One of these days, I'll be able to claim "The sun never sets on the Strawberry Empire."

For that to happen, I had to work extra hard. In any world conquest, a map was required. I needed to know where everything was. And, to obtain a map I had to interact with the mortal races. That was the biggest challenge of all. Currently, the two of us travelled around just using landmarks like mountains and lakes and even remote villages.

I wish I could create accurate maps in my mind.

"Where go?"

Currently I was sitting inside a straw basket over her shoulder while she soared in the open sky. In terms of flying speed, I was a fruit fly compared to a hawk. This made me really glad I picked her to be my travel partner. The servant-master relationship, I just couldn't see how it could work out so I opted for an equal relationship, at least for now! I had yet to let her taste my wondrous strawberries.

"You should say 'Where to go?'"

"Where to go? Where to go!"

Every once a while, I had to also teach Haelley to speak properly. It wouldn't do if I didn't fulfill my side of the bargain.

"That village with kobolds," I pointed below us. I didn't forget those weak looking kobolds since I figured they would make obedient citizens of my empire!

Haelley swift landed in the centre of their little village, startling everyone there. Some cowered in fear and hid inside their huts where as the brave ones held stone spears pointed at us.

Oops, I should told her to land outside. She's their predator after all.

"What now? Eat?"

The word "eat" had caused a few kobolds to step back.

Did they understand?

"No, I want them to help me grow lots of strawberries."

She cocked her head, "Kobolds, stupid."

Hehe, she's a birdbrain herself.

Inside the straw basket wasn't just me, I had some strawberries and leaves inside. I hopped out, carrying the leaves with me.

"Make them eat strawberries, just a little," I said.

I wasn't sure if she understood my intentions but she suddenly disappeared. There was a few flashes, somehow all the kobolds' mouths that I could see were smudged with red and white mess. That meant she had used [rapid transport], the super cheat ability. Not only that, she was too good at using it.

I think I messed up. This is probably the worst way to control them. And I seriously hope they don't revolt. Mm. Next time I'll plan properly! Next time. Right. Well.

"Okay, okay, Haelley, that's enough."

"Okay."

Those who were stuffed with strawberries had collapsed one by one with their eyes rolled up. She really overdid it. I was planning to show them where I would plant my clones.

"Actually, can you check if there are anyone awake? I need to show them where I plant my clones."

"Okay!"

Just like that, she disappeared and reappeared next to me within a second. In her hand was a female kobold, about to faint. Before I could say anything, Haelley shook the female kobold up and down to keep her awake.

Even I feel bad...

"Stop!"

"Okay."

Why did I take out the leaves again? Was I too concerned she'd feed the leaves to them? No, right? But, I think that was a good call. The leaves are poisonous, I think.

Just outside of the village, I planted a row of my strawberry clones. Although the rain season had seemed to pass, rain still came and went at least once every ten days. That was more than enough to grow them.

The whole time I did all that, the female kobold stayed awake while I tried to explain with simple words and gestures. How much she understood wasn't too much of my concern. As long as they occasionally took care of my clones, that would be fine.

"We're done here. Haelley, release her."

"Okay."

The kobold was hesitant to run at first, but after reaching a few meters away she dashed back into the village without glancing backwards.

"There are a few more villages around here. Let's go."

Luckily, a while back I had planted a clone around here which meant I could use it to create more clones. I didn't have to go to ones that were too far away. 

The moment I reached that clone at the base of the small mountain, I merged with it to update its status. Due to how many of my clones were out there gaining experiences by killing who knew what, my levels had risen somewhat. I kind of wished "experience" stat would be displayed. Unfortunately, not even Haelley had seen it.

[Level 29 Fey (plant);
Species: Strawberry Trickster;
Physical: 9/9;
Spiritual: 89/89;
Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning;
Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution;
Description: A tricky plant fey that likes to toy with their foes.]

No matter how I looked at it, I was weakling, a super weakling who couldn't even defeat a single kobold unless I had my plant body with me. Consequently, because I had many plant bodies, if I added them all together, my stats would be super high. Notably, my plant bodies had different status when examined separately from me.

[Level 29 Fey Plant (clone);
Species: Strawberry Trickster;
Physical: 13/13;
Spiritual: 21/21;
Traits: Bewitching, Rapid Growth, Cloning;
Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution;
Description: A clone of a Strawberry Trickster.]

Somehow, my clones had better physical stats than me. It was a super bummer for me. But, I supposed it made sense given how much larger it was than me. Some of the older ones could even be considered bushes with even higher physical stats.

I noticed that the traits were one less but abilities were all there. That was very strange because it probably meant that all the abilities could be used by my clone remotely, which included [charm], a very suspicious ability. It made me wonder how it could charm anything when I didn't even know how it worked.

By the way, De Planck actually came by to finalize our agreement. Every detail was written on a piece of parchment. Just to be safe, I examined the whole document super carefully, front and back, for any fine prints. There were none, thankfully. There probably weren't any invisible texts. Even if there were, I either signed it or became food. Life was really cruel.

Once that rabbit left, Haelley came up to me, "Me hungry."

"No, it's 'I am hungry.'" I corrected her.

"I am hungry."

"Sure, let me tag with you. I want to see how you hunt."

"Okay."

Before I could say any more, she zoomed into the sky. Then, she hovered for a few seconds before the hunt was over. I felt bad for that little lizard thing that got crushed under her foot.

God, please nerf her abilities. You're making me super jealous and we all know what happens when I can't get what I want, right? I'm joking, god, please don't turn me into a bacteria.

My little rant was my own. No one should have been listening in, I hoped. While the bird lady happily sunk her teeth into that lizard, I thought about the abilities I possessed. After seeing how proficient Haelley was at using her abilities, it made me wish I could improve with my ability usage.

The first one I examined was obviously the first one listed, absorption. It stayed with my fey body. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of default setting or whatnot. Originally only my plant body's roots were able to utilize this ability but if my fey body could do so as well, then this could really be a new discovery!

"Haelley, how do I use abilities, exactly? I want to try using my absorption ability."

"No touch me. They different for each. Desire important."

That wasn't very helpful. For her abilities, two were sound based, one was sight based, and one was feel based.

"Okay, thanks, you should go sleep."

"No ability touch!" As she backed off.

"I won't," I assured her. I didn't think my ability was that great anyway.

Loitering around wasn't going to help me understand my abilities better. First the grasses and shrubs close to me. Desire, maybe she meant to say "intent". Anyway, I gave it a try. It shouldn't be too difficult when I had used this ability before, albeit, passively. I placed my hands on a patch of grasses and gave the intent. Not long after, I felt a flow like a wind breeze into my hands and arms.

Amazing! I'm genius! I'm an absolute genius! The world is as good as mine. Eheheh...

It was such a pleasant feeling too, making me feel really nourished. Unfortunately, the patch had completely withered before I realized the flow had stopped.

Oops. I better be careful next time.

Next, I touched an evergreen tree's trunk. This time, the flow was different. Instead of a wind breeze, it was more like a small water stream. The quality of the energy I was absorbing was very blissful. It was like all my needs were now met!

I could do this all day! Mister Tree, let's get married. Fill me up all day every day!

Except, a notification broke the trance I was in. Thankfully, it did, otherwise the tree wasn't going to make it.

[Evolution Paths Available.]

Hmm? Did I miss a level up notification?