《Evolution Barricade》 Prologue My name is Kaden and today I turned twenty-six years old... and I just died. Literally a moment ago. Growing up in a rather poor-off family in the age of the internet has been tough; not because it was hard but because of how many commitments I have! Getting a job, finding a girlfriend, and dealing with student debt are just the tips of the iceberg when it comes to responsibility! But allow me to start with whoI am. I''m the oldest brother of three, the oldest grandson of fourteen, and the only one who had an education beyond "schoolwork". Not only that, but I was raised by my grandparents! Sports never were too big in my family - whom all have strict military and law enforcement backgrounds or plush doctorial programs - so I studied music and writing. Everyone always asked why I didn''t play sports due to my size and strength, yet how could I explain I preferred the more gentle things? My competitive spirit wasn''t reliant on physical contact. It was reliant on the social and mental stimulation I felt when I won! It''s why I loved marching contests, solo and small band festivals, and writing competitions! That is, of course, when I wasn''t playing video games. As one might have guessed, the age of the internet changed mankind considerably; video games of all shapes and sizes were my lifeblood! It led me to grow fascinated with technology, encouraged me to study, and made me hopeful for the future. Fiction becoming real beyond the pages of the book! It was always hard whenever I watched Shield Slam Offline or Crack.Hax0r and their full-world immersion, being able to truly experience different worlds! Manga worlds spurred the evolution of the Eastern market and in-turn the Western, pushing toward games for VR and system depths the like no one had ever seen! But my fascination with games, as one might guess, interruptedeverything for me. I studied the way of isekai manga and played their games, leaving behind my education and musical fascination all for the sake of pursuing that outer world. As great as humanity and life are, why can''t I dream to enjoy more!? That''s the pursuit of happiness, isn''t it!?Little did I know, this would all lead up to horrible decisions. I never really had an interest in romance, yet everyone I knew or thought maybe they could be the one was getting married. My friends left to pursue their happiness. My grandparents sold my instruments and books while taking care of the things I thought so trivial. My health deteriorated and all I could think about was the satisfaction I felt when I accomplished things in my games rather than in the real world. This reality wasn''t my realitybut I never saw that. Not even when my grandmother passed away. She died so quickly but there had been warnings for years. But I didn''t care; I didn''t see her bad health or how everyone - myself included - treated her in my family. I didn''t notice my grandfather slipping further into a drunken slide while she worked to care for me and my brothers, working hard well beyond she should have. I had no idea it was happening until I was in the hospital and my whole world was frozen.I watched her die and get buried before it sank in that there wasn''t anyone for me. I had little to no work experience and at my age in the internet era, there was no way to lie or cover-up how bad my drive was. The only jobs I could get wouldn''t cover my cost of living beyond scraps and a mangey apartment.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I guess you could say it wasn''t a surprise that I resolved myself to finding out what there''d be after the end. My home was sold and I had nowhere to go; no way to preserve any of the few things I''d kept for reading and escaping reality, either. It wasn''t hard to bite back my fear and throw myself in front of a truck. I''d known enough to know that the isekai trucks weren''t a steadfast way to do it - I chose a big freighter truck. I feel bad for the pain it must have caused him but I had selfishly chosen a way out instead of a way forward.Little did I know, though, that this wouldn''t be my end. Just like all the manga and games that had spurred me to persevere, I found out thereis a "next" beyond the grave.
"Is this one truly worthy?" My soul shimmered beneath the attention of three powerful deities. The streets of my hometown were long-gone and now replaced with a vast void of white. The one speaking was to the right; a tall woman cast in red light with a gruff voice. Her features were ever-changing yet she wore no clothes. Instead, her flame-like hair rolled around her form, hugging her form as natural garb. Thefigurebefore me, a grey stickman-like kids might draw, spoke in a whisper that sounded far louder than his compatriot. "I pity... mortals; not all must be chosen by fate. Whynot this... one?" The woman''s visage affixed and the features solidified with that of an elderly man. Yet her voice didn''t change even in pitch. "You believe time could be so old that I''d fall for this trick?" Her face melded to one of a little girl, pouting and pursing her lips. "Or do you baby me, my younger?" The third figure - a brilliant tower of light that stretched farther both up and down than my senses could trace - interjected with a shimmer. "My olders, this mortal will do; this life is not one for a hero anyhow. Must we bicker?" The female groaned yet the stickman waved an arm dismissively at her. The grey god''s two-dimensional figure stuttered... and an immense weight rolled over me as his attention fully shifted. It was he was looking at me. "Mortal - I know you may find this hard to comprehend... but you have passed. You - as you are now - are no more than a spirit passing beyond your earthly foil. I ask you only this; will you protect... your new life?" The question fell on my... er... consciousness and it was an easy answer. Or at least, I felt it was; why would they give me a new life if I didn''t protect it?
I never did get to speak my answer, though. The blue tower and the woman vanished before the grey one spoke in some strange tongue. I guess it''s the language of the gods or something. But before I knew it, that vast void vanished. Little did I know, there wasn''t a pause in his question. He had hesitated mid-speech more than once so it hadn''t occurred to me that his whisper might have made me mistake his hushed tone for breathing. He hadn''t asked me if I''d protect my new life. He asked if I''d protectin my new life. I guess what happened next is only karma for my failures as a human. I was reborn like all the isekai heroes and reincarnation manhua. There was only one problem. I was reincarnated as a barrier of tall, spiny grass. But um... is this big field really going to be okay? Evolution 1, Chapter 1 Kaden was alive! All the horrors of his prior life were gone and reincarnation finally gave him a chance to right his wrongs. No more being lazy, no wasted opportunities and nothing but good isekai fortune lay ahead! There was only one... slight issue. Rather than being born into a human body, he now was a tall, spindly brush of grass. Wait... how... what- Kaden didn''t understand what was going on; he could see not only the feel but himself. He could feel each sway of the clump as if every individual plant in the patch was part of him. It was an otherworldly experience that few could comprehend. His feet - his roots - were buried and yet every time he tried to move it was pointless, as the wind caught and swayed him back. EH!? This kind of reincarnation was unheard of right!? Kaden couldn''t really have been born as a collection of plants, right!? He pried his mind for solutions yet no isekai had something like this; at the very least everyone wasn''t inanimate... or at least not effectively rooted into one place! As beautiful as the field around him was, staying here forever wasn''t going to keep his sanity. Gentle winds and an eternity of nothing was only going to break him! "Enjoying yourself?" The voice came from... behind? Kaden wasn''t entirely certain how his new body''s senses worked, given he lacked a lot of sensory organs. It was actually comparable to a third-person game, however; his sight was just up and back, letting him pan it freely of his form. Behind him, the stickman stood strangely in his two-dimensional glory. Hell no! Why am I a plant!? "Well, you said you wanted to protect in your new life, didn''t you? This will be how you''ll need to do it." Kaden had to protect? The man wished he had a body so he could grumble; instead, all he could do was continue examing the vast open field. What am I supposed to protect in a giant field like this!? And how can I do it with my body like this? The stickman said no more, however, and left his question unanswered. In an instant, he vanished... but in his place was an egg. Roughly a foot tall, almost spherical rather than oval or oblong. Its exterior was simple-patterned with white spots, while the egg itself was blue. A menu erupted before his eyes - or rather perspective - just like the classic RPGs of old.
Protect the Egg! - Introduction Quest
An egg of unknown origins has appeared within the Great Fields of Kave; Tales will one day be sung if it can come to hatch!
Kaden isn''t quite sure how he''s supposed to protect the egg but this is great! If the world is gamelike, that means he got the holiest of holy isekai! He was reincarnated into an evolution isekai! Of course, his knowledge was going to be helpful... but all those years playing games for escapism also had a purpose in a world like this. This sort of luck made things much more different! If he persevered, he could likely escape this body and take on a new form! Maybe even that of a plant person! His hype was restrained for now, however; he needed to figure out what his form and options were to doing this quest. There wasn''t time to check into if there were levels or stats until he knew the right way to proceed. His plant-like body was simple but in truth quite different from normal grasses; in this field alone, he rose almost two meters high and stood out even among the taller plants. He was tightly packed similar to Cheo pet foliage, yet every strand occasionally wiggled itself free from the collection and rippled the other nearby stalks in its motion. Along the outside of his formation, he could see half-grown stalks of new grass; it was likely that growing for him wasn''t so much upward but outward. Yet it was the golden glitters that forced him to zoom his camera-view to the maximum; along every strand at random intervals between one to three inches, he had golden thorns. Not gold-colored but actual gold. His body was a treasure in itself! Every thorn was only about an inch big but was sharpened into fine points, ensuring that one would be quite miserable if they were to enter! It was the idea body for resisting... well... animals that didn''t want to get pricked. Kaden''s pride faltered a tad but that''s fine; with a body like his, he wasn''t as completely helpless as he thought. Immobilized with some form of defense was a type of situation he could achieve. He''d spent many years playing instruments seated and standing to know that even someone who''s stationery can achieve similar goals in the right fields. Protecting the egg was doable! Except I can''t reach it! He unnoticeably swayed and demanded his form to move, yet nothing he could do got him to do more than lean over an inch in the windy field''s hold. The egg was a foot away from him but if he couldn''t protect it then anyone and anything could do as it pleased with it! It wasn''t as if he knew what kind of creatures or predators existed in this world, but there were tons of hazards in the plains that didn''t want to eat an egg! The trampling of a larger creature - such as horses - was only one possible idea without considering egg-eaters. It was time to get creative and think of this as a game world. Menu, open! If there had been crickets, they''d have been chirping. Kaden needed to figure out a command! Open menu! Options! Cheats activate! Start! The interface dinged open and revealed the most pivotal options in every RPG menu: Stats, Skills, Magic, and Items. So this was a world that differentiated skills and magic! Plus, there was always the chance it was a hidden menu world; if he had no physical body, how could he wear equipment? But that same logic made him curious about how the ''Items'' option worked without any storage; possibly pocket space? Kaden had a good eye on the egg just beyond his menu, so, for now, he''d take time to figure everything out. There would be a lot of excessive information but he could always highlight the important things to collect his thoughts.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Stats Explanation As far as stats go, Kaden currently has a simplistic organization of them. In order from the top of the menu to the bottom, they''re currently only twelve stat fields. Level, the pivotal part of any game world. Kaden was level 1. Class, a core element of RPGs around the world... and also slowly being weeded out. His class is Evolver. Not that it tells him much. Race, an expected part of it. Kaden''s race is known as Barripatch Thorn Grass. HP, the staple of everyone''s health! And a measurement of it. It''s probably based off his stats, but his HP was currently at 20. MP, mana or magic points, every wizard''s best friend! As a humble... Barripatch... whatever... he has 30. Strength, brawn and might! Kaden''s strength was... 1. Great. Dexterity, the speed, range of movement, and one''s overall finesse. Kaden''s first non-1; his dexterity was 2! Constitution, one''s physical defensive capacity. And it''s a 1. Charisma, tool of leaders and the skill for peace playthroughs. Sadly, inanimate plants like Kaden only have 1. Intellect, the ability to use one''s brain! Very strangely, his intellect was 10; maybe it''s connected to his human consciousness? Resistance, defense against magic and the supernatural. Probably. Kaden''s resistance was also 10; it must have something to do with his personality. Luck, a trait every thief and adventurer lives on! Kaden''s luck may only be 1, but he was already pretty lucky to get another shot at life. A use of a Help option - which took some time itself to spot - reveals that stats are very difficult to raise naturally and often move through multiple levels, class changes, or titles. Maybe he''ll learn more about titles later. Skills Explanation Skills are - from the help menu dialogue the stat menu popped up with - effectively special moves you might see in something like Nabas'' Force Fighters. They''re acquired through leveling up or receiving training; so Kaden will need to keep an eye out here but for now he currently has none. Magic Explanation Magic is very straight forward; you''re either a wizard or you''re not. Similarly to Skills, you can acquire them through learning or leveling. Not only that, but everything is inherently attached to an element. The interface doesn''t provide any way to examine what a spell does specifically; instead, it provided vague information that he was able to test during the day. But unlike skills, Kaden actually has two spells already! Growth; a Nature spell that costs 30 MP (he has just enough to cast!) and allows him to accelerate his growth an entire week''s worth. It mentions that it needs to scale up but it might cost a significant amount dependent on his size, age or race. Earthy Grasp; unlike Growth, this Earth spell costs about 10 MP. It''s an AoE spell that causes the grown to rise up and close, dragging its target toward the center of a five-foot wide area. It doesn''t crush those within it or anything though like some of the fancy earth magic in fantasy. It was useful for moving things around... maybe he can improve this somehow in the future. As for an exploration of what elements there are in magic, that would need to wait; no help interface nor resource he had would explain this more in-depth. His testing of the spells did reveal that MP regenerates at a pretty okay pace; it might be tied to his intellect, however, but he was able to regenerate all 30 MP from casting Growth in only thirty minutes. Better than some worlds, at the very least! Items Explanation Items shouldn''t need an explanation but Kaden felt it was worth to look. This world uses a "slot" system, which can be stacked up to various amounts depending on how it''s stored and where. Without a backpack, pockets, or a hammer space like most anime, it wasn''t surprising that he has no slots or inventory space.
