《Kaizen》 So yeah... This happened Prologue: So yeah... This happened It''s dark. Quiet. ¡­ Where am I? I tried to move. I couldn''t. I tried again. Nothing. I couldn''t even twitch. What is going on!? By now I was rather panicky. (Is that even a word?) I also started to remember. I was falling ¡­ and then ¡­ Wait then am I dead!? Whats going on!! The nothingness was really starting to get to me. Still I have never been the hysterical type, so eventually I managed to calm down enough to actually try to figure something out. I''m obviously conscious, so maybe I''m just paralyzed, lying in some hospital. Yeah ¡­ Wait ¡­ isn''t that just as bad!? No actually that would be much worse wouldn''t it ¡­ anyway ¡­ just because I can''t move or feel any thing doesn''t mean I can''t hear ¡­ or smell? ¡­ Yep! Nothing. I couldn''t even hear my heart beat, which should be more of an awareness anyway. And I was starting to doubt my paralysis theory as well. I figured that if my brain got enough of an impact to render all my senses useless, then I should not be able to think so clearly. (Says who?) ¡­ It could be worse I suppose ¡­ at least it''s nice and warm ¡­ although I''m gonna be bored out of my ¡­ wait! ¡­ warm? If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Yep. Definitely warm. I focused completely on that feeling, and what do you know, after some time I started to notice other things. For example, water. There wasn''t that much of it, and to be honest I wasn''t all that sure how I felt it, or knew it was water for that matter, but it was definitely there. I was ecstatic. I was also quite confused, because unless I was hallucinating (a definite possibility), this put a rather conclusive end to my paralysis theory. And I definitely didn''t feel like I was dead (anyone know how it feels to be dead? I don''t.) After some (conveniently undetermined amount of) time I was finally starting to get a feel for my body. Unfortunately ¡­ W-what is this ¡­ it almost seems like ¡­ I''m ¡­ a seed? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Hey, so a few things of note: One. I''m new to this whole writing thing, so the first chapters are quite short. I''ll try to make them longer, but I can''t really force it so .... Untill then I''ll release a bit faster than planned. Still not too fast, but maybe 2 per week or so. Two. I''m not a native speaker and while I think I''m quite fluent, there might still be mistakes. Feel free to point them out. Three. It''s unlikely that I would change the story because of sugestions, but interesting ideas are always welcome. Specially when it comes to names, places, people, things that require actual creativity. Hope you enjoy! Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Ok. So, I''m fairly certain I have reincarnated. With my memories more or less intact. It''s the only thing that I can think of that would even remotely fit the facts. Or rather the fact, singular. I''m a seed. Yep, it''s pretty much confirmed at this point. I think I have a fairly good handle on my available senses now, and pending an extremely detailed, realistic and constant hallucination (why not?), I appear to be a fairly flat, oval seed. In fact I''m already starting to grow a root, so I suppose I could be called a sprout now. I''m not all that sure about my size, but considering what little I can feel and understand about my insides (what insides? You''re a seed!), and comparing myself to some of the water beads around me ¡­. I would guess I''m about the size of a large ant. That is a little over a centimeter in case you''re wondering. As to how exactly I can feel my body, or the water, or for that matter how I think or remember. I have no idea. I suppose that if I have reincarnated, then I have a soul and that can do the whole nervous system thing instead of the brain. (Well that''s convenient.) Still new discoveries regarding souls and biology (when did that come into play) aside, this is REALLY boring. Hmm. I wonder if I can use my soul or whatever to interact with things ¡­ **** So it''s been a few days (how can you tell?) and I have made a couple of very important discoveries. First of all. I can move things! Yay! (Thats convenient.) Only small things though. Like really small. I mean seriously I''m pretty sure a cell is the biggest thing I can move, which is problematic, cause a cell is the smallest thing I can sense, or at least distinguish. And even that is stretching it. Second. I can move! (Really!?) Ok, so I can''t really move, but I can control how I grow a bit. So that''s something. (Oh.) Basically, instead of moving things individually I kind of ¡­ direct the general flow. Don''t ask me how it works, but by concentrating the flow of what I suppose are nutrients to one side of my root, that side grows quicker and the root turns. