There was a reason why I wasn’t afraid of the lions. No matter how many gathered running never crossed my mind. Even as the demon gained power as it sacked the nearby barony, I hadn’t prepared to leave. I only thought about leaving when Emily woke up.

My awareness was in every root, stake, and bramble, from the smallest fiber to the living guard towers. From me, qi flowed into the smallest of seeds, grew into structures of my design, and in return, I took off the top. The flora in the ashen hills had adapted to the fire qi rich land. Typical plants wouldn’t grow large in the rocky hills due to the abundance of fire qi. Even the tallest trees were short, around 10ft tall, with deep roots. They needed a personal touch to finish their adaptation to fire qi. Once I fed them my own qi, they quickly bridged the gap evolution had already started. After countless years of sprouting, growing, and seeding the ashen hills, the flora adapted slowly with each generation; I helped them bridge the final gap. Once that final barrier was broken, they absorbed fire qi in earnest. I rode the wave of this change and took full advantage of it, and experimented with my abundant supply of seedlings.

The seeds produced by the trees in this region were heavy and shaped like drills. When they fell, they spun and shot through the air like bullets. While buried deep, they can remain dormant for decades until enough water-saturated them to sprout, then it was a race against time to gather resources and grow.

I became aware of their plight by connecting to the seeds and forcing them to grow unnaturally. Every seed wanted to grow mighty and tall. They want to poke through the ash cloud above and feel the sunlight on their branches.

I knew their desires well because it was the first obstacle I had to overcome to bend the seedlings to my will. Not every seedling gets to be a tall guard tower because sometimes I need a spear. Someone who wants to be one with nature might eventually do things like sing weapons from trees, grant them mobility, and barrow their power. They are retarded. If mankind had thought like that, we would never have used tools in the first place.

Why would I form an equal partnership with something weaker than me? So, I made sure my investment paid dividends in exchange for giving my qi to seeds that might never have sprouted.

At first, I just wanted to build a house, then I wanted to protect Emily while she healed, and now I wanted to go on the offensive. Although it was unfortunate that we weren’t positioned to attack, my entire setup was built for detection and defense. So while I couldn’t slay the lions easily, I could stall them long enough to give them my personal touch.

Thousand demon hosts roared, spreading their demonic aura like a stinking septic miasma but failed to rattle me in my center of power. I wasn’t bound by the qi in my body. My entire base cultivated the abundant fire qi in the air. With every day the demon gave me to build and prepare, my strength grew. By the fourth day, I had already locked a vast portion of the fire qi into my base; with the deaths of a few lions, an incalculable amount of fire qi was absorbed. Even without spirit cores, the lions gushed fire qi when they bled.

Did the demon never wonder why its claws tear but not burn up my thorn thickets around the moat? When I had been inexperienced, its claws had ripped through my home. And slew the seed I had used. But with time and plenty of qi, I shored up my defenses, and they evolved. Four guard towers stood within the wall separating my home from the moat. On the other side of the moat, I build a wall of thorn bushes and brambles, all along with the moat’s edge depositing bramble-covered seeds in the hosts’ fur. Even now, I could feel fragments of my power across the ashen hills. Stakes covered the floor of the empty moat angled in such a way to empale any demon host foolish enough to leap over my briar thickets.

Below my stakes and the bramble patches at their bases, they were connected to a superstructure of twisting roots anchoring everything to my home, whose roots ran the deepest. Even the spears held within my guard towers were connected to the towers by tiny hair-like roots.

None of this was done by listening to nature and letting my seedlings do as they pleased. Instead, to gain power, I crushed the dreams of thousands of seedlings, each with a burgeoning awareness. I forced my power into them and then made them pay for it. By defying their natural order, I connected root systems across species lines bonding them into a single vast organism. By doing this, I had proven that I was still human beyond a shadow of a doubt.

So, I wasn't worried when the demons hosts roared a thousand ashen lions and infected strong. I had gathered and connected myself to something massive. My roots dug 300ft deep and drank from the sweating stones below, my guard towers could bend until they touched the ground but never break, and the spear in my hand could pierce their hide. Let them come to my lair by their thousands. They’ll never breach the walls of my home again. Their blood will feed my roots as they fall, and my dividends will increase. It was the lion who fled from me, not the other way around.

I turned to leave while Emily dressed, grabbed Washington’s leg, and dragged him off to fight. He would pay me back for my protection, my food, and his shameful behavior. “Wait, I’m not ready for this. Aren’t you supposed to train me before you die to protect me?” Washington said.

