"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
Their travels continued successfully for some time before receiving a letter and package from Hickwaal. He said it was herbicide and had a job for him. It sounded kinda urgent by the tone of the letter. He accepted the job and their destination changed. It was off to Lerno Village.
...
Heading towards this Lerno Village, Filo was running faster than normal. While it forced Raphtalia to take medicine, they had to make good time. For her part Raphtalia did her best to be a good sport about it. She suggested she ride on Monti to avoid the bumpy road, but Naofumi said it'd probably be worse. She or Monti could attess that it wouldn't, but Raphtalia wanted their aerial play time to be a secret. So she continued sipping her medicine and she liked it.
As the four approached the village and Monti descended, they saw the outer wall of the village encased in massive vines, some of which seemed to be moving. A man atop a tower by the front gate saw them approaching and waved to the people below to open the gate. Filo never slowed down, barely making it through the gate. The moment they were through they began closing it back.
Filo came to a stop, as Naofumi looked around and began to understand the severity of the situation. There were three dozen men at the ready around the small village's wall. People were either walking around with weapons or running with supplies. The local lord and a doctor ran up to Naofumi as he dismounted the cart.
"You! You're the savior of the heavenly fowl?"
"That is what they call me... Do you have injured or sick?"
"Yes! We do. It's the oddest thi-"
"Tell me everything as you take me to them. Raphtalia stay on the cart until you feel better. Filo, guard your mother. Monti survey the area and don't touch back down anywhere outside the village."
The family nodded. Monti flew up, not transforming. He only needed his full form for speed. Scouting around a town didn't require it. Filo transformed into her human form and went into the cart to watch over Raphtalia. Naofumi heard more than a few people ask several questions at the sight of his kids, but ignored it as always.
...
Monti's scouting
...
Monti did as he was told. He flew to twice the height of the village walls and slowly began to drift around the outskirts. He saw vines moving, but there were other things stirring as well. He took note of them and began to follow the overgrowth back to it's source. What he found was an enormous tree... made of smaller trees? It had several trunks that came together to form itself. In a way it was actually one giant vine. A large bulb sat near it's top.
As Monti got a little closer the bulb twitched and opened, revealing a singular eye as large as his human form. It was blood red with no sclera to speak of. It had black markings around where the sclera and cornea would normally separate. It looked pretty creepy to Monti... not that he had any right to think that.
The eye made some kind of noise and other odd plant life began to gather near it. Monti took that as a cue to leave before that eye thought of a way to get him. He noticed a few of the plants monsters were following him. They had three legs, two in front, one large leg in the rear. Purple flowers for heads.
So he changed into his full form and dashed off in a direction away from the village. Only after he believed they weren't following did he turn around to go back to the village. He stopped in air. Something was wrong. Something kept track of him? He lowered himself toward the ground, but didn't land. technically his dad wouldn't want him to, but he wasn't landing, just 'almost' landing.
"Reveal yourself" He said to the surrounding trees. There was no response.
"Reveal yourself or I'll assume you are my enemy."
He began to hear slow steps as a female shadow came from behind a tree. She didn't seem hostile to him and she certainly wasn't a plant monster.
"A human?... You should go further south a number of hostile monsters are north from here."
The shadow was freaking out internally, but kept her cool exterior like she was trained to. Monti was at his full size and she was well aware of his current power. As a shadow, she'd die for sure. Still he warned her to simply leave... but he was surprised she was a human, then why the warning?
"If I might ask..." She didn't like talking to him, but wanted to gather insight if possible. "If you didn't expect a person why did you ask me to reveal myself?"
Monti stared for a moment, "I didn't expect a human, but a person wasn't out of the question."
She stayed silent for a moment, wanting him to elaborate.
"These plant monsters are really different from each other. If one of them can talk then they're a person... That's what my dad told me."
"I see... Then I will take your warning." She turned to leave and Monti did the same. He flew off towards the village. She only retreated enough to trick him, then returned to her spot. She breathed a sigh of relief as she removed her mask, wiping the sweat from her face.
Monti saw three men with swords not far from the village swinging their weapons wildly at plants that just kept coming. A few dead monsters around them. That seemed decent, but didn't cooperate that much at all. He swooped down and grabbed all three with his tail. They thought this was their final moments.
...
-At the same time with Naofumi-
...
"Where to start? We have had our fair share of problems. Until recently we've had a huge food shortage problem that caused restlessness in the citizens"
"How did that lead to this?
"...We begged for help from any who would listen. One day the spear hero came to answer our cries for help."
Naofumi was now irritated and he didn't even know what that idiot did yet.
"He said he'd seek out a way to help us. Many thought he'd never even try, while others thought he'd try, but nothing much would come from it..."
"So when he failed-"
"He succeeded." He said in a bitter voice
"...What?" Naofumi could not see Motoyasu and success in the same place.
"He brought us a mighty seed. One he said would bring us bountiful food and slay this famine..." They entered a building.
