RePlant System Active

Day: 83

Daily System Credit: 7

Consumed Credit: 3105

[Spend Credit?]

Haylock wasn’t certain if he was itchy because of the constant fighting he had been doing every other day or if it was from the desire to spend that credit. Mimi had taken him out with Nini and Fufu, forcing them to fight and get stronger. The news she dropped yesterday had changed everything.

A tower… She wants Nini and me to climb the tower. Supposedly, if we survive and conquer it, I can take her with me to the next plane… This is why she is making me do this non-stop.

Stretching his vines, Haylock considered the truth of what it would mean. At best, he had half a year to reach stage nine. One had to be that stage to enter the tower, and it would be another hundred years before it came again.

Status

[Demonic Shoot (Age: 2 Months)]

[Chi Power: 6th Stage] 947

Skills:

* {Absorb [C]}

* {Basic Sight [C]}

* {Basic Chi Sense [F]}

* {Polyglot [C]}

* {Improved Sight[A]}

* {Basic Hearing[F]}

* {Deeper Roots[E]}

* {Enhanced Growth[E]}

* {Combatative Roots[D]}

* {Luring Scent [E]}

* {Expanded Domain [C]}

* {Demonic Companion [B]} - Fufu (Rank Unknown) - Able to Summon

* {Demonic Fighting Mode [C]}

* {Empowered Body[D]}

* {Seed Cultivation[D]}

* Chi Bullet{D}

The constant flow of monsters made Haylock wonder where they all came from, yet Mimi never commented on it, and no matter how many times he had tried to convince Fufu to convey that question, the damn rabbit was unable to.

I guess I shouldn’t call Fufu a rabbit now. He looks like a medium-sized dog…, and he has to weigh at least forty pounds now.

Letting his thoughts run aimlessly, Haylock stared at the begging question. Like all junkies, he finally gave in, unable to resist.

Spend credits…

[Credits spent successfully, 3112 credits spent]

[Choose a skill to acquire]

[Enhanced Growth{C}]

[Expand Domain{A}]

[Chi Barrier{D}]

Three choices!

The thought of having three different options to choose from seemed great, but the choices made life about as much fun as showing up to a Christmas dinner and no pudding being there. He was perplexed.

I would go from rank C to A on the one… how much further would my roots be able to go? Would that range double and then double again? Could I attack chi monsters outside the edge of the property?

Working through that problem brought up the next one.

And a C for getting bigger… just how many points would it take to get a B rank… Though if I grew like the last time, would I be thirty feet tall? That would put me at the same height as many of these trees. How much stronger would that make me? It also makes me a massive target…

The last option really seemed hard to understand.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Is this like some force field? Would it be like watching Star Wars and everyone's attacks bounce off? Could I protect those next to me with it, or would it just be something around a specific spot?

Groaning inside, Haylock hated the inability to communicate and ask for guidance. Over an hour passed as he tried to make the best decision.

The sun pulled Haylock from his usual meditative state during the night, stirring the two blood cultivators inside the house. Fufu came bouncing out of the door that opened and moved toward him.

That damn rabbit is the size of a chupacabra… Are we going hunting today?

Fufu stopped near the base of Haylock and stomped his foot three times, signaling yes. Nini was the new Steve Erwin, figuring out how to communicate with the growing pink furball.

Do you plan on actually helping or sitting back and eating whatever is left?

Three taps came, and Haylock groaned inside, realizing that the question had been worded wrong.

“Flower!”

Nini appeared in the doorway, wearing her typical sleeping attire, and shouted loud enough to wake anyone still sleeping nearby.

“We leave in an hour! Grandmother says to go ahead and move toward the edge so we don’t have to wait on you!”

The girl didn’t even wait for a response, not that his vines allowed him to do much beyond crush things.

Fufu turned and raced back toward the house, knowing there would be food for him while Haylock was required to fight for his own. Mimi had stopped feeding him, acting like a mother eagle and pushing him out of the nest.

