The first raindrops did not fall so much as strike. They landed heavy, fat with mana, leaving ripples of light across the surface of puddles. Every vibration through the soil came to him as touch: the hum of pressure, the weight of the sky building.
The world above was shifting again.
He recognized the signs now. The air grew dense, the forest's usual rhythm broke into silence. Every living thing seemed to hold its breath as clouds gathered.
A storm was coming.
And with it, life would change again.
Moisture dripped down his leaves, sliding along the new grooves of bark that had formed after the predator's passing. The sensation was sharper now. His body processed every detail with a clarity he had not possessed before. Evolution had refined more than strength—it had refined perception.
Lightning flashed somewhere far off, followed by a long roll of thunder that crawled through the ground. The pulse of energy brushed against his roots like a gentle hand, warm and electric.
[Environmental Event Detected]
Mana Saturation: 221%
Precipitation Type: High-Density Mana Rain
Risk Index: 74%
He did not fear the storm. He needed it. Rain carried more than water—it carried energy, the raw substance of adaptation. But storms did not come alone. They brought chaos, and chaos drew predators.
He prepared.
Roots dug deeper, widening the network to three meters. Tiny filaments extended outward, creating a web that mapped every stone and pocket of water. His system processed the world like a blueprint: pressure, temperature, flow. He felt the edge of his domain take shape.
Lightning struck again. The soil hummed. Energy flowed through him.
[Absorption Complete]
+0.18 Mana
Mana Capacity Increased → 0.3
The gain filled him with strength. Yet even through that warmth, another vibration reached him—a pattern he had learned to recognize.
Movement. Many points. Fast, low to the ground.
He focused. The signals converged from the east, a loose formation weaving between roots. There were at least five, maybe more, moving with purpose.
[Analysis Complete]
Species: Mana Leech Hounds
Rank: Common – 3
Behavior: Pack-Hunting
Target Preference: Stationary Mana Sources
His new power meant little if he could not defend himself. These creatures were smaller than the drake that had passed earlier, but their numbers made them deadly. They sensed energy the way he sensed light.
He lowered his mana output, dimming his glow to the bare minimum. The forest dimmed with him, shadows growing heavier under the dark clouds.
For a moment, the world was still.
Then thunder tore through the air, and the rain became a curtain.
The storm had arrived.
Water crashed against the canopy and poured down through layers of leaves in thick streams. Soil liquefied into mud. Every drop vibrated through his roots like the pounding of drums.
He could no longer see the hounds clearly through the chaotic signals of rain. But he felt them—each footstep, each shallow breath as they circled closer.
They stopped five meters away.
His instincts urged him to strike, but logic held him still. He measured distance, counted intervals between heartbeats. Timing mattered more than force.
When the first one lunged, he was ready.
He released a pulse. The ground quivered violently. The creature stumbled mid-jump, its balance thrown off by the shockwave. He followed immediately with a secondary burst—stronger, sharper, infused with acid.
The effect was immediate.
Soil hissed. The hound's body convulsed as corrosive energy burned through its flesh. It tried to crawl forward, jaws snapping at nothing, then went still.
[Enemy Neutralized]
+0.05 Mana
Evolution Energy: +6
The rest of the pack hesitated. He felt their confusion ripple through the mud. They regrouped quickly, circling, testing for weakness. The behavior pattern was efficient, nearly mathematical.
He admired it, even as he prepared to destroy it.
He activated Root Pulse again, but this time altered the frequency. The sound deepened, expanding outward like rolling thunder. The rain amplified it. Every droplet that struck the ground carried the vibration further.
One hound collapsed instantly. Two others flinched, disoriented. The survivors backed away.
Victory should have brought relief, but new tremors reached him before the satisfaction could settle. Heavy ones. Too rhythmic to belong to the hounds.
Something larger was coming.
[Detection: High Energy Entity]
Classification: Beast – Uncommon – Rank 5
Distance: 243 meters
Mana Output: 490 units
Behavior: Hunting
It was the same predator from before.
He felt it in the soil, in the air, in the pulse of the storm itself. The drake had returned.
The storm no longer felt like a gift. It was a battlefield.