Naofumi knew what had happened to some extent from that alone. Motoyasu must of taken that forbidden seed from the alchemists cave, but does that mean he ignored the warning? Motoyasu would certainly not have learned the language here. Still, he had multiple companions. He should of had no problem receiving the warning. "... Which means he either ignored it, or that bitch hid it from him... Either is just as possible."
"And it grew. It grew to the size of a large tree in a single day. Certainly such a rate of growth would have saved us..., but it didn't stop. It just kept growing and growing. It grew into a monster we could not uproot ourselves. Some tried to stop it. Many more simply tried escape it. All of them are either dead... or in this room."
He opened a door to reveal nearly two dozen people lying in bed with plants growing from them. Many more laid on makeshift cotes due to a lack of beds. Naofumi had never dealt with something like this. This sickness was too overt, too deliberate. He used [Inspect] on them. Their Hp was still at max, but their Max Hp was all too low. In turn the plants growing from them had monster stats. These plants were parasitic and slowly replacing the victims.
He reached for an herbicide. Searching for the victim with the worst condition. He used the herbicide on her. Simple pouring it evenly atop her sleeping form. The plants died instantly. The stats began returning to the girl, but her current Hp did not go up, only her Max Hp. He used [Fast Heal] on her and it rose as intended. He considered her cured, but still in need of attention.
He eyed his herbicide count. Not enough for everyone. "Only one way of doing this."
"I need everyone who is not infected to leave. Treatment may cause further infections if I'm not careful. Now!"
The doctors exited right away, no further explanation necessary. A few suppliers left after seeing the doctors left. The last to leave were the loved ones of the victims. reluctant to move, but did so with hope that this savior would cure them. Once everyone had left, he shut the door and switched to a one of the shields he'd not yet mastered out of oversight. The [Interdimensional Locust Shield]. Using it's [Swarm Stomach] he should be able to effect an area of just over ten feet wider than where he actually used the herbicide. He was able to affect everything within the room with only six bottles.
After killing the plant life he went around the room using [Fast Heal] on each of them. Finally he administered medicine amongst them, which was also granted the [Swarm Stomach] effect. He was down 6 potions and most of his Mp, but still had 14 bottles of herbicide. He needed those for what came next. He gave a long glance over each patient, switched his shield back then exited the room.
The hall was packed with those concerned about the victims, wanting to hear good news. He got to give good news today, but as he travels like this there may come a day that he'd have to tell them he failed. That seemed harder than fighting monsters to him.
He looked to the doctors, "They'll all be alright... I need to speak with your lord again."
Naofumi did his best to wade past the crowded hall. Many ran past him to check on their loved ones. Many more tried to stop and thank Naofumi, some wanted to hug him, but he kept them at bay.
"Out of his way!" The lord shouted and the people quickly moved to the side. Giving him a bow in place of other thanks. Naofumi and the lord exchanged grateful looks as the met up just outside the building.
"I thank you savior."
"What I cured will infect more people if they venture out there... Are there any others out there?" He and the lord began walking back towards the cart.
"Unfortunately, yes. A few hot blooded youths who wanted to prove themselves adventurers left before we started controlling the gates heavily."
"How long ago?" They might still be alive.
"Two hours at the most, but we can't mount a rescue team."
"My family will be the rescue team. We'll also play the part of exterminators too."
"Your generosity is-"
"Not for free. I expect compensation. For the medicine I used. For the people we have and will save. For the dangers we are about to face."
"We don't have much to offer..."
"It can be anything, I'm a merchant. If you can't come up with enough to pay me, we'll visit here later for the rest. I want paid, but lives take priority."
"You have and continue to provide us with much, we will do all we c-"
Monti landed by the cart in his full form. The guards didn't even know what to do, they simple stood weapons drawn waiting for any form of leadership to tell them what to do. Monti then dropped the three young men in front of Naofumi.
"I believe I've found the source of the problem. I redirected a traveler and grabbed these guys." Monti then returned to his human form.
Naofumi smiled. No matter what he told Monti to do, he always did it and somehow found a way to do more. If Monti was his own flesh and blood, if he was a Japanese kid living in japan... he'd be the kind of son Naofumi would boast about to all his friends...
"Good job. I'll give these three a once-over real quick."
He used [Inspect] as he pretended to look over them like a doctor would.
"Not infected?" Naofumi said aloud
One of the boy spoke up, "We ain't stupid."
Monti shattered their attempt to paint themselves too flatteringly, "They weren't very far from the village. I believe they tried to go at it at a slow pace... When I got there, they were about to be overran by the numbers"
The three flinched, but offered no retort.
"You did better than most would, you may have talent as adventures someday soon."
They exchanged looks between them, feeling kinda less terrible.
"However threat assessment is one of the most important factors for an adventure and all three of you lack it. Value your lives a bit more. Whatever level you think a monster is, add five levels."
They nodded in shame.
"This all happened because you trusted the spear hero so readily. Did you not stop to consider anything? Did you simply take the hero at his word."
"I'm not trying to make excuses, but is it not the way of things? We take the word of heroes..."
