The journey back to the base was quiet. After arriving, Silas explained the situation and took the stone to Nadine. He explained as best he could, but she still had doubts.

"Are you sure it is not going to affect us like trying to take over our bodies?"

"That’s your decision. If you think you can’t turn this to our benefit or if it's trying to do something to you, I’ll destroy it far away from here. But you’re the only one here who can figure out a way to use or make an item with it."

"You don’t sweat at all putting pressure on others, do you?"

"I’m only asking because there is no other way. Monsters drop loot when they die. This stone was intact, so I might as well try."

"What do you want, another sword or maybe armor? I can tell you it is good, better than the other minerals, including the ore I used to make the sword, but this doesn’t feel like pure material. It is like half mineral, half plant. I don’t know if I can use it with my power."

"Try to extract all the power you can to make the best item possible. To answer your question, I don’t want you to make a weapon or armor. We need information."

"What do you mean?"

"I already told the others, but we are about to engage with a mysterious enemy. He was smart enough to speak our language and communicate with telepathy. It wasn’t a mere animal or vegetal. We should consider this entity as an equal to us."

"A human."

"No, a player." She gave him a weird look, but he ignored it. "We are about to engage in PvP. Rule number one in PvP is that information is key. The more information about our opponent we have, the better our chances of winning."

"You want to fight him? The way you talked about this thing, isn't it better if we abandoned the cave?"

"It is an option, but we’re going to end up like in the first few days. Running with Emily as our only safety net. Not to mention we would lose a lot of the fruits and vegetables we have collected. Staying outside is foolish, so we’ll need to find a new base. We also need information and the best way—"

"Is if I can make something to help us with this, both plans, fighting and running away, depend on me, huh." She sighed and looked at the ceiling. "I miss my normal life."

"Who doesn’t?" He left her house. There was nothing more he could say.

"At least ask me what I used to do before all this, weird kid." She mumbled to herself and got to work on the stone.

Nadine's power was the most valuable from a utilitarian perspective. She could make weapons and armor from simple rocks, and if the materials were better, she could make some pretty good ones. It wasn’t limited to weapons; she also made some farming tools for Emily and her garden and some plaques as reinforcement for the wall in the cave.

She got a feeling of the quality of the object, but she couldn’t figure out a way to obtain information with it. Should I try to make a computer, but there is no electricity. Can I give it a battery? I don’t know how batteries work. I should have paid attention in science class in high school.

She came up with many objects and ideas, but the moment she tried to change the stone, her heart hesitated. What If it doesn’t work, I can’t sense it is going to work or use all its power. She moved it between her hands and thought about her home.

The days eating dinner with her family or going to movies with friends. She wasn’t the type who knew how to fix things. That was her brother. Maybe he could have a better grasp of this power. Now that I think about it, I wonder if my family is here too. That meteor shower must have fallen on the whole city. Ah, I’m getting distracted. There is no other way, Nadine, you have to do it. No one is going to do it for you. Stop being lazy!

She slapped herself in the cheeks a couple of times and then grabbed the stone. The only way to get rid of the uncertainty was to learn all she could about this thing. She focused her mind on the stone and her power opened a way. Suddenly, she wasn't in the workshop of her new house.

She was in the middle of a forest. It looked just like the one in this world, but she couldn’t feel anyone else. There were no animals, and everything was quiet. The forest moved with the wind, and the plants turned to look at her. She was on the center stage. A flower bloomed right in front of her. It was red like blood, and in the center, there was the stone pulsing like a living heart.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She walked a couple of steps, but the ground turned into a puddle of mud. I can’t move my legs! She tried to raise them with all her strength, but she got deeper and deeper. The flower was out of her reach, and in the middle of the darkness she heard a noise. It was an incompressible sound, and then she was gone.

Nadine went flying into the wall and made a loud noise. Something had hit her in the face. Her nose was bleeding, but she was still holding the stone. "I need help."

The next day, she asked Emily for help. She hesitated at first. She didn’t want to remember that dark feeling.

"Please just one time. If it doesn’t work, then we can send this thing far away and forget about it. Believe me, I don’t want to get hit in the face again."

"What? Did the stone hit you in the face?"

"Never mind, just help me please."

