John's mind flutters in the darkness. His mind calm and tranquil. He never felt so unburdened during his life as a human. As John enjoys his long rest, time flies by.

  To John, his hibernation ends too soon. As the sun warms the ground and his branches, he begins to wake. First, a sliver of light pierces the darkness. Just the size of a pin, but it reminds John of the material world. Soon he’s sprouting leaves. Each one opens his consciousness a bit more until the world once again is open to him.

  The first thing John does upon waking up is to examine his current strength. First, he checks the balance between the earth and sun energy. ‘It’s a bit off. I need more leaves,’ John decides. He immediately begins the process of growing more leaves. John transfers the excess energy over to the Stone Porcupine herb remembering to encourage the long spike to grow larger.

  Next, he inspects his roots and the nutrients they are collecting. ‘What happened?’ John wonders as he notices that the nutrients he’s gathering have exploded. ‘Did Joe eat some divine medicine or something? Or perhaps the medicine from the bath?’ John guesses.

  “Moo,” Joe calls out when he notices the bush moving about.

  “What?” John replies while stretching his branches.

  “Moo, moo Moou,” Joe explains with a bobbing head.

  “It was a whole season, so of course, a lot happened,” John dismisses. He then expands his senses into the ground to see what has changed. After a short inspection, he shakes with excitement. “Where did all these microbes come from?” John asks Joe in shock.

  The demonic bull takes a bite of some weeds and shrugs. “muf muf muufo?” Joe asks.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full! Microbes are like little bugs that are in the ground that make it better for plants to grow,” John lectures while raising his branches to look down on Joe.

  “Moo MUo Mou,” Joe snorts.

  “I’m sorry, but when you’re as intelligent as me, you can’t help but look down on dumb bulls like you,” John laughs.

  Joe makes a disgusted face and turns around. He then starts kicking up dirt towards John. “Muuoh moo moh,” he retorts.

  “Hey, even if the microbes are good, burying me isn’t!” John yells.

  Down below, the villagers notice the commotion on the hill. They once again send Anna up the hill as their delegate. Joe snorts down at her while John finally takes a moment to inspect the village. ‘They’ve been working hard,’ John appreciates as he investigates the improvements.

  As Anna reaches the top of the hill, John says, ”you know I can talk to you anywhere. There’s no need to visit.”

  Anna nods to John as he bounces happily. “There was an incident a few months ago…” Anna explains the horrible predicament the village had been in as well as the disappearance of Elanor.

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  John shivers in fear. ”I’m glad I didn’t die while hibernating. It indeed would have been a death without even knowing what killed me,” he sighs. After contemplating a moment, John responds, “Whether Elanor is involved or not, it’s hard to say. Though I can say that she’s not the one who created the phenomenon.”

  Anna raises her eyebrow and counters, ”didn’t you say she was hiding her strength. Who knows how strong she actually is.”

  “No, even as a genius with a robust backing, she’s far too young. The bottom six cultivation levels are considered easy. With enough time, anyone can accomplish them. But the top six? Besides, she wouldn’t need a teacher in medicine if that were the case,” John tells Anna while shaking left and right.

  “If it wasn’t her, then you suspect someone who knows her? Anna asks while moving her jet-black hair out of her face. She then looks back at the village and continues, “there are some that are worried that it’s some curse of the unbroken region.”

  “Since I didn’t see it, I can’t say for sure. However, the description you gave would point to some overwhelming force unleashing their strength. Well, there may be some influential people on this planet. The one most likely to trigger an attack or anger someone that powerful is her,” John surmises.

  Anna nods while still looking down at the village. A bit of disdain enters her voice as she says, “I think so too. But Even if it was someone else, it shouldn’t happen often. Everyone is worrying over nothing.”

  “It must have been very traumatizing. They can’t be blamed for being scared. You’re the strange one for being so calm. Still, it is like fearing that a meteorite will come crashing down and kill you,” John sends to Anna.

  “I’ve gathered the information they wanted, so I’ll take my leave,” Anna informs John as she starts to walk back down the hill. After a few steps, she pauses without looking back. Anna says, “you were right about not relying on her.” Anna then continues towards the village.

  John’s branches droop a little as he watches the woman leave. ‘Perhaps I made a mistake pushing them to cultivate,’ John worries while rubbing a few branches together nervously.

  ‘They’ve sure done a lot of work,’ John muses as he looks closer at the village. As he looks around, he notices the forge and a few newly created tools. ‘Moon Iron?! Where did they get their hands on that?’ John wonders.

  As john marvels at how far the village has come over just one winter, he starts to think about himself. He looks internally at his core. John inspects the slight crack along the top of it. ‘It’s grown a bit?’ He tries to estimate.

  The Fractured Seed stage will eventually turn into the Wellspring stage, acting as irrigation for any plant cultivator. It will increase a plant's life energy, allowing it to regrow from the roots without any long-term effects. In this way, plant cultivators are more resilient than humans and even demonic beasts. Yet due to the greed of others, they have often been eaten roots and all.

  ‘Perhaps I have some talent for plant cultivation after all,’ John muses to himself. Yet after thinking on it, he shakes himself in the negative. ‘No, I’m conscious, so perhaps it’s not fair to call it talent. Still, at this rate, the fifty years in Fractured Seed stage may become only forty!’ John speculates.

  ‘Still, without Elanor around, relying only on Joe might be too dangerous. I don’t want to sacrifice my leaves and become unbalanced every battle…’ John contemplates. After going through his knowledge of plant techniques, he groans. ‘there really aren’t many techniques I can pull off at this stage. Most plants will still rely on their natural defenses if they have any,’ John concludes.

  John inspects his body once again. A gray bark covers him. It’s become reasonably thick, but a good strike from a Moon iron ax would still fell him. His gleaming green teardrop leaves reflect the sunlight majestically. He’s now completely covered though he hasn’t grown much in diameter. John is now much denser. ‘It’s as I expected… I have nothing,’ John sighs.

  As he worries about his defenses, he notices the children practicing on the dummy. ‘They’ve just about got the hang of it,’ he thinks happily. "Oh?" John gasps as he notices the chain mark on Laurel's arm.

  “A lot did indeed happen,” John tells the demonic bull.

  Joe rolls his eyes and responds, “Moo.”

  “Alright, alright, you were right! Happy?” John gives in.