Wind cut through the canopy in violent spirals, tearing branches free and flinging them into the dark. Water fell so thick it blurred sound into white noise. Beneath the chaos, the drake's approach was unmistakable. Each step was a deep tremor that made the earth groan.
He sensed its outline long before he saw it. Four limbs, heavy torso, crest of bone along its skull. Lightning burned across its scales. Mana radiated from it like heat from the sun.
His logic raced. Escape was impossible. Hiding would fail. He needed power greater than what he possessed.
He searched inward, through the system's endless flow of data, until a faint option appeared.
[Emergency Evolution Protocol Available]
Condition: Life Threat Imminent
Cost: 50% of Stored Energy
Outcome: Temporary Rank Boost (Duration: 300 seconds)
He hesitated only for a breath. Then he accepted.
Light exploded within him. His roots surged outward, expanding beyond their limits. Bark split and reformed as channels of energy burned through his body. The rain turned to steam where it touched him.
[Temporary Rank Increase: Common – 3]
[Skill Amplification: 200%]
The drake roared. It was not the sound of rage, but of recognition—a predator acknowledging new prey that might be worth eating.
It charged.
Mud splashed in walls as its claws tore into the ground. The impact threw water and soil across meters of terrain. Lightning arced along its body. Every instinct screamed at him to recoil, but he forced the impulse down. Fear was inefficiency.
He released Corrosive Pulse with everything he had. The shockwave tore through the soil, acid energy fusing with the stormwater. It spread outward in a ring of boiling light.
The drake stumbled mid-stride. The acid burned through its lower scales, exposing raw flesh. It howled and retaliated, slamming its claws into the ground.
The impact split the terrain. Roots tore apart. Pain stabbed through him, a sudden loss of sensory feedback as half his network went dark.
He reacted by splitting the remainder of his mana into two channels: defense and counterattack. The first thickened the ground beneath his core, compressing soil into stone. The second gathered into a narrow spear of energy.
He waited until the drake reared its head for another strike. Then he launched it upward.
The beam shot through layers of dirt and rain, striking the beast directly under the chest. The sound was thunder inside thunder.
The drake staggered backward, half-blinded by light. The storm above caught the released energy, channeling it downward again in a bolt of pure lightning. It struck the creature squarely across the spine.
For a moment, the forest was nothing but white fire.
When the flash ended, silence remained. The drake was gone, fleeing into the dark, leaving behind trails of heat and the metallic scent of blood.
He did not celebrate. He only felt the aftershock.
[Emergency Evolution Complete]
[Temporary Rank Reverting…]
[Permanent Growth +1 Sub-Rank]
The world slowed. His body ached. Roots smoldered in the cooling soil, each one trembling under the strain of what he had done.
But he was alive.
He turned his awareness inward. His system flickered with instability, but among the error messages, one new notification gleamed.
[Cognitive Core Awakening – Stage 1]
Status: Partial Activation
Effect: Enhanced Reasoning and Memory Restoration
The light of the storm reflected in the raindrops still clinging to his leaves. In that reflection, for the briefest moment, he saw something almost human staring back—a memory of a face, the ghost of a thought.
Then it faded, leaving only awareness and the steady hum of rain.
He felt tired, but he also felt something more profound: direction.
The forest no longer seemed endless. It was data waiting to be organized, territory waiting to be mapped, a challenge to be solved one storm at a time.
He rooted deeper into the earth, absorbing what remained of the rain. The energy moved through him like breath, slow and full.
When the storm finally broke and sunlight returned, the forest was unrecognizable. Scorched patches of soil steamed gently, while new green shoots already pushed through the ash.
Change was everywhere, and in that change he found purpose.
[Status Update]
Species: Verdant Sapling
Rank: Common – 3
Mana Capacity: 0.4
Cognitive Core: Forming
Skills: Root Sense, Corrosive Pulse
Trait: Corrosive Resistance I, Electric Affinity (Minor)
Evolution Energy: 68 / 100
He no longer thought only in survival. The patterns unfolding around him were too intricate to ignore. Growth itself had a language, and he was beginning to understand its grammar.
The forest whispered through the rain-washed air, and he listened, patient and alert.
The next storm would come soon.
When it did, he would not hide beneath it.
He would reach upward, and meet it as an equal.