The thought crossed his mind, but he shook his head slowly. ‘No, I’m not that far gone. I’ve already come to terms with how things are.’
‘I know what I felt back then.’ He remembered the moment his hand touched the block of wood. It had been subtle, but something in his mind had cleared up.
It was like stepping out of a smog-choked city and taking your first breath in a quiet mountain village.
He watched the soldier leave, and one by one, the Elves trudged back into their cells. None of them even glanced at him. They were too tired, too broken to care. Or maybe they just didn’t notice that he was still down on the ground floor.
Raepekka stayed put. He was sure of himself now—no second-guessing. He waited patiently, and it paid off. A soft draft of air brushed against him, followed by the faint sound of someone landing in front of him. A moment later, light flashed across his face, revealing the features of an Elf he’d never seen before.
‘What the— that’s insane!’ The light came from the stranger’s Status Screen. Raepekka’s eyes darted across the glowing panel, heart thudding. What he saw gave him hope. A quiet confidence began to take root.
[Name: Virchuka]
[Race: Elf]
[Authority: Wood]
[Control Factor: 2]
[Weight Factor: 240]
[Volume Factor: 8]
[Range Factor: 44]
[Speed Factor: 8]
[Creation Factor: 12]
[Spell: -]
Pinaka had used the Spell of Status Epidermis to create a fake identity. Naturally, he’d juiced up the stats a bit for dramatic effect.
Still using the glowing screen to light the space, Pinaka extended a block of wood toward him. As soon as Raepekka touched it, the Status Window blinked out. Now, they could speak freely.
[Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.]
Raepekka’s first question was direct.
[Do you really want to waste time asking that? Or do you want to survive?]
Pinaka’s response shut him up instantly. The silence between them stretched out, awkward and heavy.
‘I can’t figure out what this Elf wants,’ Raepekka thought. That’s when he felt warm fingers press gently against his neck. Instantly, his breath caught. He couldn’t inhale, couldn’t even cry out. His windpipe was closed off—and something blocked his mouth too. No air. No sound.
In seconds, Raepekka collapsed, unconscious.
"Alright, that went smoothly." Pinaka crouched down and placed his hand on Raepekka’s throat, using his power to repair the damage. Soon, Raepekka’s breathing evened out.
Then, without wasting time, Pinaka sealed Raepekka’s lips, eyelids, and ears. He did the same to his limbs, making sure the Elf couldn’t move or make sense of what was happening.
If he had used wood to restrain him, Raepekka would’ve broken free in seconds. Stat-wise, Raepekka outclassed him. If they clashed, Pinaka’s bluff would fall apart.
So instead, he used his authority over flesh to close off Raepekka’s senses and fuse the ends of his limbs together.
"Urgh... this is nasty." He felt a surge of discomfort, a deep instinctive revulsion. But he didn’t suppress it. Instead, he leaned into it. ‘If I’m going to wield this power, I have to own everything I do with it—good, bad, or messed up.’
Pinaka slung Raepekka over his back and began walking out of the tunnel. When he reached the edge of his hectare of land, he started climbing the wall. ‘This would be so much easier without carrying someone.’
[Spell: Root Glove!]
He summoned a wooden belt to strap Raepekka tighter to his back. Then, just like before, he retraced his path out of the prison.
"Gah!" he gasped toward the end. The whole journey had taken nearly two hours. Climbing up and down had been the worst part.
—Thud!
He hit the ground, raising a small cloud of ash. Thankfully, he’d already wrapped himself in a thin layer of skin—part of his disguise. When he was done here, he’d shed the fake skin like a snake, roll it into a ball, and feed it to one of the wheat stalks on his farm.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He moved with extreme caution. One mistake, and everything could fall apart. ‘But I can't live like this forever. It's already starting to choke me.’
‘I’m getting out of here. Soon.’
With that resolve, he touched a nearby shrub. Then, he created a replica and planted it right into the soil. The new shrub looked identical above ground, but its roots were spreading fast underground.
With a Range Factor of 8, the roots could tunnel down to eight meters. Once they reached that depth, they began to thicken and coil into a tight ball, expanding outwards and pushing the surrounding earth aside.
Even a blade of grass can split concrete. Slow, steady pressure—that was the strength of plants. Instead of digging with brute force, Pinaka let the roots do the work.
Digging deep was always a nightmare. You could shovel the topsoil, but once you hit gravel or clay, it became back-breaking.
Thankfully, he had a better method. The roots thickened and grew outward, shifting the soil horizontally so nothing bulged on the surface.
‘Hmm.’ He noticed the problem right away. As the roots thickened, they took up more space. And soon, the total volume hit a cubic meter. That was his current limit—he couldn’t expand them any further.
The roots had to expand to make room. Without that volumetric growth, he’d have no choice but to dig manually. A plant’s greatest force came from its growth—relentless, and strong.
