1 A magical tree

I awoke from a long sleep I had believed would be eternal. My consciousness was still hazy, wishing to end the darkness that had accompanied me for so long, I tried to open my eyes. Yet to my great astonishment I could not do so, I didn't even feel my eyelids. Thinking that something must be horribly wrong with my face I intended to raise my hands to touch my face, checking for any abnormalities. Yet again I was unable to move or feel any reaction from my limbs. Desperate to get the slightest reaction from my body I tried to move whatever I could, imagining myself thrashing around. As time passed my mind descended further into chaos. I needed to move!

‹Host is advised to calm himself as an unstable mindset may be detrimental to further growth. Host is further advised to stop futile attempts of moving since trees cannot move until further evolution.›

Hearing a voice in my head I managed to calm down somewhat.

'Wait, did I already start to hallucinate. What was it again that it said? I'm a tree, what a joke.'

‹Host is by no means hallucinating. Host is also advised to stop indulging in delusions and accept reality.›

'Fine, what should I do instead of not accepting reality?'

‹Host is suggested to start absorbing magic from surrounding to become a magical tree, completing first step in hosts path of evolution.›

'Now that I think about it, dear voice in my head, who are you?'

‹Responding to hosts question, the voice heard originates from the Yggdrasil growth system. It will assist you in your quest to become a legendary tree.›

'Yggdrasil... I see... my quest?'

Having enough of all this mind-boggling talk, I turned my mind toward this magic absorption. I had never done this before, but I felt the knowledge of the whole process in me. Following my natural instincts or whatever this is, I began trying to feel the magic flowing through me. At first, I felt nothing, zero flow and no magic whatsoever. But after dozens of days, I could vaguely feel my leaves making photosynthesis in a specific rhythm, there was a strange feeling in me. It was faint, barely traceable but it gave me the motivation to keep concentrating. The feeling that had initially been faint and distant was growing with every passing day. I could feel the magic gushing through my body reaching from every root to every leaf. Searching for that same feeling outside of my body I was quick to find it. I felt currents of magic swish passed, being what I could only consider as wind.

And there a little below was a different type of magic it felt more solid and had small things atop it with magic similar to my own, probably being grass. I spent days on end refining this sense until I could 'see' the outlines of all things within 2 meters, being able to differentiate between each blade of grass around me.

‹Host has acquired [magic perception]. Host can now see surrounding through magic and grasp its concentration and type.›

Next, I tried pulling some of the magic outside from the air into my body. I might have been a little overexcited for doing this, as I locked on to the magic around me and just pulled. Turns out trees are supposed to gather magic slowly, accumulating it and building a core. I, in my excitement, pulled in a vast amount. I felt like I'd explode from all the energy inside me. The bark on my trunk started breaking up and the wood below was creaking loudly.

‹Host has an oversaturation of magic. Host is asked to hurry and form core from excess magic.›

Following the instructions in my mind, I tried to gather all the magic in my trunk slightly below the treetop, compressing it into a condensed core. By the time I had succeeded my bark looked like a multitude of lightning strikes had ravaged all over it.

‹Congratulations, host has acquired [magic manipulation], host has successfully condensed [magic core], host is now evolving to entity [magical tree].›

I felt magic rush into my body from the outside, converging towards my magic core, my bark, which I had been worrying how to repair was made anew, my leafs shone with a jade luster and my density increased quite a lot.

‹Host is indeed very dense.›

'How about you stop making puns no one will laugh about and explain what all this magical tree stuff means.'

‹Host has evolved into a magical tree. Host is now able to analyze magic structure of objects and replicating them.›

'Meaning?'

‹Host can absorb a fruit, analyze it and grow it himself. Once host advances in growth of core and soul, more things can possibly be reproduced. For example minerals, animals or souls.›

'Can I move now?'

‹Hosts soul is not yet strong enough to manipulate body into movement. Host is advised to stop asking useless questions and keep growing.›

So I refocused on my surroundings, slowly guiding the magic from outside into my core and from there spreading it to the rest of my body to support its growth.

Slow and steady, drawing magic in and distributing it evenly, again and again, and again. I became accustomed to the feeling of just growing and being. My leaves swayed in the wind, my trunk stood there in its barky splendor and my roots burrowed deep into the ground. And all was good.

‹Host has successfully entered special state [Heart of tree], from now on host has a stronger connection to all plants in close proximity to him.›

Great at least something good came out after all this time.

‹Host can now grow subordinate trees and use magic manipulation to slightly move them.›

'Why didn't you say so sooner!'

Barely keeping my excitement under wraps I tried beginning to grow another tree. But to my great sorrow, I found myself unable to, as I didn't know how.