Chapter 14 - The Real Beginning Of My New Life

“Are you done sulking yet?” Winter asked, a hand on either side of her hips.

After coming to the realization that everyone in my surrounding party was at least fifty times stronger than I currently was- Kearan being the strongest compared to me, his combat power being a staggering twenty thousand and thirty percent. That’s more than two hundred times stronger than I currently was, if you were wondering.

Everyone had reactions similar to Verity’s, except Kearan, who simply smirked and said “I told you he wasn’t dead.”

Yes. You read that right, by the way.

He actually referred to me as a person. Not to mention that he didn’t think I was a female!

My spirits soared.

“Can you start making potatoes now?” Kearan asked immediately after.

Only to fall flat on its face a moment later.

So, sulkily, I began to poop out seeds with a heavy heart. But at least something had changed. I had ‘faith’ now. They trusted me. And it was evident with the way they treated me. Even Mox and Raul, who’d given me the cold stare or chose to ignore me completely now had the decency to ask me if I was ok.

I had earned their trust by protecting the horses and defeating not just one, but three boars! I could definitely add ‘Horned Boar Slayer’ onto my list of achievements now.

For now, though, the squad was hungry and there were no wild monsters they could slay for meat on the mountain. Winter’s concerned expression still stared at me along with a dusty palm held out for me to jump into.

I sighed and rolled to the side. ‘Yeah, I’m done sulking. Here’s the first-’

I was about to push the new seed I’d just created up to her outstretched hand when I felt a strange, heartwarming feeling.

It came from the seed.

There was something different about it. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it- not that I had any- but there was definitely something. It felt different- somehow, and I could feel a sense of importance radiating from it.

“June? What’s wrong?” Winter asked, shivering and wrapping her cloak tighter around her. “Can we hurry this up? It’s getting colder and I’m not immune to the temperature like you.” She finished with a chuckle.

I nodded, not realising that I actually couldn’t move. It was a mistake I hadn’t made since leaving Omani.

“June? Hey.” She patted me softly. “Did you fall asleep again?”

‘What?’ I snapped my gaze away from the seed back up to her. ‘No, I just…’ My voice trailed off as I looked back toward the seed. ‘What were you saying?’

She shook her head and laughed softly. “Nevermind. I’m going back into the tent now, ok? Come back in when you’ve figured out whatever it is that’s troubling you.”

I didn’t hear her walk back to the camp. I was too busy focusing on the seed again, trying to figure out just what was so special about it.

There was nothing physically different about it. It had the same dark brown colour, the same hard shell, and the same distinctly lined patterns as the rest of the e-potato seeds had.

So what was it that made me feel so cautious about this seed? What was this feeling?

I rubbed it gently, this time with my body instead of telekinesis. For some reason, I must have thought it would do something.

It didn’t.

But then I realised my connection with this seed was so strong compared to the others that I could almost move it with telekinesis as easily as I moved my own body.

‘What are you?’ I directed my thoughts towards it. Still, nothing happened.

At this point, darkness had fully settled across the sky and the squad’s campfire was beginning to die. Although I’d been in a coma for a little over a week, I felt a wave of tiredness wash over me. ‘How strange.’ I thought to myself, before yawning and looking towards the little e-potato seed for the last time.

‘I guess I’ll find out what makes you so special once you grow up.’

The morning sun beamed down onto me, warming my skin and heating up the rock that I lay on. I yawned and stared up at the blue sky for a few minutes, collecting my thoughts. For the first time since I was turned into a potato, my mind drifted back to the moment that changed my life forever. The moment I was bestowed as the Lord of Agridia.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

My footsteps echoed loudly through the royal castle’s corridors. I made my way past countless doors, priceless artifacts, paintings of past kings and queens and terrified servants who bowed their heads as I walked past. I didn’t take any notice of them.

I was fixated on the two figures in front of me, who strode purposefully down the hallway.

My father. The Duke of the West. My aunt. The Duchess of the East.

Beside me were two of my cousins, giggling and whispering like they didn’t have a care in the world. At their ripe age of twelve, they most likely didn’t understand the circumstance.

As we entered the throne room, my father pushed my head down and bowed deeply.

“You may rise.” My grandfather, also known as the king, stood up to greet us.

His body, old and frail, had to be supported by the young female caretaker beside him.

“Father.” My father acknowledged, before rising to his feet.

I remained bowing.

“The reason why I’ve called you here today is…” The king began.

This was all formalities. All five of us present already knew why he’d called us here. The Baron of Agridia had gone missing while out monster hunting in Oblivion. According to the baron’s servants, he’d left without warning with a party of knights three months ago and never returned. Now, the king needed to select one of us three as a replacement if he didn’t want the position to be taken by someone outside of the royal family.

My father stepped forward to pose his reasonings. “Father, my son, as unworthy as he is, is the right age for inheriting such a position. I will guide him into making the best out of this territory and servicing the kingdom.”

I grimaced. Of course, that wasn’t the real reason why he wanted me to rule Agridia. He just didn’t want any of my cousins to, since they would most likely side with my aunt. With only a measly three territories held by both the duke and duchess, just a single turnover would have devastating consequences for the other.

Now it was my aunt’s turn to come forward. “Father, my children, although young, have both excelled in their studies and are proficient in magic. They are quite capable of ruling such an insignificant territory such as Agridia.”

My cousins let out a snigger before the duchess shoved their heads down brutally. One of them gave me a wicked grin.

I broke off eye contact and stared at the stained edges of the carpet. It was at times like this that I wished I hadn’t been born an only child. I wanted to go home. I hated this. The corrupt king. My greedy father, who wanted to control everything. ‘Royalty’. I was twenty one. I wanted to live my life. I couldn’t care less about ruling over a state, let alone the country.

