Lotus Year 19
The humans remained in this region for a few days, but today they were packing up their things and leaving, these guys left me with a flea behind my ears, because I felt that they were very dangerous, but at the same time I was wondering if I should try to get rid of them more openly.
I can't move my main body, just move vines and manipulate water, the rest is done by my helpers, I've never killed anything directly, only through my helpers or taken advantage of dead creatures body's. But I personally have never hurt anyone, mainly because I have no reason to do so.
If they tried to kill me I would use everything I have to finish them off, but they just pulled up some leaves and used some water, so it's nothing that would be considered a "Risk to my life".
But I was honestly really tempted to end up with this guy in the blue hood.
The guy spent days taking water from my lake and putting it in glass bottles, then he mixed the water with some other liquids that he took from a bag, and a mixture of herbs that he made.
I don't know what the result was, but this guy kept coming back for more water, taking almost an entire jug a day. This is not considered a threat, but it is still very annoying. I was the one who took the trouble to purify this lake for years, and now this random guy comes here and steals my water.
I wanted to throw a sunbeam in his face and send him away. But the muscular guy in iron armor scared me, so I preferred to keep my mouth shut.
After gathering all their things, the humans began to leave the same way they arrived, leaving behind the remains of a camp. I don't know what they came to do here, but during the days they stayed, they entered the forest in groups in the early morning, and only returned during the night fall.
I don't know what they wanted, but thank heavens they were leaving, I didn't enjoy their company, they were all very loud, dirty and disrespectful.
They were not welcome here. They not welcome by me.
At nightfall I finally felt free to release my elementals again, and continue my life. I was so scared of these humans discovering me that I couldn't produce star points for weeks!
As the night's full moon appeared in the sky, my flowers opened and began to emit a pale blue light, my lettuce green leaves glowed a shade of navy blue in the moonlight, and my little water elementals flew through the sky, patrolling the place.
My little clay slugs that were hidden in the middle of the earth finally emerged and began to expand the lake further to the sides. My little Axolotls that were hiding in the holes at the bottom of the lake came out and started happily hunting small creatures like tadpoles and small fish.
I was at peace again, just enjoying my time as always, and I didn't even realize I was being watched.
When I heard the breaking of branches coming from the edge of the lake, I directed my vision towards that region and found a boy standing there with dirty green hair, tattered clothes, bruises on his body, and chains suspended from his arms and legs.
'Is this the prisoner?! The humans are back?!'
As I tried to deactivate all my "magic", I could see the boy just staring at the lake with his mouth open, and then I heard the familiar sound of metal armor coming close by.
'Damn it!'
The boy also seemed to hear it, because his next action was to run desperately to a tree and climb it quickly and desperately.
When the group of humans came back holding torches and shouting at each other, I knew who they were looking for. So it was just a matter of waiting until they found what they wanted and left.
Using my vision I could see the boy on top of the tree, covering his mouth with his bruised hands and eyes full of tears, and for some reason this made me very uncomfortable.
'Why?'
Why did I care about him? Why are they after the boy? Why was he arrested? Why are they here? There are so many questions and so few answers.
As time passed, I could see the men heading towards the tree, and the boy began to shake even more. This situation made me so uncomfortable that I had to do something.
Giving a command to my water elemental, I make it pluck one of the flowers from the lake that contains a pale blue light, and send it towards the forest. As soon as the elemental got close to the trees, it began to purposely break branches and make noises in the woods.
Right after the men turned to the side of the forest, and see a small figure with a faint light running into the forest inside, then they started screaming and ran towards the forest quickly.
As soon they left I could hear more people approaching, which wasn't a good sign, since if they make an extensive search of this area it would only be a matter of time before they found the boy.
'Damn it. How do I hide this boy?'
After thinking for a while and looking around the lake, I couldn't find any place where he would fit, the clay tunnels were too small for the boy, the waters of the lake were too transparent for him to hide under water, and after seeing him almost drown a few days ago I doubt he can breathe underwater.
As the noise got closer, all I could think of was sending my elementals towards the boy, as they got close to him the elementals merged into a large bubble of water that swallowed the boy whole. The water bubble then rushed into the lake and slowly sank into the lake waters without making any noise.