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It''s exhausting and slow, but I managed to reach a pretty big water bead so thats good. Ah! Also, I''m starting to grow what I assume will become my first leaves. **** I''m BORED! Lets see now. It''s been about a month now. More accurately 27 days since my first leaves got to the surface. I still can''t see of course, but I can feel the sun and I''m somewhat aware of the surrounding plants. I figure thats mostly due to chemical signals, rather than mysterious soul powers though. Also, photosynthesis is awesome! I''m used to it now, but the first day was rather exhilarating. With that and all the energy I absorbed from the sun, I think I grew almost 3 cm. The growth slowed down after that though. I don''t have anything to compare myself to, but I think I amount to a little over 10 cm of plant matter right now. I have also figured out how to control things other than the direction of my growth. For example, new leaves in different shapes and how big my roots are. Speaking of which, I have started to grow a web of extremely thin roots. I''m not entirely sure how my species was originally supposed to grow, but I think the system I set up is similar to what most fungi do. If I find something of interest like food or water, then I make the shortest route from it to my bigger let the rest of the surrounding roots wither. It makes for a very efficient delivery system and because most of the roots are so thin, I can advance my map at a rate of almost half a meter per day. Just to be clear, I only started this two days ago, and because I''m growing in almost every direction, I will have to slow down quite a bit, unless I want to exhaust myself. Now the problem is, that while all this is interesting, it only took up about three days of the month. And as interesting as counting days is ¡­ Thank god I''m used to doing nothing or I''d be mad by now. I mean I don''t even sleep! The closest I can get to it is just not thinking and ''staring'' into the nothingness. Oh well ¡­ I should get back to that. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Chapter 2 Chapter 2 I''m being eaten! Ah, lets back up a bit, shall we? I stopped keeping count, but it''s probably been another month or so. I have mostly been experimenting with my perception and control as well as lots and lots of fantasy and daydreaming. I have also been advancing my web of roots. As a result I have mapped most of my surroundings in a 7 meter radius. So far there are three things of note. One is a decent water source a couple of meters below me. It''s just big enough to carry some nutrients with it, without actually corroding the earth underneath me. Another is a collection of dead things some five meters east of me. I think it may be a sort of dumping ground for some beast or other. It sounds disgusting I know, but it does wonders for my diet and keeps herbivores away. The last thing I discovered is a nest of bugs near the edge of my web, that seem to find me extremely tasty. And so we are back to me getting eaten! Actually it''s not that bad. They are quite far away right now, and I don''t exactly feel pain anymore. Besides, I already have a plan. It''s rather simple really, they think I''m tasty, then I all have to do, is change the way I taste. It sounds ridiculous, but by now I can control almost every aspect of my biology. Not that I understand even half of it, but still ¡­ shouldn''t be too hard. Hmm ¡­ now there are even more of them them. I wonder why ¡­. Oh! I think I might have just given them more sugar! I should probably try something else. **** OK. I have lost almost 3 meters worth of roots and exhausted most of my energy reserves, but I have something that apparently tastes absolutely vile, as well as a substance that for all intents and purposes is a highly effective glue. The bugs aren''t really a threat anymore, but I think I will settle down for a while. Make my roots thicker, maybe take advantage of my web and grow some more sprouts. Yeah. I should probably wait until I''m more than 12 cm tall before taking on the world! **** So, I''m pretty sure I''m currently living in a different world! (What. You think!?) Until recently I figured that I was in my old world. I mean sure, it would probably be a different time period or even a parallel universe, what with the reincarnation and all, but I never thought I wouldn''t be on Earth anymore. That is of course until I found out about the two moons! So, yeah! Unless someone built a new moon, I think it is pretty safe to say, that this is not Earth. As to how I found out about this, lets just say that it was thanks to experimentation, the desire for a light sensitive organ, and lots and lots of free time. Speaking of organs, I''m really starting to wonder just what kind of plant I am. You see, aside from that glorified leaf that was supposed to at least resemble an eye, I''ve tried growing some other stuff. Namely muscles. And it worked! Seriously! I mean I was just messing around, killing time. It''s not like I know how they are made anyways, not well enough to deliberately grow any at least. Plus, from what little I do understand, the cells that I grew are quite different from anything I''m familiar with. Point is, that unless my ¡°soul powers¡± have reached a whole new level (unlikely), then I was capable of growing these muscles from the beginning and they were built according to an existing genetic blueprint. Which, while potentially very convenient for me, is a really weird trait for a plant to have. Hmm. I wonder if I could grow nerves. After all, I still can''t feel anything. I''m aware of my body of course, to rather astonishing degree in fact, but I don''t FEEL per say. Even that ¡°light sensor¡± leaf doesn''t actually act as a receptor, I just inspect the appropriate cells to determine the amount and direction of the light. If it weren''t for the fact that I spent days inspecting every angle of it, just to alleviate my boredom, I would never have discovered the two moons. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.But back to nerves. The ¡°wires¡± aside, I don''t have any idea how to make the various receptors or for that matter how to ¡°receive¡± the signal, other than constant monitoring. Well I''ll just go one sep at a time. All this is mostly to kill time anyways. **** In the end it only took me a few hours to grow a variety of short veins, consisting mostly of different water solutions with a few solid ones in the mix here and there. I even managed to activate another gene sequence, assuming of course that thats what this rather convenient phenomena is. I grew two nerves like that. Weird thing is, they are both different. Go figure. Now. How to test it? I suppose I could try coiling them up and moving a magnet nearby, but that would be VERY inefficient. Now that I think about it, I don''t have a magnet, or a way to move it anyways, so scratch that. What else ¡­ Two metals in an acidic solution could work. Gathering enough metal is gonna be a pain though. Maybe I can use that soul energy or whatever ¡­ Ah. I should probably explain that. Basically, I have noticed that whenever I concentrate on one specific part of myself, that part requires less energy. So I figure I''m somehow supplying it with extra. Anyway, lets just try, shall we? ¡­ Oh! I think it worked! This is definitely not electricity though. Hmm, lets see ¡­. Seems like most of my ¡°wires¡± don''t really work ¡­ Oh! But one of the ¡°natural¡± ones lights up like a christmas tree. Well, I doubt that it actually lights up, but you get the idea. Ok lets see what else I can do ¡­. **** Well, long story short. I have an eye! Or at least something as close to one as I can get with my current skills and understanding. At first it seemed impossible. I pretty much gave up, but then I managed to unlock another gene sequence or trait or whatever. By now I can kind of feel wether something can be naturally grown or not. It''s weird and I don''t know how it works, but it''s extremely helpful. Ah, just to be clear, I don''t really understand my genetics or anything and I''m definitely not aware of all my available ¡­ what? Transformations, evolutions, mutations? The last one is probably most accurate, but whatever. Basically, to grow something I would need a clear image or understanding of the mutation or whatever and I wouldn''t know anything about something with a similar function, but different structure and vice versa. Now, about the eye. It is basically the same stuff that the leaf had, except a lot more of it, in a bowl, connected to nerves. The next bit is weird, though. The nerves are filled with the ¡°soul energy¡± except it''s kind of ¡­ dormant? Yeah ¡­ I don''t really get it, but whenever light hits one end the other end ¡°light up¡±, so ¡­ it works? Kinda. Now I just have to hope that my consciousness can interpret the ¡°soul energy¡± signals as an image ¡­. Yeah ¡­. fingers crossed? Speaking of which. I''ve decided to start calling the soul energy mana instead. Cause, why the hell not. Right? It sounds a lot better, and this way I can pretend to be a magician! Yay! In fact, lets name some other stuff. Like my sensing power can be soul perception and my ability to move stuff ¡­ telekinesis? (thats creative.) No idea what to call my experimentation though. Growth control? (comment anyone?) Not that it matters anyway. Just trying to keep myself entertained. Hmm. I keep getting this weird feeling. Like an itch on the back of my metaphorical head ¡­ Oh well. Back to experimentation! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª So a little longer chapter this time and some development as well. It''s gonna be a couple more chapters before the story really begins though. Anyway, hope you liked it. P.S Sorry if I''m late by the way. I''m a slow typer and I didn''t really plan my time well. I''ll try to update every two days or so. P.S.S Anyone know why some of the fictions (mine) don''t show the genres/tags? Just wondering. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 It''s probably been a couple more months now, so how about a status update? Lets see ¡­ I''ve mostly been doing the same old stuff. A bit of growth, some exploration of my immediate surroundings, quite a lot of experimentation. And of course a lot of staring into darkness and reminiscing all that other stuff you do when you have nothing to do. All in all, I''m currently about 20 cm tall, unless you count the roots of course, and probably because of my experiments almost 5 cm thick. My roots are still really thin for the most part, but they are spread out in an almost 15 m radius. I also had a few of them spread to the surface and grow leaves so coupled with the fact that they reach deeper than most other plants around me, means that I have plenty of energy to spare. Aside from that I''ve been tinkering with my senses. My soul perception can now distinguish different parts of a cell, and I can sense things up to 20 cm away from my body. I learned to use my eye as well. It took a while (about 3 weeks), and it''s still more like watching a screen actually seeing, but I can do it. Of course everything is really murky and in black and white, even after I grew a lens, and honestly there doesn''t appear to be anything all that interesting around here. Not that I can see at least. Well whatever. Then there is that itch I had. Yeah. It''s now more like a pounding. It''s like I have this urge to do something. Not that feeling you get when you''ve been sitting in one place for too long. I have had that since the first day. No, this is more like a need to do some specific thing. Except I have no idea what that would be. **** That urge is now rather all consuming. I mean come on! What the hell am I supposed to do!? I don''t even know what is happening to me. Damn I could use a status screen right about now. You know, like the ones in RPGs and pretty much every reincarnation story ever? The ones that so very conveniently tell you all your strengths and abilities and wether you are dying or just tired. I haven''t slept this entire time you know. Actually I''d probably be better of with one of those Identify skills that just tell you everythi ¨C¨C¨C
