An abandoned city in the remote depths of a jungle.

Beside a lake whose eels had fed the city’s former residents were sky-high stacks of resources gathered for a mysterious purpose. The game's three moons were out, causing the stacks to cast a criss-cross of shadows on the grassy ground. Amongst this network, vines erupted from the soil, birthing two figures.

The taller, more azure of the two was wearing a shell-shocked expression.

“We almost died," said Karnon.

“Yep.” Henry stuffed the sunflower panties into the God's hand, before deleting his identity and absolving himself of involvement in their theft.

The softness of the fabric seemed to assuage Karnon's fright.

He raised the panties like a newborn chick being presented to the moonlight. “Just as the plants nourish their bodies by infiltrating the soil, so to must we Earthfriends nourish our souls by infiltrating homes. Excellent job, my protégé. You have mastered Flora lesson number one: stealth!”

The panties, dissolving into lights, were transferred to his Spatial Bracelet, where they would remain safe until their delivery.

“To preface the coming lesson,” continued the God, “allow your mentor to recount an episode from his life encapsulating its essence. My first wife, splendid be her next cycle, would nag, ‘Karnon, why don’t you get a job? Why do you come home with nothing but mud on your feet and leaves in your hair?’ To which I would reply, ‘You ungrateful possum,' She wasn't actually a possum; they make horrible lovers, 'who brought back the berries that’ve made your belly so fat? Am I a slave? Is this not...”

While the God wafted on, Henry surveyed the unfamiliar environment, the staging grounds for his next ‘lesson’.

His coordinates placed them in the Parani Rainforest. This region, smack-dab in the middle of the Central Continent, remained unmapped due to the Imbahalala descendants inhabiting its perimeter that murdered explorers.

The city’s architectural style was unrecognisable to him, the buildings being rectangular and smooth like lego pieces. Aside from a moss-covering, the plastic-like material used in their construction had weathered the untold ages.

Of the resource stacks that Karnon had gathered, likely from blackmailing other rulers, the tallest was a mountain of Kamalite crystals about 11 times bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza. Evidently, the Rangbitans had been concealing the true extent of their supply to hike up the price through artificial scarcity.

Scanning the rest of the stacks, Henry identified minerals used in the production of plasticisers, UV stabilisers, texturisers - all additives for paintmaking.

Yes...paint. Karnon planned on concocting a silly amount of paint.

With Kamalite crystals serving as a pigment, with the water of the city's lake as a solvent, all the mischievous God needed now was a matching quantity of binder to glue the pigments in place after the paint dried.

Henry glanced at the trees on the fringes of the abandoned city. Dense spheric crowns, black branches, bipinnate leaves – these were Napella Gums, a tree that oozed a sap with multiple purposes, one of which was...yep. They were a dryland species, unsuited for the humidity of the Parani Rainforest, and, indeed, inspecting their bases, the soil was churned up, indicating recent replanting.

Karnon noticed the direction of his gaze. “Isn’t your mentor a God of his word? Tadah! You have been reunited with your forest!”

From a higher vantage point, Henry would’ve had a view stretching to the horizon of the 144,600 acres of the trees that the God had stolen from his colony.

“That's a lot of paint for two to make."

“In the highlands,” replied Karnon in a teacherly tone, “there is a unique species of tree that has evolved to endure the Maelstrom’s wrath.” No such species existed. Nevertheless, the God continued talking about it as he strolled with the irresponsible ease of a professor whose tenure provided immunity from being fired. “The Quercus karnonica has achieved this miraculous feat through a remarkable tactic. It grows in dense stands with its branches interlocked with its peers. When the Maelstrom is throwing a fit, those trees on the brim, although unrooted, form a wind barrier that shields their friends inside.”

The God stomped his foot. From the point of impact, glowing lines radiated out into a triangular Arcane Formation the size of five football fields. Its tip was a small hill overlooking the lake, where Karnon took his place.

“Teamwork – this is the lesson taught to us by that amazing plant. Tell me, my protégé, have you absorbed its wisdom, the wisdom of the forest?”