Naofumi gave him a halfhearted look. "I wish that were true..." He turned towards the cart, leaving the lord in confusion.
Naofumi and Monti went to check on Raphtalia who had already exited the cart, Filo beside her. Naofumi and Monti spoke of what they saw and did. They got ready for a fight. Naofumi gave Raphtalia four bottles of herbicide, she immediately coated her blade with a bit of one. Naofumi switched to his [Chimera Viper Shield] having only qualified to use it a day ago. The lord saw the morphing shield and understood what he meant now. The lord approached them and said he'd have the gate opened, but Naofumi declined. They wouldn't wait for the gate to open, they simply hoped on Monti for the brief leap over the wall.
Once over they marched in earnest into the moving grove. At the first sign of a moving vine Raphtalia cut it. Filo's instincts didn't seem to work well on plants, this caused her to take things a little more seriously. Monti flew no more than 10 feet from the ground above the rest. And lastly Naofumi kept an eye on his [Minimap].
Most of the village was where they were, buildings abound. It looked like they were traveling down the main street, but the overgrowth made identifying it a bit hard. It made sense. The place the villagers were living was poorly constructed and there would normally be no need for such a tall wall around a small village.
Only two minutes later they heard shifting in the greenery followed by skittery noises from the stone floor of a nearby building.
"Don't give them time to ambush us." Naofumi called.
Filo shot off like a rocket through a tree and striking a humanoid plant with a flower for a head. Naofumi went to [Inspect] it to see it was called a 'PlantRiwe', but also caught that the tree was also a monster in hiding a 'Treant'. Seeing there will be traps Naofumi started to take the lead. He went to get in front of Filo only to see four more enemies. One coming up on Filo, one between Naofumi and Filo that neither could see and two more approaching Naofumi.
Monti shot out [Blighting] at one of the fast three-legged monster he saw earlier, intercepting it before it reached Naofumi. Despite the damage it took, it kept going towards Naofumi. Monti was stunned that the plant monster wasn't... stunned. Whether it was because a plant isn't affected by his venom the same, or that they didn't have the same kind of nerves to be affected by the lightning, or both. Before Monti could follow up his failed take down Raphtalia raced up to it and cleaved it in two. Monti looked back to see his mother had already killed the other one too.
Naofumi released a single red Balloon from his stash and threw it at the ground roughly where the enemy was indicated. The moment the balloon touched the ground a large yellow venus fly trap looking monster appeared from the ground and swallowed it whole. Naofumi used [Inspect] on it while it was up to see it was called an 'HorseTrap'. "How do I wanna deal with this?"
Another PlantRiwe tried to spew pollen at Filo, but she simply used her [Fast Tornado] to push the pollen harmlessly away from the party and shred the clearly outgunned monster, scattering it to the winds. She turned to get praise for her strong display just in time to see the HorseTrap monster retreat underground. She was annoyed. She was doing the best. She was the one who had to look after mom even though she wanted to have fun.
Before anyone made a move against it, Filo used her speed to seem to appear above it. It reached up as it did before, but she transformed into her human form before it's jaws shut. Raphtalia called out her name, seeming scared. Filo had a very simple plan. As soon as the jaws closed and it went to go underground again, she transformed back into her big form destroying the monster.
"See? Aren't I great?"
They all ran up to her and began searching her for injuries. She had to use her wings to make them back off so she could shake herself off.
"Filo are you okay!?" Naofumi all but yelled at her.
She was a little put off by that. "Of course I am. I've already taken out four them, pretty cool, huh?"
"No it was not cool. you could of seriously gotten hurt. These things have poison, venom, acid, and parasitic potential. You need to be careful!" Naofumi was getting louder himself
Filo was having a pout in the middle of a dangerous quest. "But I'm fine! I just want to have a little fun... And brother isn't the only one who likes getting a little praise."
"This isn't suppose to be fun. This is dangerous!" Raphtalia chimed in.
"Arrrgh!" Filo yelled, "Fine."
Naofumi wasn't satisfied with that, but they had to continue their advance. As they went they fought more PlantRiwes and HorseTraps. They fought more of the three-legged monsters that were called 'Wolfsbane'. They thought this would be it, but more Treants stopped pretending to be trees and lobbed fruit that exploded at the party. Naofumi's [Prophecy] let him warn them in time. Before the explosions went off Filo had closed the distance and torn them apart with a series of powerful kicks.
She was doing it again. Placing herself too far away from the party. As Raphtalia went to assist her a glob of purple acid came right at her.
[Air Strike Shield]
The glob splattered against the shield and fell to the ground, where it began to bubble and boil as it ate through the ground. Naofumi and Raphtalia both turned to see a stationary foe that was called a 'Mandoragora'. It was a somewhat large vase shaped monster with eyes all over its body and six or so vines that it spit it's acid from. It began to fire the acid again, this time as a barrage. Naofumi ran in tanking it's attacks with a little damage making it through, while Raphtalia readied herself behind the barrier. The moment Naofumi closed the distance he used [Knock Knock] summoning Raphtalia, who then cut through the length of the enemy twice before leaping back behind Naofumi in case it exploded or something.
