‘I grew! Hahaha!’ It had been hard to see over the last week, but I had in fact grew. It was so much more tedious now that what I could do at any given time had been reduced, in turn increasing the amount of cycling between Growth and Photosynthesis that I had to do. It worked! In nearly all directions I grew just over an inch. At the same time, I doubt noticeable by anyone but me, my stem and branches thickened ever so slightly.
‘All things considered, I am making some pretty good progress.’ I looked from the outside of my domain in. My green colors had lost just a smidgen of their shine, but I liked it. ‘I don’t look like a hyped up blade of grass anymore.’ Every day my satisfaction and pride at my growth had grown right along with my body. Not only that, but I had grown in xp as well!
Experience: 3.2/100
A little over one whole xp! One inch and one xp?! ‘I made so much progress! This is amazing!’ Kinda, sorta. At the very least, it showed I was progressing a bit faster. Previously it had taken me about nine days to get over 1xp and now it took just slightly under that. I know, not much of a difference, but enough to show that something is going on. ‘I still don’t know what is giving it to me, but I have some guesses…’
Photosynthesis
Level 1
Effect: During daylight hours, the user passively absorbs sunlight to produce energy, restoring a small amount of mana and stamina over time.
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Rate: Restores 1 mana and 1 stamina per minute while in direct sunlight.
Nutrient and Water Absorption
Level 1
Effect: The user can draw nutrients from the soil, nearby organic matter, and water sources, absorbing vital minerals and nutrients needed for growth and health.
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Rate: Absorbs and converts nutrients equivalent to 1 health point per hour, supporting overall growth and well-being.
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Additional Benefit: In nutrient-rich environments, the rate of absorption can increase, providing a more substantial health boost.
‘These are the two skills I have narrowed it down to, right?’ Over the course of the last week, I had begun to pay more attention to my sheet around the times I had noticed my xp going up. Usually, it was in the evenings. Now it does not happen every evening, but when it did, I was usually in the middle of or just finishing my last Photosynthesis of the day. Then, one night, I suddenly received a boost in the middle of the night. ‘It had been right as I had finished that ant.’
Speaking of ants, luring them in and catching them hadn’t been easy. Some nights, I was lucky to snag just one; on my best night, I netted five of the little buggers. A few were particularly aggressive, likely mistaking me for food in their search. To an ant, I might look as much like a meal as they do to me—a thought I was getting more comfortable with. Occasionally, they even managed to get in a solid nip before I could burst some STFA and send them scuttling.
Thankfully, the damage they seemed to be doing had been reduced, or rather scaled, with the patch that had been put out. The most damage I had taken in the last week had been three points from one rather stubborn ant. She had had rather golden hues to her glass. The moment she had seen me, she had charged. Goldie had made it out onto one of my branches before I managed to shake off the shock and started cutting into one of my leaves. When I released my STFA, her mandible pincher things were locked tight onto the leaf. The burst had stunned her, but not enough to release her grip. She had fallen off of me, ripping the small chunk of leaf she had been working on off with her. I haven’t seen her since. ‘Maybe tonight. I wouldn’t mind another rematch.’
Nymph’s Call bloomed out of the honey pot and began its nightly meandering into the world beyond my sight. It was time to sit back and wait. I kept a focus on the section of brick where Nymph had scampered off over and turned my attention to the sky above. I could feel the faint light of the stars and moon upon my leaves. It was a calming sensation. The sun, awhile relaxing, invigorated me with life and energy. The night’s lights were more… peaceful.
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The night was warm, a gentle desert breeze brushing across my leaves as I reached out to the moonlight. It bathed me in a soft, silvery glow, far different from the sun’s invigorating touch. Curiosity twinged at me. ‘I wonder…’ I activated Photosynthesis. At first a serene calmness settled over me as the world around me hushed. The stillness of the night brought a sense of peace, as if time itself had slowed, allowing me to savor each moment.
But as I stretched further, seeking to draw energy from the moonlight, it started to collect as rivulets of frozen light. I barely noticed it at first, but the cold sensation slowly grew. The warmth I’d felt earlier faded, replaced by a numbness that was both soothing and unsettling. I sat transfixed as blurred reality beyond my plot closed in around me.
