Such a proposition was flammable, as it turns out, and had sparked a dangerous state of mind in Licht’s head, causing him to be a bit overzealous in his placement of traps. The particular section of the Trescult Woods in which he inhabited had now been transformed into a sleeping maw of death.
Practically anywhere one would step on their way through the connected territory of Licht was now false ground. Licht had now perfected the art of digging with his roots, honing his expertise with vast trenches focused in food-rich areas. In Licht’s mind, he actually thought he had held himself back in placing the pitfall traps.
He had merely chosen not to dig around the basic necessary areas, such as entrances to his actual connected domain and the space around known creature burrows or food-rich plants. Of course, practically everywhere else in the area had been quarried and filled with ten-inch root spikes.
The problem he was facing now was once again the issue of the mental load. Using roots as the structural material of the traps was a necessity for absorption, but their now complex forms came with the issue of increasing the load on his mind. The sensation was like a persistent pressure on his brain from all directions.
Licht had solved this by not focusing on those roots at all times. By retracting his senses from the root traps he would save himself a lot of mental energy and headache, and he would know when the traps caught something by the vibrations of their trees that he was still connected to. The technique was a bit like Licht voluntarily turning parts of his brain off, and it had taken him quite a bit of time to master.
Licht still wasn’t sure of how long had passed since he had been in this world. If the day and night cycle was to be trusted, it had been about a month, but Licht doubted that for some reason. Thanks to the nature of his species, he was more sensitive to the rays of sunlight and he could clearly feel that they felt irregularly variable each day. Some days the sunlight felt far more intense than it did other days. Licht had no idea how this was or what it meant, but it did serve to make him doubtful of the passage of time here. Maybe the Giving Tree would know something?
The thought of getting any information out of the one-syllable at a time speaking tree made Licht’s brain cry out, but there was one thing he wanted to ask about. Specifically, its roots.
Licht had accomplished a basic weaponization of his roots in his pitfall traps, but they were clearly lacking when compared to the roots of the gigantic tree. He wondered if the razor-like barbs the tree had were the result of years of practice or the product of some skill or virtue.
[Defeated Red Furred Rock Squirrel]
[+2 Experience]
[Defeated Tri-Horned Fox]
[+4 Experience]
[Defeated Steel Tooth Ferret]
[+3 Experience]
As Licht was planning out his next conversation with the Shel Silverstein grifter, a string of interface notifications ran through his vision. The traps were beginning to bear fruit, clearly. Licht increased his awareness in those select traps that were full and happily started absorbing the contents. Humming, Licht opened up his interface.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
[Level Up Available!]
[Level: 1]
[Exp: 234/100]
[Name: Licht Welles]
[Race: Woodland Ego (Juvenile)]
[Health: 50/50]
[Stamina: 17/20]
[Energy: 10/10 AF]
[Rank: E+]
[1 STR, 3 DEX, 15 WIS, 10 END, 0 CHA]
[Virtues: (Twig), (Branch), (Root)]
[Specializations: Wood]
[Skills: Psychometric Observation (D-), Biogenical Growth (D+), Passive Nutrition Absorption (E), Passive Acid Resistance (E), Passive Withy Body (E), Wooden Commune (E), Wood Manipulation (D-)]
“Hmm. Looks like getting to rank D is going to be harder than just getting another virtue.”
Licht noticed as well that his stamina had been slightly consumed by moving roots around.
Licht’s attention was drawn to a few things, but most distinguishable was the fact that his level wasn’t forcibly increased like last time. Had the system detected that he was in danger last time and so it automatically leveled him, or was that just the standard response when he had enough experience for an evolution?
Speaking of which, it looked like getting levels was going to be harder as he progressed. He had more than four times as much experience as he did previously when he evolved, but now it was only going to take him to level two. Licht internally shrugged before choosing the [Level Up!] option on his interface.
[Level 1 -> Level 2]
A warm sensation passed through Licht’s body. Not the whole connected forest, but his own metallic orb. It was a sensation like he was hatching from an egg. A pleasant scraping sensation traveled all along the surface of him like a yolk being wiped off.
“Ahhhhh.”
[Level: 2]
[Exp: 234/300]
[Name: Licht Welles]
[Race: Woodland Ego (Juvenile)]
[Health: 50/50]
[Stamina: 20/20]
[Energy: 20/20 AF]
[Rank: E+]
[1 STR, 3 DEX, 15 WIS, 10 END, 0 CHA]
[Virtues: (Twig), (Branch), (Root)]
[Specializations: Wood]
[Skills: Psychometric Observation (D-), Biogenical Growth (D+), Passive Nutrition Absorption (E), Passive Acid Resistance (E), Passive Withy Body (E), Wooden Commune (E), Wood Manipulation (D-)]
“You’ve finally progressed after weeks of standing still. Well done. You’re finally starting to shape up into a proper Woodland Ego.”
“So my health is directly related to my endurance, but my AF can be increased by leveling up. Looks like it’s been increasing by ten AF each level. Later down the line if I ever gain a non-wood related skill, I’ll need this resource to use it.”
Licht had still no idea what the strength, dexterity, wisdom, and charisma stats did, though. Well, okay, strength and dexterity were simple enough to figure out, but wisdom and charisma?
“That’s anyone’s guess. Though traditionally I think wisdom has something to do with magic. So, maybe in this world it buffs skills? That would make it kind of similar to virtues, which I doubt is right.”
Licht wished the system came with a manual, or at least was easier to figure out. There was too much guesswork happening on his part to be sure of any of his conclusions. These system comments were getting snarkier and snarkier, though…
Before long the sensation of leveling up had left him, and he resumed his activities with the pitfalls. After a few hours he felt a new sensation once again, although this time it was one he recognized. All throughout his connected sense the small section of the forest he controlled began to feel heavier, as if something was weighing his entire body down all at once.
It had started to rain.