Year 14 Month 3
I finally acquired a new skill. It was [Ordinary Seed].
It was definitely a support skill. I mean, it's certainly not useful in combat. So let's call it a support skill, okay? Good. Now, I need to find a suitable place to plant it, but where?
The forest was intimidating. Twisted trees were abundant in the environment, and strangely abundant flowers were visible nowhere. I'm not even mentioning the dark grasses that grew like weeds.
But considering the environment under my feet, it was an environment with good planting conditions. I mean, I was planting fertilizers myself with my mana against erosion.
This had the effect of making a large part of my grounds fertile.
By planting the new seed obtained through my skill, repelling the wind that chilled the forest, my little sprout was planted and immediately absorbed small portions of my mana.
I could feel my mana being absorbed, but not at a significant rate. If the forest's miasma drained 60% of my mana reserves, then my sprout only absorbed a single unit of mana.
It certainly wasn't uncomfortable.
I simply watched my sprout, giving it all the necessary nutrients, but in checking its growth, mana sufficed.
Year 15 Month 9
Blitz Hounds appeared by the river. It had been a while since I last saw them in the forest. I thought they had changed territories but had only migrated to the far edge of the forest.
My position allowed me to see the entire forest. It could be summarized as dividing the forest into three distinct parts. The inner part where I resided (the forest's center), the outer part controlled by the wolves and crows, and the last part.
It was an unexplored place, but the state of the Blitz Hounds seemed to indicate intense battles. How many other monsters existed out there? I could only assume that the level of all the monsters was high.
By catching several Blitz Hounds, I gained three levels. [Level 27].
Year 16 Month 4
I received news about my new sprout. It had absorbed a significant portion of my mana while I was sleeping. I woke up to a pleasant surprise.
This sprout initially struggled due to the surrounding miasma, but by constantly transporting my nutrients directly through its roots, the growth was rapid. Branches were definitely emerging.
The main trunk was already visible. How many meters had it reached now? I used my roots as a measure since my current size was fifteen meters.
About three meters?
Considering it reached 1/3 of my size in just two years, it would take another four years to reach my current size. It was a fast pace considering the environment was good, but outside it was the opposite.
Hmm. Suddenly I felt a bit ashamed. In my previous life, my height had been limited to 1.6 meters at eighteen years old. It was small compared to Western standards, but in China, my height was average.
I mean… average for women.
Damn? I quickly shifted my thoughts before spiraling into despair and contemplating ending my second life.
[Another ordinary seed has been produced]
By the way, how should I name it? I mean, continuing to call it a tree would quickly become boring and discouraging. Especially if I kept planting more seeds… Planting a seed consumed 10 units of mana, so I was limited, but as my mana reserve grew, the number of trees would increase.
Should I name them Tree A and Tree Z? Well… The alphabet has its limits.
[Secondary Tree]
A clear window was visible above the top of the tree.
Is that your official name? Fine.
Year 17 Month 8
The forest was silent. The monsters stayed within their territories without encroaching on one another's land. I didn't know if that was good or bad news, but the number of monsters was decreasing.
Was that good or bad news?
Year 18 Month 4
A worrying movement appeared in the sky. Thousands of crows suddenly flew overhead, gathering their kin. They circled for several hours for no apparent reason and quickly disappeared.
Something troubling is going to happen.
Year 19 Month 2
My first two secondary trees rapidly reached ten meters. The mana requirement increased, but my mana reserve was still limited. I worried that my trees would demand even more mana, but it seemed to have stabilized.
I planted a third seed.
Year 20 Month 7
I discovered a new feature of my secondary trees. They purified the soil by absorbing the surrounding miasma and planting various herbs. Finally, these trees were useful and not just greedily consuming my mana.
Year 21 Month 9
For the first time since my reincarnation, a sprout emerged from the ground. Inspecting the roots, most of my nutrients were nourishing this plant. What kind of plant was this that demanded so many resources?
I hope it's something useful. I don't like nurturing useless flowers.