"I don’t want Silas to think I’m trying to sabotage him. Let’s get this over with."

Like the day before, Nadine began to pour her power into the stone and Emily did the same. This time, the two of them were transported to the forest. The flower was in front, but Emily could hear a voice.

"You brought someone who can walk the path of Azasie."

"Nadine, did you hear that?"

"Yes, it sounds weird. I don’t know what it means."

"No, I understood it. It was speaking English." The ground turned to mud, and Nadine got trapped again. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, if you can hear something, then try to get the stone over there."

Emily stepped forward. She wasn't affected by the mud. She took a closer look and saw the beating heart of the flower.

"Are you ready to receive the blessing of Azasie?"

"What does that mean? I just want to help Nadine make something to learn more about this world."

"If you harbor doubts, then your life will be lost. Only those who can give their whole being to Azasie can learn the power of the forest. If you want it, you must dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to her wisdom."

"Can you just tell me what you want from me? Stop dancing around the subject and tell me."

"Everything. You must give everything you have." Those words cut the air like a cold blade.

She remembered the stories for kids when she was little, where devils or other monsters would take your soul. This was the same, a pact. Everything meant her body, mind, and soul.

"Are you the one who talked to us before? Are you planning to transform me into a plant to kill everyone here?"

"No, I’m not taking sides. The path of the forest is not something to keep a secret. Everyone can walk it if they wish. This is the toll. Whatever you do after that, whether you encounter happiness or death, is up to your decisions."

"Hahahahahaha, decisions. I didn’t decide to be kidnapped and taken here and now you tell me I can choose." It was almost like a bad joke. She had no choice in this terrible world.

She didn’t choose to come, or her power, or fight that monster and be threatened by another creature. Yes, since this whole thing started, I haven’t chosen anything.

"Tell me one thing. Are you part of the System that brought me here?"

"No, we live in its world, but we aren’t its servants."

"That’s good enough for me. If you go back on your word and try to force me to do something, then I’m cursing you with all my soul." She moved closer and touched the stone.

The leaves opened and wrapped around her body. They connected to her being like veins, and energy began to flow inside her. It was the same sensation she felt when reading the presence of other creatures with her power. The stone was about to be assimilated into her body, fusing with her heart as one, until a hand took it away. There was another person here.

Nadine grabbed the stone and forged it into something new. Her hands mold it into a round object, bigger than before. It was made with her power and Emily’s. The darkness dissipated and they were back in the house.

They opened their eyes and saw the fruit of their labor. The stone transformed into an orb. It was the same red as before, and it was full of the energy of nature. "Emily, your body!"

Her body had changed into a fusion of human and plant. Her veins were green, and the tips of her fingers were small vines. "I see, so the price was to renounce my humanity. I was expecting something much worse." She gave Nadine a big wide smile, trying to tell her it wasn’t a big deal, but her eyes, now yellow, transmitted her true feelings.

They stood in silence, hugging each other.

***

"The short version is that the cost of using the stone was for Emily to transform. We did it. Here is the orb." Nadine presented the orb to everyone else.

Their faces were somber after seeing Emily’s appearance. They felt confusion and worry, but she reassured them it was fine.

"It's not a big deal. All of us got our bodies changed by the System when we were kidnapped. This is just another look. I feel stronger too."

"A race change." Silas said. "Sorry, I didn’t intend to force that on you, but thanks to both of your efforts, we can maybe learn something to give us an advantage. Can I use it?" he pointed to the orb.

"You can try, but we already did some experiments. I think only Emily is able to use it."

He took the orb and tried to focus his power on it and asked questions in his mind. Nothing happened. "I see, everyone else should try it just in case." They passed it around, but no one could get a response.

In the end, Emily grabbed it and it began to glow. "It must have a race prerequisite; it turned you into a half plant, so you'll be able to use its powers." Silas thought for a moment. "Emily, I need you to look outside here. How much can you see?"

She closed her eyes and he used her power. She didn’t have to touch any roots or plants. The orb was amplifying her power like a massive radar. "I can see everything around here. Trees, plants, flowers, and animals on the ground. It’s like a map."

Silas tightened his fist with a strange expression. "Now, this is very important. We need to prepare for PvP. Can you see anything information about our enemy?"

She stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "I can see something."