"Little fella, what more do you want from me?"

To make a comparison, it was twice the size of my fey body. It could probably even act as my ride. They treated me like a god or something, providing live offers and chunks of my strawberries. How they were able to figure I was part of the plant was beyond me.

"Nothing? Figures."

I thought about it again.

"I want to ride you!"

There was no way I could have rode a beetle in my past life. This was only possible with my current size.

In any case, whether it understood my intentions or not, I exclaimed, "Ready or not" before I hopped on its back.

Clunk.

"Don't tell me I'm heavy or else. Now, get a move on."

Slowly, it carried me back to its nest where others were resting. These beetles were super lazy, doing nothing every day except claiming the spoils of my labor.

Crash.

That was fun, kind of. New experience!

It wasn't so fun for the beetle. Whatever had happened, it seemed to have died from that short ride.

You're kidding me. Did I just overwork it to death? Are you for real? No. Way.

"You all need to do some work outs. This is unacceptable!"

I gave them a thorough lecture on the important of stretching and exercising. As a plant though, I was exempt. I didn't need to do as I preached.

In the end, that beetle I was riding on didn't actually die. It just went into a self preservation mode.

It wasn't like they could understand me or anything. They just huddled around me as if praying to a holy figure. An imp wasn't supposed to be holy. If I remembered correctly, it was supposed to be a devious creature that played tricks. I didn't mind playing the evil role not that I was evil. It was called survival with a twist!

Now that I had a fey body, I felt that time was passing slower. Every day I watched the sunrises, the sunsets, and the starry nights devoid of any clouds. There wasn't a single moon to be seen.

Rain, where are you? Even I can't go on without water.

Without enough water, I couldn't continue creating more nectars to attract visitors. That was just how bad it was. No one was going to munch on my leaves and I had yet to see any large animals that could be used as sacrifices to replenish my lost fluids.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, a haze drifted in.

Cough. Cough.

Bad, bad, this is really bad! What to do...!

In the worst case scenario, a forest fire had started somewhere and it was burning its way here. In the best case scenario, I would live through the forest fire or this was just my imagination. Regardless, I wouldn't die because my roots were deep. However, to keep myself safe, I need to keep the fire from reaching me if possible.

"You insects, get working! I want a trench dug around me ASAP."

Did they understand?

Whether they understood or not, they started digging not around my plant body but rather beneath my plant body.

They're digging underground for safety? What about me? I don't want to start from scratch again. You traitors!

It did take some time before the crackling ambers made their way here. There was no way I could fight the fire.

Heck, I'm following you all underground. Leave no man behind! Or, would that be leave no fey behind?

I grabbed a strawberry seed from the leftovers and carried it with me. The tunnels these beetles dug were wide enough that I could easily stroll in. They were actually quite smart to be steering clear of my roots.

I guess they aren't in a situation to be sacrificing their own members right now.

Sometimes, touching my roots were unavoidable. However, seeing how they were doing their best to survive right now, I too did my best holding back my passive ability otherwise their casualties could mount pretty quickly.

"Dig faster! I don't want to burn. Cooked strawberries aren't tasty!"

From the time I first saw the fire until I started receiving burns was a bit too quick.

Hot. Hot! Ow, ow, owwiee!

I didn't think plants could feel heat but apparently my plant body felt heat just fine. It wasn't a sensation I enjoyed either.

God, give me some rain. This isn't funny!

So, here I was, sitting in an underground sauna while praying to the same guy who turned me into a strawberry plant. What could I say? I was afraid if I had bad thoughts, that rain wouldn't come.

Boom!

Roar!

Did my prayer work?

I was still feeling the intense heat. Nothing changed.

The loud booms continued repeatedly every few seconds. Meanwhile, my plant body was already burnt to a crisp, leaving only the roots underground still unharmed or so I believed.

I'm still alive?

It was already a miracle that I was alive.

"Good job, I'll reward you for your hard work!" I said to the beetles resting with me. It was just deep enough to prevent the dangerous heat from cooking us alive.

When I peeked out of our tunnel, I could see a thick covering over the sky as if a thunderstorm was passing. Not a single droplet of rain landed as if god was teasing me.

Flash.

Boom!

A lightning strike shattered a tree near me.

Holy smokes, that was scary. I better stay underground until rain comes.

I quickly returned to the hideout and waited for the disaster to pass. I wasn't going to mess with mother nature.

While I waited, I tried something as everyone in fantasy settings would surely have tried.

Status.

[Level 3 Insect;
Species: Po-Nealo;
Traits: Sloth, Servant;
Abilities: N/A;
Descriptions: A type of insect that likes to live in groups.]

The beetles actually had such stats. There was one thing I was curious about. That was the |servant|. I wondered if it had anything to do with their behaviors. It didn't matter to me anyway.

The next I tried to seeing status on my fey body.

[Level 7 Fey (homeless);
Species: Strawberry Imp (lesser);
Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning;
Abilities: Absorption, Charm;
Description: A dangerous plant fey that lures their preys before leeching all of their life force.]

You're kidding, right? Who are you calling homeless? My plant body is clearly still there.

Then I checked my plant body, or rather, the remaining roots.

[Level 1 Fey Plant (clone).]

This doesn't make sense. What's a clone supposed to mean? Does it mean I can spread them and they're all me?

[Level 1 Fey Plant (seed).]

The seed on the other hand made sense. It was after all just a regular seed. The levels had all returned to one though. I wasn't happy with that but it was reasonable.