Year 22 Month 4
Exactly four years later. The crows returned and dropped a cube into my leaves before it rolled to the ground. Looking up at the sky, hundreds of crows were visible.
Why did those crows drop this cube?
Grabbing the cube with my roots, I brought it closer and inspected it carefully. Was it something valuable? At first glance, the cube seemed… completely useless. I mean, its surfaces were very smooth.
I first struck it against the ground, but there was no reaction. Then I tried crushing it, but the cube was too tough. Ah? Was it really an indestructible cube?
Giving up on solving this puzzle, the crows descended in numbers and searched the forest for something. I quickly used my subspace to hide the cube.
I don't know what it's for, but judging by the crows' reaction, it must be valuable!
Year 23 Month 1
I planted three more seeds.
The monsters were active and attempted to take several of my seeds. I defended as best I could, but a crow managed to eat one of my seeds. I became enraged and attacked other crows.
I gained three levels. [Level 30]
Year 24Month 2
An earthquake shook the entire forest. The monsters were fearful and hid in shelters. Several twisted trees were destroyed during the period when the tremor upended the forest.
When the shaking ceased, I checked the status of my trees, but since they benefited from my durability, they remained unharmed. The number of monsters crushed under the twisted trees was significant.
Silently praying for the peace of the monsters, I gained three levels. [Level 33]
Year 25 Month 2
The crows flew over my position. The secondary trees were numerous, making our position obvious to others. Some stayed distant, but others landed on us.
Striking down the crows that fell like flies, I gained a new skill, and moving the corpses into my subspace, I became curious about the skill [Chrysalis].
[Chrysalis]
[Select a secondary tree]
Two windows appeared. Selecting the tree closest to me, another notification appeared.
[Class Selection]
[Worker]
[Workers are skilled in auxiliary tasks (transport, construction…)]
[Soldiers]
[Warriors are combat units used in battles]
Workers are useless. So, I selected [Soldiers], and a line labeled [Barracks] appeared above the tree. The secondary tree underwent a significant change, altering its initial form.
The tree trunk became thick, and an opening appeared, as if to allow units to enter and exit. Several cocoons emerged from the opening and quickly hatched into one-meter insects.
They looked like units used in RTS combat games.
It seemed the soldiers were connected to my thoughts. I commanded my soldier, and it moved in circles. It was like a dog following its master's commands—interesting and amusing.
[Chrysalis]
[Class: Soldiers]
[Skills: Minor Root Strike, Defense, and Charge]
Three different skills were listed in its window. The first skill was especially intriguing. I immediately brought it in front of a crow that seemed surprised to notice a new monster.
The crow leaped from the branch. (How did you cross our territory? State your monster faction immediately?!)
Ignoring the crow's incessant words, the silent chrysalis quickly leaped among my branches and reached the crow, which was startled and tried to fly higher.
But the [Charge] skill allowed it to close the gap, and combined with the root strike that appeared out of nowhere, the crow was caught and slammed to the ground.
The crow was knocked unconscious by the impact. I think my chrysalis weighs around thirty kilograms, the crow was crushed to death, although I did not blame my chrysalis, which stood firmly on it.
My chrysalis had the strength to fight crows like me. It's rather useful to know; if I built a small army, perhaps dominating part of the forest wouldn't be a dream!
[Mana Reserve 0/100]
For now, I need to wait for my mana to regenerate.
Year 26 Month 8
The territories seemed restless lately. The crows were harassing the wolves, while the Blitz Hounds took advantage of the confusion to launch offensives.
Was this a second alliance?
Year 27 Month 2
It had been a while since I checked my notifications. I had somewhat forgotten them during my period of rest.
[Harvest Tree]
It's a variant of my secondary tree. I could specialize my trees to produce fruit, but since my sustenance was based on mana, I hadn't used it. I didn't know how good the fruit could be.
[Advanced Perception]
I can now sense the vital signs of all living beings within my environment (among the secondary trees). Even insects were detectable, as well as crows flying at high altitudes.
I could even identify the monsters waiting behind trees.
[Level Up]
I reached level 34 by killing the monsters.