Iva's mind was racing. As soon as she had killed the first ant, she couldn't stop herself and killed one after another without paying attention to anything else. She was in some kind of frenzy. In fact, Iva was so lost that she would have also used up all of her energy—since her mana ran out at one point—if all the warriors near her had not already been skewered.
Yet, despite the unnerving silence that followed, Iva's thoughts were still in a muddle. She wanted more. More killing, more madness. It felt like she was thriving through the deaths of other beings. In that exact moment, Iva 'had' the eyes of a predator that tasted blood for the first time and desired more. She was high on the thrill of the hunt. At the same time, she tried to reason with herself for having those kinds of thoughts. The memories of her past self showed her killing wasn't something one should be thrilled about
It's wrong! was what she believed at first, but the more she looked around in the past of 'him', the more she realized that a part of it was gone. Like a puzzle that was missing some pieces and made the overall picture obscure and imperfect. The only thing she could find between all those unfinished trails was a word—Justice.
What is justice? Is it wrong to kill...for fun? It is, of course, it is! A human shouldn't...but I'm no mere human. Why do I have to abide by their laws...laws...I know this word too...I-I...why can't I remember it?!
It came to Iva as a shock when she noticed that the System obviously didn't only take parts of those old memories but also something way more important—the ability to be fully aware of culpabilities1.
Another memory came to her mind. It was one of those hot summer days, and she, he, no...they were in the garden. They had a glass bottle with water within and were tasked by their father to kill those annoying bugs that destroyed all the leaves and blossoms of the trees in their garden. For every bug they threw into the watery trap, they would earn 10 cents. So they gathered for hours and hours to improve their pocket money.
If killing truly were that repulsive, then why was this such a fun memory in her mind, and why did that father even pay them for killing? Was there any difference in what was done back then and now? Not really, except for the fact that she wasn't a human anymore but a seed with consciousness and human memories. So how was she supposed to feel? A lioness killing a gazelle wasn't evil either, but its nature. But came with the awakening of the mind, not some kind of responsibility to fight against one's nature to hinder yourself from harming others? Thus, wasn't her harming helpless ants nothing but evil? Still, was it evil to survive?
That couldn't be it! voiced Iva. Slowly, she came to an understanding and how she should differentiate between this and the other world. There was—at least to her—no other known way to grow and evolve than killing other beings. Iva didn't make these rules. She was forced to abide by them 'till she'd grown strong enough to ignore them.
So killing is actually good! she smiled, her logic only known to her. But what could one expect from someone who had nobody to argue with? And even if she knew that the System stole some things from her, Iva wouldn't understand that she had now things to relearn, but to do that, she had to grow and talk to someone else besides her.
Luckily, there wouldn't be any more ants near her for the rest of the day.
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Iva was bored. When she came to the realization that killing wasn't something to be frowned upon, she only wanted to level up more. Sadly, there weren't any more ants near her right now...and even if they were, she couldn't really attack right now. This was another thing she had to acknowledge: She was fucking stupid. Again, she nearly killed herself just because she hadn't enough control over her emotions. She sighed, only more stuff she had to relearn. But for now, she needed to take a look at her status sheet.
Name: Iva White
Race: Awakened Weeping Willow Tree Seed[♀]
Age: 69 days
Race Level: 5/20 --> [19/20]
Components [State – Seed]:
Root System – lvl 1
Available Roots: 0
Available Branch Augmentations 0/??? [Seed Form]
Remaining Enhancements Points: [Locked]
Active: Domination Root (small) – lvl 1 → [3]
[...]
- Active: Free Slot [Locked – No root available]
[...]
- Passive: Mana Root (small) – lvl 2 → [4]
- Branch Augmentations: [Mana Perception – lvl 1]
- Branch enhancements [Locked]
- Passive: Free Slot [Locked – No root available]
[...]
Seed Body – lvl 1
- Active: Mana Shock – lvl 3
- Active: Overgrowth – lvl 1 → [2]
- Passive: Manary – lvl 2 → [3]
- Passive: Free Slot
Race Skills:
- Absorption – lvl 2 → [3]
- Auto-Growth – lvl 1 → [2]
[...]
Stats:
Remaining points: 0 → [112]
Vitality: 5
Endurance: 5
Strength: [Locked] →[2]
Dexterity: [Locked] →[2]
Flexibility: [Locked as seed]
Flexibility Roots: 15
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 11
Growth: -2 [Locked]
Root Growth: 5
Root Spreadability Range: 5
Health: 7/7 → [23]
Energy reserves: 10/70 → [200]
Mana: 0/9 → [24]
Mana-Regen: [2/24h] → [3]
Oh wow! I really leveled quite a bit! And I'm nearly level 20 too, and this means—hopefully—another nice evolution!