After an eventful two hours - or what felt like two hours to Kaden - he had gathered quite a bit of knowledge. Now it was time to apply it; his camera rotated its way around to the egg once more, Kaden taking a deep mental breath. Earthy... Grasp! The final word resonated with the wind ruffling across the Barripatch body in perfect harmony; the blue glow of mana radiated from every stalk of grass at once and then down through his roots. The ground just beside the egg rose jaggedly and pulled it, rolling it slowly across the grass toward the spell''s center. The egg was gently clutched between the rocky walls for a few seconds more before the spell ended... and the spotted egg rolled its way down a small hill and right through his brush. Thankfully it didn''t hurt the egg nor him when it rolled its way into the thorn-littered brush; in fact, the brush seemed to pull and slowly move the egg deeper within. It felt strange but Kaden actually felt the egg. Although this was his first quest, he had to endure this much if he wanted to evolve! The quest to protect the egg was more than that - it was also the quest to make this world his! Kaden was an isekai protagonist, even if it meant being a small child or animal''s worst nightmare... in the context of nature! Wait... what''s that noise? He panned his camera and attention upward to where the egg had been and immediately regretted it. His first encounter with something from this world had come to face him. It''s... a bunny? Why... why am I genuinely intimidated by this little shit!? I have magic! I have... I... I''m... oh lord. I''m a plant and that''s a herbivore! Nooooo! Evolution 1, Chapter 2 Damn it! If only I weren''t a plant, I could escape or get away from it! Although the Barripatch Thorn Grass seemed to be impressive with its inch-long gold metal thorns, the truth was that he had little ability to utilize those thorns. Natural predators weren''t likely to come after him - especially given the waist-high grass surrounding his already impressive stature - but to think that he''d be facing a bunny! Wait... why can I see the bunny despite all this grass? Kaden could see the tall grass but it was like the terrain itself cutaway. It might be possible there''s more than just the menus he can view in his start option after all; this seemed like an ability... almost like he was sharing his vision with the grass around his brush. Using that connection in coordination with his Intellect stat might be allowing him to parse all the sensory data into some sort of vision equivalent. If that were the case, then being a nature wizard seemed to be a pretty effective manner to evolve! But that was beside the point; for now, he had to think and analyze his opponent. The rabbit - which he''ll dub Ranbi - is about a foot tall and a little over a foot and a half long. It didn''t come off too intimidating beyond an anime-like smirk; rather, it looked a lot like that one mouse Bokedon. Most of its pelt was a sunflower yellow, yet its poofy-balled tail and ears were a bright red. In nature, bright colors often warded off predators as a warning sign of poisonous blood. The ranbi bounced its way closer cautiously and Kaden immediately tensed... except it did nothing since his strength couldn''t even resist the wind blowing across his exposed half. The egg was safely at the center of his body, protected on all sides by at least three feet of barripatch. Since I just used Earthy Grasp a moment ago, that means I''ll need to endure this creature for at least ten minutes without any spells! If I can do that, I can cast Growth and add another foot to my diameter! My growth speed is quite good to add a foot every week''s worth of time... maybe I''m an invasive species... The ranbi''s threat was simple; it could eat grass and it was looking at him. It was impossible to know if it would harm the egg but his quest aside, he was personally in danger. As an isekai protagonist, it was up to him to stand tall and not lose so early in his adventure! He didn''t even know if reincarnation was possible yet! Alright... so it begins... my battle with this ranbi starts now!
It had been almost painful for the last ten minutes. Rather than attack, the ranbi stood its ground... and stared at him the entire time. Kaden hadn''t made the first move either; pulling the creature in may very well be a bad move, as it would mean he''d need even longer for his trump card use of Growth. Neither of his spells was particularly useful for combat but it was the only option he had if he wants to protect himself. Before even considering the idea of an egg, he needed to use strategy! The only issue was that his predator was content smugly smirking at him. Alright... almost have the MP gathered. This guy isn''t so bad! I mean, can he dare to even fight me? I allowed the egg to enter but I bet resisting the ranbi will ensure it gets tangled and cut up. Kaden had never killed anything in his prior life but video games had given him a good advantage; he was desensitized to violence from seeing the evolution of graphic games. This by no means meant he saw violence as okay but rather that it was simply part of the world. Not only that, but war stories and crime scene photos from his family had helped reduce the idea of killing something or seeing a gruesome scene outside of combat. All the harshness Kaden endured outside of his fantasy bubble of an alternative reality may have been part of what drove him to retreat from the real world... but now he had to apply it to this new world. But the ranbi wasn''t going to make it easy. The creature turned and raised onto its hind legs, looking back through the grass and chittering in its animalistic language. Part of Kaden wished he could understand what it was saying but unfortunately he learned very quickly when he panned his camera up to look out over the hilly terrain. There were three more ranbi coming - two exactly like the last... and another with yellow-stripes on its ears. Oh no... it''s... it''s calling others to help hunt me!? As an invasive species it made sense that he was a delicacy. Though he didn''t have flowers, the Barripatch Thorn Grass was clearly absorbing the nutrients of nearby grasses or at the very least consuming the grasses in its push to expand. If they were sharing roots to sustain his life, it meant that going after him would be a bountiful meal for any herbivore. Not only did it help restore balance but it could be a good snack to any local fauna in need of preparing for winter or lots of energy! This was bad! The other ranbi padded their way up alongside their companion and all shared the exact same shit-eating grin... and advanced on him! Damn! This is bad... I need to act now! The ranbi slammed into the patch and all four of them snapped their teeth around his youngest stalks. Each bite felt like someone smashed his hand with a hammer and made his vision blur, yet Kaden refused to lose focus. It cost him 1 HP per bite for a total of four. In a matter of seconds, they had dealt a fifth of his HP!This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Growth! The ground around him erupted with blue aura and the wounded stalks rushed forward toward the heavens. Three of the ranbi were carried upwards by the rising stalks, being torn on the gold thorns and sent sailing into the air in a visceral shower of blood. His HP immediately reset to full and, as the ranbi descended, he fully encased all four within him and tried to squeeze his hold around them. The trio of ranbi that had landed were tangled up in seconds, tightly wrapped and choked by strands as Kaden struggled. Their wounds weren''t deep but every movement gave his thorns room to dig; although he had only used one move, it was his most powerful mana spell and it was extremely effective! Ow! His HP dropped two points and he looked toward the only one that hadn''t been sent flying. While the trio of non-striped ranbi were tangled and struggling, the other was chomping its way through. Every time Kaden resisted and tried to entangle it, this ranbi pushed onward and toward the core. Even if he had made himself an extra foot thick, it was obvious their power difference was too much. Fuck! This is really bad! I have no mana and won''t have enough for ten minutes to even push him out. At this rate, I''ll be dead before it''s recharged! One of the other ranbi kicked off the ground and snapped its own neck in its struggles, the painful crunch resonating in Kaden''s head with a realization that should''ve been obvious for any isekai enthusiast. That''s it! I need to kill these other three and level-up! If I can do that, I might get my mana back! Or new stats! I have to get them to die! But saying that was easier said than done; of the two remaining ranbi, neither were close to the ground. Though they were covered in wounds and had thorns digging into their flesh, he didn''t exactly have a ton of strength to capitalize on opening wounds up. His spikes weren''t meant for cutting; they were meant for repelling foes. Kaden''s options were certainly limited... but there was one idea. Kaden focused himself on the ranbi pushing its way into his body as it chipped another two HP off - leaving him at 16 HP - and tried to relax everything else. The entangled ranbi were slowly uncoiled and dropped toward the ground. The first one only took a minute before it touched the ground and immediately tried to leap, while the second came only a breath later at two minutes. But both met the exact same fate as the first of the trio; Kaden immediately focused on resisting across his entire body as each one leaped, quickly snaking and tightening as they sailed through the thorny grass. Although his barripatch''s defense and strength weren''t great, their stalks were long and malleable; they were perfect for collapsing and snaring around the form of invasive figures. Much like running through corn hurts like hell when it snaps back around you, his new body wrapped and tightened with its combined strength as one mass. The second victim didn''t break its neck but instead was suffocated, whilst the third followed in the grisly fashion as the first. Three of the four ranbi were now dead and he saw the system alert give him some relief.
Level Up! First-time combat level-up! HP and MP restored by 20%!
Level 2 Maximum HP: 20 -> 21 Maximum MP: 30 -> 35 STR: 1 -> 2 DEX: 2 -> 3 CON: 1 -> 2 CHA: 1 -> 1 INT: 10 -> 15 RES: 10 -> 11 LCK: 1 -> 1
Yes! That''s exactly what I needed! Because twenty percent of thirty-five means I gained seven MP! Aside from the full he- ow! - make that temporary full heal, that means that with what I''ve regenerated while enduring equals out to 10 MP! The ranbi with stripes on its ears advanced ever close to the egg and had barely a scratch on it. Motion had allowed him to amplify the damage dealt with its brethren so there was only one option on how Kaden could fight back. Although it was a risk, he needed to take the chance if he wanted to beat this straggler. The moment for victory was now! The UI-like image of his target appeared and went over half of his body. It was set just to the outside of his body, waiting until the ranbi finally stumbled into the core of his body. It chomped through two strands in one bite for a stagger critical that rocked Kaden down to only 6 HP. It was time to strike before it was too late! Earthy Grasp! The earthen barrier ruptured between the ranbi and the egg and the creature''s eyes widened, yet it had nowhere near the reaction time necessary. Kaden''s spell dragged it backwards and forced it off its feet, sending it rolling backwards as it pulled the critter. His extra point of strength and dexterity let him wrap it up faster as it moves, tearing and cutting it to shreds with every inch. But nothing could deal a finishing blow; the ranbi was cut up more than any creature should be, yet the damage was all shallow. It broke free of the barripatch with the walls around it... and finally was entrapped in the ring of earth on the outskirts. The short foot-high walls fell... and it was only now that Kaden realized the real risk he had taken in an earth disruption spell being cast on top of himself. His impressive brush had an impressive semi-circle cut out of it... leaving not only the egg exposed but his low HP all that more precarious. No... no! Kaden''s horror grew as the ranbi staggered itself to its feet, looking at Kaden with that smug smirk. It knew it had left him exposed, gently padding forward and bleeding all over the place. If it wanted, it could bite and trim him down from the outside nice and easily now. The magic hadn''t scared the little fucker at all. This was the end of the line for Kaden. Except the ranbi passed out, collapsing from all its blood loss within the empty divide. ... I-I won? Holy shit... I-I won! Fuck yeah! Eat that you rabbit bitch! Kaden celebrated and cheered, of course; even if no one could hear him, it was his first victory in his new world. Just some regular mortal, huh? He''d show that woman god! In thirty minutes, he''d have enough MP to cast Growth and repair a lot of the damage he''d inflicted to his form. So what if he looked a little lopsided? If I can win now... then evolving is going to be a piece of cake! I''ll evolve and complete this quest in no time! My isekai adventure is only just beginning! Mark my words! I shall make sure everyone hears of my tale... and live the life I always wanted! Hahaha... ha... Kaden stopped, spinning his camera around to look at the egg. ... Better bring you back into what''s left of my body before something bad happens. Evolution 1, Chapter 2.5 Ranbi (Rabbits That Ran At Me) In the Great Fields of Kave, the tall grass covering much of its expanse provides ample food for herbivores. Not only that, but it provides plentiful camouflage for budding species. One of these species is the humble ranbi; Kaden has so far only encountered two that would fall under their species, yet notes some differences and similarities with creatures from our Earth! There are currently two known variants of ranbi; plain-eared and stripe-eared. the plain-eared ranbi can be both male and female, while the stripe-eared one Kaden found was male. However, he doesn''t believe this to be a gender-specific change; instead, a ranbi evolves into stripe-eared when they reach level 2.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Comparing them, a single (1) stripe-eared ranbi is about equal in power to four (4) plain-eared ranbi. Their comparisons to rabbits are primarily outward anatomy; both plain and stripe-eared ranbi are able to run up to 40 miles per hour, faster than most rabbits and are more comparable to a hare. Additionally, the ranbi are far braver; this is to the point that they''ve naturally evolved to always appearing smirking. Despite their bright colors, there are two reasons to the yellow & red of the ranbi; yellow helps them blend in with wheat and dried grass, while their red ears warn predators looking down on them. As one might suspect from their speed, ranbi have a large appetite. This translates to them wanting to eat healthy grasses and roots, or even take on species of plants like the Barripatch. Additionally, the supplement their water needs from eating plants as the fields of Kave are wide-stretched with sparse surface water. Suffice to say, the ranbi are fairly simple creatures but are a common pest in the Great Fields. As far as fantasy goes, there''s nothing too drastic about them so far... but the only ones that Kaden has run into are level one and two. Evolution 1, Chapter 3 There! Back to... mostly normal! As far as isekai protagonists went, Kaden felt quite proud following his victory against the four ranbi. His level-up had been acquired through hard work, after all; the only downside was realizing his perfectly spherical overgrowth was now uneven. Rather than a circular grown arrangement of barripatch, he was now a slightly lumpy group that was at its thickest six feet. Before facing the ranbi, he had been three feet; using growth during the fight and then two more times to mend the damage to one of his flanks in the last hour, he had grown considerably large. It felt like all those years, mastering his domain and modding sandbox games like Sword & Shave: Tanner''s Pores. The only difference was that it had almost cost his life! How can all those protagonists be so happy and bounce back from near-death experiences!? I almost died on my first quest! These damn ranbi... I''ll need a proper plan... With the terrain, his plan was effectively to imitate his prior battle experience; let the ranbi invade and utilize either multiple Earthy Grasps or a Growth to disrupt them. Both spells were a good match for his anatomy and leveling up meant he''d be able to choke the life out of the little rabbit-looking bastards all the more easily. If it weren''t for his pathetic strength and dexterity, it wouldn''t be a stretch of his imagination to think of what kind of damage he could inflict with his body. Each stalk of his barripatch was more comparable to a vine than grass, while his thorns had eviscerated the ranbi the longer they were stuck in his hold. It seemed like a simple solution that he''d not only need to level-up but try to learn more spells. However, Kaden had no idea if it was possible to acquire new spells through natural learning; the help menu had mentioned learning or leveling but even in some of the most freedom-focused games, the only way to acquire magic was from the right NPC. There was plenty of isekai that utilized different methods of learning, too, which only teetered him into unease; some of them learned through the application of their prior knowledge but many others required divine intervention. And as far as he was concerned, all three of the gods who oversaw his reincarnation were complete trash as far as godly beings went. Neither of the three had given him advice or even taught him a drop of knowledge about this world! Stupid bastards... Kaden''s attention turned to the corpses... and it really struck him the gravity of his situation. Not only would he need to learn about this world on his own, but he also had to adapt quickly. Now that I''m a plant... wouldn''t these bodies make good fertilizer? Although the striped ranbi was stronger, it was simple enough moving its body; both plain-eared ranbi and stripe-eared weighed the same, letting him drag them along within his body. Although it was rather gruesome, he could simply pile them up around the egg; their bodies could act as a cushion until they broke down. It wasn''t as if he could smell anything - thankfully - while in his new plant body. It was seemingly the only sensory talent he lacked. For now, he''d focus on amassing any attacking ranbi for future fertilization and continue training his new body''s innermost grasses. While the outside tussled and fended off ranbi, the inner section could work out! He had all this protein- er... nutrients, so it only made sense to keep himself busy. Spending so much time alone in his own little world had prepared him as much as educated him; keeping yourself occupied with even minor tasks keeps your mind from losing its wit. In his situation, Kaden couldn''t afford to lose anything in his head. He wasn''t an engineer but years of survival games gave him a better leg up if this place wasn''t evolved. Retaining even video game knowledge would give him some level of advantage... hopefully. Alright, ranbi! Come at me! I''m going to defeat each and every one of you! Kaden shook small groups of grass - albeit not without the wind rustling and testing his still pathetic strength - defiantly toward the heavens without a care in the world. But the gods weren''t ready to give him a chance to rest yet; his camera circled about and settled on another gathering group of ranbi. Although they were all a bunch of plain-eared, they would serve as the perfect test dummies. Time to commence Operation Ranbi Strangle and perfect how to face them, no matter their number!