A few seconds after the boy was "hidden" I could see the same humans as earlier today, but now they were fully equipped and looked very angry, they were shouting at each other and pointing fingers angrily at each other.
Taking advantage of the chaos that was happening, I could see the boy almost drowning, so I made the elementals generate a small air bubble around his head and began to devise my plan.
The boy has not yet been discovered due to my water lilies that cover the entire surface of the lake, but it was just a matter of someone putting their head into the waters of the lake to see a boy with dirty green hair floating in the lake.
In a desperate movement, I dragged the boy to my "core", which was a bunch of roots wrapped around what was once my seed, and began to slowly uncoil these roots and wrap them around the boy's body.
The boy didn't help and began to struggle and try to scream, but his already weak strength was almost useless underwater, and his screams were contained within an air bubble. As I finished wrapping myself around the boy, i tried to make a small empty space formed within the tangled of roots, which soon became large enough for the boy to be able to move around a little.
After I finished everything, I could see the guy in armor coming to the lake, and forcefully tearing off my leaves to clear his path to the bottom of the lake.
The pain was terrible, but I couldn't show any reaction, any wrong movement could mean death for me.
When the guy saw that there was nothing at the bottom of the lake, he started to go out and yell at more people, until the 2 goofballs that went after my elemental that had already dissipated a long time ago finally arrived, and started to talk to the big guy.
As they finished talking, the big guy grabbed one of them by the neck and started yelling at him, the other goofy stood on the side shaking with fear, and I could only see an armored guy almost breaking another guy's neck.
After a few minutes the big guy simply grabbed the other man's neck until a loud cracking sound was heard and the man who was crying and trying to free himself from the big man's restraints stopped moving and the look of fear on his face stopped, and in the place was blank expression and a mouth foaming with saliva and vomit.
The big guy just threw the soldier's corpse aside, and grabbed the other man who was shaking on his side, then started yelling at him and pointing at the dead man on the ground.
When the man who was practically begging couldn't answer what seemed to be questions, the big man grabbed him by the neck like the first one and then dragged him to the edge of the lake.
He dunked the man's head in the waters of the lake and continued to scream with the drowing man, every time the crying man tried to say something his head was again forcibly dipped into the lake, and after about 7 minutes of doing this, I could see the crying man give his last spasms before drowning in the lake water.
With 2 cadavers in his name, the big man just calmly walked out of the lake and started shouting at the people who were present, then everyone started to slowly come back and I was left behind with a boy and 2 cadavers.
These waters are once again stained with blood.
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The next day, I was sure the bad guys were finally gone, so I started unraveling my roots to reveal a scared little boy.
The boy had short, dark green hair, which may have been due to dirt. His hair had been roughly cut with some kind of blade, and his ears too.
The boy still had his ears, but they were cut halfway to the top for some reason, his body was thin and weak, so much so that you could see the ribs and bones marked in the skin, but that still didn't stop him from having a body completely covered in old and recent bruises.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His eyes were purple, looking like a plum, but they were opaque and devoid of life, his eyes should have been beautiful, but now they were nothing more than a portrait of his intense abuse.
I could see missing teeth and nails in his mouth, hands and feet, as well as what looked like burn marks on his skin. The boy's skin was a dirty brown, so I couldn't tell if that was his true color, or just the result of extreme dirt.
The boy's situation made me sad, and as soon as he submerged to the surface, I had to slowly drag him to the edge because the boy was visibly very depressed.
'What could it be? Hunger? Pain? Illness? Thirst? Internal wounds? There are so many possibilities that I don't know what could be happening!'
This kid was left in this state by those guys, I don't know what the backstory is, but all I can see now is a kid who was abused by a bunch of adults.
'This irritates me, why does it irritate me so much? Why do I feel so angry?'
Something in me bubbled up, I can't remember, but something similar must have happened to me in my last life, because I feel so angry at this boy's abusers that I can't think logically.
The boy may be a horrible criminal, and he may well have deserved such a cruel fate. But after seeing that guy murder two of his comrades in cold blood, I doubt he needs reasons.
The boy could also be a war criminal, who is being purposely kept weak to avoid rebellion, but that would not justify the extensive abuse and anger of the soldiers, if he were a simple slave or prisoner they would not be so angry.
