Chapter 1

“Awe man, this wasn’t how I expected to die…” I said out loud while holding a branch of a tree currently lodged through my car windshield and into my chest. I think I was in shock because I wasn’t panicking or sobbing. Shoot, I didn’t even feel the pain, which probably meant my spine was not fully intact anymore. The amount of blood was a clue. However, I assumed a broken spine wasn’t going to be a long-term problem. To be Final Destination out of this world… “kinda sucks… Bye Mom, bye Dad, I hope to see you later in the after li…”

With those final words, I faded off into the void. Nothing but darkness surrounded my conscious thought when said consciousness became aware of itself again. Then, a piercing light radiated out, but I had no eyelids to close. With a little focus, I saw:

System Install Complete.

Rebooting…

Reboot Complete.

Open Status:

Yes?

No?

Before I could even comprehend what was going on, my brain struggled to understand how I was alive, where I was, and why I couldn’t see anything but this glowing message in front of my face. I tried to rise, move, or do anything else and started to panic when I couldn’t. I couldn’t even feel my body aside from a few sensations of warmth and earthiness—almost like standing with your toes in soft dirt, but without being able to feel your toes.

With no other options, my desire for answers intensified. I fixated on the Yes, but it remained out of reach. Even squinting at it proved futile. Frustration and desperation welled up within me. Then, with a resigned mental shrug, I uttered the word yes, and finally, something shifted.

Status Sheet:

Name:

Unknown

Age:

1 day

Species:

Astral Flower Seedling

Energy:

2/2

Realm:

Terra Stage 1 of 9 | 1 of 9 total possible Realms

Tokens:

0

Skills:

Growth T1-L1

Language T9-L1

Absorption T1-L1

Hydrokinesis T1-L1

Inventory:

No Items

I briefly read the information and then just paused for a long time. My mental limitations ran out, and I had no words to express what I was thinking or feeling. What felt like an eternity later, I finally spoke the words equivalent to WTF. First, the memory of me dying came back to mind, and seeing I was now a damn plant meant I had died and been reincarnated. But then the realization that reincarnation was real and what kind of bad karma I must’ve racked up to become a flower just spun my thoughts into despair.

To make things worse, the first message came back to me as I recalled it saying something about a system install and then rebooting. Was I always in a game previously? Or am I now in a game? Maybe it was the system being installed in me that was rebooting. I felt drained and suddenly so sleepy. I didn’t even want to bother with the rest of the Status Sheet. I didn’t even know plants could sleep, but the warmth I felt before was cooling off, and with it, I clocked out.

Waking up to the warmth of what I assume now is daylight. I focused on my Status Sheet one more time.

Status Sheet:

Name:

Unknown

Age:

2 days

Species:

Astral Flower Seedling

Energy:

2/2

Realm:

Terra Stage 1 of 9 | 1 of 9 total possible Realms

Tokens:

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

1

Skills:

Growth T1-L1

Language T9-L1

Absorption T1-L1

Hydrokinesis T1-L1

Inventory:

No Items

Well, okay. It’s day 2, and I gained a token. Before I investigate all that garbage, what the hell is with my unknown name? Furthermore, why can’t I see anything? Aside from the glowing status window, there is nothing but darkness. Oh, give me a break. Is it because plants don’t have eyes? Guess that means I don’t have a mouth to call for an animal to eat me either, huh?

Before, I couldn’t feel anything but a few sensations. Mostly, I was trying to feel for my legs and arms, but now, knowing what I was, I could feel roots, a stem, and what are likely little leaves to soak up the sun. With some effort, I could wiggle my roots, but there was resistance. Ah, right. That earthy feeling would be dirt. I could feel the sun and a gentle breeze. But not being able to see my surroundings frightened me just a tad.

Time to focus on what I can see and hope to discover something useful. By mentally saying Name, I was prompted to give myself a name. I know for sure I wasn’t going with Sean Parker. I was far too young to be the guy who created Napster, but I always got asked that stupid question. Besides, who names a plant after a person anyway? It’s like those people who give human names to their pets. It’s just weird.