Would you like to create << Status >>
YESNO
¡­ WHAT!!! **** It took a while to calm down and think things through, but I have an idea about what happened. My theory is, that because I started using mana, or whatever that stuff actually is, I somehow triggered the chance to make an ability or spell of something. The idea that I can make an ability comes obviously from the fact that the screen floating in my consciousness asks if I want to CREATE << status >>. The connection with mana comes mostly from fact that the screen seems to be linked with that urge I had, which by the way is gone, and that the urge manifested right after I started using mana. Also, the part about mana notwithstanding, this is the only theory that feels even remotely viable. Wether or not it actually holds true ¡­ who knows. Anyway, I don''t want to risk loosing this opportunity, but I don''t really know what it does. I wonder if I could modify it. I mean << status >> could be a great power, but only if it comes with the levels and EXP and stats to make myself stronger and all that stuff. You know, virtually unlimited potential and all. That is if you utilize it well of course. ¡­ Hmm. I think it may have flickered for a moment? ¡­ Ah, to hell with it! Yes! I blacked out. **** Fun fact. When you have been fully conscious for half a year, it feels REALLY weird to wake up. I suppose it could also have something to so with the floating blue screen I saw before blacking out. Speaking of which. Status
Status
SpeciesStone pine variantName¨C
Health100%Level0
¡ª¡ª¡ª
Stamina274Mana7/53
Strength0 (0%)Vitality0 (92%)
Agility0 (0%)Intelligence0 (0%)
Oh! It actually worked! ¡­ the zeros are rather depressing though. Well I suppose I shouldn''t have expected much to begin with. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Hmm. This is a bit different from what I imagined. I wonder what all those percentages are all about. Also, apparently I''m a stone pine. Wasn''t this supposed to be a different world!? And does that mean that my theory about the gene sequences was wrong after all?
Skills
PassiveActive
Strong soul (human) level 1 - adaptation level 1 - self-aware level 7 - ethereal consciousness level 1 Soul Perception level 3 Internal Mana Control level 1 Species Specific level 12 Identification level 0Telekinesis level 2 - attract/deflect level 3 Growth Control level 5 Phagogenesis level 1
¡­ Strong soul seems interesting ¡­ wait Phagogenesis? I remember this. Isn''t that when you gain the traits of things you eat ¡­ Oh! That explains the muscles and nerves and stuff. Still, that was unexpected. And I got Identification too huh? I wonder why it''s under passives though. Lets see ¡­
Strong soul (human)Level 1
you have an unusually strong soul - adaptation level 1 you have the potential to adapt t any environment - self-aware level 7 you know you are you - ethereal consciousness level 1 you don''t require a brain to remain conscious
IdentificationLevel 0
you are better at understanding the essence of things
PhagogenesisLevel 1
you can preserve and use the genetic material of other species
Species SpecificLevel 12
the skills that come with your species example: full list available only at higher levels
¡­ Adaptation and Ethereal Consciousness are interesting I suppose. And Phagogenesis could become very useful if I use it well. Especially if I use it with Growth Control. Not sure what to think about Identification though. I guess I just have to try things out. Well I say that, but Identification is passive and I don''t really know how to use Phagogenesis yet. **** I''m going to travel the world! (where did that come from?) I''m tired of not being able to move and this world seems like an interesting place (how do you know?), so that''s my goal now. Well, that''s not really all that different from before, but all those levels (what levels?) and skills made me want to go adventuring even more. Anyway, for that I need some things first. I need the ability to move, I need a way of defending myself and I need some knowledge about this world. I have no way of acquiring the knowledge I need, but I have some ideas about the other two, so here is my new schedule. In the mornings I will search my surroundings for things of interest. These would be mostly materials and organisms that I can consume. After that I will be studying the biology of the creatures around me, with the goal of advancing Phagogenesis and eventually growing myself a new body. I will be spending most evenings experimenting and planning out my new body as well as doing other things of similar nature. And as I don''t require sleep, I plan to spend the nights training. For now that would consist of mana control and telekinesis, but if I really gain EXP like in games, then I might try fighting some things. I''m kind of hesitant about the killing part of it though. Now then. Why don''t I get started. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª I finally understand why people complain about the tables. Also is this considered a twist? Probably not, but at least you can now see the direction the story will take. *As a side note. I know that phagogenesis was about reproduction not absorption in HxH, but the name pretty much translates to "originates from devouring" and I couldn''t think of anything more appropriate so I''m taking a few liberties with it. Hope you dont mind. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Well, it''s been a while. Half a year at least would be my guess. I have mostly been living according to my initial plans, with a few brakes every now and then. There were a few more exiting events as well of course. For example, I found a humanoid! It didn''t fit any race that I knew of, fantasy or otherwise, and it was unfortunately very much dead. It did however have leather clothes and a knife, therefore proving the existence of intelligent species as well as suggesting what their level of technology may be. Besides, after I overcame my initial reservations, he turned out to be an excellent research subject. In the end I still haven''t gotten any new skills, but I leveled up the existing ones quite a bit.
Status
SpeciesStone pine variantName¨C
Health100%Level3
¡ª¡ª¡ª
Stamina529Mana107/107
Strength0 (9%)Vitality1 (31%)
Agility0 (2%)Intelligence0 (0%)
Unused points2
Skills
PassiveActive
Strong soul (human) level 1 - adaptation level 2 - self-aware level 8 - ethereal consciousness level 3 Soul Perception level 19 Internal Mana Control level 13 Species Specific level 12 Analyze level 10Telekinesis level 9 - attract/deflect level 15 Growth Control level 23 Phagogenesis level 20
OK. So first of. Stats! I gain 1 point every level and as far as I can tell, they don''t do anything. I have only tried vitality, but basically, putting a point in strength probably wouldn''t actually give you extra strength. It does however appear to give you insight on how to better utilize the strength you do have and you gain the potential to become stronger. For example when I reached 100% at vitality nothing happened, except that it wouldn''t increase any more and stamina now had a cap over which it couldn''t go. When I allocated to point though, the percentage went to 10% and it suddenly occurred to me that I can just store energy a bit differently and the limit to stamina was therefore moved back. I''m still not sure how that increased potential is reflected physically though or where the new knowledge comes from. Maybe already knew it, but didn''t realize? You know, the subconscious is a know-it-all and all that. Anyway another interesting thing is, that I can rename skills. That''s where the Analyze comes from. See, it turns out that Identification is great for understanding things easier, but horrible for actually identifying them. So I changed it to something I felt was more appropriate. I also wanted to rename Telekinesis, but couldn''t come up with anything. As to why? Well, it''s apparently impossible to move anything bigger than half a millimeter and even that''s stretching it. The sub-skill is great for controlling small amounts of liquids and gasses though. Now enough about that and lets move on to my new body. Yep, I did it! I deviated from my original plan quite a bit, mostly because I would not have been able to grow anything bigger than half a meter for a few years at least, but it''s pretty much complete now and I''m rather pleased with it. Anyway it is a little under half a meter tall and very lithe. It looks more animal than human, but with definite human characteristics. Kind of like the beast races from novels, but more animal. I tried to go for a mostly feline feel, with small ears and thick fluffy tail, but for some reason it has some mouse like features as well. The feet look mostly animal with pads and claws, but they have good traction, I hope, and shouldn''t pose a problem when climbing. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.The hands are thin with fairly long fingers and sharp retractable nails. They are mostly human in function, but I did plan to use them quite a lot when moving. Oh, and I have 6 eyes. One pair which I pretty much copied from the humanoid. They are pitch black, with a blue tint and are a little better than the eyes of humans as I know them. This consists mostly of better visibility at night and a bit more distance. The motion vision should be better as well, but I have no way of testing that. The other two pairs are much smaller look like little red stones. They were a pain to make, but are now at the outer side of the first pair and are mostly used for infrared and ultraviolet vision respectively. Aside from the oh so wonderful colors, this means that I have an almost 300 degree field of vision even in complete darkness. An illustration [So the picture didn''t quite come out how i invisioned it. Too human for one, and it''s hard to see the size (hence the mouse). I also didn''t know how to keep the form, but make him more plant-like (more gnarly?). Just use it as inspiration.][Edit: just discovered that google doesn''t work well with sharing pictures so I''m postng a link instead] What else ¡­ I look, for the most