'Who are you?'
That was all I could think, the more I looked at this situation the more questions I had, and the less sense it all made, but I don't have time to theorize the boy's life story, when he could be dying of starvation right in front of me.
Capturing some fish with the water elementals, I slice their heads off with a water blade, and start cutting off small pieces of flesh, trying my best to avoid the bones.
When I have a rough mixture of fish meat, I pluck some seaweed from the bottom of the lake and roll it into little balls of food, and using the help of my elementals, I put it all in the boy's mouth.
The problem was that he couldn't swallow, so I had to use my water manipulation to force everything down his throat, the boy choked a little, but was still alive. As long as his breathing continues, I know he's alive.
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Lotus Year 19
A few days passed and Green didn't leave, I decided to call him Green because of his green hair, and he stayed here.
He continued to pass out on one of my water lily shields, barely breathing and waking up every now and then only to pass out again. I had to bring him to the center of the lake because of the wildlife, if I left him at the edge of the lake, he would have already been plundered and stripped of meat by the forest animals, like the corpses of men that were now a pile of visors and larvae.
I cleaned the boy up, and took care of him, forcing food into his mouth, hydrating him, cleaning his waste, and even protecting him from the sun and bugs.
The boy made me discover that my Axolotls had healing saliva, and that they could serve as supports. When I was nervously thinking of a way to heal the boy's open wounds before they got infected, my axolotls excitedly emerged from the bottom of the lake and began licking the boy's wounds happily, and after a few hours I could see that the open wounds had healed and partially closed.
The axolotls' healing power was not perfect, or even commendable, but it was very valuable, even if its healing only speeds up someone's natural regeneration, it is still better than nothing.
Because of them, I was able to provide the boy with better treatment, and now I could see a little more color in his face, and quickening breathing. he was recovering, or having a fever, it was one or the other, but I didn't have the ability to tell just by looking.
Now that he was cleaner, I could see his appearance better, his hair was indeed dark green, but not as dark as before, just a faded moss green, his skin was tan, and I would say it was somewhere between the color of clay and wood, if the boy had more meat between his bones and a healthier appearance he would be very handsome, but in his current state he looks more like a mummy awaiting burial.
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Lotus Year 21
Skills
[Filtering Roots] - Lv MAX
Create roots capable of purifying water and absorbing nutrients.
[Celestial Absorption] - Lv MAX
Absorb the magical power of celestial bodies through the process of photosynthesis, generating MP and SP
[Blooming] - Lv MAX
Create flowers that can bear fruit
[Undine's Embrace] - Lv 2
Use Mp to summon water-type elementals, the result of the summoning will depend on the sacrifice offered and the level of the host.
[Clay Guardians] - Lv MAX
Use Mp to create and maintain clay guardians capable of generating essential nutrients for the soil using MP.
[Lotus Blessing] - Lv 1
Bestow a blessing upon an allie that ncreased luck and fortune.
[Hard shell] - Lv MAX
Use your Sp to make the surface of your shell harder
[Waste Wipe] - Lv MAX
Use MP to purify dirt and harmful substances
[Lily Pad Shield] - Lv 2
Create Lily Pads that can serve as resistant shields, Lily Pads cannot generate energy.
[Solar Beam] - Lv 1
Use a flower to generate a concentrated beam of energy capable of causing massive damage, the solar beam must be charged and its strength is limited by the intensity of sunlight.
[Poison Point] - Lv 2
Use your Sp to create poisonous spikes
[Lotus Scent] - Lv MAX
Use Sp and MP to emit a scent capable of attracting prey and calming them
[Thorn Trap] - Lv 2
Use Sp and MP to create root traps that activate on contact.
[Water Absorption] - Lv MAX
Absorb and store large amounts of water in your body.
[Vine Whip] - Lv MAX
Create thin vines to lash out at enemies and inflict minor damage.
[Aquatic Allies] - Lv 2
Use Mp to summon a variety of aquatic creatures that can serve as your allies.
[Mist Veil] - Lv 1
Conjures a veil of mist to obscure the vision of invaders
[Lotus Light] - Lv 3
Use Mp to create a small light source in lotus flowers
[Water Echo] - Lv 1
Use Mp to create small sounds at any nearby water sources.
