After a whole hour of meditating Nik succeeded in increasing his mana capacity by two points. Like the patient man he was he decided that things where going too slow. The next hour he would use nature magic to speed up the process. He would use it until he strained his consciousness and then wait till the pain cooled down. After another hour of constant straining he improved his mana capacity by 4. After that it just became quicker and quicker because the amount of nature magic he could use increased. Also little did he know but after constantly straining his consciousness improved a little. He could sense a whole 3 centimetres further and could handle the extra mana capacity points better. Before Nik knew it, at the end of the day he increased his mana capacity to 50 and he could see 5 meters away.
Unfortunately Nik had to log off to go eat dinner with his family. Nik took off his headset and placed it on the table a few meters away. He took a shower and got dressed before going down to go eat
When he came in the rest of the family was already there waiting for him. Teo glanced at Nik before saying
"Took you long enough"
"What happened to you two?"
Teo was sitting there folding his hands like the world done him wrong while Luna was sitting there happily humming like a hummingbird. Luna giggled and explained.
"We got one of the best special races on the wheel. It's a 4 star Twin Fate Faye. We are supposedly connected and share everything. We can even feel where the other party is. The only downside is that when one of us dies we both die. I can control misfortune while he can control fortune. He's just jealous cause I can make people trip."
"No! It's not just that. We are so weak. We share the same stat board and same stats, so we can improve our stats fast, but still. We only started with a mana capacity of 50. Do you realise how little that is? And fortune sucks. All I can do is avoid arrows and a few other cheap tricks. While Luna gets to make people trip and fall into holes in the most embarrassing way possible. It's funny but I want that too."
Hearing how easy Teo and Luna had it, Nik's mood turned sour. Sensing his big brother's mood Teo shut up. Gritting his teeth, Nik gave his father a sharp glare with an "I'm glad I abandoned you and I would do it again look." However that look looked like, it wasn't scary enough to scare his father. Nik's father just scoffed at his attempt and continued eating. Nik grumpily sat down and ate his food in silence. After a full minute of awkward silence Luna gathered the courage to ask Nik what was wrong.
"Do you know how lucky you two are?"
Teo gulped and Nik further explained.
"I started with one single capacity point. Not only that, I'm a plant with an annoying 360 vision and no eyes to close. I can't even move because I'm a plant and the moment something steps on me I die. Also my backstory was only two sentences long and a wild wolf peed on me. If I'm found I'll be probably be made into some staff considering I'm the hardest material on the planet"
While Teo's and Luna's mouths where hanging open, Nik's father thought a little while before staring wide eyed at Nik.
"Yes father it's the world tree sapling. And I hate to break it to you guys, but 4 stars aren't the best on the wheel. It's 5 stars."
Now it was Nik's parent's turn to let their mouths hang wide open. Nik just ignored all the stares and continued eating. Teo commented
"But I thought 4 stars where as high as it goes. There where only 4 stars on our wheel."
Luna caught on quick.
"It's probably our buddy spawning system that makes 4 stars the highest you can go."
"Oh..."
"Did you meet your new little sisters Gia?"
Hearing Gia, Nik's mood improved a little bit, but only a little.
"Yes, she said you rigged the wheels."
Nik's father looked completely devastated.
"I told her to keep it a secret!"
"And Google told her not to."
"What do you mean?"
"Google told her that sharing secrets with your siblings is the norm. That reminds me I completely forgot to check out what my 'Gia's Blessing' does. If you would excuse me, I still have another 12 hours of meditating with 360 vision and no eyes to do."
Like that Nik left the room, completely shutting up his two complayning siblings and hitting his father with the reality that even children that can only follow his instructions will betray him. He would have liked to speak to his mother more, but she just wanted to listened to what he had to say during dinner.
Nik put on the headset and mediated throughout the night.
Meanwhile...