So...what Karnon had created was called a Conduit Formation, designed to channel the Universal Productivity from multiple people into one, who would wield the collective power for large-scale tasks. His purpose in bringing Henry here was to have him provide the ‘batteries’ by coughing up craftsmen from his kingdom or guild.

“How much?” asked Henry.

“220 million units of Universal Productivity.”

“How long?”

“Your subjects will be returned to their doorsteps within 3 hours.”

In-game hours.

With the average level of Henry’s mature NPC craftsmen being Tier 4-2, producing 220 million units required around ten thousand of them. That figure should be doubled so that the majority had enough Universal Productivity to carry on with their daily responsibilities.

"That's way too much," said Henry. “You’ll need to pony up for both the hiring costs and the Napella Gums."

Karnon chortled. “I’m not so shameless as to make my student work for free. This brings me to the final lesson in Flora, on the secret key to cooperation: quid pro quo. This is your payment; I believe you already have one like it.”

The God summoned a cloak coloured half brown and half white. Blowing into it like a tissue, he floated it over to Henry’s hands.

The Cloak of Wind and Stone (Legendary)

STR: 1, VIT: 2, TECH: 1, mCOM: 1, mAFF: 1, Bonus Armour Rating: 18

Ability: Self-Transmutation. The wearer’s body acquires either wind or earth properties. Items and spells cannot be activated for the duration. Form cancellable at will. 0.5 second conversion time. 1-minute cooldown.

Weight: 905 grams

Level Restriction: None (Scaling)

‘A cloak once worn by Brother Sulam of The Thieving Triplets. Nature itself has been woven into its fibres.'

This was a sibling item to The Cloak of Water and Flame that Henry’d picked up from The Wolf Empress. Both had been present back in the first instalment of Saana. If a third corresponding to lightning and ice were acquired, then the three could be combined into one item that allowed the wearer to split into six elemental clones. Being a scaling item, its stat bonuses increased with his levels.

“What’s the catch?” he asked.

The cloak’s value far exceeded that of Karnon’s request.

“No catch. Such baubles become redundant when you are as great as I am. Check this out!”

An unprepared Henry found himself being swept off his feet when the God transformed into an azure tornado.

Being battered around in the wind, he managed to eventually stabilise himself by latching to a tree branch and using the cloak to transform into a granite boulder. The branch's bark secreted a mote of Flora Energy.

Flora, spirit of the plants, rewards your deeds! 2% of the Energy necessary to build a connection has been accumulated.

A face formed in the whirling mass of wind. “Are you not impressed? Your mentor can shapeshift into a TORNADO! Throw one of your fists at me; it’ll pass right through!”

Clinging to the branch beside Henry was a Tier-7 Shadow Gecko that’d been hiding in the background to avoid notice by the God.

“Call your workers to gather, and I’ll bring them over,” yelled the whirlwind. “I, Karnon, Master of The Five Winds, order thee!”

“Joking aside,” shouted rock Henry back, “for the sake of your homeland, you have to guarantee the craftsmen’s safety! Our official policy with your antics is to extract compensation from your followers!"

On further thought, that was likely why the current king of Eastern Togavi was hunting the God down, to pay the debt for this stolen forest.

“Yes, yes, whatever, I ruled once, too; I understand such dull matters. Post-haste! I’m getting huffy with impatience! HAHAHAHA! Stop! Don't make me laugh any harder, Karnon; you're making me winded.”

“Fine.”

The moment he agreed, the winds ceased, Karnon transforming back into a human.

The God then looked up at one of the moons as though reflecting upon an exhausting adventure, even though barely fifteen in-game minutes had elapsed since the beginning of this Flora segment. “This night, I have shown you the sum of my knowledge on the doings of the vegetation. You have been taught to be as sneaky as a vine, as steadfast as a Bluewood, as unified as the”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Henry, human, landed in a pile of stripped leaves. “Quercus karnonica.”