part, like a mammal, but I''m still mostly plantlike in physiology. For example, I can eat and have lungs, but I can just breath through my skin and my tail can function as a root. I simply stick the end into the ground and grow the web-like roots I had in the beginning. The lungs are there so I can speak or at leas make some noise as well as draw in air for smelling. I spent quite a while figuring out the most sensitive nose design that I could still close off when I don''t want to smell something. Same with the tongue to some degree. I also learned this neat trick that allows me to switch between two different furs and unlike it''s original user, I can use one of them to photosynthesize. The new body also has a wonderful brain, if I do say so myself. I used the mana conduits, because that was easiest and integrated them into what is a combination of the brain structures of various different animals fitted into the basic structure of (a minimized version of) the humanoids brain. At first I had trouble connecting to it, the same way I couldn''t actually see or feel with the first nerves, but then I found this weird mineral almost 20 m below ground. It seems to act kind of like a vessel. I, or I suppose a part of my soul enters it and from there it connects to the brain. I have never fully immersed myself in it so far though so I don''t know if my soul ¡°fits¡± in it completely. And let me tell you, moving the mineral, cleaning it of granite, reshaping it and then integrating into the brain correctly was NOT easy. It took me almost 3 months just doing that! Now then. Everything should be ready. Lets do this! ¡­ and I can''t move. Or see. Or anything. Haa ¡­ can''t be helped. Lets see if I can find out what ¡­ ¡­ O.K. ¡­ it appears that I can''t leave this body anymore ¡­ Back in a bit. **** Three weeks. That is the ammount of time it took me to open my eyes. Yep. TRHEE F***ing WEEKS! At this rate it''s gonna take me another year! Aaarghhhh! Haa ¡­ well, at least I know that this body can move, and by the end of the second week I started to feel too. The reason I can''t leave has probably something to do with fully entering that strange mineral and I think I figured out why I''m not running around righ about now as well. Three things: I haven''t moved for over a year, this body is radically different from what I had before, and it''s also brand new and therefore lacks any muscle-memory whatsoever. I mean even babies move before they are born and it still takes the combination of strong instincts, which I don''t have, and constant training for months until they gain some resemblance of control over their bodies. So yeah ¡­ Oh one more thing. Apparently my species is now ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Next chapter finaly has some (slight) action and story progression. Unfortunately I still haven''t finished it completely though so it might come a little late. Also do you want more pictures? I always thought they ruined the folw a bit, but I can porbably put them in a spoiler box or something. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 In the end, it only took a couple more weeks. Which while frustrating, is when I think about it quite acceptable. This is largely thanks to me putting my unused points to agility. The points may not make me any faster physically, but when you don''t know which nerve leads to which muscle, insight is just what you need. So I can move. I''m rather tempted to just start running and not stop until I collapse, but that may not be the best idea. After all I''m still not all that familiar with the creatures around here. On the other hand, I need to get used to this body anyway so why the hell not! Lets run! Yeaaah! ¡°Uooooh¡ª¡± Oh! I can talk! It seems I assembled the vocal cords more or less correctly. ¡°Yeah!!!¡± Ah! I probably shouldn''t be so loud. Don''t wanna attract any unnecessary attention. But man does it feel good to run again! ¡°Uogh!¡± Oh yeah, I''m still rather clumsy aren''t I. Oh well. Practice, practice. Lets see what''s in that direction! **** For the next two or so weeks I was mostly running around, getting used to moving again and generally enjoying myself. I also started exploring the neighborhood as well as hunting or just trying to sneak up to animals. As a result my stats began to steadily rise and I gained a few skills too. The most notable change is probably that Species Specific became Species Specific II. Now this may seem trivial, but what''s interesting is that it doesn''t have a level anymore. Instead it updates itself from time to time with things like ''bipedal movement'' or ''night vision'' and even things like ''digestion''. Aside from that I also got ''tracking level 1'' and ''stealth level 4'' as a result of hunting. The reason stealth is at a higher level is mostly because I am interested in it and I think it would prove very useful, but also I designed one of my furs with camouflage in mind. I couldn''t resist making the primary one a mostly white with black and blue streaks, but the photosynthesizing one had green and brown hues to begin with so I took advantage. I a now level 6 and heading south-east. Ah! I should probably describe my surroundings a bit. So I''m in a forest. That''s it. ¡­ seriously though, there is not much else to say. A few hills, a cave or two. I''m currently traveling alongside a small river and I saw some mountains due east when I climbed one of the taller trees. Other than that, it appears to an exceptionally ordinary forest. Especially considering this is supposed to be a different world. It does seem to be old though, this place feels ancient. Anyway, the humanoid was south of me and the river seems to head in that general direction as well so for now I''m following it. I still hunt and explore of course, but for now, my goal is to find civilization and learn more abut this world. **** Does anyone know why it is, that a half-meter being, built for speed can''t outrun a bear? Seriously! I''d like to know. I mean I suppose a body designed by an amateur in the field may have some problems, but we''re running through thick underbrush and I can, with some luck, outrun rabbits. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. **** Ok. What the F*** is WRONG with this bear. I could understand if it was protecting it''s territory or something, but this thing has been chasing me for the better part of an hour. Seriously, what the f*** did I ever do to you?! Also what is up with the weir¡­WHO THE HELL PUT A F***ing RAVINE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST?! Damn it. It''s like this is scripted of something! The bear of course didn''t just stand there. It caught up to me the moment I stopped and swung it''s massive paw and 10 cm long claws at me. That''s more than one-fifth of my hight in case you forgot. Fortunately I managed to dive underneath it, so the blow missed. Unfortunately, my my body and abilities are still far from perfect, so the claws still scratched me and the smooth roll and sprint I had envisioned, turned into a decidedly un-smooth tumble and desperate scramble. Well, in the end it accomplished the goal of avoiding death and I somehow managed to regain my balance before the bear tried again. So now I''m back where I started, except this time I have a ravine to my right and the bear I only a few meters behind me. Plus I now have gash in my shoulder, which, now that I think about it, seems oddly numb. I wonder if that''s because I somehow blocked the pain unconsciously or just because¡­
You have been poisoned
¡°¡­ poison ¡­ hahaha of course ¡­ I mean why not. I was just wondering if there was some way to make things more exiting. THE F*** DOES A BEAR NEED POISON FOR, EH?!¡± ¡°Damn it. I should have just stayed a plant. You get an opportunity to live a nice peaceful life, but no, you have to have adventure, and magic don''t you? *mumble* *mumble* ¡­ hmm?" In front of me was a crack that extended from the ravine. I could jump over it fairly easily so I wasn''t worried about that. I might even help me gain some distance. No, what interested me, was that there was a hole in the rocky wall of the abyss. A hole that I could fit in. So without a second thought I leaped forward and dived in. **** So here is the situation. The poison wasn''t that much of a problem. I have a rather unique physiology and I can, with some time, remove it with Telekinesis, or rather it''s sub-skill. The hole is small, in the shadows and surrounded by hard rock, so if I stay here too long I''m gonna starve. The bear can''t get to me in here, but it has decided to park itself just outside and doesn''t seem to plan on leaving anytime soon. The only viable solution that I can think of? Kill or incapacitate the bear. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Hey, so sorry for the delay as well as the possible delay of the next chapter. Yeah . . . Basically I have no problem with keeping the pace if I actually sit down and write, but i have the tendancy to not do that until the last minute. I''ll try to keep the current schedule, but I might take a short break at some point and write ahead. We''ll see. Anyway. Hope you enjoyed. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 So how to you go about fighting something at least six times your size? I''m obviously no match for it in strength and after that chase, I''m seriously starting to doubt my superiority in speed as well. The next best thing after basic stats would of course be skill. The right technique can make use of an enemy''s strength and potentially even make their speed work against them. Two problems. One. I''m very new to this body. Two. Other than some basic principles, I don''t know any martial arts. Well, if direct fighting won''t work, then I''ll have to try poison and trickery, but again. Problems. There is not much I can do to trick the bear into letting me pass. I can''t communicate with it in any meaningful ways, and I already tried and failed to to distract it with things like throwing rocks in bushes for example. Poison could work I suppose. I have eaten some poisonous or venomous stuff so I should be able to produce some. The problem is, that I have no way of administering it. My nails may be sharp, but I doubt I could even pierce the it''s skin with all that thick fur, at least not without dying in the process. The only way that poison could work is if I could make it into a gas. And I don''t know how to do that. Damn it. I there really no way to beat this thing. There should be plenty of animals that are smaller than their prey right? Wait, animal? Come to think of it. I''m a plant aren''t I. Maybe I can do something after all ¡­ hmm, yes. This could work ¡­ it''s extremely risky though. I only get one chance and if I screw up I''m dead. Still, if don''t do something I''m dead anyway, so lets do it. So with my resolve set, I