《Pathetic Plant》 Chapter --0 - The prologue I, a meager high school student, have recently died. The cause of death would be grabbing a suicide bomber and jumping into a fountain, diminishing the explosion and ending my own life in the process. Oh, but I didn¡¯t die right away. My chest was ripped into pieces, my own bones crushed from the explosion, body sent flying and hitting the ground with a painful thud. I lay in agony unable to move, my spinal column most likely broken, as I slowly died. My ears stopped working, and my neck was twisted in an odd direction. Truly a painful death for a skinny otaku¡­ Speaking of which my name was Jexal, Jexal Quart. At the time of death I was 17, had dark brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, and was somewhat skinny for my age. My family had long since given up on me and I lived alone in a small apartment. I made a living off the donations I got from a personal blog and making virtual models for games. As such I rarely left my house, if I needed an electronic device I would usually just purchase it online, and I perfectly happy with living my life out in such an apartment, absorbing completely unhealthy amounts of light novels and science documentaries. Now why was I, a person who basicly never left their house, outside where a terrorist attack took place? There are about only two reasons I would leave my cozy kingdom. The first was to buy food. Contrary to my skinny body I ate rather gluttonously, and it wasn¡¯t that healthy either. I can proudly claim to have eaten a package of 20 hotdogs in 2 days. The second was to go on the swingset that existed about 2 blocks down from me. Why? Because I like swings. They are very blissful, and with a simple motion of my legs I can move with high velocity in an ever changing view. This time it was the former, and as I was about to cross the area to the store I frequent a crazed person who had probably been doing lots of drugs ripped off his sweatshirt and rapidly started pulling pins off grenades strapped to his body with duct tape. Now usually, a sane person would just run away. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Let me give you a layout of the general area. In the center there is a huge fountain filled with glistening water. Around it there are three other fountains. There are two roads leading out at an angle, and the surroundings buildings are a supermarket, therapist, and the high school I dropped out of. (Each of the other 3 fountains is placed in front of one of these buildings. Now let me tell you something before hand. I have no attachment to the high school, I hated the slow pace of the classes and found the vast majority of my classmates to be rather dull. I didn''t have any friends, but only a few people I would talk to pass time. Which in truth I was grateful for them helping me pass the time. I also don¡¯t have a strict set of morals, and didn¡¯t particularly care if most of the people in the school suddenly dropped dead. However there was something I was rather attached to in that school. And that would be the bench that was placed slightly off to the side but close to the fountain. It was neatly placed in the shade of a tree. That was the place I would go whenever I wanted to write stories or model things on my computer. And that bastard was standing close enough to destroy it. So I, without much of a thought, ran over to him, picked him up as he was too heavy to throw, and jumped into the fountain to protect my favorite bench. By the way, if this makes me look bad, there was a quiet lesbian couple on the bench that were just staring dumbly at the suicidal manic. So I did save someone. But I think the bench was more important. In my final moments of agony I found solace that a person like me might find comfort in that bench some time after my death. I felt like sighing, having that much pain really is a pain. And with my final shattered breath my soul left that world. Now, according to those great novels where people are summoned by gods for their great valor you would think that for doing minimal harm to people, leaving people alone and in the end saving a bench and a lesbian couple, would at least give me some remuneration. Well for one, I didn¡¯t see any god. No person told me their divine will. And frankly if such a person that organized this event did exist, I would like to punch them in the crotch, face if female. I mean seriously! I would be fine with being reborn as a slightly weakened human, maybe a cat