Soon, she says I’ll have to stay in the forest every day… learning to protect myself against the constant threats.

His love for that older woman sometimes waned, and Haylock knew why some animals occasionally ate their parents.

Looking at the choices again, Haylock felt himself die slightly inside because he knew he had to make a decision.

The D rank with that many points must mean something. How powerful must the A version of it be? There is no time like the present to figure this out. Chi Barrier.

[Chi Barrier{D}]

A warm sensation pulsed around his body, going out quickly from his core, where the giant ball of chi rotated constantly. In less than a minute, a thin layer of chi surrounded every part of him.

What does the Chi Barrier do?

[Chi Barrier - Provides a layer of protection against physical and chi-based cultivation attacks. Does not protect against Psychic attacks. The ability will slowly drain chi to restore the barrier automatically. If less than ten percent of max chi is possessed, the barrier will vanish, unable to return until sufficient chi has been acquired.]

Well, damn… that seems really good!

Slowly making his way toward the western edge of the property, Haylock felt his roots moving through the dirt with greater speed. The added protection also seemed to benefit their strength. He was at the edge of the trees in less time than usual, looking at the minor barrier that kept the monsters away.

I guess I might as well head out. No doubt Mimi wants me to do this anyway.

Not wanting to wait an hour, Haylock moved across the faint yellow line that protected the two women from invasion and started making his way into the forest. No sooner than he had made it fifty yards did the first call of a chi monster come from the west.

His smile on the flower grew as Haylock waited to see how this first fight went.

A bird monster came, and Haylock tossed the tree he had torn up to the side, adding to the wall he was building on his backside.

It ran toward him, those purple feathers on the six wings preparing for an attack.

Chi Bullet!

The seed flew with an accuracy that had only come from practicing with the ability dozens of times the last week. It struck the bird in the head, creating a purple mist of blood as the body ran around for ten seconds until it finally fell over dead.

This is getting too predictable. I need one of those bigger monsters to come.

Creeping along the forest, Haylock sent his roots out to procure the fresh meal and used his vines, snapping another tree in half and moving it into position.

I do owe Mimi for teaching me this. It makes it easier if they can’t just attack as easily from behind.

Two more shrieks came, one from the northwest and the other from the southwest. Knowing he had another minute before one would arrive, Haylock continued building his fighting area, turning the forest into the landscape he wanted it to be.

“You have gotten much stronger,” Mimi commented as they approached the clearing Haylock had made.

Haylock ignored her praise, choosing to absorb the ball of chi from the ninth monster that had arrived. His new chi barrier made fighting easier as every hit delivered more power, and when one tried to bite, claw, or clamp down on him, the damage they did was minimal compared to before.

Fufu came up to his base and patted his foot three times on the ground. Those pink ears twitched to the west, where loud crashes were coming from out in the forest. The smell of blood was beginning to carry through the trees, and as with every time, more was going to come.

“I’ll be in the trees unless you need me, but something tells me tonight, you might actually spend out here. Nini, don’t let him do all the work.”

Laughing, the older woman scampered up the tree directly behind Haylock.

Nini moved up and patted him on his thick stem, her hand sensing the power now flowing through the protective layer.

“A new skill?”

Fufu tapped three times, his response causing Nini to groan.

“That is so not fair… grandmother says it is going to keep happening, but you have no idea how much it sucks to see you growing like this. I don’t think even Mimi could beat you sometimes.”

Haylock didn’t believe that praise for a minute. That old woman was like a dangerous creature, hiding behind a facade of weakness. She knew everything about him, and her experience would allow her to use it.

Thundering hooves came from the west, and a tree was knocked down. Haylock could feel the ground shaking, growing excited at what he knew was about to appear.

Time to see how Mr. Crabs does against my new ability!

Having thought those words, Haylock suddenly broke out in laughter, doing his best Spongebob impersonation. For everyone else, the noise he made sent a shiver down their spine.