You really couldn't tell what each of these things could do at a glance. Raphtalia's approach was the correct one. They gave each other a nod and turned back to see a crowd of slain plant monsters around Filo, Monti near her. Naofumi was more than a little aggravated now. As he marched down alongside Raphtalia, Filo was eating some fruit she found.
"What the hell Filo!?" Naofumi lost all sense of tact.
She smiled smugly, "See? I beat like a whole bunch of them, not a scratch. Guess you don't have to worry about me?"
She once again expected to be praised and to be left to have a little more fun and once again she was wrong.
"Filo it is our job to worry." Raphtalia started
"Raphtalia nearly took a heavy hit because she went to help you!" Naofumi pointed out.
"But I didn't need help! Ask brother. I was fine without help."
"..." With the forced spotlight on him, Monti refused to support or deny her claim.
"Filo. We have no idea what these things can do. We need to take it on slowly." Raphtalia tried explaining it to her.
"But doing it all slow is boring..." Filo pouted
"This isn't suppose to be fun Filo" Naofumi chided her.
"Nothing is ever suppose to be fun! Dad got to walk around town and brother got to fly around and I had to stay in the cart, not even pull it."
"Filo. Your mother was still a little sick and monsters could of attacked her... and she almost got hurt a moment ago too. Protecting family is the highest priority."
"I-I know that..." She felt she was both a little right and a little wrong. "It's just that I can't just do every little thing you tell me to without complaint like brother does... It's just not who I am."
Naofumi was getting what she was trying to say. "Monti acts so well that it makes her feel like a clear number two in our eyes. That she has to decide between enjoying her life or receiving our praise, never both..."
Raphtalia assured her, "Filo, you don't have to be like Monti. You have your own merits. You keep us alive and in the moment as you spring from person to person and from one thought to the next. Your singing while we ride is really nice and keeps our journey enjoyable. You really keep things refreshing."
"Well you never really say any of that..." Filo said doubtfully
Naofumi finished "Then that's our mistake, we should appreciate you for you... but that's why we were worried. We care. If a flying monster came at Monti I'd want him to act carefully too. I know you're fast. You're the fastest, but that's why we need you nearby. "
"..." Filo was now feeling like she scared them for no good reason, but also didn't want to admit she was wrong.
"But" Naofumi wanted to compromise for now, "Appreciating you for you means letting you do what you're good at. So run crazy a little, but don't stay separated too long in a fight and try not to lose sight of us normally, okay? Any or all of us could be seriously hurt."
"Kay~!" She was ready for more. She was now allowed to 'run crazy' as long as she ran back to them every once in awhile, like a weird form of tag. "Beat a few monsters, return to mom. Blow an enemy away, hop next to dad." They regrouped and all understood that Filo was going to lead the charge with Naofumi right behind her, as long as she knew when to hide behind his shield.
After the pep talk, they became quite efficient. Naofumi would bring enemies to them with his [Hate Reaction]. Raphtalia drew lines with the herbicide to help keep them at bay. Monti would do what he could switching between scouting priority targets and giving some magic support or getting low and finish a foe, before retreating back into the air. Filo assisted Raphtalia, but used [Fast Tornado] whenever pollen was used. Naofumi would give support where needed, placing [Fast Guard] on Filo.
In only a few minutes they'd defeated everything they could find between them and the source of this headache. As the approached the large tree it's eye opened and stared at them in anger. Several vines around it's eye raised for battle as quite a bit more raised from the tree's base. Filo ran in first to see what it would do. She sprang past the vines as they attempted to strike her. One [Air Strike Shield] later and she reached it's eye rather easily and stomped it with all her strength.
As Filo back flipped onto the barrier again the eye began to reform rapidly. That shocked Filo long enough to miss that a few remaining Treants had thrown fruit at her. The barrier faded before she could jump off of it and was in free fall. Filo wasn't worried though. She transformed into her smaller human form to dodge the fruit... However.
"Rrrreeeeaaaaaa!"
Suddenly she heard a screech that threw off her senses and at the same time it caused the fruit to explode while they were right next to her in the air. The rest of the party ran in and for the first time Naofumi used [Gamble] and of course he lost the flip. The damage Filo took was removed, but placed on Naofumi instead, bypassing his defenses. Filo suddenly feeling better struck the ground and retreated back towards the others, not wanting to repeat what happened minutes ago.
When she rejoined them Raphtalia and Monti stopped their advance for the moment as they looked at the situation. Naofumi was hurt even more, but not terribly so. While the damage was transferred, he had more than double her Hp. Meaning he felt less than half as bad as she did before. They also saw a new monster hanging out near the top of the tree. It looked a bit like a very skinny dragon made of roots called 'Mandrake'. It's screech was the sound attack that caught Filo off a moment ago. two treants, a mandrake and the main monster.
