Grafting is the process by which cultigens at Sprout level or above may merge their unique abilities. Once a cultigen gains her Roots, she can draw power not only directly from the metaphysical representation of her Concept, but other cultigens as well. To perform a Graft, two cultigens of similar power will serve two different roles, that of the stock and the scion. The stock will simply give their consent (as foreign Roots cannot forcibly enter another cultigen) and the scion will extend their Roots into them. At which point it becomes impossible to stop, the Graft must be finished.

The stock’s soul will rapidly be completely drained of power, surging into the scion. The stock falls unconscious and the scion, bursting with foreign energy, must shape the combined power into a graft-chimera or risk rupturing their own soul. There has been no consistent form to graft-chimeras observed so far, but they generally respond to the most pressing need in the scion’s soul. This can manifest in surprising ways, such as Internet and Link’s graft-chimera becoming the Grapevine, the network that connects every ILC product, merging their respective Flowers of Communication and Connection. Most graft-chimeras are not nearly as stable however, and quickly degrade into the environment. This is not to say they’re useless, many a cultigen has been saved by a timely Graft because of the multiplicative effect it provides on their abilities. It is simply quite perilous, as the stock will die unless under strong direct Sunlight, a luxury not found in most Burrows.

Excerpt from “Cultigens, A Mundane View”

Musa opened his eyes just before dawn, staring up at his ceiling. The previous night, he’d spilled everything to his two friends. Mike, confident as ever, had boldly stated that any would-be assassin would have to go through him first. His logic was that since they specialised in precogs, they’d be completely unprepared for him. Jas, surprisingly, had seemed worried for once and simply hoped Musa’s Seed wasn’t prescient. Musa and Mike had fought for a bit, hand-to-hand, in an attempt to reactivate his Seed but the voice had stayed frustratingly elusive, even when Jas started blinding him with his Seed at random times. In the end, they shared the rest of the now cold pizza and turkey and retired to their rooms.

Now however, Musa was motivated anew. He swung out of his bed and walked out of his room in his boxers. Mike was already waiting for him in the open plan kitchen, eating a slice of toasted bread. “Is Jas coming this time?” he asked the big man.

“Nah, he said he’d rather wrestle with the women in his dreams than two fight-crazy humans.” They both laughed at the prince’s refusal. Every day for the past two weeks, they asked him to join them in dawn drills on the roof. Every day, he had a different, oddly blunt reason not to wake up. Before he had had a veritable thesaurus implanted in his head, he’d been learning English by immersion and stuck by them almost everywhere they went. Since then, he had seemingly gotten comfortable enough to be his lazy self around them, now that the language barrier had been fully broken. They didn’t mind overmuch, the prince had been trained by the best warriors and teachers on his homeworld for his entire life, he deserved a break.

“You gonna put clothes on?”

“Oh Mike, what’s the point of a muscular body if not to show it off every now and again?”

The two made their way up to the grey shingles of Manono and started their combat practise with slow, controlled movements. They had done this thousands of times by now, to the point that the spar would look choreographed to anyone watching. They sped up, ducking and weaving from blows that struck out like vipers. The twilit sky steadily brightened as the Sun rose, the ambient energy in the area slowly increasing with the light. The Sun peeked over the Bulwark in the horizon, and as the light hit them, they sped up again, going just beyond their human limits as their Seeds drank in the life-giving Sunlight. Musa suddenly stopped. Mike followed suit, confused.

“I have an idea. What if we added mortal danger to this? Empower your strikes with Penetration.”

“Are you crazy? My Seed isn’t that strong yet, but neither is yours. I’ll cleave you.”

“Only if you touch me.” Musa grinned.

“And how do you plan to block? I’m nearly as fast as you and I only need to hit you once for you to start breathing out of your ribcage. I’d also like to remind you you’re only in boxers right now.”

“Bro, if we don’t get this working, I’ll be a sitting duck for any assassins. Not to mention, we’re gonna be in a strike team together. I need to bring something other than a pretty face to the table.”

“You’re not that pretty, bitch. And you’ve been a better fighter than me for years, and I’m better than almost everyone else in our class. You’re already an asset.”

Musa went silent for a bit, then looked out towards the Sun. No cultigen would be harmed from staring directly into the flaming source of energy, and he took full advantage of the fact. “Mike, you know I shouldn’t be here.”

“What do you mean? You’re a damn prodigy!”

“At beating people up, sure. But this is the Worldshaker’s Academy. Our lecturers are all Guilders and some of the strongest people in the world. In just two weeks, we’ve seen more Flowers than most people see in their whole lives. Heroes come out of this institution. Leaders, inventors, pioneers. Being good at throwing a punch only gets you so far.”

Mike studied Musa, the dark man’s annoyingly handsome face highlighted in the orange Sunlight. He sighed. “Okay. But I reserve the right to mock you for life if you lose a leg.”

Musa’s cheeks dimpled as he flashed a brilliant smile. “Thanks bro, what would I do without you?”

“Drown in your insecurities, probably.” The blond giant retorted as he stepped into position.

“What insecurities? I’m the perfect man, according to your sister at least.”

“I don’t even have a sister. No wonder your Seed won’t work, you don’t remember shit.”

Musa laughed, then suddenly struck out with a kick, aiming to put his friend on the defensive. It didn’t work as the man pushed his leg to the side, then aimed a Penetration empowered punch at his torso. Musa used to force of the push to pivot around his other leg and, ducking under the punch, swept his leg back round, trying to trip him up. Mike saw this and empowered his foot, stomping down towards the approaching leg. Musa simply brought his leg back in and sprang up with a strike at his opponent’s liver. The hit landed while Mike’s foot sank through the roof. “Okay, gloves off, you slippery bastard.”