“And as cool as a cucumber. Now, while your mentor labours, you must perform independent study to digest these imparted gems. Also, don’t auction off that Cloak yet; it’ll come in handy in the next lesson...on the ELEMENTS!”

Karnon, not bothering to close the distance between them or even turn Henry's way, flailed his arms around randomly again.

You feel a spiritual connection with the grass, the trees, and the flowers.

With the domain of Flora having opened its ear to you, you may call upon it to refine Nature into Flora energy for the creation and utilisation of spells.

Henry wasn’t convinced that stealing a pair of panties and half-bottomed negotiating for a work project constituted a lesson, but if a reward was being given, he’d accepted it.

After messaging the right people, he jotted down a list of coordinates for the God.

Karnon, teleporting away, returned seconds later with a 200-strong crew of Constructionists from a colony south-west of Nilke, where they’d been building a 38-kilometre bridge.

Despite being night, the craftsmen were highly-visible due to glowing tattoos recounting the legends of their tribes. Upon arrival, they silently inspected their surroundings, giving Henry a cold appraisal before dismissing him due to his character’s low-level.

With his ‘mentor’ zipping around the globe collecting workers, he sought out a secluded spot on the edge of the worksite, not venturing too far lest he become dinner for a jungle monster.

There, he gathered ten charges of green Flora energy, clapped his hands, and listened to another hippy sound bite from Zeyma about his inspiration for creating the spell.

'When the Karmaeater returned to its grove early, I hid inside the trunk of an ancient Bitterblood. Its sour sap sustained me through the winter while the monster hibernated.'

Nature’s Balm

Restore a portion of the target’s missing health points. Strength of heal depends on number of Flora charges spent.

Variable cost (maximum 5). Instant cast. No cooldown. 60 metres.

After refreshing his charges, he shot a cannonball out of one hand into the air composed of Flora energy, leaves, and flowers. Travelling at 30 metres per second, as most single-target spells did, it struck a parakeet flying past, frightening the literal poop out of the bird, which jettisoned a white spurt.

With his evenly-distributed stats, a 5-charge would restore about 20% of his health, this figure increasing if he invested more into the Magic Power stat. Unlike damaging abilities, heals had their full potency whether the target was struck square in the chest or on the tip of a toenail. Since the spell was a projectile, enemies could intercept it to steal the healing for themselves. For self-heals, he could bunch his hand into a fist to catch the cannonball with his fingers

'Tramping across The White Desert, I prayed for relief from the sun, even the shade of a single petal would do.'

Guardian Petal

Attach a flower petal to the target, giving the Earthfriend Truesight of them through objects and enhancing the use of other Flora spells. Up to 3 Guardian Petals may be activated simultaneously, and they can be stacked on a single target.

1 Flora Charge (continuous) per leaf. Instant cast. No cooldown. 60-metre application range. 150-metre range for Truesight.

The Truesight, which resembled heat vision, helped with tracking teammates in chaotic battles. However, Guardian Petal’s real value came from its synergy with other Flora spells.

'The last Scorchedwood succumbed to the fungus invading its open wounds. I felt saddened that the bark of such noble beings had lacked the property of my lowly flesh to self-repair. If only this gift could be shared.'

Floral Mending

Channel Flora Energy into an attached Guardian Petal, restoring a small amount of health into its wearer every 3 seconds for 15 seconds.

1 Flora Charge. 4.17% Nature Energy Consumption. Instant cast. 15-second cooldown (separate for each petal). 60-metre range. Non-projectile.

'The bards should sing of the flower’s sepals instead, those unchampioned benefactors. They shield the bud when it’s an ugly child. They support it from behind after its beautiful debut.’

Protective Sepal

Shoot a sepal that shields the target upon contact for 3 seconds.

May be activated instantly on a target with a Guardian Petal, consuming the petal.