Naofumi gave their orders. "Filo get Raphtalia to the eye, Raphtalia stab it with the herbicide. Monti intercept that flying bastard, I'll handle the treants" He then used [Fast Guard] on Monti to signal to start.
The following events happen simultaneously
As instructed, Monti flew at the mandrake at his full form only for it to dodge him at the last moment. Luckily his tail grabbed it as it attempted to snake around him. He threw it back in front of him and used [Blightning] just to be sure he could keep up with it. He wasn't use to using his strength like this. With both his venoms and his lightning being 'neat utility' that had to support his physical might seemed out of place, but at the same time he was beginning to appreciate his muscles a bit here. He tore into it with claw and fang tearing it to bits.
Naofumi began running towards the treants. He used [Air Strike Shield] to push the treants closer together then waited for them to attempt to lob their fruit, which they did. He responded using [Shield Prison] on both of them as they endured their on explosive under pressure, dying as a result. He then turned and readied his biggest attack, just in case Raphtalia and Filo failed.
Filo and Raphtalia ran at the tree as vines tried to come down on them. Raphtalia stood atop Filo and kept swinging her sword in a repeated motion above them both, long circular swings from right to left covering nearly 270 degrees, then repeating the swings the other way. This cut the vines to ribbons, but they became thicker and increased in number causing Filo to have to become evasive before Raphtalia buckled to their assault. Once they reached the based of the tree, Filo began running up the tree. As she began to lose speed, she leapt as high as she could.
At the apex of Filo's jump Raphtalia jumped herself, dispatching the few vines protecting the eye. She sheathed he sword for a moment, as she had the herbicide in her sheath for quick re-coating. She then stabbed the eye through and using her feet she began dragging her blade down the tree a bit. The eye began to fall apart... but in the next moment it began regenerating again, albeit slower than before. As Raphtalia was free falling new vines launched out to grab her.
[Sunder]
Naofumi unleashed his once per day only offensive skill. The tree was cut all over top to bottom and all leafs, fruit and vines were cut from the body. The body began reforming again and Naofumi ran to the tree as Filo caught the falling Raphtalia. Everyone, but Naofumi was freaking out wondering what they could do. It seemed to resilient in their eyes. Just then Naofumi came up with another herbicide in his hands.
"D-dad I don't think that'll work." Monti saw no way to finish this thing
"Naofumi-sama, what now?"
Naofumi uncapped the bottle and got as close to the base of the monster as he could.
"Even an average potion gains magical properties when I use it and the effects that should be granted over time become near instant. Meaning..." He poured the whole bottle at his feet. From the moment the first drop touched the dirt, the whole of the earth beneath them trembled in great pain. A shriek not unlike the mandrakes own was hear coming from seemingly everywhere as the tree began to crumble. Its regeneration fought desperately against the poison, a futile battle, but one it fought it to the last. The once imposing tree was now shriveled up. It's fruit and leaves left as debris.
Filo looked at Naofumi who was still injured from receiving her damage. She ran up and hugged him. "...Sorry." She felt like it only happened because they had to make compromises with her, because she doesn't listen at all.
Naofumi looked down at her, her eyes wet. "It's fine. It my job as the shield hero... As your father, to protect you. Just remember if you get into trouble We'll be there dealing with it, whether you like it or not... So you make it easier on us when you take things slower."
Naofumi picked her up and held her a bit as Raphtalia nodded in approval. Meanwhile Monti gathered one of each monster for his father. He ended up grabbing two treants because they were different colors.
After Filo had enough of a hug Naofumi inspected the fruit first... "They're harmless?"
"Truly?" Raphtalia had to ask.
"My shield has never been wrong."
Filo began eating fruit the moment he said it. Raphtalia still wasn't convinced and so focused on convincing Filo not to gobble them up. While that happened Naofumi began absorbing the materials including the fruit to what they'd give.
.
[PlantRiwe Shield]
+1 mdef
[Ability: Intermediate Recipes] Gain 100 intermediate recipes
.
[Mandragora Shield]
+1 def
[Ability: Plant Analysis] May view more information of plants
.
[Wolfsbane Shield]
+1 spd
[Ability: Counter Poison] Antidotes and poisons you craft are stronger, the stronger your poison resistance.
.
[Mandrake Shield]
+1 mag
[Unique Ability: Megaphone ll] Amplifies sound sent through it greatly.
.
[Treant Shield]
+1 def, +1 mdef
[Ability: Bark Ward] Receive 5% reduced damage from plants.
.
[Green Treant Shield]
+10 hp
[Ability: Bark Ward ll] Receive 10% reduced damage from plants.
.
[BioPlant Shield]
+10 hp, +2 def, +2 mdef
[Ability: Plant Reform] May modify the stats of plant life.
[Unique Ability: Hook] Grab onto something 11 meters away
.
[Vine Garden Shield]
+5 hp
[Ability: Perseverance] Healing on self increased by 10%
.
[Bountiful Shield]
[Ability: Forage lll] When collecting material. Receive 15% better quality.
.
