After a few hours, the feeling hadn’t really gone away. In fact, it started to feel a bit more intense than before. Yet I was determined to enjoy the warmth of the sun, and the coolness of the constant growth that my skill enabled. I remember waving away a notification before going back to my trance-like state.
Then it happened. All the discomfort culminated at the base of each of my branches, forcing a retching pain through my whole canopy. Just as it came to a new peak, I received another notification.
Status Effect [Growth] has evolved into Status Effect [Tumor]. If not resolved, Status Effect [Tumor] will develop into Status Effect [Malignant Tumor].
I was barely able to read it through the agony. Apparently, I have a tumor?
I cast my mind through each of my branches and noticed that each branch had grown twisted and, in some places, gnarled. There were parts that had grown over itself so many times that the xylem and phloem had clogged, causing a build of minerals in my veins. Basically, I had cancer.
Holy crap on a stick, how the hell did this happen??? I didn’t know trees could GET cancer?! Okay, think, think, think. How did they treat cancer back on earth? Chemo? How the hell can I get chemotherapy out here, with no one to give it to me?
Ooh, can I freeze it out? Would that work?
I focused on the lumps of cancerous wood growing in me and saw that they were growing by the second.
Wait... Why is it growing so fast?
F. U. C. K.
I immediately disconnected myself from the giant and felt the tumors stop growing almost immediately. Apparently, I hadn’t thought everything through when I hooked up to my unlimited battery.
Now that I had some time to deal with this, I went through each growth and used a combination of multiple skills to straighten myself out.
I used Body Manipulation and Wood Crafting to straighten my branches out. It was a total mess and took quite a few hours per tumor to get my body’s circulatory system back in a somewhat regular working order.
While I worked on straightening myself out, I had to use Earth Magic and Water Magic to filter out the extra nutrients that had been starting to clump together. In a mild stroke of genius, I pumped some of it into one of my leaves, similar to how I made my Resource Berries. The leaf plumped up, rounded out, and started getting larger. When I felt it was full, I started with another and then another, until the first tumor was fully removed. The result was a collection of what essentially looked like limes.
New skill [Fruit Creation (C)] has been obtained!
Well, that’s an unexpected gain.
I ended up making multiple clumps of fruits on each branch in my endeavor to rid myself of my tumors. Another result of my time spent optimizing my canopy came in the form of two more notifications.
Status Effect [Tumor] has been resolved.
The first showed that I had fixed the issue and removed the Status Effect that had been plaguing me. It had taken the majority of a day to get it done, but I was happy that it was no longer an issue.
The second notification came shortly after that.
Through intense thought and effort, skill [Improved Sap Flow (U)] has been upgraded to [Improved Sap Flow (U+)]. Due to an upgrade in the skill, the System’s boon of an increased growth rate based on resource overflow will not follow to the improved skill.
Well, that’s a bit of a bummer. But hey, I also improved one of my skills! I guess I should check the skill out again since it both changed and part of the skill was removed.
Improved Sap Flow (U+): Passive. The user has twisted and turned and all around improved the entirety of their circulatory system. This has led to a large increase in regeneration of all resources.
Damn. I lost the growth rate increase as well as the overflow part too. But it did add the word “large” to the resource regen. So, I guess that’s great at least. But that also means that I no longer have any use for the giant that’s been taking such good care of me and my growth. That being said, the bastard did give me actual cancer, so whatever.
I checked myself over a few more times, making sure that I missed nothing. It took me close to an hour to do so, given my impressive size. I now towered over most other trees around me, standing at an incredible 100 feet tall and 15 feet of circumference. I had become a behemoth of a tree while using the giant as fuel for my growth. That being said, the weight of what I had done to it was starting to get to me.
Okay, I’m making a promise to myself to give the poor guy a proper death and a proper burial as soon as I can figure out how to kill him. It feels so wrong to have him just... there. Sure, he’s brain dead with no real mental activity-
I double checked that his mind was still destroyed, and it was
-but that doesn’t mean that he should be forced to stay this way. It feels improper. Damn. I never should have done this. Crap, now I feel guilty. I promise to be a good tree from now on!
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
After making my vow to no myself, I continued through my body check.
- Roots, providing optimal nutrients
- Trunk, flowing with maximum efficiency
- Canopy, transporting sugars down to the rest of my body
- Leaves, leafing
That brought something to my attention. Despite all my bodily improvements, I had yet to even try to improve my leaves by myself. I had improved my Photosynthesis skill up to U+, but that was through level skill points. I hadn’t actually gone through and seen what all I could do to them.
Well, no time like the present, right?
I went through the first leaf and started with the basic combing process. I optimized everything that dealt with transportation of anything else, straightening a few things, curving others, and making it all around better. Unfortunately, that didn’t really feel like enough to me.
One of the things I had noticed recently was that my leaves weren’t as green as the rest of the trees around me. I had a whole lot more leaves than the rest of them, but they weren’t as vibrant as they should be. Maybe I could try fixing that by adding some more chlorophyll.
It took me a lot of trial and error, but I found a good balance in my testing leaf to get what I felt was right. My next task was going through each and every one of my thousands of leaves to make the same adjustments.
It. Took. Forever.
Well, a full week, to be precise. But by then, my whole canopy had turned from a bright yellow green color to a much deeper shade. I was extremely happy with it, as I felt much more energetic as I finished improving my leaves.
The process took a lot of Stamina and an excessive amount of concentration, but I got it done. And when I finished the last of my leaves, I got a notification.