even. Heck if it was a spider or snake I would be better off. But nope. Here I am, in the next life, swaying in the gentle breeze. For I, Jexal Quart, have been reincarnated as a blade of grass. And I don¡¯t even know where I am. Chapter --1 Jexal, the mighty leaf of grass So, after being reincarnated as a blade of grass with all my memories intact, the question would be; what do I do as a blade of grass? Well¡­ I eat light. I guess it¡¯s kind of cool when you put it that. FEAR ME! I AM JEXAL, DEVOURER OF LIGHT! Yeah, it¡¯s not that exciting. Especially when I am surrounded by a bunch of other grass that does the same damn thing. Oh, I also absorb nutrients from the ground. I AM THE ONE WHO DEVOURS THE LIFE OF MOTHER EARTH! BWA HA HA HA! Sigh¡­ I really have nothing to do. As a blade of grass I don¡¯t really have many senses. I can smell somewhat, which was surprising, and I have a sense of touch, not as surprising. I think my sense of time is distorted as well, I¡¯ve been relaxing in the wind. I can¡¯t even move my tiny body how I want. I mean I can somewhat determine the way my roots go, but honestly I prefer to avoid paying attention to that area as it feels like I have hundreds of legs, and they touching the bare legs of hundreds of other people. Not a pleasant experience if I do say so myself. Or maybe I should attribute it to genitals? No- where are a blade of grasses reproductive parts anyway? Umu, I wish I had access to the internet. I actually don¡¯t even know if I am on planet earth anymore. Maybe I am an alien species of grass. That sounds somewhat cooler. But I am still a blade of grass none the less. Sigh¡­ If I had a game at least I would be happy¡­ Hey, wait a minute. I¡¯m reincarnated aren¡¯t I? I have read numerous novels on being reincarnated in game worlds as various organisms. So maybe¡­ just maybe¡­. Status! *ping ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 0/2 [EXP: -/5] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? --- ?Advanced Species Abilities? --- ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» ¡­ You know¡­ even though I am happy this is a game world, looking at this is depressing. What kind of twisted god made this. Well, at least it¡¯s a game world from what I can tell. Or maybe I¡¯m just going insane. Either way I now have something to do. What is that you ask? Why of course getting stronger and exploring the world.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡­ It may or may not be a bit difficult given my current situation... Sigh¡­ Anyway, how do I get exp? In a normal video game you would get exp by completing tasks or killing monsters... I am a blade of grass. How the hell am I supposed to do either of those. I can¡¯t even see or hear my surroundings. And the only thing I can smell is the smell of grass, and weakly at that. Wait. There is something plants are good at. Photosynthesis! Maybe by collecting light and nutrients I can grow into a mighty treant! Come light! Gather on thine blade and enchant my body! ¡­ How the hell do I quicken the process?... Uh¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ photosynthesis relies on thousands of chloroform inside each cell to collect light and convert it into ATP¡­ However that is limited by the size of my single petal¡­ ¡­ Screw it! This is a game world! It has skills! Hopefully magic! Who says a blade of grass can¡¯t manipulate sunlight! Come! I will gather you and grooooooooow!!! I demand that light gather to my body! Even if it deprives the light of my fellow grasslings! COME TO ME! *ping Eh? Oi. What was that? I can¡¯t hear anything as a blade of grass, so an explanation to the sound would be useful. Heeeeey, is it just me or is the amount of light gathering on my body slightly larger? ¡­ Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 0/2 [EXP: 0/5] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? --- ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» ¡­ YEAAAAAAAAAAAA! I OBTAINED A SKILL!!! WOOOO! Now how the hell do I get exp? My exp still hasn¡¯t grown. Maybe the efficiency of turning light into exp is bad? Well at least I have confirmed that I can gain skills by concentrating. Now then, time to increase the amount of light I gather. Come to me! And let me eat you! ¡­ ¡­.. ¡­¡­¡­¡­. *ping Aha! A sound! After so much concentration I can feel the increase in light on my body. Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 0/2 [EXP: 1/5] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» ooo¡­ Another skill and I have gained a single point of exp! ¡­ Sigh¡­ well at least my sense of time is skewed so I won¡¯t really notice the time it takes to increase my level¡­ Wait, what happens if my lifespan ends? ¡­ Hopefully leveling up will increase it¡­ Not to mention I only have a single point of life, if someone steps on me I will probably die. Please don¡¯t let people be near here. That or maybe a cow will eat me. Please don¡¯t let anything eat me either. Whew, now all I have to do is gather lots of light to turn into exp. 5 exp isn¡¯t much right? wait, how much will I need for level 2? Well no matter, I have nothing else to do. And as such, I began absorbing light. Chapter --2 He who devours the rain I discovered a way to ¡®somewhat¡¯ tell the time. How? Day and night cycle, during what I think is the day light is much more abundant, and in the night the light levels diminished, meaning my precious supply of exp is shortened. However, I am not particularily sensitive to this change. At least not as much as I thought, so I have no idea how long I have been here. In order to combat this I have been debating whether or not to try and increase the amount of resources I take from the ground. The issue I keep thinking of is what would happen if I completely drained the ground of nutrients? Would I wither and die? After debating for a couple days I decided to try it in order to speed up the leveling process. Come! Nutrients of mother earth! Wait is this planet even called earth? Fine, then gaia. Come! Residue of gaia fill my body! ¡­ ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ *ping Aha! That sound must be the acquisition of a new skill! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 0/2 [EXP: 4/5] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather nutrients? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» Oooh, so I have the Gather nutrients skill now? Interesting¡­ Also, my exp is almost at what I assume is necessary for a level up. At least I think it is¡­ Well then, let¡¯s keep absorbing nutrients from the ground. Come to me! ¡­ ¡­.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Another day and night passes, but my exp is definitely increasing¡­ I think... And finally- *ping Yes! Level up! Well, I hope that was the level up anyway. Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 1/2 [EXP: 0/15] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather nutrients? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» Haha! My level increased! albeit by one. Well, if I am lucky then I will evolve by reaching level 2. Only 15 more experience points to go. oh? Is it nearly daytime? I feel the light falling on me increasing. Well then, let¡¯s continue to absorb light throughout the day. As such my routine continued, absorbing large amounts of light in the day, and nutrients from the ground in the night. However, sometime during the night I felt something peculiar. !! Something hit me! Is something eating me!? Nonono, I am too young to die! Well technically I already did die¡­ and I also don¡¯t know how long I have been alive as a blade of grass¡­ Hm? My body doesn¡¯t appear to be breaking, but something is hitting me every now and then. The grass beside me is also shaking under it. What- oi oi, could it be rain? I could feel a sort of ¡®wetness¡¯ starting to permeate the soil around my roots. Huh¡­ this is the first rainstorm I have experienced since coming to this place. Hey, if there¡¯s rain doesn¡¯t that mean there is clouds? If so then I might not be able to take in my daily nutrients. Wait, but rain is filled with nutrients right? Not to mention plants need water to live. I wonder if I can absorb the water in the ground at a faster rate as well¡­ Alright! Liquid that falls from the heavens and permeates the earth! Come to me and become my experience! ¡­ ¡­.. ¡­¡­. *ping Ha! The water in the soil is now slowly flowing towards my roots. Let¡¯s open my status and check. ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 1/2 [EXP: 12/15] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» Ooo, my exp is also much closer to the maximum I need to level up. While I was looking at my status the exp went up another point. !! Oi! Could it be that absorbing rain water gives more exp? Ufufu, Come water of the heavens! Nourish my body! And during the rain, although I am not sure exactly how long it took, my experience points finally reached 15. Chapter --3 Beginning of a grass nation ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 2/2 [Evolution Available] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» WOOOO! My level finally reached 2! I wonder exactly how long I have been here¡­ Anyway, I focus on the Evolution Available part of status. ¡º?Available Evolutions? ¡­ umuuu¡­ I was hoping for something along the lines of¡­ I don¡¯t know what I expected. Maybe something that can actually move. There are just different variations of grass¡­ Sigh¡­ Well! Progress is forward movement! Today a blade of a grass, tomorrow a tree! Or maybe a year, we¡¯ll see. For now¡­ Hmm¡­ I wonder which is the best option¡­ ¡­ You know when I read all those books about reincarnating, where the main character comes to a point and struggles over which evolution would be the most beneficial, I always thought it would be much more rewarding and exciting. I am piece of grass, evolving into a slightly better piece of grass. Not as rewarding or exciting as I would have hoped. Sigh¡­ baby steps. Tiny little baby steps. Or maybe nudges, either way it¡¯s forward motion. Now then, which type of grass should I become? Is there anyway to get better explanations of these? No? Umu¡­ Well let¡¯s see, rugged forest grass is probably a more sturdy version of what I currently am. Mind grass sounds like something that would be used in a mental recovery potion, however it might affect how easily I can get skills or manipulate the resources around me¡­ But since it sounds like it would be used in a potion would there be people who would try to ¡®collect¡¯ me? Umu¡­ The next one is Abnormal Forest Grass¡­ I have a feeling that I want to go with this. The reason being is because it sounds like it will have the most varied evolutions when I evolve again. Yosh, I will go with Abnormal Forest Grass. ¡ºEvolution into -Abnormal Forest Grass- shall now commence¡» At that moment, even though I don¡¯t have any eyes, I felt like I blacked out. *** ¡ºEvolution Complete¡» Uuuu¡­ Feeling slowly returned to my limb- er- roots and the senses I did have recovered. So when I evolve I go unconcious? That is slightly annoying. Well then, Status! ¡ºJexal QuartIf you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Species: Abnormal Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 0/2 [Exp: 0/10] Health: 1/1 ?Unique Abilities? --- ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer?¡» ¡­. oi¡­ this is barely different from before. Let¡¯s see, an extra skill and an increased exp cap¡­ Sigh¡­ well I guess it is kinda expected from grass¡­ Now what exactly does Advanced Growth do? So far I have had to consciously use my mind to create skills, so how do I use one I know barely anything about? Let¡¯s see¡­ so far I have found out I can absorb nutrients and water faster through my roots, and can make it so light gathers more on me. Wait- couldn¡¯t I also decide the directions my roots were growing it by moving the nubs on the ends? So far I have left it to instinct, but what happens when I try to move them myself? I wiggled the nubs on the ends of my roots, of which there was about 100. Umu¡­ but growing is still slow, can I accelerate it with the skill? Grow! Grow and collect even more nutrients for me! I focused on the image of my roots growing even faster, and suddenly felt the growth rate accelerate. Aha! No ping though, must be because I already have the skill. Hey, if I continue to grow my roots will I be able to collect more nutrients? This might be better than I thought. But wait if I am bigger doesn¡¯t that mean I will require more nutrients to stay alive? Umu¡­ What to do, what to do¡­ The most efficient way of getting experience would definitely be during a rainstorm, but that seemed to stop a while ago. The next best thing would be sunlight. However my roots can¡¯t collect sunlight underground. Hmm, can I grow a new blade if my roots breach the surface? Ah, but there¡¯s lots of other grass around me as well, managing to get a little piece to grow without sunlight will be taxing. While I brooded I paid attention to my roots, and then had an idea. It might be cruel, but can I convert other grass around me to be part of my body? Of course that normally can¡¯t happen, but this world isn¡¯t the world I come from. Well then for now, I¡¯ll make it so my roots burrow into the roots of grass around me. Go! Break into the enemy fortresses and bring me the spoils! I urged my roots on as they started digging into the grass around me. Brethren!? What foolishness! We are merely grass! We have no parentage or family! Therefore I will take without reserve! As my roots invaded the roots around me I focused on making the other grass ¡®become¡¯ me. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I was trying to expand my senses into the grass. Come! Those who would stand by with no fate! Kneel before me and become my limbs! *ping I felt like grinning, which of course for grass, was impossible. One down, from what I can feel there should be five others in the immediate vicinity. Actually, my senses now extended to the piece of grass I had just taken over, however the response was slow and dull, as if the blade of grass was going under some change. Wait, maybe it was, I am a different type of grass after all. Could it be mutating into the same species as me? For now I couldn¡¯t use it¡¯s roots as it was too slow. So I focused on taking over the other grass with my original roots. Go! Pillage and convert! Their resources shall become mine and their bodies my tools! *ping I ignored the ping in my head and continued to invade the grass around me. A couple more times the ping went off in my head, but I left it for now. After taking over the grass around me I had 7 blades in my possession. Unfortunately the responses were slow, and I could feel the blades of grass that were originally foreign slowly converting to the same thing as I. Well, until they finished mutating I would leave them be, then I would conquer even more grass. For now, Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Abnormal Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 1/2 [Exp: 16/18] Health: 3/3 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector?¡» Ooo, my level increased. Does using a skill give me experience? Or maybe I got the experience from the grass around me. My health increased by two as well. Also, I obtained a couple new skills and a title. One of them is a unique skill, Metamorphose. Sounds kind of like metamorphosis, the thing that insects go through. I wonder how powerful of an ability it is¡­ My new title is ¡®Infector¡¯, kind of foreboding... Anyway, it feels like the transformation of the grass I had taken over is almost complete. Ufufu, time to conquer! Chapter --4 Rising in the heirarchy The amount of resources I could collect at once rose by quite a bit. I now had 13 blades of grass under my control. Well, technically they are part of me. Currently 2 of them were still undergoing the transformation into my body. But the amount of light I could gather in the day was much higher than before. Now then, just a little while ago I felt something interesting¡­ ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Abnormal Forest Grass Class: --- LV: 2/2 [Evolution Available] Health: 7/7 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror?¡» Ha! I was right! I now have the ability to evolve again! Ufufu¡­ Soon! Soon the world shall know me! I hope¡­ Let¡¯s see here¡­ What exactly can I evolve into? ¡º?Available Evolutions? My gaze instantly moved to the fourth option; Abnormal Flower. This seems like the next logical step. The other three are either reinforced versions of what I already am, or something that seems to be lesser. This evolution however seems like a solid step upwards. Alright! Abnormal Flower it is! ¡ºEvolution into -Abnormal Flower- shall now commence¡» And with those words, my consciousness faded. *** ¡ºEvolution Complete¡» Alright! The feeling returned to my roots and the grass blades around me. But I definitely felt different. What was it? It was like my body was now thicker and sturdier, and the top of me had something heavy on it that was absorbing alot of sunlight. Ah! I am a flower now! Around my stem I felt small leaves, and the flower bud on top of me was open, I could feel sunlight pouring into it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ufufu! This is what it means to advance! Now then, Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Abnormal Flower Class: --- LV: 0/3 [Exp: 0/20] Health: 12/12 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Charm? ?Bloom? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror?¡» Alright, not as drastic as I had hoped. However it still progress! I am one step closer to becoming a tree! Wait, this is a game like world, do dryads exist? Can I become one? Wait, aren¡¯t dryads female? Maybe. Well, no matter. I felt around me, it appears as if the grass I had taken over before was still grass, but the transformation of the two I was waiting on was complete. Well then, with my fourtee- no, I am a flower now, so with my thirteen blades of grass I started to convert even more grass. Go my underlings! Convert others to become power for my army! ¡­ ¡­.. ¡­¡­¡­ I paused my conquer spree. During the night I slowed down the infection process, and gave priority to absorbing nutrients from the ground. Now the sun was shining down hard, and I had 53 blades under me. Why did I stop? ¡ºLV: 3/3 [Evolution Available]¡» Ufufu! Conquering really gives one a lot of exp! Well then, shall I see what the next step is? ¡º?Available Evolutions? Umu, so now I have to specialize in a type of flower. Well then, the obvious choice is a rose. Speaking of which I wonder what I look like? Anyway, Abnormal Rose it is. ¡ºEvolution into -Abnormal Rose- shall now commence¡» Yosh¡­ now it¡¯s time to sleep¡­ *** ¡ºEvolution Complete¡» Uwa! I am definitely bigger! I also now have thorns on my body, I can feel them. My flower part also has gotten heavier, and I feel as though it¡¯s more efficient at collecting light. Hm? What¡¯s this? The closest grass to me has turned into small flowers. Well they''re still part of me, so it¡¯s fine. Now then, Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Abnormal Rose Class: --- LV: 0/4 [Exp: 0/20] Health: 16/16 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Charm? ?Bloom? ?Poison? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror?¡» Oooh, I can now poison eh? I kinda wish something was around to try it out on, then again it might be better that there¡¯s not. Well then, the original plan hasn¡¯t ended. I will continue conquering and converting other grass in order to fill my exp and extend my territory. It is interesting how some of the grass under me has evolved into flowers however, do they get bonuses if I evolve? Well they are a part of me technically. Now then, the roots at my origin are now much bigger, and reach quite far underground. Hmm, doesn¡¯t seem like there is anything in particular except for a few rocks brushing up against my roots. Well, let¡¯s continue the take over. Go my legions! Into the enemy''s bases! Chapter --5 Evolution path, Set! So, several days have past me by quickly. Unfortunately I found out something rather disappointing. The further away from me I try to take over the grass, the harder it is to do so. Currently I have about 323 blades of grass, 32 flowers and three roses under my command. Also, I have evolved again. Into what? A rose bush. I am much bigger now, and can feel the breeze passing in between my stalks. It¡¯s quite a nice feeling. Oh, and I found out there is a tree near me, or at least I think there is. What else would it be that my underlings roots are touching? It was big, and definitely a root. However I had no idea how far away the origin, or trunk of the tree is. I kinda want to try and infect it, but I have put it off due to the fear of failure. The feeling of the light falling onto my body marks the second day since I found the tree¡¯s root. The root of the tree definitely absorbs a lot of nutrients, I could feel the difference in absorption between us. Sigh... I¡¯m jealous! I want to be a tree¡­ Well, no helping it really. Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Abnormal Rose Bush Class: --- LV: 4/5 [Exp: 62/73] Health: 28/28 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Charm? ?Bloom? ?Poison? ?Purify? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror?¡» Umu¡­ 11 more experience points till level 5¡­ However as I stated, taking over grass far away from my origin was rather difficult. I have been trying to grow my original roots further away from me, but it would take another day at least to surpass the distance, and I don¡¯t even know if it will make it any easier. Sigh¡­ well my exp gathering is faster now that I have more grass and flowers under my control.