10 The Sapling

I wonder how long I've been here? Not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just that… it just gets boring staring at nothingness you know… But well, at least the situation I'm in is not entirely bad. I've gotten a lot of energy from absorbing the void around me. Plenty enough that I won't mind if both Farmers decided to take more.

Wait! Why did I consider giving them more? Meh, oh well.

At the moment, I feel like I can become a sapling soon. Should be anytime now. I can feel it in my DNA that I should be qualified to be considered a sapling right after I grow these last few leaves…

[Ding! Congratulations to the user for reaching the next step of life. The user has grown into a Sapling]

[Ding! Note to user: It is suggested for the user to look into the growth path of a sapling and its growth-related abilites. These abilities would not be displayed.]

'HA HA!' FINALLY! After having all my leaves almost eaten up twice, I've finally become a sapling without interruption.

Now then, that second notification has greatly piqued my interest. Growth path? 'Almost sounds like I can become something else besides a tree' I thought jokingly. Turns out that once again, my joking thought is once again true. As I look into my nature, my DNA, my instincts, or whatever, I found exactly what I thought.

I found a list of possible options in my DNA. 'These options are quite…' Let me list the out the options that the world probably bestowed upon me. My options are as follows.

A Tree, the usual immobile type of plant that does nothing but grow, grow, grow, maybe grow a fruit every now and then, and so on. Maybe die at some point, but my DNA isn't telling me anything about age so….

A Treeant, is simply put, a tree with legs and arms. Other than doing what a tree can do best, it can also move around.

A Druid. This one is a bit special. Popularly known as beings whose magic is tied extremely close to nature. While it is very very very hard to grow into a druid, the pay off is that… Well, it's probably considered a humanoid beings with rights to be protected by a country? I'm not sure really, since I literally know nothing about this world other than its name. And some minor irrelevant stuff.

Similar to the Druid, a Plantman. Kind of like a more humanoid version of the treeant. So something between a treeant and a druid.

There are other options, but they feel 'grey' to me. As if it's too far or something. Or forbidden maybe?

But whatever the case is, 'These options just sound troublesome.' A webnovel protagonist in my position would probably begin growing into a Druid. Logically, It would be convenient, I'll admit that. Having a humanoid form that can be used to live in humanoid beings' settlements, and all that sorts… Pui Pui Pui! I spit on that logic!

The Tree is the one true path for me! Why would I want to go back into society? Look for a job? Work hard everyday to be able to afford food? Nay! While I hate that damn ball of light for making me into an enticing plant, at least I really don't have to do much in life!

With my next goal clearer and brighter than my ex-boss' forehead, I now look into the growth-related abilities mentioned.

I got three such abilities. 'Consider me surprised, I actually look forward to this.' I have began to accept my fate as an awesome enticing plant with zero defensive capabilities. Which is why the abilities which are Wood Growth, Flower Growth, and Fruit Growth really intrigued me. 'With Farmer for comparison, he began to mutate just from eating my leaves. I look forward to seeing what sorts of wonders these three can do'

As much as I would love to immediately try them all out right this instant, at the moment however, I can only began making wood. In regards to growing flowers and fruits, it seems that I can only do it once I'm level three.

Anyway, it seems what I will grow into would depend on my actions. If I decided to grow into a tree, then I would be a tree. If decided to grow arms and legs but made entirely of wood, I would become a treeant. If I worked hard into growing a humanoid body with organs, I would become a Plantman or a Druid. That 'growing organs' part of course is the definitely hard and troublesome part I refuse to try.

Just as I was about to try out my new wood growing ability, I feel the void around me trembling. Soon after, it just… it's hard to put into words. The closest thing I can come up with would be the void just 'scattered'.

Right after that, I found myself in what I assume to be a room, with two dudes looking at me. 'Damn, that guy is tall.' I thought to myself when I saw the big guy. Even basketball players could be considered short compared to him, right? Aside from the big guy, I recognized the other one as the elf that took me away. After probing around for a while, I found Farmer and Farmer no. 2 in a cage not far away. They don't look like they're in a hurry to get out, so I relaxed a little.

The two men besides me chatted a bit. The big one laughed every now and then. In the end, they both shake hands. Did they make a deal of some sorts?

The big guy left after shaking hands and now only the elf is left looking at me. He stretched his hand over and grabbed my still fickle trunk. I was about to panic as per usual, when suddenly…

'Hi there, young one' I suddenly heard a voice. Which felt very weird. It made me realized that it's has been a long time since I heard anything.

But after brushing off that feeling of weirdness, it was followed by confusion. 'What the…' I thought to myself.

