《Growing Strong》Ch.15 Regenerating Roots
Advertisement
The Church of Lenessa taught that after death, your soul would be guided by Lenessa to its proper resting place. Those that lived righteous lives would enjoy an eternity of enjoyment and relaxation in heaven, while those who sinned would first need to be cleansed through the fires of purgatory. Of course, different branches of the faith believed in separate variations of the afterlife, but in none of them would one’s soul remain on Lenessia. It was for this reason that Elise so confused as she watched the wolves devour her body limb by limb.
After using Mother’s Sacrifice ability, Elise had felt her soul start to tug away from her body. She had expected to be whisked away to the afterlife, but she had instead stopped and remained a few feet in the air. Inspecting her new form, she still looked the same with the only difference being that she was now slightly transparent. Willing her spirit to move, she watched as her spirit drifted closer to the wolves, waving her hands and shouting to see if they could notice her. From their lack of reaction, Elise guessed that they couldn’t. As a Priestess of Izenia, Elise had dedicated her adult life to maintaining Izenia’s values. Between her contributions towards local orphanages and her final sacrifice, Elise had taken solace in her final moments that she would be going to heaven. The fact that she hadn’t threw her off – had she done anything wrong? She couldn’t remember if she had, but even then she should have been sent to purgatory. There had to be some other reason why her spirit was still here.
Elise was tempted to drift back to Izen and see if the rest of her party had made it back safely. She wanted above all to reassure them that her death was not their fault. She knew that Marco, the man who had been carrying her, would feel especially responsible for her demise, but it was ultimately her decision and she didn’t want them to be burdened with guilt. Realistically, she knew that they would probably be unable to see her as well – there was a reason why ghosts were only heard of in folk tales and never seen in real life. However, as Elise watched the wolves finish eating and start heading back towards their den, she knew that there something important that only she could confirm, something that she could still do. Promising to herself that she’d visit Izen afterwards, Elise started drifting behind the wolves, following the trail of black energy they left behind. She would find out what had caused the wolves to grow so strong, even if it cost her soul.
Days blended together as Elise trailed the wolves for a bit less than a week, but the wolves still showed no signs of stopping. They had passed the wolves’ lair days ago, but Elise could see that the density of the wolves’ black energy gradually increased as they continued forwards. Clasping her hands together, Elise murmured another prayer to Izenia. She had always thought of herself as a strong woman, but even she was scared of approaching the source of the dark power.
Advertisement
Twenty minutes later, the wolves started to slow down. Looking forwards, Elise could see a thick line of trees, but beyond that her view was blocked by a black fog. She watched as the wolves ambled through the wall, disappearing into the forest, and took a deep breath as she too plunged inside. The sight that greeted her would have scared her to death if she had still been alive.
The pack of wolves was still there, but they weren’t alone. Just beyond the initial line of trees was a large clearing brimming with all the monsters native to the Izenia region. Trolls and goblins polished their clubs next to each other, while minotaurs patrolled around the outskirts. Manticores and harpies, rare species that would usually only be found in mountains and caves, were idly resting in the open forest clearing. Elise couldn’t help but gasp – monsters usually never got along outside of their territory and species, and even then she had never heard of a group this large. If all of these monsters were as strong as the dark wolves that were capable of nearly wiping out her party, a horde of this size could easily destroy Izenia.
Elise continued looking around the clearing, finally spotting a hooded man in the center of the clearing presiding over a pedestal with a black orb on top. Elise watched as he beckoned the wolves towards him, reaching his hands towards them as strands of black energy left the wolves and entered the orb. The orb grew even darker, and Elise could feel the ominous aura in the clearing grow even stronger. Suddenly, the man snapped his head up and looked directly at Elise, his crazed eyes sending a chill down her ethereal spine.
“Why have you come, Agent of the Betrayer? You will suffer!”
The previously calm clearing burst into frenzy, with claws, clubs, and poisonous spikes flying towards Elise’s location. Raising her arms in defense, Elise watched as the attacks passed through her body leaving no signs of visible damage. The robed man was enraged, shrieking and grasping the black orb. Black smoke rapidly exited the orb, and within ten seconds the smoke had congregated into three scythed reapers. Elise had a feeling that the attack of these reapers would be a lot more deadly, and immediately started floating away as quickly as possible, reaching an impressive velocity.
Elise burst through the tree line and exited the black miasma with the trio of reapers hot on her tail, her mind was in a panic, impairing her sense of direction. She had intended to run back to the safety of Izenia’s cathedral where she hoped the holy energy would be able to repel the reapers, but she was heading too far east to reach the city. Instead, she was heading away from the Dromas River towards a stretch of abandoned farmland that nobody had inhabited for years. However, Elise had no way of knowing this as she desperately ran for her life.