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Now the- *Step WHAT THE HELL IS STEPPING ON MY GRASS! Calm down. Whatever it is so far it¡¯s only- shit it¡¯s getting closer. Let¡¯s see, it is a rather heavy animal, but it¡¯s feet are tiny. I can only feel it¡¯s front paws because my area is not too big. And- OI! OIOIOIOI! I cannot be eaten here! STOOOOP IT! Ignoring my internal screams the bastard continued chewing on one of my blossoms. It was truly a horrible sensation, my soft delicate petals being ground up in between some savage bastards teeth. Alright, what do i do? I have poison right? But isn¡¯t that in my thorns? Screw my thorns! I¡¯ll just make poison in the blossom! The poison that resides in my body! You assassin that heeds my bidding! Kill this gluttonous destroyer! I felt the poison that was normally in my thorns moving through my stems at an incredible rate, all leading into the blossom that was currently being chewed on. In one go! Deliver a large amount of poison to thine enemy! With a burst a large amount of poison collected in the blossom and the raider instantly swallowed it down. Then whatever was chewing on me reeled back, and started jumping around, crushing a few of my flowers. Oi! Watch it! Just because I poisoned you doesn¡¯t mean you can kill my underlings! Oh, I can¡¯t feel him anymore- wrong I can feel the tremors from it moving in my roots, it¡¯s just not on top of me anymore. I paid attention to the tremors, and suddenly I felt a large one, as if a huge body slammed into the ground. *ping Eh? What- ah I see, the animal must have died. My poison must be pretty nasty. Wait, if I heard a ping does that mean I leveled up!? Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Abnormal Rose Bush Class: --- LV: 5/5 [Evolution Available] Health: 23/28 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Light? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Gather Water? ?Advanced Growth? ?Charm? ?Bloom? ?Poison? ?Purify? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror?¡» Hurrah! I can evolve again! I wonder if I can evolve into a tree this time. But besides that- the animal gave me quite a bit of exp. I believe I had 11 exp left, quite the amount in my circumstances. But OW! I¡¯d prefer to raise my level without being eaten! Anyway~ ¡º?Available Evolutions? ¡­ I¡¯ve made up my mind. Nothing can stop me now. There is no way I am not going with the fourth option. Yosh, Small Weak Rose Dryad here I come! ¡ºEvolution into -Small Weak Rose Dryad- shall now commence¡» And with my plant like body brimming with anticipation- I went unconscious. Chapter --6 What is mana? ¡°Uwaaaa!¡± ¡ºEvolution Complete¡» I have eyes! I can see! Screw you everlasting darkness! Oh wait- why is the moon and stars out? Wait what- there¡¯s two moons. Interesting. I looked around curiously. It might have been nighttime but I could see everything clearly, including the corpse of some animal lying on the ground. Oh, it¡¯s probably the creature that was trying to eat me. I moved over to it to get a better look. It had the head of a deer and a body similar to a boars, and it was covered in pale brown fur. White foam existed around its mouth, and its eyes were glazed over. I leaned back away from the corpse, it was not a pretty sight. Speaking of, what do I look like? Thinking that I looked down at my body, and quickly found two oddities. The first one is that rose petals grew on my body, the second one is the lack of a certain genital inbetween my legs. I¡­ am a woman¡­ Well, I was kind of expecting that when I saw the word dryad. It¡¯s still odd to not have anything between my legs though. Different parts of my body were different shades of green, and rose petals decorated my wrists, ankles, chest, legs and neck. I appeared to have a body close to a small girl. I reached my hands up, and found out my hands had vine sprouts on the underside of them. I tilted my head and looked at my feet. It would appear that the underside of my feet has a similar thing. Testing it out I could manipulate the vines with a huge range. When I extended them fully they were three meters in length. How the hell did I store them in my arms? Oh- I can also make them grow thorns as well. The ones on my feet were more like roots and I could extend them about a meter into the ground to absorb nutrients. Speaking of which, what was on my head? I reached my hands up and patted what appeared to be rose petals instead of hair. Well I am a plant person. Now then, I have been breathing for a while, but I think I can mostly breath through my skin and be fine. But I do have a mouth. ¡°Hello.¡± Saying a word of greeting I grinned and laughed. My voice was that of a young and cute girls but so what? I can talk as well! Wait how do I know the people of this world use the same language as I do? Umu¡­ If I find a book I will have to translate it. Speaking of which, Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Small Weak Rose Dryad Class: Poison Dryad LV: 0/20 [Exp: 0/120] Health: 72/72 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Greater Poison? ?Advanced Species Abilities?This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ?Gather Nutrients? ?Advanced Growth? ?Charm? ?Bloom? ?Purify? ?Greater Gather Light? ?Greater Gather Water? ?Dryad¡¯s Influence? ?Seduct? ?Weak Plant Modification? ?Vine Whips? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror? ?Dryad?¡» OOoo! My status increased by alot! Although I do require a lot more exp now to level up¡­ I also gained a bunch of new skills. Greater Gather Light and Greater Gather Water seem to just be more powerful version of Gather Light and Gather Water. Dryad¡¯s Influence¡­ what exactly is that? I would imagine it has something to do with the space around me. Seduct¡­ I¡¯m going to leave that skill alone. I might be a girl now, but I have no interest in men. Weak Plant Modification, would that be like what I did to the plants around me when I was a blade of grass? Ufufufu¡­ Look how far I have come since then! Well leaving my elation and sense of achievement aside¡­ what do I do next? I should probably explore, however it is quite possible- no, of utmost certainty that monsters exist in this world. Also there is the possibility of encountering other people as well. I do not know the treatment of dryads in this world, for all I know they could be classified as monsters. Also, is there magic in this world? I would assume so since I have been gathering increased amounts of light, but that didn¡¯t give the feel of using mana. Umu, does mana even exist? Well, I will need more forms of attacking other than my whips, so it might be best to try. So far I have created all my skills out of mental concentration, why couldn¡¯t I do the same for mana? Let¡¯s see¡­ If I remember correctly I thought of doing something similar when I first came to this world as a blade of grass, however that was without mana, and I only gained the Gather Light ability at the time. So let¡¯s see, assuming mana exists, how would it exist? I sat down with my legs crossed and pondered it. What is my idea of mana? Flow of blood is definitely an option¡­ wait, as a plant do I even have blood? I felt my chest for a heart beat, and found one, but extremely faint. I wasn¡¯t even sure if it was a heart beat. Wait if it isn¡¯t then how am I breathing? Hmm, I believe I heard something about insects breathing through their skin, but I don¡¯t remember if they had hearts or not. Well, beside that the other way to think of mana would be as a pool of energy inside the body, aka a mana pool or MP. Mana might also possibly exist simply as ¡®mental energy¡¯, but I felt that it wasn¡¯t the case otherwise I would have gotten tired as a piece of grass- wait can plants even get tired? The only time I have slept in this world is when I evolved. Speaking of do I need to sleep as a dryad? Uth, the questions keep piling up. Alright, ignore other questions and focus on mana. How would one sense mana? Would it be floating in the air? Flowing through the earth? Would it naturally be created in living things? If it was the latter then I should already have a mana pool, however nothing in my status indicated that. Well, there is no harm in trying to collect mana from the air, even if it doesn¡¯t actually exist. I put my hands together and straightened my back with my legs crossed, as if meditating. Mythical power that flows through the air; collect in my body and strengthen me! Focusing on imagined the flow of mana in the air changing and flowing into my body, collecting in a pool that connected to my body. Collect, collect, collect, collect¡­ ¡­ Gather in my body as a pool of energy, and become my strength! *ping *ping *ping Suddenly I could sense something in the air, filling it, although faintly. I also felt it flowing into my body and collecting in a pool or a well. I opened my eyes and looked around, I could see a faint ¡®pressure¡¯ or presence in the air. So it worked? Status! ¡ºJexal Quart Species: Small Weak Rose Dryad Class: Poison Dryad LV: 0/20 [Exp: 23/120] Health: 72/72 ?Unique Abilities? ?Metamorphose? ?Class Abilities? ?Concentrate? ?Expand Perception? ?Infect? ?Greater Poison? ?Sense Mana? ?Gather Mana? ?Tiny Mana Pool? ?Advanced Species Abilities? ?Gather Nutrients? ?Advanced Growth? ?Charm? ?Bloom? ?Purify? ?Greater Gather Light? ?Greater Gather Water? ?Dryad¡¯s Influence? ?Seduct? ?Weak Plant Modification? ?Vine Whips? ?Titles? ?Worldfarer? ?Infector? ?Tiny Conqueror? ?Dryad?¡» Ufufu, well my mana pool might be tiny, but can¡¯t I expand it through the same means? Alright! Let¡¯s gather more and more mana, then try to create some spells.