Mike jerked his foot out of the roof, kicking grey tile debris at Musa’s face. He backed off, expecting to see Mike following up with a fist, but the man was instead picking up the larger pieces of roof tile. His eyes widened.

Floor.

Musa instantly lay prone, Penetration empowered missiles rocketing above him.

Right.

The barrage continued, each shard of tile slicing through the roof like a knife through butter as Musa rolled away.

Forward.

Not even considering how different this instruction was, Musa sprinted forward.

Duck.

Musa slid under two projectiles, tackling Mike with his leg outstretched and ruining his footing. The man fell forward, dropping his remaining missiles and putting his palms out to catch himself.

Grab.

Musa grabbed one hand and pulled, making him bash his face into the now pockmarked roof. Quick as a flash, Musa got above him and knelt on his shoulders, a huge smile threatening to split his face completely. “You yield?”

“Yes! Fuck you’re heavy. And put some damn clothes on while you’re on top of me.”

He stood up and offered Mike a hand, pulling him up.

“I’m guessing it worked, you’re practically bouncing in place.” Mike said as he dusted himself off.

“Did it ever! It wasn’t even just dodge instructions, it directed me to take you down as quick as possible! This could be like a fighting sense!”

“I don’t think so, what would fighting sense have to do with Remembrance? Maybe we’re missing something.”

“Pfft, don’t be a wet blanket, Mike. Why else would it only appear when I’m in mortal danger? I’m a fucking precog!”

Mike had his doubts, but Musa was so happy. So he let it be. “Let’s go down and wake His Majesty up, we’ll be late for first period.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With his Seed working, and a conversation with Mr McLeod to get the right training, the week seemed to pass by in a flash, classes being simple enough with Mike’s help studying. The administration seemed to take his potential assassination seriously, with guards posted outside Manono every night. He was impressed by his classmates, who weren’t trailing far behind him, Mike and Jas in Close Quarter Combat. And a few were straight up better with weaponry than him and Jas, unless he used his short spear and shield, the unconventional combo keeping him just ahead. They were trained hard in the main weapon styles as a foundation because after they bloomed, there would be a heavier focus on fighting with their Concepts and you never knew which weapon would have the best synergy with your Sprout. Eventually, Mr McLeod made the announcement.

“Seeds. I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen. Obviously, you’re all familiar with most weapons and adequate with CQC, so we can move on quickly. Form a team of four and start working together. This will be the strike team you carry through the rest of your time here. I’ll give you a month. Then we’ll go out to a Burrow.”

Burrows, the reason humans could get so powerful but equally, a dangerous menace. They manifested when perturbations in the upper atmosphere focused the Sunlight like a lens, creating hotspots of power. Generally, non-sapients cannot harness the Sun. But when a hotspot focuses on a plant, there’s a chance it absorbs the energy and becomes a semi-sapient Drasil. All Burrows are formed around Drasils, the tree mutating all the life around it. The tree forms a symbiotic relationship with the mutated fauna or flora in the vicinity, providing a high ambient energy level in return for protection. The longer it lasts, the more energy the tree absorbs from the Sun, which means even higher ambient energy levels, allowing the Burrow residents to get much stronger and fiercer than naturally possible.

This high ambient energy isn’t all bad however, as it allows for Florescence. Cultigens who actively use their Concept within a Burrow will bloom into the next stage of power in a Florescence event. These happen when a cultigen’s soul, whether Seed, Sprout, or Bud, pushes the limits of what it’s capable of, usually when it’s completely empty and needs more power. It absorbs all the ambient energy near instantly, upgrading itself with the excess and creating a vacuum effect in which energy rushes to fill the dead zone, triggering other blooms. Strike teams are organised in groups of four for exactly this reason, as this vacuum effect can repeat up to three more times.

“Well shit, who’s our fourth?”

Musa, Mike and Jas looked around the class. Most students had already chosen their teams days before, and the people who hadn’t were the ones no one wanted. A familiar pink-haired girl was standing with the group.

“Fuck you guys.” She laughed.

As Musa was forbidden from telling anyone about his precognitive abilities, he never ended up going to Birgitte’s room during the week. They had started eating together in the cafeteria and having the odd spar during CQC however, and she was not only fun but meshed well with Mike and Jas. It had become somewhat of a foregone conclusion that she’d join them. He just had to find the right time to tell her he could sense the future because he took pinky swears seriously.

“You know, you never did tell us what your Concept was, and I haven’t seen you use it yet.” Mike queried.

“You have, it’s just easy to miss. I have a Seed of Abundance and mostly use it so I don’t run out of ammo. I’m definitely more of a long-range fighter than anything else.”

“Worry not, beauteous maiden. A prince’s team must be both forceful and versatile, strong like an oak yet flexible like a willow.”

“Sorry?”

“As in, your long-range fighting,” Musa explained, “We aim to specialise in our roles, but also be able to switch up if necessary, in case shit happens.”

“Fair enough, I can get behind that. Just try to keep up with me, boys.” She said with a smirk.

“Big words coming from the loser of both our fights.” Musa retorted.

“You forget, we can’t use lethal force in practise. I wager you’ll re-evaluate that statement once we’re in action.” She responded, just as confidently.

“Can you two stop fucking flirting? We have work to do.” Mike shook his head, playing the part of strike captain already, before he walked towards the wall to pick out some weapons.

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a long story, but he takes Burrows very seriously. He’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Well then beloved friends, nothing for it but to step forth, and join our illustrious leader.”

“Yup. Let’s fucking do this.”