Iva was quite hyped after seeing her sheet. Everything went up, and now she had 112 points left to distribute. And honestly, she had no idea where to put them.
It would be idiotic to do that right now! Imagine I get an evolution that only has Vitality and no use for Dexterity. But wait...will my points vanish after the evolution? Fuck, what is this shit? Some kind of poker? Be lucky enough or screwed? No, no, Iva. 'Till now, it was very game-like, so I stick with that and decide not to distribute any of them. Still, I need more level...where the heck are those ants when you need them?!
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"Where are they!?" the queen screamed at one of her commanders.
The one spoken to quivered in fear at the mighty voice of her queen. Never before was the queen seen like this—in a state of pure fury. None of the ants she'd sent returned, which wasn't a good sign. And as her queen's commander, she trained those young warriors like her own kids. They were still so small, but everyone started as a tiny ant in this hive. But with time, they grew, like the queen. Well, not exactly like her, but nearly as big.
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The queen needed more food and more prey to finally trigger another step in her evolution, and after this, they could slowly start to explore the sun-lands again. First, they would kill those ugly smaller two-legged monsters and—if everything went like planned—the sharp-eared two-legged tree-dwellers.
"Is it them? No, no, if they knew we would be here, we would probably be dead by now, but what is it? Arg, I can't even send one of you to go up there because the tunnels are too small, and they would feel our presence if one of you were around. Yes, maybe I just didn't send enough small ones? That must be it!"
With those words, our queen ordered us to send those who were near their next evolutionary step. Those who would come back successfully—either by killing the unknown fiend or bringing information—will be rewarded royalty.
I, on the other side, had doubts. Our queen was too fearful; she acted to rush. But who am I to undermine her commands...
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Now that I'd thought about it more precisely...wouldn't it be kinda stupid to not use at least some of the points? I mean, only after I spent some I learned 'Domination Root'. So it is only natural to assume that if I put a few more points into something, there might be a higher chance of unlocking more or rarer evolutions, in case I unlock anything at all.
Iva pondered for quite a while and then chose to spend around half of her current points.
Stats:
Remaining points: 112 -->[52]
Vitality: 5 →[10]
Endurance: 5 →[15]
Strength: 2 →[4]
Dexterity: 2 →[4]
Flexibility: [Locked as seed]
Flexibility Roots: 15 →[20]
Intelligence: 5 →[15]
Wisdom: 11 →[20]
Growth: -2 [Locked]
Root Growth: 5 →[10]
Root Spreadability Range: 5 →[8]
Yes, assuming my current growth and that my shoot will soon leave this dark prison and form leaves, this was probably the best distribution. This was at least what she'd hoped for. Yet, she still had no real clue if Endurance would help her in the long run to survive any surface pests.
But there was no time to dwell on her decision because Iva noticed that the ants were coming again. Lots and lots of them.
Holy shit, how fricking many of them are around me!? I think they might actually be angry that I killed so many of them. Mhm, many might not be the proper term when I feel those rising numbers around me...gosh, everything is blurry.
To Iva's relief, the ants didn't suspect that those roots they ran over killed their comrades. You wouldn't believe the grin in the seed's mind as the ants cluelessly looked around for hints. They would never know that the enemy they were searching for was all around them. Her roots twitched by the thought of killing another teeny tiny ant to gain maybe enough experience to trigger level 20.
But then, there it was at the very end, alone and cast off, somehow limping, an ant that was a little smaller than the others. No one would notice anything.
Sadly, Iva couldn't smell. Otherwise, she would have noticed that this was a trap to lure her out. The ant constantly released a specific pheromone that would immediately die off if something happened to it.
However, she didn’t know about this; thus, as the roots skewered them, the other ants instantly became alarmed as the pheromone suddenly vanished. Of course, they rushed to it, and when they saw the tip of a root disappear back into the walls where it came from, they were shocked. Never before had they heard of roots attacking anything!
In fear, they ran. Back to home, to their queen. Not knowing that this little ant they recklessly sacrificed had triggered the creation of something that the surface would soon come to fear.
-------
'ding' Requirements for evolution met: Crystal Willow Seed—become the crystalized form of mana.