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On a luxuries chair made out of finely sculpted wood. A figure sat. The beautiful and elegant figure sat lonely on his thrown serounded by an empty space of a sizably big room. A crown of dazzling silver was placed upon his head. Long ears poked out from beneath the silver blonde locks of hair. The figure wore a stoic expression that never changed in the slightest. The light from above highlighted his noble and expensive outfit.
Suddenly the doors burst open and another figure hurried in and bowed down.
"Your Majesty!"
"Lester, you may rise"
Jumping up Lester repeated the important message.
"We narrowed it down to the forest in the south."
"Right next to the human kingdom?"
The figure cleared his throat.
"Yes"
He knew how important this matter was. That's why he dared to barge into the royal courtroom unannounced. Letting it be found by the humans is the worst possible outcome. They don't do negotiation. Humans have a history of making holy swords with it. They kill the thing that keeps the world from having a mass extinction, forge a holy sword and tell everyone that God sent them this sword and it will protect you from evil. How it's going to stop a mass extinction, the lowly soldier isn't deserving to know of such valuable information.
"Gather a few of your most trusted comrades we're going to find it before the humans does. If not... Then we're f***ed."
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Nik meditated right throughout the night untill 6 in the morning and then continued to meditate. It a miracle he didn't just pass out. Considering the processing speed of Nik's brain is further enhanced by the headset, him being still awake is amazing. But hey, it's Nik we're talking about. When it's serious he would try going on for a week without rest.
Meanwhile Nik checked out his Gia's Blessing and the water element. The water element has a surprisingly better water to mana ratio. There isn't anything exiting he can do with the water just yet but being able to nourish his plant body is good enough. Who knew bending light and splitting a few billion cells in a few seconds would take so much more mana than collecting water from the atmosphere. This is what the narrator said about light being weak in the beginning.
Meanwhile...
[Gia's Blessing: +10% growth speed in all stats.]
Nik was shocked. Imagine how much longer he would have needed to meditate to get to where he is now without this. Nik mentally promised to give Gia a much longer and harder hug when he gets to see her again. He should also buy her a gift. It's not that she couldn't pop the thing he got her into existence, but hopefully the intention is enough to satisfy her.
Nik then took out the letter that Gia gave him.
[Do you wish to read Nik's Letter?]
Nik clicked confirmed and opened the letter. *Cling* Just when he opened the letter a silver key fell out. The letter read: 'Dear Nik, I hope this helps you on your noble journey. Mom and Dad.' Nik could immediately tell who wrote it. His mother was to down to Earth to write 'noble journey' Nik put away the letter and picked up the key.
[Key of Gluttony]
[One of seven keys needed to open Pandora's box. It is said that the keys enhance the sin that they where named after in people when they are exposed to it for a long time]
There had to be a reason Nik's parents gave him this. The Pandora's box probably holds a great secret he could benefit from or else the letter would have instructed him to keep the key safe. Instead the letter incouraged Nik on his journey and told him that the key will help, implying that he needs to open Pandora's box. Maybe Nik got to over his head again, but nevertheless, one more thing was added onto Nik's to do list. Find out more about Pandora's box and the six other keys. After a period where Nik looked like he was about to die from the pointlessness of living, he put away the key.
A night's meditation gave a good result. Nik's mana capacity is up to 120 and he can see about 11 meters in each direction. With this he could move onto the light magic part. Nik tried using both dark and light magic at the same time. He was successful in going invisible, but the mana cost doubled and he could only keep it up for a fixed amount of time. He was only going to use it for emergencies. After realising the mana cost he decided it's best not to make himself bigger. He didn't want more body to hide. In the meantime Nik wanted to find a way to defend himself. He tried all kinds of different tricks. First he tried compressing water into small ball as and shoot it at the tree next to him. It left a mark, but it wasn't impressive. At most he might leave someone a bruise.