Fuck... finally! Growth! Kaden finished mending the damage from the fifth attack of the morning, watching the last bit of damage vanish while the final ranbi''s neck snapped in his grip. He had spent two days farming the ranbi for experience, yet learned nothing. Level three and four had provided similar growth as the second level, yet it wasn''t until now that he hit level five and felt a true sense of joy. It only took him three days of being in this new world but he finally reached the beginner''s peak of level five!
Level Up! Skill Vice unlocked. Acquired Stamina. Acquired Ranbi Wrangler title.
Level 5 Maximum HP: 23 -> 24 Maximum MP: 45 -> 50 Maximum SP: 0 -> 10 STR: 4 -> 5 DEX: 5 -> 6 CON: 4 -> 5 CHA: 4 -> 5 INT: 25 -> 30 RES: 13 -> 14 LCK: 1 -> 2
Wait... stamina is in this world? I mean, I guess it makes sense... but I don''t exactly get exhausted; why did I have zero before? Start! The menu leapt forth and sure enough, he confirmed the arrival of the new stat. Stamina, or SP, provided a helpful explanation.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Stamina Unlike natural stamina, the Stamina statistic is more like an alternate mana bar; a star athlete from Earth would always have 0, as we lack the ability to utilize Skills. However, for those like Kaden who have learned skills, there are some who can tap into this alternate source of power who are comparable to cultivation heroes! I guess that explains why I have so little; my dexterity and constitution are far from great compared to intellect. I guess that means intellect is also unconnected to our natural intelligence, though. I mean, I don''t feel any smarter, but looking at my intellect you''d think I''ve grown three times as intelligent or knowledgeable than when I arrived. But learning a new skill certainly had inspired some level of fascination; as weak as he was, it wasn''t like he expected much from using Vice. He back-tabbed from his Stat menu and looked at the new one: Class & Titles. He''d been able to see what class he was but he wasn''t able to really figure out much about Evolver, due to the nature of how ineffective he was with the Help option and with how the Stat menu offered very little explanation for even explaining his abnormal intellect. Class Explanation While he had access to his class before, it wasn''t until now that Kaden was able to find out more about classes. Much like fantasy tradition upholds, there are many other classes that one can switch to and take on. Not only that, but each class allows someone to gain up to 100 Levels before maxing out and allowing a Class Evolution. However, unfortunately for Kaden, he can''t swap due to only having one Class unlocked: Evolver. Evolvers are combatants that are prioritized on evolving themselves, as the name implies. Most common in animals, creatures, and transient beings, Evolvers allow someone who lacks the ability to use another Class to continue growing until they either acquire one or meet the minimum requirements for one they already have. The true reason for its lack of popularity and use stems from an unstable source of Skills and Magic, which ultimately lead to completely sporadic and branching growth patterns for anyone who uses the class. Not only that, but no one has ever raised Evolver to 100 due to how long it can take to level up; instead, most users die from a lack of flexibility or convert to another Class with their sufficiently-raised statistics giving them the ability to get a leg-up over other Classes. Titles Explanation A new menu but not a new concept, Titles are the staple of isekai and MMOs alike! More similar to the prior than the latter, Titles allow someone to experience things and gain minor buffs or advantages from the title. In Kaden''s case, his title wasn''t too impressive... but it helps answer his desire for a better method of fighting ranbi. Ranbi Wrangler - When grappling or in close-range combat with the Ranbi Species, regenerate 1 HP per minute. ... Wait, they''re actually called ranbi? That''s got to be due to it being my isekai world, right? This was at least some decent news; Kaden now knew his Class was almost as awful as his reincarnation''s species. The sooner he evolved using Evolver, the sooner he could ditch it and find something better! It sounds like a manga hero''s class - hell, it even mentions transient beings - but it also mentioned that it was used by animals! It actually made sense why the ranbi were so similar now; their evolution was due to also being the same Class as him! I can''t believe those gods are so lazy... they actually made me comparable to fauna! I know I''m not a hero or whatever but... come on, even mortals deserve better treatment. I wasn''t a great guy in my past life but surely I deserve better than being a weed getting hounded by rabbits his whole life. His body had grown to around fifteen feet in diameter now but Kaden felt smaller and more insignificant by the moment. It was no wonder the grey stick god gave him an easy quest; the ranbi corpses encircling the egg had taken nearly his entire focus to get. There had to have been at least thirty of the little shits littered around inside him; just saying with the mental image was like spitting on his prior life as a human. Kaden felt like every moment of enduring this for an egg he knew nothing about might as well have been hell; the true punishment for squandering not only his life but ruining the lives of his family. It was all a way to exact retribution for how he treated his grandmother and her work to support him. Kaden was a failure in the last life and was only considerably better here. The thoughts and emotions sank deeper and ruined his good mood. He didn''t want to test out his new Skill anymore. Kaden set to arranging the bodies in their little grotesque fort around the egg, setting them three ranbi high and two ranbi thick. The rest he just sorta left where they were; he couldn''t just feed his innermost section, after all. Besides, his roots being connected meant things could be broken down on the outer fringe of the barripatch and it''d still reach him. Yet as he resolved himself and raised his camera, a section of the ranbi pile flopped over. ... Really? Really? Kaden groaned, grabbing the three that had rolled their way off before settling them back into place. But the instant they were nice and secure, the opposite side fell. He hunched his mental brow and zoomed in, slowly raising the ranbi up. It wasn''t the work of some sort of new world beetles or death squirms; yet he couldn''t figure out why they were collapsing. If anything, them being stacked two thick means it should be more stable... right? I mean, three high isn''t that bad when they''re weighted into one another. I can''t figure out- And then he saw it; the egg within the pile shook, thunking over another section. Y-You little bastard! You think it''s funny!? You''re not even born yet! You''re a hundred years too early to mess with the likes of me, if not at least a many decades! Kaden set them up only for them to get knocked over again. As if inspecting his intent, the little egg had come to life solely for rocking around and ruining his orderly attempt to keep it safe. It wasn''t as if it shocked him too much that it was doing this; he''d seen enough anime to know this was normal for an isekai story. If anything, it actually helped him forget about how lowly he was; the patch of angry thorny grass actually had something to do that wasn''t killing ranbi. It kept it up all the way through the hour and well into the day; in fact, it carried on so long that the low-falling sun meant he''d get a chance to relax for the entire night! The ranbi had never attacked him at night, instead choosing to stay in their burrows or hellish hideaways. Kaden wasn''t sure what the real reason was but for now, he was happy. Because once the egg hatched, he''d be on his way to completing one of his isekai quests! Evolution 1, Chapter 4 Another day, but no ranbi! It was now Day 4 - or 5, depending on how one looked at it - since Kaden arrived. The egg had kept up its games until Kaden decided to let it knock all the ranbi over last night to rest. Sleeping for him wasn''t exactly the same. In fact, sleeping for him was far from normal; instead of closing his eyes and losing connection to the world around him, Kaden could keep seeing everything even while resting. He didn''t dream but felt lulled into an almost "energy-saving" mode. Part of him chalked it up to his new plant origins but in a way, it made a lot of sense that he no longer experienced human sleep while in his plant-like form. As surreal as it was, he actually preferred dreaming to the staring at stars. But this morning was going to be different and he knew it immediately; there hadn''t been a single ranbi sighting once in the last three hours. They normally struck him around breakfast and lunch, yet hadn''t even scouted his position. He wanted to get a chance to test out Vice - as the help menu didn''t work on it - but without a living target it didn''t seem to work. Unlike magic, it seemed like he''d need a proper victim to use Skills. Of course, it was possible he simply lacked prerequisites to use it on simple objects. Given he lacked feet, he didn''t expect himself to walk. Grabbing things was also far from traditional since he had to entangle it nice and slow. Kaden''s new body had a lot of flaws that made simply fighting the herbivore menace off a complete toss-up. Crack! Kaden panned his camera down, seeing the egg had fallen over. Last night, he''d left the bodies down; but this morning he had been preparing to arrange them, only for the active egg to throw itself over expecting their game. No! No, no, no! You bastard! You better not have broken! I swear, I''ll- His ranbi senses tingled and he left his words unfinished. Kaden spun his camera upward and confirmed that the ranbi had finally come. But it wasn''t just a small group this time. Instead of there being five at most, as he had seen before, there were thirteen plain-eared ranbi and two stripe-eared. The threat they possessed wasn''t too daunting - as he was an area-of-effect combatant - but something stood out in the back. Something easily twice the size of the other ranbi, with orange coloring around its thighs and red rings around its eyes and button-like nose. But most terrifyingly, that same damn smirk that all ranbi had. Motherfucker. For now, Kaden had to forget about the egg. The quest didn''t pop up telling him he failed so maybe the egg was okay. With his body barricade and few hours of solitude, he''d amassed an extra five feet of diameter. So in comparison, the battle looked something like this in Kaden''s head.