Advertisement
The plot of land Ian had bought had been vacant due to its poor location. Three days travel away from the city, the land was also too far from the Dromas River to benefit from its fertility. The soil quality was poor, and almost nobody frequented the adjacent roads. Due to its isolation, average farmers would fear monster attacks and struggle with transportation. All these factors that would make regular farmers think twice made this plot perfect for Ian.
After gathering supplies and enough rations to last a few months, Ian had used up a majority of the money he had gathered. While Midas’ purse had been full of gold and silver, Ian saw no point in saving it and had used it to purchase as many resources as possible. Not all of his purchases would fit inside his Magical Farm, so he had hired a caravan to help bring him and his stuff to his new land. The dried and preserved foodstuffs Ian purchased had filled a wagon by themselves. After spending a night in a mid-class inn, Ian was off to his new farm.
The trip to the farm was uneventful. Like the trip to Brenas, Ian sat at the back of the wagon and made the best of his time by casting Magical Botany on Ezra and Sartonius, entrusting the wagon’s safety to the two mercenaries walking alongside him. While hiring the mercenaries had resulted in another dip in Ian’s resources, it was standard procedure in the Kingdom of Lubiel due to the presence of monsters meaning merchants would refuse to travel without them. Three days later, the caravan leader dropped Ian and his stuff off and quickly left. The leader had no idea why this young man would want to live in the middle of nowhere and it was none of his business, but he’d be damned if he stayed there any longer than necessary. That would just be asking to be attacked.
Inspecting his land, Ian saw the farmhouse that the land agent had mentioned. Smaller than the agent had described, its size made it more qualified to be called a shack instead of a house, but it was enough for Ian to live in by himself. Ian set aside the pile of supplies sitting by the side of the road and got to work. The first thing he did was pull Ezra and Sartonius out of his Magical Farm and place them by his side – if there was one thing the past few weeks had taught him, it was to always be prepared for an attack. Next, he found a patch of relatively dark soil, pulled out a hoe and started preparing the land for seeds. Ian’s objective in buying this farm was not to grow food to sell in the city like most farmers, but to raise his next generation of Magical Plants. After hoeing a small area he deemed it to be enough and put down his hoe. Ian checked his status.
Status Name Ian Age 18 Class Magical Botanist HP 105 MP 131 STR 110 DEX 109 INT 194 WIS 121 Skills Farming (PASSIVE) 8 (56.3%) Manual Labor (PASSIVE) 1 (93.2%) Magical Gardening (PASSIVE) 1 (14.4%) Magic Plant Digestion (PASSIVE) 1 (43.9%) Magical Botany 2 (99.9%) Magical Crossbreeding 1 Magical Farm 1 (14.7%)
Ian retrieved his seed bags from his Magical Farm and laid them out before him. Some of them he had brought from his family farm and others he had just purchased in Izen. There were a lot of different plant species for Ian to choose from, but his selection criteria wasn’t based on normal factors such as nutritional value and growth speed, but which plant would be able to assist Ian in defense once it evolved into a Magical Plant. Ian spent a few minutes imagining the mature versions of each species and what sorts of abilities they could possess.His INT had continued to increase from consuming Magical Peas but the growth rate had significantly reduced. While disappointed, Ian was happy that he could now eat regular foods without feeling guilty for missing stat gains. His other stats had remained the same, but Ian knew that he especially needed to raise his STR as it would help increase his health and physical abilities. His skills had also continued to grow in level, but Magical Botany had been stuck at 99.9% for two days now, no matter how many times he continued to cast it. Ian wasn’t too sure why exactly this had happened, but from his general knowledge he knew that this meant he had to fulfill some sort of condition before the skill would level up. Unfortunately, this condition was something that was normally taught from teacher to apprentice, a relationship Ian did not have the luxury of enjoying. He would just have to try a variety of things before meeting this unknown requirement.
Ian had no clue which plants were of each attribute, but he assumed that if he was searching for a defensive plant he should choose one that possessed natural defense mechanisms. Putting the rest of the seed bags back, Ian was left with an assortment of squash and pumpkin varieties. Their hard fruits seemed indicative of a STR nature, so Ian would try his hand at growing these first. Grabbing a squash seed bag, Ian opened it and started planting. He had enough time to grow a few different plants to test his powers more thoroughly, Ian thought. There was no way that he’d have to fight for his life again in this remote farm, right?