I shook my head. The poor delusional fool. He attempted to feel up an interrogator. Where the hell did he think he was? I told him to abandon the before times and embrace the new world. Was I not clear enough? Should I have gone with adapt or die? Also, where was this mentor nonsense coming from? Did he think this was a game because of the complete hands-off system, mentally crippling skill, and mass kidnapping? I was sure a nice tall tree and a noose were waiting for him after this battle. There was no need to break his delusion, especially before a battle. I preferred my meat shields in the front, charging at the enemy.

“Did you manage to bond with a wood spirit of medium class? If you couldn’t even manage that, then there isn’t much I can teach you. How good are you in qi control? I had to stoke the smoker flames several times; I thought that was your job.” I said.

“Hey, I’m not your slave, bro, so I’m not going to waste my time keeping some flames lit. That’s a job for NPCs. As for the wood spirit, none of them would bond with me except for the one who looks like a grandma. I’m not into GILFs.” Washington said.

I wondered briefly if I could suggest he be hung from a cherry tree. The irony was too good to pass up. Emily will probably shoot him to be done with it if he flees from battle. Teaching him something to improve his odds of survival seemed like a waste. I had already offered sound advice, but he spat on it. After giving my dilemma, some thought I came up with a solution.

We were in my kitchen now. The lions were still roaring, but none had crossed the thicket yet. Of course, it would be go-time when they crossed the line, but I might as well experiment a little until then.

“What is stopping you from bravely charging the demon hosts?” I asked.

“At least a dozen legendary items and multiple realms of cultivation. I don’t think I can win without being in the majority realm.” Washington said.

I reached into a clay bowl and counted out 7 seeds. “The correct answer is armor. A claw from a lion doesn’t mean shit if it can’t rip and tear. But, of course, they’re still the size of Clydesdales, so the ragdoll will still kill you. Well, that’s if you were still a normal human. The system gave you skill, and you could make a difference with a little armor. I mean, the last demon that attacked didn’t leave here alive. That’s just me fighting alone. Your younger and in better shape, if you helped, we would win for sure.” I said.

“I thought war was behind us. In the before times, there were no more wars. We were able to bash the fash openly and without consequence. I had so much pussy.” Washington said.

“This isn’t a war; it's survival; the demon wants to destroy humanity. It was literally spawned by cruelty and will only die kicking and screaming. So you can stay here and hide like a little bitch while my fresh out of bed female interrogator joins me on the front line or man the fuck up.”

“Give me the armor.” I tossed a seed at him, and it expanded before wrapping around him. There wasn’t much time, so I built it to protect the most vital areas and a few critical joints. While it wasn’t the best armor in the world, it would keep him from dying too quickly.

“Congratulations, you have fire qi absorbing wooden armor.” I slid open the door, grabbed him by his breastplate, and shoved him outside, all the while struggling to hold back my smirk.

There was no way in hell I would be gentle with this guy. It was honestly adorable that the teen who looked fresh out of high school turned medieval man at arms would survive longer than the older commander. Young men died by the droves in war while old men led; didn’t he get the memo?

“Why does this hurt so much? It feels like tiny worms are burrowing through my skin; everything is itchy, but I can’t scratch through the armor, and it’s draining my qi. Are you trying to kill me? Is this the betrayal that’ll lead to my power up?”

“Cultivate; the armor will stop draining you when it's had enough. This is the first time I’ve given someone armor, so it’s a little rough around the edges. Don’t worry, I don’t think it's fatal, and once you go outside where there is more fire qi, the armor will drain you less. Probably, well, it's better than having your intestines gouged out.” I said.

Once we entered the open fire qi filled air, his shoulder’s sagged in relief. “I feel better already. So, this is armor built for fighting against the demons. Could I have a wooden sword and shield to complete the set? Are there any bonuses to completing the set? Like will my attacks do extra damage?” Washington said.

“Have you ever used a sword outside of VR? No, of course not; who other than LARPers or weapons hobbyists know how to really use a sword. I don’t either. Guns are worthless for now; knives are too close for you and not sharp enough; how about a wooden spear and shield. Any idiot can use a spear.” I said.

“Every hero uses a sword while only a few use shields. If I don’t use the right weapons, how will anyone know I’m a hero. To earn the job, you have to dress the part. You don’t see CEOs in sweatpants and hoodies.”

“No, but some wear turtlenecks. So, you choose death. Alright, I’ll give you a sword and hero shield.” I said.

I made a double-edged hero-looking sword and made it extra flashy with a feathery winged guard out of wood. Then I based his shield design more off of a giant frisbee than anything useful. He’d be better off using it as a sundial than a shield. When Washington held his weapon aloft dressed in living wood armor, I was confident he would die in this fight. Yet, he looked practically heroic and brave at a distance.

“How do I take the armor off when I need to use the bathroom?”

“Ask it nicely to make a flap.” So I said and went to find Lucio.