Kaden Level 5 Barripatch Thorn Grass 20ft diameter Isekai plant advantage! Ranbi x13 Level 1 Plain-Eared Ranbi x2 Level 2 Stripe-Eared Ranbi Unknown Level Big Ranbi Warrior
Even if I pad the stats and try to make my side of the table look impressive, there''s no other way to put it; these guys outnumber me and I don''t know how strong that big one is. But I have one advantage in my sheer size; I don''t hurt myself when I uproot and disconnect all the rest of myself. The last few times I''ve uprooted part of my body using Earthy Grasp, it didn''t hurt me. The only real danger came from having no MP. But now... now I have SP, too! It wasn''t as if he had anything to prove his predicament was much better than before reaching level five. Vice cost a total of 2 SP and his regeneration was about 1 SP per five minutes. That meant it would take him an hour to regenerate his 10 SP. While he could cast it five times in quick succession, it had a much longer cooldown compared to either of his spells. He could cast Earthy Grasp five times and have it ready to go in only 10 minutes with his 1 MP per minute regeneration rate. I guess I really am a spellcaster... but that''s fine. If it''s like this, I- The egg cracked again and Kaden couldn''t help but look at it. The egg was slowly opening, fracturing by the moment. It''s... it''s hatching! That just means- OW! Resetting his viewpoint to the ranbi, the first wave of the little fuckers had hit. Unlike before where they rushed blindly, they were lined up and methodically chewing their way in. Not only that, but the striped ears and the larger one were staying back with a reserve. They''d sent only six of the thirteen forward. Testing me for weaknesses, huh? Have they somehow been watching the progress of their brethren? The only advantage of this big body is that they need to chew through more of the barripatch to actually hurt me. So far, I''ve lost a single HP instead of one per bite. Forget the egg... my fight is here! If it can hatch then I might level-up mid-combat again! Kaden focused in on the middle pair of the six chowing rabbits, mustering the skill from his mind. Vice While stamina isn''t using magical power, the execution of Skills is functionally the same; they''re willed forth with their command no differently than magic. Vice is a General Skill, meaning it can be used with or without a weapon. It costs 2 MP and requires a target, but can include multiple targets that are within the start point and target of your vice. This means that if you were a squid with tentacles, you could spread all your arms wide and swipe them, hitting anything that any of the arms comes into contact with via Vice.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Vice! The grass on the outskirts immediately swung in, collapsing toward the group of six. One-by-one, they were swept up in his hold and slammed into one another. Unable to bite, they instead squirmed... but his body seemed to defy his own expectations. Rather than release them or simply stop, it struggled tighter; each sickening pop of the ranbi''s bones made him cringe, watching their bodies fall limp as the grass finally coiled them into a mangled ball. Kaden immediately let them go, all of them flopping out and collapsing in different directions. None of their allies were stunned but he sure as hell was. H-How was I so strong!? I mean... I''ve been able to snare them but it was always due to how many grasses I had wrapped around them. At this rate, I''d say... I''m about as strong as a human child when they all work together. Squeezing the life out of them shouldn''t have been so easy, but... Kaden had lost about 2 HP in the short assault... yet it had already regenerated one back from his title. Even if it wasn''t the most impressive feat, it was scary just how his hard-earned farming had suddenly exploded in value. Compared to the level one to two climb the ranbi went through, he gained an ability that actually gave him tools for doing more than growing and flinging his foes around in his own body! But that''s also when he realized what his own growth represented; it wasn''t just what he could do but what could happen to anyone who surpasses level five. And given what he saw between a level one plain-ear and a level two striped-ear, this made a lot more sense now. That big chubby bastard in the back wasn''t just bigger and slightly different colored. That ranbi... he''s also level five! The egg cracked again but Kaden didn''t look down; instead, he immediately leaped to action. Growth! The damage dealt by the little mowers mended and not a moment too soon; as the grass came crashing up through the earth and sent their bodies flying, the two stripe-eared and the remaining seven plain-eared ranbi spread out and charged. Four and one of the striped went toward the right while three and the other flanked left; the large ranbi squealed and charged straight forward, crashing into his new grass. His HP dropped an immediate six, leaving him at only 17, but only a moment later the corpses of the six came falling. Three struck the large ranbi and bounced off harmlessly, while the others sailed free entirely. Earthy Grasp and Vice! The spell flew out, dropping him to 10 MP, while the second use of Vice came a moment later; he pulled the left flank together around their stripe-eared ranbi and immediately crushed them, tightening his freed-up grass so that instead of being released, they flew off in a tumbleweed-like horrorshow. Even though it was a fatal crack session all over again, Kaden didn''t get any time to relax since he was removing parts of his body. Viscera was now sailing through the air as his vice crushed and cut, tearing at the ranbi with his thorns unrelentingly. He had enough for another combo but instead knew he had to preserve his mana. No isekai protagonist won without some method to attack. Vice! He snapped the stripe-eared ranbi up and in an instant, it was tangled up and unable to freely chow down on Kaden. The other ranbi - merely plain-eared - were not going to be able to get too far or do too much damage. Spread out as they were, they couldn''t safely eat him in a manner that would actually threaten him. His true opponent was their leader; with only 4 SP and 10 MP, his options for attacking were limited. It meant he had only two Vice uses and a single use of Earthy Grasp before he exhausted himself. He couldn''t track how much EXP he was earning either, so it was impossible to plan for a level-up. Given the level disparity and the amount of grinding it took to reach level five, this group alone wasn''t going to be enough just after achieving it. He needed to kill the big one and rely on his regeneration to stall for time to cast Vice or Earthy Grasp to finish off the others. Vice! The first use of his skill clasped his grass tightly around the ranbi''s head; its neck was much thicker and its hide tougher, barely giving him any purchase. Only a few thorns clasped in, doing little more than dragging and stalling the bigger ranbi in his tracks. All of this battle was going on below and within him, yet it felt like it was a war on a massive plain; his large scale body didn''t change how colossal this miss-match seemed. An herbivore against plant, vying for control and trying to kill one another. Apart from the fact plants didn''t often have a way to fight back against animals, Kaden had to admit that this felt far more dangerous than before. Especially when his grasses pulled up and the ranbi resumed its deadly march toward his innermost rooted grasses, tearing and pulling up the snaring barripatch with it. His HP immediately tanked another seven points. Damn, only 10 HP left... why couldn''t I have been a more healthy green!? This isn''t good... I... I don''t think I can win this. Mentally gritting his teeth, Kaden felt different than the last time this feeling came on. He had been gambling on a level-up against the striped-ear, yet now he had no back-up. It would all come down to this last move. Vice! Earthy... Grasp! Kaden''s command and mana flowed wildly, snaring the body of the large ranbi once more. His previously uprooted grasses re-rooted and bound with his reinforcements, tightening and entangling it further just before the wall smacked its legs. The fat, smug fucker rolled right over with the tearing grasses uprooting along with it. It rolled over and had nearly two inches of grass entangling it. It had been stopped after wading deep into his body; he was only feet from the egg at this point and Kaden didn''t have anything else. But once more, the ranbi broke free; it snapped and chewed at the detached grasses and any that tried snaring around it. It didn''t care that the other plain-eared were squealing as they got caught. It had come to eat Kaden and was going to damn well do it. No... not like this! I... I didn''t even get to be an isekai hero! I don''t have a harem, o-or even a true love! Damn it! When I reincarnate, I''ll- Crack! Kaden looked down and, lo and behold, the egg had been the source. But he only saw the lower half of it. He hesitatingly scanned his body, unable to find the other half... until a quest alert fired.
Protect the Egg! - Quest Update
Now that the egg has hatched, Nugget needs protection! Keep it safe until it''s ready to shed its shell!
H-Huh? Nugget? Who is- Kaden felt the wind roll over him stronger than ever before, yet there was a problem; the wind originated from where the ranbi was. He panned his camera up in time - the sweet pops of the plain-eared ranbi breaking their own necks trying to push further into him - to see the last vestiges of the winds fading. It wasn''t the wind that Kaden had felt but a shockwave; the large ranbi was lifeless and crumpled... with the most dumpy-looking piece of shit he had ever seen standing atop it. A one-eyed, blue-skinned, black and white shell-wearing ranbi slammer. It was at least three feet tall - about the size of a toddler or small child - but was far more girthy, quite reminiscent of a peg. It didn''t even have feet or hands; instead, it stood on two muscular stubs... and gave him a big blink, despite the fact Kaden lacked any physical form that he knew of. It had no mouth, no ears, or nose yet if Kaden had learned one thing, that meant very little in a fantasy isekai world. T-this... is Nugget!? Evolution 1, Chapter 5 Nugget? I mean... did they really have to give him such an awful name? Or... it? How do I even tell what gender or sex this thing is? It''s just a body with an eye. Kaden watched the creature walk - or waddle - its way around to yet another corpse, before it pulverized yet another body with a mighty stomp. The gore-filled mess wasn''t enjoyable in the slightest to watch but it rapidly accelerated how fast the body could be broken down by insects and eventually returned to the soil. Nugget had been doing this for going on three hours, taking five or so minutes between every corpse-smashing to regain its strength. Compared to me, doesn''t it seem more like an isekai? I mean... it can do all that. If it has no mouth, that means it probably has nutrients or some way to feed on mana until it grows older. That''d be the most logical step from a resurrected man''s knowledge, at least. Nugget looked his way and Kaden hastily turned his camera view a different direction. It''s like he can see me! Or hear me! But that doesn''t make any sense; I have no mouth and I want to scream, but barripatch is a stupid plant! There''s no way Nugget is hearing me! The little bunny stomper clomped his way back into view and turned to stare its big eye at him once again. Kaden grumbled and averted his camera skyward. Right now, getting distracted wasn''t an option; apart from winning that battle, there was another patch of good news. Nugget''s hatching provided a reward after all.
Acquired Mentor title. To facilitate training your new Student, you are granted the Uproot skill.
It wasn''t a level-up yet Kaden had acquired both a new Skill and Title! Mentor (Title) As a proper senpai, you have taken on a junior; steer them to the right path! ? Proper senpai must never lewd their kouhai; nor allow them to spoil themselves! ? An underwhelming senpai such as a young mentor must never take on more than one kouhai! ? While the Senpai is in a Party, the kouhai must be brought along unless the cumulative level average of the Party is more than 1/3rd higher than the kouhai! ? Worthless senpai aren''t a help at all! If the kouhai is paired with a permanently crippled or otherwise handicapped senpai, Skills and Spells may be unlocked to progress their teaching. ? Upon Class Evolution from their class, Student, this title will become inactive. Poor senpai! Whoever wrote the fucking tooltip for Mentor deserves the axe from the isekai development team! But... this skill... Uproot (Skill) A Personal skill that cost 5 SP and is learned by Plantoids and classes specialized in the Earth element. Can only target the user. When used, the person''s body resonates with the ground and allows them to pull free. If re-cast by Plantoids or with root-functioning individuals, the user will bury themselves as long as the terrain their roots are touching are able to sustain them. If I learned the skill and it''s to allow me to teach... does that mean this body doesn''t actually require the dirt? I mean, my roots are all connected... but the wind has always been so strong. Every time it picks up, the parts of me exposed from the grass sway. Kaden pans his camera down, looking over himself. His camera''s panning allowed him to see much of his body. Apart from his damages - still needing to finish mending - he was already so large. If he kept getting worried about the wind, wouldn''t he go nowhere? The ranbi had organized a group of this size already, so the possibility of an even bigger group coming wasn''t beyond possible. The Great Plains were something he knew very little about; isekai luck only went so far, even for those who were lucky. Unfortunately for Kaden, he only had a Luck of 2. Well... by now, my SP has regenerated... so it won''t hurt to at least try it. The worst that can happen is I tumbleweed away. Up...root? Kaden closed his third-person camera off as he felt the ground churning. Nugget flopped over, kicking and swinging its nubs but Kaden supporting wrapped his nearest grass around it. Although Kaden wasn''t very strong, Nugget wasn''t too heavy when spread out among all of his grass. But the protagonist also lifted up the ranbi bits and few remaining corpses, feeling everything rising and the wind bearing down on him. Retreating now by recasting would mean another hour, so he persevered through the doubting and pushed blindly - in more ways than metaphorically - onward! Until he didn''t rise any further. Kaden hesitantly opened his view and looked down... to see his malformed figure standing on a plethora of two (2) feet-long roots. Each root that either wove between the grass strands to connect them or pushed defiantly against the ground to stand him up was breathtaking; despite the smeared dirt stains, the roots of the Barripatch Thorn Grass were covered in grains of silver. A slight shimmy didn''t shake them off, either; just moving made an eerie rattling, the soft dinking of the metal-on-ground in unison making it loud. I use gold to protect myself and my roots have silver; just what kind of plant is this? But if these can make a sound... then that means I can do it.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I can communicate with Nugget!
After unraveling Nugget and allowing him to settle down on the outside of the barripatch, there were a few things that Kaden had taken the time to learn in preparation. His vision had severely dropped in distance upon uprooting; as he expected, his plant body was communicating with nearby grass to detect the ranbi from further out. As it was now, he could only see about five feet out from his body. But more importantly, his uprooted figure meant he could do far more interesting things. Growth! The spell worked its magic... but this time, while uprooted, he curled. The silvery roots angled and rushed forward, the new grasses reaching out and grabbing hold of his older grasses to twist and turn with control. Kaden, while uprooted, had full control over how he could grow. Redirecting meant that he didn''t need to just spam it non-stop to repair damage; instead, Kaden could now rely on Uproot to allow him to shape most of the Growth usage into the patches of missing grass! In only one go, rather than his estimated ten or so, he had completely mended the damage to his perfect circular form. Or at least mostly; he couldn''t make it perfect but that was just due to the human eye lacking that amount of quality control. The point is that he doesn''t need to spam it and grow excessively large. With this newfound ability, however, Kaden also tried a new idea; pulling and reshaping himself. Being able to cover about 20 feet across is nice and all, but maybe there would be an actual reason to turn into a tumbleweed. Tucking and pulling himself into a tighter ball, Kaden was able to emulate Hekroid''s protagonist and her astounding curl-up... but he was still fairly big. Rather than twenty, he had become a 4x4x4 ft sphere. Moving around was mostly the same if not easier, as he could start moving and pull his weight around within the ball to adjust his rolling force. this was a pretty nice ability in the scope of things. Not that I can use it here with all these hills. Slowly uncurling, Kaden turned his attention to the more important topic: communication with Nugget. I have two choices... given neither of us knows Morse code, there''s no chance that we can go with using it. So we''ll have to rely on a number system than a language. Nugget was still staring at him so Kaden would have to try and use his camera to help convey this. Given Nugget seemed to know how to look into the depths of his soul, it made sense his vision was an additional signal. As for his body, the roots could tap or scrape while his grasses could shake intensely. Not to mention he could clack or click his thorns together. So I have five types that I can assign in my number system... then we should go with simple training. Firstly, I''ll teach Nugget to come; the loudest noise I have is shaking, so... Shaking his camera around, Kaden waited until Nugget gave a tiny hop of recognition before turning his camera skyward. The stumpy critter blinked its massive eye, barely in his view... but turned and walked away. So Nugget and I already have a form of communication; if I raise my camera, Nugget takes it as a sign to do whatever it wants. Given it wants my attention, this is how I can make it understand good behavior and bad. It''s like a child or pet; all it wants is attention, so if I utilize my camera, I can do it! My isekai adventure is also partially a Life RPG, huh? Kaden lowers his camera and rustles his figure, instantly drawing Nugget''s attention from its exploration of the grass nearby. It looks over but doesn''t come close. Kaden raises his camera and it narrows its eye judgingly... before walking forward. Kaden lowers it and Nugget relaxes. He gently pats the shell-covered noggin in approval. Good! Now, let''s spend the rest of the day doing this. We need to be ready for when the next group of ranbi come by. I might actually have a new strategy soon, too, if we decide to relocate. I mean... clearly you don''t need anything if you lack a mouth... probably. Nugget couldn''t read his mind - Kaden thought, at least - but if it needed something then he was certain it''d find a way to communicate. The only way it could speak, however, was with stomps. Or a nubby clap. Either way, the rest of the day was going to be rather interesting...