After a few more tries, Nik found the most damage can be done via water whip. If he whips the tree without letting the water lose it's shape, it wraps around the tree, leaving marks all around. It's a lot more painful than little balls of water that act like paintball bullets. It's a shame he isn't powerful enough to do any major damage yet. Another thing Nik has been working on is using his nature magic to control his roots. He can only make control it up to 3 and a half meters away, but the fact that he can impale things, makes up for everything else. Nik also tried poisoning the water with his nature magic, but cultivating poison turns out to use a monstrous amount of mana. Right now he can only make someone have a light headache and make them dizzy for a minute.
After experimenting with his magic, Nik continued to meditate for 2 days straight. He only stopped when he saw the the sun go down and slept till 2 in the evening the next day. Those 48 hours meditating helped his stats a lot. He could now break a few ribs with his water whip and make people have diarrhoea for half an hour. His mana capacity is up to 540 and he could see 30 meters away.
Nik was marveling at his hard work when a hooded figure entered his range of vision. He was bleeding from his intestines and there was an arrow stuck in his back. But the most attractive feature of the man was the 2 glamorous books sticking out from under his coat. Nik wasn't mean, he was just desperate. Nik waited for the man to get close and tripped him with his root. Is tripping and robbing an injured man really that mean? But now that he's already tripped the man, he wasn't going to ponder wether it was right or wrong. Since he tripped the man he might as well go all the way. A strange silver key fell out from the man's pocked on his way to headbutts the Earth. Nik was almost to shocked to continue what he was busy doing. That's another key of sin! Nik quickly grabbed the two books and the key. He wanted to take more but the man was really in a hurry. The man was surprised, but didn't have the time to see what he tripped on. He quickly got up not eaven noticing the few roots taking his stuff. But just as he was going to continue running an arrow pierced his head and came out of his eye.
Nik that was clicking his tongue about him not being able to rob more from the man when he was suddenly sprayed by blood. Maybe he should have dialed down the gruesomeness in his options, but it doesn't matter. Once you've seen a body you've seen them all. It's nothing to get socked about. Nik immediately went invisible. People that didn't hesitate to kill weren't the most safest people to be around. They are also usually experts in sensing when an opportunity to make a quick buck comes along. And if they're professionals they are able to pricivemmmmmm their surroundings like no other. Just for good measure Nik disguised a few other things in his vicinity.
The next moment a team of five more hooded figures entered his vision range.
"This hunt felt a bit unnecessarily dragged out."
"Yes..."
At this point the figures felt something was wrong. It felt like they were being stared at in every direction. Clearing his throat the figures continued talking.
"If only that king didn't spend so much time being jealous and focused on his internal affairs, maybe we wouldn't have been here."
Nik could only roll his eyes at how obvious their act was. They were disclosing information that you could get when you just looked a little deeper so that they didn't seem suspicious, but not too valuable information that could actually help an enemy.
"A lot of people are saying it's because of the Key of Envy he's been holding on too. People say those things make you crazy."
Nik didn't know much about the keys, but now that they disclosed the info, it must be easy to get. If it's known which powers hold which key by the majority of the population, he's to do list might be completed faster than expected. Thanks possible enemies for disclosing such valuable information.
"Yea he's been holding onto the key since he was born"
"Enough chit chat go and cut his head off."
The only plausible explanation for the fact that they didn't try taking the key and ran away by now was that they weren't sure whether this was an opportunity or their death bed or they wanted to know if he could be a threat they needed to eradicate. Very well, Nik could only convince them otherwise. While the 5 were talking and smartly stealing glances around the place, Nik was putting his own plan into action.
The figures that was supposed to cut off the person's head quickly looted the man.
"Do you have no shame?"
"Will shame cover my living expenses?"
Grumpily the person turned his head away from his despicable comrade. Of course that was all a ruse so that the person can find the key, their true quota for completing their mission. The figure brought the head over and gave it to the person that was giving instructions. But the person sneakily pressed the other person's hand as he handed over the head. It's not that the figures weren't skilled at their act, in fact the moment the figures felt something was off, they immediately changed into their rolls. Five human bounty hunters that are somewhat knowledgeable about their Kingdom, but not that much that you would kidnap them for information. It's just Nik that was too good for them. You would be too if you could sense and see everything from small facial expressions to eyes darting around.
