Reborn as a Demonic Sunflower - 002 (Patreon)

RePlant System Active

Day: 21

Daily System Credit: 21

Consumed Credit: 0

[Spend Credit?]

Haylock stared at the notification that appeared before him.

Is this like that video game that one assistant of mine played? 

For years, one of his students had played a game on his phone. Every day he logged in, he earned points, which he could spend on something within the game. It seemed like a colossal waste of time, but the student had been excited after waiting a year before spending the points.

What the hell… Spend Credit.

[Credits spent successfully, 21 credits spent]

[Choose a skill to acquire]

[Improved Sight{A}]

[Expanded Domain{E}]

What the hell are those two choices?  Haylock felt confused at not knowing what skill to choose.  One sounded like he could see better, and while he didn’t mind staring at the dirt he was planted in and the stone walkway that he could see, there wasn’t much else to keep his attention during the long moments between the old woman’s visit.

My domain… is that like my area I can see… no, that can’t be it… 

Haylock knew it would be hurting if he had a head that could hurt as he was trying to decide what skill to choose.  One might help him figure out where he was, while the other could do something beneficial, but he was able to deduce that A had to be better than E.

Improved Sight

[Unlocked Improved Sight[A] skill]

His whole body hurt, as if he could suddenly see about twenty meters above where he knew he was. Like flying a drone straight up until it stopped at the maximum altitude, Haylock could see below all around him.

A lush garden with over fifty different kinds of flowers filled his sight. There were so many varieties, and each of them was in perfectly neat little boxes. Stone paths were placed in the middle of each section. As someone who loved order, seeing that there were A-type people like him… wherever that was, made Haylock feel almost euphoric.

Am I off to the south? If the shadows are correct and the sun is like the one I know, then it must be to my back. What the heck… I’m not on Earth… where the hell am I??

Frustration and fear began to grip his core as Haylock tried to overcome the dread of knowing he was dead.  This wasn’t a dream like he had hoped for so long.  Wishing that that accident in the mixer had ended up with him in the hospital and even badly scarred was no more.  

He could see and feel a world different than his.

The shack looks like it’s from an Asian time period.  The sloped roof with the rounded tiles ends with a curved wave pattern of the edge, with high raised corners of the building.  Circular windows and a door that only had a thin paper material over it.  It was a simple white-colored building with a green colored tile roof.

Who colors their roof tiles green? That’s like painting your house gold…

He could see another building and some lines with clothes on it a little further away as he fought to change his vision slightly.  

Tired from the exertion and the strength it seemed to take to keep looking like this, Haylock emptied his mind and drifted off into a state he often felt himself enter when there was nothing to see or notice.  

—--

The sound of humming flooded him, and when Haylock’s mind became active, he realized he could see much more easily from his raised view.  Off at the edge of the garden, where he saw the shack, the woman was coming with a small basket.

She limped slightly, and it caught him off guard.

Had she always limped? Did I just miss that because I couldn’t see that far?

Occasionally, she stopped at another flowerbed, sprinkling something on it, before making her way from box to box, sharing whatever goodie she had in that basket.

Screw those things. Bring me that damn drink, woman!

Haylock felt ashamed for a moment but then realized it didn’t matter what he felt.  

I’m trapped here and unable to move. I can’t even talk to 

There wasn’t anything he could do about his situation.  She could take the whole damn day and come to him last. He would still be excited the moment she showed up and fed him.

Painfully slow, the woman hobbled through the garden, depositing things and pouring out liquids to other flowers, occasionally pruning one or pulling out some weeds.

About damn time! 

Haylock would have shouted for joy, kicked up a vine, or high-fived with his two, no wait three leaves if that had been possible.  Instead, he listened to the beautiful sound of her humming, watching as she carried the basket on one arm, this time with her to him. The frustration at not being able to do anything but wait was overwhelming.

“My, how strong you have become!” the old woman exclaimed.  “I can sense the change in you.  Something has awakened inside, I am certain.”

She leaned down, smiling, and almost pressed her face against his leaves and stem, inspecting his body, which he realized had grown a few inches.