Do I know any names associated with flowers? What is an Astral Flower anyway? Maybe I could go with Avencast since it was after a game called Rise of the Mage. Except in this case, it would be rise of the Flower since, you know… flowers grow. On second thoughts, maybe I should go with Aster. It’s still a masculine name, but it also relates to flowers and stars, I think. It’s not like the System came equipped with Google.

Or…. If there are people in this world equipped with an identification spell that might stumble upon me one day and read my name, I could go with ‘Help, I’ve been reincarnated into a flower. If you have a transformation spell, turn me into anything capable of using eyes!!!!’

Dammit, a thirty-character limit, and I can’t use special characters... Fine. I mentally typed in Aster. Next, I tried to open Species, Energy, Realm, and Skills and got no response or tooltips. I was able to open Tokens and saw two options:

Get More:

Shop:

As curious as I was to open the Shop right away, I felt that learning more about the Get More part first would help me adjust my expectations for costs in the shop.

Get More:

You will earn one token each day or can acquire additional Tokens through various skills or accomplishments.

Well, okay then. Open shop.

Shop:

Categories:

Energy:

Skills:

Items:

Mutations:

Increase Max

T1 ->

F rank ->

Thorns = 3 Tokens

Restore

T2 ->

E rank ->

Illuminate = 5 Tokens

T3 ->

D rank ->

Spore = 9 Tokens

T4 ->

C rank ->

Transfiguration = 700 Tokens

T5 ->

B rank ->

Locked

T6 ->

A rank ->

Locked

T7 ->

S rank ->

Locked

T8 ->

SS rank ->

Locked

T9 ->

SSS rank ->

Locked

Legendary ->

Locked

I have to admit I was both happy and disappointed. I like that there were categories, but seeing how much was inaccessible meant I wasn’t going to learn too much now. I also couldn’t figure out what the requirements were to unlock the ones currently grayed out. Focusing on what I could see, showed that the first energy increase to my max would cost 4 Tokens. This meant I was a quarter there already. However, while it didn’t show me that each upgrade would cost more than 4 Tokens, I had this dreadful feeling that it would rise in cost. Possibly exponentially.

T1 and T2 skills each had a large number of skills to choose from. The cheapest cost in the T1 category was for Cleaning at the low price of 30 freaking Tokens. Most T2 skills ranged from 50 to 70 Tokens. The F and E rank Items were of similar costs to the skills. Remembering that some skills could grant more Tokens, I decided to comb through the thousands of listed skills and read each one. I mean, all I had was time. Then I remembered that I hadn’t tried to read what my current skills were. Plus, I had a T9 skill already.

Growth T1-L1:

Always Active - The rate of growth your roots, stem, mutations, and flower will grow.

Absorption T1-L1:

Cost 1 Energy - Chance based on Tier and Level to absorb anything above or below

that comes into contact with you. Higher Tier and Levels will increase the chance

and the cost of Energy.

Hydrokinesis T1-L1:

Cost 1 Energy - Manipulate Moisture, water, or ice based on Tier and Level.

Higher Tier and Levels will increase cost and control.

Language T9-L1:

Always Active - Translates Languages based on Tier and Level. Grants the ability to read

and write in known languages granted by each Tier.

The current Tier and Level grants translation of all mortal languages. Higher level will

increase proficiency in syntax and dialect. Higher Tiers will translate Immortal and Divine languages.

If I had a nose to pinch, I’d be drawing blood. What good was a T9 language skill when I had no mouth, ears, or hands? Whatever. Before I got busy reading mostly useless skills and items, I should spend my 2 Energy. For the day. I had a feeling those regenerated with time, so I shouldn’t waste any of it.

Before I could spend energy on Hydrokinesis to see if I could water myself, I felt the wind pick up and the warmth of the sun fade. It wasn’t long after that when I felt wet coldness and could guess it was rain. Okay, with that covered, let’s see what two chances of Absorption will get me. Spoil alert! Nothing!