I'm really starting to hate that.
A tree sapling? Are you fucking kidding me? That damn Alice, I swear... Huh, I guess I'm the revenge type. Suppose I still don't know much about myself.
I feel around, trying to get any sense of anything. Although I have no olfactory sense, no touch or any other way to interact, I can tell I'm underground.
Right, I am a tree sapling after all. This is gonna be a long path.
I spend time seeing what else my spatial awareness can pick up. I can tell I'm near a water source, I can feel my... Well I'm not sure what it is, roots? My seed? I can't feel my body properly so I don't even know if I'm propagating. After seemingly a small forever I hear a ding, and what sounds like a quieter and more subdued version of Alice.
"Level gained! Now Lvl. 1!"
So can I still gain a level like this? Well I figured there were levels to these things but it's nice to have confirmation. If only I knew how long it took just now to get that level but I have no sense of time...
"You have acquired a skill point! Would you like to use it?" A skill point huh...?
I pop open my Stat Screen rather intuitively, it appears inside of my mind similar to in the white walls void in the darkness when I was reborn. It lists Automatic Regeneration and Life Drain of course, however I also seem to get Stat Screen.
That was probably how I was using the Stat Screen after all. Maybe that is an advantage in and of itself. There was something more foreboding however, under it there was a skill that's hidden to me.
"This skill will be unlocked at Lvl. 100!" LEVEL 100? With how long it takes me to get one level that's impossible!
For now, I put the skill point into Life Drain. As of now it doesn't seem like anything can hurt me in the ground.
"Life Drain, Lvl. 1 !" Ah, so that's why levels weren't listed next to them. Seems in addition to me, all my skills start at Lvl 0 as well. Wait that means Automatic Regeneration is at Lvl. 0 too! Oh well... Can't be helped, I'll just have to spend the next point on that, just in case.
In my boredom, I test out Life Drain. It allows me to somewhat feel life that's near me, maybe due to my roots. I can feel the other Tree Saplings, all also Lvl. 1. In my small radius that's all I can feel for now. The want to test my Life Drain overpowers me and I activate the skill.
Life Drain. I think with all my might, not really sure how to activate the skill.
"Wordless Incantation Lvl. 1 Acquired!"
Huh..?"
As I hear the familiar chime and voice, I feel something being pulled into my roots. I feel invigorated.
"Tree Sapling Lvl 2 Acquired! You have 2 Skill Points to use!" I killed it... My fellow tree sapling.. Well, I guess it's not like we talked...
As I go to apply my points I have a realization.
Wait a minute, I got that skill just from trying to do it, and it even started at level 1... Maybe if I use it again I can increase it that way...
I apply the two points to Automatic Regeneration, bumping it to Lvl. 2. After all, I don't really wanna level that up the hard way...
I use Life Drain again, taking another one of my brethren to an early grave.
"Life Drain is now Lvl. 2!"
Haha! I was right! This is good! I can figure this out! Who cares if I'm stuck as a Tree Sapling! I'll be the best damn Tree Sapling in the world!
I keep going until I exhaust my magic. Annoyingly it doesn't give me a number for any of this, but I can extrapolate how much magic i'm using by using my Stat Screen skill and checking out how far down the Magic Ability points have gone down.
The Imiatuon Alice, or as I've come to think of her as iAlice, blathers in as I gain these skill points.
When all is said and done I've advanced to Lvl. 5. And i've put the points i've gained, which seems to have capped out at two-per-level, into Automatic Regenerationan which is now at Lvl. 8
But the most exciting part is; with Life Drain at Lvl. 10 it now allows me to branch out in how I use it.
"Lvl. 10 Life Drain advancement options! Number one, Devouring Tentacles-"
"Next." I'm much shorter with iAlice it seems, and I'm definitely not getting "devouring" anything.
"Life Share! Divert some health garnered to allies!" Ah, this must be what Alice Prime meant. However it isn't like I have any allies at the moment.
"Next."
"Total Drain! In addition to health, also steal some of the opposition's magical power and the effect increases!" Now we're talking! If I take that I could probably use Life Drain endlessly!
"However, due to those benefits, the cost for using Life Drain also increases!" Ah... So a higher initial cost but long term rewards. Still, it's my best option.
"That one please."
"Life Drain Lvl. 10 has been converted into Total Drain Lvl. 1." Shit was that really okay to do? Have I lost any possibility of learning healing skills now...? No, I can't let that bother me. I learned wordless magic because I wanted to, I'll figure something out. Maybe I can make cures with my leaves?
I pull up the Stat Screen to distract myself. It's not quite appropriately named, though. I can't really see my "Stats" in the way one might envision. There's a pie chart with corresponding colors I can't make sense of.
"Alice what does this mean?"
"You will need to upgrade you Stat Screen skill!"
Of course that's what it was. It was still at Lvl. 0. I should have put more points into Stat Screen! There's hardly any other Saplings nearby now!
I curse myself for a while. Looks like I haven't fully avoided the waiting game with my power leveling.
After another indistinguishable amount of time, I gain a level. It seems due to my tree nature I can grow just by... growing. I eagerly drop the two points into Stat Screen and am met with disappointment.
I have no idea what this language is. Alice couldn't even give me a language skill?!
"Language Comprehension is an Inborn Skill for Tree Saplings, and you chose regeneration." Says iAlice factually. The real Alice would have been a lot more passive aggressive, considering I had cut her off after all.
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome."
Hm maybe if I...I stare hard at the words trying hard to make sense of them with the best I can do, trying to compare them to anything my foggy memory could think of.
"Language Comprehension Skill Lvl. 0 acquired! Discourse will increase the level."
Discourse, like discussions... or arguments...? I need more people... damn..
The words still don't make sense so I close Stat Screen and try to rest. I'm not sure how to rest as a seed, or whatever I am, but I try. But then I hear something.
Or feel something? Still not sure how these spatial awareness type senses work for a seed. Plop. Fwoomp. One by one my fallen brethren are plucked one by one from the ground.
People?!
I can hear a voice! They sound displeased.
Fuck, have I ruined their crops?! Oh no... Am I... a bad apple about to be culled...? Or... Am I the prize pig...?
Then something grabs me, roughly about to tug me out of the dirt by whatever the top of my body is. Without thinking properly my body activates Total Drain.
W-Wait no I don't wanna-
But it's too late. It's almost instant, which makes it even worse. I know it's done. I know something thuds to the ground. I know life has been drained from them. My body is rejuvenated from the magic lost, but my mind is twisted in disgust.
I just killed somebody. A person maybe Maybe an animal sure, but maybe a person, someone who was just picking their harvest. And they're gone because of me.