I reached out with my hand and the phone returned to my hand. I bent down and felt the branch that I was now standing on. As expected, it was mossy and covered with a layer of dirt.  

From what little I had seen, it seemed that many of the creatures in this world had been gigantified. The trees were no exception. The branch I was sitting on was larger than the largest tree trunk I had seen from my home world.

This normally wouldn’t be saying much, but I had been to some of the californian national parks. A one room cottage could fit comfortably on this tree branch. It was only natural that dirt would gather on it.

From my new vantage point, I looked down. My jaw dropped. A burst of fire occasionally lit up the area. There were hundreds of these monsters. They swarmed the forest, tearing down swaths of vines and gulping them down.

After I saw that they were no longer a threat, I replanted a Vines and Protect.

Vines has reached level seven!

I tried to get comfortable and I fell back asleep.

-

When I got back up, the herd of dinosaurs had passed. I leaned over, expecting to see complete destruction of the vegetation. Instead, the herd had only eaten a fifth of the available vegetation before moving on.

Vincent The Cultivator

Lv 1

MP : 840/2000

I had to increase my power somehow.

I planted a Boeny Ginseng, which took nine mana. The first time I had planted it, it had been a level one Boney Ginseng. Now that it was level three, I wanted to see how much of a difference two levels made.

I uprooted it and examined it. It looked the same, but that was to be expected. I took a bite of it. It was significantly tastier, and the dull ache in my leg that had started to creep back backed off again.

I stroked the level seven Vines. They were far stronger and more robust than the first one on the ground. I couldn’t break even the smallest ones with my own strength. It was as if they had turned into metal wires.  

I had a bunch of ways I could use to get more powerful, but two of them stood out the most. The first was grinding these levels until they turned into unbeatable monstrosities, the second was making more types of plants.

If I’d learned anything from playing RPGs, I shouldn’t level up bad abilities.

For example, a level five thorned Vines would probably be more useful than a level ten Vines. While I had learned this partially from video games, my friend Brian was the one who hammered it home for me.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

If I’m honest, I’m still kind of pissed about this one. Our mandatory state sponsored education had made us run these things they called “miles”. Brian and I practiced the exact same amount, but I got ten minute miles while he got five minute miles. At some point, I realized this five minute difference couldn’t be chalked up to bad foot technique.

He simply had more potential than I did. Every minute of practice he did was worth ten of mine. I needed to find Brian plants and get rid of my Vincent plants.

I planted a bunch of small plants. Every time I came up with a new idea, I would plant a tiny version of it. The tiny plants cost very little mana, but they also didn’t give enough experience to level them up.

You’ve created a new type of plant! What would you like to name it?

“Meaty Ginseng” has been named!

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Meaty Ginseng stays at level one!

This one was supposed to be good for my muscles. Meaty Ginseng may not have been the best name, but I couldn’t name it Muscly Ginseng, could I?

You’ve created a new type of plant! What would you like to name it?

“Skinny Ginseng” has been named!

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Skinny Ginseng stays at level one!

Alright, I’ll admit it. I suck at making names.

You’ve created a new type of plant! What would you like to name it?

“Calories” has been named!

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Calories stays at level one!

Calories was a small bush with berries hanging off its every branch. Calories was an incredible plant, I really had to give myself a pat on the back for this one. Each berry was the size of a marble, but it already contained a hundred calories and some extra nutrientes. How many calories would it have after it reached level ten? I shivered in anticipation.

I picked off a couple of berries and put them in my pocket. I call them berries, but they were more like solid nuts that would never rot.

You’ve created a new type of plant! What would you like to name it?

“Twentytacle Trap” has been named!

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Twentytacle Trap stays at level one!

The trap was smaller than my hand, not even big enough to catch a squirrel. However, a bigger version of it would be terrifying to face. I didn’t need to level it up to make a bigger version of it, I just needed to put in more mana.

It was a group of twenty vines connected to a bulb firmly anchored to the ground. When a creature stumbled over it, the twenty vines would snake up and grab the poor creature. I could set it to sentry mode or activate it at a thought.

I still wasn’t satisfied though. An evil grin spread across my face.

You’ve created a new type of plant! What would you like to name it?

“Poison Spike” has been named!

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Poison Spike stays at level one!

This was my first plant designed specifically to kill. I planned to use it sparingly. I wasn’t going to run around in this world, killing everything in sight. I didn’t know how effective the poison would be, anyway.

It was a little evil though. I put the spike in the middle of the tentacle trap.

New Cultivator skill unlocked : Meld!

Meld cannot increase in level.

Meld has reached level MAX.

More skills! I cheered internally. The two plants melded together.

You’ve created a new type of plant! What would you like to name it?

“Explosive Bulb” has been named!

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Explosive Bulb stays at level one!

It was literally just an explosive bulb. It explodes. Nothing fancy.

Now I had all the Brians I needed to set up a good stronghold. I needed to find a place in this forest that I could call home.

Once I had some time to create a stronghold, nothing could beat me. Even that herd of T-rexes would be nothing.

You see, a herd of those things may be able to trample over a thousand mana worth of Vincents, but even they couldn’t beat a hundred thousand mana worth of Brains. Given time, my stronghold could be invincible.

And that’s exactly what this ability gave me. Invincibility.