‘Mahnaka told me to keep my Volume Factor at 1. But his reasoning never really made sense.’ Pinaka frowned. ‘Even if my Volume stat goes up, I can still choose how much of it I use.’
‘Did he misunderstand how Volume Factor works?’ A cold shiver crept down his spine. ‘Or… did he lie on purpose?’
‘Good thing I didn’t tell him.’ Exhaling in relief, Pinaka withdrew most of the wood from the shrub’s roots. He split it into dozens of pieces, reshaped them to resemble the nearby plants, and scattered them across the ground.
They’d wilt and die soon. Just dry bush among the rest—nothing that would draw attention.
Seven meters beneath the surface, there was now a bunker carved out—a cubic meter hollowed out. Just enough for Raepekka to hide when the time came.
With the hiding spot ready, Pinaka unsealed Raepekka’s senses and slapped him awake.
“W-Where am I?” Raepekka asked in dazed upon noticing his feet were no longer touching stone. He reached out and felt a shrub. The moment his fingers brushed against it, energy surged into him.
The shrub twisted and reshaped, wrapping around him like armor. Bark-like plates formed over the surface, each one ready to crack and fall off on impact. They’d take the brunt of any force—physical or fire—absorbing damage before it reached him.
“Relax, I’m not your enemy,” Pinaka whispered. “And keep your voice down. Place is crawling with soldiers.”
Raepekka’s eyes flicked around, sharp and focused. A quick glance told him enough—watchtowers. “Where are we?”
“Right outside the prison,” Pinaka replied. “But only the one we were in. There are more of them. Lots more. And who knows how far we are from freedom.”
“If I’m not free yet…” Raepekka paused, thinking it through. “The humans will realize I’m missing. They’ll start searching.”
“You don’t need to worry about that.” Pinaka let out a short laugh. “You know why I knocked you out?”
“Please, tell me.” Raepekka leaned in slightly, alert now. To him, this Elf—Virchuka—was infuriatingly arrogant, yet somehow radiated this unshakable confidence. ‘I asked him a question earlier and he ignored me. Might as well take what I can get now.’
“I used a sliver of World Tree Fruit on you,” Pinaka said, like he was talking about seasoning a dish. “After I cut you open. The upper half that’s alive now—that’s you, after your legs regenerated.”
“The lower half regenerated a new upper body, but it had no life. That corpse is still lying in your cell.” Pinaka added smugly, “The humans won’t realize the truth—unless you’re dumb enough to show your face.”
“What do you want from me?” Raepekka asked. There was genuine gratitude in his voice now. He understood the risk and effort it must’ve taken to free him. “I know you didn’t do all this out of kindness.”
“I need two things from you.” Pinaka held up two fingers, like he’d been expecting that question. “First, I want you to stay hidden here, expand an underground tunnel system, and collect information about this place. I’ll check in from time to time, and we’ll share what we’ve learned. Eventually, we’ll use it to escape.”
“Understood.” Raepekka bowed. “I’ll handle it well, sir.”
“And second…” Pinaka wiggled his middle finger. “Show me all your Spells.”
“What?” Raepekka stared, stunned. So that’s it? He recalled how Pinaka hadn’t shown any Spells in his Status Window. ‘With stats like that, he wouldn’t be left alive if a human saw them. So if he’s managing to stay hidden from Humans, he has all the time in the world to train his Spells.
“You can just make whatever Spells you want.” Raepekka said, then paused as his head throbbed. His head throbbed until it clicked. “Your Spell ideas suck, so you want to trade formine.”
Pinaka said with a shrug. “I just want the best. I’m always looking to see if someone else has made something better than what I’ve come up with. So far? Nothing impressive.”
“I overheard your conversation and acted on a whim. That’s all.” He finished, as if it was no big deal.
“I’ll teach it to you.” Raepekka didn’t argue. He was just glad to be alive—hopeful, even.
He grabbed a nearby shrub and held it out to Pinaka. When Pinaka touched it, Raepekka activated two abilities. “Can you tell what it does?”
“Yeah… it’s decent, I guess.” Pinaka nodded, then gestured toward the bunker. “That’s your hideout. Get inside.”
“Alright.” Raepekka slipped into the small bunker and pulled the wooden hatch shut behind him. The shrub twitched, scooped up ash to cover the hatch, and expanded to blend in with the surroundings.
Tiny holes dotted its branches like straws, letting air into the bunker.
In the pitch dark below, Pinaka knew Raepekka couldn’t see himl. He quickly scaled the wall with the Spell of Root Glove and headed back toward his farm.
He couldn’t stop grinning.
‘Oh… MY… GOODNESS!’
‘I struck gold with that spell!’ It was decent enough at Level 1—but at Level 2, once Creation was involved, it turned into something insane. His mind buzzed with ideas.
‘I need to try it out—soon!’
[Spell: Wood Ski]
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