moved my tail outside my hiding place and started to grow roots. **** For the past five hours I have been steadily advancing my roots. I''m absorbing nutrients from the ground above me, but that''s not my main purpose. No there is only a few cm of humus above the rocks and the nutrients there are unlikely to keep me alive for more than a day or so. It''s one of the many flaws this bod of mine has right now. Plants are not used to spending energy on moving so I require almost constant nourishment. Either from food or my now empty reserves. No the reason I''m growing roots is for ensnaring the bear. I''m gonna grow a web of roots, covered with spiderwebs and glue and spread it the bear. I have the clue from before and I was interested in spiders anyway and already know how to make the web. I''m also also going to release a lot of CO2 while doing it. Unless there is a lot of wind that is going to help make the bear waker and confused. The only reason any of this can work is because the bear is laying still in one place. And the reason this is so risky, is because growing enough roots to even mildly inconvenience the bear is going to consume all of my stamina. This is also why I''m not going to run as soon as I have enough roots to hamper the bear. I just wouldn''t have enough energy to move. In fact the only that I know of where I can get enough nutrients to restore my stamina is the bear. **** It''s a success! It took almost nine hours, but when the bear finally noticed the roost and started to struggle, I had enough of them to withstand it. It was actually really close for a while there. The beast almost broke free, but thankfully the CO2 had weakened it to the point where after a good 10 min of struggling it didn''t have the energy to do much more than breathe, and soon after it fell unconscious. Surprisingly it took another hour, before I got the notification of a level up. When I did however, it appeared four times, so in the end I was quite happy with the sequence of events. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I do wonder why that bear started to chase me in the first place, but unfortunately I have no way of knowing that, so for now it''s just gonna have to remain a mystery. **** I ended up spending the better part of a week in that hole. Mostly I was just recuperating, but I also tried to make myself more energy efficient. It didn''t really work all that well, but I think I improved a little bit. I also put two points into intelligence. I thought that it might help me think of a way to improve, but it didn''t really do much. After some testing I found out that my memory improved a bit and I think I can process things faster and more clearly, but like all the other stats it doesn''t actually make me smarter. By the end of the week the bear was mostly consumed. Or to be more precise I had taken everything that I wanted. Thanks to the almost airtight cocoon the body actually looked mostly healthy from the outside. I briefly considered taking the fur, but I had no need for clothes and didn''t have anything to put in a bag or on a belt. Besides, I didn''t know how to skin anything anyway, especially without a knife. So, when my stamina was finally full I climbed out of the hole and set on my way once more. I had to take a bit of a detour around the ravine, but after two days I reached the other side and a day after that I saw the river again. For a couple of weeks I continued the same as before, until one day around noon I found a road. I was ecstatic. The road was small and overgrown, but it was clearly not an animal trail and after some looking around I even found some footprints. My tracking skill wasn''t all that great, but I estimated them to be a week old at the longest. Now which way to I go. All roads lead somewhere, but I''d prefer the shorter route. After some deliberation I decided to continue alongside the river and head southward. **** It''s early morning, almost six weeks after the incident with the bear. I''m standing on a small hill at the edge of the forest, looking at the rising sun, the river flowing through the endless grasslands, and at the sunlit rooftops that peak through the mist hanging over the distant city. _______________________ ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Hey, so I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I started a new fiction called The Adventures of Nori The bad news is that i got a new idea for a story and couldn''t resist writing it (see above) so I''m not in the mood to write this one ... Basically I''m putting the story on a hold. This is mostly because I don''t know what to fill the chapters with. Starting a new ficton and liking it better than this one may have helped things along, but the main problem is that I have a clear idea where the story is going. This may not seem to be much of a problem, but put it together with (for me) a very typical story and lots of timeskips to set the pace, and you have got yourself a glorified summary of events. It is very hard to make a summary work as a book. Now fear not, this does not mean that I am dropping this (probably). All it takes for me to continue is to flip my notebook, I''m just saying that I''m going to focus of the new fiction and put Kaizen out of my mind for now. In a few weeks I''ll probably open my notebook on the wrong side, fall in love with the story and start writing new chapters. Anyway, for now: "That''s all folks!"