My Units Mutate

[Name: Explosive Mushroom]

[Race: Plant]

[Tier: 2 (0/25)]

[Strength: 0]

[Constitution: 10]

[Agility: 0]

[Spirit: 22]

[Skill: Explosive Spores (Launches spores into the air, attaching them to enemies and causing a powerful explosion, dealing 80% spirit-based area damage.)]

[Description: A harmless little mushroom, perfect for soup.]

Exploding spores? What kind of bizarre unit is this? Alex was almost at a loss for words. From the Sapling at the start to this Explosive Mushroom, none of the units he'd randomly gotten were what you'd call conventional. Still, this mushroom wasn't all bad. While it had no attack capabilities and couldn't move, its skill was pretty impressive. If he used his Mutation ability to transform it into another unit, it would inherit this skill. Imagine a Vine Whip that also caused explosions—now that was a satisfying mental image.

Unfortunately, Alex had already spent all his Mana, so he couldn't perform a mutation right now. Glancing up, he noticed the sky had darkened without him realizing it. Deciding against venturing out again, especially since he was hungry after a long day, he quickly set up a makeshift grill. Using a fire crystal he'd found inside a Blaze Lion, he started a fire and began roasting some meat while scrolling through the chat channel.

"How's everyone holding up?"

"Not bad. Took some getting used to, but I've finally upgraded my territory to Tier 2."

"Already? I'm still 4 Mana short. These monsters are no joke."

"Tell me about it. I ran into a Tier 2 monster today and almost got wiped out. Barely made it back to my territory."

"You're lucky. My starting unit is trash. Can't even handle a Tier 1 monster. I'm starving and have no idea how I'm going to survive tonight."

"Rough."

Message after message scrolled by, each one a tale of struggle. Some people couldn't even secure their next meal. Compared to them, Alex was doing alright. He'd not only solved his food problem but also upgraded his territory to Tier 2, giving him a foothold in this world.

"By the way, did anyone get assigned to an Angel or Demon territory? I heard those units are super strong!" someone asked.

This caught Alex's attention. Territory types were something he'd been curious about. From what he'd gathered over the day, there were ten main types of units in this world: Humanoid, Demi-Human, Beast, Insect, Plant, Undead, Elemental, Mechanical, Angel, and Demon. These corresponded to ten types of territories: Castle, Tribe, Den, Hive, Tree of Life, Graveyard, Elemental Plane, Factory, Sacred Hall, and Blood Temple. Among them, Angel and Demon territories were the rarest, followed by Elemental and Mechanical.

Sure enough, as soon as Angel and Demon territories were mentioned, people chimed in.

"I don't know about Demon, but I saw an Angel territory today. The guy had two Angel units with him, and they took down a Tier 2 monster in one hit. Absolutely insane!"

"Damn! Did he give you any trouble?"

"What could he do? I had a Tier 2 Wind Leopard with me. I just hopped on and rode off. He couldn't catch me."

"Lol, thought this was going to be some tragic revenge story, but it's just flexing."

"So jealous. You already have a Tier 2 unit?"

"What's there to be jealous about? Tier 2 doesn't take much experience. It's Tier 3 and beyond that's hard. You need to kill monsters of the same level to get experience."

"True. Killing weaker monsters barely gives any experience or Mana. No idea when I'll be able to max out my units."

In just one day, they'd already uncovered a lot about this world. The chat channel was a treasure trove of information, and Alex absorbed it all while eating. He made a mental note of the strength of Angel and Demon territories. If he ever crossed paths with them over resources, it would be a brutal fight.

After finishing his meal, Alex headed to the base of the Tree of Life. Using his connection to it, he grew vines and wove them into a simple hammock. This would be his first night in this world. Exhausted from the day's events, he quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Alex woke up early—not by choice, but because of a loud banging noise. When he opened his eyes and looked outside, he was shocked to find his territory surrounded by several Blaze Lions, which were furiously ramming the fences.

"What the hell?"

Alex jumped out of his hammock. Counting them, he realized there were three Blaze Lions outside. Had he stumbled into a lion's den? Or was this because of the one he'd killed yesterday? His eyes fell on the dried meat strips he'd hung up. The scent of their companion's flesh must have drawn them here, dashing his hopes of going out to hunt.

Yesterday, a single Blaze Lion had nearly wiped out his forces. Now there were three. If he didn't act fast, they'd trap him here.

"ROAR!"

The lions noticed Alex and redoubled their efforts, slamming into the fences with even greater force. The Thornvines and Flower Sprites inside the territory sprang into action, lashing out with their vines, but the lions' flames instantly reduced them to ash.

Alex frowned. Fire-based monsters, and Tier 3 at that, were a hard counter to his plant units. One lion he could handle by exploiting the safety period and using numbers to whittle it down, but three? He needed a different strategy.

Wait—he had a new unit, didn't he?

Alex suddenly remembered the Tier 2 Explosive Mushroom he'd unlocked yesterday. He hadn't been able to mutate it because he'd run out of Mana, but overnight, some nocturnal monsters had wandered into his territory and been killed by his plants, giving him 5 more Mana.

Without wasting time, he rushed to the Explosive Mushroom and activated his Mutation ability.

[Mutating a Tier 2 summon requires 5 Mana. Proceed?]

The prompt confirmed his suspicion: mutating higher-tier units cost significantly more Mana, five times as much in this case.

"Proceed."

The mushroom was enveloped in light and began to grow rapidly, transforming into a vine-like plant about half a person's height.

[Name: Thornvine Flower]

[Race: Plant]

[Tier: 2 (0/25)]

[Strength: 19]

[Constitution: 22]

[Agility: 8]

[Spirit: 20]

[Skills: Explosive Spores, Vine Whip]

[Description: A low-tier plant summon with basic mobility.]

Unlike the previous Thornvine Flower, this one had inherited the Explosive Spores skill, its body covered in red spores that floated in the air as its vines swayed. Alex immediately issued an attack command.

"Whoosh!"

Two vines shot out like whips, crossing the fence and wrapping around the nearest Blaze Lion.