Their act just seemed pathetic in the all seeing eyes of Nik.
If they were looking for the key and acted as if it wasn't lost, then them being sent by the king is the most probable. They also spoke about searching through a body was shameful. No bounty hunters would find that shameful. People who don't hesitate to kill and find it shamefull to loot bodies. Only one profession fits that description. Guards. Nik doubts the King will ask a few guards to go fetch something this important. If their not part of the kingdom's elite squad, then damn! They're good at acting. Depending on how smart the person or thing judging them is, they would either think their bounty hunters or elite soldiers. If the enemy thinks bounty hunters, it means the enemy they're fighting is dumb or inexperienced and they will understamate them. If the enemy guesses elite soldiers, they would run away or take more precautions giving the team time to run away. It also gives away the fact that they know about the key. If the enemy didn't run away, it means they are confident enough to fight a team of elite soldiers. Depending on how much precautions the enemy takes the team can partially judge it's strength. Nik will teach that to his party members.
Whether they were testing Nik or not, it didn't matter. It's not like he could kill them anyway. Nik's job was to scare them away and convince them he doesn't know jack about the key. First Nik has to create the illusion that he was completely confident going up against them. After this Nik really has to move spots.
*Giggle* *Hic*
"Who's there!"
"Show yourself"
Nik really wanted to laugh maniacally but was completely surprised by his own voice. He never tried talking with his new body. He sounded like a child! Why did the game need to be so accurate? Not only that, it felt like he was talking directly into their minds. Everyone could understand his intentions, but it felt like all of them where hearing different things. He could only send them intentions and then it translated to words automatically inside their minds. Like telling someone the same thing in different words. It's a great misunderstanding blocker, but it was still creepy.
"Bounty hunters? Really? Is that the best you could do? You're very bad at playing. I don't know who you are, nor do I care, but go away you're very bad at playing."
Nik might sound like a child, but that didn't mean the quality of his act will go down. It wasn't anything he couldn't work with. One cute creepy child coming up.
"Go play with someone else. Your not nearly as good as me. I won all the games with my forest friends. Only mommy can beat me."
Not to Nik's suprise the bossy one took the lead after some hesitation.
"Your Mommy?"
"Yea, mommy is big and strong. Mommy said she was going to bring back something special today."
"And how long will she be gone?"
These despicable men. If he's not going to tell them she's going to come back soon, they'll probably take advantage of this situation and kill him right here and now. According to Nik's experience, talking monsters are usually strong especially small babies that can already speak. They are going to eradicate him before he becomes a threat. He's gotta prove himself or else...
"It's almost time for lunch so she'll be here soon."
"O, I seem to have lost my silver key. Have you seen it around maybe?"
"I'll tell you if you play a game with me."
"A game? I thought you said we're bad at playing?"
"Mommy said that being bad at one doesn't mean you are bad at them all."
"You've got a wise mommy."
"I know. There is no mommy wiser."
"Do you know what wise means?"
"...no..."
Clearing his throat to break the ice the man asked
"What's the game's name?"
"Oh! It's called find the real me."
Nik let one of the objects he disguised flicker. Out of extinct, one of the men slashed it in half with his sword.
*Giggle* "You were wrong"
The men were very surprised. The creature used light magic. It was very rare. Nik continued.
"You guessed wrong. What will your punishment be? I know. Dodge this!"