[Floral Flourish] - Lv 3
Makes plants around you grow faster
[Pond's Reflection] - Lv 4
Use Mp to reflect any image, as long you have viewed it before.
[Kelp Keep] - Lv 7
Use Sp to create small amounts of highly nutritious algae
A few years had passed, I have many max level skills now. But I was more distracted by the pre-teen by the lake who was building a small wooden tent.
The boy was wearing a wolf skin as a coat and a bag made of straw. His hair was long, reaching down to his shoulders on his dark, tanned body. His former lack of flesh and muscles had disappeared and now in its place was a slender, healthy body covered in small scars. On his head was a small purple axolotl that layed peacefully while nestling in the boy's hair.
The boy was Green, and I discovered he was a boy over time. Green never left, and he stayed with me, eating fish, the flesh of forest creatures, seaweed, and wild plants.
After taking care of Green for a while he finally woke up, and the first thing he did was scream and fall into the lake. The boy was scared and I can't blame him, and he ran into the forest without leaving a trace, but after a while he slowly came back and approached the lake timidly.
He tried to say some strange words, but I couldn't understand anything, so I just did what I could and started using my ability [Pond's Reflection], to show him what had happened.
The boy was simply stunned when a large image was reproduced in the waters of the lake, and he looked carefully at everything that happened in the images of the lake, he saw himself climbing a tree, being swallowed by a bubble of water, and then "Kidnapped" Into a tangle of roots, he fearfully saw the 2 men being killed in cold blood and looked shakily at the pile of rotting flesh near the lake. Then he saw himself on a lotus leaf being treated and fed for days and was very confused by it all.
He talked and talked, but I didn't understand anything. If he wanted to leave he could go, my conscience was already satisfied.
But what he did was stay, even though he didn't receive any response from me, he stayed, first he took everything he could from the 2 corpses on the floor, getting 2 knives, a bag and scraps of clothes, and then he looked with shining eyes and a mouth salivating for the lake's fishes.
All I did in response was create a bubble of water with a fish inside, and throw it out of the lake, the boy was very surprised by the fish that suddenly "jumped" out of the lake, and clumsily finished him off with a stone to the head.
After that it was just history, the boy took shelter in the remains of the human camp, and began to survive in this region, he made a fire, a small "House" in the tree, which was just a place where he slept disguised in the leaves, and created a lot of clay things.
Green has abilities to manipulate the earth, which is pretty cool, he can create small holes, make mud balls, and even create a small wall.
That's how he made a "wall" around his camp, a mud stove, and a bunch of clay pots, Green never left, he just equipped himself more, I helped him with food, giving him fruits from the lake , and drinking water, and Green kept me company, he is a wonderful neighbor, different from humans, Green never hurt my body, not tearing a single leaf from the lake, he bathed in the stream that connected with the lake, and just used lake water for personal consumption. He made friends with a small purple Axolotl who likes to accompany him, and is very responsible and skilled!
Green stopped having that weak and fragile appearance, and now had a toned but not muscular body, hair tied into a bun, eyes full of life and motivation, and clothes made from several different animal skins.
Green didn't just live on fish, and actively hunted various animals that came to try the good life at the lake's edge, he had enormous respect for these creatures, and always made a gesture with his hands before eating the meat of these animals. And he didn't waste anything, the meat was consumed, and if there was a lot of meat it was smoked by Green, placed in a jar and buried in the ground. The visera were cooked into a broth that Green used as a base for soups, then he fed the remains to the axolotls in the lake, or just buried it all in his little orte. The bones were broken, turned into powder and later mixed with clay, dry grass and ash to form a very strong brick, which Green gathered into a large pile.
The blood was cooked with spices, meat scraps and fat, and made into sausages by Green, and the animal fat was melted and placed in a large, tightly covered jar.
Green seemed very pro at this high sustainability thing, because he lived comfortably here, without a lack of resources or problems with invaders.
Elementals scared away most things, and Green knew very well how to hide from very large animals. He would climb a tree or throw himself in the lake, and something would work.
Green is some kind of inspiration, he went from a weak boy on the verge of death, to a professional survivalist in just 2 years, the boy does everything with perfection and mastery.
For once, I don't dislike my neighbors.