Tai realized he hated being eaten. He ruthlessly slashed the roof of the creature's mouth. The mouth clamped shut, and its tongue pushed him to the roof. The muscular tongue pressed on him, forcing him towards the throat, where a strong suction forced dragged him in.

Tai lodged his knife hilt-deep into the tongue, and dragged it along the surface. The mouth immediately opened as a pained screech vibrated from its throat.

Tai crawled out its jaws with the orange in tow. He jumped with a mighty leap and landed on a nearby tree branch. Tai turned around to get a good look at the creature who dared to eat him. There, a purple iguana was screaming in pain as blood leaked from its mouth.

There was no more time to waste. He made his way to Angela, finally reaching the comfort of safety. A second later Tenma alighted the bird, and she flew off.

...

Tai did not get what all the rave was with this fruit.

"You don't feel it?" Tenma looked at Tai incredulously. "This fruit contains power to activate the potential we have, the potential you've been reading about."

Tai didn't feel a thing. The orange looked tasty, but that was all there was to it.

"So, is that how we activate our potential?"

"It is one way, but you would have to eat over a hundred of them," Tenma said, "the other way is more...spontaneous. Some, after staying out here, were suddenly endowed with supernatural abilities."

Tenma snatched the half- eaten orange from him. "It's very hard to find these fruits. I'm working on a concoction that can forcefully activate our potential. The vitality potion I gave you was a subproduct of my research."

So, not only was Tenma really strong, he had the intellect to back it up.

Later that day, Tenma led him to a room he hadn't mentioned before. Tai had before fought the urge to ask him about it; the dull room was the coolest one in the entire house.

Weapons of all kinds were mounted upon rows of racks. Most of them, Tai didn't know could even exist. He didn't wait for Tenma to say anything. He excitedly ran for an oversized broadsword and tried to swing it like how he saw in local stage plays.

His arms trembled as veins lined his arms and a dull ache came from them. The massive weapon that was definitely the same weight as him slipped pathetically through his fingers and made a loud clang as it fell to the floor.

"So, before I was rudely interrupted," Tenma was leaning on a rack nearby, "choose a weapon that fits your personality and physique."

"But I like all of them." They all were so cool.

Tenma sighed and grumbled to himself. "Kid, I see you did pretty well with that combat knife I gave you. Though I brought you here to get a feel for the other weapons, I believe you work best with that dagger."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He liked the knife, but what if he did well with nunchucks?

"...what about the nunchucks?"

Tenma smacked him in the head.

In a flash, two weeks passed. In the mornings Tenma trained his reaction speed, precision, strength, hunting skills and so on. In the nights he'd read until he fell asleep. Like that, he devoured one book after the other.

The 'History of Politics' was an absolute torture to read. He was so glad that the Tom Thumb will have advisors and proxies. There was no way he wanted to deal with stuff like that everyday.

No matter how many 'special' fruits Tenma gave him, he never felt the elusive 'quality of your existence growing'. After a while, he stopped eating them.

Between Tenma's daily training and his nightly reading, his daily schedule was jam-packed. It has been three weeks since he met Tenma. One month and a week was left till the mini competition.

...

Tai sprawled on the floor as he read about the other kingdoms. The inheritance competition two years later will not only be for Thumblings, but all folk beings. If thumblings even are folk beings. However, they must be if they are included every rethroning cycle.

Feeling a wash of drowsiness, Tai closed the book and shifted in a comfortable position on the floor to sleep. As he was about to surrender himself to slumber, he felt the presence of someone beside him.

"Tenma, why won't you cook tomorrow?" It was a long shot, but he might as well try to relinquish cooking duty tomorrow. Now would be the time when Tenma insulted his cooking skills and claimed he needed more practice.

He heard no response, which was odd. Tai opened his eyes and glanced at the chair. Tenma wasn't there.

He didn't hear anyone enter, which was normal. Tenma made no sound when he walked. Maybe, he was mistaken. Taking it as a cue to get some rest, he closed his eyes.

He felt a prod, like a baby trying to shove him. His eyes flew open as he sprung up, wary. The feeling was harmless, but he tended to suffer the consequences of not being alert.

He stood there for a solid five minutes, then sweeped the library for any intruders. It was an open space, but he could never be too careful, especially when the enemy was unknown.

He laid on the floor again, this time seemingly tranquil. He felt it again, and this time, now that he was fully conscious, he realized that even though it felt physical, it wasn't. It was as if his very soul was being touched.

Now, the 'hand' that prodded him seemed to realize it got his attention. It...waved at him? How did he even know it was waving at him? Subconsciously he spoke, "Who are you?"

The entity continued to wave at him in greeting. Was it dumb? Maybe, it couldn't interpret physical ways of communication. He tried to send an emotion, an 'intent', saying hello. The entity jumped in excitement and grabbed his 'han—

Tai was immediately disconnected from his body.

Tai tried to breathe, but he couldn't. His hearing, vision, smelling, and feeling was gone. He couldn't blink. He couldn't feel the comforting wooden floor he laid on. Despite that, he was not dead.

He did not have a head, or hands, or feet. He didn't even know how he was thinking without a brain. Wait...he did have limbs. They were firm and unmoving. Attached to them were beautiful lush leaves.

Actually, he couldn't see them, but he spent a lot of energy to make sure they were absolutely perfect.

Currently, his roots weren't as deep and far reaching as the trees around him were. His gorgeous leaves also weren't getting enough sunlight. He licked the sporadic beams of light like a hungry wolf.

"Aren't you a feisty one. You will definitely live very long."

The appearance of the baritone voice sliced through the silence. Tai was shocked and afraid. He was just a humble tree. What was going on?

Then, he saw a mirage. Green eyes, and a kind smile. It...it was a friend. This friend was very important. This friend was his life. His life?

Tai choked for air as he opened his eyes. Where was he? A library, yes, he was in a library. He got up. Wait...how does he 'get up'? He was a tree—no, he was Tai. Tai Thumb.

Tai spent the next fifteen minutes trying to gain a bearing of his surroundings and himself.