Through great effort and concentration, skill [Photosynthesis (U+)] has been upgraded to skill [Photosynthesis (R)].
I immediately opened the skill description.
Photosynthesis (R): Passive. User gains 5 Exp per day per major branch. Greatly increases regeneration of resources while in either Sunlight or Moonlight.
Sweet! Another skill upgrade!
Now that I have gone through and manually upgraded literally everything about myself, I think it’s time I got back on to my magic studies. I still have plenty to learn, and it’s not like I really have anyone to teach me.
Elsewhere
A door slammed open, and a guard walked through a busy floor. The crowd, despite looking like the rougher kind of people, parted like fish swimming from a shark.
The guard walked past these people without sparing them a glance. He made his way straight for the stairs in the back. When he reached the first step, a woman came over and bowed to the man in a formal greeting. She at least looked more of the professional type than the rest of the patrons of this establishment.
“Good morning, Guard Captain. The guild master isn’t in yet, can I take a message, or would you like to wait in his office while one of our runners goes and fetches him?”
She had made sure to send a runner the moment she noticed the man. She knew that he could be trouble, if he so wished.
“Don’t make me wait long. And have a drink sent up while you’re at it.”
The man had a gruff voice, and he was short spoken. The girl deepened her bow and waited for him to disappear before running to the bar. The usually rough and tough group that made up the Adventurer’s Guild gave her plenty of room to get by. They knew not to mess with anyone affiliated with nobility.
The girl went back behind the bar and grabbed the bottle reserved for the more prominent guests and a case with the nicer glasses as well. She opened the case and had the bartender chill the glasses with his Ice Magic before rushing to the stairs.
The guard captain was a rare patron of the guild, and when he did come here, it was usually either to serve a warrant for the arrest of one of the higher ranked adventurers, or to requisition the assistance of those same people. It really depended on the flip of a coin, which is why so many of the lower rank people on the bottom floor started taking bets on what was going to happen.
Thankfully, the captain only had to wait for a measly ten minutes before the guild master showed up. After the receptionist told him that the captain was waiting, he made his way up to the 10th floor, where his office was.
“Captain Seth. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
The guild master addressed the guard captain quite casually. Very few people in this city had the strength and backing to do so, him being one of them. The captain did not like it at all.
Seth sneered before downing the rest of his drink in one gulp. He put the chilled glass down on the guild master’s desk before turning to face him. It was a minor slight that he liked to do, seeing as the master hated the rings that would form and there were coasters an inch from where he put it down.
“Guild master Brom. Can’t a man come see his little brother every now and again without needing a special reason?”
“A man can. You can’t. Mister ‘I’m too busy to have dinner with my parents and siblings once a week’.”
Brom was obviously teasing the man, much to his annoyance. Still, the two embraced.
“It’s been too long, brother. And that damned Ostlan keeps me too busy with his paperwork. Always running off to do whatever experiment with that damned giant of his.”
“But hey, that paperwork keeps a roof over your head. I hear you’ve gotten 3 raises this year alone. Now how does one manage that?” Brom nudged his brother as he walked around to sit behind his desk. He deliberately ignored the cup, knowing it would just start another fight. He really didn't get to see his brother often.
“I get my raises by keeping my mouth shut. As you should well know by now. That being said, I’m here on business, not pleasure. Lord Ostlan wishes to set a quest, one that requires discretion and high levels. One of his people has gone missing in the forest, around the time of the level shift. His approximate level was 50, tank build, and traveling solo.”
Brom started taking notes as his brother talked.
“The subject went missing about halfway between here and the city of Flora. Lord Ostlan would like you to have one of your people check the location, marked by a large tree in what is otherwise a clearing. Apparently, there’s high levels of mana in the area, making it seem to be a localized death zone.”
“I see. Can you give more information as to who it is we’re looking for? The more I can get, the better prepared my people can be.” Brom thought for a second before face palming. “Shit, I’m the only one above 50 in Ostlan right now. Looks like I might have to take it myself. You know that’ll cost extra, right?”
“I know. You cost a premium. I still don’t get how you got to level 100 so damn quick. You’re not even a hundred years old yet! It took me until I was a hundred and fifty before I hit level 80!”
The two chatted about levels for a bit. They were the highest-level individuals in the whole city, being levels 101 and 89. They’d be highest in the country if it weren’t for the royal guard. There were rumors of them being in the 200’s, though the highest publicly recorded level was only 150, and they were the hero’s party that defeated the demon king a few millennia ago.
After a few minutes of reminiscing, Seth got the conversation back on track.
“Anyways, I’ve given you all the information on the target that I can. It’s up to you now to get it done. Fortunately, the Lord gave me a large sum to entice a high-level party to get it done, but since you’re the only one available, I guess it all goes to you. Whether you take it as an individual or as a Guild Leader is up to you, but the Lord needs it done quickly. The mission is basically recon, though recovery will lead to a large bonus.”
Seth tossed his brother a bag. It was small for being promised a large sum, until Brom realized that it was a spatial bag. Very rarely do people use those to carry money, but when turned upside-down, two hundred gold coins spilled out onto his desk.
“I see. Well, I’ll leave after lunch. I have a few things to clear up first, being guild master and all, but I should be back by nightfall in three days. I assume I’ll drop off the information the usual way?”
Seth nodded, and after a few more pleasantries were said, the brothers went their own ways. The next few days promised plenty.