Kaden & Nugget''s Communication, Core Lessons After the day was over, Kaden had deciphered an adequate level of basic communication. Yes and No simply used his a nod or shake of the camera. ? Do Whatever, a simple raise of the camera to dismiss Nugget. ? Come, Kaden shakes his entire form''s grass so its rustles can lure Nugget. ? Go Over There, a combination of shaking, looking at something, and shaking again. ? Danger, a use of scraping his roots or shaking his grasses without stopping. ? Counting, up to a total of ten via tapping his roots or clicking his thorns together. Despite his best efforts, these were the only commands that Nugget could understand while also making a language that didn''t rely solely on using Uproot. However, Nugget was able to emulate them in its own ways. ? Kaden''s Camera became Nugget''s vision or swaying of its body. ? Tapping or clicking are mimicked by stomping its stubby legs. ? Shaking or scraping are done through shaking the shell wrapping its dome. Alright... Uproot. Kaden''s roots burrowed and snared the dirt once more, choking their way back into the fresh dirt. His lessons had allowed him time to make one final change for tonight''s sleep; Kaden had Uproot-spammed like a child button mashing, using the Skill to clear and cut down plenty of grass. Most of it, he ferried into his bloody mess... but some of it was set-out near the center of his body for Nugget. The little guy had a soft bed so there was no need to sleep in the gore, but in time they would need to bathe him. Unfortunately, the water beneath the surface only provided sustenance for him; his roots soaked it in overtime and it wasn''t as if he knew water magic. Kaden wished he could, though. Water-ever, for now, I''ll just have to make do. Now that I can move... tomorrow, Nugget and I will use our new language to begin exploring. Before the end of this week, I need to find a proper solution to beating the ranbi... something that will let me keep killing them without issue. A normal isekai guy would have upgraded off of rabbits by now, but the difficulty has been too much. But now, with Nugget and that "Party" option - if I can discover how to use it - I have a chance to truly power-level in safety. I don''t know what level Nugget is nor how strong it is... but it doesn''t matter. Before tomorrow is over, I''m going to power-level my way to level ten and pray I can finally get my first evolution! Kaden shook a few blades defiantly and proudly... but grumbled as the reality hit him that he''d need to handle the issue with Nugget''s well-being first. After they found water for it to bathe or clean with, then they would power-level him. Writer Talk: Chapter 5 So, it''s now Chapter 5 of Kaden''s first evolution. Suffice to say, this writing warm-up series has actually been very beneficial for me recently. And I''m not talking about economically or view-wise. Instead, I mean creatively. Recently my writing has been rough due to health issues, to the point it was slowing down my other writing efforts off-site for a while. Before even talking about how drained I was from work, my health had been getting really poor until some recent medicine changes. They hit like a brick but work... and with my health recovering, I realized I wanted to do more writing. As I said, however, I had been slower and slower with very little writing of more recent work to get me a place to work from. So I took a meme character, Barricade-chan, from one of my tabletop campaigns I run and spun it. For context, Barricade-chan is an object that appeared in the campaign and protected my players from a boss without breaking. It was so popular of a joke that it earned itself an emoji in our Discord. The basic gist was that Barricade-chan''s sole goal was to protect others. That, to me, was what led me toward isekai; particularly, I draw a lot of inspiration from isekai themes as they''ve become a very prominent form of manga in more recent years than before. But I''ve had a fascination with the genre far longer with series sharing similar vibes like .//hack that trapped people in a different world. My most recent reading has also incorporated some long-standing and well-polished manhua/manhwa, too, which helped reinforce that I was positive I could make an idea from it. I created Kaden and set it on my planning board, where I slowly pieced it together as I brainstormed. Fun fact: Kaden''s name came from "Barricading"; friends of mine cut it the word short when we play certain games like Rainbow Six Siege or ArmA, generally referring to "they''re at the cade" or "I''m ''cading the door". I hadn''t realized that my creative drive recently has felt very limited, despite running many campaigns and my writing being very open in what I''m allowed to do. I had a lot of ideas I wanted to do but felt restricted trying to do. With Evolution Barricade, that changed; I just did what I wanted and toyed with the ideas, fiddling them into shape until it looked presentable and made sense. For an isekai satire that''s also an isekai, I opened up myself to a whole new theme and range that I could manipulate in any direction. Hell, I even pulled out my paint.NET and made some quick doodles (as you''ve seen).Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. For the first time in months, since I''d not had the time to run or even attempt my other fictions here, I had an opportunity to write and create without apprehension or concern. I was writing JUST to write. I made the decision that I wouldn''t do more than a cursory pass via Grammarly so that I didn''t worry about anything too glaring as far as mistakes go. I guess the best way to put it is that is a nice breath of fresh air! I don''t normally use exclamation points... but with this story, I can. I''ve been doing a lot of physically-aimed writing and shirking on my dialogue, yet now I can talk or hit whenever I want. I kept the stats simple and branched out multiple paths and basic footstone that could work on their own, all so that I didn''t need to worry about hyper-expanded branching. Hell, I''ve been intentionally miswriting my footnote since Chapter 1. It''s little things here that give me so much more freedom that I try my best to ignore ratings or views. I try to ignore the voice telling me "it''s just a silly warm-up, work on something else." Getting to enjoy writing again has me being productive and writing large word counts again instead of scrambling out less than a hundred per session/day. Everyone who''s giving my writing here a chance, thank you. While I''m making this story solely from my own personal enjoyment and chance to write freely (flooding it with shitposts and references to things like blatant product-ripping in manga), your views and comments always help cheer me up or make me think. Royal Road hasn''t produced a large following for me but that''s fine because I don''t need one. If I can make a story that folks enjoy and that I enjoy writing, without the hassle of doubting or picking myself apart over mistakes... Then that''s fine, right? Anyway, I hope you look forward to another sample cut of Evolution Barricade. This will be dropping alongside Chapter 5, as I have more writing to do today that isn''t Evolution Barricade-related. I''m still not sure what I''ll do with my other Royal Road stories but for now I''m happy and this fits into my needs. Going forward, I hope you enjoy the story and work as much as I do. Oh, and if you''d like me to focus on something in the next Writer Talk, comment below or send me a message! Whether you want a Q&A or just want to ask me about something, I don''t mind at all. Evolution 1, Chapter 6 It was finally time; Kaden had all the tools he needed to finally leave this non-stop hell-hole of open-field and find a proper water source. Most isekai protagonists found water, babes, and their mega-cheat by now. Unfortunately, his week in this strange, new world was far from simple as far as a reincarnation isekai went. Not only had he come too close to death multiple times but his growth was significantly slower than most. Or at least it felt that way. Exceptions to the formula existed but all his years of studying the genre had sparsely done more than reinforce that a true isekai was about the rapid escalation of the world-hopper. Maybe it was the fact his tale was one of reincarnation that was slowing him down... but with Nugget depending on him, there wasn''t any more time to lose wishing for a speed-up. The ranbi killing-solution would need to come once they were safe and had water to wash the stumpy fucker off. Okay... Uproot! The grassy hero lurched and tore free, shaking his longest grasses to draw Nugget back. The creature''s muscles and size were too heavy to ride along among the bodies, so, for now, it would simply walk alongside him. But a more interesting change was also helping to alleviate the weight that was amassing on his form: mites. The decomposers had shown up before any other decomposer and had begun the arduous task of breaking down the bodies. For now, they weren''t even after his grasses. The little things were too small to see very well but Kaden knew they were around. Perhaps later, he would find a way to further inspect them. Nugget, in particular, seems to dislike them; whenever they try crawling around near it, Nugget stomps them. It might be the mites in this field fear me but are willing to try digesting normal creatures. It''d certainly explain why all this grassland hasn''t been tapped. Water lies only beneath the surface, so there must be humans who''ve tried. As the pair walked - or rather moved slowly, due to Kaden''s roots being much slower than Nugget could run - he took note of the new option Party and a new title Amateur Leader. While the party menu was entirely like one might suspect, it was surprising to know that Nugget had partied up with him. Their lack of verbal communication hadn''t given him a proper manner of checking it but perhaps it was waiting for them to start adventuring before it properly assigned the party. Of course, Kaden had known there were some party mentions before from his stupid Mentor title. But like Mentor, Amateur Leader was much more simple whilst the party system granted him access to some other knowledge. Party Information The main advantages of any Party Menu are simple; Kaden''s was no different. He could see only the important factors a party may need to know or share. ? He could see the Cumulative Level, Current and Total HP, Current and Total MP, and the Current and Total SP of his party members. ? Certain titles and Personal skills could influence what was visible, as the help tip mentioned. ? Party sizes had a limit; his currently was set to 3. It was quite likely that the Party menu in the future would become much more helpful or better... if he made or met more friends than Nugget, anyway. But it did give him some simple stats for the little shell-wearing warrior. Nugget was Level 5, with 100 HP and 40 SP. Given Nugget''s lack of an MP stat, it was safe to assume it was zero or that Nugget lacked any magic to warrant it. Amateur Leader A leader taking the first steps into party management; can only lead up to two others. While this person is leading the party, all lower-leveled characters gain a level-based percentage increase to experience. If a young knight is leading a party at a cumulative level 10 and his squires are level 4, he grants a 6% increase to each individual squire. This example is not representative of how actual levels work, merely this title''s mechanics! In a lot of ways, Kaden was actually glad that he had the title moreso than anything else. If he could have a party up to three members in size, it might pay off to capture a ranbi and try to learn some sort of taming skill or magic. Even a level one ranbi could be held in reserve, given the chance to soak up experience... if that was actually possible in this world. So far, he hadn''t been partied with Nugget but the two of them seemed to be sharing. Until he was able to actually track his experience count it was impossible to know just how leveling others up could work. Kaden couldn''t let that discourage him, though; being grass wasn''t all too bad, even if he only had his central questline egg companion to help him for eternity. Although he had to admit part of him yearned to meet others who were human-like in some capacity. Even dwarves would be fine. Or orcs. Or demons. Kaden needed to find out if this world had "sides" or was just a general fantasy realm at some point, too. If I''m on the evil side, I don''t know how I''ll fare; but I guess it wouldn''t be too bad. A nice, thick-thighed succubus girlfriend might be awe- Nugget''s shell made a quick shake and Kaden lowered his gaze; they had been walking for only a short time but Nugget had detected something. It took him a few minutes to trail along and up over the hill, his camera panning forward and over Nugget.