It was finally time; Kaden had all the tools he needed to finally leave this non-stop hell-hole of open-field and find a proper water source. Most isekai protagonists found water, babes, and their mega-cheat by now.

Unfortunately, his week in this strange, new world was far from simple as far as a reincarnation isekai went. Not only had he come too close to death multiple times but his growth was significantly slower than most. Or at least it felt that way. Exceptions to the formula existed but all his years of studying the genre had sparsely done more than reinforce that a true isekai was about the rapid escalation of the world-hopper. Maybe it was the fact his tale was one of reincarnation that was slowing him down... but with Nugget depending on him, there wasn't any more time to lose wishing for a speed-up. The ranbi killing-solution would need to come once they were safe and had water to wash the stumpy fucker off.

Okay... Uproot!

The grassy hero lurched and tore free, shaking his longest grasses to draw Nugget back. The creature's muscles and size were too heavy to ride along among the bodies, so, for now, it would simply walk alongside him. But a more interesting change was also helping to alleviate the weight that was amassing on his form: mites. The decomposers had shown up before any other decomposer and had begun the arduous task of breaking down the bodies. For now, they weren't even after his grasses. The little things were too small to see very well but Kaden knew they were around. Perhaps later, he would find a way to further inspect them.

Nugget, in particular, seems to dislike them; whenever they try crawling around near it, Nugget stomps them. It might be the mites in this field fear me but are willing to try digesting normal creatures. It'd certainly explain why all this grassland hasn't been tapped. Water lies only beneath the surface, so there must be humans who've tried.

As the pair walked - or rather moved slowly, due to Kaden's roots being much slower than Nugget could run - he took note of the new option Party and a new title Amateur Leader. While the party menu was entirely like one might suspect, it was surprising to know that Nugget had partied up with him. Their lack of verbal communication hadn't given him a proper manner of checking it but perhaps it was waiting for them to start adventuring before it properly assigned the party. Of course, Kaden had known there were some party mentions before from his stupid Mentor title. But like Mentor, Amateur Leader was much more simple whilst the party system granted him access to some other knowledge.

Party Information

The main advantages of any Party Menu are simple; Kaden's was no different. He could see only the important factors a party may need to know or share.

• He could see the Cumulative Level, Current and Total HP, Current and Total MP, and the Current and Total SP of his party members.

• Certain titles and Personal skills could influence what was visible, as the help tip mentioned.

• Party sizes had a limit; his currently was set to 3.

It was quite likely that the Party menu in the future would become much more helpful or better... if he made or met more friends than Nugget, anyway. But it did give him some simple stats for the little shell-wearing warrior. Nugget was Level 5, with 100 HP and 40 SP. Given Nugget's lack of an MP stat, it was safe to assume it was zero or that Nugget lacked any magic to warrant it.

Amateur Leader

A leader taking the first steps into party management; can only lead up to two others. While this person is leading the party, all lower-leveled characters gain a level-based percentage increase to experience.

If a young knight is leading a party at a cumulative level 10 and his squires are level 4, he grants a 6% increase to each individual squire. This example is not representative of how actual levels work, merely this title's mechanics!

In a lot of ways, Kaden was actually glad that he had the title moreso than anything else. If he could have a party up to three members in size, it might pay off to capture a ranbi and try to learn some sort of taming skill or magic. Even a level one ranbi could be held in reserve, given the chance to soak up experience... if that was actually possible in this world. So far, he hadn't been partied with Nugget but the two of them seemed to be sharing. Until he was able to actually track his experience count it was impossible to know just how leveling others up could work. Kaden couldn't let that discourage him, though; being grass wasn't all too bad, even if he only had his central questline egg companion to help him for eternity. Although he had to admit part of him yearned to meet others who were human-like in some capacity. Even dwarves would be fine. Or orcs. Or demons. Kaden needed to find out if this world had "sides" or was just a general fantasy realm at some point, too.

If I'm on the evil side, I don't know how I'll fare; but I guess it wouldn't be too bad. A nice, thick-thighed succubus girlfriend might be awe-

Nugget's shell made a quick shake and Kaden lowered his gaze; they had been walking for only a short time but Nugget had detected something. It took him a few minutes to trail along and up over the hill, his camera panning forward and over Nugget.

Ahead, the fields kept going just as he expected; no tries as far as he could see. The hill was fairly high and with his extra height from his third-person camera, he could see much further than a normal human might. He had no way to adequately know if the sun rose and fell in the east or west because determining which way was north or south wasn't the sort of skill he had. But the fact the sun could rise and descend without revealing anything in the great hills stretching beyond meant he was deep in this terrain; either that or just unlucky enough to not see an end to it.

They don't call this place the Great Fields for nothing. The only reason I even know the name of this place is because of that ancient quest notification. Is this part of my punishment for the things I did before dying? Being stuck, roaming this vast nothingness and being attacked all the time? A companion that can't talk or relate to me?

