was just confusing. Well, just one of many things that is confusing about this world. Or how else will I, a human suddenly be living as a plant?
Did I die? Is this reincarnation?
I honestly don't know, my mory's been feeling a bit hazy since waking up.
Another thing I noticed is the threats I've faced since awakening as a seed. Maybe it's just my paranoia talking, but I can't shake off the feeling that the insectoid and plantoid threats feel a bit too... deliberate.
Like they're spawned, not natural.
It was a crazy thought. And also the feeling when I just woke up as a seed as if sothing flashed before and I didn't pay attention enough or I forgot.
All in all, this world is just plain weird. Well, it can't be helped.
All I have to do is simple, focus on living. And growing.
The soil trembled with life, and threat.
It's been so ti already since then but victory still left a strange aftertaste. The rival plant I had consud had beco part of , its nutrients woven into my being, its essence now another line in the web of my roots.
I should've felt safe, even proud. But instead, I felt watched.
Every subtle movent in the ground seed louder now. Every root I brushed against could be prey, or predator.
I reached deeper.
My parasitic roots slithered beneath the surface with growing confidence. Under the soil, I felt at ho now. My roots? They were longer now, stronger, fed by the spoils of my first kill. And they wanted more.
Hunger pulsed through like a second heartbeat. This world didn't reward patience, it rewarded dominance.
And then, I found a cluster of nearby sprouts. Fragile, naïve, barely aware.
Perfect.
Before I could do anything though, the now familiar interface lit up again, interrupting .
~----~
[WARNING: Territory Violation. Trial Hostile Entity Deployed!]
>Objective Progress: 0.3%.
~----~
'Objective? What objective?'
'These weird notifications again'.
I didn't pay too much attention to the notification this ti. After all, I had juicy prey before . I didn't want to alert them due to being distracted.
With careful stealth, I extended a single probing tendril toward the closest one. The mont I made contact, I unleashed a silent invasion; piercing its soft root, siphoning away its ager life force.
This guy couldn't even present a resistance. It withered in seconds.
A rush of nutrient points surged through . A second followed, then a third.
DING!
~----~
[3 Sprouts Absorbed- NP Gained: 9]
~----~
It was too easy. My confidence swelled like sunlight on my leaves.
Until sothing moved.
The soil beneath shifted violently all of a sudden. A deep pressure pushed back against my expanding roots. Sothing thick, coarse, angry.
A massive root, gnarled and pulsing with dark sap slamd into , severing one of my tendrils.
Pain lanced through my body.
DING!
~----~
[WARNING: ROOT SYSTEM BREACHED!]
>Defensive Action Required.
~----~
I'm an outskirts kid right? I should be used to pain right?
But no, pain feels the sa every single ti, raw, unpleasant, and unfailingly vile. If I had a throat, I would have snarled in anger.
I recoiled, instinctively redirecting energy from my growing leaves to my underground network.
~----~
[Invest 5 NP to fortify parasitic roots?]
~----~
'Yes'.
I didn't even think to understand what it ant. Anything to alleviate my pain and most importantly, survive.
The change was imdiate. My roots thickened, sprouting barbs and curling like vipers around the intruding limb.
A violent, silent battle erupted beneath the surface. No sounds, no roars; just the tearing of the earth, the writhing of roots.
It was a plant, yes, but not a passive one. Not like those foolish bastards who died to without even knowing how. And yet, I could not help but which that all my rivals here were like those fools.
Not this guy though.
Its own roots lashed at like whips, coated in natural toxins. I felt parts of my network die, seared by chemical burns. But I was faster. Hungrier. Smarter.
I burrowed beneath its main stalk, aiming not for its defenses, but for its core.
Pierce. Drain. Consu.
It shrieked, not with sound but with vibration. A last, desperate struggle as I stabbed my roots upward, into its lifeline. Sap burst like blood.
I drank deeply.
DING!
~----~
[HOSTILE PLANT ABSORBED]
[NP Gained: 17]
>Bonus Trait Fragnt Detected: TOXIN RESISTANCE (25%).
~----~
The heat of victory filled again. But it was different now.
That fight had cost . Parts of my body were damaged; roots blackened, energy reserves drained.
And then I felt it.
Pressure. Above.
Sothing brushed my leaves.
A nibble.
Then... pain.
I scread internally as a chunk of my upper stem was torn away. An insect. No, worse, a rodent. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it chewing.
'Just f*cking godamn...!'
'Can't a plant grow in peace?!'
I was blind. Vulnerable.
I had no teeth. No claws. Nothing to stop the slow devouring.
DING!
~----~
[WARNING: UPPER STRUCTURE DAMAGED]
[PHOTOSYNTHESIS EFFICIENCY- 40%]
>Recomnd: Evolve Defensive chanism.
~----~
I trembled. Not from fear, but fury.
Above and below. There were enemies everywhere.
The hunger in my roots had beco a fire. But now that fire crawled up my stem, demanding more than growth.
I needed to be dangerous.
Not just beneath the surface.
Everywhere.
DING!
~----~
[EVOLUTION OPTIONS UNLOCKED- CHOOSE ONE:]
>Thorned Stem: Defensive barbs to deter predators.
>Lure Scent: Attracts nearby insects (Unstable).
>Camouflage Bark: Temporarily conceal presence.
~----~
I stared at the options, my damaged leaves trembling in the breeze.
In this world, there was no such thing as peace.
Only power.
And I would grow teeth.
Reviews
All reviews (0)