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Ahead, the fields kept going just as he expected; no tries as far as he could see. The hill was fairly high and with his extra height from his third-person camera, he could see much further than a normal human might. He had no way to adequately know if the sun rose and fell in the east or west because determining which way was north or south wasn''t the sort of skill he had. But the fact the sun could rise and descend without revealing anything in the great hills stretching beyond meant he was deep in this terrain; either that or just unlucky enough to not see an end to it. They don''t call this place the Great Fields for nothing. The only reason I even know the name of this place is because of that ancient quest notification. Is this part of my punishment for the things I did before dying? Being stuck, roaming this vast nothingness and being attacked all the time? A companion that can''t talk or relate to me? Kaden truly hadn''t taken stock of just how bad it could be without encountering another being able to speak or communicate in some advanced manner. There were tales of men who went mad, even with the companionship of animals, in the far stretches of the world''s wilds and frontiers. Notably, there are even some of those who went insane amidst urban eras whilst completely shutting the outside world out. No matter how the man shook it out, his situation grew dimmer with every discovery no matter how much he thought he grew. But his camera rotations and sulking ended the instant he spun back on the end of his three-sixty sight; he could see the telltale shimmer of blue. Water! Kaden set off, giving a short shake so Nugget hustled along with him. The grasses brushing around his organized body weren''t too hard to deal with; it was the first true thing outside of pain or bodies passing through him to provide some semblance of texture to his world. Sensory information wasn''t easy to parse in his new plant-like body but whenever he brushed through thickets and his roots clanked their silvery strands off stones beneath him, Kaden could feel. All that time he had wasted hadn''t numbed him to the sensations of nature but in this new world, he couldn''t help but think of the itchy tug of the grasses. The shredding vibrations whenever he used his thorns to cut and tear his way through made him all the more excited to reach the water. As a plant, water could represent many things; drowning, of course, but also drinking and bathing could all be experienced with it. His roots drank all the time but their supply was minimal due to relying on ground moisture and morning dew. As he passed over the last hill, Kaden finally saw it; a wide about fifteen feet in diameter. It wasn''t deep - as he could see stones at the bottom of the pool - but still sank almost a foot and some inches deep. Not deep enough to trouble Nugget nor himself, when he thought about it; he could always roll up into a ball to traverse something like that. Nugget waddled its way into the pool without any hesitation, plopping down in the shallow shore and kicking its legs to stir up small waves. ... Well, I guess you are young. Kaden waited and watched until Nugget grew bored only a few minutes later, blinking its eye at Kaden before waddling around to explore. It was now or never; Kaden pushed forward... and let his body float across the surface while his outer body carried him forward. One advantage of his plant-like body was that he was lighter than any human; even though he couldn''t reach the bottom, his blades were perfectly safe with his roots intersecting and stitching a raft-like spread. Not only was he light and somewhat buoyant, but his roots made it easier to spread himself even further to negate his weight. In a matter of seconds, Kaden had gone from moving slow to simply gliding, using his own momentum and roots to kick his way through and over the water. Only when he reached the other side - completely covering the pool - did his roots snare all the bug-ridden bodies and hoist them, moving them all toward the center. I''ve seen how my body works before, so this isn''t rocket science; I''m far bigger than this pool, which means that the parts of me outside the water can release or draw in plenty of air. Not only that, but once I bury my roots they won''t be too submerged. If I use all the weight and have a little patience, I''ll start to sink at the middle... which means... Kaden sank alright; inch by inch, he drifted lower and through the murky water. It felt a lot like washing or even dipping your hand in a water-filled basin; part of him was wet but it was entirely unique. His immense height meant his blades stood well above the water so maybe it was even comparable to walking into a puddle; even though his roots drew in water to sustain him, he could also restrain that function like one might close their mouth. He didn''t risk drawing in any of the bloody wash water from Nugget''s stubby legs or even risk finding out if it was dirty; instead, Kaden''s roots reached the bottom and dug their way deeper, pushing and pumping through the dirt just enough before snaking in with watertight burrows for his root. Now... Uproot! His roots immediately went rigid in their burrows and the ones outside of the small pond burrowed into the dry ground around it; they enlarged to properly get good seals, preventing any water from sinking past and into the holes. Their short venture - which had been almost five hours somehow - had finally found the water they needed... and now that Kaden had rooted, both of them could use it. Nugget could rinse himself clear and the bodies would be kept on the short stretch around him. After a few growths, he''d have a further buffer zone between his core grass and the surrounding shorter grasses; he''d pile the bodies up and form a barrier to slow down any opposition. Nugget was sleeping more and more outside of Kaden''s body anyhow so it was fine. With this, not only did Kaden have a new home with a bit more to look at... but he had actual water. The Ranbi weren''t very tall compared to Nugget but going after him meant that they''d need to go deeper. The larger he became, the more grass you had to destroy to harm his HP, after all; if they couldn''t reach his deepest parts, it meant he was safe. But for all he knew, there was a bigger ranbi or creature out there; he needed a way to properly power-level to round this week out. And with this newfound environmental blessing paired with the ranbi''s size, he had it. I don''t need to kill the ranbi anymore; if I can get them into the water, wrap them up properly... I can simply drown them. Even if they are monstrous little smug shits, they''re still living animals. They don''t have lungs and their similarities to rabbits are too uncanny. If I use this water... not only can I keep Nugget clean but I can kill our enemies that much faster. I can grow safely with this pond, kill efficiently, and keep a better eye on Nugget. From now on, I am the master of these plains! It''s time! Time to power level so I can evolve! Evolution 1, Chapter 7 Though it has been about two weeks, can I really say this was power-leveling? Kaden watched the bubbles of his most recent ranbi victim stop flowing to the surface, slowly slipping his grasses down and slowly wringing its neck. His killing process was very simple - Nugget would weaken any large ranbi while he would grab the weak or smaller ones, hoist them into the fold, and submerge their heads. He''d wait until they ran out of oxygen, which took about a minute, and then ensnare their necks. This may have seemed like overkill but the protagonist had learned quite quickly it was necessary; ranbi were masters at playing dead, it seemed. It actually seemed possible that this might have been his natural habitat, as their instincts to play dead only connected with drowning. But in reality, a ranbi would run out of oxygen only to be able to recover as long as they didn''t stay submerged for more than an additional thirty seconds. This could be longer depending on the size or age or level... but overall, they didn''t last much longer than that. The best and most humane way to put them down, as he learned, was to tighten his hold around their necks once the oxygen ran out; this allowed him to squeeze them far tighter and not waste too much energy trying to fight their oxygen-filled muscles. He wasn''t particularly strong but even when concussed the larger ranbi had left him drained when he did it improperly. For two whole weeks now, he had been killing ranbi; and in that time, he had reached level nine. It wasn''t anything to raise his nose to but his growths had continued being nothing more than the same; lots of small increases with his MP and Intellect being the main components to jump. Nugget''s level had only reached eight; he was only ahead because most of the kills were done solely by Kaden, whilst Nugget''s aid came into play only for larger or more difficult ones. Not that the lazy hatchling minded much; it was content to sit around and watch. Staring the entire time. It wasn''t an ideal way to grow up but the god wouldn''t have given Kaden the egg if he wasn''t fine with this. Unless Kaden or that grey fucker weren''t living up to their ends of this reincarnation story. Now, come on you little bastard. Let''s hear you- The ranbi kicked and its neck popped so loud that even submerged Kaden heard it. But it didn''t surprise him nearly as much hearing the familiar sound he had heard a few days ago.
Level Up! Special Class Benchmark: Forced Evolution is now in effect. Evolution Choice(s): Barripatch Hinderbush Due to lack of additional options, proceeding with Forced Evolution.
Wait, Forced Evolution? What- does this mean I''m going to get stronger? What''s a Hinderbush? Is it a monster? Anything is better than this stupid grass! Come on and- Kaden was interrupted as his camera went dark. He saw nothing... but felt everything. It was like his body suddenly went through the most painful growth spurt yet; like your fingers growing and your muscles developing all in an instant. But when his vision returned, he saw the latter part of his evolution. It wasn''t like in some settings or games where it had some sort of special effect; instead of being flashy, the grasses at the core of his patch grew thicker and wound tightly together into a harder form. Thorns clacked and linked, melting and merging into a thin layer that reinforced and tightened the fibers. They dried and shifted into wood... and from there, the grasses began pushing upward and outward. In seconds, the core and tallest of his grass grew out and wide... until it formed a strange, dead bush. W-wait... A-All I did was grow into a bush with grass?! What the fuck!? Gods, why are- The bush abruptly snapped and cracked, its branching sticks of gold erupting out and giving way to clusters of big, prickly leaves spattered with fragments of its gold inlaid between their stems. Flowers that looked more like chunks of ore burst from its splendor next, each one blossoming into palm-filling "fruits" of iron.
Evolution Complete! Race has now changed from Barripatch Thorn Grass to Barripatch Hinderbush! Skill Map unlocked. Skill Codex unlocked. Acquired Nature, Basic Affinity Skill.
Level 10 Maximum HP: 28 -> 50 Maximum MP: 75 -> 100 Maximum SP: 30 -> 50 STR: 9 -> 15 DEX: 10 -> 15 CON: 9 -> 15 CHA: 9 -> 15 INT: 65 -> 100 RES: 19 -> 25 LCK: 2 -> 5
The sea of information from this level-up nearly overwhelmed Kaden, even before the final part of his transformation. The brief anger and frustration at unavoidable pain paled in comparison to his awe and unease. Evolution had done a lot more than provide a simple level-up; most of his stats had risen by at least five levels worth of improvements. Compared to Nugget''s HP, Kaden had jumped to half the total the little guy had, whilst he had been about a quarter of it moments before. Evolution in this world is completely busted... i-isn''t it? I mean, I hate that I''m still a plant and all, but... holy hell. I was easily killing ranbi before but now... h-how strong are my moves in comparison? At this point, it''d be easy to think I could beat almost a hundred of the smaller ones with ease. Even the big ones probably wouldn''t even need Nugget to beat anymore! But now... it was time to investigate what all of this meant. The Map skill was probably straight forward, but the Codex bit and the Basic Affinity were probably something more. More than likely, they would give him answers to more about the fundamental nature of this world! Map True to its name, the Personal Map Skill grants the user the ability to see a top-down representation of the area. The help menu indicates that the skill can evolve and augment with other skills, but at its most basic form it isn''t too great; Kaden can see himself and his party members, as well as any terrain he has previously been to in one massive map. Very few details are marked and the map is comparable to early generation RPG games; really only useful for a general idea of where you are and guiding off of obvious or massive landmarks. Codex Although it might sound odd to some, Codex is a skill synonymous to Journals or Encyclopedia; a way to store and access information one has learned about the world. But the Personal Codex Skill is somewhat far better than that; it reveals its own menus, allowing Kaden to sort through game-like archives of information. Untold question marks line the side and only a handful of categories - Fauna, Flora, Magic, and Region - currently revealed. The depth of the Codex also stores all current Help hints at the back, allowing Kaden to hastily review any Help notice without having to navigate windows. Neat!If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Nature, Basic Affinity Though it calls itself a skill, this is honestly a lot more like a title to Kaden. However, maybe there are more acute differences between a Title and a Skill; Skills can be chained into actions, while Titles can modify far more. A Personal skill, Nature, Basic Affinity is simple: it grants the person who owns it a reduction of costs and an increase of potency to any Nature Magic-using spell or skill. Given how insanely fast his intellect growth was, it makes sense that he picked something up. In terms of practicality he only had one spell that this worked with: Growth. So now he likely could grow better and stave off the increase in cost that will assuredly come at some point. A good pick-up for a plant! What he gained skill-wise was almost just as nice and useful as the stat gain! Kaden felt a little less like garbage now that he could actually do more than destroy the lives of ranbi. For once he could do something he enjoyed: reading. But the sheer amount of knowledge that he now had was certainly impressive; his Codex had already logged entries for the ranbi, Nugget, and his own races. The ranbi were all listed alongside their level ranges, with their habits and preferred attack patterns he had been studying all displayed beneath each one''s page. Weakness to Water magic... maybe that''s why they built up that resistance to drowning? I guess they are small and can''t swim well. Either that or they turn into flaming rabbits later on. Gods help me if they do! Nugget''s page... though... is empty? The only information the Codex had on Nugget was its image and name. It was true that he knew very little at all about it... but stranger still was that Nugget''s egg was beside its image. And its level range was from one to five. Wait, Nugget hatched at level five? That''d mean Nugget was born naturally ahead of the ranbi. That might mean that egg-based creatures may have advantages over live-birth ones, right? Maybe that applies to certain plants. Or... maybe humans, too? But to think that Nugget was technically already level five when I hatched it... I had just thought it rose through levels faster. Maybe that''s why its level has been rising slower; does Nugget have some sort of natural headstart but requires more experience to grow? All of these questions seemed like good ones to get answers for but none were really achievable without extreme conditions. He had been here for two weeks but hadn''t seen a pregnant ranbi even once; capturing and taming two so that he could test whether or not they could breed would take an immense amount of time already, but it wasn''t like he knew how long they''d take to have a litter of bunnies. In reality, he had a much more pressing matter to cover with his own codex entries. The Barripatch entry was so far the only thing under Flora... but it also repeated itself under Region. Reading into his own species was important firstly so, for now, he looked into the Thorn Grass and Hinderbush''s page. He didn''t really learn anything new about the Thorn Grass - except mentions to Barripatch being plastered all over it - but the information on the Hinderbush made him stop dead in his tracks. The Barripatch Hinderbush An evolution of Grey Stickman''s invasive grasses, the Hinderbush is often seen when a Thorn Grass survives for a few days and is allowed to feed on nearby creatures or plants. A tough bush replaces its centermost grass, forming of solid gold and sprouting Iron Pods. These pods initially will be dormant and merely add to its defensive power, but as the Hinderbush grows in strength and continues consuming wildlife it may begin to activate these in