Suddenly a root popped out from beneath the man. Although it seemed like Nik just used nature magic extremely fast, in fact he was preparing it for a while. The man dodged the spike nevertheless and with ease. But just as he was going to land, another spike stuck out of the ground. He turned his body, narrowly missing it and braced for the impact of the floor. But the impact he was waiting for never came. He fell right through the floor and got impaled with tons of spikes that was waiting for him on the bottom of the pit. Nik had no idea how that worked. They were supposed to be elite guards! How could Nik catch them so off guard? Nik was really glad he did what he did. The fact that he could dig a hole right next to them while they were talking, just shows how much they understamated him. If he didn't prove himself he would have been dead meat.
The guards were confused only a second before realising what happened. Light magic. As the hole was revealed with an impaled body in it, the 4 other figures took a deep breath before looking away. They prepared themselves to die the moment they took this mission.
"O no, he died already!"
Nik continued to be the creepy little kid.
"Now that he's played the game, would you tell us where the key is."
"But I won the game?"
"You didn't say we need to win."
"Ok if you try one more time I'll tell you."
Nik let a few things flicker here and there but this time they didn't fall for that. The guards focused all their attention this time. They closed their eyes and focused sensing the mana. They weren't mages, but they have faced off against them. They found 4 disguised objects with a high concentration in magic that didn't yet flicker. Suddenly two of those 4 flickered narrowing it down to two. A few seconds after that, another flicker later there was only one left. They waited for a bit before deciding to choose it. Nik made it flicker a lot as if it was panicking. Taking a deep breath the guard swung his sword and cut down the the object.
"Wrong again"
Instead of shooting spikes at them like last time, Nik asked them what a suitable punishment would be.
"What do you think your punishment should be?"
"..."
"You don't know?"
The guard grumbled
"Maybe eating grass?"
"O that sounds fun, do that"
Thinking about how he failed the game a thought occured to him
"Are you even here? Are you even within the vicinity?"
"Never said I was"
Nik revealed everything he disguised with light magic, even himself. He bet everything on whether or not these men have seen a world tree sapling. Thankfully they didn't.
Instead of getting angry at the monster, the guy silently ate his grass. He was an elite, he knows when he was outplayed. What the poor guy didn't know was that Nik did a lot of poison experimenting. The whole floor is covered with poison that gives diarrhoea. The guy tasted something wrong. He only sighed and continued eating. He couldn't help it. His strong comrade was kill almost instantly and he sparred against him. He can vouch for his strength. He would probably die in less time than his comrade. It was his duty to report this threat at all costs, even if he had to give up his life. And if this monster was still a child, just imagine how strong will the mother would be. This information was almost more important than getting back that key. Hopefully after this the monster will give some info about the key. He didn't bet on it.
"I've done what you asked me. Can you tell me about the key."
"Sure. I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Pardon?"
"If what you were looking for was on that dead guy over there I didn't take it."
"What do you mean?"
The poor guy was loosing his temper. They gained nothing and even lost a precious comrade after doing all that. He quickly calmed himself down so that anger wouldn't effect his choices
"Retreat, it was a decoy."
Multiple teams were sent out to track a multiple number of people because the thieves that stole the key split up and ran in different directions, acting as decoys. The captain was just so sure that this was the target with the key because he was the only one left that wasn't killed or captured yet. This means they missed something. They had to go back a few steps and retrace everything. Maybe there were more people involved in this.
"Why leave, when you can STAY"
As Nik screamed 'stay', the branches of the surrounding trees moved making a wall. This was what Nik was preparing all this time. His goal wasn't to trap these people, but to scare them away for good. The bigger their army they were going to bring, the more time he had to get away. Spikes were coming out of the ground here and there, while a wall of branches were forming. The 4 figures quickly dashed through the cracks, one with farting noises following closely, and escaped the rapidly closing wall. Just as they were out of sight everything stopped. It was very painful. Nik's 'head' was burning like it was on fire and his body felt weak. He burst 20 points of mana capacity worth of cells. They really overestimated him. They could probably just cut through his branch barrier like it was paper. The fact that he killed one of them was a miracle in itself. Never again. He was going to get so strong that he didn't need to go through what he just did again. But first he needed to move places and fast.