43. Change (Patreon)

The thing with seeds was that they didn’t have much vitality. Aloe had yet to check it to make an actual solid theory, but every living organism was born with low vitality and only got more as they grew older. She hadn’t checked for humans, but the difference between date seeds and grown palm trees was staggering.

Whilst one only had the vitality equivalent of a blade of Cure Grass, the other had as much – if not more – vitality as an adult human. And she doubted babies had only the vitality of a single blade of grass, so the increase was colossal.

So as she inspected the infused date seeds, the ‘accelerated growth’ and the ‘better taste’ seeds in each hand, Aloe found it difficult to find that sliver of innate vitality.

“Hmmmmm...” Aloe’s ponderation grunts weren’t dissimilar to that of a dweller. “No, can’t do.”

She groaned, leaving her weight fall on the chair. It was a miracle the old seat still stood up with all the mistreatment Aloe made it go through.

“I can fill the distinction between the ‘better taste’ and the ‘accelerated growth’; the former has half the vitality of the latter, but it shouldn’t be like that. Why can’t I feel that nail of vitality?”

Aloe grabbed a date seed from the bowl and sensed its vitality. A little coldness tingled on her fingers. Diminutive.

“If it’s only the seed, I can sense it; but the instant you add more vitality into the mix, especially this much vitality, it’s impossible to tell one from another. Innate and infused...” She sighed; the hard thinking was making her head spin. “Fuck it, I need some tea.”

The addictive properties of the ter’nar lingered on her mind, but the effects were so trivial that Aloe couldn’t care. She just thought better under the influence. At least the tea was way lighter on the body than opiate.

“How about trying on plants that require less vitality to infuse?” Aloe mumbled between sips. “Cure Grass feels perfect for the job. It has more innate vitality than normal grass, but the amount of vitality needed to infuse is so small that I almost don’t feel it.”

The cultivator grabbed a pinch of grass seeds, even if the pot where they were stored was small, the seeds themselves were so small that in the grip of her fingers were around a dozen of them. They were only normal grass seeds, of course.

“I wonder if I...” Aloe didn’t finish the phrase as she pushed her vitality into the seeds, the intent of Evolution clear.

She evolved all the seeds.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I can.” She looked into the vitality of all the seeds, and whilst alone it didn’t seem that anything had happened, with only a quick look at a normal seed it became obvious that the seeds on her hand were no longer grass seeds, but Cure Grass seeds. “I doubt I’ll go evolving seeds, or infusing, seeds in bulk, but I’ll make a note that it’s, indeed, possible.”

Her reserves were barely taxed. Cure Grass was downright insulting in how cheap it was to evolve. Aloe dropped half of them on the desk and focused on the ones left on her hand. Then she infused them with no intent. Her deposit barely shook as the infusion ended.

“Had to check if it also worked on infusions. It would’ve been moronic to just assume that it was possible when it was just a flick of hand to check.”

Aloe left the seeds on the desk and picked an uninfused Cure Grass one. It didn’t take her more than a couple of heartbeats to give it the ‘better taste’ infusion.

“I’m getting used to it.” She mumbled heaving the seed up and down. “Alright, let’s test the vitality differences.”

Considering the sheer number of seeds at her disposal, Aloe wasn’t satisfied with testing two. She grabbed a normal grass seed, an uninfused Cure Grass seed, and then the ones with ‘accelerated growth’ and ‘better taste’. Even though the four seeds couldn’t be heavier than a single bean, they weighed on her hand.

For what they could mean.

Before doing anything, Aloe downed a cup of ter’nar tea and poured herself another one. The effects of the magical tree appear hastily, her mind becoming numb but paradoxically free of fog.

Using this newfound peace of mind, she focused inwards. Sounds became muted. The heat of the desert, the fabrics of her clothing, and the back of the chair no longer pressed on her skin. Smell disappeared. And her eyes were engulfed in darkness.

Perfect concentration.

The seeds were all cobbled up together in her hands, but even with her eyes closed, Aloe could tell which were which.

The ‘accelerated growth’ Cure Grass seed was the easiest to identify as it shone like a lighthouse in a dimly lit coastal city. Parting from that, she only needed to go lower on the vitality emissions of the seeds to identify the rest. The next one was the ‘better taste’ seed with a third less than the ‘accelerated growth’ one. You’ve heard right, a third less.