its unique Machina-spell Blast Pod. These act as a natural catalyst similar to a Mage staff, allowing the Hinderbush to cast outside of its element categories. Known Element Weakness: Fire Machina spell? There''s an element of magic called Machina? Then... would that be the opposite or parallel of Nature? Maybe I''m not so unlucky getting this as my evolution, but... what gives? The Hinderbush normally reveals itself in a few DAYS? I barely even survived two weeks before I acquired it. Is it because I was sharing the experience with Nugget or-... no... it must be because my enemies were all underleveled as I tried advancing higher. A level five enemy might be good for experience at level five, but maybe when I hit six, it made its value only a fraction of its prior value. Every time I fought enemies stronger than me, they helped accelerate my growth... or if I fought a sheer number that it was effectively that. But now I''m fighting only a vast majority of enemies I can easily sweep away. Experience might be based not only on Level and number of foes... but also on the difficulty of the fight itself. Hopefully, he would acquire more information soon on how Experience worked. But he sidelined that thought and continued on into Magic. Magic A similar concept to Stamina, Magic is a unique source of abilities that draws upon one''s Mana. Mana is naturally generated within the body but may also accumulate in the environment, allowing different forms of casters to originate. All magic can be cast so long as the user knows its incantation name, but if they lack the Intellect for its base minimum it will prove impossible to learn or cast. This can be resolved, however, through the use of a catalyst: these include items like a staff, object, or body artwork depicting or written in the incantation of a spell. Natural catalysts - such as a magic horn or eye - also exist. All magic can be categorized into a basic group of Core Elements while each of these is paired. More elements are known to exist, yet information on them can only be truly utilized upon discovery. However, all these elements are born and originate from one of the eight. In order of power from weakest to strongest, the pairs are: ? Wind and Earth; though weak, these elements have the most diverse level of utility in the basic category of magic. It can be as simple as flying or shaping, but these elements are what formed the basis of the world. ? Fire and Water; as the byproduct of Wind and Earth creating the world, Fire and Water are stronger but lack the same level of control and utility of the prior elements. Instead, these elements are thought to evoke change; masters of shaping or harnessing power stem from these elements clashing or working in tandem. ? Nature and Machina; from fire and water came nature. In its void, came machina. The earth was shaped by flame to form great mountains of metal while water brought life to shores. Although these elements are the third strongest in the world, their magic is rare; as an abstract form of magic it serves quite difficult to learn yet can grant powers to shape the very environment of the world itself. ? Life and Death; these are the strongest of natural elements but are believed to be some of the hardest to master. As nature started to grow, life nestled in its bosom. As it flourished, Machina was used to cause death. Healers and necromancy alike originated as a form to try and combat the harshness of the prior elements and their clashing, bringing balance and ensuring no more elements formed. Magic, to put it simply... was a lot more complex in this world. The elements had all spawned each other, with each pair growing stronger than the last yet harder to learn and control. That meant someone who could heal was immensely rare in this world, while those who could bring back the dead even more so. As an isekai protagonist, his placement at the second-best pairing wasn''t awful. Having an affinity for Nature meant that Kaden was already ahead of the curve as far as he was concerned. But there were things in all this that pointed to questions he wanted answers for. It mentioned he could harness Machina spells and that his species was favored by Grey Stickman. That definitely described the thing he saw but to actually think the strange deity''s name was Grey Stickman was a tad goofy. But if he was a favored species, maybe there was more he needed to know. Kaden still had one more category left; the Region one. The Great Planes of Kave were there, of course, but a quick glance revealed little to nothing; just that it was a massive grassland. It was likely he would discover more by ear than by Codex. But there was another option there too: Barripatch Islands. Well, it''s not like I can find out that I''m a fuck-evil waste of garbage at this point. If I''m favored by a god, it can''t be all that bad. I mean, unless he''s a hated god... then maybe it''d be bad. But now that I have evolved and need to discover more about myself... I need to look. After this, I decide my next move. Whether or not I stay here and try to keep farming or venture off, it all relies on whatever I find in there. Time to figure out what my place in the world is supposed to be. Evolution 2, Chapter 7.5 The world of Brodgar is quite different from our world. Its compactness born from its youth and a lack of a true age of exploration, little of its surface has been identified. As far as I''m concerned, the discoveries granted to me through Region in the Codex only are relevant on two accounts. The Great Plains of Kave, where I reside, and The Barripatch Islands. The latter needs a lot more time to break down, but I unlocked another codex entry while reading the first. So, I might as well start with where this all began: here. You know, where I am now. The Great Plains of Kave One might have expected an isekai hero like me to have started somewhere fantastical. But these plains are desolate, filled with ranbi all trying to devour heroic plants like myself or feast on innocents like Nugget. After reading the codex entry, I''ve found out that there are about four other species native to this place -- of which Nugget is not among -- for a total of five. Assumedly, the grasses that I blend in among and compete with for turf would be one of them... but it might be it''s merely trodden grass rather than a soul reincarnated anew. But this is beside the point! The truth is... The people of this world abandoned the plains almost three-hundred years ago. The codex entry isn''t specific on why they did this. Based on how I''ve dealt with the ranbi, I can''t imagine them being the culprits. Rather, I imagine it must be due to the lack of water; while digging wells might be possible, I''ve run into only corrupted and dirtied ponds. Without flowing water, only the plants can make use of the water beneath the soil long enough to wait out renewing rains. It''s possible that ranbi burrows allow them to find shallow reservoirs and subsist off them... but I''m not entirely comforted to know how absolutely hostile to humans this place is. Geographically, however, it gets a lot more interesting and gives me more clues. Or, I suppose, alternate theories as to why they abandoned it. The fields of Kave actually have a coastline; it''s a sea-resting region that makes up part of a much greater country known as Gardril. Its north, northeast, and eastern borders line a place known as the Sea of Helmuth. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The codex entry for it is rather tame, though; it''s merely a stretch similar to a channel but much wider, separating the mainland of Gardril from The Barripatch Islands. Sailors apparently use it to sail between the Northern Ocean and somewhere called the Dividing Ocean. The codex entries for those, however, aren''t in yet. Suffice to say, it''s a pretty unknown location without any data connected to it. But the reason I brought the place up in the first place? The fact that the Barripatch Islands are across the sea means that there are more things like me. If Thorn Grass or even Hinderbush are naturally hostile, it''d be pretty damn terrifying. The Thorn Grass feeds on creatures and plants, after all... which means that it might be possible to feed on people. My own power comparison aside, that''d make something like the Hinderbush far more dangerous with its use of magic. If people went up against large colonies of them, it''d make a lot of sense to just abandon the plains; maybe they burn it once or twice every few years to wipe out any invaders. It''d explain why it''s nothing but open fields and that those asshole rabbit ranbi are running around like kings! ... but it''s also possible that there are things far more terrifying than these two. I mean, Nugget isn''t attached to the Barripatch as far as I can tell... but he is part of the Stickman''s plans, I think. Why else would he give me the egg? There''s too many questions on what can come out of the Barripatch but the overwhelming reality is that the Great Plains are likely barren due to the islands'' inhabitants crossing the channel. But if that fire initiative is underway, shouldn''t there still have been something to survive for three-hundred years? Back in my original world, we discovered ruins far older even amidst places ravaged in long wars between natives. The complete lack of anything is extremely discomforting. In the future, I''ve decided that if my isekai takes a nation construction arc, I definitely want to settle here. To prove that it CAN be settled! Even if it''s merely a lowly plant like myself and Nugget, the two of us can show just how wrong they were about Kave. Except, you know, doing that might uh... lead to worldwide disaster. After all, things that come from the Barripatch Islands have a unique attribute to them. Natives of the Barripatch Islands are agents of chaotic neutrality; the Stickman''s deviants, to usurp the stagnation of the world. Suffice to say, learning about Kave has taught me that I am now an agent of uncertainty. But maybe I should go over how, exactly, this all came out when I read and followed the ranbi hole inside this stupid Codex feature of mine. Evolution 2, Chapter 8
REGION: The Barripatch Islands
The residents of the Barripatch Islands are known to be agents of chaotic neutrality. Species, both monster and humanlike, that are born here bear the Primary Name of Power: Barripatch. Many among the known world identifies this title and its owners as a Region Name of Power, yet this location''s connection to the deity known as ---ERROR/:INSERTING KNOWN DATA--- GREY STICKMAN ----ERROR/:END---- is unarguably augmenting it into a Deity Name of Power. Among Brogdar''s landmasses in the known world, Barripatch itself is largely unexplored and houses a vast majority of primarily flora species. Most well-known are the nomadic, air-carried seedlings of the Hinderbush that bring Thorn Grass to various nations along the Northern and Dividing Oceans. All attempts to make landfall on the islands are recorded to have failed, yet charters and careful seawork have estimated the main island to be as large as forty miles wide and tall in a nearly perfectly circular shape. The bordering islands are believed to be at a total of fourteen in the count, yet changing sea levels and flows have led scientists to believe many islands periodically submerge every century while others rise. What little is known about the Barripatch Islands is that they themselves are wholly unknown in a world where progress has lead to the creation of countless nations and powers. It is older and known to most societies either within five-hundred miles of it or with access to long-distance sailing. And even those blessed by ---ERROR/:INSERTING KNOWN DATA--- FACELESS RED AND BLUE PILLAR ---ERROR/:END---- are unable to evoke wisdom from their gods as to its purpose. However, it is believed that if there has ever been landfall, it has swiftly lead to the escape of legendary beasts or creatures that reside there. It is believed the end of the world will begin with the Barripatch Islands being connected with the mainland, where its populace will send the world into a chaos unlike any strife in known history. From this chaos, those of neutral law shall come forth to quell it and ultimately lead to the Era of Neutrality.
Codex entry Name of Power discovered. Codex entry Era of Neutrality discovered. Stats Feature Unlocked: Name of Power: Barripatch.
Kaden can''t quite fathom the unending flow of alerts and beeps sounding across the menu; countless new Codex entries, as well as a new option, danced across what little of his free vision was left. A quick glance at Name of Power didn''t really explain a whole ton but it made it apparent that he should at least investigate it further. Names of Power Divided into three types, Names of Power are similar to Titles but are often born or bestowed upon someone only by gods. The three types are as follows: ? Primary, which are considered to be Deity or Regional. These are often born to a person and can often be determined by someone or something''s species. Not all regions bear the ability to grant Names of Power, but those of importance or connection to the Gods do. ? Secondary, those granted by gods through rituals. Unlike Primary, these Names of Power can be used as a status symbol outside of titles to garner aid. Legendary heroes and villains alike are granted these. ? Anomaly, the Names of Power believed to be born or found on individuals chosen by the gods. Unable to be seen or verified by any known means. Unlike Secondary Names, these names come without rituals and could be considered either the most extremes of either fortune. While they do not grant stat changes traditionally, they can influence the growth rate of individuals in various ways. If any Names of Power conflict, they will give way in correlation to Primary beneath Secondary beneath Anomaly. As anyone can be born with a Primary, they can replace it with a Secondary. Those who bear a Secondary may only lose it to an Anomaly. All Names of Power can be tracked in an individual''s statuses and seen with certain skills or, rarely, magic. Jesus... who''d think that the Barripatch entry alone could give me the chills. Also, how am I supposed to be some chaotic neutral normie, but you''re telling me the place my species came from is supposed to be prophetic? Not to mention how weak I am! Or, at least, how weak I feel. Stupid... Stickman dumbass. That aside, I swore I saw something about an error a moment ago... what was all that about? Is it possible that Stickman and the others have names that I simply don''t or can''t know yet?Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. As frustrated as he was, Kaden couldn''t help investigate his new "Name of Power". It didn''t change any of his stats, but if he had brows to furrow then they''d be doing so after reading it.
Name of Power: Barripatch [Primary] Born in the Barripatch Islands, creatures and species bearing this Name of Power are believed to be agents of neutral chaos. Avatars of the ///GREY STICKMAN///, those bearing this name bear great fortune. Yet, in turn, they bring ill fortune and change for Brogdar.
