Definitely Not Friends

Refreshing. He had an excellent sleep. After that tiring day before, it felt nice waking up next to New Mother and the Siblings.

In fact, the entire atmosphere was different. He saw better, the Reinforced Nature Enlightenment was stronger, the air taken in was cleaner, and even his roots buried underground.

It was such a good...

Hold up. Since when could his roots go underground? He felt like he was imitating New Mother.

But in truth, his size didn't increase, nor could he see the top of New Mother. Still, what gave? Was this a new him?

Odd. Something was seriously bizarre here.

In that case, let's check.

<Deep-root Branch>

¬A young branch with long roots

Hmm... so that dream was real after all? It also turned out he could detach or reattach himself to the ground.

Good. Good.

It was always better to improve, so no complaints from him. Instead, it was hunting time. He didn't know the length in which New Mother and the Siblings would last, so he should remain hasty.

Traveling once again, he exhibited confidence. New Mother was a big tree that had lived a long life. In hindsight, her roots had to be stretched to a water source since her size removed the theory of rain being the origin.

That was when he took a page out of her book. He used his new roots to check for wet soil or New Mother's roots.

It failed miserably, which made him depressed, but he was very persistent. However, as a former summoned hero, he could never leave it to one method. He was taught early on that one needed more than one ace in the hole.

That said, he retraced his passage from yesterday in search of wild animals. Where there were sustainable lives, there was a steady flow of water, was the theory.

Sure enough, after gaining extraordinary senses, he noticed vibrations of rushing water and moving creatures.

How to go about it? Hmm...

He planted himself in the middle of the pathway as a harmless upright branch. To human eyes, seeing a tree branch sticking out of the ground was anything but ordinary. However, he had little to worry about regarding wild beasts with low intelligent.

At least he hoped their intelligent was low.

A stupid decision? Why fight the unknown?

Easy.

That <Evolution> was awesome!

In such a dangerous world, how could he protect New Mother and the Siblings without strength? Didn't Mother also die due to his lack of strength?

Once more, he had a strong urge, both Mother and his childhood friend was alive. To explore, he needed unrivaled power.

Oh! And it had nothing to do with wanting to test out his new form. Nothing at all, truly.

Time to stop the rambling, the vibrations came closer.

The first to appear was a...

...black goblin?

No, wait! He couldn't see color still so maybe it was... green? It was kinda small for a goblin. Or was he bigger than he thought he was? In any case, he was half the height vertically.

But why did it stop? Did it notice how out of place he was? It was a stupid creature, right?

If he went by the Hero World experience, goblins, orc, trolls, elves, and such, were beings of the Magic Race. They were categorized differently from the Monster Race that terrorized the world. And yet, goblins were rumored to have the same thinking capacity as monsters.

Look! It started circling him.

Wasn't this the legendary battle standoff? But he himself was completely still.

So maybe it should be called 'one-sided battle standoff?'

Shoot! He was daydreaming. If the goblin was exhibiting battle intent, there was no time to stall. He should take the initiative to act first.

Long roots shot out the ground coated in Reinforced Nature Enlightenment. It was something he discovered was possible earlier.

After becoming a Deep-root Branch, his roots could stretch farther than they appeared. They were also different than his former roots which was just him using instinct to draw in water. If he didn't know better, he would say Reinforced Nature Enlightenment allowed him to apply Stretch Laws.

He dismissed it though. Controlling Laws were reserved for those with high magic aptitude in the Hero World. And this world didn't necessarily follow the same World Rules.

Almost there.

Just a little closer and he would bind it. Then he would...

...drain it?

Yes. He saw no way to wound it, so his only option was to feed on the inside fluids.

Ah! This was going to be gross again. The new him sure had it miserable.

"Can you be my friend?"

Just a second.

What?! It talked and he understood?! Did that mean earlier, it was sizing him to debate whether it was good to be friends or not?!

His head hurt. Or was it trunk? It didn't matter.

The point was, he was stumped. How to respond...

Let's still bind it up, first!

"Eeh!!! Not again! Why are all plants aggressive?!"

How rude. He was being tame compared to the others. Just look at Venus-chan. The first thing Venus-chan did was to gobble him whole. How could his actions be considered on the same scale?

Oh! This goblin was begging for a beating.

"Ouch! Ouch! Please stop hitting me, friend. I don't know what I said but I'm sorry."

Good.

Thankfully for its sake, it could learn. There was nothing more satisfying than doing a well-done deed. Besides, he was a kind and friendly person, so he disliked liars.

"Thank you! Are we friends now?"

No! No, they weren't. The goblin was weak and out of place. What if this was a trick? After all, how had it managed to survive when being this weak?

There must be a trick hidden in disguise.

"Uh...?"

Think! What could he use to communicate?

"Friend...?"

Would it understand writing? He understood its words, so maybe it was fine.

"About the thing chasing me..."

It was decided. He should give himself a pat on the back for being so smart.

"...should we run?"

Run? What was it talking about, run? Did it lose the ability to form proper sentences?

Sigh. He should just ask the goblin. Hopefully, the writing was understood.

Oh my gosh! What was that?! Why didn't anyone tell him something so outrageous was coming? And was it looking his way?

He must repeat, they definitely not going to be friends.