It wasn’t like I felt privileged anyway.

In fact, I felt embarrassed to be of royal blood.

As the only child of the duke, I was expected to do well in school- which I didn’t, have lots of talents- which I also didn’t have, or at the very least have some magic. I didn’t. Not an ounce.

Everyone treated me differently ‘because I was the duke’s son’. Because apparently, one day I would rise to the throne.

And here lay the problem.

At what age?

At what age would I become the king- if ever?

My grandfather was a perfect example of this. He’d only become the king at the ripe old age of ninety-four, far past the age at which he was capable of making appropriate decisions.

Though I didn’t pay that much attention to politics, I could tell Terralica wasn’t doing well. It seemed everywhere I looked poverty had hit- or was made up of overly rich adventurers. The kingdom’s economy was incredibly unbalanced. The rich just got richer and the poor just kept getting poorer.

My father and aunt weren’t helping with that either. All they wanted was power and riches- to the point where I didn’t even have a normal family.

My father was rarely at home, so busy dealing with politics, and my mother was… abusive, to say the least. She pushed me to become her ideal child, without any concern about what I liked.

At least if I did become the ‘Baron of Agridia’ I’d be away from them. Maybe even have a chance to start my own family. A normal one. Without thinking, I felt a tickling in my throat and let out a small cough.

“Yes, Winston? Would you like to say something?” The king gestured towards me.

“I-” I began, not sure what to say. But then I realised this was my chance. To be rid of my parents. “I will try my best to make the land of Agridia flourish, using any methods necessary. One day, I hope I can make it a place fit for your ruling, your majesty.”

“Ho, ho, ho!” He rasped and nodded. “You flatter me, young Winston.” He nodded once more. “Very well. As Valencia’s children are not of age yet, your son may rule Agridia, Jovi.”

My father turned around, surprised, and raised an eyebrow. He obviously hadn’t expected me to speak up, much less for things to go his way so smoothly. He gave me a rare smile and mouthed that he’d get me a treat on the way home.

I didn’t return the smile, and broke eye contact.

Because I knew that I wouldn’t let him have his way. He wouldn’t be able to control me if I distanced myself from him.

But, coming back to reality, that was all a long time ago. Things had changed far beyond what I would’ve even dreamed of. It had been far more difficult to escape my father’s grasp than I’d thought.

However, I’d changed in several ways. No longer did I try to escape royalty. No longer did I want to escape from the political world. No longer did I want a normal, commoner’s life. In fact, I had wanted more power.

Wanted it enough to end up in the body of a potato.

Oh yeah, I also no longer wanted a family. More people meant more mouths to feed. More mouths to feed meant more work. And if you hadn’t already realised, I was lazy. Hella lazy. So lazy that I didn’t even-

‘Mama!’

‘Ahh! Who said that!’ I cried, instinctively moving backwards. Unfortunately, the stone that I resided on wasn’t flat, and I ended up with my face in the dirt.

I shot up, looking for the source of the voice. There was no one about, except for Edith who was merrily munching on what looked to be some sort of bird’s wing. The rest of the squad were still sleeping in the scattered tents.

‘Mama!’ The voice called again.

This time, I wasn’t half as surprised as I originally was. But I still couldn’t find the culprit. Whose voice was it?

The only one who could sneak up on me like this and go invisible was Kearan. But firstly, his voice was nowhere near as high pitched as this one was, and he had no reason to scare me like that.

“Mama?” The voice said once more, this time more questioningly.

I floated up, back onto the rock I’d been lying on before. From here, I had a better viewpoint and would be able to spot-

“Mama!!!”

Something nudged my behind and I spun around, only to find…

The e-potato I had produced last night?

What sort of joke was this? It wasn’t like it could actually speak, right?

‘Hey…’ I directed my speech towards it hesitantly, not really expecting a response. ‘Are you speaking?’

‘Mama! Mama! Huggy!’ Without warning, the potato launched itself onto me, resulting in both of us flopping onto the ground again.

This was some kind of dream, wasn’t it? It had to be a dream. There was no way it was possible for me to produce a potato that could talk, much less a potato that could talk and move.

After calming myself, I looked back towards the e-potato doubtfully, only to see a window of text appear above it.

___________________________________________

Unnamed Sentient Potato

Level: 1

Type: Gifted/Potato

Xera: 100/100

Class: N/A

Path: N/A

Applied Faith: 10

Combat Power: 2103%

Traits: Bubbly, Joyful, Very Hyperactive, Loyal

Gender: Female

Race Skills:

[Potato Battery] (Passive) {1/40}

Unique Skills:

[Inferior Potato Body] (Active) {1/20} [Adept Root Control] (Passive) {1/40} [Beginners Plant Magic] (Active) {1/50}

Misc. Skills:

[Mind Speech] (Active) {1/20} [Super Strong Telekinesis] (Active) {1/5} [Area Of Awareness] (Passive) {1/25}

___________________________________________

Just as I finished reading it, more text flashed in front of me.

[Congratulations on producing your first sentient potato!]

[You have completed a hidden quest!]

[You have ranked up! Your title has been changed to {L’Der Potato (Stage 1)}.]

[You have unlocked the ‘L’Der’ skill {Set Quest}.]

[Germinate} has leveled up! 4/30]

[Germinate} has leveled up! 5/30]

[Germinate} has leveled up! 6/30]

[Please select a name for ‘Unnamed Sentient Potato’.]

‘W-w-w-whaaat?!’