My leaves shimmied as an itch tickled at them and they twitched. It was like a spell being broken. ‘Ugh. What happened?’ It felt like my mind was wrapped in a thick, cloying fog that refused to let go. The ache wasn’t sharp, just this heavy, persistent throbbing that clung to me like damp air. Every thought felt sluggish, and the pressure made my perception ripple in an annoying rhythm. ‘This is terrible! It feels like a hangover. Actually, that might be more pleasant.’
The itch returned, though this time it was more intense. I narrowed my focus and strained to look about myself. ‘What is going on?’ Everything looked normal. ‘Hmm, Nymph looks a little weaker.’ With a peak into the pot, ‘Holy bits and pieces. Theres got to be a dozen in there!’ Confusion rolled through me. ‘How did I not notice a dozen ants walk into my honey pot? Or even showing up?’ My focus turned up the sky above. The moon had moved a significant distance across the sky. ‘How long was I-?’
The itch returned, ‘What is that fu-,’ My focus spun about to look towards myself. It actually took a moment before I found the cause, and when I did, I was surprised to find an eldritch ant was the culprit. It stood near the base of my stem and was rubbing it’s antennae against me. The very moment I noticed it, it stopped and stepped back a few ant-sized paces.
‘What is it doing?’ The ant’s antennae began to wiggle and a small plume of… ‘Pheromones?!’ A vague sense of curiosity touched my thoughts. ‘Wait… that wasn’t me. I mean I am curious about what is going on, but that was distinctly different.’ It wasn’t just curiosity. There was much more to it, a complicated web of… things!
‘I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on.’ The ant just stood there as behind it the faint whisps of Nymph’s Call floated through the air behind it. ‘Right. Pheromones. Let’s see… ah. Hmm, nothing about it says anything about communication.’ I perused over the skill and from the corner of my focus I noticed, ‘After using Nymph’s Call earlier, the moonlight photosynthesis must have worked. I’m back up to thirteen out of thirteen Stamina, and I couldn’t have been out of it long if I only got back to full.’
I looked over Pheromones very closely. It seemed wording could be important, particularly what it says you cannot do. For example, Photosynthesis specified ‘daylight’ hours, but it said nothing about not being able to use it at night. While it had been incredibly chilling and left me with the sensation of a severe hang over, it had worked at night. Now with Pheromones, it does state twice that I can do simple attraction and repulsion but that I cannot do complex emotions or behaviors. ‘Does that mean that I cannot do any emotions and behaviors, because it specifies being limited to attraction and repulsion, or does it mean that I might be able to do simple emotions and behaviors?’
‘Better yet. Should I respond?’ The ant was still, as far as he could tell, patiently waiting. ‘It could be another ‘Tester’, right? But is that a good thing? But then how does it know that I am?’ I zoomed in around the ant and looked it over. It looked like an ant and not that different from the eldritch he had seen before. Where the glass ants seemed to be entirely individualistic in the designs of their patterns, the eldritch ants seemed to be carbon copies of each other. ‘It probably doesn’t help my hesitation that I keep calling them ‘eldritch’.’
For the first time the ant seemed to be hesitant. Its antennae slowed their twitching, and it sporadically scuffed its feet every so often. ‘Aw, what the hell. If it is another Tester, then maybe I can get some questions answered. If it is some kind of dick bag, well… pretty sure I am already supposed to be dead.’
‘What do I go with?’ The eldritch stepped side to side, its mandibles clicked. ‘Well. How about…’ I triggered Pheromones and like when I first instigated STFA with my rather panicked ‘Go Away’, I did again with a different word.
‘Hello?’ As I ‘spoke’ the word, I had meant to simply put forth perhaps a little friendliness or confusion. I couldn’t hold back the sense of hope and fear, my anxiety of trying to communicate to someone else, or desire to not be stuck alone with my own thoughts. These and more overwhelmed my control and I poured it all into that one word.
As the Pheromone billowed out, a tidal wave compared to the ant’s previous ripple, my Stamina plummeted to zero. A cold fire surged through my stem and out into my leaves, icy flames tearing through me. It ravaged my being, causing my leaves to shrivel and curl. My roots trembled, brittle under the strain of the sensations raging within. In a panic, I activated both Photosynthesis and Nutrient & Water Absorption. I barely registered them beginning their work before the fogginess at the edge of my awareness closed in, overwhelming my mind and wrapping me in darkness. For the first time since I awoke in this world, I lost consciousness.