Kaden truly hadn't taken stock of just how bad it could be without encountering another being able to speak or communicate in some advanced manner. There were tales of men who went mad, even with the companionship of animals, in the far stretches of the world's wilds and frontiers. Notably, there are even some of those who went insane amidst urban eras whilst completely shutting the outside world out. No matter how the man shook it out, his situation grew dimmer with every discovery no matter how much he thought he grew.

But his camera rotations and sulking ended the instant he spun back on the end of his three-sixty sight; he could see the telltale shimmer of blue.

Water!

Kaden set off, giving a short shake so Nugget hustled along with him. The grasses brushing around his organized body weren't too hard to deal with; it was the first true thing outside of pain or bodies passing through him to provide some semblance of texture to his world. Sensory information wasn't easy to parse in his new plant-like body but whenever he brushed through thickets and his roots clanked their silvery strands off stones beneath him, Kaden could feel. All that time he had wasted hadn't numbed him to the sensations of nature but in this new world, he couldn't help but think of the itchy tug of the grasses. The shredding vibrations whenever he used his thorns to cut and tear his way through made him all the more excited to reach the water. As a plant, water could represent many things; drowning, of course, but also drinking and bathing could all be experienced with it. His roots drank all the time but their supply was minimal due to relying on ground moisture and morning dew.

As he passed over the last hill, Kaden finally saw it; a wide about fifteen feet in diameter. It wasn't deep - as he could see stones at the bottom of the pool - but still sank almost a foot and some inches deep. Not deep enough to trouble Nugget nor himself, when he thought about it; he could always roll up into a ball to traverse something like that. Nugget waddled its way into the pool without any hesitation, plopping down in the shallow shore and kicking its legs to stir up small waves.

... Well, I guess you are young.

Kaden waited and watched until Nugget grew bored only a few minutes later, blinking its eye at Kaden before waddling around to explore. It was now or never; Kaden pushed forward... and let his body float across the surface while his outer body carried him forward. One advantage of his plant-like body was that he was lighter than any human; even though he couldn't reach the bottom, his blades were perfectly safe with his roots intersecting and stitching a raft-like spread. Not only was he light and somewhat buoyant, but his roots made it easier to spread himself even further to negate his weight. In a matter of seconds, Kaden had gone from moving slow to simply gliding, using his own momentum and roots to kick his way through and over the water. Only when he reached the other side - completely covering the pool - did his roots snare all the bug-ridden bodies and hoist them, moving them all toward the center.

I've seen how my body works before, so this isn't rocket science; I'm far bigger than this pool, which means that the parts of me outside the water can release or draw in plenty of air. Not only that, but once I bury my roots they won't be too submerged. If I use all the weight and have a little patience, I'll start to sink at the middle... which means...

Kaden sank alright; inch by inch, he drifted lower and through the murky water. It felt a lot like washing or even dipping your hand in a water-filled basin; part of him was wet but it was entirely unique. His immense height meant his blades stood well above the water so maybe it was even comparable to walking into a puddle; even though his roots drew in water to sustain him, he could also restrain that function like one might close their mouth. He didn't risk drawing in any of the bloody wash water from Nugget's stubby legs or even risk finding out if it was dirty; instead, Kaden's roots reached the bottom and dug their way deeper, pushing and pumping through the dirt just enough before snaking in with watertight burrows for his root.

Now... Uproot!

His roots immediately went rigid in their burrows and the ones outside of the small pond burrowed into the dry ground around it; they enlarged to properly get good seals, preventing any water from sinking past and into the holes. Their short venture - which had been almost five hours somehow - had finally found the water they needed... and now that Kaden had rooted, both of them could use it. Nugget could rinse himself clear and the bodies would be kept on the short stretch around him. After a few growths, he'd have a further buffer zone between his core grass and the surrounding shorter grasses; he'd pile the bodies up and form a barrier to slow down any opposition. Nugget was sleeping more and more outside of Kaden's body anyhow so it was fine.

With this, not only did Kaden have a new home with a bit more to look at... but he had actual water. The Ranbi weren't very tall compared to Nugget but going after him meant that they'd need to go deeper. The larger he became, the more grass you had to destroy to harm his HP, after all; if they couldn't reach his deepest parts, it meant he was safe. But for all he knew, there was a bigger ranbi or creature out there; he needed a way to properly power-level to round this week out. And with this newfound environmental blessing paired with the ranbi's size, he had it.

I don't need to kill the ranbi anymore; if I can get them into the water, wrap them up properly... I can simply drown them. Even if they are monstrous little smug shits, they're still living animals. They don't have lungs and their similarities to rabbits are too uncanny. If I use this water... not only can I keep Nugget clean but I can kill our enemies that much faster. I can grow safely with this pond, kill efficiently, and keep a better eye on Nugget. From now on, I am the master of these plains! It's time!

Time to power level so I can evolve!