NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 9: Baby Steps
Congratulations! You have reached the level cap for your [Juvenile Blight Tree] class! Would you like to evolve? Y/N
‘Would you like to evolve?’ The words were so strange, like the past eleven years had been just for this moment. He had grown used to the voice of the before, whispering instinctual knowledge into his mind. Like a series of well grown roots, supportive and reliable.
But now, that voice was silent. As if unsure for the first time.
Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing monster evolution!
Whatever I was before, this is entirely new for me. He thought, carefully examining the system windows. He selected: Yes.
Monster evolution may commence when mana threshold has been reached.
Current progress: 1/100%
He waited, then waited some more. A full week passed.
Current progress: 4/100%
Yeah this would take a while. Leif was sick of waiting around. He, as with all trees, was remarkably competent at the task of doing very little. But as his mental attributes had grown his ability to simply wait had lessened.
He was still excellent at it. Eleven years of doing mostly that had given him more than enough practice.
Oh! I have a new skill. He realised, the system prompt about evolution had caught him off guard and he had forgotten.
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Uproot:
Aspects: Empowerment (Body), Technique (Movement)
You empower your body, allowing you to temporarily retract your root systems and become mobile. Moving in this way puts strain on your body and reduces your overall combat ability.
Once this skill has expired you automatically replant yourself and rapidly spread your root systems.
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Well, may as well test it out. He thought.
And so he did. And it was awful, truly the worst experience of Leif’s tree life. The feeling of years worth of agonisingly slow progress being slurped up into his trunk, parts of his body that should never move snapped into position beneath his now elevated form.
Leif swayed. Unsteady on so many new appendages. He took several very tentative steps around the clearing he called home. It was unruly and incredibly awkward, but that wasn’t the only problem.
The biggest issue Leif was having was his weight. His roots sunk into soft soil and took effort to pull out. He would over correct his balance trying to maintain a steady footing only to sink further. It was exhausting and miserable. And to top it all off it just felt wrong.
Two feet would be so much easier. He thought. And it took several minutes before he caught what he had thought. Why had he thought two feet would be easier? Was it…
Smiling faces.
A parade through the street.
Racing friends along winding paths.
Ugh. Leif staggered as the sharp memories flooded his mind, his entire form sagged. What am I? He asked himself, but he received no answers.
===
Mana saturated the world, though it does so inconsistently. It seeps into the ground from above, filtering down into the depths. It flows along with the natural environment, and where considerable amounts of mana gathered; thaumatic phenomena become more common; strange rock formations, wind that flows in thick ribbons, rivers that defy common sense.
For monsters, beings born of, or with the assistance of mana, the amount of saturation is greatly important. For… say, random example: A magical tree, the mana saturation of their immediate environment determines several things.
The first, and most important to current events is evolution. The evolution process takes far longer in areas with low amounts of mana, and even the quality of evolution options can vary. In newly formed stretches of wilderness, mana is often quite sparse.
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Monsters naturally absorb mana, it weakens the barrier to advance to new levels. The higher level the monster the more mana it requires. Awakened creatures, like humans, use crystallised mana to aid in breakthroughs.
Leif, in his entire life as a tree, had never moved. Sure, he had spread his roots over a considerable distance, but he had never experienced different levels of mana saturation. But now he did. Not out of desire to reach a region with higher saturation but for another, more personal quest.
He wanted to find out what he was, and staying still wasn’t doing that. Over the weeks he grew more competent with his movements, no longer did he fall or threaten to tip over. The trick, as it turned out, was proper weight distribution. Oh, and putting his ten free attribute points into [Alacrity].
What moved through the forest was quite the strange procession. A Blight Tree, two deer, a family of squirrels, six songbirds, fourteen water rats, nine rabbits and an old badger migrated with purpose. Only one member of this diverse group knew that purpose but they possessed it nonetheless.
Current progress: 13/100%
As Leif travelled, he noticed progress towards his evolution was becoming increasingly difficult. The elevation had been ever so slightly increasing as the days went by. If Leif had eyes he would have noticed the looming mountain range.
Boulders and cliffs became commonplace as the group travelled. The forest had thinned, and then ended entirely.
It should be noted that just because Leif was searching for clues, it didn’t mean he knew what he was looking for. We can postulate that finding a settlement like a village or a town may have jogged his memory. But I think I can comfortably say Leif was lucky he was actively heading away from civilization.
Because I don’t think townsfolk would have been overly accommodating to a large carnivorous tree monster, just a hunch.
Current progress: 25/100%
Eventually the incline got too steep for Leif to progress, days were spent trying to discover an around route but to no avail. The tree and animal posy began drifting southward and back into forested hills.
It was during this time Leif discovered killing attackers would rapidly fill up his evolution progress.
Current progress: 40/100%
A stream ran through the quiet valley like a particularly lethargic snake. If you had eyes and a taste for the wonders of nature you might even call it beautiful. Entire fields of flowers ran along the sides of the valley, their colours separated like rock strata.
Leif spent a week within the valley, soaking up the above average mana from the air and soil.
Current progress: 59/100%
Winds buffeted Leif, animals fleeing in every direction. Even the two placid deer seemed less than eager to stick around and stare blankly at the danger.
A griffon descended from above. Its four metre wide wingspan parted the air and its short sword length beak glinted in the sunlight. As the creature circled overhead it seemed far more interested in Leif than the freeloaders who accompanied him.
It radiated a strong buffeting presence, as if challenging anything brave enough to test it in the air. Leif felt the overbearing power press down on him from above, as if the creature were focusing in on him specifically.
Though the aura it projected gave off a feeling of danger the griffon's intent towards him didn’t seem hostile, and for that very reason Leif didn’t send wooden spears lashing out at the monster. And a good thing too, because if he had, the griffon, a level sixty creature, would have torn him to little shards of splinters and sadness.
Instead it landed, then prowled around Leif for several minutes. It snapped off three branches with its oversized beak. The griffon responded to the call of nature, then flew off.
Leif, despite, or perhaps in-spite of being soggy and smelling of a griffon’s territory made the executive decision to leave as swiftly as possible.
Current progress: 86/100%
Fun survival fact: Griffon piss does a fantastic job of scaring away monsters and beasts weaker than itself.
Current progress: 99/100%
…
Current progress: 100/100%
Congratulations! You may now evolve your [Juvenile Blight Tree] class!
Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing monster evolution!
Commence Evolution? Y/N
In a forested clearing several dozen kilometres from where he had begun his life as a tree. Leif accepted the class evolution prompt. Leif’s aura winked out, the benevolent feeling disappearing. Most of his tagalongs drifted away…
Commencing monster class evolution!
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Name: Leif Vin
Race: Blight Tree
Age: 11
Attributes:
Free: 0
Might: 25
Alacrity: 20
Intelligence: 14
Willpower: 13
Spirit: 23
Charisma: 20
Total Level: 19
Monster Classes: 1/1
Juvenile Blight Tree: 10/10
Skills: Savage Roots / Predators Sense / Harvests Due / Blight Heart I / Uproot
Classes: 0/2
Auxiliary Classes: 1
Noble: 9/10
Skills: Aura of Nobility I / Court Empath / Grand Action / Under My Protection