I don't think I need to out right kill anything. I don't think I actually can with my level of Poison Production. Even the honey pots don't actually kill by poison. It's more drowning and getting eaten by Nutrient Absorption.
I was focusing in on my thorns. They weren't huge, wicked things per say. At the base of each leaflet was a cluster of half inch needles. Smaller, thinner spikes lined the edge of each leaflet that were too small to be seen at a casual glance. At least, I don't think I would have noticed them back when. Even if a bird landed on me, they might evade the larger needles, but my leaflets were too close together for their spines not to be touched.
Unlike the honey pots, they didn't really need to be oozing a toxin all the time. Instead, they needed to kind of inject it when they pierce something. So… how does a plant go about doing that?
There were two things that came to mind. The first was kind of like a vein system that would run throughout me and my leaves, connecting to each and every spike. Produce the toxin and have it circulated so it doesn't grow stagnant, and then just a little bit drips out of each needle. It doesn't even need to be much.
The second was simpler, perhaps, but I worried about the toxin going stagnant. And that was to just leave the needles hollow, maybe with a chamber at the base of each cluster. Then if something touches them then they would break. But wouldn't the toxin just kind of leak out instead of getting the person? Oh, actually what if I could pressurize the chamber? Is that possible? I could just keep pumping it full of poison until it feels like it would burst. Then when the needle breaks, it all rushes out. Yeah! I like that one.
With a thought, I got to work. The work was easy and didn't last too long as I had already grown the needles and spines hallow. Creating the little chambers at the base of the spine clusters cost a little Stamina, but the act of growing them didn't take long at all.
Now for the toxin. I suppose I should have though of this before, but what kind of poison do I want to do? Should I do another paralytic? Just use what I have in the honey pots?
I thought it over for a good while, letting my Stamina refill after adding in the toxin chambers. No… I wouldn't really need the needles then and I could just secrete it from my leaves instead. Not what I am going for. Not what I am going for, but not a bad idea to keep in mind for the future, if I need it.
Letting my perception diffuse, I watched over the industrious little ants that were Miryam. Slowly an idea began to take shape. I don't need to kill anything. It's supposed to be a deterrent anyway. But! But if there was a need for emergency food or something… or we wanted to 'add something' to the sail to enrich it. Maybe…
"Hey Eldritch, I have another question!"
I'm pretty sure every ant sighed that time.
"First, why do you keep calling me 'Eldritch', flower?"
"Oh, that's because when I look at you, the shiny purple-blackness of your… shell? Well, it feels like it shifts and wavers. Like looking into the abyss."
She was silent for a moment, and several ants stopped what they were doing to look each other over. "It is called an exoskeleton." Miryam started off before her ants resumed their tasks. "What did you want to ask, flower?"
"Well, I've added some spikes to myself," I started casually, as if I wasn't in the middle of designing biological warfare for plants. "You know, deterrents—so I don't get eaten, trampled, or weeded out of existence."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Miryam's antennae twitched, but she let me continue.
"I was thinking about adding a toxin to them. Nothing deadly—I don't think I can pull that off yet—but something irritating to make things realize 'hey, maybe don't touch the spiky plant' before they go chomping down on me."
I paused, considering my options. "Maybe something that causes lethargy. Some numbing. Not as strong as what I use in my honey pots, but enough to make an impact."
Now for the actual question, I paused. Not so much for the dramatic effect, but more for not sure how she might take this.
"If something small happens to get knocked out by it…" I hesitated before getting to the real point. "Would you be willing to, uh… 'fertilize' it for me?"
"You want me to… ah, I think I see what you mean." She began to think. I was starting to notice each time she did, a small whiff of concentrated pheromones would lift off of her ants. The scent of it reminding me of, well I think they call it 'ionization'. The smell of electricity or something like that.
I let her think as I started to focus on each of the chambers. Regardless of if she agreed to fertilize or not, the toxin was still an important part to keeping myself safe. "I think… I can do that for you."
"You would?"
"Yes," Without hesitation, she responded. "I have never fought a bird, nor one of those strange scorpion things, but I have gone into battle against the glass ants more than once. I understand the risks of conflict."
She paused, as if feeling the weight of her next words. "And I also understand that if I want to grow a garden here, the ground will need more than what I alone can provide. My Enrich Soil ability has its limits. I must eat, my hive must eat."
There was a brief shift in the scent and it reminded me of my leaves, mingled with joy. "The leaves you gave me helped, but they are not enough. Not alone. I have been gathering what I can when I forage each evening, but something like a bird?" Several ants clicked their mandibles. "That would be a windfall."
Her antennae twitched as if she made a decision.
"So yes. If your thorns bring them down, I will fertilize them."
"Thank you, my friend."
With that, I activated my poison production and began filling the chambers. The toxin this time around was something like a sleep aid. I remember the poppies in the Wizard of Oz put Dorathy to sleep. So, there are plants that can do that. I focused, trying to fill the chambered toxin with my intent. I don't know how much intent actually guides it compared to setting it with a thought, but better safe than sorry. The honey pot paralytic turned out just fine, right?
As for the spines growing from the leaflets themselves, a chamber wouldn't really be enough. I connected the veins of the leaflets to the chambers. They might not be edible, but at least Miryam could walk over them and not be affected.
With that in mind, maybe I could create another set of tendrils and leaves inside the current canopy, and have those ones be thorn and toxin free? That way Miryam could harvest leaflets without needing to worry about the toxin. Or maybe I could develop it, so it doesn't affect her? Could that work? Thoughts for another time.
For now, I needed to find out my next goal.