1 Flora Charge. 2% Nature Energy Consumption. Instant cast. 12-second cooldown. 60-metre range

One might notice the 'Nature Energy Consumption' percentages. These tied in with Saana’s unique equivalent to mana, where spellcasting drained Energy from the environment in a 5-metre sphere around a player. Depletion of an area's Energy would convert it into a Dead Zone for 5-minutes, during which no further spells could be cast inside of it. Additionally, the pool was shared between all users of the same Energy type, so a Dead Zone created by one player applied to others, too. Thus, Spellcasters tended to spread out around a battlefield and had to relocate regularly.

For Earthfriends, who drew from the Nature Energy pool along with Shaman, each Energy Charge gathered, be it Flora, Fauna, Elemental, or Celestial, drained a bit of this environmental Energy, exactly 2% with Henry’s evenly-distributed stats. Certain spells like the above two carried additional costs. The Magic Affinity stat reduced these costs; Magic Power, by drawing more energy to amplify a spell’s potency, increased them.

Managing this resource was a crucial skill in group combat, but, for 1v1s, players wouldn’t remain static for long enough to deplete an area.

‘Dozing on a flower bed, I was awoken from my dreams by a thunderous thump.’

Heart of the Forest

Reduces Strength and Technique by 30%; increases Magic Power by 25% and Magic Affinity by 35%.

Whenever standing with feet planted, a bed of flowers will grow to connect the Earthfriend with the earth. After 6-seconds, the buff will be applied, multiplying the projectile speed of benevolent spells by 4. Any feet movement will reset the timer or cancel the buff.

1 Flora Charge (Continuous). Instant cast. No cooldown. Self.

The Flora analogue to .

All major healing classes—Earthfriends, Miracleworkers, and Shaman—and some of the quirky specs of others had an equivalent buff to , which quickened their support abilities after being stationary for 6 seconds. These buffs assisted with aiming at teammates on the move and reacting to the damage they took in time. Without them, a healer’s spells might fail to reach a teammate before they snuffed it.

And those were his Flora spells.

Overall, he’d yet to finalise how to integrate them into the supreme martial art. Reviewing footage of the top-placing Earthfriends in past tournaments had revealed hundreds of approaches, depending on the map, class matchup, and personal style.

Considering just , the shield, it could buy crucial seconds to refresh Charges or soak damage while scaling a ladder in the open. One unusual competitor, who’d placed 7th in a Basindi tournament by fighting with a one-handed sword instead of , used the spell to block attacks while delivering his own.

The number possibilities, even at Tier-0, were bewildering, but he was sure the optimal usage could be found after a few decades of analysis and testing.

“Henry, mon ami!”

His thoughts were disturbed by a Tier 5-2 Fighter approaching him with a golden zweihander for a weapon and a wet-beaver for hair.

“Alex.”

Live in the digital flesh, it was his enemy-slash-business-partner-slash-best-friend. Given the scale of Karnon’s painting project, Alex had been called up to supervise. This used to be Henry's responsibility, but not anymore.

“Man, Suchi is way greener than I remember. Wait a gosh-darned minute, this isn’t Suchi!” Alex laughed so wide that his tonsils became visible. “Seems your schedule has been disrupted! Are you not concerned about losing? Would be mighty unfortunate if The Invincible Cripple ended his career being knocked out by a noob.”

Since Henry had , he considered challenging the smug idiot to a duel and humiliating him with his incomplete level 5 Earthfriend toolkit. However, the impact would be less satisfying than the shock revelation of a supreme martial art from out of nowhere.

“Such diversions had been accounted for in my plans,” he replied, faking a discomforted, constipated tone.

“Of course they were! Anyway, mate, have you calculated how much paint he’s cooking up? That’s a hefty quantity of mats.”

They both looked over to Karnon, who was now standing on the hill in front of the lake at the head of 20,000 craftsmen. A torrent of Universal Productivity was flowing into him, causing him to glow a blindingly bright shade of azure. Cackling with madness, the God raised his arms, then slammed them back down, making an invisible weight sledgehammer the top of the Kamalite mountain into dust.

“Eyeballing it,” said Henry, “between 1.3 and 1.4 billion litres.”