So then that''d mean I was born in the Barripatch Islands? I remember it mentioned airborne seedlings... so it''s likely that although I woke up in Kave, my ''birth'' would have taken place back there. So... then... does that mean I''m actually fairly close to the coastline? If that''s the case, couldn''t I potentially find some seafaring town''s ruins? If I remember correctly from reading the Great Plains entry, there should be something surrounding us. As encouraging as these discoveries were, his new information bore some caution into the reincarnated plant. Travelling was easily doable in his larger bush state; for starters, he could protect his core more easily and maybe improvise a mobile attack pattern due to its spherical shape. Ranbi wasn''t exactly intimidating, either, and apart from a few other species that he hadn''t discovered yet, there were likely to be no surprises tumbling along killing them. The pond''s benefits aren''t worth scoffing at, but if he were able to locate a town ruin he may be able to find something that survived the last 300 years of abandonment. At the rate things were going, this new Codex was going to get juicy thick with new information in no time with every discovery he made, no matter its size! However, his mind continued poking his vision back to the Codex''s other new entry. The menu navigation was easy enough to get back to it, but the Era of Neutrality wasn''t so easy to open up. If I''m an agent of chaos, that''d mean I''m here to bring great change... but an era of neutrality? The way it comes off makes it sound like some otaku fantasy or... chuu... chuunibii? I don''t remember the word but it''s like kids who have too much fantasy in their life to the point they think it''s real. Like imagination off the line. If this Era is like that, wouldn''t it make it something really lame or obscenely outrageous? I mean... the way the Barripatch codex reads, it sounds like it''d be a time of war. Reading it now, I might end up somehow leading to it happening... right? ... I can''t read it. Kaden closed the menu, choosing to instead turn his attention to his surroundings. With the addition of his new skill, it was likely a good idea to focus on using Growth and expanding his kill-net and protective surroundings. The grass getting bitten or chewed up was unlikely to hurt him much now that his new body was very centralized. If his thinking was on point, however, he still needed to find a way to relocate and fast. Using water was effective but if they really did set fire to the plains every century, then it was possible the mention of three hundred years had been specifically counted. Nugget! Come on! The one-eyed stomper turned its attention to Kaden and understood; as great as their new home, it needed to wait. All the lengthy danger-strands began rolling and coiling inward with carefully timed precision, linking around Kaden''s new form like a grass coat. Kaden had performed this trick enough that his body seemed to instinctively use Uproot. Yet as his bush''s form rose, he was remarkably quicker; unlike the grassroots, the wooden roots were like true fingers that tore and clenched at the dirt. If it wasn''t for his camera-like view, he could insist that it was the first bodily reminiscent thing of being a human! But when the ball was formed around his new main body, Kaden found out a new benefit to his increased stats and wooden digits. The feeling of water around them masked it at first, but he could flex them. Kaden''s bush trunk could serve as an actual hand; sure, it had a lot more fingers (roughly eleven that were usably large) but if he wanted to he could squeeze the ranbi directly with this. So he did; he wormed one of the corpses out of his spherical form and rolled over, wreathing one of the smaller ranbi in the roots. Even though he wasn''t rooted in as he might normally be, they tore deep into its body... and sapped the little decomposing fucker of colors, weight, and nutrition. Holy shit! You''re kidding me! He dropped the far skinnier corpse and repeated it with a larger one; this one too imitated the same loss of mass and remaining healthy color, clacking loose of the roots in Kaden''s apparent shock. Am I... consuming the ranbi directly!? If so, then that means I don''t even need to root in! Given I can squeeze them with my roots, that also means I don''t need to plant myself and wait for them to decompose. I can actually bypass all of that and squeeze the little shits of their nutrients! Nugget questioningly nudged the corpses, watching as Kaden set about to spend the day discarding of their ranbi cargo. Whether it was due to how powerful he was or how he had been bleeding them all this time, no ranbi came for the first time in his stay in Brogdar. The pond was sullied but in its place, each body contributed nutrients to Kaden''s form like a tasty meal. But the best part was that it wasn''t merely satisfying to twist the remaining life out of them and no longer carry around corpses. It meant that he could discard all of the bodies... and travel much faster. With only Nugget inside - who could be hoisted and kept from tumbling about with a bit of focus - Kaden could actually make good on his hopes of exploring. The Codex''s answers alone wouldn''t satisfy him; he needed to be a proper isekai protagonist and discover just how deep his involvement in this world was. Never getting out and doing his own thing had long kept him held back, but no more. He''d handle the bodies and turn in for the night, knowing that after two weeks his adventure had finally begun. Tomorrow, Operation Explore Kave begins... and, maybe, I may find something to utilize in evolving or training Nugget. If I evolved, surely he''s getting close to evolving too, right? Taking on adventures now, when our grind is starting to plateau, seems like the obvious and smart choice! Evolution 2, Chapter 9 Today, I set forth on a fantastical adventure! Or, at least, that was how I planned it. Kaden wasn''t entirely sure what he expected when the sun rose but his newfound ability to grab and push with his trunk''s roots had definitely accelerated his passage more than anyone could have anticipated. But it wasn''t because of some profound ability to toss himself off hills or catch himself from rolling back down a hill. It was because Kaden had constructed an idea on the fly: if he could grab things, he could grab Nugget. The stubby-legged eyeball had taken a bit of finagling to finally get above and grab by the eggshell, but once Kaden was on he was surprised at how easily Nugget moved. Unlike his bush''s stats, all of the ranbi that had been stomped likely was thanks to just how insanely high Nugget''s strength was. Even under-leveled, it was hard to imagine that he could beat Nugget. The HP difference between them would make it very unlike for Kaden to defeat him. Isn''t this a bit mean to make an isekai hero so weak compared to something he''s supposed to be guarding? I mean... on one hand Nugget can carry me. On another, we''ve been making a lot of progress. We''ve traveled almost three miles and it doesn''t seem as if the little critter is slowing down at all. The rumbling trip had kept him higher above the grass than ever before, granting Kaden the opportunity to get used to combining his sight and the map feature. The pond was an actual landmark and with the map, he could use the Map skill to actually plot a path northeasterly. And after hours of staying on the move, the first grand discovery finally unveiled itself. The great sea of green hills finally broke into blue. That''s the Sea of Helmuth! It must be! It''s way too big to be anything BUT that, right? His camera panned, scanning the approaching blue further; no immediate structures or things stood out. The beaches had simple, pale creamy sand that''d be common on traditional shorelines. There were no signs of fishlife leaping out, yet the waves were also so calm that it was unlikely to beach anything anytime soon. Giving up wasn''t in his vocabulary, however; without the pesky attacking ranbi, things were going splendidly and meant they had a lot of time to search. A wave of his camera could turn him toward either the west or the east; the ocean was primarily on his northern side which meant the Northern Ocean was the waters closest to his end of the Sea of Helmuth. Heading east would take him toward destiny (the islands) but without a ship he couldn''t go anywhere even if he wanted. So Kaden swung his camera and put the sea on their right; Nugget took off at the steady pace heading west, driving them further along. We keep going until Nugget gets tired or we find something... anything...
I know I wanted to find something, but erm... I didn''t expect this. Nugget stayed still since he ordered Nug to stop, but thankfully couldn''t see what was ahead of them. Massive trees, rising as high as small skyscrapers, filled nearly all the land twenty feet ahead of them and started almost directly in the water. The sea-side trees were shorter and lurching outward, the dead ones crumpled and supporting it as some sort of natural wood seawall. This is the kind of place you''d expect elves to be... but is it really safe to take Nugget into a place like this? Kaden released Nugget and tumbled clear, catching himself on the nearest hill while Nugget leaped into his bushy mass. For now, it was more practical to not expose Nugget to danger. In reality, this new place was actually a bit easier for Kaden to navigate due to one major factor: his skills. While Uproot toggled his roots and allowed him to draw nutrients from the ground, his unique roots granted him plentiful access to whatever they might be able to kill. Worst case, he could begin cannibalizing his outer grasses. As far as he cared, this new region wasn''t that bad, either; his Map had recorded the plains and their massive snaking coastline voyage. Even without markers, he had a vague idea of direction now that he had realized a trick; using his old map and the current map for comparison, he could track where he was more or less.
Codex entry Gardril Forest discovered.
Into the forest we go Nugget. Hopefully to find something intere-
-sting is what I thought! Why are you trying to mess with me, Stickman!? What did I do to deserve this? Kaden bounced and rolled, using his stronger roots to reposition and slip between the gaps in the massive trees. His roots lacked the strength to climb with Nugget inside and without the strength to root himself through the bark he couldn''t slowly hoist him. The greatness of being able to climb in a forest would naturally be a high-in-demand skill when exploring new territory. The Gardril Forest, however, had other things in mind. One might have anticipated there to be elves, hostile or friendly, yet it wasn''t elves that greeted him so early on. Although, he wasn''t one to complain a whole lot thanks to them being girls, at least.
Codex entry Batfolk discovered.
Batfolk Reference Art (by nivlacart) There were four of them, each about five feet tall and almost entirely similar; the main difference that he glimpsed mid-rolling was that their hairstyles and the color of their furs were different from one another. All of them had darker short fur where one would expect skin, however, and they all wore blindfolds. But their faces alone were completely free of fur, showing soft pale skin. Kaden had lost track of time but it didn''t matter beneath the massive wood''s canopy; the darkness made his bouncing about considerably difficult while they maneuvered between the trees with ease. As much as he wanted to read up on them - or better yet, try interacting with them - Kaden couldn''t afford to slow down as each of them kept swooping and swinging their short-clawed toes at him! "Kkkkkeeeee!" The girl above him made another swing just as he dropped. Violet-brown hair fell in front of her eyes but didn''t hinder her speed, the batlady narrowly dodging the tree whilst Kaden threw himself backward.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Even if I spoke bat, I can''t speak! And Nugget- A second batgirl struck him with her passing wing, her red hair in a short mohawk and ponytail, and sounded the HP loss. Her wing wasn''t particularly sharp but the impact sent him tumbling down entirely from his tree-bounding venture. Damn it! She took out 5 HP with a single attack and it wasn''t even a proper spell!? The bush unfurled its protective layer and the lengthy grasses were laid out along with the massive roots around him. Nugget plopped free, landing on its feet and yet hastily moving close to hide beneath the edge of the bush''s massive top. The trio of ladies formed up above him yet kept their distance, flapping and screeching in aggressive tones. Kaden couldn''t Uproot given how dense everything was, so all he could do was muscle and pull the grasses and maneuver. The golden thorns clinking from his maneuvering kept the noise even more intense, his camera panning up to fully study them. They stopped. They attack while I''m mobile but cease when I unfurl. They''re scared of getting too close, they know that they can starve me out, or I''m just completely missing something! Nugget brushing along his bush''s base reminded him that Kaden wasn''t solely alone in this endeavor... and that this was far from over. Spamming Growth right now could be a valid tactic to potentially grab them, yet pulling them down may trigger Nugget''s stomping spree. Killing something that looked human was a bit much, even if he had become a plant in an isekai scenario. Their communication, coordination, and their strategy was a bit above that of the ranbi so their intelligence at least seemed likely. Identifying their level was hard but their damage amount indicated they weren''t entirely weak. Even bunched up and guarded with his old body grass, they had been able to inflict considerable damage with a direct, simple strike. After he consumed those ranbi, he had hoped to maybe even proc the conditions to acquire Blast Pod. The way it had been described made it sound like it''d be ideal for knocking the bats out without signaling to Nugget. And without time to communicate otherwise, his options only kept decreasing. The decomposing mites weren''t built for fighting, either. Earthy Grasp could work on the ground around him to hastily maneuver but all he had for combat was Vice. So either he had to spam Growth - his trump card - or default to a more cautious vice strategy. Damn it! I wish they''d stop making all that noise. I didn''t get a chance to fully explore just how different Growth is with the Basic Affinity, though. Now... well, now might be a good time. If I keep Nugget down, I might be able to simply hold them until they realize I don''t mean any danger, right? ... Oh, right. Thorns. Kaden mentally sighed, uncertainly looking at his Codex with a distant glare. Fine. I''ll read it, you stupid system. Tell me about these batfolk and give me something to work with!
FAUNA: Batfolk
Native to Gardril Forest, batfolk are a group of intelligent humanoids. However, unlike humans, Batfolk communicate via a specific pitch-based language. They are well known for being highly homogenous, with the major traits used for identification being different hair color, styles, and multiple tattoos they get from hunting the forest floor. Although believed to be vampiric, these bats are instead territorial and will often resort to driving something away rather than killing them. Common methods for placating territorial batfolk are believed to be holding them tight and using combinations of wind and water magic. This is due to studies made by elvish natives who found batfolk cuddling their cloaks for warmth. Additionally, the use of loud noises can disrupt their flight or completely incapacitate them. When lacking these things, curling into a ball may work.
... Wait, really? Really? They clearly don''t care if you curl up into a ball! Urgh! Kaden''s disappointment wasn''t long-lived, although it did remind him of his disgust at just how unlucky he was. However, that luck turned just before the mention of making yourself into a ball; specifically, making noise. While he lacked any skills, his large size and the tight confines of these trees could help him bounce sound around just as well as it could help channel their screeches. The trio of colorful bats may not have deserved it... but at this point, he had no options. Kaden secured Nugget, feeling the shelled runt struggle but ultimately calm down to see out the plan. And Kaden shook; he shook all his outer grasses to clink their thorns while shuffling the blades for more noise. The smaller legs scraped the floor, his main roots crunched the earth, and he let all of the iron pods crack and shake with the bush. Improvised Skill: Hell Bell! Face my terrible naming structure, ladies! All three batgirls'' ears flitted down and their wings beat harder; the one with violet hair bumped into a tree and came tumbling down into his grassy grip. Or, at least, what he figured might be the best way to hold her. His outer grasses had fewer thorns and carefully tieing her by the ends of her wings kept her from tumbling about and getting cut up. She struggled for about five seconds before instantly stopping; unlike the ranbi, her panic didn''t stop the intelligent mind from struggling her to death. The mohawk girl fell next, but she landed on top of his bush head. The camera''s angle conveniently gave him a view of panties... but she was shaken off and plopped down into the grass without hindering him too long. Yet the third girl didn''t fall; a white-haired maiden with longer hair, she kept flying side-to-side above him without failing to stay still. Her balance was unlike the other two. Come on, just come down! Can''t you just- The bat screeched, pain searing into his head; she was using a skill or magic, harming him and likely Nugget. Stop that! Damn it! Why can''t I- "-Talk!" The girl above stopped mid-screech, whilst Kaden felt his body tense. ... Wait... did I just talk!?
Acquired Linguist title. Obtained Pitchspeak Personal Skill.
Due to your pacifistic cowardice, you have a knack for learning languages! The longer you attempt communication with a species, the higher the chance of you acquiring their language! Triggers once per day and starts at 1%!
"Stoooooop!" The voice boomed above him; the bats in his hold were whimpering, yet now they sounded more like girls crying. They sounded younger... whilst the woman above had a hint of maturity and depth, like the voice of a seasoned mercenary girl from popular animes. "Release them! I heard you speak our language!" The white-haired girl lowered somewhat, keeping her ears flat. "Your trick won''t work on me, either! I don''t know what you are but you must release them!" Kaden was stunned at how he could now understand her, especially when he thought back to mere moments ago when she was screaming unbearably non-reasonable noises. Even if this cheat had been extremely good luck, it left him unsure of how he could possibly dream of explaining this situation. "Er," he started. It granted him the chance to see a pair of branches scratching their iron pods together with one of the lengthier blades of his grass. "I... uh... I''m not one of you. Is that fine?" The hovering girl scowled and nearly fell back into the tree, seeming as if struck by the mere situation at hand. "W-Wait, you''re not a batfolk!? Then how can you speak our language!?" "..." "Answer me!" Kaden felt every nerve in him trying to contend with this, knowing that Nugget didn''t understand this and certainly couldn''t communicate any advice. Whatever he said next, whilst holding two of them effectively hostage, may very well shape how his future exploration of this world may go. Gardril was a big place and this world still had a lot of questions far beyond merely how at this point. It took him a minute more and the woman''s brows furrowing above her blindfold to finally coerce the bush to steel his nerves... and rattle his balls of ste- iron pods. "My name is Kaden. I''ll release one of them... but in exchange, I wish to know your name! After that, we can speak more evenly and work out how to settle everything peacefully!" Time to try out Charisma! Come on, isekai protagonist powers!