Yes! Aloe almost jumped excitedly, but quickly regained her composure to not break her concentration. The amount of vitality needed to infuse Cure Grass is so trivial that the innate vitality actually makes a difference.

A fast inspection of the uninfused Cure Grass seed confirmed her suspicions. The ‘accelerated growth’ and the ‘better taste’ had thrice and twice as much vitality than the uninfused one, respectively.

This is far easier to work with. Aloe also checked the normal grass seed, but the difference between it and the Cure Grass one was minimal. It held barely more vitality.

Alright, now I have three seeds that I can work with. Her thoughts changed after pushing a bit of vitality into the seeds. Okay, two seeds I can work with. The ‘accelerated growth’ Cure Grass seed wouldn’t accept more vitality, after all.

Let’s see... I know that changing infusions is possible, but Karaim did and said so. But how? How do I shift an infusion to another?

Her mind wandered to the most obvious solution: internal infusions.

Aloe wasn’t a stranger to changing infusions; only if the target was her own body, that was. But she wasn’t that dimwit, she had already tried changing the plants' vitality using the same logic that she used to change her flow of vitality.

And it was impossible.

The reason why she could change her infusions was because she affected her own vitality, and it was simply not possible to do that to another living being.

How? The question permeated her mind. IT IS possible... The ter’nar tea guided her, shifting her mind from one place to another, never staying too long in one place, always showing her other and new perspectives.

If Infusion is about inserting vitality... Aloe pondered under the effects of the tea, ...then how about removing vitality? She took a deep breath. I mean, I’ve never tried it. I cannot modify vitality that it’s inside of a plant, but maybe I can remove it?

There was only one way to see if it was possible.

By trying.

There was resistance when one was dealing with vital arts. The greatest resistance Aloe had found was when she altered the flow of her own vitality. Now it was slow and dense, like a sludge, but normally it had more of consistency and flow of a stream of water. That was her current internal infusion affecting her: toughness.

Seeds and plants also showed resistance to change, but not as much as her body. The intent of the infusion affected greatly the resistance the plants presented. Evolution’s intent was met with minimal struggle, and if the vitality was accepted, quite the contrary happened as the seeds started to seek change and vitality instead of denying it.

Normal intents, like the ones on the seeds on her hand, presented far more fight. Not enough that it was difficult to overcome, but enough that she had to care. The more vitality the seeds needed to be infused, the more they fought against her.

So the Cure Grass’ fight was pitiful, to say the least.

Even then, taking away vitality wasn’t as straightforward as putting it inside the seed. Instead of pouring vitality out of her arms without any regard or thought, Aloe had to be more precise.

It was more an exercise of imagination than an actual process.

Aloe visualized a pair of fingers pinching on the ‘accelerated growth’ seed. They weren’t her real fingers, yet nonetheless, she could feel the vitality of the seed with them.

Then she pulled.

For a brief moment, the seed fought against her pull, but Aloe overpowered it easily, effortlessly. A mote of coldness enveloped on the tips of her imaginary fingers, it was her very vitality, the vitality she had lent to the seed to infuse it.

It was akin to a string, unfurling as she pulled it. But something else resisted now. It wasn’t the seed itself, but its vitality. It was knotted with her vitality.

Her dazed yet active mind guided her to somewhere else. Instead of pulling harder on the string, she pushed. Not the string, but fresh vitality coming from her body. The intent? Bountiful Harvest.

And most surprisingly, the seed accepted her push.

As she poured more vitality into the seed, she pulled the string. Ebb and flowing, Aloe performed something that could only be referred to as weaving as she pushed one string out and pulled another one in.

The ‘accelerated growth’ string soon arrived at its limits, with no more vitality remaining in that infusion. Then as Aloe introduced the last spec of ‘bountiful harvest’ vitality, the string snapped off clean.

Aloe shot wide open her eyes and grabbed an Aloe Veritas leaf, impregnating the seed with its dark liquid.

Species: Cure Grass

Sobriquet: Munchers

Description: An evolved member of the Poaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow virtually anywhere and restore vitality upon consumption.

Alignment: Life

Infusion: Bountiful Harvest

“Finally...” Aloe celebrated with a steaming cup of tea and smiled from side to side of her face. “Infusion changing!”