“Mary and Joseph. Any clue what he’s gonna paint?”

“He’s been hinting at it, but, to be honest, I’ve been filtering out 90% of his words. There were mentions of marriage...he’s getting married? I’m getting married?”

Alex raised an eyebrow at his friend’s indifference. “You may have retired, but please spare some attention for the rest of us. This is gearing up to be a world-altering event.”

Henry disagreed. “Look at his idiotic expression; the result will be frivolous and dumb, a monument to pointlessness. Do you want anything more from me? Otherwise, I’m going to log out for dinner.”

“Nah, I’ve got this sorted for now. Enjoy your meal.”

Auckland, New Zealand. On the seventh floor of the Flaming Sun HQ.

Performing his usual post-gaming stretch routine, Henry studied the ugly decor of his apartment, with his mattress lying on the floor and the beige walls from before the place’s conversion from an office space.

“I can do better than this,” he announced aloud.

Shutting his eyes, though, he only saw blackness rather than a calendar in his Mental Library.

Ugh.

How inconvenient.

On his kitchen bench were five dishes from his favourite Indian restaurant. Licking his lips, he went over and peeled open the plastic lids, perfuming his apartment with the tantalising aromas of South Asia and the sea.

Beep!

A melodramatic message had come in on his e-assistant from his grandmother. After dinner, her indigestion had reminded her of the pain he’d inflicted her by refusing to attend university.

He had his e-assistant call her up. A second later, her voice sounded from speakers embedded in the walls.

“So you’ve finally decided to call your suffering grandmother back! Have you checked out the applications yet or did you let me down in that as well?”

He began loading the Indian food onto a dinner tray. “I haven’t gotten around to reading them, but your nagging has hit the mark; I’ll enrol for next year.”

The other end of the line went dead, concerning him a little until he caught the sound of heavy, triumphant breathing.

In the past, he’d been reluctant to attend school because the time investment wasn’t worth the gains. Qualifications to improve his employment prospects? Retired. Learning to learn? He was an autodidact who didn’t need a structured environment for motivation. Connections with the keenest minds for bouncing ideas off of? The writing circle he’d established in his bookstore before Silver Wolf invaded and tainted their artistic vision.

Now, though, he had centuries to spare, so if he could ease his grandma’s geriatric heart, then why not? And perhaps, if the fancy took him, he could exploit The Cap to conquer real-life academia, snatching up a PhD in every subject.

The speakers rattled off a machine-gun-fire of words. “I was impressed by the campuses at Cambridge, Tsinghua, Zurich, and MIT. You’ve already missed the application for Cambridge's 2051 intake, but I’m sure a modest donation can persuade them. Don’t be ashamed of using money for that purpose; your education is an investment in your future....”

After chatting with his grandmother, he spoke with his dad and younger sister, who were living with her.

Following that, he carried his meal to a writing desk positioned in front of a wall with two dozen monitors, which switched on to display news from the various in-game channels.

In one of them, he spotted himself and Karnon being enclosed in a cocoon of vines. The instant they vanished, a furious woman stepped out of the shadows and stabbed at the empty air, where Henry's heart had been. The station’s analyst was trying to forecast whether this was an ominous sign.

The TVs shut off as he walked away.

He carried the dishes to a window, where he balanced the tray on a stool taken from the kitchen.

When the window sprang open, he popped his head out to lap up the flavours of the city, the sweetness and sourness of modernity that could not be replicated in-game.

Below, on the pavement near the entrance to the building, his company’s real-life workers were being picked up by auto-taxis.

Among them, a young woman, probably an intern, happened to look up and make eye contact with him. Peculiarly, she scowled in disgust, mouthing an insult whose acidic sound was lost in the noise of the traffic.

He mimed the movements of her lips. “Ne-po-ti-sm? Huh?”

What the—Oh, right, the rumour about being Alex's unemployed cousin. He'd invented that one to mask his identity.

Giving her a wink and laughing to himself, he chomped down on a hearty spoonful of seaweed curry.