Reborn as a Demonic Sunflower - 004 (Patreon)

RePlant System Active

Day: 35

Daily System Credit: 10

Consumed Credit: 13

[Spend Credit?]

Haylock was trembling. His whole body felt different as his bud finally opened up yesterday. His petals were white, and it felt weird to consider them such a color.

I guess since I’m not in Kansas anymore, they can be white…

The tiny patch that would be seeds was nothing yet of value, jam-packed tightly as he opened up, revealing himself for the first time.

Two things were on his mind.

What will Mimi think when she sees me, and I need to spend credit…

[Credits spent successfully, 23 credits spent]

[Choose a skill to acquire]

[Expanded Domain{E}]

[Enhanced Growth{E}]

Mother F…. I didn’t want to spend my credits! 

Shaking like a flower in the wind, Haylock unleashed curses that would make gods and goddesses blush for a few minutes.  Wishing whoever had created the system, he found himself stuck in a painful life or at least a months-long case of diarrhea.  

That was not fun… that trip to Argentina to study those flowers had not been worth it…  Putting the bacteria he had acquired out of his mind, Haylock tried to consider the two options that he had before him.  

Making my domain larger seems good, yet again, I’m not certain what that really is, but enhanced growth sounds –

[Unlocked Enhanced Growth[E] skill]

Ten minutes later, Haylock had exhausted the curse words he had learned in Australia.  Somehow, those people down under had a lot of curse words and almost needed a book on how they were supposed to be used together.  

I swear. Note to self: Do not say the exact words in order when a choice must be made…

Status

[Demonic Shoot (Age: 1 Month)]

[Chi Power: 2nd Stage]

Skills:

• {Absorb [C]}

• {Basic Sight [F]}

• {Basic Chi Sense [F]}

• {Polyglot [C]}

• {Improved Sight[A]}

• {Basic Hearing[F]}

• {Deeper Roots[E]}

• {Enhanced Growth[E]}

His body felt weird. It felt stronger.

My roots… are growing and pushing farther out even as I just sit here… It must be the enhanced growth.

Slowly, they extended, not in massive leaps and bounds like they had when he got Deeper Roots, but in every direction, they shifted slightly, wiggling through the dirt of the garden

Humming began to ring out over the garden, and Haylock would have smiled if he had lips and heard two different tones.  Looking down from above, he saw Nini and Mimi leaving the shed.  Mimi carried her usual basket while Nini looked to be struggling to carry two buckets, one in each hand.

It always felt like forever as the two of them moved around the garden, stopping at the different boxes.  

There are no mice in there today…  Haylock said to himself.  None had ventured into the garden in two days.

Perhaps I have killed the population…

Mimi checked, and he could hear her sigh, but nothing was found.  At every stop Mimi made, Nini would set the buckets down, groaning when her grandmother started humming again and motioned for her to pick them up and follow.

Eventually, they made it to him.

“You’ve opened up!” exclaimed his favorite white-haired old woman.  “Those petals! They are a rare color indeed!  

Mimi moved close, setting her basket down as she limped over. This time, she grabbed his stem in her hand, wrapping her fingers around it and sliding it up and down. “Strong and thick,” she said, smiling as she nodded. “Good! This is good! And your Chi, it has grown as well!”

Haylock watched Nini, the young girl, trying not to laugh as her grandmother fondled Haylock’s stem. Because of the little girl, he started to shake and made Mimi react in turn.

“Excited? Do you like that?”

Nini couldn’t help it any longer.  The buckets plopped to the ground, the contents sloshing inside but not spilling out, and started roaring in laughter. 

“What is so funny, child?” Mimi asked, turning to look at her granddaughter, who had just fallen to her knees, bent over, and held her sides. Tears were streaming down Nini’s face.

She tried to respond, to talk, but she couldn’t. Breathing was hard enough, and Haylock continued to shake, laughing as well—definitely not from the older woman who still had a firm grasp around him.

When Nini had finally stopped laughing and managed to suck in a few deep breaths, she wiped her tears and looked at her grandmother’s stern glare.

“Mimi… the flower… it’s… a boy…”

Faster than lightning, Mimi’s hand came free from Haylock’s stem, and a look of horror and shock flashed across the old woman’s face.  Those tanned, wrinkly cheeks turned red, and Nini started laughing again, falling onto the ground this time.

