There was no grogginess when I woke up, something quite rare for me. Then again there was no heart to pump too slow while missing beats and no brain to stutter me awake every half hour or so protesting even the idea of a good night's sleep. There was however a very odd but insistent pressure. I was cramped in a tiny space by something I knew was made from testa and tegmen. How did I know it was made from testa and tegmen? Because I was what was holding me in. How did that work? How can something be cramped into a tiny space by their own flesh? What encompassed me was myself and that was the most confusing part.
The panic that set in was like looking at a red fog swirling in a ball from a distance, pretty but disconnected. Something you stared at for a moment and then walked or ran away depending on if there was any news of a chemical spill in the area. The panic faded rapidly and I was filled with a desire I had never felt before. To extend a limb that was not there before. To dig with something that felt like hair but wiggled like toes.
The fog around my mind parted and like CrimsonRaven herself had whispered a secret into my ear. I have 2 weeks before I starve to death and 4 days before I have too little water to grow or gather more. Gather more? Yes more, how else could my roots grow? Ah yes my roots.
Roots?
Oh. What am I?
[
Name: Emilia Age: 0 Race: Sycamore
Level: 1 EXP to next level: 100
Health: 10 Mana: 0 Stamina: 10
Control: 0 Fortitude: 15 Growth: 10
Intelligence: 0 Wisdom: 0 Deception: 10
Artistry: 0 Magic: 0
Hereditary Bonuses:
Tier 3 Oceanic Sycamore (parent) - provides a medial bonus to learning water and plant based skills. Gain the Salt Resistance skill.
General Skills:
Salt Resistance: lvl 1 ( +5 to fortitude )
]
Oh. This is most disconcerting. At least I know what I want to wiggle are roots now.
Let’s see I’m 0 years old so the constraining feeling is because I am still a seedling. I’m a Sycamore tree and I gain a bonus to water and plant skills because my parent managed to reach tier 3? And because they were an Oceanic Sycamore I inherited some of their resistance to salt or rather salt water.
The sudden mention of water brought to my focus what my instincts had told me. I need more water. I have 4 days until I have too little water to grow and gather more even if I have enough other nutrients to last a while.
So I wiggled. I wiggled every part of my body in turn a thick stalk of me that when I drew my attention to it an odd not quite thought popped into my head telling me this is my stalk this is what will become my trunk and grow my leaves and branches. I shuddered at the thought of this becoming damaged. Soon after my attempt to wiggle every part of my body resulted in those hair like tendrils bursting from my flesh.
There was a fresh burst of agony as I felt my outer shell burst followed by a sense of relief. I was talking about true relief like when you hold your bladder too long and it's hard to start peeing but when you do, the sudden lessening of that discomfort is better than orgasm. As my roots penetrated the dirt around me I felt something odd flow from my “core” through my miniscule body and into my roots as that flow did so they burst through the ground around me and instantly gained an inch of length each! I don’t know much about plants but I do know from my kindergarten class that it takes almost an entire day, even for a fast growing plant, to gain an inch of root let alone multiple roots at a time.
I felt the dirt around my newfound roots and for most of it I got the general impression that while it doesn’t have any particularly useful nutrients I could absorb it if I wanted to. I also got the feeling that that dirt would be better served keeping the soil around my seed and later roots moist. And then I felt a tiny, miniscule, so small a human couldn’t even see it or tell that it was different from a speck of dust if it were on a silver plate, chunk of nitrogen. As soon as I recognised that it was nitrogen my roots absorbed it so fast I could barely even tell that the amount was smaller than that of a grain of clay. I watched with fascination as it crawled up my roots dissolving into the surrounding root cells along the way. Eventually it reached my seed and I felt a heady rush of pleasure.
My mind dripped with saliva and greed. That bit of nitrogen had a flavor like no other, like savory mixed with pure energy. Speaking of energy I felt a small bit of it flow from the soil that I absorbed into the rest of my body and with it I felt a tiny tingle as it absorbed into my body. It felt like the same odd flow as what came from my body when my roots surged in growth. I traced its path with my mind and found an odd set of veins running just along my tiny xylem and phloem.
[General Skill: Mana Sense has reached level 1 | Rewards: +1 Mana, +1 Intelligence, +1 EXP]
Oh, oh my! How exciting! So the energy that I was feeling was mana! Amazing and if this is mana then the strange energy surrounding those other stars was also mana!
Also the stat bonuses were amazing! But weren’t they kind of reminiscent of Sword Star Realms stat and skill system? I thought it was a completely different system because some of the stats were different but apparently not how wonderful! With all the hours I’ve grinded in game I should have an amazing head start!
[General Skill: Decoding has reached level 1-5 | Rewards: +10 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom, +5 EXP ]
Current stats in spoiler
[
Name: Emilia Age: 0 Race: Sycamore
Level: 1 EXP to next level: 100
Health: 10 Mana: 1 Stamina: 10
Control: 0 Fortitude: 15 Growth: 10
Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 5 Deception: 10
Artistry: 0 Magic: 1
Hereditary Bonuses:
Tier 3 Oceanic Sycamore (parent) - provides a medial bonus to learning water and plant based skills. Gain the Salt Resistance skill.
General Skills:
Salt Resistance: lvl 1 ( +5 fortitude )
Man
a Sense: lvl 1 ( +1 Mana, +1 Magic )
Decoding: lvl 5 ( +10 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom )
]