Several good shields, as to be expected. However the shields he gained had him think up of several uses. Monti left his father to his own devices, learning his thinking face meant he wasn't moving for a while. Nearly ten minutes later Naofumi realized he was off in his own world again, the rest of the party waiting patiently. They even gathered up the fruit while he was busy. One awkward apology later, they were heading back to the village.
On the way Naofumi revealed his plans.
"So I have several more shields, but the three that matter are ones that let me see the stats of plants, reform their stats and a third bonus to foraging."
"That last one seems less relevant." Monti seemed to consider the other two to be way better.
"Indeed" Raphtalia in agreement.
Filo was just eating fruit, not finding this important.
"It will be for my big plan, but first I'm going to master a shield tonight so I can modify these seeds."
"N-Naofumi-sama! ..." She went to warn him, but she knew that he knew what he was risking.
"I also have a shield from way back that lets me view more info from plants. If I can see and modify the worst features away, these seeds could be a godsend."
"I'll leave it to you then." Raphtalia trusted him to do a good and thorough job for the people, as he always did.
They hoped over the wall with Monti again and most of the village gathered to hear the news. The lord ran up to them, all pretense of nobility discarded.
"He-Savior! We heard and felt a terrible force... Am I to take it that..."
"The plant monsters have been eradicated, their source neutralized." Naofumi said evenly.
The whole village cheered and they almost immediately tried to start a party. The lord had to stop them, telling them they needed to focus on burning the overgrowth away and reclaiming their homes. Enthusiasm was cut only a hair as the spirits of the town held high.
Naofumi decided to just continue his conversation with the lord. "We have more to discuss."
"Ah, yes... Your payment." The lord seemed a little nervous.
"That can wait. I have some things more important."
Naofumi went on to tell him that the fruit he had was safe to eat, but he needed the seeds back as they were dangerous. The lord had the seeds removed and handed out the fruit as additional rations which seemed to put more people into a party mood. Filo went with them to sing and party, Monti went to watch over her. Raphtalia left to watch them both.
"That slip earlier means you understand who I am?"
"Yes, but I'd never-"
"I'm not accusing you of anything... I just need you to know there may still be a way to give your people a proper miracle seed."
The lords eyes shot up at that.
"I've now obtained some shields that if used right may be able to modify these seeds. Turning them into something beneficial... But that can't be done today. I plan on staying the night and possibly the next day if need be. I will ensure it works properly unlike the spear idiot."
"This is more than we can repay..."
"Don't be so sure" He motioned to the seeds. "If this works these original unmodified seeds will become a blank canvas that I can turn into whatever I need in a plant. I could even modify seeds for the sole purpose of creating monsters to become new shields for me... I'd like them as payment."
The incredible thing to the lord wasn't that Naofumi considered the seeds the property of the town and not fairly won monster spoils, but that he asked. As if they would be denied to him. "How badly must the other nobles and royalty have treated this man to assume I'd try and cheat him after what he'd done for this village?"
"Of course they are yours, hero."
"Please don't use that word. I don't need the royalty tracking me."
"...Understood savior."
The lord had come to respect Naofumi greatly in short order. He was truly a man worthy of the title of 'hero' and yet needed to hide it. That night Naofumi created 9 pots of stew using the vegetables harvested from the plants and fed quite a few people, though Filo had more than a whole pot herself. Once it started getting dark, he switched to the [Mandragora Shield] and hide it under his cloak. It'd be mastered by morning and then his first plan can commence.
That night he already started looking through the stats of the seeds, the fruits, his stored herbs, even normal grass. There were a lot of stats. Mutation, Intelligence, Propagation, Production, etc. By sampling these different plants he was seeing what the baseline was and began to understand what each stat governed entirely. Because he was up, Raphtalia was sleeping alone nearby. He never even considered it.
"N... Rifa...na... No" Naofumi peered up to see Raphtalia slightly shifting in bed, on the verge of tears. He dropped everything, research could be done more tomorrow. He settled into bed and held her. Chasing away those terrible feelings. He needed to remember the words he told the kids, family came first... He'd yet to actually have a name for Raphtalia. Monti was their son, Filo their daughter, ...Girlfriend? He stopped himself. He turned off his head and went to sleep.
...
-The next day-
...
All morning Naofumi had been just outside of town with Filo. He'd modify a seed then toss it at the ground. He'd waited to see what it did, then Filo killed it the moment it turned hostile. Naofumi already figured out that lowering intelligence and mutation took the hostility away, but his aim was quite a bit higher than easy food. He actually wanted to up it's intelligence and mutation more. The problem was what to subtract from? Propagation was out of the question. Production? He'd prefer to leave it be, maybe lower it a tiny bit. Growth... His shield would already increase it, maybe lowering it was a good idea.
Thanks to the [Mush Shield]'s [Plant Appraisal] he could see far more than the initial seven stats. He was able to use it in tandem with his new [Plant Analysis] and [Plant Reform] to change how much water and sunlight was needed at a minimum, choose whether it was deciduous or not, what type of terrain it preferred as well as tolerated, and many more he was learning as he went along.