“Well… I…” Mimi tried to talk, words failing her as the woman watched Haylock shaking side to side, his leaves bouncing up and down and his new petals moving to the rhythm of his stem.  “A boy… is that why he always…”  

She didn’t finish her words, grunting, and turned to face Haylock, shaking her head and snorting. “I can’t blame you, but that will be the last time I do that for a very long time,” she informed Haylock.  

Clapping her hands, her demeanor returned to the no-nonsense, I’m old and not going to sit around embarrassed, look she often wore.

“Get those buckets and prepare to pour them out on the treat.  It’s time we see how much this Demonic Sunflower can evolve.”

Nini nodded, struggling to rise to her feet, still trying to catch her breath and holding one side.

Her grandmother reached into the basket and pulled out a dead creature that reminded Haylock of a cat.  That was if cats back where he was from had three eyes, teeth that looked like ice picks, and a spiked tail.

“This Cratuga got into the shed and found itself in the wrong sleeping area.  Poison that kills mice can kill a lot of things.  Remember that Nini.”

Nini made a few sounds to acknowledge her grandmother’s instructions, picking up one of the buckets.  

Putting the Cratuga near the base of his body, Mimi motioned to Nini, who brought the bucket and started to slowly pour the red syrupy liquid all over the creature.

His roots were already starting to rise to the surface, excited at the prospect of a meal, but as the liquid splashed off it, they moved faster, the speed of one actually piercing the skin of the Cratuga.

“Interesting, you have gotten stronger,” Mimi said as she motioned to the second bucket when Nini had emptied the first.

Without fear, the teen girl moved close to Haylock, earning a look of approval from her grandmother, and poured the second bucket out all over the soil and the dead Cratuga.

“I’ll be gone for five days and so will Nini.  I wanted to make sure you had a good meal so try to be safe while we are gone, ok?”

Haylock would have shaken his body to show that he would do whatever she asked but it was already moving slightly, the hunger taking over as his roots began to tear through the Cratuga’s skin.

“See you in a few days, Mr. Demonic Sunflower,” Nini said with a wink, smiling at the grunt her grandmother gave at the Mr. Plant.

“Come dear, let’s not watch it eat lest it decides you are a treat.”

“I’ll be fine, Mimi.  It likes me.”

They two walked off, humming the same tune as always, and Haylock felt himself beginning to fill with power.  

One day, I’ll have to do something nice for them… feeding me like this and all.

His mind drifted as he felt tired. The amount of power his body was consuming felt amazing.

Consumed +10

Consumed +30

-----

RePlant System Active

Day: 40

Daily System Credit: 5

Consumed Credit: 40

[Spend Credit?]

Haylock felt the jitters that came from seeing so many credits to spend.  Mimi and Nini were due today or tomorrow, and Haylock struggled not to use them.

When they see me, they will realize how great I have become… soon I shall rule this garden!

He laughed to himself, bored at his own jokes of five days alone, but he had grown over four feet in height, now standing almost seven feet tall.  His roots had spread to over half of the garden.  The height he could see was the extent his roots reached, and Haylock wasn’t sure if they could go past that.

Now, increasing my domain seems like a good choice, but still… I’m no longer a midget!

The memory of being short had always made Haylock sad. Being a four-foot, six-and-a-half-tall man-made things very difficult in his previous life—the jokes, the lack of women interested in a man shorter than him. If it hadn’t been for the show Game of Thrones, he would have never had success with women.  

I need to find a way to someday repay that man…  One show had turned him into a hero… A Lannister always pays his debts… so many times, that line had paid off…

As he waited, enjoying the sunlight that always seemed to be there for him, pain started to come from one of his long roots near the edge of the garden. He looked in that direction but couldn’t see anything.  

Sharp, biting pain constant and steady.

Something is fucking eating me!!

Unable to see the creature that had decided he was a good snack, Haylock was furious.

How am I supposed to fight back?

His root couldn’t do anything. Even retracting it only brought the creature closer.  

It has to be a mole or something…

Left with no options, Haylock wanted to cry.  

Either I let it continue to eat me or hope I can get something to help… Spend credits…

[Credits spent successfully, 45 credits spent]

[Chi Power Upgraded: 3rd Stage]