“Yes, very strong… It would appear that my granddaughter Chi fed you more than I anticipated… I will have to remember that,” she stated as she tapped her wrinkly chin.

The agony of waiting and wanting that drink was too much, and Haylock felt like he was quivering from hunger and desire.

He saw her eyes widen for a moment before she smiled.

She slowly reached into the basket, pulled out the same clay cup, and brought it toward him.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, her voice sounding like that old woman offering Snow White an apple.

YES, GOD DAMMIT FEED ME MIMI!!

The old woman laughed and shook her head.  “I knew you were different! I can see you moving slightly!”

She cackled for a moment, bringing the cup closer to Haylock at an excruciating rate, and then stopped.  

I swear if I had a stick or something, I would you with it… don’t toy with me!

“Calm down, little one, I have something even better,” the old woman said as she smiled, her scarred lip curling upward and showing those two missing teeth.

She set the cup down on the last stone, just out of his reach.  Haylock’s roots quivered and he was almost sure they would have stretched that far if they could and tipped over the cup to drink what was in it.

He then realized she was digging through her basket and pulled out a dead mouse, holding it by the tail.

“This little thing was a menace to some of my flowers, always eating the sweet stems, so I had to poison them a little.  The mouse has been dead for at least a day, but perhaps you can enjoy it.”

Setting the mouse at the base of his stem, she then picked up the cup and started humming again, slowly stroking his shaft before pouring the mixture over his bulb and letting it run down the entire length.  When the cup was halfway empty, she poured the rest over the mouse, letting it run off its corpse and onto the dirt.

FEED ME!

Haylock’s body was hungry, and he felt his roots shifting in the dirt. Slowly, they began to move, not content to just point downward and absorb nutrients from the soil. Now, half a dozen smaller ones were breaking free, the ground beginning to part as they edged toward the surface.

Watching in shock was not just Haylock but the old woman, moving back a step as the dirt started moving.   Each of them saw his roots begin to wind around the dead mouse, trying to drag the body into the soil.  No matter what his roots tried to do, they couldn’t.  The corpse was too big, and he was too small.

Instead, they didn’t give up, their voracious appetite causing them to enter through the mouth, nose, ears, and anus, seeking to absorb the power it felt inside.

Is that a slurping sound? Haylock thought as he felt power flowing through those roots and into his body. Time seemed to take forever, but he could see the mouse's body starting to deteriorate, and the woman hadn’t moved yet, either.  

“Marvelous. Simply fascinating,” the old woman said, every tooth showing as she grinned, not taking her eyes off the roots and the mouse. “You’re draining the chi that still resides in that creature. I know it's not much, but still, to see you do this so soon….”

She trailed off and turned back to her basket.  

Haylock felt stronger, surprised, and unable to imagine returning to living how he had before he showed up here.  Even when the girl had let him take some of her chi, this was far better.  

Another mouse appeared, hanging between the woman’s tough fingers.

“I’ll leave you one more, though I’m not certain you can handle two yet.  Either way, I need to go check on my granddaughter.  I shall see you in two days.  Grow strong, little flower!”

She deposited the mouse on the other side of his stem, quickly pulling her hands back, which surprised Haylock.  He wouldn’t hurt her. She was the greatest thing in his life.  Her visits meant everything.

Thank you! He shouted, sure that the woman might be able to hear him.

The old woman, however, slowly stood up, groaning for a moment as she did. Then she picked up her basket, humming the same song as always.

Watching her go with his new skill, Haylock felt for her.  He could see she was not as strong as he had thought she might be.  The limp was more noticeable now, but she would be fine. She had to be.  

I need you…

With his friend and life-giver leaving, Haylock focused his attention on the mouse his roots were moving around in. Already, the mouse had deflated, its body looking like it had been outside for days in the sun, turning dry and brittle.

Consumed +2

The notice held Haylock's attention for a few seconds, and then he looked down at the mouse.  The skin was pulled taunt against the bones.  It reminded him of a corpse one of his fellow university faculty members had shown him once.

Looking at the second mouse corpse, he realized he wasn’t hungry.  Instead, he was tired.