Naofumi wanted more stats than he had to work with... Naofumi realized a way around this. He placed as much as he could into growth, propagation and production. Taking everything from the other categories. It grew near instantly and bore fruit. Naofumi then switched to his [Bountiful Shield] and waited a moment, then plucked the fruit. He tore it open for it's seed. He switched back to his old shield and sure enough the total 30% bonus from his three forage ups gave the seed 30% more points to distribute. He of course repeated the process, but the bonus didn't increase further. Still not enough.
"Can't have it being a runt..." Filo heard him, becoming quite curious, but said nothing.
He continued doing all sorts of things to see the results.
He'd modify different seeds in different ways then planted them near each other to see if they would cross pollinate, on successful attempts he checked the results. He found a set of cross pollinated results that gained in point count, then another, then another, then he cross pollinated those three different results. It showed reliable gains.
He had Filo gather a bit of the different plant monsters together so he could attempt to make fertilizer. He thought some of his bonuses would help. At first it made it worse, but after upping immunity, it actually improved. No doubt the remnant poison and acid was an issue to overcome
Lastly Naofumi checked his drop list for things the plant monsters dropped. The PlantRiwe seemed to drop nothing, vials of acid from the Mandragora, vials of poison from Wolfsbane, fruit bombs from the Treants, Flaming fruit bombs from the Green Treants, a damned walking stick from the Mandrake, and something called 'Band of Satiety' from the Bioplant itself. This was the second time a really notable enemy gave him a drop... but what was it? He pulled it out and used [Inspect].
[Band of Satiety]
[+65 hp]
[Full Body: Slowly and naturally consumes sp and mp to circumvent hunger and regenerate missing hp.
"Pretty neat. Could sell it... Could make Filo wear it. Not helpful here..."
He pulled the walking stick out just in case.
[Cane of Vitality]
[+20 hp]
[Strong Spirit: Pull from hp to force your body to overcome statuses]
"Also kinda neat, but..." Naofumi just got an idea so dumb it may work. He placed the band around a freshly buried seed that he modified to have an immunity of 1 and mutation at 20. He had the cane stuck in the ground, touch the seed. As it grew, it used the cane as a support and grew around it. Lastly he had Filo add a drop of herbicide at a time on the plant. One drop nearly killed it. Once it fully grew back, she did it again. As it went the damage done by the herbicide became smaller and smaller. Finally when she ran out Naofumi picked the fruit with his 30% bonus and checked the results.
Success! The high mutation, but low immunity combined with those items that allowed it to survive meant it gained immunity via its mutation. He then did everything he'd done up until now over again in the order to maximize point gain.
Finally he looked through the special ability options menu. There were all kinds of options. 'Mutation Expansion' was the current effect and it wasn't bad for what he planned, but one never knows what the options are without looking. He settled on 'Conscious Mutation' It was similar to the old ability, but this one only caused mutations when the plant wanted it to and it wasn't random, but guided. It was a trade off. It wouldn't continue to mutate and grow unending, only when needed. It also hinted at having it's own self awareness so he must of given it enough intelligence as planned.
All together Naofumi had spent four hours last light and five hours this morning working on this seed and the results were in. At more than double the starting points, he felt confident.
Propagation: 14
Production: 16
Vitality: 20
Immunity: 18
Intelligence: 25
Growth: 2
Mutation: 25
Special Abilities: Conscious Mutation
He planned to move 8 production and 10 Immunity to growth once he was completely sure the plant was intelligent enough to trust it.
Naofumi planted it and waited hoping. His mood and mannerisms told Filo that this was the one that he was trying for.
"..."
It sprouted fast, but slowed considerably. It grew an eye and opened it for a moment. It was the same as the BioPlant. The whole eye, blood red except a few black markings that vaguely made a circle.
Naofumi offered it his finger. It stared at it a moment before growing a small leaf that reached out and touched it. It did nothing else, but touch his finger. Naofumi offered a small amount of water with his other hand. It stared, but for a shorter amount of time before reaching out and began absorbing the water. In short order Naofumi had shown it that non-hostility would be answered in kind and that he would provide it with what it needs. Best of all, it showed signs of thinking, really thinking.
It showed promise. Naofumi filled a cooking pot with good top soil and moved the plant and its surrounding soil into it. Added a bit more water, then motioned to Filo to tell her it's time to return to town. As they walked back Filo felt she had to say something.
"Sometimes I think you abuse the fact mom likes you so much to get away with stupid stuff like this..."
"Hey. Monti was one of those stupid decision too... And I don't make stupid decisions."
...
-Back in town-
...
Naofumi and Filo returned to the cart, to be greet by a bit of joy before Raphtalia saw what he was carrying. Filo left the cart right afterwards.
"You can't possibly be serious..." Raphtalia was feeling tired already
"I am... It took me about eight and a half hours to get it right." He tried defending himself.
"What about helping the villager?" She said with a little annoyance.
"I did that in the first 30 minutes... Just hear me out, okay?"