You learned to use mana, even if it nearly killed you. You learned how to control it and opened the path for more possibilities. The endurance of your shell has never been seen on an ordinary seed before. Totally unappealing to any wild animal that digs for food. Good job, you made yourself a nutcase!
Still a seed; you need time, a lot of it. But every day, your shell will grow harder till no normal ax can bring you down anymore. For some, you might even be considered a lonely god. Others might fear your sheer potential. At the peak of your potential, you might even control mana itself...if you survive the thousands of years in which you can do nothing but wait.
You will lose most skills, stats, and all evolution paths.
Would you like to evolve into: 'Crystal Willow Seed'?
‘Called it!’ Iva said in her mind. ‘I knew that my points would affect the evolution, but what is this shit?! The power aspect sounds nice, but at the same time, it's phrased like I would be rendered entirely useless till I'm fully grown, and I even lose most of my hard-earned stuff? I will not give up on my newly gained ability to move! What do you mean with 'nutcase'?! I hate this System...next one.’
'ding' Requirements for evolution met: Pure Mana Seed—become the vessel of mana.
You reached over 15 Wisdom and Intelligence learned Manary and leveled it to up to 3 whilst your Mana pool surpassed the threshold of twenty. Nearly killed yourself in the search for truth and gained yet unknown insights of the world. You created yourself a mana orb and gave it a name. Some would call it insanity, others a push in the right direction to the true meaning of the mana.
You are the clustered essence of mana that formed itself into a seed to grow into something the world calls 'Keeper of Balance'. You are a precious gift.
You will lose most skills, stats, and all evolution paths.
Would you like to evolve into: 'Pure Mana Seed'?
Uhh, that's all? It says basically nothing! It sounds more like some kind of wizard tree that shuts itself into seclusion for thousands of years to read books about magic and study it. But I don't want to be alone for so long...no, I don't want that.
'ding' Requirements for evolution met: Hollow Seed—become the hunt.
What is life, what is death? You don't care about that at all, because all you seek is the growth, the hunger for more, the thrill of the hunt. You will be the 'Tree of Death and Hollowness', luring people to you with your beautiful form. You will soothe their fears, let them dream of miracles, of lost ones, of everything they ever wanted. Yet the price they will pay for your kindness to be near to you and experience this pleasure will be their lifeforce. But this won't be enough for you, and when the right time passes, you will wander around as a Grey Dryad, the Harbinger of Hunger, the Queen of Forgotten Ghosts.
Come, young one, bring us revenge...
You will lose most skills, stats, and all evolution paths.
Would you like to evolve into: 'Hollow Seed'?
Okaaay, that turned dark really quick...but it doesn't sound that bad. Yet, it sounds an awful lot like world domination, if you ask me. So, um, maybe?
'ding' Requirements for evolution met: Antwood Seed—The sprouting Hive Queen.
You killed at least ten ants as a seed. You killed at least five young warrior ants. Your hatred for ants borders on lunacy.
The 'Antwood Seed' is a unique species. Its fully grown form harbors a whole ant empire that will spread endlessly if given enough time. The Antwood Tree has full control over every ant as their Hive Queen. Higher forms of the Antwood Tree are not known due to its swift death caused by other beings who think of the Antwood Tree as an ecological threat. Legend has it that one might have turned into a cherry spriggan.
Put your hate aside, become their queen, and maybe thrive to new heights or fall into the firepit like many before you.
You might lose most skills, stats, and all evolution paths.
Would you like to evolve into: 'Antwood Seed'?
...I don't even know what to say.
'ding' Requirements for evolution met: True Weeping Willow Seed—tread the path of unknown possibilities.
You put a minimum of 18 points in Flexibility Roots. You distributed at least 2 points into every unlocked stat. You learned 'Domination Root' and got one Branch Augmentation. You used a skill to accelerate your growth once or more often. You have at least 15 or more points on four different stats. You still have over 40 unallocated/unspent points.
The 'True Weeping Willow Seed' is a rare specimen. Even if it's not that specialized like other seed evolutions, it excels in growth and the sheer scope of unexplored opportunities. This evolution might be harder to nurture further, but you will appreciate its utility once it crosses a certain threshold.
None of your stats will be affected.
Would you like to evolve into: 'True Weeping Willow Seed'?
Somehow, this one seems like the most neutral one? It's probably something like a more open class system that allows me to skill more than one element...or not, I dunno.
Anyway, none of those evolutions tells me exactly what happens between the states. They only tell me about how good it is at the end...but every form is still a seed. What are the downsides? Well, some are obvious, still...
Urg, what should I choose?!