'This is one of my abilities. It allows me to talk to plants.' the voice said again.

It doesn't take a genius to understand that it was the elf talking to me. Which raised a question in me.

'if you had this ability, then does that mean you could've asked me before taking me away?' I asked to the elf.

What followed was an elf that twitched and replied with silence '…'

'…' yep, he kidnapped me. I won't be sorry for what I am about to do on him then. I'll consider it as payback.

Focusing around the part of the stem he is gripping, I mentally commanded myself to absorb.

[Ding! <Magic> discovered. Adding to Synthesis list…]

[Ding! Requirements completed. Using <Mana>, the user has discovered <Magic energy (Mana)>. Adding to Energy list…]

Hohoho! Thanks for the light meal. What a decent catch I got. Hehehehe. I didn't think this would be how I get Mana.

After absorbing what seems to be his mana, I saw the elf became stunned. 'You absorbed my mana?' he asked me.

'Just consider it as payback for not asking me first before taking me away.' I said to the elf.

'Interesting. Can you use magic?'

'No'

'Want to try?'

'Hmm?' I absorbed a bit of his mana and instead of snapping me in half, he's going to teach my magic? 'Why teach me?' I asked.

'I just sold you for a hefty sum. Teaching you a magic a bit would make you worth the price.' the elf answered me. Such an answer made me speechless a bit.

Not only did he take me away without asking, he also sold me away without asking. Don't mind me as I absorbed a bit more of your mana then.

It seems the elf felt it of course. It asked me 'so I'll take that as a yes? You'll find them pretty useful I guarantee you.'

'Okay then. I don't see why not.' It seems like a win-win situation anyway. He gets some money, I get more powerful. Maybe I could learn more later on.

'Well this is the first one, <Mind Connect>. I'll transfer the knowledge regarding it to you now. It's similar to <Telepathy>, with the difference being it's a two way communication magic that ignores the language barrier. I suppose you can learn the Common Language from the Archduke later.' the elf said. As he said that, I felt the knowledge he mentioned suddenly began to fill my mind.

[Ding! The user has received <Mind Connect>. Adding to Active skills list…]

As I process the knowledge, I find it very interesting. Originally, this magic is meant to be used with mana. By connecting my mana towards my target, I can connect our minds to communicate through our thoughts. But it seems I can somehow connect with my energy instead.

The elf let go of my soon-to-be trunk. From the way he is looking towards me, I'm guessing he wants me try it out immediately. So I used my energy to reach out towards him, connecting to his mind.

But once connected, I saw him flinched. I didn't have to wait to know why since the reason came to me as a thought 'You used your energy instead of mana?' With that thought that arrived, I can conclude that it worked.

'Yes. Is there something wrong?' I asked back.

The elf shook his head. 'Nothing. It's just that normally when using this magic, it's possible to reject the connection by just stopping the mana from coming since it's not hard to detect the mana being used in <Mind Connect>. But with the energy you used just now, unless they have an innate ability to sense foreign energy like me, they won't be able to reject your connection attempt. Heck, some might not even see it coming.' The elf explained to me.

Hearing the explanation, my pride as a rare plant was inflated. 'Hehehe, this feeling of being special might not be so bad after all…' I thought to myself without sending it through the connection.

The elf continued 'Now that I don't have to grab you to talk to you, the next thing I want to do is to have you establish a contract with these two fellas' as he talked, he walked towards cage where Farmer and Farmer no. 2 is in and brought them out towards me.

'I want you to establish a Guardian contract with them. This is to ensure they won't harm you nor anyone without ill intent towards you. Are you fine with that?'

'That's possible?' I asked back. That would be nice then. I can take back their nicknames if so! I mean, I do have a lot of leaves now, and they don't really consume that much. But it still kind of hurt my feelings if they do that without my consent.

'Definitely possible. I can do it now.' the elf confirmed.

'Then by all means, please do.'

With that said, the elf turned towards both Farmers. They chatted a bit, but after that the process began. Now that I have have Mana in my energy list, I can see the elf manipulating his mana to make a magic circle in the air in front of me and both Farmers. Once it appeared, a drop of blood flew out of both Farmer towards the magic circle in front of me. Following that, the magic circle lit up. Followed by a notification.

[Ding! <Mutated Ethereal Poison Snake> and <Flaming Bird> are offering to be your Guardian Beast. Accept?]

Oh? So that's what they are? Interesting. Well the answer to the question is obvious. 'Accept of course!'

The magic circle shattered, the fragments of it flew towards me. It entered through my I'll-make-it-my trunk and flowed towards my core.