"... Okay" She'd become quite outspoken, but Naofumi remained her weakness.
"I took the time to grant this thing intelligence. It doesn't attack me and accepts water from me like a gift... I also made it like twice as strong, but without the crazy spreading mutations."
"Twice!?"
"It'll be about 260% after I remove it from it's soil, my forage b-"
He was cut off by her stare, she spoke slowly. "Naofumi-sama. Why would you do that exactly?"
He had to choose his words carefully. He made sure Monti wasn't around.
"Because if I succeeded in making it cooperative, but didn't help it along in strength, Monti and Filo would dwarf it. As a royal monster and potential wave boss they are at the top in terms of power. We've already had one kid suffer due to inferiority concerns... With all of these combined bonuses placed on top of such a strong base monster, it should be about even to them."
"Any other reason?" Raphtalia looked half convinced.
Naofumi made sure Flio wasn't around, "I think Filo being an older sibling would do her a world of good. Having someone that really depends on her will make her become dependable... That's how it went for us."
Raphtalia sighed. She knew she was going to lose this argument before it began, but he had good reasons to boot. She had to resign herself.
"Fine..."
Naofumi leaned in and kissed her on the check, "Thanks for understanding"
Getting her all worn out arguing then building her up with a kiss. Raphtalia stopped him before he could leave.
"You will stop using these methods to distract me... please."
It was like she knew she had no defense against them and was reduced to begging him not to use it maliciously. He thought for a moment.
"Sorry, the villagers can wait a bit." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. She put her arms around him. They kissed briefly before-
"Mom, Dad, the village lord is looking for yo-" Monti came in unannounced and realized he interrupted something... adult. "I'll b-be going now."
They both paused. Appreciating their ruined moment. Raphtalia turned to the newest addition to the family staring at them.
"You see that? Never walk in on mommy and daddy, okay?"
The small plant felt massive hostility, but it wasn't directed at it. It looked up at these two creatures. While it's mind was currently far too underdeveloped, it began to form opinions of these odd monsters around it. Clearly the green one was benevolent. It gave it life, gave it water, carried it around for safety. The green one was to be respected. The smaller yellow and blue one listened to the green one and so was probably good too. Same with the purple one it saw briefly...However this other one was to be feared. She nearly fought the green one, but he was able to subdue her. It must watch out for her.
"So... What awful name do you have planned?"
"Ouch... I was thinking of letting you name it. It's not fair if I name all of our children..."
...
-Several minutes later-
...
The villagers gathered around Naofumi who said he'd make an announcement before he left. As they gathered they noticed the small plant moving around next to him in a cooking pot and the large amounts of seed nearby, they whispered amongst themselves. Once the lord arrived Naofumi began.
"I know recovery is the priority right now, so thank you for giving me your time..."
Naofumi motioned to the lord, "Your lord told me this all started because the stupid spear hero tried to help you out of a famine. Even after you reclaim your village, that obstacle remains..."
He made sure everyone was listening before he continued.
"I've heavily modified the seeds here as you can see." He motioned to the BioPlant in the cooking pot.
The lord pipped up, "Is that safe savior?"
"It is. This seed I modified to make it non-hostile for my own purposes. These however, have been modified in a completely different way and it is these that will solve your problems."
Naofumi took a seed and tossed it on the ground. He then added some water. It began to grow. While it grew Naofumi continued.
"These seeds will bear large strong fruit. The will replenish often... However each plant lacks the ability to produce seeds. I'm gifting you 100 of these heavily modified seeds. With this in hand, famine should not ever occur here... For as long as they remain, which should be several generations"
Naofumi walked back over to the plant that now began bearing fruit and pulled one, motioning for the lord to try a bite. The lord did so without hesitation. One heavy bite later and he was laughing.
"They're pretty sweet too." At his approval, the villagers cheered again. As Naofumi handed the lord the seeds he promised, he motioned to the party. Filo grabbed the plant and began following Raphtalia and Monti back to the cart. Naofumi went to follow, but the lord stopped him.
"You're leaving? But your reward?" The lord looked guilty
"I have the seeds and potentially a new party member, that's plenty of payment."
"That can't be so! You saved our village twice and we haven't given you one damned copper. Please for my conscious, let me pay you."
"You can't and we both know it. Besides taking money from a village in the state you're in... I have a conscious too."
"But there must be something!?" He really was desperate to repay Naofumi, which he could appreciate.
"Just don't tell anyone about the truth. I'm gathering money and strength for the waves I must face... If the royalty in this country finds out and interferes again..."
"I understand... You know, our king was once considered an extremely wise man."
Naofumi gave him a parting glance, before turning to leave, "That's really hard to believe."
.
[Author's Notes]
What do I name the Bio-plant? Some guide lines. It's neither male or female. more accurately it's both as it's a plant. I'm leaning it more female though, just thinking about what it'll wear later.
I made up more plant mutate monsters obviously. Why not?
I actually have plans for most of the items Naofumi got, but I'm always open to suggestions
Longest chapter so far.
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