Advertisement
- In Serial63 Chapters
Wolf's Oath Book 1: Oath Sworn
In Aralt ‘Wolf” syr Tremayne’s world, skyships sail above tidal extremes, crystal swords are Tuned, and the soul-touched inspire both awe and fear. The latter doesn’t phase him, he carries a Tuned blade, and as for the ships…Aralt prefers to keep his feet on solid ground. Having finally laid to rest the ghosts of his past, he is unprepared when the grave gives one of them back. To his shame, it isn’t the one he wants. Lian Kynsei’s arrival upends Aralt’s life, but there is nothing he can do about it. Oath-bound to Lian, the last of a priestly clan, he is now defender of the scion of a faith he no longer shares. But the boy Aralt once knew is gone. In his place is a reckless, traumatized teen who can light the sky on fire. The more they get reacquainted, the less Aralt likes him—and the feeling is mutual. As revenge against a common enemy boils in his blood, Aralt struggles to do his oath-sworn duty and secure sanctuary for the heir-apparent to a mystical dynasty. But instead of safety, every step brings them closer to danger: sky pirates, cannibals, and a relentless soulless scourge unleashed by their enemy are all intent on killing Lian—or worse. Death, Aralt realizes, might be the greater mercy. ---------------------------------------------------------- What to Expect: Character-driven Plot Novel Pacing (which I accept isn't typical for serials) Elaborate Worldbuilding (you gotta pay attention) Soul-bonded Swords Sentient Wolves Longish Chapters What Not to Expect: Litrpg (sorry!) Harem (not sorry!) Magic System Short Chapters Dancing Bears (at least so far) Seriously, this is a second-world low fantasy/science-fantasy featuring a strong, but flawed male protagonist, a cheeky teenage boy that’s driving him crazy, a wee bit o’ Scots flavor, and a whole lot of culture clashing. I’m preparing to relaunch this story on Kindle once the second and third books are ready and I’d love some feedback as I move through those revisions. I'm serious about the feedback. All comments are welcome. I'll name a characters after you. And kill them, if you want. :) Oh, did I mention soulless assassins and cannibals? Yeah, Aralt’s day is not getting any better. cover image by brosedesignz
8 119 - In Serial59 Chapters
From Bookish To Goddess
Locking herself away forever in a library dimension, Astrid gained untold knowledge. Eventually, she ran out of books and would have to go explore the outside world or what was left of it. With her arch magus level of control of magic, she sets out to see the changes in the world. Race-wide curses? Divinity? Calamity beasts? Domes? Corporations? New religions? What has this world come to?!? 📚📖📚 New releases every Friday @ 16:00 aka 4pm This is my first series please be gentle. Feel free to critique just try to be constructive. I will never stub this story unless it gets an anime adaption and they tell me to :) Cover art by: juliette_draww on instaEditor: https://www.fiverr.com/genniferulmen (I send chapters to her every so often, so if you see something wrong in a newer chapter is me not her.) 📚📖📚 What to expect: - Light-hearted story, where cute girl does op things while trying to fix the world's problems. - Overpowered MC that is only limited by their decision-making skills. - Silly and comedic actions with a serious undertone to the issues she is solving. - Friendship and working with others to help solve problems. She relies on books and those around her to aid in her mission to get more books and save the world. What not to expect: -Harem -Ecchi -MC RomanceOnly publicly available on Royal Road, Scribble Hub, and Foxaholic
8 151 - In Serial46 Chapters
Future of Rogues (Series 1 - Book 1: Into our Journeys)
Chaos... and Rogues... Btw, how do I draw a good cover? ^^;;;
8 116 - In Serial39 Chapters
My Ordinary Life
Life is a wonderful thing . .I, Takahashi Takahiro, never thought of it before...I took it for granted..But, living is not supposed to be that easy.Right now... In this new world . .I have to use my head for every little step I need to take.And I start to understand those words which I heard when I was a little kid. . .Yeah . . Here I am, trying to enjoy my life.And this is . . . . a story about My Ordinary Life
8 206 - In Serial27 Chapters
Star Wars (But Mostly kylo ren) Imagines + Lemons (Requests Closed)
INCLUDES (BUT NOT LIMITED TO)•Kylo Ren•Han Solo•Boba Fett•Anakin Skywalker•Obi Wan Kenobi•Luke Skywalker•Rey•Poe Dameron•Armitage Hux AND MORE!I also want to add that I am bisexual so some of these will include Fem! X Reader smut because I can. If you don't like it I completely understand, just skip over. Requests are open 100% Choose any character from the Star Wars Franchise and I'll get on with your story right away, just fill out a lil something something and lose it in the comments/direct message
8 178 - In Serial43 Chapters
Rejection - Pernico
Shortly after the Second War, Percy's not-so-little secret comes out: he's not straight. Chased by the Romans who've been won over and led by Octavian, he flees to the Isle of Shadows, where Nico currently resides. Together, they discover another plot to bring down the demigod camps, and eventually strike down the gods, yada yada yada. Will the forces of evil just take a freaking break!?[[edit: set after Blood of Olympus, except Annabeth and Percy stay at camp, and Nico doesn't. Also, this was written before BoO, so things are a little au.]]
8 74