[Ding! Connection established. <Mutated Ethereal Poison Snake> and <Flaming Bird> are now your Guardian Beasts. Creating Guardian list… Adding to list…]

Nice! It's done. It's been a while since I last checked my status. I should check it some time.

My thoughts were interrupted with the the sound of 'Milord!' in my mind.

'???' What the…?

'It is us Milord. Now that we're your Guardian, we're now connected to your core. So we can communicate with our minds!'

It's the Farmers! Damn. Now that I look again, some of my energy now flows through them both. This should be the connection between me and them. Hmm? Damn, the energy that flows into them actually gets absorbed. So I'm the one providing energy for the contract? Gosh damn it. Oh well. At least it's not much compared to the amount of energy I can usually absorb.

At this moment, the elf sounded again 'Now before I teach you next magic, have you named them?'

It perplexed me a little. 'Is that important?' I asked.

'Well not necessarily. It just helps strengthen the connection between you the Lord and your Guardians.' the elf said. He then added 'Right, in case you do plan to name them, trying making up a good name okay? A male name for the snake and a female name for the bird.'

The new information shocked me. 'I didn't see that coming.' I knew Farmer was a male, but I didn't thought Farmer no. 2 would be a female. It shocked me because then it's balanced, as all things should be. One male and female. Balanced. Maybe I'm quite lucky after all?

[Ding! Would you like to name your Guardians?]

Now that a notification is triggered, I don't see why I shouldn't. I decided to go along with it. 'Yes.'

[What would you like to name them?]

I pondered about this for a while. If there's one thing I'm bad at, that would be coming up with names. Even during the very few times I learned programming, coming up with names for variables was challenging. Hmm? Programming? That's it!

'I name the Flaming Bird as Alice and the Ethereal Poison Snake as Bob.'

[Ding! Success. Guardian <Mutated Ethereal Poison Snake> has been named Guardian <Bob> and Guardian <Flaming Bird> has been named Guardian <Alice>]

Alice and Bob shined for a few moments. 'Thank you, Milord!' their voice came in at the same time.

I gave an imaginary nod in response. 'Okay. Now these two magic I'm about to impart to you would be very useful for you if you plan to grow into a tree. They are <Artificial Senses> and <Manifestation>. To give you an overview, with <Artificial Senses>, you would be able to see and hear as if you have eyes and ears. And if you want, you can also feel touch if you feel like doing so. If you make yourself something to represent a nose and tongue, then you can smell and taste as well. Now with <Manifestation>, you can create a body of mana to represent yourself. If you use <Artificial Senses> with it, then the body of mana would be able to have the five normal senses as well. Do you get what I'm saying?'

It was quite the long overview, but yeah. 'Yes. I get it.' Manifestation might be interesting when I really need something to represent myself. However… 'With this <Manifestation> magic… What shape does the body of mana take?' I asked the elf.

'It can take any form you desire.' The elf answered.

'Then I can make a duck, right?'

I saw the elf was taken aback. 'But… Why a duck? All the ancient trees that I've seen using this magic has either chosen to make a human or an elf. At least something humanoid. So why…'

'I just don't feel like it' The real answer would be because I'm tired of being a human. But I'll keep that to myself.

The elf shrugged 'So be it. You can change it at anytime when you use the magic. But you would need a certain level of skill in manipulating mana to use this magic. So keep up with training that, okay?' The elf the proceeded to once again grab my precious fickle stem, and transferred the knowledge.

[Ding! The user has received <Artificial Senses> and <Manifestation (Locked)>. Adding to Active Skills list… note to user: <Manifestation> requires the minimum of level 5]

Okay, at least level 5. That's fine, that's fine. No hurry.

'And that's all. I'll bring you to the Archduke's estate in a few hours.' the elf said.

'The Archduke? You sold me to a noble?' This is quite the surprised. 'How influential is that Archduke rank?' I asked due to my curiosity.

'Hmm… if I'm not mistaken…' the Elf pondered for a while. 'His power is directly below the King, but he has no army nor land. Only an estate in this capital.'

'That… sounds like a strange rank…' A noble with power just below the king yet has no army nor land? Kind of sounds like a hollow rank.

'I know right? Even a Baron have lands to call their own. But the rank isn't just for show. With his authority, he is allowed to take away a Noble's rank or even erasing their whole family along with their army.' The elf explained while he looked around his store for something.

'Wow… But how can he do that without an army?'

The elf stopped for a moment and looked at me. 'Well… don't tell anyone else, not even any noble or royalty of this kingdom. But the truth is, that guy is a one man army. Not even all army in this kingdom combined can take him down.'

'O__O!?'